Methods for teaching Kindergarten EFL

 There's a wide variety of methods for teaching adults that teachers use for teaching the little ones. The knowledge of some of them or all become part of your teaching repertoire. Trying out some practices is part of your lesson plan, some will totally fail and some will be very sucessful with the kindergarteners. Use the metods, techiniques and best practices that are suitable for your specific group that you are teaching. In the end, you are making the decision of what is the best for your class based on your knowledge, your experience.

Experiment with different materials and resources with your early childhood students. I know, it's hard! That's why I have a variety of resources. I never went into a preschool class without a big bag of games, flashcards and more. 

I use a very eclectic method for teaching, I try new and different things that lead me into new experiences. I also keep up the true and tried practices that never fail.

So, remember you are the expert, pick what is right for your kindergarten class.

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Making the best choices for your Kindergarten English Language Students

                 As a teacher of Kindergarten English Language Learners you are up to make the decisions of how, what and more when planning the lesson for your students. I am sure that you are choosing nothing but the best. Here are a few reflections.

1. Expose students to language as muchas you can. Use books in English. If you can, starting a library for your classroom or academy would be great. Prices can escalate when the school is not in an English speaking country. I created a book for each unit just because of that. It's a book that they can make by themselves, take home and read with the parents and you shouldn't be too worried if it's going to get lost and more.  Videos are great. I had a collection of videos, such as Muzzy!, Disney and any other that I could buy. Now, you can find lovely videos on youtube to show in class and recommend to parents.

Here is an example of the family printable book.

2. Help students remember language facts. Experiment with sorting and matching activities.

Here is an example of a sorting activities with several gardn or nature flashards. Students can sort the trees abd flowers accoriding to their shapes. They will have to use the language fact of the adjective + noun phrase.

Students: a triangle tree!

3. The best way for students to communicate is through games and activities that focus on interaction between peers and you.

An easy one: the magic box! You can use it for almost anything and have the students guess what's inside.

or do the show and tell! I always include in all the resources a worksheet  for the students to draw, glue a picture of their favorite of their own item. It's wonderful for a short and tell or an exhibition in class.

4. Audit your best and not so good practices. Monitor and adjust. Check if your students were engaged with the material or activity. Did they like it? Were they bored? Can you do the activity in a different way? Just observe, take notes.

5. Lower the student’s anxiety. Make paper bag puppets, craft stick puppets to help students speak and make them feel more comfortable with the new language.

All the resources are available at my TPT store:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

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Teachers are artists and scientists!

      Teachers are basically artists that know a science in a classroom!

Here I am standing in front a beautiful picture in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. I can't paint a thing, I am no artist at all. But, in my classroom, I sure was an artist, I created so many thing for my students to reach to them, to engage them to learn a new language. My youngest student ever was a 2 year and 9 nine month old child and my oldest was well over 60 years old.

You are an artist in your classroom! I did this blog post just to remind you that you are a unique teacher artist with all the science of teaching that you have learned and have as experience. 

Create the best piece of art everyday with your lesson plan. I am here to help with materials, resources and ideas for your masterpiece.

You can chat with me using the chat button available at the blog on the right side.

My resources are available at my store:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

If your students are in the early childhood level, here is my other blog: 

https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/

Interactive Learning for Kindergarten English Language Learners

 Interactive Learning for Kindergarten English Language Learners

"it’s actually a pedagogical technique with a fairly simple definition. The interactive approach to any given lesson plan encourages students to interact with each other and with the subject matter."                  According to:  https://www.theclassroom.com/

How interactive are your lessons with the young learners? I know it requires a lot of planning, lots of games and activities for all the stages of your lesson plan.

Students love to play games, it takes away the pressure, they interact with their peers in a fun classroom that they love to return to. As for games for the kindergarten ELL, I love bingo, domino, puzzles, card games, board games. Here is 

Some countries don't have easy access to books in English, and if they are available, they expensive or they don't relate to the unit. I always create a book for each unit. The books can be sent home to read with their parents. The books can be created in groups, like this one.

Focus on student participation when writing your lesson plan. It's better to have lots of activities for pair work or group work and games for every step in the way you deliver your lesson. Check my blog for Kindergarten teachers to check on ideas for teaching with flashcards, small cards, cutouts, worksheets and more.

                                    Link to the blog:             https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/

There is a chat button and use it to ask for anything you need.

