8 first lesson problems and solutions for young learner classes

Joanna Wiseman
Two young girls sat at a school desk reading a book

The first class with a new group of young learners can be a nerve-wracking experience for teachers, old and new. Many of us spend the night before thinking about how to make a positive start to the year, with a mixture of nerves, excitement, and a desire to get started. However, sometimes things don’t always go as expected, and it is important to set a few ground rules in those early lessons to ensure a positive classroom experience for all throughout the academic year.

Let’s look at a few common problems that can come up and how best to deal with them at the start of the school year.

First lesson problems and solutions for young learner classes
Play
Privacy and cookies

By watching, you agree app can share your viewership data for marketing and analytics for one year, revocable by deleting your cookies.

1. Students are not ready to start the class

How the first few minutes of the class are spent can greatly influence how the lesson goes. Students can be slow to get out their equipment and this can cause a lot of time wasting. To discourage this, start lessons with atimed challenge.

  • Tell students what you want them to do when they come into class, e.g., sit down, take out their books and pencil cases, and sit quietly, ready for the lesson to start.
  • Time how long it takes for everyone to do this and make a note. Each day, do the same.
  • Challenge students to do thisfasterevery day. You could provide a goal and offer a prize at the end of the trimester if they reach it, e.g., be ready in less than a minute every day.

2. Students speak first language (L1) in class

One of the most common classroom management issues primary teachers face is getting them to speak English. However, young learners may need to speak their mother tongue occasionally, and a complete ban on L1 is often not the best solution. But how can we encourage students touse English wherever possible?

  • Tell students they have toask permissionto speak in L1 if they really need to.
  • 3-word rule — Tell students that they can use a maximum ofthree wordsin L1 if they don’t know them in English.
  • WriteENGLISHon the board in large letters. Each time someone speaks in L1, erase a letter. Tell students that each letter represents time (e.g., 1 minute) to play a game or do another fun activity at the end of the lesson. If the whole word remains, they can choose a game.

3. Students don’t get on with each other

It is only natural that students will want to sit with their friends, but it is important that students learn to work with different people. Most students will react reasonably if asked to work with someone new, but occasionally conflicts can arise. To help avoid uncomfortable situations doteam building activities, such as those below, at the beginning of the school year, and do them again throughout the year whenever you feel that they would be beneficial.

  • Give students an icebreaker activity, such asFind a Friend bingoto help students find out more about each other.
  • Help students learn more about each other by finding out aboutwhat they have in common.
  • Balloon race. Have two or more teams with an equal number of students stand in lines. Give each team a balloon, which they have to pass to the next student without using their hands. The first team to pass the balloon to the end of the line wins.
  • Team letter/word building. Call out a letter of the alphabet and have pairs of students form it with their bodies, lying on the floor. When students can do this easily, call out short words, e.g.cat,and have the pairs join up (e.g. three pairs = group of six) and form the letters to make the word.

4. Students don’t know what to do

When the instructions are given in English, there will inevitably be a few students who don’t understand what they have to do. It is essential to giveclear, concise instructionsand tomodel the activitybefore you ask students to start. To check students know what to do and clarify any problems:

  • Have one or more studentsdemonstrateusing an example.
  • Have one studentexplainthe task in L1.
  • Monitorthe task closely in the first few minutes and check individual students are on the right track.

5. A student refuses to participate/do the task

This is a frequent problem that can have many different causes. In the first few lessons, this may be shyness, but it is important to identify the cause early on to devise an effective strategy. A few other causes might include:

  • Lack of language required to respond or do the task. Provide differentiation tasks or scaffolding to help students with a lower level complete the task or have them respond in a non-oral way.
  • Low self-confidence in their ability to speak English. Again, differentiation and scaffolding can help here. Have students work in small groups or pairs first, before being asked to speak in front of the whole class.
  • Lack of interest or engagement in the topic.If students aren’t interested, they won’t have anything to say. Adapt the topic or task, or move on.
  • External issues e.g., a bad day, a fight with a friend, physical problems (tiredness/hunger/thirst). Talk to the student privately to find out if they are experiencing any problems. Allow them to “pass” on a task if necessary, and give them something less challenging.

