This post is a result of a combination of factors: only a short while ago we started a new IH VYL course, I was talking to a NQT teacher and, last but not least, I have been stuck in quarantine, with a lot of time on my hands, all of a sudden. Writing calms me down and so I am writing.
If you are a novice VYL teacher, don’t forget to check out the first VYL lesson survival kit here. It might help, too! And there is this other one, about landing on Mars and having to teach there.
Now, in a rather random order…
Keep it simple
It is a good idea to stay focused and that means that ‘less is better’ or, in this case, ‘fewer is better’. There is no need for fancy activities, for some intricate craft, amazing toys, multi-item anything or a very complex game. There is no need for the coursebook, either. Everything will be new for you so there is no need to clutter your brain (or your table) and many (or all) things might be new for your students, too, depending on whether they are starting the course or whether you are taking over. In any case, simple resources will make it more maneagable for everyone.
Keep it varied
Simple does not mean monotnounous, though. The younger the children, the shorter their attention span and it is absolutely necessary to be ready to change the activities frequently, ideally when they are still enjoying them (rather than wait until the interest fizzles out and you will have to get them back on track). Luckily, there are quite a few things that can be done only with a set of flashcards, varying the activities slightly without changing the main resource. Although, of course, each lesson with pre-schoolers will need more than just one. If you are teaching colours, for example, you can do it through: flashcards, a song, a video, a wordwall game, realia (kids will be wearing colours on them and there are other colourful things in the room, such as crayons) and a story. This way you will keep things ‘the same but different’.
Keep it coherent
Make sure that you do not overwhelm the kids (and yourself!) by trying to go over too many topics in one lesson. If it is ‘colours’, it is ‘colours’ from the beginning until the end of the lesson. If it is ‘toys’, it is ‘toys’. It is only the first lesson, there will be lessons number 2, 3, 4 and 100.
Keepit interesting
This one will be a question only and a question with more than one correct answer. It has become a kind of a tradition that the first lessons in level 1 for pre-schoolers focus on the introduction of colours. The idea behind that is, I presume, the fact that colours are around us, they are a concept that the kids are already familiar with and that the words themselves are short and easy to learn. But here is a question, is it really the most interesting, child-friendly, fun, engaging, joyful topic that there is? Is it the best invitation to a new story and to a new world that learning English? Toys are colourful, too, they are toys and all the kids are more than familiar with them. Plus you can use the realia from the very first lesson. Pets are cuddly and sweet and all the kids have their favourite ones, even if sometimes less traditional ones, such as a hippo or a frog. The realia can also be found without much trouble and most pets make noises and that is another way of introducing variety in class. Both, toys and pets can be mimed and used in different ‘Guess what’ games in which the kids guess the word by looking at a small cut out of it (aka ‘through the keyhole’ or ‘the funky envelope’). The range of activities gets wider in a blink and the chances that children get interested and stay involved are much higher.
Keep it teacher-centred…
and do not feel guilty about it. Student-centred lessons are the ultimate aim and the dream but in the beginning of the course, it is the teacher and the adult who has to take the full responsibility and the full control of all the activities in the lesson. This is true for both the novice and the experienced VYL teachers as well because they all have to deal with little children who are in a new set-up, in a new situation. Be it either the first ever lesson of English, the first lesson ever in a new group with some new classmates or the first lesson with a new teacher.
Keep itorganised
Keep what organised? Everything! Absolutely everything. All the materials in the folders (or with paperclips, in boxes, files) in which they are going to be used. All of the resources in a box or in a basket, in order to be able to carry them around, if needs be. All of the things out of the kids’ reach, on the top of the board, on the top shelves, in the cupboards. All the pencils or crayons, by the colour, in separate plastic cups or boxes (but cups are cheap and easily available) and not on the table. The teacher is supposed to give them out only when they are needed.
What I found really useful in the beginning of my VYL career and something that I still do, for every lesson is a lesson plan on the wall. It is simple, big and colourful, with only the main stages and activities, in a place where I can see it and to refer to it from every corner of the classroom. You can see an example of it here.
Keepcalm
Even if you don’t feel very confident. Even if you are worried that you might not manage. Even if you are a tiny bit scared of being left alone with a bunch of kids. Even if the parents are looking at you inquisitively or if they are asking questions. Even if you have forgotten something at home or in the teacher’s room.
Smile, no matter what! Don’t lose your head! You are going to be great. Or almost great!
Dear reader! I hope you are here because you have been in search of ideas for a lesson on Art and English for primary school children. If so, you are in the right place! I would like to share with you a lesson that I taught a few months ago as a part of my Art Explorers programme. I would like to start with some blowing my own trumpet in an attempt to inspire you and to think ‘I want one ofthose!‘
our group of Art Explorers was a mixed-age, a mixed-level and a mixed-ability group, with some pre-A, some A1 and some A2 children and we were all united in art. Everyone was involved, everyone was producing as much as they could and everyone had fun.
the kids who took part were the members of five different groups at the school and it was the first time they had a chance to interact with each other, in English.
the children had a chance to revise and practise English, to find out about Andy Warhol, to talk about feelings, emotions and associations and to exercise their creativity in the craft task.
it worked very well as an introduction to our Art Explorers programme
it was relatively low-key as regards the preparation and craft materials as we used the simplest things available: a powerpoint, a handout, a few sets of vocabulary flashcards, a few sets of watercolours, paintbrushes and cups.
it lasted 60 minutes but it could easily be adapted to 45 or 90 minutes, depending on the needs of the group and the age of the students.
We said hello, introduced ourselves and we had a small ‘get to know each other’. Each pair of students got a pile of flashcards (food, toys, sports, colours, animals etc). The students were supposed to pick out one card and to ask each: Do you like…. There was a model question and answers on the board, together with ‘because’ which the older students were already familiar with in order to encourage more developed answers.
Stage 2: Colours and emotions
We revised the emotions and a set of the basic adjectives was displayed on the board as a point of reference. Afterwards, we revised the colours and I introduced the idea of associations. The key word here (‘associations’) is actually quite similar to its counterpart in the kids’ L1 but I decided to use even a simpler structure ‘Green is a happy colour because…’
The kids were put into pairs, for another speaking activity and they were comparing their own associations related to each of the colours. At this point we did not use the flashcards. Instead, eaach pair got a set of markers and they were asked to discuss all the colours in the set. Afterwards we compared our ideas.
