using a topic-based approach for cambridge english: young ... · pdf filehandout: topic list...

Using a topic-based approach for Cambridge English: Young Learners classroom activities

Handout: Topic list for Cambridge English: Starters

Write the examples of vocabulary items from the word cloud on the slide in the most

appropriate place in the second column.

Topics Examples animals

the body and the face

clothes

colours

family and friends

food and drink

the home

numbers 1–20

places and directions

school

sports and leisure

time

toys

transport

weather

work

the world around us

From: Handbook for Teachers, pages 12 and 55–60. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/yle-handbook-for-teachers.pdf Word Clouds for Kids: http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm

USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: STARTERS 3

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/yle-handbook-for-teachers.pdf

http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm

Handout: Topic list for Cambridge English: Movers

Write down 10 words related to the topic you have been given. Vocabulary should be

appropriate for the level and age of Cambridge English: Movers candidates.

From: Cambridge English: Young Learners Handbook for Teachers, Page 24.


Animals

The body and the face

Clothes

Colours

Family and friends

Food and drink

Health

The home

Numbers 1–100

Places and directions

School

Sports and leisure

Time

Toys

Transport

Weather

Work

The world around us

Weather

The world around

us around us

The body and the

face

USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS 3


Handout: Vocabulary list for Cambridge English: Movers

You can find vocabulary lists for each topic of the Cambridge English: Young

Learners exams on pages 55–60 of the Handbook for Teachers.



arm back beard blond(e)

body curly ear eye face fair

fat foot/feet hair hand head

leg moustache mouth neck

nose shoulder smile stomach

straight thin tooth/teeth

Weather

cloud cloudy rain rainbow

snow sun sunny weather

wind windy

The world around us

beach city country(side) field

forest grass ground island

jungle lake leaf/leaves moon

mountain plant river road rock

sand sea shell star street sun

town tree village water waterfall

world



Handout: Topic list for Cambridge English: Flyers

Look at the topic list from the Cambridge English: Young Learners Handbook for

Teachers and answer these questions:

a) Which topic is new at this level (not in the lists for Cambridge English: Starters or

Movers)?

b) Which topic is different at this level (in the lists for Cambridge English: Starters

and Movers, but extended)?

From: Cambridge English: Young Learners Handbook for Teachers, Page 36:


Animals


Clothes

Colours

Family and friends

Food and drink

Health

The home

Materials

Numbers 1–1,000

Places and directions

School

Sports and leisure

Time

Toys

Transport

Weather

Work

The world around us

USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FLYERS 3


Handout: Topics and vocabulary

Look at the lists of vocabulary for these topics and decide which ten words you think

are new at Cambridge English: Flyers level in each group.

Topic 1 – school alphabet

answer

ask

art

break

classroom

college

competition

computer

desk

dictionary

geography

history

homework

internet

know

learn

mistake

lesson

school

science

scissors

teach

text

timetable

understand

website

write

Topic 2 – time afternoon

a.m.

before

birthday

calendar

century

clock

day

December

evening

every

future

half

minute

Monday

morning

never

night

quarter

sometimes

spring

today

tomorrow

watch

week

weekend

year

yesterday


Handout: Teaching vocabulary and structures

Ideas for activities related to the topic of animals and the Cambridge English: Starters

word list.

• Describing an animal E.g. This is an elephant. An elephant has a tail. An elephant is grey. Elephants

are big. Elephants can swim. Children could draw the animals and put the

drawings and descriptions together to make a mini-book.

• Describing likes and dislikes E.g. I like elephants. I don’t like giraffes. Children could do a classroom survey of

likes and dislikes, and make a graph/chart.

• Drawing a plan of a zoo and making labels for it E.g. There are three hippos in the zoo. The hippos are next to the tigers.

• A role-play about going to the zoo E.g. Let’s go to the zoo! What’s the hippo doing? She’s swimming! Children could

make up and then act out a role-play using words you have given them.

• Guess the animal gap-fill See the examples ‘A cat’ and ‘A horse’ in the Cambridge English: Starters

Sample Papers Volumes 1 and 2, Reading Part 4.

