Preparatory Grade Curriculum Resources Guide for English

Overview

The Preparatory Grade Curriculum Resources Guide for English is a list of EFL resources
available to teachers who may be teaching young children. The purpose of the guide is to
compile as many resources, ideas, suggestions and projects of interest to young children as
possible, so that teachers don’t have to spend their own time doing this. Following is a brief
summary of the philosophy important to this guide. The list is not inclusive.

Piaget: Piaget, the Swiss developmental psychologist, carefully studied the cognitive
development of children and noted four stages of development, none of which can be skipped.
Sensorimotor---birth to 2. Preoperational---2-7. Concrete Operations---7-11. Formal
Operations---11-16. When asked to summarize his lifelong study of how children learn, he said:
―Children learn through play, by contacting and interacting with their external world.‖

Maria Montessori: Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator, revolutionized the
education of children. She de-centered the role of the teacher and made the teacher the ―keeper
of the environment‖ while the children got on with their activities. She summarized her findings
this way: ―Scientific observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives.
Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the individual and is acquired, not by
listening to words, but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes
that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared
environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference.‖

Reggio Emilia: The Reggio Emilia approach, named for the town in Italy where it began, is
recognized worldwide for its innovative approach to pre-school and primary school education.
Its philosophy is based upon the following principles: 1) Children must have some control over
the direction of their learning. 2) Children must be able to learn through experiences of
touching, moving, listening, seeing and hearing. 3) Children have a relationship with other
children and physical items in their world which they must be allowed to explore. 4) Children
must have a variety of ways and opportunities to express themselves. This approach also places
high priority on parental involvement and welcomes parents as co-educators.

Howard Gardner: Howard Gardner, developmental psychologist and professor of Cognition and
Education at Harvard University, postulated the theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1983. Dr.
Gardner maintains that there is no one, broad thing called ―intelligence‖ of which some students
have more or less of. Rather, there are eight intelligences: Logical-mathematical, Linguistic,
Spatial, Bodily-kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Naturalistic. Traditionally,
schools test only two, Logical-mathematical and Linguistic (math and reading) and often use
these results to determine how successful a student is in school. Dr. Gardner suggests that
students learn in different ways and encourages teachers to view their students in terms of a mix
of all of these intelligences, a cognitive profile, rather than just how well they do in math and
reading. This viewpoint is important because it encourages teachers to get to know their
students, to allow classrooms that are more student-centered, student-directed and student-
friendly.

Erik Erickson: Erik Erickson, German-born American developmental psychologist and

psychoanalyst, studied the stages of human development from birth to death. "You see children
playing," he said, "and it is close to seeing an artist paint, for in play children say things without
uttering a word. You can see how they solve problems, also what's wrong. Young children have
enormous creativity and whatever is in them rises to the surface in free play."

Second Language Acquisition in Children

How, then, do children best learn a second language within this philosophical framework once
they are familiar with their mother tongue?

In general, there are two ways that children learn a second language, simultaneously or
sequentially. Simultaneous learners include children under the age of three who are exposed to
more than one language at the same time. Sequential learners include learners who are familiar
with their mother tongue and are then introduced or required to learn another language.
Sequential learning can be introduced at any age and is influenced by the child’s temperament,
motivation, linguistic aptitude and fossilization of their first language (interference from their
native language). However, sequential learners will go through the same basic stages:

Silent Period---The student is unable to speak in the second language. Cognitive

development is occurring, but is not notable or testable by the teacher. The student relies heavily
on non-verbal cues to communicate with others. Understanding precedes speaking.

Early Production---The student begins to speak in a few words or phrases. These are
often words or phrases that are memorized, but the student is not able to expand on their
meaning. ―Me thirsty,‖ means, ―I am thirsty. May I please get a drink of water?‖ Mistakes
should be tolerated. A running dialogue on the part of the teacher is important, as the teacher
expands (models) the longer meaning of the sentence. ―Oh, you want to get a drink of water.
Yes, you may get a drink of water.‖

Production—Gradually, the student is able to speak more. The sentences become more
complex and the student becomes more comfortable using the second language. This is a
complex process, not completely understood by psychologists, but the process can be hastened
with proper EFL methodology.

