English teacher guide

THE TEACHER GUIDE
FOR A YOUNG CHILDREN’S COURSE
material to use with very young learners of English
(3-11 years)

Luc Ciotkowski

(with contributions from Lydia Brear)

First edition published by ILCEA Linguistic Ltd. 2005


Introduction
Are we missing the point?
Lexical and grammatical fields
Materials
Vocabulary games
The ‘chairs’ game
Language specific games

II
V
VIII
XII
XIV
XVI
XVII

Week

Lesson

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Introductions
Numbers
Commands
Halloween
Colours
REVISION A
Emotions
This and that
This and that
Weather
Christmas

1
3
5
7
10

12
13
15
15
19
21

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

REVISION B
Family and pets
Body parts I
Body parts II
Animals
REVISION C
Can you?
In the house
Hair and eyes
Easter + REVISION D

23

24
27
29
31
34
35
39
42
45

22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

He’s big
Clothes
REVISION E
Mealtimes
Food
Jobs
Transport
REVISION F
Time

REVISION G + Goodbye

47
50
53
54
57
59
64
68
69
72

©2005

I


Introduction
This guide was originally conceived for the PROXILANGUE language
school program and provides material for an English language course
for children between the ages of three and eleven years old. The
course consists of thirty one lessons of one hour which, at one hour a
week, represents a full academic year. It can be no more than a basis
due to the large differences in development between these age
groups. Therefore, the guide should not be looked at as a ‘one-sizefits-all’ but as a cloth ready to be tailored to specific groups and
ages. Clearly, you will spend longer using the more simple practice
activities and games with groups of younger students, while you will
be able to move onto more complex activities and games more quickly
with older groups. The course is very light on materials and teaches

spoken English. This allows for maximum communication, interaction
and participation, while promoting a new language as an interpersonal
tool and not an academic discipline. As a result the course is more
demanding than many others: the teacher is neither able to rest nor
hide behind materials and written exercises. However, this is also
the very thing that makes it more rewarding for teachers than many
other courses.
The Teacher Guide was developed on these principles: children learn
most naturally and effectively through play; learning a language can
and should be a pleasant experience. I hope the Teacher Guide will
be used with motivation in mind. I believe that this is the most
important factor for increasing the effectiveness of learning (see
the piece entitled ‘Are we missing the point?’) and should be a key
consideration in any course. The activities are designed to promote
cooperation, participation and some friendly competition that doesn’t
exclude less able students in favour of the more able ones. The
students are discouraged from reverting to their mother tongue or
not participating by the risk of ‘losing’ or isolating themselves from
the group; they must participate in order to ‘survive’. This is coupled
with the way that activities are presented as play rather than work;

©2005

II


it is much easier to get students to do something because they want
to rather than forcing them to.
No reading or writing activities are directly mentioned in the
Teacher Guide. This is not attempt to deny the importance of the

written language. It is important as a means of making sense of what
has been learned, in addition to being a communicative tool. However,
in a thirty-hour course that consists of one lesson of one hour a
week (as this was originally intended) the contact time for actual
human communication is too precious to be spent on something which
is essentially an individual activity and penalises students with a lessdeveloped level of literacy. I recognise that some teachers work
under the obligation of teaching written English and the Teacher
Guide remains a useful resource to them: reading and writing
activities can be added to the end of every lesson to reinforce what
has been learned. I strongly advise that if a written element must be
added then it be added after new language has been introduced
through listening and speaking. Phonology has to come before
phonics, otherwise interference from the phonics of the mother
tongue will have a significantly negative effect on pronunciation.
This is a guide and, as such, is not exclusive: your own ideas and
games would be a welcome expansion and if, without losing cohesion
or coherence, you can do something better you should feel free to do
so. We are breaking away from the tradition of the textbook; to
follow the entire guide without adding, taking away or changing
anything would be to kill the dynamism we are trying to attain. I have
tried and tested all the lesson plans and ideas with every age group,
although I have never followed a single one to the letter and never
delivered a lesson in exactly the same way twice. The reason for this
is that the needs of each group are as different as the abilities,
personalities and needs of the individuals who are in it. We need to
adapt our ideas constantly if we wish our students to reap the
maximum benefit from our classes.

©2005

III


What we teach children first may be no more important than which
leg we put into our trousers first in the morning, but the Teacher
Guide tries to cover some of the most frequently occurring and
relevant topics and language areas. The Guide doesn’t work through a
progression of structures and you will be able to see that present
tenses appear most frequently (as they do in real life spoken
English). However, the context is the deciding factor in choosing
tenses; if an activity creates a situation where a certain tense is
most natural we will not avoid it because it is a ‘higher level’ tense.
Equally, approaching activities in a different way open up the
possibility of using different tenses to those mentioned. The games
are designed to satisfy both the fun and language aspects of the
course. No thirty-hour course will produce fluent speakers of
English, but it can be a foundation and, more importantly, a positive
first experience of learning English.
You will find a list of the most useful vocabulary and language
specific games that are referred to in the lesson plans; these can
also be used in lessons where they are not mentioned. There are
language specific games that are not at all mentioned in the lesson
plans; these are designed to be slotted in according to age and ability
where you feel they may be appropriate. You will see that the
vocabulary included follows the norms of British English; this can
easily be adapted if you wish to teach another variety of English.
Finally, I have taught students between the ages of three and
eighty-three, of all levels and abilities, and have often asked their
opinions of what makes a good teacher. The most valued
characteristics are almost always the human qualities that are

independent of teaching methods or styles. I believe it is important
to bear this in mind in any teaching situation.

