Teach English in Yufen Zhen - Luliang Shi

Teachers can be somewhat limited in the choice of their teaching equipment for young learners, especially those who have not yet developed any kind of reading and writing skills. Realia should definitely be used whenever we are dealing with objects that are easily available (e.g. school supplies like paper and crayons) and convenient to work with ( fridges can be found in any home, but we can’t really bring one to class), as they can stimulate sensory learning much more than just visual reproductions of the objects. However, teachers will often have to resort to flashcards that can immediately convey meanings and concepts that could be difficult to explain to beginners. Thus, teachers should learn to make the most of flashcards, which are not just a tool to help us during modeling and drilling, but can be used in a plethora of games and activities aimed at developing different skills. First of all, we must bear in mind that children improve their vocabulary faster when they link together the pronunciation of a new word with a physical response, no matter how small, which is why most of the vocabulary I teach has an accompanying gesture, usually taken from the American Sign Language. In these examples, I will consider flashcards representing different members of the family: mommy, daddy, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather. After going through a couple of drills where the teacher models the name of each card and the students repeat it, I find that the best exercise to help retain and practice the new knowledge is a simple game of Swat it!: I lay the cards on the floor, call one student, hand them a flyswatter and name a family member. The student then swats the corresponding flashcard, repeats its name and is rewarded with a high five before going back to their seat. In the following lessons, the children should have reviewed and absorbed the new vocabulary and should be ready to play more complex and thrilling games. One student-favorite is Teacher Shark, where, after briefly going through all of the cards, I play the role of a shark by choosing a student and exchanging the following dialogue: “Hello, student!” “Hello, Teacher Shark!” “I’m hungry!”. I then reveal one of the flashcards and start walking slowly towards the student, who must say the correct name of the card before I reach him, or else be eaten (“Sorry!”) in a silly pantomime using my hands. Students also enjoy it when I draw a shark on the whiteboard, add a fish in its tummy whenever a student is “eaten” and count all the fishes at the end of the game. A similar way to review flashcards is Slow/Fast Motion, where a card is either slowly revealed from behind a piece of paper (even sideways or upside down to make the game more challenging) or shown for a second before being hidden behind the teacher’s back. Usually all the kids will give the answer at the same time, but with older students we can make it a speed game of whoever raises their hand first and says the correct word. A good way to introduce pair work to young children is the game “What’s that?”. Every card is placed face down on the floor and two students are called. Then, one must ask the other “What’s that?” and point at a card. The second one will respond “I don’t know”, turn over the card and then say its name. They will then play again with reversed roles before going back to their seat and letting two more students play. Another game which uses flashcards but also helps develop memory and concentration is “Invisible Cards”, where I lay all the cards on the ground and repeat their names with the children in order. After doing so twice, I say “Bye bye, mommy!” and turn over the corresponding card. Then, we go through all the cards again, and the children must say “Mommy” as if the card was still visible. Another card is turned over and the game continues until all the cards are “invisible” and the students are able to remember their order correctly. After that, I like to wrap the activity up by calling students, asking them “Where is daddy/mommy/etc…?” and having them hand me the correct card. This is something I usually do whenever I need to put away my cards and supplies after an activity because, as my supervisor taught me during my apprenticeship, teachers should make every moment a teachable moment. So, instead of wasting precious time picking up the cards themselves, the teachers should let the students do it: they are always eager to help and it will further cement their knowledge in the process. An activity that requires further memory and concentration skills, besides being familiar with the numbers, is the Concentration Game, where I put numbers from 1 to 6 behind a flashcard (usually with paperclips or an erasable marker) and then lay them on the ground. I call a student and ask “Where is “one”?” The student must then choose a card, say its name (very important, as younger kids tend to just go straight for the card and turn it over), and see if they found it. If they did, they can have another turn and find “two”, “three”, etc… If they didn’t find the card in the correct order, they go back to their place and every card is turned again, so that the next student may start from “one” again. These are just some of the many creative ways we can use flashcards when teaching to younger learners. With the simple addition of extra materials like floor mats and hand puppets, we can come up with even more activities to have the children learn and have fun at the same time. Many resources can help us find new games with flashcards, but our own creativity is the limit!