Hello Song

If you've read any of my lesson plans, you'll have noticed that they all start with a "Hello Song". Today I want to share that with you, just in case you don't have one of your own.

I start all my little learners' lessons with a Hello Song. It's a great way to establish a routine, review those first few essential phrases and get the students listening, speaking English and participating in the lesson.

My song goes like this to the tune of Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to work we go...


Hello! Hello! How are you?

I'm fine, thank you! I'm fine, thank you!

Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!

With obligatory actions of course (wave Hello, point to the students as you ask How are you? and bobbing along with a thumbs up gesture for I'm fine thank you)...  The more actions you songs and stories include the less trouble you will have maintaining your students attention! Some would say this also helps kinaesthetic learners, others would say there's no such thing as a kinaesthetic learner. I would say, whatever works for you, works.

If you need music try this very popular one from Super Simple Songs...

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.

3 Rules for Conversation Classes

Whenever you start with a new class it's always a good idea to start with your expectations.

Must and Mustn't is another good language point for reviewing classroom rules!

 I have used just three for the past three years which cover pretty much anything.

1. Come prepared (phones in your bag with your homework and books etc.)

2. Respect your classmates (pretty much any kind of unwanted behaviour can be filed under this!)

3. Respect the classroom (rubbish goes in the bin, tidy up etc...)

I imagine you have something similar. These rules are good for older kids and teenagers, but they don't work very well for conversation classes. Italian children spend most of their time working in silence or very quietly even in nursery, so a class where they are supposed to speak can be very novel for them. So this year I have been working on a new set which apply to kids from kindergarten all the way to the end of primary school.

1. Listen and look in silence when the teacher is talking.

2. Put your hand up and wait in silence to speak.

3. Use your "classroom voice".

The third one is particularly important as large classes can get deafeningly loud very fast and kids love to shout when they get over excited. The class will still be loud, but hopefully not disturbing the rest of the school! Try modelling unacceptably loud and quiet voices and see if they think that's Ok. Often when I whisper 'Can we speak like this?' the kids say 'yes' but of course you the teacher still need to be able to hear the kids at the back. Maybe talk about the fact that it's fine to shout when you play football or in the playground but not inside.

Essentially, the bigger the conversation you have about it with the children the more likely they are to remember the rule and the less likely you are to finish with no voice and a headache.

The key is to start every lesson eliciting the rules, until you have the class eating out of your hand. Kids love it as it's a routine and builds their trust in you. You love it because it reminds you of your own rules.

Kids may suggest other rules like 'no hitting'. When they do I always reply that it is true but that is a rule for little kids and that they know that already (even four year olds like to be flattered like this!).

Rules like this just make you want to try head butting someone!

***

Ps. I didn't put speak English on there. I prefer to only use rules I am able to enforce. Demanding 24 eight year olds to speak in English only will not result in 24 eight year olds speaking in English only. I'll write more on getting children to speak English another day.

PPs. So what if it's no longer the first lesson and you forgot to set rules? No matter. Tell the kids that the previous lessons were part of a 'getting to know you/introductory phase' and that now that the course is seriously starting these are your rules... ;)

First Lesson Ideas

Here are some first lesson ideas for that first lesson of the year after the holidays and you can't remember what this teaching thing is all about....

The first lesson is all about to establishing a routine and yourself as a teacher not a friend or 'helper'. This is especially important if you are there just to teach conversation, not as a regular English teacher.

Remember to:

• get students to write their names on any books or materials. Take photos of students too young to write their names to print and stick on things later.
• learn students' names (especially the naughty ones!)
• set rules 
• establish you getting silence routine
• establish a points system or behaviour system.
• establish entering and exiting routine
• For older students:
• check/teach  classroom phrases like 'can I go to the bathroom please?' and simple instructions eg. 'read'
• check stationery and classroom vocabulary
• practice English Only routine, for older students.
• review alphabet and spelling, (especially the letters A,E, I and Y if your students are Italian)
  
  
  
  

If you have time ice breakers are fun to do with older students, but definitely need to be preceded with rules about how to participate.

• Swap business cards mingle (How are you? I'm....)
• Find someone who...
• The memory name game (I'm Laruchka the lemur, this is Eleonora the elephant...)
• Throw the ball or soft toy with questions and the student who catches answering.
• Pass the pen 'microphone' around the circle (a variation on throwing a ball or soft toy).
• Passport control roleplay. They can prepare it in pairs and at the end of the lesson on their way out they can role play with you the teacher.

Students love to learn something about their teachers:

• Spelling dictation with personal information, eg. L.A.R.U.C.H.K.A and M.I.L.A.N. Students then guess what relevance those words have for you.
• Students can write questions for you on slips of paper and you will only answer if they are gramatically correct.
  

If you want to do something crafty make mini origami 'all about me' books with an A4 sheet of paper or passports. Read them out (without mentioning the name!) and the class must guess who they belong to.