Lesson
Introducing Animals with It's A Dog Song
This
lesson plan is for a 35 minute class, but you can adjust it for
a shorter or longer class. All links to songs and other materials
are to free materials you can download and use in you classes right
away!
1. Warm Up! (2 Minutes)
First thing always is a big smile! Then say hello to the students
and say some animal names and do some animal voices. For example
say, "cat" and then "meow!"
2. Hello Song (3 Minutes)
Sing the Dream English Hello Song with
the students and make a circle. You may choose to start the class
off with this right away, but I do a bit of warm up (see above)
first. This song is very simple, and to me the most important part
is that the students sing the, "Hello, hello, hello" part
of the song. As this is still the beginning of the class, I ease
them into speaking English.
3. Circle Time (5 minutes)
During circle time I pass a small ball around the circle with the
students. I always start out by saying "hello" and passing
it to the student sitting next to me. That student then passes the
ball to the student next to them and says "hello" We do
this until the ball gets back to me. Next, I usually practice saying
"Here you are,""Thank you". The student who
passes the ball says "Here you are" and the student who
receives the ball says, "Thank you." You can also practice
things like, "How are you?" "I'm great!" as
you pass the ball along.
4. My Name is Matt Practice
(5 minutes)
Next sing the What's Your Name? Song
with the students. Again, this is an easy song, and the students
generally pick it up pretty quickly. After singing, you can sit
down in a circle again and pass the ball if you like. This time
asking "what's your name?". For young students, it make
take them a few weeks to pick up this language, so don't push them
to hard. If they can't say it yet, say it for them.
5. Numbers (5 minutes)
I review numbers every class with young students. I think that numbers
are not only useful, but also are good for pronunciation practice.
You can use the flash cards from One Fish Counting
song and practice 1 to 10. Simply hold up the flash card and
say the number on the card. The students will pick this up quickly.
Numbers game- after drilling the numbers with the students, ask
them to close their eyes and count to ten. Next, place the flash
cards around the room. Ask the students to open their eyes. Next
ask the students to find certain numbers. For example, "find
3". When they find it, if they are old enough, ask them to
say, "I Found it!" Sing Let's Count
1 to 10
6. Book reading time (5 minutes)
After the students have been a bit active, as with the Numbers game
above, I like to settle them down with a book. You can use any book
you have in your library that you feel is well suited to their age.
You are also free to download and print any of the free books from
the new Dream English site KidsEnglishBooks.com.
I read a book to the students every class, often asking them questions
about what they see on the page to get them involved. For example,
"can you see the balloons? how many are there?" As their
English becomes more advanced, so will the questions you can ask
them.
7. Introducing Animals with
the It's a Dog Song
Introduce
the animals using the Animal flashcards,
stuffed animals, or pictures. At first I think it is best to say
the words slowly, then a bit faster in a steady rhythm, and have
the kids repeat. If they are really young students, don’t
worry if they do not repeat the words at first. For older or more
experienced students you can introduce the whole phrase, “It’s
a dog”.
Next, ask the students, “What sound does a dog make?”
They may not understand the question, but they will probably catch
on quickly and you can of course help them along. When you get to
the rabbit ask, “What does a rabbit do?” I also do gestures
when making the sounds. For example, for the dog I clap my hands
together like a mouth and say “woof, woof”. For the
cat I put my hands on my face and make whiskers, then I say “meow”.
This is fun for the kids, and I think it helps them remember what
the word means. Next sing the It's A Dog Song
with the kids.
Game: Try a simple matching game. If you have two
sets of flash cards, or stuffed animals and flash cards, ask the
students to match the two animals. Also, a simple touch game works
well. Ask your students, “Touch the Dog!”
7. Action Time or TPR time (2 minutes)
I always like to do some actions with the kids. London
Bridge is Falling Down is a fun simple song to get the kids
moving a bit. Form a bridge with another teacher or student, and
have the students walk under it. At the end of the song phrase,
wrap you arms around the students under the "bridge".
8. Goodbye Song (3 minutes)
The Goodbye Song has a lot of actions, so
even young students can follow along. I always sing this at the
end of the class, as it lets students know that the class is over.
At the end, I always say, "Goodbye, thank you, see you!"
to my students with a big smile so they know they have done a great
job!
This is a rough outline of what I think is a pretty good class schedule.
Give it a try, and see how it goes for you. You may want to make
some adjustments, as the time is relative to class size, etc. I
often also use coloring time as a way to settle young energetic
students. I have some ready to print animal coloring
sheets here you can download and use in your classes. You may
also want to have a few more things planned in case the lesson goes
quicker than expected. For many more class ideas, check out the
free songs with lesson ideas. Good luck,
and most of all have fun!
