Monkey Puzzle

This lesson is designed with teaching the parts of animals in mind. It would be good as an ESL lesson but probably even better if used in conjunction with a unit on animal classification. Children love saying "No, no, no!" along with the book and the author and illustrator are the same as the fabulous Gruffalo stories.

Topic: A butterfly tries to help a little monkey find its mum but they meet many different animals along the way before they find her.

Age: 4 -7 will benefit the most from the lesson plan but younger children would certainly enjoy it because of it's family setting.


Key Vocabulary: The following words are most useful if leading onto a discussion about animal kingdoms and classification: tail, wings, beak, tusks, trunk, claws, feathers, hairy or furry, slimy, a nest of eggs.

Procedure:

• I would start with something to pique the children's interest and get them guessing what animal the story might be about. It could be as simple as this:

Cardboard Keyhole Cutout 

• Next explain that today we will be learning about different types of animals and that there are some important words that we need to know in order to understand the story.  Using flashcards drill the pronunciation and come up with some actions together to represent the words. Play some flashcard games until children are comfortable saying and understand most of the words.

Own Made Flashcards

• Read the story and elicit the words from the flashcards as you go. 

• Do a table-time extension to consolidate the learning if you have time.

• Repeat the story on different days, with different extensions to review the vocabulary. You can discuss how you know if each animal is a mammal, reptile, bird, fish etc... if you are tying this story into animal classification.

Extensions: 

If you have an interactive whiteboard or a large computer screen there are some lovely games and resources on Sheppardsoftware.com for teaching animal classification. I have even used these with middle school students but they are suitable for Primary.

Sheppardsoftware.com

A sorting game with animals to cut out and stick into the right columns would be a fantastic way to check students' understanding.

Here

This video does a great job of teaching the difference between fur, hair, feathers, scales and skin.

 This is a fun song asking children to guess whose is the tail and it's suitable for preschoolers too.

A great art activity is to get children to invent their own animals and label or describe them using the correct vocabulary. 

They can also do this collaboratively in threes by secretly drawing the head and neck, folding it back and passing it to a partner who draws the body and the tops of the legs and then folds it back and passes it on to another friend who secretly draws the legs and feet. When they unfold them you generally get a lot of laughs and children enjoy describing and coming up with names for their new animals.

Like THIS but with animals!

Dear Zoo

Dear Zoo is a firm family favourite that has recently celebrated 35 years of publishing. Small children love opening the flaps making it ideal for individual or small group lessons. For a bigger class it is a bit more of a challenge as the pages are fairly small, but the illustrations are nice and clear.

Topic: The narrator writes to the zoo in order to adopt a pet but the zoo keeps sending unsuitable animals.

Age: 1-5 (Yes, even one year olds will enjoy this book. I'm not sure how much English they will produce though!)

Vocabulary:

Zoo, pet, lion, elephant, giraffe, snake, monkey, frog, camel, puppy. 

Too big, too tall, too fierce (or substitute with dangerous), too grumpy, too scary, too naughty, too jumpy, perfect.

For phrases like "I sent him back" and "I kept him" I would mime the action and chunk it rather than teach the individual words.

Procedure:

• Get your students into their circle time positions and sing your Hello Song in the style of a snake, roar it like a lion or even in the style of a grumpy camel.
• Flashcard time: drill the animals in the story, you can choose whether to include puppy or not for the first reading. Sometimes it is nice to maintain an element of surprise. You can find flashcard game ideas HERE. If your students already know these animals then drill the adjectives instead, with flashcards or by miming.
• Interest gather by asking the students if they have any pets. What would their ideal pet be?
• Read the story, before opening the flaps elicit what animal is on the inside of the box. Encourage the students to repeat the phrases "He was too ..." and "I sent him back" after you. 
• Give the instructions for your 'table time' worksheet activity. For example, see if the students know which colours to colour the animals on the worksheet.