©2005

IV


Are we missing the point?
Applied linguistics has still to uncover exactly how we acquire a second
language. When applied linguists and second language acquisition experts
theorise about how best to optimise the acquisition of a second language,
it seems to me, the overriding theme (consciously or unconsciously) is
invariably motivation.
Methodology in English Language Teaching has moved through many
different trends in its history (mostly over the last century) and yet no one
method has been universally agreed upon. The followers of each ‘new’
method have been quick to attack the shortcomings of previous ones and
declare that they have found the ‘right’ way to teach English. The fact that
every method has, to a greater or lesser extent, been able to yield
success (people using them have learnt to speak English) prevented any
one particular method from discrediting the others and permanently
establishing itself as the accepted model. The use of the word ‘method’
has even become unfashionable, the word ‘approach’ is now preferred. In
this sense an approach is taken as an umbrella term indicating an attitude
to teaching and justifying the use of several methods.
The Communicative Approach, which enjoys the most widespread
popularity in English Language Teaching today, works on the principle that
the goal of learning a language is communication. This attitude
differentiates it from the idea that a language is learned for its own sake,

to study and appreciate its structures (linguistics). While the
Communicative Approach holds to the primacy of fluency over accuracy
and that this is achieved through authentic communication, it is noncommittal enough to allow the use of a variety of methods to accomplish
this. In reality, this has allowed practitioners to use methods with which
they are most comfortable (often grammar methods), inserting some
communicative activities and games. Recently an evolution of the
Communicative Approach has produced the Lexical Approach, which
theorises that fluency is best attained by learning prefabricated chunks of
language rather than grammatical structures. Once again, students have
become proficient users of English with both sets of techniques.
My aim here is not to criticise or discuss the merits of existing methods
(approaches, techniques, etc.) in detail. What interests me is that, while
the various methods sometimes allude to motivation, the method is
generally implied to be separate from motivation. I suggest that
motivation should not be viewed as a separate consideration in any
methodology (and certainly not a subordinate one), but the fundamental
base around which it is built and applied. What I am promoting is not new
or revolutionary in any way, but a refocusing of something that is far too
often neglected or forgotten. Indeed, it is my hope that these suggestions
sound self-evident, in which case let us pay more attention to them.

©2005

V


Survival/Desire Theory
I intend to talk about motivation in the context of English as a Foreign
Language, dividing it into two kinds which I call DESIRE MOTIVATION and
SURVIVAL MOTIVATION. DESIRE MOTIVATION is motivation to do

something because you like it, enjoy it, want to or are interested in it.
SURVIVAL MOTIVATION is motivation to do something because you feel
you need to do it.
The reason for learning the language in the first place is a survival
motivation. Here are a few examples: the student lives in an English
speaking environment; the student needs to pass exams or get good
marks; the student’s boss wants him/her to learn English; the student’s
parents want him/her to learn English; the student feels he/she needs
English for his/her career; the student would like to integrate into an
English speaking community; the student likes the thought of being able
to speak English; etc. Coercion is a form of survival motivation. Examples
of coercion are: fear of punishment from parents, teachers or bosses if a
student does not learn; fear of social exclusion (isolation from other
students or people in general). Rewards are also a form of survival
motivation, whether that is praise from parents/teachers/other students
or pay rises, etc.
Everyone (that is able to) eats, sleeps, learns to walk and learns his/her
mother tongue. Why do you eat? Why do you sleep? Why do you learn to
walk? Why do you learn your mother tongue? These are all examples of
survival motivation at its most potent. However, ‘Why do you learn a
second/foreign language?’ is not a rhetorical question and it is unlikely in
the extreme that the survival motivation for this could reach the same
strength as in those four examples. Let us look at when survival
motivation for learning a foreign language is at its strongest: when
learners live in a foreign country where their native language is not
spoken. A British family of five moved to France. Amongst the family
members were a five year-old boy and his forty year-old father. The five
year-old boy spoke no French at all and the father had learned a little at
school, but had barely an elementary level. The boy had done six weeks of
his first year of school in the UK and said that he did not want to learn

French. The father, skilled as a builder, said he wanted to be able to speak
French for work purposes and to integrate into the local community. The
son reluctantly began French primary school and cried every day for the
first three weeks as his parents left him at the school. His teacher
reported that after a month he started to speak French in class with no
accent. After six months his fluency was exactly the same as the other
French children in his class. The father took intensive classes in French
and studied specialised vocabulary in the field of construction. He secured
building work after two months but relied a lot on help from his wife for
communicating in French. After a year he felt his French had improved,
but still found it a struggle and said there were lots of misunderstandings
at work due to the language barrier. There were several factors that might
explain the differences in proficiency of the father and son after a year.

