Word Sorts

For their speaking class, my students are sometimes innundated with groups of words with the same root (like art and artist; writer and writing in this unit). Consequently, they sometimes have trouble coming up with the appropriate form of the root word when speaking. That's where this activity comes in!

I have an arsenal of laminated cards that I write on with permanent marker which, PROTIP!, can be removed with nail polish remover! (This was a pretty exciting discovery for me a few months back, since I had previously been using dry erase markers that never completely went away.) A vocabulary word goes on each card, and the cards are distributed to the kids along with some sticky-tacky (surprisingly not available in Korea). Then I put a PowerPoint slide on the board with three or four different category shapes, each with one word inside. It's up to the students to work independently (or together, if they need to) to put their cards in the correct shape on the board.

They're encouraged to read the words out loud and to look for clues in spelling, affixes, and capitalization.



Here they've stepped back and found a problem that they're trying to fix. :)

When they're done with the cards, they sit back down and we work as a class to come up with possible titles for each of the categories, which helps them further understand how certain ideas are connected.


At the end, they fill in a story in their books with blanks (shaped similarly to the shapes on the board). They can choose the direction of their story based on the linked words that they use (Art, artist, painting; P.E., runner, running).

Spin Me Right Round ...

Since I teach kids who are non-native English speakers and who are also five and six years old, games are pretty indispensable. They're a good way for the kids to forget that they're actually learning something, and they're way more fun that worksheets any day.

I only actually have a few games that I play regularly; I just adapt them to each unit or subject as necessary.

One of my new games is for vocabulary review. I made this awesome spinner out of cardboard and a brad (plus laminate for the arrow - otherwise it would have totally dissolved by now).

I usually write a bunch of the vocabulary words on small strips of paper and put them in a cup to draw at random. I put the kids into two teams, and each team sends one delegate at a time to flick the spinner and do whatever it says to explain the vocabulary word I've chosen for them.


The choices are: Act it Out (mime the word, using some sounds if necessary), Spell it (write the word on the board), Use it in a Sentence (orally), Draw a Picture (on the board), Define it (sometimes they need some prompting for this one - the concept of defining a word is a little foreign to some of them), and, of course, Free Choice (their favorite - they get to choose which method they want to use).

If they really start to struggle, they can go to their team for a consult - but only if they want it!

The students really enjoy the variety of options here - it gives students with all different sorts of learning styles a time to shine!

Beginning

I've been teaching kindergarten for over two years, so I figure it's time for me to record some of the fun things I/the kids get to do/make. Weeee!