Teaching English to Young Learners
2009-2010 series
A series of connected workshops forming this year's IH YL Teacher Development Course. There will be 8 two-hour sessions.
Participants may enrol for all eight sessions, or for individual sessions. However, it should be noted that the sessions are designed as a cohesive series forming a course in Teacher Development for teachers of Young Learners.
Teachers attending the whole course of eight sessions will receive a certificate at the end of the course. Certificates will not be issued for single sessions.
Next session
YL 7 -- Friday April 16, 10.00-12.00
Using CLIL as a teaching device
"The lasting measure of good teaching is what the individual student learns and carries away." Barbara Harrell Carson
Gradually CLIL (content and language integrated learning) is winning over many teachers. The idea of learning for learning’s sake seems to be a much more logical way to integrate language learning. Why not do a lesson on reptiles or Kandinsky rather than the passive?
This session is aimed at providing teachers with ideas for changing focus and how to develop content based lessons without having to be an Einstein in biology or other subjects!
Literacy skills with Very Young Learners
YL 1 -- Friday November 13, 10.00-12.00
"Once you learn to read you will be free forever." Frederick Douglas
Dealing with a very young learner class can be daunting especially as we are EFL teachers put in a situation where we need an understanding of how to integrate reading and writing with this age group.
This initial workshop is aimed at teachers who would like to increase their knowledge of this area and look at practical ways to integrate literacy in the Very Young Learner classroom.
Incorporating Grammar into the Young Learner Classroom
YL 2 -- Friday November 27, 10.00-12.00
"You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time." Charles F Kettering
How can we teach language items to 8-11 year olds when they don’t understand their own grammar or have any notion of grammatical terminology?
This workshop is aimed at providing the teacher with practical suggestions on how to present language in a meaningful context to the learner and at the same time help the learners use language more accurately.
Imagination Based Learning as a Means to Improve Writing Skills with YLs
YL 3 -- Friday January 15, 10.00-12.00
"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." Samuel Johnson
Creative writing for teens needs to focus on ways to explore and exploit their imaginations. Opening up their creativity can have huge benefits for language skills in general and from past experience increase this age groups' ability to produce better written work and enjoy the process at the same time.
This workshop focuses on how to improve writing skills in preparation for future exam participation such as Cambridge exams.
Dealing with Mixed Ability in the Teaching of English to Young Learners
YL 4 -- Friday February 19, 10.00-12.00
"If you've got a different kind of brain and, I submit, that most interesting people do, that's great." Edward Hallowell, M.D.
There are so many different learner types and learning differences in all young learner classrooms that sometimes if feels as if we need to teach each individual or plan several different lessons for one slot.
This workshop will focus on ways to deal with mixed ability and how to provide multi-sensory tasks that accommodate learner differences and provide "layering" so it’s not only the stronger students that excel but all the learners in their own way.
Young Learners and Pronunciation Activities
YL 5 -- Friday March 5, 10.00-12.00
"Ordinary people who know nothing of phonetics have difficulties in understanding slow speech composed of perfect sounds, while they have no difficulty comprehending an imperfect gabble if only their accent and the rhythm are natural!" Alexander Graham Bell
When you ask teachers how many skills there are they usually say four. (reading, writing, speaking and listening). But what about pronunciation? It seems to be the poor cousin and often gets left out due to time restrictions and priorities.
This session will take a look at how young learners can benefit greatly from continuous and deliberate pronunciation work. The session will have a highly practical focus.
Games and Drama with Young Learners
YL 6 -- Friday March 19, 10.00-12.00
"Teachers who cannot keep students involved and excited for several hours in the classroom should not be there." John Roueche
This is a highly practical session which will incorporate games and drama activities we can use with different age groups in the young learner classroom.
We will also take a look at how to manage such motivating and often boisterous task types by covering strategies for keeping discipline and promoting respect as well as enjoyment.
Using CLIL as a teaching device
YL 7 -- Friday April 16, 10.00-12.00
The Power of Images and Creativity in the Young Learner Classroom
YL 8 -- Friday April 30, 10.00-12.00
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand." Chinese proverb
An image can conjure up all kinds of thoughts and responses (which is exactly what we want in a foreign language classroom!) and creativity comes from feeling safe, wanting to experiment and being challenged by interesting and stimulating tasks.
This session takes a look at how we can encourage and develop creativity through the use of images.
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See also
Previous "Young Learners" series
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