©2005

VI


The difference in age and the theory that there may be a ‘sensitive period’
for learning language could certainly be a factor but that is a different
discussion, especially as this is not a scientific experiment. The level of
exposure to French was clearly different, also. What interests me is the
difference in survival motivation. The father could use lots of different
ways to ‘survive’ without having to use French. He could rely on his wife
to communicate for him when he got stuck. He could use the similarities
to English words when he saw written French to understand signs. He
could go about his day-to-day business speaking very little French. He
could fill in official forms using dictionary translations without needing to
assimilate the words he was writing. In interpersonal relationships he

could speak English: with his wife; with his children; over the telephone
with his family and English-speaking friends. Only in the workplace was he
truly forced to use French to survive (and still, lots of gesturing and
waving could see him through). On the other hand, the survival
motivation was quite different for the son. His world consisted of home
and school. Of course, at home he spoke English and at school he spoke
French. He could not fall back on the survival strategies that his father
was able to. Once at school, everything depended on learning French. If
he did not use French he could not participate; he could not make friends;
he could not be accepted . . . He could not ‘survive’ without it.
Desire motivation is the stimulation of curiosity and enjoyment that has
an effect during learning. If people think of what their favourite subject
was at school, followed by the subject in which they achieved the best
grades or put the most effort into, I am sure a high percentage would give
the same subject for both answers. The same is true if we look at it the
opposite way round: we tend to enjoy the things we are ‘good at’. This is
why it is so important to give students a sense of achievement. Desire
motivation, or lack of it, is what makes someone go the cinema twice to
see the same film and leave half way through another. Newer ‘methods’
and ‘approaches’ advocate the use of authentic materials instead of
contrived and wooden examples of English. What is the difference if they
both give the same end result?..
There are two reasons: if students can ‘see the point’ they will invest
themselves more willingly; if activities or subjects are more relevant to
their lives and interests they want to do them. The movement towards
‘student-centred’ activities and classrooms away from ‘teacher-centred’
ones is also based on desire motivation (as well as promoting learner
autonomy). ‘Student-centred’ activities exploit students’ two greatest
interests: themselves and other people.
While considering these observations allows us to recognise what

motivates students, it is our job as teachers to exploit them in order to
optimise student motivation. Indeed, there are more and more teachers
who believe the ability to get students motivated and help them to
become autonomous learners is as important as (if not more than) the
teacher’s knowledge of the language.

©2005

VII


Lexical and Grammatical Fields
Topics

Numbers (12+):

One; two; three; four; five; six; seven; eight; nine; ten;
eleven; twelve…

Halloween (6+):

Ghost; witch; vampire; pumpkin; devil; skeleton…

Eating/drinking (5+):

Knife; fork; spoon; glass; plate…

Seasons (4):

Spring; summer; autumn; winter.

Christmas (6+):

Father Christmas; snowman; presents; stocking;
Christmas tree; reindeer…

People/Family (10+):

Me; you; boy(s); girl(s); man(men); woman(women); mum;
dad; brother; sister…

Animals (7+):

Dog; cat; rabbit; fish; bird; mouse; spider (+ students’
pets)…

In the house (7+):

House; bedroom; bathroom; lounge; dining room; kitchen;
garden...

Easter (2+):

Easter Bunny; Easter eggs…

Body parts (15+):

Arm; ear; eye; fingers; foot; hand; head; knees; leg;
mouth; neck; nose; shoulders; stomach; toes…

Clothes (8+):

Jeans; jumper; shirt; shoes; skirt; socks; trousers; Tshirt…

Times of day (6+):

Morning; afternoon; evening; night; o’clock; half past…

Meals (3+):

Breakfast; lunch; dinner…

Food (8+):

Apple; bread; cheese; fish; ice cream; meat; potato;
tomato…

Jobs (7+):

Baker; chef; doctor; fire fighter; police officer; singer;
teacher…

Transport (6+):

Boat; bus; car; lorry; plane; train…

©2005

VIII

Descriptions

Weather (6+):

Sunny; raining; cloudy; snowing; foggy; windy…

Colours (9-12+):

Blue; red; yellow; green; black; white; brown; purple;
blond. (Orange; pink; grey…)

Feelings/
Other adjectives (11+):

Fine; happy; sad; angry; fed up; hot; cold; big; small; good;
bad; thirsty; hungry…

Possessive (2+):

My; your…

Prepositions (6+):

In; on; behind; in front of; next to; under…

Actions

I can / Can you? (5+):

Climb; fly; jump; run; swim…

Commands (21+):

Be quiet; clap your hands; close your eyes; come here;
count to twelve; do this; do that; go over there; hands on
heads; jump; open your eyes; ready, go; sit down; stand
up; step backwards; step forwards; stop; touch your . . .;
turn around; wait…
(With ‘don’t’ for negative imperative.)

Miscellaneous (taught directly or indirectly)

If; and; but; or; with; to; the; a; an; of; this; that; these;
those; I; you; he; she; it; we; they; for; at; from; here; there;
by; not; all; everyone; everybody; not; which; how; where;
who; what; when; again; another; other; now; then; some;
any; more; up; down; him; her; them; yes; no; out; first
(and any other frequently recurring language that the
teacher uses).
This list is flexible and non-exhaustive and is meant as an indication of the
language to which the students will be exposed during the course. It is NOT a
restriction on what can be taught.