Stage 3: The artist of the day
We moved to the TV room to meet the artist of the day. At this point I was using the powerpoint which you can find in the attachments.
First of all we looked at the photo of Andy and the kids said as much as they could, about his appearance and character. Only later did I introduce him properly, albeit briefly – as artist, from the US, a very creative person.
I showed the kids a few paintings and asked what they thought of them. They were using the simplest structures of ‘I like’ and ‘I don’t like’ and, in the case of the older and more advanced students, to provide a rationale for their views.
The Campbell soup was especially interesting. First of all, because we compared it to the local brand of ready made food that the kids could relate to and it was a huge surprise that such a usual item can become an artifact. Second of all, this particular painting was how we transitioned into the theme of the day: how the same item, represented in different colours can create different associations.
Stage: The colours and the emotions
We looked at the photograph of Marilyn Monroe and one of the most famous paintings by Andy Warhol and at the similar painting of Mickey Mouse. We worked as a group and we talked about the different emotions related to different versions of Marilyn and Mickey Mouse and how they made us feel. I wanted to keep it open class in order to give the students a chance to hear as many different versions and ideas as possible to show them that the same painting can generate a great variety of emotions.
Stage: Let’s create
I told the kids that we are going to try to express our emotions and that we are going to be like Andy Warhol. I added that to Andy, Marilyn and Mickey were important symbols because he was American and that we would use some other symbols. At this point, the kids were already shouting out the name ‘Chebourashka’:-)
We went back to the other classroom. Everyone got a handout (see below) and a pencil or a marker. First, we all decided what feelings and emotions we wanted to represent and we labelled all the sections of the handout.
Afterwards, I gave out the painting materials and we sat down to work. The kids were given time to paint and I was painting my own and monitoring and chatting to the kids and asking the follow-up questions.
Stage: Tell me about your Chebourashka
The kids worked in pairs and told their partner about their pictures and the emotions they represented and, whenver possible, provided rationale for that. In that particular lesson, we only had enough time to talk to one partner but, in theory, there is a lot more potential and it is more than recommended for the kids to swap pairs and to talk to as many peers as possible.
Stage: Goodbye
We finished the lesson with cleaning up, with a round of stickers and with a song.
Storytelling (a definition for the purpose of this post): story-everything in class: telling stories, reading stories, listening to stories, writing stories, making-up stories, watching stories…
All the reasons to use stories in class when you teach children…
Stories, storybooks, traditional stories are a part of the child’s world
Stories help children learn about the world and the concepts
They also provide models of behaviour
They introduce children to other cultures
Telling stories and listening to stories is a social event
They help to develop focus and concentration
They can be a starting point to developing learning strategies such as predicting or making hypothesis
They expose children to different illustrations and they help to develop visual literacy
They help develop imagination
They help to develop kids’ memory
Stories help children to know the sounds, rhymes and this way to develop early literacy skills
Working with stories helps children learn about the value of books
They help children learn about the real and the imaginary world
Stories help faciliate interaction between adults and children
Children who read and listen to stories find it easier to understand other people
Kids who read stories are likely to have higher confidence levels
Stories are a natural way of teaching children
Stories help children relax
Stories help children understand their own feelings
Reading and stories can develop critical thinking skills
Storytelling and story reading can be a source of fun and pleasure
All the reasons to use stories in class because you teach a foreign language…
They create the context for the language
They help to build and develop the vocabulary
They can be used to introduce the langauge
They can be used to practise the langauge
They can be used to revise the language
They help develop listening skills
They expose the children both to dialogue and to narrative
Listening to stories is the first step to producing the language
They help develop literacy skills
Stories are a wonderful opportunity for integrating skills ie reading with listening or speaking with writing.
The stories created specifically for the EFL / ESL context have the graded language and they are built closely around the vocabulary and structures that they are already familiar with
Traditional stories have the advantage of being familiar to the children already and this will make their reception in a foreign language much easier
Storybooks are a source of the beautiful and natural language that can be made accessible to children. Some of them might be known to children (for example Gruffalo or The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and this will make the L2 version more easily understood and easier to use
Visuals accompanying the stories can also be used as a resource to introduce and to practise the langauge
They are an intergral part of the Young Learners Exam so using stories in class from early on will be contributing to preparing students for them
They can help connect studying English at school and studying English at home
They can motivate the children to learn the language
Using stories in class can encourage children to read for pleasure
Storytelling can be used as a classroom management tool as they are natural settlers
Some of the concepts in stories can be used to manage children’s behaviour in the EFL/ESL classroom ie ‘Boris goes to school’ is a story about making friends
Telling stories or reading stories can be an introduction or a follow-up to song lessons or craft lessons
Many stories have a set of structures and that makes them easier for the EFL/ESL students to learn
A story is usually used in more than one lesson. This repetition is also beneficial for the students as they can get more and more involved in the retelling or the re-reading of the stories
Telling stories can be an introduction to role-plays and drama activities
Even the lower level students can be encouraged to create stories. They will use their ideas based on the vocabulary they have (Wright)
Storytelling activities appeal to children with different intelligences and learning styles (Read)
Stories can be used to supplement the coursebook
Or they can be used as the basis for a curriculum
Reading and listening to stories can help with pronunciation in L2, too.
Stories encourage the kids to contribute ideas and to express themselves
Have I forgotten anything? I must have. Although 50 is not a bad number to start with. More later…
Happy teaching!
Bibliography
I will give myself a permission to be slightly reckless about referencing everyone since it is not a very serious research article. While preparing this post, I have consulted:
Sandie Mourao and Gail Ellis (2020), Teaching English to Pre-primary children, Delta Teacher Development Series
Opal Dunn (2012), Introducing English to Young Children: Spoken Language, Collins
Well, well, well, this is officially my post #100 on the blog and I am in the mood for celebrating. That might take the form of sharing some random numbers (8,280 visits and 5,563 visitors over a year and a half (and mind you, I have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER if it is ‘impressive’, ‘not so good at all’ or just ‘why even bring it up?!’) and pondering over the fact that these have been my 5 most popular posts:
Which means that there is some interest in teaching pre-schoolers, using visuals in class and that Pasha, the invisible student, has become a bit more real, overall.
