The possibilities for learning a foreign language through movement are inexhaustible. Consider acting out the meaning of individual words from stories and poems. Through movement, children can begin to comprehend the meaning of action words such as pull, push, jump, leap, hop or descriptive words such as kind, lovely, polite, bitter, sugary.
However, movement activities that require children merely to imitate the teacher do not foster creativity. But movement activities with emphasis on problem-solving, discovery, and self-expression can make a substantial contribution. Creative movement activities also foster imagination. One of these activities is the 'poetry walk'. And here is how to do it:
These are some examples: The colours of the garden reflect the rainbow that crosses the sky. Ants, bees and butterflies Are so small and so different, but they are all happy at sunrise. What a delicious smell! What are you baking? 'Chocolate cake', we yelled! So many books, so many words If we read them all Will we become nerds?
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An acrostic poem is a type of poetry where the first, last or other letters in a line spell out a particular word or phrase. The most common and simple form of an acrostic poem is where the first letters of each line spell out the word or phrase. 1. Show the child how to write an acrostic poem, in which the first letter of each line spells out his or her name, when read top to bottom. 2. Once the child writes a poem based on his or her own name, the child can write about family members, friends, or pets. 3. If the child is too young, you can ask them to draw rather than write, and read it aloud. 4. These are some examples of a group with six-year-old children: And this is what they said about their poems: Kangaroos live in Australia Alligators like dirty rivers Insects are everywhere and Octopuses live in the sea. Horses are strong and Elephants too. My Nose moves like Rabbits noses when Insects bite it. Quack, a duck said when it saw an Umbrella protecting an Egg from the rain! Remember that creativity flourishes when things are done for enjoyment. What matters is the pleasure, not the perfection. Give the children opportunity to share, to make mistakes, to take risks, and to feel the freedom to express all their wonderful ideas. Working with poetry offers a wealth of benefits for children. Some linguistic benefits were mentioned in my post: malusciamarelliblog.weebly.com/creative-writing/writing-poems-with-children
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From today on, I will share some activities I use when teaching children English. Mr Spider by Alan Maley
The primary focus of this activity is work with rhyme and writing. The secondary is reading and listening.
Video: Poem: Mr Spider 'Please, Mr Spider, climbing up the wall, Please don’t, please don’t, please, don’t fall!' 'Why are you so frightened? Why are you afraid?' 'Because I think you’ll poison The soup I’ve just made.' 'Oh Mr Spider, walking on the ceiling, You give my tummy such a funny feeling.' 'What makes you so frightened? What makes you afraid?' 'Because I think you’ll drop on me And bite me till I’m dead!' 'Please, little children, sitting down below, Please don’t run away. Please don’t go. You really mustn’t think that I Am poisonous or mean. Remember that I eat the flies And keep your houses clean.' (Alan Maley) 2. Talk about where each line of the poem ends and how it creates rhyme, affects the meaning of the poem, and might even make the poem look a particular way. 3. Read it again as a group. 4. Select some words that rhyme. In this case, I selected: wall / fall; afraid / made; mean / clean; below / go. 5. Help them write another poem individually, in pairs, or as a group using the words selected and about the same topic. Example: Seeing the spider climbing up the wall, My first thought was, 'it will fall!' I was also so afraid When I saw the web it's just made! Then I shouted, 'spiders are so mean!' But then I saw how the room was clean. I sat with all the children down below And said, 'little spider, please, don't go!' As a follow-up activity, you can ask them to read it aloud, and draw a picture of a spider. One way of enhancing children's creativity is help them write a poem. Children may recognise the power of poetry - its ability to inspire emotions and the pleasure and fun they can get from memorising a poem, or reading it again and again - but they may not know where and how to start writing their own poems.
There are other things you can explore rather than only enhancing their creativity in the foreign language class. You can help them recognise the elements of a poem and explore different ways of writing one and by doing so, you will enable children to:
Also, in writing poetry, children will discover a new world of expression that is just as fun to share with others as it is to write. In my next posts, I will share some creative ways of starting to write poems and introduce the world of poetry to children. |
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