Many people assume that school’s out for the summer, but for many private English schools, it’s business as usual. Teaching children in the heat of the summer is sometimes challenging, because everyone’s energy is at a low. When students are tired after swimming or playing with their friends outside in the summer sun, expecting them to have enough patience to learn a new activity may end up causing you and them undue frustration. The “lazy days of summer” are best for brushing up on the basics or enjoying familiar games and activities.
A very easy and enjoyable activity is Song Substitutions. Find a song or chant that the students love to do and review it a few times. Have fun thinking of many different ways to do this – with the CD, without the CD, very quickly like a hyperactive cartoon character, very slowly like a zombie, very softly like a little mouse, etc. After the song or chant has been thoroughly reviewed, substitute new vocabulary words in the same category to make a new version! The We Can! Starter is a useful resource for introducing new vocabulary words during a Song Substitution activity.
All students love the Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes song from We Can! Level 1 Unit 2 (My Body/page 14).
Have the students sing the song and touch their body parts as they sing them. Then, turn to Starter Unit 5 (My Body/pages 12 and 13) and have them find and point to the body parts that are sung in the original version of the song. (This is a great time to gently introduce the grammatical concept of singular and plural nouns, as many of the body parts in the original song are plural (i.e. knees), but are singular on the pages of the Starter.) After teaching the rest of the body parts on the pages, very slowly sing this new version of the song and see if students can point to the correct body part, either on the pages of the Starter or on their own bodies:
Arms, stomach, legs, and feet.
Legs and feet.
Arms, stomach, legs, and feet.
Legs and feet.
Elbow, finger, neck and back
Arms, stomach, legs, and feet.
Legs and feet.
Now, sing the song together, touching their body parts as they sing, as they did in the original version. Sing it at normal speed, sing it slowly, sing it very quickly; have fun with this new version!
After students have mastered this new version, introduce a third version in the same way:
Chest, ankle, tongue and hair.
Tongue and hair.
Chest, ankle, tongue and hair.
Tongue and hair.
Hand and nail and thumb and wrist.
Chest, ankle, tongue and hair.
Tongue and hair.
Even the most sluggish students will be quickly on their feet, jumping up and down when it is time to do the Five Little Monkeys chant from We Can! Level 1 Unit 3 (My Family/ page 22).
After having fun doing this chant a few times and substituting the family members on the bottom of the page, turn to Starter Unit 13 (My Family and other people/pages 32 and 33) and see if they can find and point to the same family members they used in the chant: mom, dad, grandma and grandpa. Then, teach the rest of the family members. When you make a new version of the chant this time, let the students take turns choosing which family member or other person to choose. (For best results, have them choose a person between #5 and #15. If students choose “friend” or “neighbor”, they should put the word “my” in front of it, as in, “My friend called the doctor and the doctor said.) Students will be more interested in the new version of the song if they or their classmates choose!
I hope you and your students find the Song Substitution activity fun to do. Summer is not the easiest time of the year to teach, but if can accept the slower pace and adjust your lesson plans and activities accordingly, you can still get a lot done with a smile on your face!
|
