5 essentials every child needs when you're teaching English

Jeanne Perrett
Two parents sat with their two children, writing in a workbook togeher

The educational choices available to children are evolving rapidly with apps, online courses, digital games, recordings and videos becoming easily accessible. However, amidst this technological advancement, human evolution has not suddenly accelerated, and the primary aim for teachers remains unchanged - helping children make sense of the world and leaving their mark on it.

Here are five essential ways we can achieve that for every child, regardless of their circumstances, whether it's teaching English or fostering everyday learning and education.

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5 essentials every child needs when you're teaching English
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1. Attention

Paying attention to what we're doing is something that we have to re-learn. Very young children?pay great attention to the smallest of things. Washing their hands takes forever as they want to?focus on the soap, doing up shoelaces can become a half-hour activity, or an interesting pebble on the?road can make a quick trip to the shops a very long one.

So, what happens is that we then start?teaching children to hurry up. Hurry up, come on, quickly, now - put on your coat NOW! are part of?every parents repertoire. And we have to do it because we know what the children dont - that the bus wont wait for us, that school starts at a certain time and that people will be kept waiting if we dont?hurry up.

Therefore paying attention has to be re-learnt and we need to lead the way. We have to pay attention to?the children, what they are saying and doing, and then we have to resist the temptation to do too?many things at once. And, most importantly, we have to give our children enough time to let?things sink in.

2. Skills

We have so many ways of describing skills now; soft, hard, thinking, critical, communication - the list?goes on. In some ways, these descriptors are useful as they make us more aware of the particular?skills of a child, but there is still often a gap between knowing how a child is skilled and how that can?be useful to the child.

Lets take a classic example; one of the main qualities people often think of as?connected to nursing is a skill for caring, showing compassion and being a good communicator.?Yes, that is important, but the main skill needed to be a nurse is dealing competently, practically?and non-judgmentally with bodily fluids. So, yes, we absolutely need to make sure that we are?educating our children to become skillful in various ways but we also need to think about how those?skills are transferable.

3. Knowledge

One of the most significant changes of the past 40 years is how we can access information. Gone are the?days of one version of an encyclopedia or whatever your teacher knew; now we have online data,?crowdsourced reports, scores of different formats - everything is a click and a swipe away.

So how can?we help with this? First, we have to get children interested enough in a topic to want to find things?out for themselves. Then we must guide them through what is true and what might not be. And?then our main job is showing them that they can add to the tree of knowledge. Its constantly growing,?and they can lengthen the branches, help fruit grow, and even dig up the roots and plant the tree?elsewhere.

4. Imagination

Thinking creatively, thinking out of the box and seeing new possibilities can and must be?nurtured in our children. We can use our imagination in traditionally creative ways such as writing, artwork, music and drama, but perhaps even more importantly we can use it in unseen ways. We?can unlearn banal responses and consider what we really think; in other words we can think for?ourselves. Again this skill is needed more than ever when surrounded by seemingly?wise thoughts in social media memes. The nature of memes is that they look definite, as if they are?true. They might be and they might not. We can decide when we use our critical and creative?thinking skills.

We can use imagination to find solutions to problems and we can use it to make our own everyday realities?more exciting and life-enhancing. Whatever we do, if we have a positive image of ourselves doing?it, the task becomes more meaningful and rewarding. And in a practical sense in the classroom, we?can bring language learning to life. Imagining and play acting the situations where the language we are?learning might be called for; in a restaurant, at an airport or meeting new friends. It can be a great method to teach English to kids, keeping them engaged and actively involved.?

5. Support

Support comes in many forms. First concrete support, such as providing a desk and materials for children to?do their homework. This is something that teachers need to be aware of; do the children have that?at home? Its not a question of finance - not everyone can afford a separate room and the space for a?desk - but it is a question of realizing that a dedicated, quiet space is needed. For example a cleared?kitchen table at certain times of the day. Its worth bearing this in mind if parents say their?children never focus on homework. Look at the practicalities before any attitude issues.

The most important form of support we can give is being there for our children. Knowing that?someone wants you to do well, is there for you through your mistakes and successes, and?empathizes with both. Someone who has your back when you need help and is glad for you when?you do well; that gives our children a powerful sense of security. And we can flourish when we feel?secure.