It is importantnot to forcestudents to do something they don’t want to do, as this will cause a negative atmosphere and can affect the whole class. At the end of the day, if a student skips one or two tasks, it won’t affect their achievement in the long run.

6. Students ask for repeated restroom/water breaks

It only takes one student to ask to go to the restroom before the whole class suddenly needs to go. This can cause disruption and stop the flow of the lesson. To avoid this, make sure you have rules in place concerning restroom breaks.

  • Make sure students know to go to the restroombefore the lesson.
  • Have students bring in their ownwater bottles. You can provide a space for them to keep their bottles (label them with student names) in the classroom and have students fill them daily at the drinking fountain or faucet.
  • Find out if anyone has anyspecial requirementsthat may require going to the restroom.
  • Provide “brain breaks” at strategic points in the lesson when students become restless.

7. Students don’t have the required materials

  • Provide parents witha list of materialsstudents need on the first day.
  • Ifspecial materialsare required in a lesson, give students a note to take home or post a message on the school platformseveral days before.
  • Don’t blame the student—whether they have a good reason or not for turning up to class empty-handed, making a child feel guilty will not help. Write a note for parents explaining why bringing materials to class is important.

8. Students are not listening/talking

If you have a boisterous class, it can be challenging to get their attention. Set up asignalthat you will use when you want them to pay attention to you. When they hear or see the signal, students should stop what they are doing and look at you. Some common signals are:

  • Raising your hand. When students see you raise your hand, they should raise their hands and stop talking. Wait until everyone is sitting in silence with their hands raised. This works well with older children and teenagers.
  • Call and responseattention-getters. These are short phrases that prompt students to respond in a certain way, e.g.

Teacher: 1 2 3, eyes on me.

Students: 1 2 3, eyes on you.

Introduce a new attention-getter every few weeks to keep it fun. You can even have your students think up their own phrases to use.

  • Countdowns. Tell students what you want them to do and count backwards from ten to zero, e.g.

When I get to zero, I need you all to be quiet and look at me. 10, 9, 8 …

Keep your voice low and speak calmly. This will encourage students to stop talking and bring down excitement levels.

  • A short song or clapping rhythm. With younger children, it is effective to use music or songs for transitions between lesson stages so they know what to do at each stage. For primary-aged children, clap out a rhythm and have them repeat it. Start with a simple rhythm, then gradually make it longer, faster, or more complex.

Explore our courses

More blogs from app

  • Children sat down on the floor reading books, with some looking up at their teacher who is sat with a book

    How to improve literacy in the classroom

    By Katharine Scott
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Katharine Scott is a teacher trainer and educational materials developer with over 20 years’ experience writing English language textbooks. She’s co-author of the app Primary course - English Code and is based in Spain. Katharine outlines a number of practical ways you can help English language learners develop key literacy skills.

    What is literacy?

    Teachers at all stages of education often complain about their students’ reading skills. The students are literate. In other words, they can interpret the graphemes, or letters on the page, into words. But they struggle to identify the purpose of a text or to analyze it in a meaningful way. We could say that the students have poor literacy skills.

    Literacy is a term used to describe an active, critical form of reading. Some of the skills of a critical reader include:

    Checking new information

    A crucial literacy skill involves discerning whether a text is factually true or not. A critical reader always checks new information against existing knowledge. As we read, we have an internal dialogue: Where does that information come from? That’s impossible because ….

    Separating fact from opinion

    This skill is essential for understanding many different types of texts from newspaper articles to scientific research.

    Understanding the purpose of a text

    All pieces of text have a main purpose. This may be entertainment, in the case of a story or persuasion, in the case of advertising. A critical reader will know how to identify the purpose of the text.

    In the classroom, different types of text require different responses from the students. It’s important, as students grow older, that they know how to read and respond appropriately to a piece of written information.