You can find the full colouring sheet on the publisher's website HERE.

• When the children have finished their colouring (fast finishers could draw and colour a few animals of their own on the back) get the children back into circle time and admire any particularly nicely coloured worksheets. 
• If the students have been good listeners there should be time to reward them with a video. Try this Zoo song by Super Simple Songs.

Extensions:

Test their memory with this worksheet.

HERE

Or this one...

From Sparklebox HERE

How about a, cut out and  order the animals in terms of size worksheet.

HERE

Or play Sleeping lions  - every teacher's favourite party game! Students must lie down and pretend to be sleeping lions. The first ones to move are eliminated. Another version of the game sees students lie down and sleep, they are given an animal, when the music plays they must wake up and be that animal, when it stops they must go to sleep again, then they are given a new animal.

Similar: This story could work well in conjunction with the following books: Dinosaur Roar, The Photo, Spot's Birthday Party, and Walking in the Jungle.

Spot's Birthday Party

Spot the dog likes to play hide and seek. Together we are going to find all his friends who have hidden themselves around the house.

Spot's Birthday Party by Eric Hill

Topic: Zoo animals, prepositions of place and household furniture.

Age: 3 (maybe even younger if you're group is small enough) - 6. At six this book becomes a hard sell as it has a very simple story.

Vocabulary: Animals (Dog, crocodile, bear, snake, hippo, penguin, lion, monkey, tortoise). Furniture (mat, curtain, cupboard, bath, coat/jacket, table, plant, door, cushion- I will be using the easier second options). Prepositions of place (in, under, behind).

Optional: Count numbers 1-10 as spot prepares to play Hide and Seek and sing Happy Birthday to Spot at the end of the story.

Procedure:

• Sing your hello song in the style of one of the animals of the story or anyway you like if that is testing your acting and singing skills!

• For the first lesson it is probably best to start by reviewing or teaching the zoo animals (in my case only tortoise and hippo will be new words). Mime the animals. Elicit the animals and play some flash card games. I would introduce the furniture in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th lessons if the are confident with the animals.

• Gather interest in L1 by asking who has played/likes playing Hide and Seek. How many far do they count up to?

• Read the story slowly and give them plenty of time to guess from the clues what type of animal is hidden away before revealing it. Start using gestures as you say the prepositions to help convey meaning and draw their attention to the words. At the end of the story elicit all the animals they can see on the last page and count them and look at the colours if you wish to review other language. You could also sing happy birthday to Spot, asking the children to be the different animals as they sing!

• Individual activities at the table time: ask them to draw Spot's birthday cake and with all the animals from the party on it.

• Bring them back to the circle or front of the classroom and chant the prepositions with gestures. Then test them. When they seem more confident reward them with the next step.

• Video time... Find the animated video of the story on Youtube.

 Extensions:
 
Funwithspot.com  seems like a good place to start. There is a whole section of downloadable party materials. You can print off invitations and get the children to write their names and then hold a 'party.' There are colouring sheets and even a Spot party hat craft (which is the only one I seem to be able to actually access).

Many more Spot colouring pages HERE.

If you are using the book to teach animals then there are many many animal crafts and worksheets  out there!

 Spot Goes To School could also appeal.

For prepositions...

In On Under song

http://www.eslkidstuff.com/Worksheets/inonunder.gif

Please Don't Chat to the Bus Driver!

I was looking for a book to accompany the classic song The Wheels on the Bus and this is what I found...

Please Don't Talk to the Bus Driver!

Topic: The bus and animals.

Age: 4-7 (I did it with younger children but I'm not sure they understood it much!)

Vocabulary: Bus, bus driver, Animals: (crocodile, frog, fox, chicken, pig, rabbit) Phrases adapted from the book's original choice of words: "please don't talk to the bus driver!" "missed a stop", "crashed into a tree," "late" "loud" "spinning" "lost" "everybody out!".