©2005

IX


Questions

Basic question structures

‘Question word’ questions
How are you/How’s it going?
How old are you?
How many . . . are there?
How many . . . has it got?
What’s your name?
What colour is it?
What colour have you got?
What colour . . . have you got?
What’s this?
What’s that?
What’s the weather like?
What time is it?
What’s wrong?
When do you have . . .?
Where do you live?
Where’s my . . .?
Where’s (the) . . .?
Where are you?
Where are they?
Where are my . . .?

Am I . . .?
Are you . . .?
Are you a . . .?
Are you in the . . .?
Are you wearing (a) . . .?
Is this your . . .?

Is that your . . .?
Is he . . .?
Is she . . .?
Is he a . . .?
Is she a . . .?
Are you scared of . . .?
Are these your . . .?
Are those your . . .?
Can you . . .?
Do you like . . .?
Have you got any . . .?

Phrases / sentences

To be
Yes, I am.
No, I’m not.
Yes, it is.
No, it’s not.

It’s (colour).
It’s (weather).
It’s (time) o’clock.
It’s half past (time).
This is a . . .
That’s a . . .
There’s . . .
He’s (adjective).
She’s (adjective).
He’s not (adjective).

She’s not (adjective).
He’s a (job/profession).
She’s a (job/profession).
The man/woman is (adjective).

I’m fine thank you.
I’m (age).
I’m scared of . . .
I’m not scared of . . .
I’m (emotion/feeling).
I’m not (emotion/feeling).
I’m a (job/profession).
I’m wearing [a] (item of clothing).
I’m in the (place).
There are . . .
They’re on/in the (place).
The men/women are (adjective).

©2005

We’re on/in the (place).

X


To have (got)
I’ve got (number).
I’ve got (number + family/pets).
I’ve got some . . .
I haven’t got any . . .

It’s got (number + body part).
I’ve got (colour + body part).
I have (meal) in the (time of day).

Can
Yes, I can.
No, I can’t.
I can(‘t) fly.
I can(‘t) run.
.
Greetings

I can(‘t) swim.
I can(‘t) jump.
I can(‘t) climb.

Hello.
Goodbye.
Good morning.

Good afternoon.
Good evening.
Good night.

Various
My name’s . . .
I live in (place).
Ouch!

©2005

My (body part) hurts.
I like (food).
I don’t like (food).

XI


Materials
Week 1

None

Week 2

3 sets of number flashcards (numbers 1 – 12)
8 boy flashcards
8 girl flashcards

Week 3

None

Week 4

Halloween flashcards
10 scared faces
10 not scared faces

Week 5

3 sets of colour flashcards

Week 6

Revision of weeks 1, 2, 3 and 5

Week 7

2 sets of emotion flashcards (happy, sad, angry, fed-up)

Week 8

1 set of real cutlery and crockery (knife, fork, spoon, plate, glass)
1 set for each student of paper cutlery and crockery

Week 9

1 set of real cutlery and crockery (knife, fork, spoon, plate, glass)
1 set for each student of paper cutlery and crockery

Week 10

2 sets of weather flashcards
Weather bingo and tokens
1 set of big country flashcards
1 set of season flashcards

Week 11

3 sets of Christmas flashcards
A set of small Christmas flashcards for each student
Card
Felt tips
Glue

Week 12

Revision of weeks 7, 8/9 and 10

Week 13

1 large picture of the Funky family
1 set of members of the Funky family
Animal flashcards

Week 14

1 set of body part flashcards
Plasters

Week 15

Body part flashcards
1 set of monster’s body parts for each student
blutack and drawing pins

Week 16

2 sets of animal flashcards

©2005

XII


Week 17

Revision of 13, 14 and 15

Week 18

Animal flashcards

Week 19

Garden and room pictures
The doll’s house (open and closed)
Counters to represent the students

Week 20

1 set of man, men, woman, women flashcards
Flashcards of hungry and thirsty
12 pictures of Funky with different hair and eye colour

Week 21

Easter Bunny

Easter eggs
Revision of weeks 16, 18 and 19

Week 22

8 large pictures of a girl
8 large pictures of a boy
8 small pictures of a girl
8 small pictures of a boy
8 ‘bad’ pictures.
8 ‘good’ pictures.

Week 23

1 set of real clothes
1 set of clothes flashcards
1 large picture of the wee man
8 little pictures of the wee man
colour flashcards

Week 24

Revision

Week 25

1 set of parts of the day flashcards
Breakfast, lunch and dinner flashcards

Week 26

3 sets of food flashcards

Week 27

2 sets of job flashcards

Week 28

2 sets of transport flashcards
Counters to represent the students

Week 29

Revision of weeks 25, 26 and 27

Week 30

Digital times to represent 1 – 12 o’clock
Digital times to represent half past 1 – half past 12

