Teaching English for kid with the topic animals
All TEFL teachers have their go-to topics when they get a class assigned at the last minute. Its good to have a few games and activities up your sleeve for when you need to teach at short notice, and if they have a similar theme, it comes across much better than as just a bunch of random activities. Animals is a great topic to pull out of the bag, and there is so much scope for learning. It works particularly well with younger learners, but this is a topic that can be taught to any age. In this article, well take a look at some popular games, activities and ideas for teaching this popular topic.Why teach the animal topic?
Think Outside the Box with Different SensesFor very young learners, a great way to teach animal vocabulary is to incorporate other senses. What noise does a cat make? How does a dog walk? Using sounds can make it easier for young learners to understand, and TPR games are a great way to engage them too. Show ScattergoriesA party game developed in the late 80s, this is a popular brainstorming game which can be used with any topic. Also known as animal alphabet, in this game students need to write down a word for each letter of the alphabet which related to the theme. So if the theme is animals, they might write: A = Alligator, B = Bear, C = Cat You can make it more difficult by narrowing the theme, such as Animals of Africa or Animal Predators. This works well for a warmer, review, or pair work. SongsYou could play a different animal song every day of the year and still not run out of resources there are endless materials online to make use of. To start you off, here is a playlist on Youtube to songs about animals, featuring PINK FONG and Super Simple Songs. My favourites are Five Little Ducks, Baby Shark, and Did You Ever See My Tail?. You can see a playlisthereor watch a sample below. WorksheetsJust because there are millions of animal worksheets out there doesnt mean that you should bombard your students with them pick carefully, and make them relevant to the class. Heres a link to the hundreds of worksheets, colouring pages and craft ideas relating to animals on the Super Simple Learning page: https://supersimpleonline.com/resource-topic/animals-insects/ Make It TrickierIf youre teaching older students and dont want them to get bored with the same old topic, how about enhancing the theme? You could teach a lesson titled Predator vs Prey, or get the students to research an endangered species. There are plenty of online resources to do with environmental topics, or you could get the students to research extinct animals of the past. About the AuthorCelia Jenkins is a TEFL teacher and freelance writer living in the UK. She spent five years teaching English in China and Japanand now teaches Skype lessons to students around the world. She writes pedagogical articles, travel guides, and stories for children. We're hiring!With schools around the world, Shane English School always has exciting new opportunities to offer. WHY SHANE? TEACHING JOBS |