Song: At the Zoo A) Watch the video of a song and write down the names of all the animals you see

or hear.

B) Now decide whether the following sentences are true or false.

1) The family goes to the zoo in a blue car.

2) Mummy says ‘Here we go’.

3) The giraffe is looking.

4) Grandma looks at two lions.

5) The elephant is sleeping.

6) The brother likes snakes.

7) The bird is under the lion.

8) The cousins say ‘Wow!’


Classroom activity: Habitats Topic The world around us Timing 10 minutes Materials worksheet: Places and animals Rationale To activate vocabulary related to the world around us and animals,

and practise speaking and writing skills.

Procedure 1. Give out the worksheet: Places and animals and identify the habitats in the

picture (sea, jungle, grass, farm).

2. Say: You’re an animal and you live in the sea. What kind of animal are you?

Choose an animal but don’t say anything. Note: Learners don’t have to move

around the classroom, but they can pull faces or use their arms to mime

movement through water. You may want to choose an animal and move too!

Write any acceptable answers on the board in random order. Do not write the

answers in their groups.

3. Ask: What are you? Suggestions: fish, dolphins, sharks, whales.

Write any acceptable answers on the board so the animals do not appear in their

categorised groups.

4. Say: You’re not in the sea now. You’re walking in the jungle. Be careful! Which

animals are near? Suggestions: monkeys, snakes, tigers, spiders, lizards, bats.

Write any acceptable answers on the board.

5. Say: You’re hiding in some tall grass in Africa. Shh! Which animals can you see?

Suggestions: giraffes, lions, lizards, hippos, elephants, crocodiles, parrots, frogs,

spiders. Again, write any acceptable answers on the board.

6. Say: You live on a farm. Ask: Which animals live on your farm too? Suggestions:

horses, cows, sheep, ducks, chickens, goats, dogs, cats, flies. Write any

acceptable answers on the board.

7. In pairs, learners must copy the animals that are on the board into the appropriate

parts of the circle on the worksheet. Walk around, check spellings and accept any

reasonable answers.

8. Ask learners to write three animals they are frightened of, three of their favourite

animals, and an animal they would like to be on the lines on the worksheet.

Taken from: Fun for Movers: Student’s Book (third edition) by Anne Robinson and

Karen Saxby, © Cambridge University Press 2015.


Follow-up

• Ask children to mime animals and have others guess the animals.

• Children play ‘guess who?’ with animals (Child 1 thinks of an animal, and Child 2

asks questions to guess the animal OR Child 1 describes an animal and Child 2

listens and guesses).

• Children choose an animal and write or record a description of the animal.

• Children choose a habitat (e.g. the sea) and write about the habitat and its

animals.

Further activities

• Researching and describing a country: its rivers, mountains, forests, lakes,

waterfalls, cities. Children could write a guide about the country.

• A diary entry about a trip: a day at the beach, a day in the countryside, a day in

the city. Texts could go on the school blog with some photographs.

• Researching and writing about how plants grow. Texts and pictures could be

displayed on posters.

• Creating a map of an imaginary island. Children could make a model of the

island.

• If your class is taking the Cambridge English: Movers test, use the Sample

Papers Volume 1 Reading and Writing, Part 6 task, where children read a factual

text on the topic of zoos and complete the text with grammatical words chosen

from three options below. See also the Sample Papers Volume 2, Listening Part

2 task, where children listen to a conversation about a trip to a zoo and complete

the words in a page of a notepad.

• The Sample Papers and audio recordings are available from the Teachers’

Resources section of the Cambridge English website.

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/resources-for-teachers/



Worksheet: Places and animals

Taken from: Fun for Movers: Student’s Book (third edition) by Anne Robinson and

Karen Saxby, © Cambridge University Press 2015.



Handout: Materials

Work with a partner and complete the second column of the table with as many

examples of things made from this material as possible.