    Identifying key information in a text

    This is an essential skill for summarizing information or following instructions. It is also important when we transform written information into something else, like a chart.

    In many ways, literacy is the key skill that underpins learning at all stages. This may seem like an exaggeration, but consider the importance of the four skills outlined above.

    Strategies to promote literacy

    Many teachers and parents of early learners instinctively develop literacy skills before the children can even read.

    When we read a story out loud to a child, we often ask questions about the narrative as we turn the pages: What is going to happen next? How do you think …. feels? Why is …?

    These questions set the foundations for literacy.

    Working with a reading text

    Too often, the comprehension questions that teachers ask about a text are mechanical. They ask the student to “lift” the information out of the text.

    A tale of two dragons

    "Once upon a time, there was an island in the sea. One day, people were working in the fields. The sun was shining and there was one cloud in the sky. The cloud was a strange shape and moving towards the island. Soon the cloud was very big. Then a small boy looked up."

    Taken from English Code, Unit 4, p. 62

    Typical comprehension questions based on the text would be:

    • Where were the people working?
    • How many clouds were in the sky?

    These questions do not really reflect on the meaning of the text and do not lead to a critical analysis. While these simple questions are a good checking mechanism, they don’t help develop literacy skills.

    If we want to develop critical readers, we need to incorporate a critical analysis of reading texts into class work through a deep reading comprehension. We can organize the comprehension into three types.

    1. Text level

    Comprehension at “text level” is about exploring the meaning of individual words and phrases in a text. Examples for the text above could be:

    • Find words that show the story is a fairy tale.
    • Underline a sentence about the weather.

    Other text-level activities include:

    • Finding words in the text from a definition
    • Identifying opinions in the text
    • Finding verbs of speech
    • Finding and classifying words or phrases

    2. Between the lines

    Comprehension “between the lines” means speculating and making guesses with the information we already have from the text. This type of literacy activity often involves lots of questions and discussions with the students. You should encourage students to give good reasons for their opinions. An example for the text above could be:

    • What do you think the cloud really is?

    Other “Between the lines” activities include:

    • Discussing how characters in a story feel and why
    • Discussing characters’ motivation
    • Identifying the most important moments in a story
    • Speculating about what is going to happen next
    • Identifying possible events from fantasy events

    Literacy activities are not only based on fiction. We need to help students be critical readers of all sorts of texts. The text below is factual and informative:

    What skills do you need for ice hockey?

    "Ice hockey players should be very good skaters. They always have good balance. They change direction very quickly and they shouldn't fall over. Players should also have fast reactions because the puck moves very quickly."

    Taken from English Code, Level 4, p. 96

    “Between the lines” activities for this text could be:

    • What equipment do you need to play ice hockey?
    • What is the purpose of this piece of text?

    3. Behind the lines

    Comprehension “behind the lines” is about the information we, the readers, already have. Our previous knowledge, our age, our social background and many other aspects change the way we understand and interpret a text.

    An example for the text above could be:

    • What countries do you think are famous for ice hockey?

    Sometimes a lack of socio-cultural knowledge can lead to misunderstanding. Look at the text below.

    Is the relationship between Ms Turner and Jack Roberts formal or informal?

    73 Highlands Road Oxbo, Wisconsin 54552
    April 11th

    Dear Ms. Tamer,
    Some people want to destroy the forest and build an airport. This forest is a habitat for many wolves. If they destroy the forest, the wolves will leave the forest. If the wolves leave the forest, there will be more rabbits. This won't be good for our forest.
    Please build the airport in a different place. Please don't destroy the forest.

    Kind regards, Jack Robers

    Taken from English code, Level 4, unit 5, Writing Lab

    If your students are unaware of the convention of using Dear to start a letter in English, they may not answer this question correctly.

