【Teaching Beginners #1】1月24日

I haven’t written for the Teaching Blog for some time. Sigh. I’ve been trying to put together my thoughts and ideas for teaching beginners, though, in the hope of offering tips for the teachers who will meet new students in April. 

Some of the teachers (homeroom teachers) will be teaching English for the first time. Some will be starting their English lessons with a new batch of children. Some veteran teachers will be teaching very young learners for the first time in their life and will face a culture shock. Young children are a different race from junior high students.

The younger the learners, the more challenging our job of planning lessons, preparing materials and presenting in the classroom.  

Suppose you are asked to teach 1^st and 2^nd graders English once a week for the spring semester. No textbook is designated. What to do? Don’t panic. You ARE the textbook. Sit down, take a deep breath and list up what you want to teach and how you can teach it. Here’s my recipe.

1. Choose language materials. Existing ELT textbooks are great resources. Look up Level 1 Student Books of ELT series. Get hold of one Teacher Resource Book that offers simple teaching principles and techniques.

2. List up your favorite activities: individual, pair, group, and whole class.

3. List up songs and chants you can teach with ease without props. 

4. Look for picture books that illustrate the language you wish to teach.

5. Write a syllabus. Write the flow of each lesson as well. You want to set up a routine so children feel safe.

I will write each step in more details in the next postings.