Practice II: Didactics of ELT and Practicum at Primary School Level 2016

WEIGUM, Carolina.

PROJECT: “THE MAGIC BAG”

Why is it important to use literary texts in the classroom?

Literary texts offer a great variety of genres and expose learners to the specific language used in

each of them. Through literary texts, learners make inferences and deduce meaning from context.

Learners are also exposed to (and are able to understand) metaphors, images, allegories,

personification – figurative language. Lazar (1999)

Literature is also important for learners to develop their imagination and creativity. Children are

usually attracted to stories, and they enjoy them. Ghosn (2002)

In the field of cognitive psychology, there is also evidence that literature is important in the way the

human mind develops and understands: humans think in narrative structures. Moreover, stories build

and preserve a group’s sense of community. Roche & Sadowsky (2003)

Stories can be a rich resource to foster students’ literacy skills, cognitive tools and critical thinking.

Literary texts also introduce readers to different worlds with diverse cultural representations leading to

intercultural competence.

I chose the story “Animals should definitely not wear clothing” because it was related to the topic in

my Didactic Sequence. The story presents different animals from different parts of the world, wild

animals and farm animals, wearing clothes. These clothes make the animals look ridiculous and they

feel uncomfortable for different reasons.

First of all, I presented the students with a colorful bag, The Magic Bag, and I asked them to imagine

what was inside the bag. Then, when I showed them the cover of the book, we inferred together that

the book was about animals wearing clothes.

During the reading of the book, we sat in a circle so that everybody could see the pictures. I read the

book and they participated (mostly in their L1) describing what they saw in the pictures. They did not

know the name of the animals in English, but they knew many of the names of the clothes.

When we finished the story, we talked about other animals wearing clothes. They used their

imagination and creativity to talk about animals putting on clothes: dogs with shoes, cats wearing a

scarf, etc.

The closing activity was to draw an animal wearing clothes and to write the name of the clothes. With

the pictures we produced our own book: “Animals put on their clothes”.

The following class I showed them the book and they were happy and proud of their production.

Practice II: Didactics of ELT and Practicum at Primary School Level 2016

WEIGUM, Carolina.

Lesson aims:

As teachers we’ll try to…

Focus on oral aspects (listening and speaking) considering learners’ ages to acquire language.

Use multisensory approach to favor learners’ motivation and acquisition of language.

Using games as a tool for learning as well as enjoying the class.

Objectives of the Lesson:

During the lesson students are expected to:

Revise and activate the vocabulary related to clothes and colors: jacket, coat, trousers, shoes,

boots, socks, scarf, hat, jumper, gloves, skirt, T-shirt, shorts.

Listen, understand and enjoy the story “Animals should definitely not wear clothing”

Infer, with the help of the teacher and the story, the name of some animals.

Language:

Lexis: vocabulary about clothes, adjectives, colors. Animals from the story.

Functions: describing clothes.

Activities:

Routine:

“Yellow, red, green and blue. Hello teacher, how are you?”

Give each student a label with their name so as to know who is present and who is absent.

Write the date and the weather on the blackboard.

Return corrected homework.

Warm up

Play bingo with clothes and colors.

Body of the class:

1. Show the students the “Magic Bag” and guess what we can find inside. Show them the

book “Animals should not wear clothing” and help them infer what it is going to be about.

Do animals wear clothes?

2. Sit down on the floor (bring the cushions from the music classroom) in a circle so we can all

see the pictures. Tell the story “Animals should definitely not wear clothing” with pictures.

Practice II: Didactics of ELT and Practicum at Primary School Level 2016

WEIGUM, Carolina.

3. Ask the students what clothes are the animals wearing. Go over the pictures and help them

produce sentences orally: The camel puts on his hat, The sheep puts on a jumper and a

jacket…

4. Together, think about other animals that would feel uncomfortable wearing clothes: dogs,

cats, birds, and any other animals that students can think of. Help them with the

vocabulary. E.g. “A dog with trousers” “A cat with shoes”

Closing activity:

5. Hand out white sheets to the students. Tell them to imagine a different animal from the

ones in the story and draw it with some clothes on.

E.g.: A dog with shoes, a cat with socks.

When they finish drawing, they have to write the name of the clothes the animals are

wearing.

Create a book with the drawings of the students.

Reading a story to the students of 2nd Grade, School N°246, was a very rewarding experience.

Students practiced the vocabulary and applied it to new structures. They made predictions about the

story using L1 and L2. They understood and enjoyed the story, it was very funny.