Apart from that, however, I would also like to take this opportunity to share with you my top 10 wordwall activities that I use with my primary and pre-primary students.
Disclaimer: Wordwall is amazing, no doubt about that, but it is still only a resource, a material. Its main aim is to provide opportunities for the students to produce the language. For that reason, in all of the games (for the lack of a better word) described below there will be always a differentiation between the material (the actual tool created with wordwall formats) and the activity (how we use it in class).
Activity: Kids take turns to ask everyone the key question using the cue on the card. All the students in the group answer. The same pattern can be used with any question ie Do you like…? Can you…? Have you got…?
Works well with: primary (they can attempt working in pairs and taking turns to ask a question to their partner only) and pre-primary, individual and groups
Activity: Kids play in teams, ask for the box to be open, produce a sentence (or sentences about the picture), win the number of points. The game about seasons is a very simple one, for preschoolers, the one such as this one here, about animals, can generate a lot more language, also with preschoolers and, of course, a lot more with primary.
Works well with: primary and pre-primary (with pre-primary we play T vs the whole class), groups and individial (we play T vs the student).
Activity: Kids play in teams, team A asks the question ‘What’s this?’, team B tries to answer. Afterwards the teacher flips the card to check. Depending on the vocabulary kids then say whether they like it or not or try to describe, too.
Works well with: pre-primary, individual and groups, it might be a bit under-challenging for the primary students
Which one is correct? Spelling
Materials: Flashcards, double-sided, with visuals and correct and incorrect spelling of the word Places in the city or a quiz with a similar idea, for example this oneSuperminds 5, Read andchoose
Activities: Kids read both versions and choose the correct one. With the flashcards the teacher is flipping the cards back and forth, I use it mostly with my 1-1s. With groups the quiz version works better and it can turn into a proper quiz, with the kids writing the answers down.
Activities: Kids work in pairs, one student in each pair has to sit with their back to the TV/ interactive whiteboard, the other is looking at the board. T keeps dealing the cards. The student looking at the screen has to describe the word for their partner to guess. After a certain number of rounds they change. The cards usually have the words on them, too, so it works well with mixed ability groups.
Works well with: primary and teens. I have only tried it with groups.
Activity: We use the cards or the matching activity to sing the song, slowly, with pauses, to practise and to revise before the actual video / track. The set such as the one for the ‘As quiet as a mouse’ can be used to start creating own versions of the song as kids have only the animals and they can (if they are ready) to come up with their own adjectives.
Works well with: primary and pre-primary, individual and groups.
Story / video comprehension check
Materials: Match to accompany Peppa Pig ‘Fruit Day’ or a quiz to accompany Peppa Pig ‘George is ill’
Activities: We normally learn the vocabulary, get ready for watching the video and then watch it. The games described here are used to check comprehension. The quiz is read by the teacher and the kids answer ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ and correct the incorrect sentences (unless I use the same story with primary who can read it themselves). The matching activity is always accompanied by a structure. It can be a simple ‘Apples are for George’ or a more comples ‘George would like apples’.
Works well with: primary and pre-primary, individual or groups.
Activities: The game itself is usually set for homework. We check it together, whole class. Afterwards the kids are divided into pairs and they test each other, for example Student A says: I am going to the supermarket’, student B has to recreate the second half of the sentence. To help the kids a bit, I put up some key words (ie places and main verbs) on the board. The kids change after a few rounds.
Activities: Kids work in pairs and the kids interview each other, reading the questions or prompts of the computer / TV / interactive whiteboard. Afterwards they swap.
Works well with: primary and teens, individual and groups
Activities: Kids look at the cards and listen to the teacher describing the pictures. If the sentence is correct, they say ‘Yes’, if there is a mistake, they reply with ‘No!’ and correct the mistake. Later on, there is a lot of potential for the kids to take turns to lead the game. The older students can work in pairs, too, while looking at the screen / the interactive whiteboard / the TV.
Works well with: primary and pre-primary, individual and groups.
If you are looking for inspiration or ready activity, you can find my profile (Azapart) there. I share all of my activities so there is plenty to choose from, especially if you work with Playway to English and Superminds.
Here you will also find Part 2 of this post and even more ideas for using Wordwall games in your YL classes.
Happy teaching!
P.S. A request!
It is very simple.
I would like to know a tiny little bit more about my readers. There are so many of you, popping in here, again and again, and the numbers of visitors and visits are going up and make my heart sweel with joy. But I realised I don’t know anything about my readers and I would love to know, a tiny little bit more.
I am a trainer and an assistant director of studies. I spend a relatively large part of my professional life sitting in the back of classrooms, observing. I love it.
Not that anyone asked (hahaha, here is one clumsy blogger, at your service. After all, one should start with ‘Many of you have been asking me…’ or ‘I’ve received many questions about…’ I DID NOT) but if I were to give one piece of advice to all the YL and VYL teachers (or maybe not only to them), it would be this: BREATHE.
If I were given a chance to use more words, I would say:
‘Breathe! Pause! Calm down! We care about the efficient use of the lesson time but nobody is in a hurry, nobody is rushing to catch a train. There is time. You will be doing a great service to yourself and to your kids. I promise. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat!’
What do I mean? Here are five ideas.
Instructions
Going slow is absolutely crucial while giving instructions.
Not always but frequently enough our primary and pre-primary students will be doing something in class for the first time in their lives, without any metaphors whatsoever. It is quite likely that we, the teachers are the first ones to introduce a boardgame to them, a role-play, a game with a dice, a pair-work activity, a mingle, the game of pelmanism or a project. Our students might behave like they have never done it before because, very often, they really haven’t. Or they haven’t done it in a foreign language to practise vocabulary or grammar. It really IS their first time! Our classroom IS full of Gagarins, Columbuses or Cabrals (or whoever is your favourite First-Timer Metaphor).
That is why the instructions we give have to be not only graded and accompanied by gestures and (ideally) by modelling but also paced. With the teacher taking baby steps, pausing (and breathing) for all the students to catch up. Before anyone is allowed to take the next step forward.
