My lesson 2 - "The very hungry caterpillar"

 In two classes I read the book "The very hungry caterpillar" and conducted activities for it.

Class: I  

Day: Thursday

Main aims: To introduce food vocabulary.

Objectives: 

- The child names the food that occurred in the book.

- The child responds to the teacher's instructions.

- The child responds to the teacher's questions in English.

While reading the book, I asked the children questions about what the given words mean in Polish. Most of the children were familiar with the book, so they completed sentences while reading. I tried as much as possible to show with my body what is happening in the book and to show the illustration. I also changed my voice to keep the children interested. After reading the book, I laid out pictures on the carpet showing the food that occurred in the book. The children's task was to point out and say the name of the product, as well as the number. The children were very eager to participate. I then asked the children to open their notebooks and write down the sentence "I like...". The children had to draw and write down the names of the foods they like. During these activities, I managed to maintain discipline in the classroom. In addition, I spoke only in English during class.

My lesson 1

I am satisfied with the lesson activities conducted. The children were engaged in the activities. They enjoyed the song "Baby Shark" the most, as they wanted to repeat the task again. In addition, during the game, everyone wanted to do the activity at once. I found it difficult to maintain discipline in the classroom. I would definitely point out specific students to perform the task during the game next time and use simpler instructions and more body language.

 

Observation of lessons - Poland Tour

The teacher began the class by displaying a presentation with tasks. 

Task 1 

Matching pictures of means of transportation with names.

Task 2 

Which picture is this? - Matching words with pictures. Children had to indicate - left / right

Task 3 

Word scatter - children had to point out what word was hidden in the word scatter: TICKET.

Task 4 

Reading a dialogue about buying a ticket. First the teacher read, then everyone, then girls, boys and finally selected people.

Then the teacher divided the class into 3 groups: "Kraków", "Torun", "Poznan". The children had to line up in the appropriate place in the classroom, where there was a card with the name of their city.

The teacher then showed a map with the point marked. The children had to guess what the city was.

The first was Krakow. The teacher takes on the role of a bus driver. Children whose city is on the map buy a ticket by pronouncing the phrase they have learned.

Next, road signs appear on the presentation. Children say " turn left", "go straight".

They reach the next city - Poznan and Torun. The children purchase tickets, and the police appear at the presentation. The children have to perform a task. Riddles with animals. The teacher plays sounds imitating animals. Students give the names.

Students commute to Gdansk. The teacher asks the students a question. What can you do in Gdansk? The children answer: "To see the sea." The teacher plays a video showing the sea with the sound of waves.

Notes:

- I really enjoyed this lesson. The children were very engaged. You could see that they enjoyed it. They spoke a lot of English. 

- Great idea to learn travel phrases.

- I would add photos showing the characteristic sights of the cities where the students are. 

- Instead of animal sounds, I would have used sounds of means of transportation. 

Lesson observation - vocabulary introduction

The teacher shows the flashcards "family" - the children repeat and say that it means "rodzina" in Polish. Then the teacher shows the other cards with family members. The children themselves point out their names in English: mum, dad, brother, sister, baby, grandma, grandpa. Then the teacher points to the cards with her finger, and the children repeat their names. Later, the teacher asks the children to close their eyes and takes two cards from the board. The children say which ones have disappeared. The situation is repeated, but now the teacher takes away six cards, and one card remains on the board. This causes a lot of surprise in the children, making them eager to name the family members that are not on the board.

Games used by the teacher in different classes:

- "Deaf phone"-the teacher divides the students into two groups. Then she chooses one person from each group and says the slogans "It's my mum"/ "It's my dad". The children's task is to pass the slogan in whispers one by one. The last person stands up and touches the card that represents the family member hidden in the slogan.

- "Guess who it is." - A child chooses one card with a family member. The other students have to guess what the person chose. They ask the following question, "It is...(family member)?"

- The teacher writes words for family members on the board. The children's task is to match the picture with the corresponding word.

- The teacher writes the words for family members on the board and matches the wrong pictures to the names. The children's task is to correct the mistakes. 

- The teacher writes a number above each picture. Then she covers up the pictures. The teacher asks who is where. Then she swaps the obscured photos in place. The children's task is to guess who is under which number.

In addition to the above activities, the teacher worked with the textbook, which she displays on the board. The children sang songs about the family and marked the corresponding pictures indicating which family members appeared in the song. In addition, they connected names with pictures and read a comic strip. First the lady read, then the whole class. Then the girls, boys and designated groups. The children's task was also to read the comic strip with their heads above them. Photo below:

Notes:

- The teacher uses a variety of ways to introduce and repeat new words,

- The teacher "extracts" from the students the words they know,

- the teacher clearly presents instructions for games,

- the teacher uses a lot of body language.

