Chuck and I are going to be leading a webinar this week for teachers of very young learners. It’s really exciting for us to do this and share ideas with teachers. If you’d like to join us, just follow the link to sign up.
Dates: 25th and 28th September 2013
Times: 12:00 – 13:00 and 07:00 – 08:00 (BST)
Speakers: Kathleen Kampa and Charles Vilina
This webinar draws on content from the Magic Time course.
What are Multiple Intelligences?
How can I use Multiple Intelligence strategies with my young learners?
How can I bring my lessons to life with big pictures, picture cards, songs, chants, and movement?
How does a good kindergarten course differentiate learning so that all my students are successful?
Join Magic Time authors, Kathleen Kampa and Charles Vilina to learn practical answers to these questions and find out more about giving every child in your class the chance to learn English – and enjoy it!
In any children’s class, many activities are needed to keep students happy and motivated throughout the lesson. Transitional songs are a perfect way to signal to children that one activity is ending and another is beginning. A good transitional song also has other benefits:
It supports the natural rhythm and intonation of the phrase or sentence you are using.
The melody is quickly learned and recognized by students, so they move into action as soon as they hear it.
In most cases, children can be encouraged to sing along, building group cohesion as well as productive language skills.
Transitional songs soon become part of a classroom routine, giving students a sense of structure and making them feel secure during the lesson.
Today, for Part One, we present three transitional songs that help to make activities smooth and enjoyable for students. The lyrics for each of the transitional songs are included below with a simple recording. A professional recording is now available on “Jump Jump Everyone.”
1. Let’s Make a Circle
Many language activities work well with students seated (or standing) in a circle. This transitional song quickly motivates children into forming a circle in the classroom.
Many activities involve the use of picture cards for language support. After the activity is over, this transitional song gets the picture cards back to you quickly and efficiently.
The song is sung as a dialogue between the teacher and students. The word cards can also be changed to any other item that needs to be collected (papers, crayons, etc.)
You can sing these transitional songs in your classroom. The songs are also professionally recorded here on “Jump Jump Everyone.” Check out the link on iTunes .
This album has lots of movement songs which are important for young learners growth and development. Contact Englishbooks.jp or me (magictimekids@gmail.com) to order CDs.
Teachers have regular opportunities to observe classroom behavior. Bad behavior can be disruptive, of course. However, when we focus on our students’ successes and describe the great things they are doing, we can create a positive classroom culture that minimizes bad behavior. Chuck and I call this strategy CCBA — Catch Children Being Amazing!
Here’s what to do when you catch a child being amazing:
1. Refer to the student by name.
2. Name the task that the student is doing.
3. Describe the behavior that you want other students to notice and imitate.
For example:
I see that Natalia and Carlos have opened their books and are already writing their stories.
I see Mariko making a big ‘M’ using her whole body. At first she made a small ‘m’ with her fingers, but now she thought of another idea.
I can hear Jiwoo singing all of the words to our song. She is pointing to the picture cards, too.
Students work harder when they know that their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. Celebrate your class successes with this chant. Songs and chants help build a positive classroom atmosphere. This celebration chant really builds team spirit!
When we begin a new English class with a group of young learners, we want to guide them toward the following goals from the very beginning:
1. We want students to get to know everyone’s names.
2. We want students to develop the confidence to respond independently.
3. We want students to respond as a group.
4. We want students to become comfortable with singing in class.
Fortunately, we can achieve all of these goals by beginning each class with a melody roll call. It’s so catchy, students will learn it by the second week and expect it by the third. It requires the simplest of melodies: Sol – Mi – Sol – Mi and Sol – Mi – Do
Teacher: Where is Mariko? (Sol – Mi – Sol – Mi)
Mariko: Here I am! (Sol – Mi – Sol – Mi)
If a student is absent, then the entire class chimes in!
Teacher: Where is Kenta? (Sol – Mi – Sol – Mi)
Class: I don’t know! (Sol – Mi – Do)
Our students love beginning each class with this activity. It also demonstrates the power of music in supporting pronunciation — within one month every student is articulating the words (including the contraction don’t) with native precision. Try it tomorrow, even if your class has been together for a while!
MagicTimeKids 