Week 31

Revision of weeks 28 and 30

©2005

XIII

Vocabulary games
This is just a small selection of vocabulary games that you may find helpful.
Circles
This game works for any vocabulary that is used in sequences. (I have used this
game to teach cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, days of the week, months of the
year, meals and parts of the day.)
We practise the words together to begin with. Repeat with individuals to check
pronunciation and when you’re happy, put the students into a circle. For example,
we’re doing morning, afternoon and evening (and perhaps night), and we have to go
round the circle in order. So in this case, begin with morning and the next person
must say afternoon, and so on. Sounds a bit rubbish, doesn’t it? Well, they’re
practising new words and the order they go in, it’s not so rubbish for them. Make sure
the group is not divisible by three (or four), so each student’s word changes with
every turn (I join in if needed). The better they get, the faster they have to go. They’ve
got to remember the word, pronounce it properly, say it in the right order and as fast
as they can.
Start again, this time with meals. Show them pictures of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We practise as before, then we go into our circles.
Once we’re really good at this, the hard part comes. We want to put these pieces of
vocabulary together and make a sentence. We now need the ‘glue’ that sticks a
sentence together. We’re going to learn ‘I have breakfast in the morning’, etc.
It depends on the vocabulary as to the ‘glue’ needed, and you might choose to move
on to a different task to teach this.

Pick up a pair
You need a set of flashcards with two copies of each picture. After the vocabulary
has been introduced and repeated, shuffle the cards and lay them face down on the
table or floor. A student turns one card over, revealing a picture. To have their
second turn, the student must say the vocabulary item out loud. If they can, they turn
over a second card of their choice and say the word that it represents. If the two

cards match, they keep the cards and have another go.

Keep the card
Show a flashcard, the first person to say the English word for what it represents
keeps the card. It’s as simple as that. When there are no flashcards left, the person
with the most cards is the winner. You can show only a part of the flashcard, reveal it
slowly, or show the card for just a split-second.

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XIV


Poisoned pass-the-parcel
In a circle, students pass several flashcards or items to one another. When you say
stop, those who are holding an item must say what it is in English. This can also be
used for specific structures such as ‘to have (got)’ and ‘to be’.

What’s missing?
For this activity you need objects for the vocabulary you want to teach, it can be used
to teach just about anything you can fit on a table. It’s up to you how many objects
you use, although you run the risk of the students retaining very little if you confuse
them with too much new vocabulary. I normally use six or seven objects maximum if
they are all words that are new to the class. If only a couple are new and the rest are
pretty well known to the class (You just want to reinforce, revise a little, or test
retention if they learnt the words a while ago), I might use up to ten. If you use more
than that you’ll more than likely be wasting your time – you want them to learn
English, not develop a photographic memory.
Choose a student to go into the corner and close their eyes. Repeat the names of the
objects in no particular order and, showing the rest of the class which one, take an

object away and hide it. Then it’s, “Ready, go!” and the student comes back to find
the missing object. If they get it right, great, start hiding several objects at a time.
When they can’t do it go through the objects that are there to see if it jogs their
memory. If they still can’t do it, see if the other students can remember, only then
should you give in and tell them (showing the hidden object). Even if they get it right
you need to show them the object and repeat it, reinforcing it for those who knew and
reminding for those who didn’t. After a while, you can start giving the students the
chance to pick an object to hide. They have to remember the one they picked in
particular, and when the student who closed their eyes says which objects were
missing they have to say which one they chose. It’s just a way to stop the students
who aren’t doing the guessing from switching off.
If they get really good at it, hide all the objects and see if the students can remember
them all.

Change chairs/places
The students sit in a circle and each one has a flashcard. Call out two or three items
(shown by images on the flashcards) and the students holding these items change
places.
You can have one less chair than students, in which case one student stands in the
middle. This student must try to get a chair when others change places. This second
variation is more fun, but play it at your own risk! If you have more than one overcompetitive student, mayhem and injury can ensue.

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XV


The ‘chairs’ game
The next activity is meant to be used little and often: In lessons where you need to
change the focus if your students are bored or need a break from the main topic; if

you go through your material too quickly or if you have a spare five minutes to fill. It
can actually be a free-standing lesson on prepositions, but its value as a ‘get out of
jail free’ card is the reason we’re including it here.
For this activity you will need a chair and a stuffed animal or doll.
After making sure the students know the word ‘chair’, place your doll in the various
positions in relation to the chair and tell them where it is, i.e. on; under; next to; in
front of and behind the chair. Signal to a student to repeat ‘on the chair’, repeat it
back to them and give them a second or more chances if the pronunciation is poor.
Do the same with the rest of the class, then get an ‘on the chair’ in unison.
Do another couple of rounds of telling them the different positions before
concentrating on another in particular, perhaps ‘under the chair’, giving everyone a
chance to repeat the position of the doll. Before you repeat this process for the
remaining prepositions go back and test some students on the first one.
Now that everyone has had a chance to say each of the prepositions, you can
encourage them to repeat together each time you move the doll. This was also the
point at which I decided to say, “Where is . . .(name of the doll)?” each time I moved it
to a new position and before I told them where it was. Of course, you can do this from
the start, but I chose to wait a little to avoid any confusion.
When you feel that the prepositions are starting to sink in you can start to test their
retention of the language individually.
If all you get is blank looks, you can always go back and work on positions they find
more difficult to say or remember. The first time I used the exercise I found that the
students had particular difficulty in remembering ‘in front of the chair’, and that some
were saying ‘on de de chair’ for both on and under the chair. It is best if you alternate
between two positions for a few goes before they get better. You will know if they
have cracked some and not other positions, so you should be able to judge which
areas to work on.
To get more participation from the students you can have volunteers to move the doll
or teddy, while you pick another to say where it is. If they cannot answer, it is for the
person who moved it to answer. If neither they, then nobody else from the class can