Tips for Teaching Preparatory Grade EFL

1. Games, play, stories, movement and song form the core of Preparatory Grade EFL
methodology, not rote learning.
2. English sessions should be fun and interesting, concentrating on concepts the children already
understand in their mother tongue. In this way, the child is not learning two things at once, a
new concept and a new language, but is simply learning the English word for a concept they
already understand (colors, names of animals, classroom vocabulary, body parts and simple
commands, for example).

3. Children are more likely to engage in learning when presented with physical activity. An
example of activity-based learning, sometimes called Total Physical Response, would be to ask
children to make the shape of a letter with their body.

4. Children need a reason to speak English. You may want to introduce puppets or animals, for
example, who only speak English. Or you may want to create a corner of your room where only
English is spoken, like a small grocery store, or small town, or a conductor on a toy train who
only speaks English.

5. Children are excitable. Vary your activities from active to calm. English story time offers a
quiet break in the classroom routine for students to hear English pronunciation and to respond to
print. Books with repeated phrases or rhyming patterns that the can be memorized are especially
important. (Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin).

6. Children have short attention spans. Change activities often and have everything you need for
each activity. Plan for more than you think you will need. Have at least five other activities
ready to use if the children get restless.

More Tips

1. Allow yourself to act silly. You may want to dress up like the characters in the book
you’re reading, make silly voices and faces, and sing and dance with your children.
2. Dress for a mess. At the end of class you may have paint, colors or chalk on your
clothes.
3. Play pretend games.
4. Have lively music that is easy to understand. Sing along with your children.
5. Puppets are popular, especially when the children get to know the puppets and you
incorporate them in every lesson.
6. Trust children with technology. Play online board games such as BINGO.
7. Make Story Time fun.
8. Use colorful flashcards.
9. Color with a purpose. (―Draw a circle and color it yellow.‖)
10. Incorporate drama activities such as mime and play acting.
11. Felt boards allow children to piece together what happened in a story or to learn new
vocabulary.
12. Use Finger Plays like Itsy Bitsy Spider.
13. Explore the room, the school, or the outdoors with scavenger hunts.
 14. Play Show and Tell.
15. Use real world objects from other cultures (Play BINGO using pennies from the United
States.)
16. Teach vocabulary in themes: colors, body parts, counting, for example, and use cognates
whenever possible Elephant/Elefant.
17. Have a happy room full of toys, pictures, music and things that small children will enjoy.
18. Connect with other teachers online and share ideas and tips for successful teaching.
19. Establish clear classroom routines. Children at this age may not be familiar with
classroom conventions.
20. Some children may be clumsy with pencils, scissors, coloring, copying and so forth as
they are still developing fine motor skills.
21. Young children cannot analyze language. They often learn language by chunks or groups
of words with a specific meaning. ―Please stand up.‖
22. Young children are learning to be less egocentric and may need time to develop turn-
taking, sharing skills and cooperative skills.

And Finally:

23. Be a reflective teacher. Ask yourself: ―What worked today? What didn’t? Is what I’m
doing right now working? Why or why not?‖

Sample Lesson Plans

Sample #1:

1. Start each class the same: Greet the students in English. Wait for a reply. Do a few
simple songs or familiar routines before starting something new.
2. Go to flash cards next to review vocabulary and introduce new vocabulary.
3. Bring a teddy bear or stuffed animal and pretend he or she only talks English. Talk to the
teddy bear in English modeling the dialogue.
4. End with a story.

Sample #2:

1. 9:00-9:15---song
2. 9:15-9:25---storybook
3. 9:25-9:35---coloring
4. 9:35-9:45---puppets/teddy bear dialogue
5. 9:45-10:00---etc.