Material Example objects card

glass

gold

metal

paper

plastic

silver

wood

wool

Classroom activity: Materials and objects Topic Materials

Timing 10–15 minutes

Materials worksheet: Materials and objects; at least one object made of one of the materials on the worksheet (e.g. a plastic bottle)

Rationale To activate vocabulary related to materials and everyday objects, and practise speaking and writing skills.

Procedure 1. Teach or review words for materials (card, glass, gold, metal, paper, plastic,

silver, wood, wool) using pictures of appropriate objects or real things.

2. Give out the worksheet: Materials and objects. Alternatively, show the table on

a slide on the IWB, or draw the table on the board and ask the children to copy it.

3. Show an object you have brought to class (e.g. a plastic bottle) and say: This is a

bottle. What’s it made of? Elicit the answer (plastic). Say: This bottle is made of

plastic. What things are made of plastic?

4. Elicit some objects made of plastic and write them on the board. Tell children to

write the names of the objects next to the word ‘plastic’ in the table (i.e. the

second column).

5. Divide children into pairs. For each material, they should think of as many objects

as they can that are made of that material. If you wish, the children could look

through their coursebook to find pictures of suitable objects. They should write

the names of the objects in the second column of the table.

6. Allow up to 5 minutes for the activity. Monitor children as they do the activity, and

help where necessary.

7. Elicit feedback (see suggested key to step 7, below). Encourage use of the

phrase ‘made of’ (e.g. What’s made of glass? A mirror’s made of glass. Is a

postcard made of glass? What’s it made of?)

Suggested key (step 7) Suggestions (from the Cambridge English: Flyers word list in the Handbook for

Teachers):

• card: box, birthday card, calendar, postcard

• glass: bottle, mirror

• gold: ring, necklace

• metal: bridge, bicycle, motorbike, key, knife, spoon, fork

• paper: envelope, book, map, newspaper, magazine, stamp


• plastic: comb, ball, bottle, toothbrush

• silver: ring, necklace, crown

• wood: chopsticks, chair, guitar, violin, bowl, cupboard

• wool: scarf, sweater, blanket, socks, gloves

Further activities

• Children can collect or draw pictures or take photographs of objects made of

certain materials. They then stick and label pictures on to a collage (e.g. This is a

bottle. It’s made of glass).

• Children find out about one material (e.g. where it is from, how it is made, what it

is used for, how long people have used it).They make a physical or digital poster

to present their research and pictures.

• Children can play the game in the ‘activities for children’ section for A2 learners

on the Cambridge English website. In the activity called ‘What is this made from?’

(available here: http://assets.cambridgeenglish.org/activities-for-children/f-rw-08-

what-is-this-made-from/story.html), learners look at five pictures of objects and

answer a question. As they click on the correct object, the monkey picks a

banana and moves up the tree. Children can do this and other similar activities to

practise different areas of vocabulary either at home with parents or

collaboratively in class if you have an IWB.


http://assets.cambridgeenglish.org/activities-for-children/f-rw-08-what-is-this-made-from/story.html

http://assets.cambridgeenglish.org/activities-for-children/f-rw-08-what-is-this-made-from/story.html

Handout: Classroom activities

The following activities for the classroom are based around six topics from the combined thematic vocabulary list for Cambridge English: Starters. This list can be found in the Cambridge English: Young Learners Handbook. The activities integrate vocabulary and language structures appropriate for this level, and help children to develop their language skills.

Classroom activity: At the zoo Topic Animals Timing 20–25 minutes Materials worksheet: At the zoo; video: At the zoo (available at:

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/activities-for-children/pre-a1-level/sing-and-learn-at-the-zoo/)

Rationale To activate vocabulary related to animals and practise reading skills. N.B. You will need internet access for this activity, plus access to a computer, laptop or tablet and IWB or data projector.

Procedure Teach or review words for animals (any of these: monkey, frog, cow, sheep, goat, 1.

giraffe, lion, lizard, elephant, mouse/mice, spider, snake, tiger, bird, crocodile,

duck, hippo, horse, dog, chicken).

