As promised, now that I had more time:
Known: class is about 45 minutes long
first-grade students are about 7 years old
the topic is breakfast
Unknown: the ethnicity of the students
the community where they live
what is available in the classroom (computers, maps, blackboards, seating arrangement)
the size of the class
GROUP ACTIVITY:
Divide the students into cooperative-learning groups of 3-4 students in each group. (Later, when you know the students better I used the grouping of: 1 weak student, 1 strong student and 1 or 2 in the middle. This way they will quickly find the leader of the group and knowing that they will get a group score, it's up to the members to be sure the weakest one strengthens his/her learning.) With group activities, the noise level increases but as long as it's TOT (time on task) that's a good thing! Depending upon the seating arrangement, it's usually easy to put student desks in groups of 4. We did lots of activities also in groups of 2 = student A and student B.
With a piece of paper for each group, ask the students to write their names IN PENCIL. If the paper is in the middle of the grouyp, each student is able to write at the same time and corners work well. Each child writes down his/her favorite breakfast foods. They share and one from each group will share the list with the entire class. My students loved discussing similarities and differences.
PREPARATION:
Decide how you would like to present the vocabulary (hand-out, overhead projector, props) Depending upon the amount of exposure the students have had in English, it's good for them to 1) listen first, 2) repeat next, 3) identify the items (if you have props or pictures) 4) can they read and write? If so, you can incorporate that too.
One way to present the vocabulary with a list is to organize it in columns. If they need to find out what the word is in their own language, they can do that later.
BREAKFAST (main title)
Meat and Poultry (whatever subheading you want)
Fish, Seafood, Shellfish
Vegetables
Fruits
Dairy Products, Eggs and related foods
Grains and Grain Products
Condiments and Spices
Drinks (beverages)
I'm sure you can find lists of these foods; if not, let me know because I have them.
If you have any menus (I collected them from all-over) you can use that, or better yet, groups or individual students can make and decorate a menu. I had enough construction paper, colored crayons, colored pencils for each group. Students who are as bad as I am at art, can use old magazines, etc. to decorate the menu.
HEALTH: This is easy to work in discussing food groups, a healthy diet. (Just another idea for "review" of what you have done earlier. What is a typical breakfast, what is a good breakfast, etc.
Website: http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy7/food/breakfast.html
STYLES OF LEARNING:
(for Linguistic learners) Students can tell about their ethnic foods. For a "review" lesson, each group could select a country, display cookbooks, recipes, props. Hopefully your classroom has maps and one way to get different groups is to "brainstorm" countries they already are familiar with. Each country can form a group (if it's too large or small, "volunteers" can join) That group is responsible for showing where the country is on the map, telling about the climate, favorite foods, anything they'd like to share. My classes LOVED supplying samples of favorite foods.
(for Visual, Spatial learners) Drawing on paper plates, using magazine cut-out collages to represent foods they have discussed during the lesson.
(for Kinesthetic/Bodily learners) For extra-credit they can share (groups or individuals) additional information in a creative way. You can even choose a country they know nothing about to do an illustrated report.
(for Interpersonal/Intrapersonal learners) Either groups or individuals can visit a restaurant specializing in ethnic foods. They can develop a "Trivia Game" of "Fun Facts" = my students worked in so many games they liked from TV (Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, etc.)
STUDENT ACTIVITY
They can draw a table and decorate it with their favorite breakfast. If you can put these drawings somewhere in the room, they could guess what ethnicity each drawing illustrated. = All t his depends upon what they actually produce but my students loved "sharing" anything creative, even with other classes, if there are other classes dooing similar things.
CRITIQUE:
Each group could give itself a score for who contributed the most, learned the most, etc. Not only an individual score (each student gives his/her own) but the consensus on a group score.
You'll want to keep a file of the activities you do so you'll know what works, what doesn't, what you need to add or change, etc. Each class often has a different "personality" that you need to consider.
By now you will have so much information that you might not know where to begin! Keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it moving! Best of luck.
Sra (aka Mme)
From Sra:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Known: class is about 45 minutes long; first-grade students are about 7 years old; the topic is breakfast
Unknown: the ethnicity of the students; the community where they live; what is available in the classroom (computers, maps, blackboards, seating arrangement); the size of the class
GROUP ACTIVITY:
Divide the students into cooperative-learning groups of 3-4 students in each group. (Later, when you know the students better I used the grouping of: 1 weak student, 1 strong student and 1 or 2 in the middle. This way they will quickly find the leader of the group and knowing that they will get a group score, it's up to the members to be sure the weakest one strengthens his/her learning.) With group activities, the noise level increases but as long as it's TOT (time on task) that's a good thing! Depending upon the seating arrangement, it's usually easy to put student desks in groups of 4. We did lots of activities also in groups of 2 = student A and student B.
With a piece of paper for each group, ask the students to write their names IN PENCIL. If the paper is in the middle of the group, each student is able to write at the same time and corners work well. Each child writes down his/her favorite breakfast foods. They share and one from each group will share the list with the entire class. My students loved discussing similarities and differences.
PREPARATION:
Decide how you would like to present the vocabulary (hand-out, overhead projector, props) Depending upon the amount of exposure the students have had in English, it's good for them to 1) listen first, 2) repeat next, 3) identify the items (if you have props or pictures) 4) can they read and write? If so, you can incorporate that too.