I intend to use all the activities presented in my work with students.

Observation of lessons

Best activities:

- The teacher displays a presentation on the board with instructions: 

1. Open the pencil case
2. Take a pencil
3. Open the notebook
4. Write the answer

The following slides display riddles. Children have to write the names of the objects displayed on the board. They can use the books to check the correct spelling.

- Repeating the names of the months by playing music. Any child who hears the month of his birthday must stand up.

- Creating a calendar - children have to draw a calendar with the names of the months, then they have to write the dates of their friends' birthdays.

- games on the interactive whiteboard on repeating the vocabulary learned so far. Matching words to pictures, a board game with a frog that jumps and gives tasks, filling in gaps in sentences.

Notes:

- The teacher, in case of children's questions, does not give ready-made answers, but encourages them to look for answers on their own in the book.

- The teacher gives clear instructions.

- The teacher gestures a lot - thanks to body language children better understand instructions.

Observation of lessons - 27 Feb

Best activities:

- The teacher played the children a video showing the alphabet. The letters are shown in a funny way. Children remember better.

- Game - the teacher marked with dashes on the board how many letters there were in the word then asked them to give the letters. If there were she wrote them down in the right place. The children's task was to guess what word it was.

- Completing the text with the given words on the board using ICT (wordwall application).

Notes:

- The teacher gives clear intructions to the children,

- The teacher uses digital technology in class, which is attractive to children.

English lessons in elementary school

I started observing English classes on the first of February.

Lesson 1

The teacher began class by checking the attendance list. The teacher then played a song from the You Tube app. The children did not sing, but moved to the rhythm of the music. They also showed its words with their bodies. They performed the activities faster and faster. Then the students returned to their seats. The teacher asked what words about Australia they remembered from the previous activities. Then she played the sound of the instrument - the didgeridoo. The children had to show thumbs up if they liked the sound and thumbs down if they didn't like the instrument. Later, the teacher played the song along with the video. The children named which animals appeared in the song - koala, crocodile, beak. They then proceeded to do the tasks in the book. Listening - who has which animal. Then the children got to make a cartoon depicting the handing of a box with an animal:

- What is this?

- It's small.

- I have got a cat.

Link to "Hello Song": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qCxsUUU3MI

Notes: 

- I liked the idea of writing a comic book. It is an attractive form for children, and at the same time they practice phrases.

Lesson 2

CLIL

The teacher is taking the kids on a field trip! She displays the outlines of the continents on the board - three to choose from. I indicate where they will go. Then the teacher shows the flag. The children name different countries, and the teacher says they are going to Australia. The teacher asks the children about associations with Australia: vacation, coral reef, sun, sand, heat, crocodiles, kangaroos. The teacher shows drawings associated with Australia on the board and names them. Then the children listen to a song along with a video about Australia. Later they list what they remember from the song. Then she displays the drawings and names them. Children repeat the names - didgeridoo, boomerang, kangaroo, The Great Reef Coral. Later, the teacher distributes cards with the flag of this continent. The children's task is to color the flag. Then the teacher plays the sound of the instrument. Children show their thumbs up or down. Then the teacher displays a virtual tour of Sydney. The children repeat the previously learned vocabulary words. At the end, the children imitate the animals in the song. The song is played faster and faster.

Link to song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhyKsEn6_So

Notes:

- It was the first time I observed such a lesson. In addition to learning English, the children were also learning geography. 

- I would do away with coloring the flag. I would replace this activity with some kind of game about Australia and the vocabulary they learned.

- The teacher spoke a lot of Polish.

Lesson 3

The teacher began the lesson by checking the homework - comics written by the children. Later, the group worked with the book. The children repeated the names of animals, said what was in the pictures - "I see a cat". Later they repeated the sentences heard in the audible. Then they did exercises. At the end, the teacher played a song, and the children danced on the carpet.

Notes:

- Almost the entire class read the comics. In my opinion, it would have been better if a maximum of 5 people had read, with more groups in the next class. It took a very long time to check the comics, so a lot of kids got bored and started doing other things.

Lesson 4

The teacher began the lesson by reading riddles prepared by the children. These were riddles about animals - cat, dog, elephant, giraffe, hamster, mouse. The children's task was to write down the answers in a notebook. The teacher wanted to finish reading the riddles after 15 minutes, but the children were very eager to guess all that they had prepared.

Notes:

- The teacher followed what the children liked. The children were able to practice animal vocabulary.