Taking this one breath in-between the sentences will really make a huge difference. Let’s breathe then!
A listening task, as in: anylistening task
Listening tasks for young learners are another example how pausing can make the world go round and in the right way, too. This tiny (and, really, the most insignificant) movement of the teacher’s finger pressing PAUSE on the CD player / the telephone / the computer can be the factor that decides about the activity becoming a success or a failure. Something that amazes me every single time I see it in action.
PAUSE and the kids have a chance to hear what they are supposed to hear, circle what they are supposed to circle and get ready for the next bit. PAUSE and the teacher has a real chance to monitor while in-task. PAUSE and if there have been any glitches, now is the time to fix things and to save the rest of the activity.
DON’T and they miss the first example because they are still not quite sure what they are doing. Then they miss the second example because the breaks between the pieces of the recording are too short and there are no numbers or beeps to help their focus. DON’T and, inevitably, they miss the third one, too, because they missed the previous two and everything becomes just a mesh of sounds. DON’T and you have no chance to monitor or to give feedback, Although, really, it is NOT a mini-test that the kids should pass. It is only an opportunity to develop their listening comprehension skills. It is ok to help, to support and to guide. Unless it is a real test.
So maybe it is a good idea, to pause and to breathe?
Questions and answers
Here is a question: Do you know how long is the average ‘wait time’ aka the time that elapses between the moment a teacher asks a question and the moment a student is expected to answer it?
Well, fasten your seatbelts because it is quite likely that what I am about to tell you will be a bit of a shock.
Apparently, we, teachers wait as long as long as 1.5 seconds at maximum and most of the time even less than that. One second and a half. Which means that we don’t really wait at all. Either student A knows that answer that we want to get and they provide it or they don’t (more likely) and we move on to student B or C until we find what we want or we just answer the question ourselves.
Extending that wait time can have a huge impact on students’ learning, engagement and, possibly, also on their confidence because they will be given a chance and time to rise and shine. And don’t worry. By extending here I mean ‘waiting three (3) seconds‘, not the whole eternity. 3 seconds aka one inhale – exhale set. Breathe!
Just look at the picture first
This particular issue is going to make an entry here for one and very specific reason: our coursebooks and all the materials for YL are full of great visual material which, sadly, is not given all the attention it deserves.
The first question that I often I ask my trainees during the post-observation feedback session while discussing visuals, photographs, cartoons and drawings is: Why not spend more time on talking about the picture? There are so many things that you can do with a picture! (If you are not sure what these are, have a look at the earlier posts, here and here).
Once we establish that these do indeed have a lot of potential that needs to be tapped into, the question arises of how to do it. And this is how we get back to breathing.
Whenever students are shown a new picture, one that they have never seen before, they need to be given time to take it in, with its narration and all the details. It is more important for the younger learners, since their cognitive skills are still developing but it can be beneficial for the learners of all age groups and levels. If you are in doubt, just have a look at how visuals are dealt with during the speaking part of different Cambridge exams, from Movers, through PET to CAE, although with the higher levels it is hidden under the lengthy instructions from the interlocutor during which the candidates are allowed to look at the photographs they are to describe.
Step 1: instructions, Step 2: one deep breath while the kids are getting ready. Thinking time is precious and it extends on all the activities, picture-related or not.
Classroom management
Last but not least, the main destroyer of the peaceful flow of a VYL and YL lesson makes an appearance, too – the unwanted behaviour, in all its shapes and sizes.
The option of ‘doing nothing’ is out of the question, it is the teacher’s job to react but perhaps it is worth considering whether the immediate reaction is the best solution. After all, there might be some situations in which everyone would benefit from the teacher taking a deep breath and using this second or two to calm down, to consider the options and to see the situation from the little people’s point of view? Maybe the situation was not that serious? Maybe it was just a silly joke? Maybe just an unfortunate mistake? Maybe the reaction does not need to involve the headmaster, the parents and the armoured infantry? At least in some cases. This tiny little pause might help establish that. The thinking time for the teacher. And then – back to action!
Realistic vs non-realistic? Am I am really inside of a huge glass piano?
Preface
A while ago I got into a discussion on why the realistic flashcards aka photographs are much better for YL than the cartoon flashcards.
Oh wait, not quite this way. First (and foremost), as I am typing up this post, I am glancing left and right, for support. To the right, towards the shelf with my storybooks and all the ‘unrealistic’ illustrations and all the imaginary characters and to the left, where the materials for the next Lesson at the Museum are lying (this week: Natalia Goncharova, more of that – soon!). At this point, I still cannot formulate it very well but my guts (and a few years in the classroom and around kids) are telling me that realistic and photographic IS NOT the only way. I object.
Second of all, this discussion, it just was not a discussion at all. I must admit, I am a bit naive when it comes to the social media and I would like to believe that teacher meet there to exchange ideas, to learn from each other, not to preach, making it look like theirs is the only way to do things and recommending that I should do my homework and read first before I voice an opinion (as if the empirical evidence did not matter at all).
Enough of this bitterness, though. Here I am after all, doing my own reading and research, with mixed feelings, if I am to be perfectly honest. A little bit anxious (because what if the research proves that I was wrong, eh? What then? (I am laughing here) and a little bit excited (because what if the research proves that I was right? (still laughing).
This introduction was planned and written before the actual reading did happen but you, dear reader, looking at the title (courtesy of Mr W. Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon), you can guess now where it is all going (based on the research that I have managed to do so far) so if you have very little time on your hands, I will make it easier for you, here is a summary of the whole post:
When it comes to choosing between the visuals with a high degree of iconicity (aka the resemblance between the picture and the object) such as photographs and the visuals with a low degree of iconicity such as cartoons, storybooks illustrations, there isn’t only one answer, one way out, one approach. It is not a case of black and white, good and bad, left or right. It is a beautiful case of ‘well, it all depends’. Done.
Now, if you have more time, follow me. There is more to come.
Realistic vs imaginary: My teacher is a cat.
Act I: Why choose the real photos
The first (and the most important question) to ask here is: How old is the child? A picture is a symbol, a representation of the real object and children will require a certain level of cognitive skills development (such as symbolic development, analogical reasoning, reasoning about fantasy and reality) in order to be able to process that image and to relate it to something that they know from real life.