Sample #3:

1. Warm Up---2 minutes (Smile. Say hello. Have children do simple actions…clap
hands, wash face, brush teeth, jump and down. Do the actions with them.)
 2. Hello Song---3 minutes (Sing the ―Hello Song‖ and make a circle.)
3. Circle Time---7 minutes (Pass a ball around. Each student says ―Hello‖ as they pass
the ball around. This can be expanded to, ―How are you?‖ or ―What’s your name?‖
4. Song---5 minutes (―What’s Your Name‖ song or a favorite song of the children.)
5. Numbers---5 minutes (Practice numbers 1-10 in a variety of ways.)
6. Story Time---10 minutes (Read a book)
7. New Vocabulary---10 minutes (Introduce animals or colors or more classroom
vocabulary)
8. Action Time---15 minutes (A movement activity of some kind.)
9. Goodbye Song---3 minutes.

Helpful Websites

(These websites have free games, songs, worksheets, flashcards, activities, lesson ideas, links to
other sites, and advice on how to teach small children. For our purposes, ESL and EFL and
interchangeable.)

1. Teach Children ESL.com---free games, songs, lesson ideas and worksheets

2. The Teachers Guide Song Page---200 songs arranged in alphabetical order.

3. ESL-Kids.com---a huge website with activities arranged by age, pre-school-8th grade. One of
the most comprehensive and best-maintained websites.

4. ESL Kids Lab---worksheets, games and video lessons.

5. ESL Galaxy---lessons and teaching materials.

6. ESL Handouts---ideas, pictures and worksheets.

7. Your Complete ESL Headquarters---hundreds of free worksheets, flashcards, BINGO, board

games, activities, books, games and pictures.

8. Learning Chocolate---vocabulary games for children to learn English online.

9. Mrs. Perkins’s Dolch Words---The Dolch word list is made up of the 220 most common sight
words in children’s reading books.

10. MES-English.com---free flashcards, worksheets, handouts, game cards and project ideas.

11. Sites for Teachers---rates educational websites by popularity with teachers.

12. Early Childhood Links---contains a section for teachers with free art recipes, coloring pages,
crafts, lesson plans, resources, songs, theme units and worksheets.

13. English For Children---a huge site with links to a vast amount of EFL material.
14. Short Stories for Kids---animated cartoons.

15. Story Place---a preschool library and elementary library with new activities and themes
added each month.

16. Picture Books---free online picture books.

17. Online English Learning For Children---a selection of free learning videos.

18. Kids Online English---a YouTube site from Pumpin.com for kids to learn English online.

19. Names of Fruits---a YouTube site for learning fruit (color and pronunciation).

20. Numbers---a YouTube site for learning to count from 1-10.

21. Original EFL Learning---YouTube videos for children giving them non-classroom exposure
to English.

22. English for Children---one hundred easy, short stories for children just beginning to learn
English.

23. ESL Kids Lab---games, videos, vocabulary expansion and project ideas.

24. Discovery Education---Discovery Channel’s website with learning activities K-12.

25. EFL Playhouse---resources for young learners.

26. Free Stuff for Teachers---a large collection of material given freely to teachers.

27. Kids Songs…a large collection of free children songs.

28. Kids’ Music---sing-a-long songs to piano music.

29. PBS Kids---games, stories, music and coloring.

30. International Children’s Digital Library---children’s literature available online.

31. Room 108---a huge primary education site for kids with over 1900 pages of learning
material.

32. mes-games.com---a large selection of games for children.

33. Lanternfish---worksheets, flashcards, games and ideas for children.

34. mes-english.com---lots of free material for teachers.

35. supersimplesong.com---children’s music.

36. Simply ESL.com---lesson plans and activities for all ages.

37. ESL Flashcards---free flashcards ready to download.

38. squidoo.com---focuses on speaking activities, ideas to encourage students to speak in

English.

39. ESL Galaxy---a large website full of ideas and materials.

40. ESL Teachers Board---a huge website with games, lesson plans, free material and links to
others teachers.

41. The EFL Playhouse---a large site specifically for young EFL learners with printable games,
puzzles, worksheets, songs and the Dolch site words.

42. English-Guide.org---large website for students of all ages.

43. WondrousWorksheets.com---free worksheets for children.

44. LearningChocolate---vocabulary learning games for children.

45. jumpstart.com---a website just for teaching 6 year olds.

