For very young learners, children aged 3-6, being in a classroom might be a completely new experience. Most of them won’t know any English words at all and might have very little idea of what English is or why they are learning it. Some of them may not yet be completely fluent in their mother tongue.Ìý
At the beginning of the school year, some of them may find it distressing to be separated from their parents and they also have to learn to get along with their new classmates.Ìý
If we want to keep them comfortable and safe and provide a friendly and welcoming environment, we need to establish routines.Ìý
Here are some areas where you can easily incorporate classroom management routines into your English language class.
Our target language for each lesson may be one or two short phrases or a few new words. We should always keep the presentation and practice of this simple and clear.Ìý
However, we can use English for all our greetings, praise, instructions and explanations. After a few days, the children will begin to expect it and they will gradually understand what you are saying.Ìý
Take time to greet each child by name when they enter the classroom and encourage them to learn and use each other’s names too. This will change how they perceive themselves and each other and encourage friendly communication.Ìý
Notice the small things about each child. They might have a new T-shirt on or have done their hair specially. They may not tell you that they have made an effort to look nice for their lesson, but they will be pleased when you notice and will feel encouraged to continue.Ìý
Make circle time the start of every lesson. It gets the children sitting down together and this helps them to get to know each other and feel part of a comfortable group.Ìý
It’s the time where you present the target language for the day. Use a puppet to help you do this. Make the puppet part of the routine by keeping it in a certain place and bringing it out from there every day. The children can call its name.Ìý
The puppet can greet the children by name and the children can answer back. First, use picture cards or objects to present the language to the puppet. Then, the puppet can show that it understands or ask for repetition.Ìý
Let the children call out responses as a group. As they build their confidence in English they will want to speak by themselves.Ìý
Always accept approximations of words and phrases. Rather than correcting the children, continue to model the words and gradually the students will self-correct. Pass this tip on to parents too.Ìý
Give students time to discover pages and images they like in the books they are using. Always leave time to help each child find the correct page and then help them to focus their attention on that page.Ìý
In Circle time you have introduced the language and presented it with flashcards or objects. In Book time, children can look at these images – the content will be familiar and they will start to feel ownership of what they are learning.Ìý
Singing, playing games and miming are the main ways in which the students will start to freely use and show they understand the target language.Ìý
In My Disney Stars and Friends each stage of every game is detailed, along with the language you and the students can use. Students might become so involved in the action of the game that they forget to speak in English! That’s okay – continue using the language and eventually they will start to use it too.Ìý
When a game or a song involves physical activity, have drinks of water ready and let them rest and relax afterwards. Always have a ‘sitting down’ activity ready for them to move on to so that they do not become overexcited or tired.
For any craft work there are four stages: preparation, production, playing with the completed craft work and tidying up. If you're using My Disney Stars and Friends, there is a special Tidy Up song and all the craft projects are press-outs so there is no need for scissors.Ìý
Children of 3 or 4 years old will need to learn how to unpeel and then re-stick a sticker. Allow time for this and encourage them to learn from each other once some of them have mastered this fine motor skill.Ìý
Time your lessons so that the students don’t have to leave in a rush. It takes them a while to collect up their things and find their bags and coats.Ìý
If you want the parents to know something, make sure that the children know where they have put the note. One notebook for such messages is a simple way of doing this, and you can tell parents to check it after every lesson.Ìý
Just as you greeted each child by name when they came in, say goodbye to them individually as they leave.Ìý
Incorporating effective classroom management routines makes young learners feel more comfortable as they know what to expect from their language classes. Familiarity is welcome for children, so exploit these times for more language learning opportunities.Ìý
Find more ideas on effective classroom management routines in Jeanne Perrett’s webinar, where she focuses on practical ideas and teaching tips for how we can organise and manage a class of young learners.
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Want to learn more about teaching young learners? Read our post 'Young learners of English deserve more'.
When you’re teaching English to young learners, you might find that there are a few students in your class who are struggling. But sometimes it can be hard to tell why. Is it because their language level is low? Or are they finding classroom work difficult because of a general cognitive difference, like dyslexia?Ìý
Taking English exams can be intimidating and challenging. Everyone has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, and it's common to make the same kinds of mistakes in an exam.
It’s possible to make use of this though, and improve your English from the mistakes you make. Today in our language learning blog, we discuss how we can use exam errors to perfect and improve your English.
Firstly, you want to establish what your weak and strong points are. Write these down somewhere each time and build up a record. It's essential to take note of the mistakes you make and try to see if there's a pattern.
Perhaps mistakes happen on:
These are only a few examples, but recognizing patterns or similarities can help you focus on areas that need improvement or extra attention.
Making mistakes in an exam can really impact a person's confidence, but if you can, look back and rationalize why that mistake was made. It can help your confidence in the future. Sometimes mistakes are made just because of a misinterpretation, perhaps a question wasn’t read correctly, and you realize you knew the answer after all.
Remember, the situation of being in an exam can be stressful and you may not think or respond in the way you normally would outside of the exam room, so don't be too hard on yourself.
Mistakes happen in the real world every day, and being able to look back at them and examine them critically is a valuable skill.
As we’ve already mentioned, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It can be a great idea to compare your mistakes with others; they may be making the same ones.
You can team up and try to tackle them together, or you may know someone whose strength is in your weak areas (and vice versa). It's helpful to team up and help each other. They might have some handy tips and techniques for you to try.
It's good to switch up techniques at times and your errors might be giving you some guidance on doing so. If you tend to make errors with your spoken English, consider study techniques that work on that – like using recall or incorporating music to strengthen your speech.
Perhaps memory is an issue, so using tools like flashcards can help you. Some techniques focus on and help improve some areas more than others, so there isn’t one solution for all. Make sure to experiment and see what works for you.
Perhaps an obvious one, but just repeating and practicing the questions/tasks you’ve gotten wrong in the exam is a good approach. By doing it over and over again, with some persistence, it ends up being retained in your long-term memory.
You may want to study variations of the questions you struggle with, as exams tend to alter their questions and you don’t want to be thrown off in an exam if they reword/change the question slightly.
The next time you review your exam results, remember these steps, look for patterns, examine your thought process and don’t be afraid to ask others for help. With enough practice, those errors should be things of the past.
In the era of the Great Resignation, there are lots of factors that influence whether or not someone chooses to stay with their company or decides to accept a job offer from a new employer.
Whilst fair pay remains a constant in this, feeling included, valued, and cared about by colleagues plays a significant role in the decision on whether to stay or go.
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