One way to present the vocabulary with a list is to organize it in columns. If they need to find out what the word is in their own language, they can do that later.
BREAKFAST (main title)
Meat and Poultry (whatever subheading you want)
Fish, Seafood, Shellfish
Vegetables
Fruits
Dairy Products, Eggs and related foods
Grains and Grain Products
Condiments and Spices
Drinks (beverages)
I'm sure you can find lists of these foods; if not, let me know because I have them.
If you have any menus (I collected them from all-over) you can use that, or better yet, groups or individual students can make and decorate a menu. I had enough construction paper, colored crayons, colored pencils for each group. Students who are as bad as I am at art, can use old magazines, etc. to decorate the menu.
HEALTH: This is easy to work in discussing food groups, a healthy diet. (Just another idea for "review" of what you have done earlier. What is a typical breakfast, what is a good breakfast, etc.
Website: http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy7/food/breakfast.html
STYLES OF LEARNING:
(for Linguistic learners) Students can tell about their ethnic foods. For a "review" lesson, each group could select a country, display cookbooks, recipes, props. Hopefully your classroom has maps and one way to get different groups is to "brainstorm" countries they already are familiar with. Each country can form a group (if it's too large or small, "volunteers" can join) That group is responsible for showing where the country is on the map, telling about the climate, favorite foods, anything they'd like to share. My classes LOVED supplying samples of favorite foods.
(for Visual, Spatial learners) Drawing on paper plates, using magazine cut-out collages to represent foods they have discussed during the lesson.
(for Kinesthetic/Bodily learners) For extra-credit they can share (groups or individuals) additional information in a creative way. You can even choose a country they know nothing about to do an illustrated report.
(for Interpersonal/Intrapersonal learners) Either groups or individuals can visit a restaurant specializing in ethnic foods. They can develop a "Trivia Game" of "Fun Facts" = my students worked in so many games they liked from TV (Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, etc.)
STUDENT ACTIVITY
They can draw a table and decorate it with their favorite breakfast. If you can put these drawings somewhere in the room, they could guess what ethnicity each drawing illustrated. = All t his depends upon what they actually produce but my students loved "sharing" anything creative, even with other classes, if there are other classes dooing similar things.
CRITIQUE:
Each group could give itself a score for who contributed the most, learned the most, etc. Not only an individual score (each student gives his/her own) but the consensus on a group score.
You'll want to keep a file of the activities you do so you'll know what works, what doesn't, what you need to add or change, etc. Each class often has a different "personality" that you need to consider.
By now you will have so much information that you might not know where to begin! Keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it moving! Best of luck.
Sra (aka Mme)
Based on the information provided, here are the steps you can take to answer the unknowns:
1. Determine the ethnicity of the students: One way to find out the ethnicity of the students is to ask them directly. You can conduct a survey or have a discussion with the students about their ethnic backgrounds. Alternatively, you can observe their physical appearance or listen to their names to make an educated guess about their ethnicities.
2. Find out the community where they live: To determine the community where the students live, you can ask them about their addresses or the name of their neighborhood. Alternatively, you can engage in conversations with the students and ask them about their daily routines or activities outside of school to gain insights into their communities.
3. Determine what is available in the classroom: To know what is available in the classroom, you can either visit the classroom yourself or ask someone who has access to the information, such as the teacher or school staff. You can inquire about the presence of computers, maps, blackboards, seating arrangement, and any other relevant resources that may help in conducting activities related to the topic of breakfast.
4. Determine the size of the class: The class size can be found out by asking the teacher or referring to the official class records. It is important to know the class size as it can affect the grouping of students for activities and the overall dynamics of the class.
To improve the effectiveness of the group activity and student engagement, you can consider these suggestions:
- Grouping: Instead of randomly dividing the students into groups, consider using a mixture of weaker and stronger students in each group. This way, the students can help and support each other's learning.
- Cooperative learning: Encourage cooperative learning, where students work together in groups to complete tasks and achieve learning objectives. This can enhance active participation and a sense of responsibility among students.
- Student involvement: Involve students in the activity by asking them to write their names on a piece of paper and share their favorite breakfast foods. This allows for discussion and exploration of similarities and differences among the students.
- Vocabulary presentation: When presenting vocabulary, consider a step-by-step approach that involves listening, repetition, identification, and reading and writing, depending on the students' language proficiency. You can organize the vocabulary into categories or subheadings to make it easier for students to comprehend and remember.
- Health discussion: Integrate discussions about a healthy diet and food groups during the activity. This allows for reinforcing knowledge and promoting awareness of healthy eating habits.
- Learning styles: Cater to different learning styles by incorporating various activities such as storytelling, drawing, hands-on experiments, or visits to a restaurant specializing in ethnic foods. This ensures that students with different learning preferences can engage and excel in the activity.
- Student activity and critique: Encourage students to create drawings or tables representing their favorite breakfast foods and display them in the classroom. This activity can stimulate discussions about different ethnicities and foods. Additionally, provide opportunities for students to self-assess and reflect on their learning, both individually and as a group.
Remember to keep the activities simple, fun, and stimulating to maintain student engagement and interest. Good luck with your lesson!