Welcome to Heads Up English. Here you'll find complete ESL lesson plans, ESL materials, and most everything you need for beginners, lower intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced English students. ESL Plays for Children . I started teaching English only a year ago and as you can imagine didn't feel confident at all. Your games and skits helped me so much! Thanks to them both my kids and I had a wonderful year full of joy, surprises and fun!'Olga Poshekhova, Moscow, Mo. Mi. Mo English Language Workshop. Let's Hear the Common Excuses for Not Using ESL Plays? You're the daddy; you have to go to work! Children want to belong and being part of a play allows that to happen. ESL skits can effortlessly save you time. Students involved in these programmes also . Where did the phrase ? And when did scientists finally get round to naming sexual body parts? Voiced by Clive Anderson, this entertaining romp through 'The History of English. In addition, most children are excited by the prospect of performing in front of others as a chance to be the center of attention. Using drama enables children to use English appropriately in real conversations. Whilst learning a play, children listen to and repeat their lines over a period of time. By repeating the words and phrases they become familiar with them and are able to say them with increasing fluency. ESL drama teaches children to enunciate their words properly and to project their voices when they speak, helping them to become clear and confident speakers. Using drama to teach English also helps to improve the understanding and retention of language. By the time a child has read, rehearsed and acted out a scene focusing on the phrase . The same would not hold true if the verb . By encouraging self- expression, drama motivates children to use language confidently and creatively. Drama allows children to tap into different learning styles - visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile. Children whose language skills are still very limited can be given fewer lines and in addition are given the opportunity to communicate using nonverbal cues such as body movements and facial expressions. Language Summary of Plays. How ESL Skits Help With Student Motivation! They are not just having fun during the role- play, they have also started using the structures from the plays in various situations outside the classroom, at play- time, mealtimes, etc. And this is a very rewarding experience for us, teachers, to hear them speak, not just use the target vocabulary. With very young children we seldom come across this problem as most kindergarten and preschool children are motivated by curiosity and the love of exploring new ideas. Sadly, as a child grows older, learning is often seen as a chore. Let's look at some of the reasons children become de- motivated and see whether the use of drama could be a factor in overcoming them. The child's experience of success or failure has a significant effect on their motivation to learn. If children repeatedly fail, even when they have put a great deal of effort into their learning, they are inclined to approach future tasks with a negative attitude. By using drama as a teaching method with the appropriate choice of play and roles, there is no reason why all children cannot experience success. The secret is to make the task challenging, but achievable for each child. The teacher's own enthusiasm goes a long way towards motivating a child. Anyone who has taught a classroom of children knows how quickly they pick up and reflect your moods. If you think your English grammar lesson is boring, so will your students! By using drama as a teaching method and allowing children to experience language in the simulated reality of a play they will derive far more fun from the lesson which increases motivation. In addition, the chances are that they will be confident enough to use the language in similar situations in real life. Drama techniques motivate children to learn by breaking the monotony of the English lesson and lifting the tempo as children discuss and act out their roles, learn what they are going to say and decide how they are going to say it. The third major factor concerning a lack of motivation is the child's need to belong. Watch an apathetic child in the classroom come alive on the playing fields and play his heart out for his team. That is where he feels he fits in, his talents are respected and he is part of the team. In a drama lesson all children are equally and actively involved, each role is essential for the successful performance of the play. A sense of belonging can be achieved here that is difficult to attain in a more traditional classroom setting. Another important motivational factor, related to success, is self- confidence. As children become familiar with their lines in a play, they become more confident in their use of language. Even timid children, who generally withdraw from group activities and are shy about talking in English in front of their friends, will often come out of their shells when given a role which they are capable of handling. Role- playing comes naturally to children, especially the younger ones and when playing a role they easily shed their shyness and inhibitions. As they discover that they can be anything, just by pretending, children grow in self- esteem. The power of the persona: children who might otherwise be hesitant about speaking in public are often able to do so unselfconsciously when playing a part. How to Get Started Warm- Up Ideas. If you have not yet introduced your class to drama there are many circle games that you can use to initiate dramatic play. Violin Spolin's Improvisational Theatre Games are a good way to start as they help the children relax, encourage them to use their imagination and help them become more confident. In one of Spolin's circle games the group stands in a circle. The first child turns to the right and makes a simple movement, the child on the right repeats the movement, then gives a new movement to the child on his right and so on until everyone has had a turn. This game can be played with sounds as well - start off by making them non- verbal. As the children become more proficient at this game the movements and sounds can be accumulated, with each additional sound and movement eventually building the entire sequence into a form of dance. A verbal version of the game could combine the vocabulary you plan on using in a play with the movements. Singing is also an excellent way to practise language. Once the children know a song and enjoy singing it, put the new words to the tune. Almost anything is possible. Adapting the Play. Once the children have begun to experience their ESL classroom as a fun and safe environment and are beginning to understand the basics of performing, it is time to introduce them to the real thing. Choosing the right play is important. It should not only be age- appropriate but also appropriate for the language level of your students. It is also important, of course, to ensure that the lines spoken in the play are in keeping with the particular language areas you are teaching at the time. The plays on offer at the bottom of this page are written especially for ESL classrooms, for children aged 4 to 1. They are short and repetitive and designed to involve the whole group, no matter how big or small. They combine fun and movement with language usage that is carefully planned to provide optimal speaking practice in real life contexts. Roles should be assigned according to your students' language ability levels. Children who are more capable and more confident can be given more lines, while shyer children or those with a more limited vocabulary can have fewer lines to say, or repeat lines said by other children, or speak as part of a group. Every play can be used for any number of children. Some of the lines in the play may be optional. Edit these freely to suit your needs, based on the main idea. Pre- Teaching the Play's Vocabulary and Phrases. Once you have decided on the play it's time to get down to the nitty- gritty of rehearsals. While older and more capable students can be given copies of the play to read, this is generally not advisable for younger and less capable children. For all students, no matter what level they may be on, the emphasis should be on speaking, acting and movement, not on reading lines. Use it in songs and in games like Spolin's circle game and those in 1. English Language Games for Children or the preschool games book; chant the words, stamp out the syllables or act them out individually - this is really fun when using words describing emotions and actions. Now teach the key phrases. Once the children are familiar with the separate words let them start practicing the lines in the play. These short sentences can also be practised in games. The idea is not to have individual children word- perfect in their own roles but to let the whole class experience using the sentences and vocabulary in context. Rehearse. Only when all the children know the key words and lines of the play should you put together all the elements - words, expression and movement. Allow the children to use their own creativity in setting the scene, deciding on props, costumes etc. Remember that, as far as the last two are concerned, these should be kept very simple, using the ! Therefore give out the props when the play runs fluently. The addition of props is then a novel element to keep the children's interest right through to the final performance. ESL Play Performance. It is absolutely vital to put on a performance, even if it's to the class next door, because it allows the children to feel the satisfaction of showing their work. Usually it is possible to invite parents to arrive earlier to collect children from the last lesson of term if you give sufficient notice, or arrange a special time. One can often perform the play at the school, during assembly, or for a special performance. School heads are generally proud to show off class accomplishments to parents, so even if you are a visiting teacher running after- school classes the head of school still sees this as a benefit that the school has to offer to prospective pupils and parents.
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