For example, newborns, who have not become symbols users, when presented with a photographic image and a real object, would always choose the real object over the visuals but, at the same time, if the real object was not present, they would interact with its image in exactly the same way as they would with the real object. These examples come for a truly fascinating article by Gabrielle A. Strouse, Angela Nyhout and Patricia A. Ganea which you can find here.
As shown in other studies they mention, too, it seems that although these young children can transfer the concepts both from cartoons and photographs or realistic drawings to the real world, the more realistic the image the easier the transfer. And for that reason, we find plenty of recommendations for such books to be used with the younger pre-schoolers. This attitude seems to be especially popular according to the Montessori method (although to be honest, I am not very familiar with it, I know it only from reading, not from the classroom, so forgive me for any inaccuracies or faux-pas that I might commit here).
Another interesting argument, and this time applying to not only the youngest children, is how the information presented in the picturebooks might have an impact on children learning about the world. As Strouse (et al) claim, it seems that ‘Fantastical context used in stories may cue children that information presented in books is not transferable to real-world contexts’, especially when the children do not really have any opportunities to connect the book world with the real world because, for example they live in the city and have never been on a farm, or are not supported by adults in their journey through books. The authors claim that it might impact the learning of physics and biology or moral learning. All these arguments would support the use of photographs and realistic cartoons.
Apart from that, there is the obvious argument, applicable both to children, teenagers and adults, alike – we like photographs. According to the professionals such as graphic designers (because this is where this reasearch has taken me, too), photography is used when we strive for accuracy, professionalism and when promoting the object is the real aim. The latter two might not really be relevant to the world of EFL and ESL but the first of them, accuracy is going to be our key word. When presenting vocabulary to children we want them to understand clearly what we mean and a photograph of an elephant will illustrate it better than a drawing of an elephant. We might not only see the tiny little details such as the shade and the texture of the skin but, quite likely, the elephant will be photographed in a natural environment so we will be also able to notice how big it is and what kind of a habitat it lives in. The elephant will most likely be doing something, walking, running, eating or sleeping and this will help us understand a bit more about it. Not to mention that it will also help us produce more language (the secret aim for anything that the English teachers do).
It seems to be especially important in the English lessons while teaching the concepts that students are not familiar with and which they do not encounter in their real life such as the jungle animals (while teaching in Russia), snow (while teaching in Brazil) or Polish pierogi (while teaching outside of Poland). The photographs will help the children understand these concepts better than drawing, although, it has be said that no photographs of snowy landscapes will help you get the real idea of what winter is like unless you have rolled in snow yourself and unless you have actually tried to catch the snowflakes on your tongue. As regards preschoolers, there arises one more question, too – Should we even introduce the concepts, ideas and vocabulary that they are not familiar with in their L1 and in their lives? My personal (and very subjective) answer would be: ‘no’, not in the EFL context, with a limited language exposure and the limited lesson time available. With a very few exceptions, of some cool animals. Perhaps.
Realistic vs illustrations: Two Cookie Monsters
Act II: Why choose illustrations
First and foremost, as children are growing, they develop their cognitive skills and they become better at recognising symbols, using symbols and, last but definitely not least, at creating symbols (here you will find my earlier post devoted to symbolic representation and the EFL with your starter kit). Using illustrations, cartoons and drawing is necessary!
Children are progressively better able not only to distinguish between these and label them as more realistic and a less realistic representations of an animal…
…they might also appreciate the cat on the far right as it is most likely to resemble the cats that they draw in their pictures. And as they are learning to hold a pencil and to produce marks, scribbles, lines and circles, it will be quite a long time before their drawings look like the cat in the middle or anywhere near the cat on the far left. As Bernadette Duffy (see bibliography) says ‘If we intervene with a view that the purpose of art (or, in this case anything that children create (own comments) is to produce an image that is as realistic as possible and therefore think of children as failed artists we may do great harm by imposing inappropriate expectations that do not match children’s developmental stage‘.
Then there are the visual arts and these are full of ‘hurdles’ for a rational mind. Picasso’s faces are far (far far) from realistic. Chagal makes his characters float in the air, as if they were kites (sometimes accompanied by goats). Warhol stubbornly chooses the ‘wrong’ colours and Malevich replaces the whole world with one (amazing) square. And then there is Miro, Bosch, Rothko and many, many, many more. It is, of course, possible to give up on teaching art to such young children, but, before you do, please read why it is a good idea and how it benefits them. For that very reason, all the major galleries and museums include programmes for kids.
As for the graphic designers, among the advantages of the illustrations is the fact that they can be used whenever it is necessary to show the unique features and to stand out, since all the photos of the cat might look the same and the drawings will differ as they will depend more on the artist style, abilities and techniques, when a simple design is needed (for example an icon) and to depict the imaginary.
The last argument seems especially fitting in the world of the early years. Or in the classroom. Children love stories and these feature real children, talking animals and a whole array of imaginary characters such as mermaids, fairies, dragons, dwarves, fish with fingers and children who are going on a bear hunt (something that you should not really be doing in real life, not when you are five and, actually, although this is yet a very personal opinion, never ever ever). This imaginary world is a part of being a child and children do grow out of it, eventually and naturally. Although, still, some of us, even at 40, we like to revisit this world, accompanying Harry Potter to Hogwarts, Frodo to Mordor and Zima Blue in his search of the meaning of life.
Another thing is that, as a material designer for preschoolers (and I am that, too, as all teachers are), I sometimes tend to choose illustrations over photographs specifically because they are simple and easier to colour for my 3- and 4-year-olds and because I want to convey the general meaning of the word ‘bird’, rather than anything specific, for instance ‘a sparrow’
Another reason for choosing the illustrations over more realistic drawings or photographs is that some animals look too realistic and scary. I am one who does not really like touching the spider flashcard (cartoon, but too real and disgustic) and some of my students feel the same way. So, in case of a crocodile, for instance, I might opt for the one on the far right.
Realistic vs imaginary: a class portrait and a teacher of seven fingers (but with amazing eyelashes:-)
Act III: Why do we have to choose? Variety is the answer!
