Teach English in XinhuZhen - Tai'an Shi

Can Kindergarten Students Learn When They Are Having Fun? Teaching TEFL in a kindergarten classroom can bring both the teacher and students many joyful moments with an abundance of learning. In the kindergarten classroom, there will be a mix of English and the students’ native language. Kindergarten is a powerful year for students to continue building their language skills. They will use their language to make sense of their new language in English. The resources and materials that the teacher uses are in English. It is important for a teacher to be mindful that kindergarten students learn while they are having fun. It is the teacher’s role to build a community of learners. It takes a partnership between the teacher and students to build a wonderful place to learn every day. The classroom can be structured around the kindergarten learning outcomes and highly effective instruction. Highly effective instruction is designed with both the outcomes and the students in mind. Kindergarten students need a variety of ways to take on new learning, which includes social opportunities with their peers while incorporating movement and hands-on activities. The structure of a literacy block (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) is designed by following the three forms of instruction; whole group instruction, small group instruction, and one-on-one instruction. This structure can also be utilized for writing and math instruction. To best illustrate the structure of a literacy block, the following is a literacy example for a unit on developing language structures incorporating animal names. Whole Group Instruction Whole group instruction is defined as the teacher leading instruction with all of the students in the class in a designated area of the room. The teacher is holding the book allowing the students to see the pictures as it is read to all of the students. Teacher welcomes the community of readers and introduces the book; this book is about animals seeing other animals. Today we are going to read about all the animals in this book and we are going to repeat the words together. Teacher reads the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See by Eric Carle. Students are encouraged to start repeating the 2 main language structures; brown bear, brown bear what do you see, and I see a ________ looking at me. Note that the what do you see structure changes with each animal. Young students enjoy the repetitive structures and will continue saying them throughout their day. After the conclusion of the first reading, the students will create a list of the animals from memory while the teacher writes the list on poster paper for students to use as a reference. If needed, the list is completed by the students while looking through the book for animals that they did not include in their list. As a class, the teacher holds up the book and together teacher and student reread the book- strongly stressing the language structures, brown bear, brown bear what do you see, I see a ____ looking at me and changing as the book progresses through different animals. Following the whole group instruction, the class transitions into small group instruction and partner station work. Small Group Instruction Small group instruction is when students work closely with the teacher in a small group of 3-5 students. The learning continues based on the whole group lesson. In this case, students will reread the text with the teacher, saying the language structures and predicting the next animal. Students will have picture cards of the animals with the animal name. Students will interact with each other sharing the card and telling the name of the animal. Then, together they will repeat the language structures, “brown bear, brown bear what do you see, and I see a _______looking at me”. The outcome is for students to practice with the support of the teacher guiding the language structures along with the benefit of student interactions. While this small group instruction is going on, the rest of the class is working at a station with a partner to practice literacy skills based on the teacher’s assessment of students needs. Stations give the students purposeful hands-on activities and opportunities to move throughout their classroom. Partners are assigned by the teacher based on student interaction. Students are strongly encouraged to use English as much as possible. Students will rotate to different stations; all students will go to Station 1 which is The Teacher Station. Students may or may not go to every station every day. For example, they may go to 4 stations on day 1 and 4 different stations on day 2. This is the teacher’s choice based on the needs of the class, time management, and what makes the most sense for the unit outcomes. Stations can include: Station 1: The Teacher Station- small group instruction Station 2: Sorting Cards Station- sorting by category- letters, colors, animals Station 3: Drawing Station- free drawing and conversation with their partner Station 4: Drawing/Writing Station- drawing pictures with some items labeled, as best as they are able at that time Station 5: Listening Station- listening to audio stories with the book in their hands- to allow students to listen while looking at the pictures and words Station 5: Classroom Library –looking at books by student interest, not by ability Station 6: Reading Around the Room- students use small pointers and walk around the room and read the item that are labeled (sink, desk, etc.), class created charts, poetry and rhyming charts that students have been exposed to during whole group instruction One-on-One Instruction One-on-one instruction, in addition to small group instruction, can occur during stations with the teacher working with one student at time based on student needs. When a student requires individual instruction, the teacher can take the time during stations to meet with the student and give individualized instruction. It is critical that the remaining students continue working at their assigned stations to continue their learning. At the close of stations and small group instruction, the teacher brings the class back to the designated area to facilitate the time for the community of learners to praise each other for their station time, to celebrate their new learning, and their use of English. This time can also be used for the community to problem solve difficulties during the station time. Kindergarten students need to be part of a community of learners that provides many opportunities to learn through a rich literacy environment. When the teacher guides the instruction based on the learning outcomes through playing with language, movement, and purposeful activities, the students take on the learning while having fun. It does not feel like work, yet students become joyful learners! When the teacher structures students learning by incorporating speaking, listening, reading, and writing with their peers, they will learn!