46. Dream English.com---large site with activities, songs and lesson plans.

47. KidsEnglishBooks.com---free downloads of children’s books.

48. Freeabcsongs.com---site with free songs.

49. One Stop English---lots of information for teaching children ages 4-6.

50. ESLprintables.com---free downloads, ideas and games.

51. English 4 Kids---free courses divided into different course levels that reflect the
developmental stage of most children.

52. Many Things---a list of activities that can be done with 5 and 6 year olds. Also has tips and
strategies for new teachers, links to EFL activities, lessons, games and other material.

53. Westlake EES---lesson plans, vocabulary word lists, games, puzzles and quizzes for small
children.

54. ESL Storybooks---curriculum for 5 and 6 year olds.

55. Lesson Plans Online---a large website with educational songs, games, stories and lesson
plans for small children. Links to many other sites.

56. Kindersites---ESL lesson plans specifically developed to motivate and encourage young
children to speak English.
57. ESL Playground---games, activities and lesson plans for teaching young children.

58. DLTK-Kids---printable cards, crafts, activities, worksheets, coloring projects and recipes
suitable for young children.

59. Kinder Helper---fun stories, games, cards, puzzles, role-playing activities, printable
worksheets, songs, plays and cut-outs for small children. Includes teaching tips and strategies.

60. Learn4Good---children’s books and educational materials for small children learning
English.

61. SaskED---guidelines for instruction, methods, strategies and activities for teaching English
to small children.

62. Kindergarten Activities---links to books and activities for teaching EFL to 5 and 6 year olds.

63. Kindergarten Readiness Place---a forum for teachers working with small children.

64. ESL Kid Stuff---a large website with games, songs and activities for young children.

65. ESL Kid---a guide for teaching ESL to young children.

66. eslkidslab.com

67. TEFL.net ESL Lesson Plans

68. The Internet TESL Journal

69. onestopenglish.com

How to Make a Pop-Up Book:

http://www.makersgallery.com/joanirvine/howto.html

How to Make an Accordian Book:

http://jennysartspace.com/bookart/accordian.html

Free Coloring Pages:

http://www.colormegood.com

Other Sites with Free Books:

http://www.readings-z.com/
http://www.dltk-teach.com/minibooks/index.html

http://www.maggieskindercorner.com/printables.html

http://www.kidscount1234.com/littlebooks.html

http://www.teacherscholastic.com/lessonplans/

http://www.momsview.com/freeprintablesstorybooks.html

http://www.kiddyhouse.com/themes.colors

Origami Information:

Origami workshop – Daria and Andreass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnKKyQhkMBw

My personal gallery – Andreass

http://forum.origami-romania.ro/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=214

Daria’s personal gallery

http://forum.origami-romania.ro/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=347

E-mail/Messenger IDs:

Andreass96@yahoo.com

daria.dobre@yahoo.com

Helpful Lists

Colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, black, brown, purple, white.

Numbers: 1-10.

Shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle and line.

Relationships: big-little, up-down, left-right, in-out, first-last, open-closed, in front of-behind,

over-under, top-bottom, between.

Classroom Vocabulary: pencil, colors, paper, computer, desk, book, floor, wall, window, door,
chair, scissors, teacher, student.

Weather: sunny, cold, hot, raining, snowing.

Seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter.

Family Members: mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather.

Polite Expressions: Please. Thank you. You’re welcome. Excuse me.

Greetings: Good morning. Hello. How are you? I’m fine. I’m tired, sick, okay, happy, sad,
etc.

Instructional Phrases: ―Sit down.‖ ―Stand up.‖ ―Let’s sing, color, read, etc.‖ ―Make a circle.‖
―Open your book.‖ ―Repeat after me.‖ ―Listen.‖ ―Are you ready?‖

Body Parts: Play Simon Says. ―Touch your head, feet, hands, arms, toes, etc.‖

Animals: cat, dog, cow, horse, tiger, monkey, bear, snake, chicken, elephant, etc. Use cognates
whenever possible.

Occupations: teacher, doctor, nurse, dentist, farmer, taxi driver, etc. Use cognates whenever
possible.

Food: apple, orange, banana, rice, carrot, ice cream, yogurt, milk, water, etc. Use cognates
whenever possible.

Clothing: hat, pants, dress, shirt, shoes. Use cognates whenever possible.