‘Get Up, Stand Up’

Wednesday 30^th, November, 2011

Today was the first time I had seen my grade 1 low level classes since the speaking tests. I decided I needed a lively, energetic and engaging lesson to help motivate them and get them back into the swing of things.

The TLC I decided to focus on was ‘you must’ and a series of actions such as ‘you must brush your teeth’, ‘you must snap your fingers’, ‘you must hop on one foot’. I prepared a PowerPoint presentation with lots of pictures signifying each of the actions. At first I showed each picture and attempted to elicit what it was. They were also given a handout with a list of actions they could refer to. I then showed them how to perform the action using body language and movement. Then I lead them in choral repetition of each action. After we had practiced like this I went through the presentation again and this time the students had to perform the actions. This got them on their feet and moving almost immediately. Three out of four classes thought it was fun.

After this we played ‘Simon says you must…’ First, I explained ‘you must’ using examples mostly involving me acting (my co-teacher helped me by giving instructions - ‘Barry you must sit down’ for example). Second, I tried to explain ‘Simon Says’. I say ‘tried’ because it turns out ‘Simon Says’ is actually remarkably difficult to explain. Eventually my co-teacher stepped in and explained in Korean.

We played ‘Simon Says’ a few times and by and large it was a hit with the kids. Only one class wasn’t interested. This class is strange. In three of these classes the students are really lovely; they are happy and get along with each other and like interacting with me. But in the fourth class the students seem like they are depressed. My co-teacher confided in me today that she has problems teaching this class as well.

After ‘Simon Says’ I showed the class how to make a paper fortune teller and then led all the students in making their own one. They really enjoyed this and were noticeably animated throughout. The fortune teller incorporates the dialogue from the lesson – ‘you must stand up’, ‘you must dance’ etc. There is a game to play with the fortune teller using the dialogue and the students really got into it.

This comfortably took up the whole lesson. The students left happy and buoyant and throughout the day I noticed these students using the fortune tellers they had made with their friends from other classes. This means they were practicing the TLC outside of the classroom of their own volition! Can any teacher really ask for more?

I used lots of MIC and CI throughout the lesson and have to conclude that it went very well.