Procedure: 

• Start with your hello song. I like to sing it loudly and quietly as this fits with the language of the story.
• Flashcard time: drill those animals.
• Story time: Start with a bit of interest building. Ask for a show of hands who has been on a bus. See if they can name all the animals on the front cover and translate the title of the story into L1. Show them the route of the bus and explain why it's yellow (it's an American bus!).
• As you tell the story elicit the animals as they enter the bus and make sure every animal has their own voice. I don't know why but my fox is posh and my rabbit is squeaky. The kids LOVE a chicken voice.
• Each misadventure needs an action. I like to clap for "crashed into a tree," tap my watch for "late", put my fingers in my ears for "loud", search for "lost" and spin my finger round and round for "spinning." Since 'lost a wheel' is quite complicated I tend to skip that page with the younger children. "Please don't talk to the bus driver" is very repetitive, so just do it in your best teacher voice and wag your finger along with the rythm!
• Finish by asking them in L1 why we mustn't talk to the bus driver and if they think the animals will do it again.
• Now it's worksheet time. My first lesson required the children to draw the animals in the windows of the bus.

•  Back in circle time. Practice your motions for the Wheels on the Bus. I love the Super Simple Songs version as it has all the most teachable verses: round and round, up and down, open and shut, swish swish swish, waa waa waa, and shh shh shh!
• Watch the video, sing and dance.

Extensions:

Here

• Trace the road with the animals page and get them to colour it the right colours.

Here

 Or if you're feeling adventurous... bus driver hats are pretty simple in terms of materials. You need

1 strip of card.
Staples
Square of crepe paper
Semi circle (with tabs) of card for peak
1 bus badge
Glue

Bus Driver Hats Craft

Walking in the Jungle

So this story book is rather babyish. So babyish in fact that it features a big baby as it's main protagonist. However I've got some students in my class who aren't yet 3... so I think it's pretty much spot on for my target audience.

The pages are a little small in my copy but very clear illustrations

Topic: Jungle animals.

Age: 3-6 (I say six, but there's a reason I'm using this at the beginning of the academic year).

Vocabulary: Jungle animals (snake, elephant, lion, crocodile, monkey) action verbs (walking, running, climbing, stamping, jumping - the book uses slightly different ones, but no 3 year old can read) phrases "Walking through the jungle, what can you see? Can you hear a noise? What could it be?"

Procedure:

• Sing your hello song. I'm doing mine happily and sadly as these flashcards are crucial to my classroom management routine.
• The simplified version of If you're happy and you know it (If you're happy happy happy) is a good way to add some of these verbs pre lesson and get them moving.
• Drill the flashcards with the animal actions.
• Tell the story encouraging them to say it with you for the older ones and do the actions for the little ones (for jumping/stamping etc make jumping motion with your hands only - it's best if they stay sitting down at first). I like to say the part for 'running through the jungle very quickly' and 'stamp through the jungle in a giant's voice.
• At the end of the story ask if the baby is happy or sad. Elicit 'nos' and explain he is 'afraid' (- not 'scared' because the video at the end uses afraid.)
• Your worksheet of choice. The first lesson I asked them to simply draw the animals they could remember from the story.. I got some hippos, but never mind...
• Then call them back to the circle for video time. It's a beauty.

For older children you can pre teach the animals toucan, tiger and frog.

Extensions:

Snake or animal colouring sheets.

Here

A counting song with a monkey...

A game of FREEZE

The children pretend to be the animal you say and when you say FREEZE they must freeze. If they move they are eliminated if over the age of 5!

And if I had the time/resources...

No idea where the original page is... sorry creator!

Incey Wincey Spider

Incey Wincey Spider, the nursery rhyme, is a favourite with TEFL teachers. It already comes with hand gestures and online videos and pictures galore. What you may not know though, is that there are also Incey Wincey Spider story books out there by Keith Chapman and Jack Tickle, with Incey Wincey spider as the main character.

