"How can I use a communicative approach with my young students at primary school?"
Any comments or ideas for Ahmed? Do you use a communicative approach with young students? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Is it possible to use such an approach with young children? Any tips, suggestions or comments?Contact us
This question is fromAhmed Said Bader, Egypt
Comments
rebecca1
I read your message and I have some ideas to share with you
ROLE PLAY:
1. Choose a topic based in common life in your country or in the course book Prepare a list with vocabulary related to this topic and give it to your children, asking them to make pictures in color about the words of the vocabulary and put these pictures on the classroom walls if you can
2. Prepare a dialogue using the vocabulary and based on the same topic too
3. Write the dialogue (remember, an easy and short dialogue) on the board and practice pronunciation with your children
4. Now, ask your children to play the dialogue in teams and in front of the group.Don't erase the dialogue on the board so they can read it
5. Ask them to change words of the dialogue if they want.
6. By the time they learn dialogues by heart and even create their owns.
Children like to imagine they are other people and enjoy if you give them different characters to be played.I hope these tips help you in your classroom. Bye.
Blair, Korea
Try getting the kids to make dialogues using puppets. This way the children can use and experiment with the language without feeling too self conscious. Use a lot of TPR too (this is Total Physical Response). For example, when I tell a story I pick out some key words and the children have to invent an action for that word. When they hear that word in the story they show the action. It works in reverse too once they know the story well. I do the actions and the students shout out the story based on my actions. Pictionary and charades are good games too.