Tell children that they are going to watch a video of a song. As they watch and 2.

listen, they should write the names of animals that they see in the video. (At this

stage, children could write the names in their first language.)

Play the video: At the zoo. Elicit the animals that children saw in the video. 3.

Give out the worksheet: At the zoo. Explain that the handout has some 4.

sentences about the video that they just watched. Some of the sentences are true

and some are false. Give children time to read the sentences, and check

understanding.

Play the video again. Divide children into pairs, and ask them to compare their 5.

answers. Monitor and check children understand.

When most pairs are ready, elicit answers (see key below). 6.

Key for worksheet 1) False 2) False 3) True 4) True 5) False 6) True 7) False 8) True


http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/activities-for-children/pre-a1-level/sing-and-learn-at-the-zoo/


Further extension activities

• Lyrics and worksheets for the song At the Zoo are available at:

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/activities-

for-children/pre-a1-level/sing-and-learn-at-the-zoo/.

• Describing an animal, e.g. This is an elephant. An elephant has a tail. An

elephant is grey. Elephants are big. Elephants can swim. Children could draw the

animals too, and put the drawings and descriptions together to make a mini-book.

• Describing likes and dislikes, e.g. I like elephants. I don’t like giraffes. Children

could do a classroom survey of likes and dislikes, and make a graph/chart.

• Drawing a plan of a zoo and making labels for the zoo, e.g. There are three

hippos in the zoo. The hippos are next to the tigers.

• A role-play about going to the zoo, e.g. Let’s go to the zoo! What’s the hippo

doing? She’s swimming! Children could make up and then act out a role-play

using words you have given them.

• Guess the animal gap-fill. See the examples ‘A cat’ and ‘A horse’ in the

Cambridge English: Starters Sample Papers Volumes 1 and 2, Reading Part 4.




Worksheet: At the zoo

1) The family goes to the zoo in a blue car.

2) Mummy says ‘Here we go’.

3) The giraffe is looking.

4) Grandma looks at two lions.

5) The elephant is sleeping.

6) The brother likes snakes.

7) The bird is under the lion.

8) The cousins say ‘Wow!’


Handout: A weather mind map

Add the descriptions of the activities below to the boxes 1–6 in the mind map above.

A. Children make or paint a picture of a rainbow. They label the rainbow with the names of the colours in English.

B. Children imagine that they are going to visit a hot/cold country. They write a list of things to take, then draw the open suitcase and items.

C. Children collect information about the weather (e.g. rainfall, temperatures). They complete a spreadsheet with the data.

D. Children sing a song in English about a rainbow and invent actions for the song.

E. Children research hottest/coldest/ driest/wettest/sunniest/windiest places in the world. They could collect more information about these places.

F. At the start of term, children make a weather poster with words and pictures. At the start of each lesson, the teacher asks: What’s the weather like? Children complete the chart.

weather

climate

daily

weather

3 Arts and crafts

4 Arts and crafts

rainbows

5 Maths and IT

1 Arts and crafts

2 Geography

6 Music


Classroom activity: Weather quiz Topic Weather

Timing 5–10 minutes

Materials none Rationale To activate vocabulary related to the weather, and practise superlative

forms and speaking skills.

Procedure 1. Teach or review these words for weather: hot, cold, dry, wet, windy.

2. Write the following sentences on the board, or prepare a slide for the IWB:

a) The hottest place in the world is …

b) The coldest place in the world is …

c) The driest place in the world is …

d) The wettest place in the world is …

e) The windiest place in the world is …

3. Divide the children into pairs or small groups. Give them 2–3 minutes to discuss

and complete the sentences.

4. When most groups are ready, stop the activity, and elicit some answers.

5. Give the answers (see key to step 5, below).

Key (step 5) a) The Lut Desert, Iran

b) Vostok, Antarctica

c) The Atacama Desert, South America

d) Meghalaya State, India

e) Antarctica

Further activities

• Ask children to make or paint a picture of a rainbow. They must label the rainbow

with the names of the colours in English.

• Children sing a song in English about a rainbow. They invent actions for the song.