That’s it. A ridiculously short Act III. Nothing more to add. We can and we should use both. Also because the realistic is not always true, either. Have a look at the photo that introduces this post once more: Am I or am I NOT sitting inside of a huge glass piano?
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article as much as I have enjoyed researching for it and that this is definitely not the end.
And a request to you, dear read. All of the sources that I have used directly have been referenced throughout the post. Below you will see some other treasures that you might find interesting. If you have anything else to add to this list – please, let me know in the comments sections.
Two requests, actually – if you have any stories related to children’s reactions to the photographs and visuals used in class, more or less realistic, please share these, too!
Bernadette Duffy, Supporting Creativity and Imagination in the Early Years, Open University Press, Maidenhead
P.S. A request!
It is very simple.
I would like to know a tiny little bit more about my readers. There are so many of you, popping in here, again and again, and the numbers of visitors and visits are going up and make my heart sweel with joy. But I realised I don’t know anything about my readers and I would love to know, a tiny little bit more.
All photos dedicated to the city. Happy Birthday, Moscow!
Everyone gets to answer the question, at one point in one’s life, at least once. ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ On my personal wishlist, over the years, there were the following: a ballerina, a doctor, a woman (the first one), a plumber (that is the latest, my plan for the retirement years) and…a teacher. No idea if that means ‘no ambition whatsoever’ or ‘achievable aims’ but nevermind that. I am a teacher. Yay to these dreams that come true, tick!
I have been planning to write this post for a while but I’ve been struggling and what I ended up with was either a lot of sentimental waffle or some lofty speeches worthy of an educational Thomas Moore. No, thank you. Instead, I am going to hide behind a few stories, hoping that they will collectively illustrate why one might want to become a teacher.
There is a boy in this story, a local troublemaker, who actively spent his school time making his teachers’ life ‘interesting‘ for three years straight. There is always one of these in every class and someone has to be their teacher. The teacher and everyone else survived.
The same boy, fifteen years on (15!), meets the teacher’s brother at some kind of a social do in the hometown. ‘I was a nightmare at school‘, says the boy, already an adult, ‘Say hello to your sister and pass on my apologies‘.
There is another student, a girl this time, that the same brother meets at another do in the hometown. This student, years on, also asks the brother to pass her regards. ‘I don’t remember many teachers from the school.’, she says, ‘I do remember her. She was cool.’
There is an adult student, Olga, who gets in touch via Instagram and it turns out that she is also a teacher now and that seems to be inspired to become a teacher of English in the teacher’s classroom, about ten years earlier. And it nothing short of touching…
There is the first student ever, her own cousin, Magda, and the lessons which were based on pure enthusiasm and on intuition because the teacher was more of an ugly duckling and not yet a real professional. Now, imagine this teacher’s emotions when, a few years later, she was sitting in the hallways of the university, waiting for Magda to pass her final exams and to be awarded an MA in English and Translation.
There is a teenager, only a year ago, at the summer camp. This teenager fills in an anonymous feedback form and in her commentaries on the English lessons writes ‘I’m not scared anymore‘. To be honest, that reduces the teacher to tears because, really, although the lessons were good, she thinks ‘Ihave not done anything special‘, and yet, that seems to have made a difference.
There is the little girl, Sasha. After one of the lessons, this little girl comes up to her teacher, looks at her with a very serious face and says: ‘Anka, thank you very much for preparing such interesting activities for us‘.
It’s been a good few years already but the teacher still hasn’t recovered from the happy shock that this conversation was. The little people hardly ever do that. They will go for it, they will take part and leave the classroom happy. Sometimes, they might bring you a dead ladybird or donate the only balloon they have. Sometimes they may actually confess ‘Я Вас люблю‘.
Very often, though, as soon as they leave the group or change the school, they simply forget. Just forget. I like to think that they make room for new memories and new information. Out of sight, out of heart, without any metaphors. And no honourable mentions on the social media. But that’s ok, that’s simply how it is and it doesn’t matter. The teacher knows anyway that maybe she will not be remembered, but she did make a tiny little bit of a difference.
But there is more than just the blast from the past, more than just memories. There are the kids in the classroom, here and now. It is a good feeling to be looking at their progress test results. It feels great when they come back in September and proudly show the certificates they got from Cambridge.
It is even more beautiful when during the most regular lesson, you realise that the shiest and the quietest teenager in the world now leads the debate and presents winning arguments, with the confidence that could move the mountains. Or, that the student who entered the classroom five years ago to learn her first words, now is telling everyone about something that happened at school that morning, a hilarious story from the cafeteria, with the narration and the dialogue, with only a few grammar hiccups which are still to be expected since it is only A1 and she is only 9.
So, for a moment like one of these, the teacher is still a teacher.
And, now, as a reward, since you have lasted until the end of this post, here are all the articles that might come in handy in September.
There is no need for anything else serious now, not with the amount of work related to the end-of-year procedures, the amount of work related to the summer programmes kick-off or the very important teacher training course that has just taken off. If there are any posts to come in the next few weeks, they will be all of the following kind: light-hearted, frolicky, with a giggle.
A teacher = a chameleon, a teacher = a jack of all trades, a monitor, a manager, a mediator, a diagnostician and a teacher, experienced or not, talented or not, on a good day or on a bad, this very person juggles all these roles and a teacher multi-tasks, playing a few roles at the same time.
But there are the other roles that a teacher plays in the classroom. Here are mine.
I’m a coach.
I work hard with my players. Whenever they are there, I am there, at every single training session, those technical ones, those devoted to developing speed and agility, those before the important game. I have been a player myself, I know what it all feels like, I have learnt how to share this knowledge. I am sometimes light-hearted, sometimes very serious but I know what our aim is and I am going to do everything to get us there.
But, at the same time, I am not the one who is going to play this important game. I am preparing my sportsmen but they are the ones who will be performing themselves. I will not be able to be there and always hold their hand, not on the pitch. They will be on their own and they need to get ready for that. Our time in the training session has to focus on that, on giving them skills, developing their independence and confidence. And then they go.
I’m a gardener.