All the resources are here at my TPT store:

     https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

Learner Centered Teaching for Kindergarten EFL

"Student-centered learning, also known as learner-centered education, broadly encompasses methods of teaching that shift the focus of instruction from the teacher to the student". Wikipedia

                Students are the focus of our lesson plan.

Hands on activities for reviewing the unit is a lot more fun than just watching a video over and over again. I always have several games available for each unit to give students the chance to pick ones they want to play as the wrap of the lesson.

For example, for the Circus unit here are four games that students can play alone or with a partner. Just walk around and give guidance.

Students learn at their own pace, give them time to acquire the new language. Give multiple opportunities to learn with different materials with active participation.Plan different activities for the different levels that you might have in your class. For example, the worksheets can be done by themselves following simple instructions using their imagination and creativity.

Some students might want to do even more with the animal’s face and cut it up. There is space for students that are more advanced in the same classroom and would like to do more things. I am just providing an example.

Engage students into projects or crafts to enhance creativity. Students can color or design the clothes to put on each character. They get to choose the color of each clothing and how they want to dress them.

I am sure that you can think of more ideas and activities for teaching your students by keeping them as the focus of learning.

                   All the resources are here at my TPT store:

·         STORE: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

For more ideas check my other blog for Kindergarten English Language Learners. Click here:   https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/

Communicative language teaching for Kindergarten

 "Communicative language teaching (CLT), or the communicative approach (CA) , is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study." Definition by Wikipedia.

There is a lot of information on this approach for teaching adults but almost none for teaching early childhood as a second language (ESL) or a foreign language (EFL). That leaves us to adapt the approach to the young learners that we have in class. Our mail goal or objective is that our students will be able to communicate in English according to their age.

That' s why we have to create many resources to teach the students and have them available for the students to interact in English such as games. All children love games, I create a variety of games that are great for the age range, such as game boards, domino, file folder games and more. The intention is that they play on their own and speak English as they do.

I also have two games that are puzzle-solving oriented: puzzles and half card games. Those are great for pair work.

Role-playing is easy if you have the materials to prompt the language. Masks and puppets are wonderful for the littles ones as they become shy to speak English in front of the class. These resources are good to have in hand to model dialogues.

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Calculated Risk for ESL Teachers

                 What is a  calculated risk? It's a noun defined as:  

1 : a hazard or chance of failure whose degree of probability has been reckoned or estimated before some undertaking is entered upon

2: an undertaking or the actual or possible product of an undertaking whose chance of failure has been previously estimated

              https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

For us teachers,a calculated risk is giving ourselves and our students a chance to try something different that is defined in the text book.

Find new activities to try. There is a lot of activities to search for on Pinterest, for example. I always find inspiration to create the resources. Instagram is also a great place to see what other teachers are doing, I am happy to find new ways to use the resources. In a personal level, I loved creating the booklet with my students. Now, I include a booklet in all the units, it's fun and creative. It's nice to have a personal collection of books to read over and over again in class or to send home. 

Innovate in your classroom. I know, sometimes it's hard to find innovation for our class. You might say, I have tried everything, but there's always more to give it a try. I love to bring in a new resource to the young learner's class. The feed me box are so cute and I am sure that your students will light up when they see it. It's easy to assemble and carry around with you. This one is made out of a cereal box.

Change practices. A little twist in our lesson planning works wonder with the little ones. I love to include crafts. Yes, it's messy but organization is key. Make the craft yourself and bring it in already done and you will notice the steps to make it easy to recreate with your students in an easy way. 

Try a new method. A new way to do things in class with your preschoolers,to move on to the next activity faster is important.Those extra 5 or 10 minutes are horrible if you don't have anything in hand. That's where games will help you. I have lots of printable  games for you to keep in a bag just for those extra minutes, students can play by themselves and speaking English. I have dominos, game boards, file folder games, Bingos, half card games, puzzles and more.

All my resources are here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

 Follow my FACEBOOK fan page:

https://www.facebook.com/ESLPreschoolTeachers/

https://www.pinterest.com/ei98srl

https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/

https://www.instagram.com/rosamelia_eslteacher

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosa-amelia-oropeza-81657829/

Facebook groups: 

ESL/EFL Preschool Teachers : https://www.facebook.com/groups/26091497243

ESL/EFL Elementary Teachers

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