answer, you tell them. In addition, you may want to bring students to the front, give
them the doll and tell them to place it, for example, under the chair. They place the
doll and you ask the rest of the class if they are right - Yes (Big smile, thumbs up,
nodding head) or no (Sad face, shaking head). If they are right, give them praise, if
not tell the students where it actually is, show them where the doll should be and
repeat ‘under the chair’, or wherever. If a student gets it wrong, give them another
chance and try and make sure they get one right. They will get extra confidence from
the praise of their peers as well as yours.
This is the simplest form of the ‘chairs’ game, it can be expanded with commands like
‘sit in front of the chair’ or ‘stand behind the chair’. A game can be played where
everyone moves in front of the chair, another where one person does it and someone
else says whether it is correct, or even where one student tells another to move
somewhere in relation to the chair.
This activity can be revisited later to practise a variety of vocabulary, by placing
different objects around the chair, e.g. “What’s under the chair?”. It can also be
helpful for familiarising the verb to be. – Where am I? _ You’re on the chair. Where’s
Paul?_ He’s in front of the chair, etc.
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Language specific games
Time
Language

What time is it? It’s…..

Everyone stands in a circle and asks in unison, “What time is it?” Choose a time such
as 4 o’clock. Say, “It’s 4 o’clock.” The group mime the time by using their arms. The

results can be funny. Anybody who gets it wrong is out of the game and sits down.
The game continues until there is one person left standing, they are the winner. You
could vary this by choosing a student to say the times.

First to 20
Language

Numbers

Sit the students in a circle and count to 20, first together and then go round the circle.
Each person says one, two or three numbers each. They can choose how many they
want to say. The person who falls on 20 gains a point. Play the first to 3 points.

Directions
Language

Directions: left; right; forwards, backwards; stop.

One child stands in the corner of the room and the group or individuals give him
directions to get to another part of the room. Continue until everyone has had a go.
Your wish is my command
Language

Giving instructions

This is an extension of the idea in ‘Directions’. Ask two students to go to the side of
the room. Give them instructions on how to cross the room. For example: walk
slowly; put your arms in the air; wave. Give one instruction, and then another, and
then another. The students are not allowed to stop doing one action before they start
another; they do them all simultaneously. As soon as the students reach the other

side of the room they stop, take over the role of giving instructions and two more
students go up to be commanded.

Colours and clothes
Language

What colour is ……?

Stand in a circle and ask a few questions about the colour of clothes that the
students are wearing. For example, “What colour is Jack’s T-shirt?” After a few
examples, blindfold one of the students. The rest of the group ask the blindfolded
student questions about the colour of students’ clothes. When the blindfolded
student answers correctly, he gives the blindfold to the student whose clothes were
being talked about.
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With this game you could also use different structures:
1.

A Is John’s jumper blue?
B Yes / No.

2.

A John’s shoes are yellow.
B True / False.

3.
4.

A What’s John wearing?
B He’s wearing…..

Telephone game
Language

Simple conversation e.g. Hello, how are you? Do you want to….?
Bye.

Give the children a ready made telephone out of cardboard. Let the students spend a
few minutes colouring in their telephones, practising the colours they use to draw
with. Give each child their own phone number in written in one colour and a phone
number that they will dial in another colour. In turn, the children dial their dialling
number, saying the number out loud as they dial. All the others look at their own
number to see if they are the one being called. If so, they answer and have a short
conversation. The person who receives the call is the next person to make a phone
call.

Question and answer activities
Conveyor belt
The students sit on chairs in a line and you sit on a chair facing them. Ask the
question that you want to practise, beginning with the student on the end of the line.
Each student replies as you ask them the same question. When you have asked all
the students, everyone moves round one place: you join one end of the line and the
student at the other end takes your place. Continue until everyone has been up to
ask the question. (The person who asks the questions can wear a hat. This can be
funny and can help to distinguish the roles.)

Answer, quick!
Using the same lay out as the conveyor belt, the person at the front directs questions
at everyone. There must be a choice of several questions so that the group must
recognise what the question means and give the appropriate answer. As soon as
they know the answer, they stand up and shout their answer out. They students must
try to be the first to shout the correct answer.

©2005

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www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years
Week 1

Introductions
Target structures:
Hello
How are you?
What’s your name?
Where do you live?
Materials:

I’m fine, thank you.
My name’s…..
I live in…
None.