By implementing these above points, we can equip children with the tools they need to understand the world, pursue their passions and make a positive impact on their lives and others.?

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    • Have a strong relationship with your students. Know about their natural talents, their weaker points and where they are in their development.
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    • Provide opportunities for students to use technology and develop success skills. E.g. collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity and self-learning.

    Most teachers agree that we have to assume the responsibility of preparing students for life as well as helping them to acquire a language C and this is what I aim to demonstrate in this blog. Using , I want to demonstrate how you can learn more about your students and care for individual needs in one classroom.

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    Howard Gardners Model of Multiple Intelligences

    prompts us to ask: How is this child intelligent? He identified eight different types of intelligence which guide the way students learn:

    • Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)
    • Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Maths Smart)
    • Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)
    • Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)
    • Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)
    • Naturalistic-Environmentalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)
    • Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)
    • Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self-Smart)
    • (He later went on to identify Existential Intelligence C Life Smart, and Pedagogical Intelligence -Teacher Smart)

    Lesson 1: Outline the students learning goals

    Explain to the students that they are going to learn about Howard Gardners Model of Multiple Intelligences and that you want them to achieve learning goals on completion of the project. Write the goals on a poster and discuss them with your students. Take a digital photo of the poster to use during the assessment.

    Student learning goals C you will be able to:

    • Identify different intelligences and what they mean. Name eight different intelligences you have
    • Communicate ideas clearly through a project to demonstrate your talents and interests
    • Use your success skills more effectively.

    Tip: Video parts of lesson 1, especially discussion of the learning goals, to use as part-assessment and reflection on completion of the project.

    What do you know about the Multiple Intelligences? How are you smart?

    • Ask children what they know about multiple intelligences. Teach key language and vocabulary as necessary, depending on level.
    • Ask, What does it mean be intelligent? (They will probably say, good grades, be good at maths, English, reading, writing, computers...)
    • Tell them being intelligent or smart (get the younger children to repeat the word smart several times) isnt only about getting good grades. Ask them to think of more ways to be smart.
    • Elicit the eight ways to be smart according to Gardner. (You may need to mime). E.g. mime playing the piano or clap a rhythm to elicit Music Smart.
    • Discuss what the different intelligences mean. (E.g. Word Smart (Linguistic Intelligence): you like reading, writing or speaking, you are probably good at languages)
    • Teach career vocabulary associated with the different intelligences. (E.g. Word Smart: journalist, teacher, lawyer, editor, TV announcer, web editor.)

    Lesson 2: Find out your smarts quiz

    Tell students they are going to do a quiz to discover how they are smart. Model each stage of the activity and do the quiz with them to find out about your own strengths. Give each student a piece of paper.

    • Take your paper and show the students how to fold it into eight sections, then unfold it and draw lines along the folds to make a grid.
    • Write the different smarts in each section. (Use small handwriting to leave room to illustrate each smart with a picture).
    • Give a picture dictation to illustrate each smart. Here are some examples:

    Word Smart:?Draw a dictionary and children reading, writing and speaking.

    Logic/Number Smart: Draw sums on a computer, a scientist with test tube.

    Music Smart: Draw children singing and playing musical instruments.

    Body Smart: Draw children playing a sport, dancing or cooking.

    Nature Smart:?Draw trees, animals, insects, child watering a plant.

    Spatial/Picture Smart: Draw children drawing, painting or taking photos and a pilot in a plane.

    People Smart:?Draw a child helping or leading a group or a group of children holding hands.

    Self-Smart: Draw children keeping a journal, researching on a computer, or meditating.

    Encourage students to order their smarts from 1-8. For example, if you love music, write number 1 in the Music Smart section and continue to 8 in order of preference. (You may wish to model this first and order your smarts from 1-8 and then encourage the children to order their smarts.)

    After the quiz

    • Encourage students to compare and discuss their results. Collect the papers and make notes about each students results. This will help you reach all your students when planning activities.
    • Explain that we have all the intelligences in different degrees and that all of the intelligences are equal (no intelligence is better than another). Also point out that it is important to know our strengths in order to help in all subjects. (E.g. a music smart student who finds maths challenging may want to sing multiplication tables). Remind students that we usually use several intelligences to do something and we can explore and develop all our smarts.

