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

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. animals Topics Examples 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

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. The body and the face The world around us around us 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 From: Cambridge English: Young Learners Handbook for Teachers, Page 24. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/yle-handbook-for-teachers.pdf USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS 3

Handout: Vocabulary list for Cambridge English: Movers The body and the face 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 You can find vocabulary lists for each topic of the Cambridge English: Young Learners exams on pages 55 60 of the Handbook for Teachers. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/yle-handbook-for-teachers.pdf 4 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS

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)? Animals The body and the face 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 From: Cambridge English: Young Learners Handbook for Teachers, Page 36: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/yle-handbook-for-teachers.pdf 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 competition internet scissors answer computer know teach ask desk learn text art dictionary mistake timetable break geography lesson understand classroom history school website college homework science write Topic 2 time afternoon day Monday today a.m. December morning tomorrow before evening never watch birthday every night week calendar future quarter weekend century half sometimes year clock minute spring yesterday 4 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FLYERS

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! 4 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: STARTERS

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. USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS 11

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/ 12 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS

Worksheet: Places and animals Taken from: Fun for Movers: Student s Book (third edition) by Anne Robinson and Karen Saxby, Cambridge University Press 2015. USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS 13

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. card Material Example objects glass gold metal paper plastic silver wood wool USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FLYERS 7

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

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. USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FLYERS 13

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-andchildren/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 1. Teach or review words for animals (any of these: monkey, frog, cow, sheep, goat, giraffe, lion, lizard, elephant, mouse/mice, spider, snake, tiger, bird, crocodile, duck, hippo, horse, dog, chicken). 2. Tell children that they are going to watch a video of a song. As they watch and 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.) 3. Play the video: At the zoo. Elicit the animals that children saw in the video. 4. Give out the worksheet: At the zoo. Explain that the handout has some 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. 5. Play the video again. Divide children into pairs, and ask them to compare their answers. Monitor and check children understand. 6. When most pairs are ready, elicit answers (see key below). Key for worksheet 1) False 2) False 3) True 4) True 5) False 6) True 7) False 8) True 8 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: STARTERS

Further extension activities Lyrics and worksheets for the song At the Zoo are available at: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/activitiesfor-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. USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: STARTERS 9

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! 10 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: STARTERS

Handout: A weather mind map 1 Arts and crafts 2 Geography 3 Arts and crafts climate 4 Arts and crafts daily weather weather rainbows 5 Maths and IT 6 Music 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. C. Children collect information about the weather (e.g. rainfall, temperatures). They complete a spreadsheet with the data. E. Children research hottest/coldest/ driest/wettest/sunniest/windiest places in the world. They could collect more information about these places. 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. D. Children sing a song in English about a rainbow and invent actions for the song. 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. 6 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS

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. USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS 9

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-wordlist-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. 10 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: MOVERS

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 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FLYERS 17

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/learningenglish/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/. 18 USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FLYERS

Worksheet: A town plan West Street 5 6 London Road 3 4 1 2 East River YOU ARE HERE USING A TOPIC-BASED APPROACH FOR CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: FLYERS 19