• At the start of term, get children to make a weather poster with words and

pictures. At the start of each lesson, ask: What’s the weather like? and get the

children to complete the chart.

• Ask children to collect information about the weather (e.g. rainfall, temperatures).

They must complete a spreadsheet with the data.

• Ask children to imagine that they are going to visit a hot/cold country. They must

write a list of things to take, and draw the open suitcase and items.


• Get children to research the hottest/coldest/driest/wettest/sunniest/windiest

places in the world and collect more information about these places to present to

the class.

• Use the Cambridge English: Movers Word List Picture Book, available here:

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/199238-young-learners-movers-word-

list-picture-book.pdf. This has lots of large, busy pictures which you can use with

children to focus on various vocabulary areas, and some ideas for

teachers/parents for exploiting the pictures. For example, there is one called ‘The

weather’ on pages 16–17. You could display this in the classroom and ask

children to find things in the picture, play ‘guess what object I’m thinking of/which

day of the week I’ve chosen’ and use it as a springboard to other work on the

topic of the weather.


http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/199238-young-learners-movers-word-list-picture-book.pdf

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/199238-young-learners-movers-word-list-picture-book.pdf

Classroom activity: A town plan Topic Places and directions

Timing 10 minutes

Materials worksheet: A town plan

Rationale To activate vocabulary related to directions and places in a town, and

practise listening and speaking skills

Procedure 1. Give out the worksheet: A town plan or alternatively, show the plan on an IWB,

or draw the plan on the board, and ask children to copy it quickly into their

notebooks.

2. Elicit things that children can see on the town plan (West Street, London Road,

East River, a bridge over the river, six buildings).

3. Point out the text ‘YOU ARE HERE’. Tell children to imagine that they are in this

place. Explain that you are going to describe a walk through the town. They

should listen and write the names of the buildings on the plan.

4. Read the following text aloud. Read slowly, and repeat if necessary:

• Begin at YOU ARE HERE. Walk straight on. Walk across the bridge and over

the river. On the left, there is a big building. It’s a hotel. Opposite the hotel,

there is another big building. It’s a museum. Walk past the hotel and the

museum. Next to the hotel, on the left, there is a police station. Opposite the

police station, on the right, there is a post office. Now you are at London

Road. On the corner of the road, on the left, there is a restaurant. On the

other corner, on the right, there is a theatre.

5. Walk around the room as you read the text to check that children understand

what they need to do, and help where necessary.

6. Elicit feedback (see key to step 6, below).

7. Elicit other places that people could see in a town (park, zoo, station, hospital,

etc.).

Key (step 6) 1) hotel

2) museum

3) police station

4) post office

5) restaurant

6) theatre


Follow-up Give children another copy of the worksheet, or ask them to copy the town plan. Tell

them to label the buildings with the places that they want. In pairs, child A describes

the plan, and child B listens and writes what the buildings are. Write phrases on the

board to help (e.g. walk straight on/across/past; on the left/right; on the corner;

opposite/next to).

Further activities If your class is taking the Cambridge English: Flyers test, use the Sample Papers

Volumes 1 and 2 to practise exam skills using the topic of directions and places. For

example, Volume 2, Reading and Writing Part 6 is a factual description of a hospital,

and children have to complete the gaps in the text with words from the list below.

Volume 1, Reading and Writing Part 4 and Speaking Part 1 share the topic of

museums, and there is also an interactive game ‘At the museum’, available on the

Cambridge English website: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-

english/parents-and-children/activities-for-children/a2-level/f-s-03-at-the-museum/.

Sample Papers Volume 2, Listening Part 3 also uses the topic of a trip to a

supermarket. The Sample Papers and audio recordings are available from the

Teachers’ Resources section of the Cambridge English website:

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/resources-for-teachers/.


http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/activities-for-children/a2-level/f-s-03-at-the-museum/

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/activities-for-children/a2-level/f-s-03-at-the-museum/


Worksheet: A town plan

London Road

West

Street

East

River

YOU ARE

HERE

1 2

3 4

5 6


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