    Tip: Video lesson 2 to use as part of assessment.

    Lesson 3: Beginning the project

    Encourage the students to create a project for enjoyment. Explain that you want them to collaborate in groups that share the same smarts and interests and using their creativity you want them come up with an interesting topic to explore. (Remind students to concentrate on developing their success skills when they are working with others and mention that you will also be monitoring this as part of the assessment).

    Organize the students into groups of no more than five students in each. Give students time to brainstorm in their groups and come up with the best topic for the project, using their critical thinking skills. (E.g. Picture Smart students may decide to create a project about a famous artist, such as Salvador Dali).

    You may wish to give each student a ?(Know, Want-to-know, and Learned) to complete during the project process, asking questions such as: What do you know? What do you want to know? What have you learned?

    Lesson 4: Planning the project

    Inform students about the timing of the project. Encourage each group to make a project mind map, which will encourage them to be more creative and organized.

    Remind all the groups to keep the following questions in mind:

    • What are you going to do/make? (Presentation, PowerPoint, website, video, posters.)
    • How will you research it? (Internet, tech tools, library.)
    • How will you delegate responsibilities?
    • How will you check that your audience has understood the message of your project? What questions will you ask?

    Decide on how many lessons are needed to prepare the project and how much will be done in school or at home, depending on the age groups and timing.

    Encourage the students to share their work with the rest of the class (or in assembly.)

    Tip: Video the different groups sharing their work.

    Can assessment also be fun and engaging?

    Yes, it can; here are some tips and suggestions.

    • Show the videos you have recorded and ask the students to compare and contrast their knowledge in Lesson 1 and how it developed over the lessons. Encourage them to observe and comment on their success skills.
    • Display the photo of the Student Learning Goals poster from Lesson 1. Get the students to self-assess and decide whether they have achieved the goals that were set in Lesson 1. (You may wish to give the students three small pieces of colored paper: red to represent I understand quite well, orange to represent I understand well and green to represent I understand very well). Ask: Can you identify the different intelligences and say what they mean? Encourage the students to hold up a colored piece of paper according to their understanding. (Make a mental note of all red pieces of paper to be ready to give extra help to those students). Check understanding by getting several students to answer the question.
    • Get the children to reflect on the learning experience. What have they learned about the different intelligences? How can they develop weaker points using their strengths to help them? Can they use all eight intelligences inside and outside school? Did they manage to get along well with their classmates? Did they communicate the message of their project so that the audience understood?
    • Give individual feedback to each student. E.g. congratulate them on their attitude and effort or identify areas for improvement: You managed to use vocabulary and language effectively when you shared your project, we understood your message perfectly. Or You need to work on being more collaborative. You werent on task during the project. How do you think you can improve that?
    • Ask students to give you feedback on the activities they enjoyed. Get them to draw happy and sad face cards. Go through all the activities and get the students to show a happy or sad face according to whether or not they liked the activity. E.g. say Did you like the Find out your smarts quiz? and ask them to hold up the happy or sad face depending on whether they liked the activity or not.

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    1.?Cinderella?(Level 1)

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    2.?Lady and the Tramp?(Level 3)

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    4.?Pride and Prejudice?(Level 5)

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    While reading the story, learners can keep a diary, writing entries in the voice of Elizabeth Bennett. This helps them to demonstrate their understanding of the novel and encourages them to have a more empathetic reaction to the storys heroine. They can either write the diary entries using typical language from Jane Austens day, or updating it to more modern language.

    Heres an example:

    I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Darcy today and found him rather rude and reserved. I imagine he feels this country life is inferior and that the locals are uncultured simpletons!

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    Met Mr Darcy today C what a stuck-up dork! He just stood there, looking down his nose at everyone you can see he thinks hes better than us locals.

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    At one point in?Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff runs away from home because he thinks Catherine is embarrassed by him and doesnt love him. Have the learners write a letter from Catherine to Heathcliff at that point, expressing her regrets about why they cant be together. It provides students with the opportunity to use phrases such as?If only,?I wish?and?I should have?whilst demonstrating their understanding of the novel so far.

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