TESOL Certificate Programs

Observation Notebook

Observation Report Form

Name of Observer: Rebecca Hur Observation # 5

Date Observation Class Skill/Content Level Teacher
Environment*

6/11/1 Online TESOL for Kindergarten Beginner

7 Young ESL
Learners

*Include the URL if the class was online

WRITE THE OBJECTIVES ACCORDING TO THE OBSERVATION GUIDELINES:

1. STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO SING THE CLASSROOM SONGS AND DO THE

CORRESPONDING MOVEMENTS
2. STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS BASED ON THE
GIVEN VIDEO

Notes while observing:

Context: Kindergarten ESL class in China with around 23 students
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2tGtw1_W_E
Video begins with the instructor beginning the class with a song
T has SS sing song while doing the corresponding movements - TPR activity
This activity is interactive with a kindergarten ESL lesson - effective and engages
young learners and piques their interest
songs are easy to remember for children
1st song - Where are you from? song
T uses pointer and points and the different flags to cue children to sing Im from
___country
T reinforces children by saying good job
T continues another song with corresponding actions
T then asks what do you do
S respond Im a student
T then sings what do you do song with corresponding actions

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Observation Notebook
T then has students look at the T.V.
Points at the picture on the screen then asks for the shape, color, what does he where,
where he is, Is he under the tree
what is she doing while pointing at the picture
Every time the teacher explains an action that corresponds with the picture on the
screen he does a corresponding action
example I play with sand collet shells by motioning that he is playing with sand,
shells, etc.
T then shows a video
T then asks comprehension questions.
T asks Who can tell me what happened
when a student answers, I observe that the students stand up to answer
T asks who can tell me why the baby is crying
T then lets SS know they are transitioning into a game
When SS asked what game T responded that we will play a fish game
then the observation video ends

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Observation Notebook
What did you learn about teaching or learning from this lesson as it relates to the
theory you have studied in your TESOL classes? Include at least one reference (with
an in-text citation) to support your response. (250-500 words)

The major aspect of this video lesson that I observed from this video was the

beginning exercise in which the Instructor engaged the students in various songs while

incorporating full body movements. This type of activity is a form of Total Physical

Response. TPR activities are those in which the students performs physical actions and

carry out instructions given by the teacher or an audio source (2011). Although in this

video lesson, the example shown was a variation of the TPR method. This method is very

effective for young learners as it is useful in maintaining motivation and captivating the

short attention span of young learners.

For this observation, I observed an online ESL class for Kindergarteners in a

beginning class in China. What stood out the most to me in this video was the constant

use of songs and physical motions in the video. While the students were singing the

songs, the instructor would use bodily cues in order to help the students better understand

the meaning of the vocabulary words and the instructor also used visual cues to help the

students like using the pointer to point at the different flags. Also when the instructor also

moved to the visual aid on the screen, the instructor would use physical movements to

explain what the characters in the picture were doing. For example, when the teacher

asked the students what is she doing, while pointing to the picture on the screen, the

teacher would act out the action of playing with the sand and collecting seashells

when the students shouted out their answers. Another thing I found interesting about this

observation was instructors classroom management skills. This classroom was very

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Observation Notebook
orderly and very involved for such young learners. For example, when the students raised

their hands to answer questions, they would stand up to answer them. Overall, I thought

this class was an efficient and communicative classroom.

My favorite teaching method for young learners would have to be Total Physical

Response. I believe that this observation fully supports my reasoning for my favoring of

this method. As one can see in this classroom, the students are very active in their

participation and it makes the class a communicative classroom and has very low

affective filters. TPR has proven to be very popular for teaching younger learners

because of the emphasis on input and physical action, the focus on the here and now, and

the lack of any formal focus on grammar (2011). As one can see in this lesson, there is

very little formal grammar and there is a high level of input like the many songs and

physical actions that correspond with the songs.

References

Nunan, D. (1999) Teaching English to Young Learners. Anaheim,CA: Anaheim

University Press.

Last Updated: 2/20/2017 3:08 PM

TESOL Certificate Programs
Observation Notebook

Last Updated: 2/20/2017 3:08 PM