This is always going to be the hardest and most stressful lesson of the course.
However, this is not only true for you; your students feel exactly the same. If there is

one lesson plan that you are going to completely disregard and do things your own
way let it be this one. If you want to put your students at ease, you need to be as
comfortable as possible with what you are doing. Read the plan, understand what
you are trying to get from the lesson and adapt it so that you are comfortable with it.
“Hello”, introduce by shaking hands with everyone in the room, then get them to
shake hands with each other.
Ask a student, “How are you?” (Think about intonation, it’s got to sound like a
question, we want them to learn a realistic and interesting style of English from the
start. Maybe it’s obvious, but unfortunately there are still a lot of foreigners learning
HOW ARE YOU robot English.)
In a circle each person asks his or her neighbour, “How are you?” Do the same with,
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Ask all the students individually, “How are you?” and get them all to answer in turn.
They might think you are looking for them to repeat again. If they do, you step in with
a pre-emptive, “I’m fine thank you.”, so they know that you’re now looking for an
answer. Now in the circle, they can ask their neighbour the question, before their
neighbour replies and then in turn asks the next student.
Point to yourself and say, “My name’s…....” Point to somebody and ask the question,
“What’s your name?”. If you need to help them, say it and get them to repeat. The
first child then asks their neighbour “What’s your name?” the neighbour replies “My
name’s…..” and then asks his neighbour and so on.
Go round the circle again, this time shaking hands and asking everything, “Hello”,
“How are you?” “What’s your name?” Put the children in pairs and get them to shake
hands and ask each other the questions, change the partners until they’ve all spoken
to each other.
Do the same for, ‘Where do you live?’ this time, if you want, showing a map or
pictures drawn on the board of France and the UK.
Now stand up in front of the children. Say, “My name’s . . .” and each child does the
same. Then go round again, but this time ask, “What’s your name?”. If the first
student begins to repeat the question stop them in their tracks by starting “My

name’s….” so that it’s clear you’re looking for the answer. Between each student ask
2005 Luc Ciotkowski

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www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years
the question so that they associate it with the answer. Then, get each student to have
a go at asking everybody the same question. Do this with each question and answer,
starting with the teacher asking the question and then the students having a go.
You can change the focus by introducing the chairs game if you feel you need to. As
necessary and logical as introductions are, a taste of the more fun and inspiring
activities that are to come may do both them and you some good.

Then at the end, you can put all the questions and answers together. Stand up and
ask one student all the questions and he replies. Do this with all the students in turn.
Then one of the students can ask the questions, taking the role of the teacher.
Everyone has a go.

2005 Luc Ciotkowski

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www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years
Week 2
Numbers
Target vocabulary:

1.

2.

Numbers.
Boy; boys; girl; girls.

Target structures:

1.

How old are you?
I’m ……..

2.

How many………are there?
There’s /there are……..

Materials

3 sets of number flashcards (numbers 1 – 12).
8 boy flashcards.
8 girl flashcards.

Introduce the numbers 1 – 12. Say them slowly and show the relevant figure at
the same time. Getting all the children to repeat after each number, do this twice.
Then, do it with each child individually, you saying the number first then them.
All count in a circle together, then go round with everyone saying a number each
in sequence. Continue getting faster and faster, checking that everyone knows
the numbers and can pronounce them correctly.
Choose one of the children to go and close their eyes and move them away from

the group. Show the rest of the group a number of your choice from the set of
cards, which are lined up in order. The group say the number together (this
reinforces for those who are struggling). “Ready, go!” the one that has not seen
the number rejoins the group and has to find the number that has been said. A
possible problem could be if someone blurts out the number in French. If this
happens you need to make it clear that it’s not allowed. Stamp this out now and
you’ll save yourself a lot of problems in future lessons. One way to do it is to tell
them that they lose a point if they say the word in French. They take turns until
everybody has had a go.
Divide your class into two teams. One student from each team comes over to you.
Their remaining team members have a set of cards with the numbers on. You
show the child from team one a number. He says the number in English to one of
his team-mates, who finds the number. If he can’t find it, or gets it wrong, the rest
of the team can say. If they still don’t have the right answer the other team can try.
If they get it right first time they get two points, if their team gets it right they get
one point and if the other team get it, they steal a point.
To make the link between numbers and age write how old you are in figures on
the board and point to yourself. Point to the number on the board and to yourself
again and elicit what you are trying to convey. If they can guess it will be in their
own language, that’s ok, you are merely looking for them to understand the
concept of numbers representing your age (also, they haven’t learnt as far as the
number you will have written). Tell the students, “I’m . . .(your age)”. If you get
blank looks you can take a picture of the boy and hold, for example, the number
five next to it and say, “I’m five”. Take a picture of the girl and hold, for example,
the number six next to it and say, “I’m six”. Point to a student, asking, “How old
2005 Luc Ciotkowski

