teacher’s corner – september 2016 teaching young learners · teacher’s corner – september...
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americanenglish.state.gov
TEACHER’SCORNER–SEPTEMBER2016
TEACHINGYOUNGLEARNERSYounglearnerspresentaspecialsetofchallengesandopportunitiesintheEnglishlanguageclassroom.
Youngerstudentstendtohaveshorterattentionspansandcanlosefocusmoreeasilythanolderstudents.
Theymayrequiremorefrequentbreaksoropportunitiestomovearoundandalsobenefitfromstructure
androutine.Often,youngerstudentslearnbestbyphysicallydoingthingsandinteractingwithpeers.As
withstudentsofallages,younglearnersneedtofeelconnectedtowhatisbeingtaughtandinvolvedin
theirownlearningprocess.Additionally,younglearnerscanpresentaspecialsetofbehavioralchallengesif
aclassroomisnotmanagedwell.
Thethoughtofaddressingalloftheseneedsmayseemdaunting,butwithsomecarefulconsiderationand
planning,workingwithyounglearnerscanbeaveryrewardingexperienceforbothteachersandstudents.
TheEnglishlanguageclassroomforyounglearnersprovidesopportunitiestoincorporatehands-on
activities,music,movement,andvisuals.Youngerstudentslearnbestwhencontentispresentedina
consistentmannerandrepeatedfrequently,whichcanactuallymakepreparationabiteasierforteachers.
ThismonthintheTeacher’sCorner,wewillfocusonfourwaystoincreasesuccesswhenteachingyoung
learnersintheEnglishlanguageclassroom:
Week1-CreatingaVisuallyRichClassroom
Week2-UsingaDailyRoutineforLanguagePractice
Week3-IncorporatingOpportunitiesforInteractionandSharing
Week4-UsingMusic,Chants,andMovement
Whiletheideaspresentedthismontharegearedtowardteachersofyounglearners,manyofthe
suggestionscanbeadaptedandappliedtostudentsofallages,especiallybeginners.Themaingoalofthe
suggestionshereistocreateaninteractive,content-richenvironmentwhereyounglearnerswillbe
engagedandhavefunastheyarelearning.