    Other “Behind the lines” literacy activities include:

    • Identifying the type of text
    • Imagining extra information based on the readers’ experiences
    • Using existing knowledge to check a factual account
    • Identifying false information

    Examples:

    • What job do you think Ms Turner has?
    • Do you think Jack lives in a village or a city?
    • Do wolves live in forests?

    Literacy is more than reading

    From the activities above, it’s clear that a literacy scheme develops more than reading skills. As students speculate and give their opinions, they talk and listen to each other.

    A literacy scheme can also develop writing skills. The text analysis gives students a model to follow in their writing. In addition, a literacy scheme works on higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, deduction and summary.

    Developing literacy skills so that students become active, critical readers should be a key part of educational programs at all ages. Literacy activities based on a reading text can be especially useful for the foreign language class.

    With literacy activities, we can encourage students:

    • To use the text as a springboard for communicating ideas and opinions
    • To analyze the text as a model for writing activities
    • To see how language is used in context
    • To explore the meanings of words

    More crucially, we are developing critical readers for the future.

  • Two Young children high fiving one another

    The importance of teaching values to young learners

    By Katharine Scott

    Values in education

    The long years children spend at school are not only about acquiring key knowledge and skills. At school, children also learn to work together, share, exchange opinions, disagree, choose fairly, and so on. We could call these abilities social skills as they help children live and flourish in a wider community than their family circle.

    Social skills are not necessarily the same as social values. Children acquire social skills from all kinds of settings. The tools they use to resolve problems will often come from examples. In the playground, children observe each other and notice behavior. They realize what is acceptable to the other children and which strategies are successful. Some of the things they observe will not reflect healthy social values.

    Part of a school’s mission is to help children learn social skills firmly based on a shared set of values. Many schools recognize this and have a program for education in values.

    What values are we talking about?

    Labeling is always tricky when dealing with an abstract concept such as social values. General ideas include:

    • living in a community, collaborating together
    • respecting others in all of human diversity
    • caring for the environment and the surroundings
    • having a sense of self-worth.

    At the root of these values are ethical considerations. While it may seem that primary education is too early for ethics, children from a very young age do have a sense of fairness and a sense of honesty. This doesn’t mean that children never lie or behave unfairly. Of course they do! But from about three years old, children know that this behavior is not correct, and they complain when they come across it in others.

    In the school context, social values are too often reduced to a set of school rules and regulations. Typical examples are:

    • 'Don't be late!'
    • 'Wait your turn!'
    • 'Pick up your rubbish!'
    • 'Don't invent unkind nicknames'.

    While all these statements reflect important social values, if we don’t discuss them with the children, the reasoning behind each statement gets lost. They become boring school rules. And we all know that it can be fun to break school rules if you can get away with it. These regulations are not enough to represent an education in values.

    School strategies

    At a school level, successful programs often focus on a specific area of a values syllabus. These programs involve all members of a school community: students, teachers, parents, and administrative staff.

    Here are some examples of school programs:

    Caring for the environment

    Interest in ecology and climate change has led many schools to implement programs focused on respect for the environment and other ecological issues. Suitable activities could include:

    • a system of recycling
    • a vegetable garden
    • initiatives for transforming to renewable energy
    • a second-hand bookstore.

    Anti-bullying programs

    As,many schools have anti-bullying policies to deal with bullying incidents. However, the most effective programs also have training sessions for teachers and a continuous program for the children to help them identify bullying behavior. Activities include:

    • empathy activities to understand different points of view
    • activities to develop peer responsibility about bullying
    • activities aimed at increasing children’s sense of self-worth.

    Anti-racism programs

    Combating negative racial stereotypes has, until recently, relied mainly on individual teacher initiatives. However, as racial stereotypes are constructed in society, it would be useful to have a school-wide program. This could include:

    • materials focusing on the achievements of ethnic minorities
    • school talks from members of ethnic minority communities
    • empathy activities to understand the difficulties of marginalized groups.
    • study of the culture and history of ethnic minorities.

    As children learn from observed behavior, it’s important that everyone in the school community acts consistently with the values in the program.