I have my patch, my garden, my orchard. I plant my seeds and my saplings. I hope for the sun and good weather. I water, every day or even twice a way. I protect from the insects and birds. I check out for the weeds. I look and check up on them regularly. I wait. I wait. I wait. I wait. I wait. I wait. I worry about the wind, storm, temperature drops.
After a very long time and a lot of waiting, the day comes when a leaf appears, a flower, a raspberry here and a carrot there. And when it does happen, it is the best day every and I rejoice. And sometimes, I need to water more or move the pot into the sunnier place, or back into the house. Sometimes, I have plant the seeds again.
I’m a (kind) witch.
I am sweet (or so I would like to believe, at least when I am in the classroom:-) I smile a lot and I laugh a lot. I can turn a lot of difficult situations into a joke, to disperse the clouds. I wear funky socks and funky masks. Funky earrings, too. I am kind. I laugh a lot.
But I am also a witch and there can be no doubt (never ever) who is in charge, who is the boss and who has got all the superpowers. Which she will not hesitate to use. When necessary, the smile will be put away, on the shelf and the witch will do the witch’s things. If the world really needs it.
I know that these might be also referred to ‘teaching personas’ or ‘teaching personalities’ but I am going to stick to the concept of ‘a role’ here. Because ‘personality’ suggests something more serious (and that’s not the word for today, remember) and something more permanent and these described above are not traits, only characters that one assumes while entering the classroom. They can be different on different days, more or less prominent or obvious, they might appear every day or be held in the cupboards, kept for the special day…Perhaps we change as people because of the fact that we teach and that we teach English and that we teach English to kids and because of how we do it. Perhaps we choose our teaching roles based on what we are. Perhaps both. That is a conversation to be had on another day. Maybe.
In the meantine, if you want to share how you see yourself in the classroom, there is the comment box below. I am really looking forward to reading these.
Most of the time, it is fast asleep, lying peacefully somewhere in the attics of my heart, covered in dust bunnies. Until, all of a sudden, it is rudely awaken because I find myself in the middle of one of the following conversations…
And that’s not everything. There’s more, lots more. Sometimes there are no (silly) questions but what happens is a rather intensive listening / lip watching event, in order to evaluate my presumably low level of proficiency in English or to detect some serious issues with pronunciation which, potentially at least, could justify the VYL-ness or YL-ness of me.
Why? Who knows.
The funniest thing is that, usually, it is not the parents, the students themselves, the HR or the admin of the schools but our own EFL nation, the fellow teachers, the colleagues who initiate these threads in the conversation. And it is not even the trolling on the social media or remarks whispered behind one’s back, no! More often than not, these are the things that people just throw right into your face…They have just met you, you have just been introduced, they don’t know a single thing about you, apart from ‘Anka, I teach VYL and YL‘ and yet, here we go…
Although, really, it would be very easy to turn the tables and start asking questions such as those ‘What?! You are NOT teaching YL?’ or ‘So you only teach (insert any non-YL area of ELF)? Doesn’t it get extremely boring and repetitive?‘
Only of course, I would not do any such thing. Because it is rude and/or unnecessary…And, no, I do not want everyone to be passionate about teaching children. We all have our own preferences and areas of expertise, things that we like and things that we hate, things that we are amazing at and things we’d rather not do.
Guess what? People choose to teach kids.
It is 2021. Out there, in the big, wide world, there are fully-educated, native speakers or non-native speakers teachers of English, male and female, mums and non-mums, private language school teachers and state school teachers who choose to focus on and to specialise in teaching English to children.
Because it is… more interesting, exciting, creative, inspiring, rewarding, fun…Despite the fact that ‘you can’t really have a conversation with them‘ or despite the fact that ‘you can’t ever teach Present Perfect Continuous Passive‘.
Even as I type these words, I can see a long list of names, my friends, colleagues, mentors, trainees who I have had a chance to meet and to work with, people who are amazing professionals, able to work with any level and any age group but who have found their true calling in working with the youngest of the EFL learners.
Many of them have already build their professional portfolio and, on the way, have grown a thicker skin. Comments and questions, as those quoted above, annoying as they are, will not really cause much damage to the system. ‘Sticks and stones can break my bones...’and all that. These teachers will be able to come unscathed by casually mentioning the years in the classroom, the feedback from their students or parents or maybe also a DELTA, an MA degree, Cambridge exams passed, IELTS bands received, publications, conference presentations and what not. Thus signalling that there are some alternative conversations to be had. With some alternative interlocutors, perhaps.
These experienced teachers I am not concerned about. They are and they will be fine. More than fine, in fact.
What worries me is that somewhere out there, there are novice YL teachers or newly-qualified teachers or, indeed, some would-be teachers, having been exposed to this kind of narrow-mindedness, will get into thinking that an English teacher first of all has to choose only one area of specialism and that a choice between ‘a teacher of English to adults/exams/IELTS/Business’ and ‘a teacher of English to YL’ is also a choice between qualifications, professionalism, respect and the lack of them. Which it is not.
Dear colleagues, dear amazing VYL and YL teachers! Thank you for being in the world! Thank you for your enthusiasm, dedication, ideas, creativity and energy. Thank you for caring.
And don’t forget – you rock!
Happy teaching!
P.S. What a rant, hey?:-) If you want to read some more positive notes on being a VYL teacher, check out this post on the hidden perks of working with the little people.
It is the middle of one heavy-duty reading for the theoretical background for my first classroom research. I am already a bit tired because it takes time for a rookie scholar (if we want to use big words, if not – just a humble MA student). The eyes are struggling, the brain is struggling, even the spine is struggling because it’s been quite a few articles on the Zone of Proximal Development since the day broke. And, sadly, not all of them exciting. Alas.
But then, somehow, I opened a piece by H. Nassaji and A.Cummings from a few years back *) and, all of a sudden, I was wide awake and excited!
Why? The article is an account of a small-scale but very interesting research based on the dialogue journals that a primary school teacher set up for one of her young students – a 6-year-old boy from an immigrant family who already spoke English at the point of their arrival in Canada but he still struggled in comparison with his peers at school. The journals were a supplementary homework task and their main aim was an opportunity to develop the child’s literacy skills, catered to his immediate needs. The article is fascinating account of the nature of the Zone of Proximal Development and how it was changing in relation to the child developing langauge skills. Highly recommened!