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www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years
are you?” and motion to the number pictures, “Four, five, six, seven?” When the
penny drops and your students realise you are looking for their age go through
with each of them how to tell their age, insisting on ‘I’m’ before they say the
relevant number. Set up they conveyor belt activity to practise the question and
answers.
Show the students two pictures, one of a boy and one of a girl. You say them, the
students repeat together. Do the same individually. Take another picture of a boy
and put it with the other. Take another picture of a girl and put it with the other.
You’ve now got boys and girls. Introduce these the same way as boy and girl.
Now you need them to recognise the difference between the singular and plural.
They have done enough repeating, so you can show them one or two pictures at
a time, the students reply together. Some might get it right, some might get it
wrong, make sure you reaffirm the correct answer.
Test individuals by saying boy, boys, girl or girls for the student to point to the
appropriate cards or cards. After that you can point to the cards and they can say
what it is. Once you’re confident that they can distinguish between the singulars
and plurals you can combine the numbers with the people.
You need several more pictures of boys and girls on individual cards, so that they
can be counted. Give a few examples, such as “There are two boys”, pause and
pick up two cards with the boy picture on. Go around the group telling individuals
how many girls or boys there are, while they find the pictures to represent it. Don’t
spend long on this; what you’re really looking for is for them to use the language
themselves. This time you show the cards, ask “how many ……. are there?”, and
the children reply saying, “There are …….” Split the group into two teams;
choose one member of each group. One is going to ask the question, “How many
boys are there?” and the one from the other team is going to make up an answer
e.g. “There are three boys.” The child who asked the question then goes to find
the correct number of boys to represent the answer, from a nearby table for
example. If he gets this right, his team wins two points. If he gets it wrong his

team has a second chance as another member of the team can go up to find the
cards, if this one gets it right, his team wins one point. Then, choose another two
children, one from each team and start again, this time with the other team asking
the question first.
At the end of the class, ask the question, “How many boys / girls are there?” Point
at the students to show that you mean them. They can shout out the number of
boys or girls in the class. This is just to make it authentic; they apply the words to
real life girls or boys. You can then integrate this into your lessons for the future,
starting at the beginning of each class, by asking “How many girls / boys are
there.” All the children count and reply. This is very good to do on a regular basis;
it’s both fun for the students and consolidates the language.

2005 Luc Ciotkowski

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www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years
Week 3

Commands (Total Physical Response)
Target structures:

Positive and negative imperatives
(Orders/instructions).

Materials:

None.

It’s more than possible that you didn’t get through everything in Week 2, so begin
this one by finishing the last if you need to. Even if you did, it would be a good
idea to go back and do any points that were rushed or do the activities that
involved the students producing the language. Most importantly make sure that
the students recognise the difference between there is one . . . and there are
two/three etc. . . They will have less problems with the numbers and girl or boy,
but you’re also teaching them an extremely useful structure with the how many
and there is/are.
Start the habit of asking how they are and how many girls or boys there are now,
doing this at the start of every class will make it second nature. Further on you
can add all sorts of extra everyday things: What day it is; what the weather is like
etc.
Arrange the chairs into a line, including your own. (It’s preferable to have no
chairs or other obstacles in the middle of the room, and as much space as
possible.) You are going to give orders, which are carried out by moving. Begin
with “Stand up”, you stand up to show the students what to do. “Sit down”, you sit
down and they follow, they know what you’re doing now. The orders are up to
you, but I recommend: Jump; turn around; step forwards; step backwards; be
quiet (finger on lips, short silence), clap your hands; close your eyes; open your
eyes; count to ten. Sit down and stand up are obvious, but also essential for
controlling the class and setting up games. Deep breath, close your eyes,
followed by count to twelve (Everyone counts to twelve slowly), open your eyes,
this is amazingly useful for calming the group after a boisterous game or to curtail
any messing about.
Once you’ve introduced all the different orders you want to use, bring in ‘don’t’.
When you don’t move they see that they’re not supposed to either. You can use
positive and negative together now, “Do this!” “Don’t do that!” You no longer need
to show them first, so take a chair opposite the line of students and give the
orders without performing the actions. This is fun for them, but it can’t last too long
(especially for the very young groups). We’ll come back to it later in the lesson.

2005 Luc Ciotkowski

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www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years

We’re going to go back to Week 1 now, to practise the introductions in full
(including how old are you, from Week 2). You can choose how to do it from the
activities in Week 1. Ideally you want the full interview in an order a bit like this:A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B

“Hello!”
“Hello!” (Shake hands)
“What’s your name?”
“My name’s . . . What’s your name?”
“My name’s . . .”

“How are you?”
“I’m fine thank you. How are you?”
“I’m fine thank you.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m . . . How old are you?”
“I’m . . .”
“Where do you live?”
“I live in . . . Where do you live?”
“I live in . . .

The order isn’t important, of course, you’re looking for the right question with the
right answer and pronounced as well as possible. The better the students
become, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to put two of them in the middle.
This is what you’re aiming for, but of course you’ll need to help.
If your group find this too difficult (which is likely), conveyor belt questioning (see
‘Games and activities’) is an excellent way to practise question and answer
recognition.
Go back to your orders now. Don’t give them any clues this time; see if they can
remember from before. Once they get good again (they need to be good for this
bit), put a student in your place in front of the other students. They now give
orders for the rest of the group to follow. If a student struggles, swap over quickly.
The better someone does, the more it will inspire the others to try (They should
enjoy it, they get to tell everyone what to do). The younger the group is, the more
help you’ll need to give and it may help to limit the orders they can choose from.
It’s obvious that you need to keep a younger group under tighter control, but you
can get good participation if you give just enough freedom. You’ve got a handy
calming technique now (“Sit down, be quiet, close your eyes, count to twelve.”).
‘Commands’ should make frequent comebacks in future lessons to revise, warm
up or change emphasis to re-capture short attentions spans (slowly introducing
more and more verbs or actions through mime).

2005 Luc Ciotkowski

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