In this book, our little spider gets sent flying by a gust of wind and meets all sort of different farm animals on his journey. The pages are big and the silk webs are glittery making them fun to follow with your finger.

Age: 4-6 It was a big hit with the four year olds.

Language points:

The nursery rhyme features the rain and the sun, so it can be a good idea to teach other weather nouns too. I chose wind, as it's in the book, but it could be a good idea to teach  snow and clouds too. The book features the farm animals cow, horse, cockerel (I used chicken instead) goat, duck and pig.

It's also good for reviewing the animal noises and colours.


Procedure:

Start the lesson by teaching the types of weather plus the words 'incey wincey spider' and 'water spout.' Play the say yes when you see the.... game (jump for yes, twist for no) and drill actions. You could also play simon says.

Slowly say the words and demonstrate the actions. Encourage children to do the actions for you. This video shows you how.

• Read the story, encouraging children to say the names of the animals and make the noises with you. (I didn't do the story in the first lesson as I focussed on the rhyme, but in my second and third).
• Table time: I drew a picture of a spider web next to a water spout and the children had to draw the spider and colour it in. This was a big hit.
• Drill the rhyme again and encourage the older children especially, to join in with the words. It could be a good time to introduce the melody too.
• Watch the video with the children.

Extensions:

Draw pictures with different skies, windy, snowy, sunny and rainy for example. I gave my students a worksheet with four different houses and the words to trace underneath. I drew a girl outside wearing appropriate clothes for each sky to help comprehension.

or:

Pipe cleaner spider craft, if you have enough pipe cleaners!

Googly eyes optional...

Complete with water spout for reenactments!

It's also possible to go back and use those songs and videos from the Old Mac Donald Had a Farm lesson as revision. Recycle, recycle, recycle!

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Age: 4-6 years

Language: Hello/ How are you/ I'm fine thank you/ Animal vocab: Dog, cow, horse, sheep, chicken, farm.

Procedure:

1. Drill Hello, How are you and I'm fine thank you. Check meaning.
2. Sing Hello song.  (Hello, hello, how are you? I'm fine thank you I'm fine thank you, hello hello hello - to the tune of "Hi Ho Hi Ho"). 
3. Take your animal flashcards and put them behind an A4 card 'door' with keyhole cut out in the middle. Students guess the animals. Say hello to the animal, ask the kids to ask the animal "how are you?" and reply in the animals voice, for example bleating 'I'm fine thank you'. Then get the kids to repeat. I put a scary dog behind the last one who we have to slam the door shut on and scream. 
4. Get the kids standing up and dancing to Old MacDonald had a farm. Sing it without the music first and sing it slowly. 

Old MacDonald had a farm (hold onto your braces and bob from side to side)

EIEIO (do windscreen wiper hands)

And on that farm he had a -elicit flashcard- (hold onto your braces and bob from side to side)

EIEIO (do windscreen wiper hands)

-Elicit noise the animal makes-

eg. woof woof woof. woof woof woof. woof. woof. woof woof woof. (The kids cannot sing the full version so just make the noises along with the rythm. 

Old MacDonald had a farm (hold onto your braces and bob from side to side)

EIEIO (do windscreen wiper hands)

5. Play the start of the video. What animals can they hear?

6. Play the whole video, pausing every time a new animal starts to appear.

7. Sing along.

Extensions:

Draw and number six fields with a farm in the middle and do a listening dictation. Eg. "Draw a cow in number 3". This will be difficult for them so leave some fields for their imaginiation, and divide the activity over two lessons.

Match halves of the animals worksheet. 

Teach pig and duck. Play musical statues 'walking around the farm' (I do it on the spot in a small figure of 8) in the style of the different animals to this song. Introduce this phase by talking about the concept of 'dance bubbles', in that noone can leave their own or enter other people's!

Then show them the video and encourage them to join in.