This is how my researcher’s brain reacted. My teacher’s brain only sighed ‘I WANT ONE OF THOSE!’
And I got one. It’s been three years now and this is one of my favourite teaching projects. This is how we do it.
Ingredients
The main aim of this project is the development of young learners’ literacy skills, reading and writing. I normally start this project with my Starters students (that is the children who have finished the YLE Starters level and are about to start preparing for Movers, or, in other words, are at the start of the A1 level). The reasoning behind that timing is the fact that, most of the time, children can deal with simple tests, write single words or simple sentences within a specific structure (from among those that they are familiar with such as I like, I’ve got, I can) but cannot be considered to be fluent readers or independent writers. Not yet, anyway, but keeping the journal is definitely going to help them become these.
The journals are kept in simplenotebooks which I buy for my students. I do not really introduce the idea to the students, apart from a short note, in the kids’ L1, glued into the notebook in which the journal introduces itself. It goes, more or less, like that: Hello! I am your new project – a journal! Please open me, read the notes from Anka and, if you want, write something and bring it back when you are ready! Anka will read it and write something to you!
This time round, since we are all on whatsapp, it was also followed-up by a note to parents which explained in more detail what it is and how I would like to run it.
In each notebook, on the first page, there was the first entry, from me. All of them consisted of only a few lines and said:
Hello student!
How are you? What’s your favourite subject / food / sport / colour / toy?
Write to me!
Anka
Procedures
Everything is super simple and straightforward: I give out notebooks, kids take them home, read, reply and bring them back. Then I take them home, read their notes and reply. Afterwards, I take photos of all the entries to keep the record, to be able to reflect on their progress and to save all the data. After all, travelling notebooks are in a grave danger of getting lost in-between the school and the house.
I do not correct any mistakes in the notebooks themselves, not to discourage the kids and not to destroy their entries with my scribbles. Instead, I focus on the delayed error correction and on the extensive input and additional practice based on the mistakes I spot.
It is very important to highlight that I really do not want the journals to become an additonal homework task. The kids are supposed to take part voluntarily and as frequently as they are ready to. In our everyday lesson procedures, whenever we check our regular homework, I also ask ‘Have you got the addional homework?’. I do not keep track of who brought what and when. There are no marks or points involved.
That means that each child is in charge of the journal and of how involved they want to be, they can write a little or a lot, they can write every week or every two weeks, they can draw or not. And, last but not least, they can opt out of being involved altogether.
Reflection
The journals are an amazing opportunity for the kids to develop literacy skills outside of the classroom. Each entry means additional opportunity to read a bit and to write a bit.
All of the entries are highly personalised and unique. The conversations that started from the same ‘What’s your favourite…?’ have taken different routes and turned into conversations about hobbies, families, books, food, sports and pets. Some of them are accompanied by drawings, some of them turned into scrapbooks that both the teacher and the student contribute to. What is more, although there is some scaffolding (ie the questions asked by the teacher), the students have a lot of freedom as regards the topic, the vocabulary and the structures that they want and will use.
They are perfectly suited to the needs of a mixed ability group. I have students who take time to read and to plan what they want to write and later to produce an entry for two pages. I have students who write only one sentence answer and their own question. I had students in the past from whom, at one point, it was easy to supplement the text with simple drawings in order to limit the number of words that they had to write but I was and I am extremely grateful and excited about any, even the smallest contribution.
Regardless of the volume of the text, it is obvious that the kids also learn from the experience as sometimes they write about the topics that are not included in our course curriculum, such as some unusual hobbies, less common although useful verbs etc, and this makes them look up the words in dictionaries which proves that the project also works towards expanding their vocabulary.
What is more, it has been obvious from the very beginning (with different groups) that the students really do enjoy taking part in this project to the point that at one point it even interrupted our classroom routine. As soon as I would give out the journals back to their owners, the kids would grab them, open them and start reading, completely engrossed in it and not paying attention to what was happening in the classroom. Did it upset me? Of course not! I know the feeling – when the book that you are reading is so interesting and so good that you don’t want to put it away. Only this time, it was not a book but our journal and our conversations. I was happy. But I had play with the routine a little bit – on some days I check the homework at the end of the lesson and on some days, we check the homework in two stages, first the homework for all and the journals at the end of the lesson only, depending on the day.
One more lesson learnt is that Kids Can! I am all for challenging the students and hoovering on the outskirts of the ZPD, stretching it gently and carefully but stretching it nonetheless, but since I started this project I have been surprised, time after time. For me, for a long time the main indicator of the students’ writing skills has been the YLE Cambridge tasks and writing assessment scales. While I still consider these to be relevant and useful, thanks to this experience, I was able to see that children, even at the age of 7 and on the level of A1 are capable of a lot more. If given a chance to produce and if the conditions are perfect.
Sample aka a few quotes
‘I’m happy because big holidays.’
‘My favourite food is pasta. I don’t like pasta’
‘My favourite toy is Lego. I like making cars, houses from Lego. I like teddy bears, too. What’s your hobby?’
‘I like to draw magic animals.’
‘I can cook, a little.’
‘I have got many, many, many toys.’
‘I love sharks because they are big and interesting’.
‘My favourite city is Moscow because Moscow is very good and has a lot of big houses.’
The beginning of a beautiful adventure
As I have mentioned above, I have been journaling for three years now, with groups and with individual students, primary and a bit older, too. It has been so successful that I started to use journals in the other areas of teaching and teacher training. More on that soon!
What about the students who don’t want to take part? Nothing. It is their choice and I have respect it. After all, I am this girl who has kept journals since since she was 13 (yes, there are still a few notebooks in my parents’ house, filled up with words, sketches and memories) but not everyone might like writing. Instead, I will encourage, I will praise and I will be completely over the moon when a journal comes back but that’s it. And I will be happy when they do their regular homework and I will absolutely melt when a five-year-old sister of my student also attempts a letter, inspired by our exchanges.
So, how about a journal for your students?
My youth in journals)
Happy teaching!
*) H. Nassaji and A. Cummings (2000), What’s in a ZPD? A case of a young ESL student and teacher interacting through dialogue journals, Language Teaching Research, 4 (2), p. 95 – 121.
