1. PALM TREE
Palmeira
Group 4 (9-11 year olds)
Hello teacher! Welcome to Vivadi’s first cycle of work. This is the beginning of a journey that we’ll go through together, to help our students acquire the english language!
THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS CYCLE ARE:
-
Understand Vivadí's class routine and distinguish the English class from the other classes.
- Develop a curiosity for the content and start building a relationship with the language.
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Begin to recognize the class as a safe environment for experimenting with the new language.
When you see that there is progress in these areas, you can move on to the next cycle. Check the rubric that will help you know if the group is ready to move forward!
WE SUGGEST YOU CHECK THE EVIDENCE WITH WHICH YOU WILL OBSERVE IF YOUR STUDENTS HAVE ACHIEVED THESE OBJECTIVES
CLASS PLAN
We know that some schools count with more frequent and shorter English classes of 25 to 30 minutes. In those cases, we suggest you follow this shortened plan of activities. It is based on the activities that follow.
The most important is that the essence of the Vivadí Class is respected to make sure that the immersive
atmosphere is not disrupted!
If you have any suggestion don't doubt to tell us!
Remember
To ask your students about the video experiences (jornadas), ask them how they did them, if they are liking them so far, which were their favorites, etc.
1. STARTING SONG
My class lasts between
25 and 30 minutes!
To start, we need to make sure that the English moment is clearly separated from other classes the children have in the same room and the same conditions of learning. To do this, it is essential to modify the space as this helps the students to receive something different (which is, in this case, a different language).
That is why, in favor of creating a new working routine, you will ask the students to clear the tables and benches to free the area in the middle of the classroom. They will not need the desks or the backpacks, nor pencils or notebooks. Also, they should take off their shoes and leave them in a place that you determine. Don’t forget to take off your shoes too! While they do this, you will play the following opening song.
If your friends are in the classroom, say hello.
If you see your teacher smiling, show your teeth
If you want to show your feelings, give a hug
If you feel like being silly, make some noise
If you want to get together, make some room
Let your heart feel so much better, make some room
Let’s get ready for Vivadi
Let’s have some fun and play with English in our world
Let’s get ready for Vivadi
We are all in this together
We’ll do it you and me
We’ll be a big great family
*REMEMBER TO SPEAK
ENGLISH AT ALL TIMES!
TRUST YOURSELF!
It would be good if, little by little, the song became interactive. That is to say that the children can be doing the slogans that the song invites to perform, such as giving a hug. This will help them to make sense of what they are listening to and eventually, singing.
SUGGESTION:
OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES
If you want to, show the kids the following video. Gestures are really important in this cycle as children don’t manage the language. In this video, the students will be able to watch and copy a choreography that will indicate with dance steps what the song is saying.
ALTERNATIVE
STARTING SONGS
2. GAME
STORY CHAIN
Material: Ideas
Start a story with an engaging hook. For instance, “One day I was walking through a shady forest. I thought I was alone, but all of a sudden…” Have students raise their hand if they want to tell the next portion of the story. Choose a student to continue the story (just a line or two) and let them choose the next storyteller in the same way. Continue until everyone who wishes has had one chance to contribute. Feel free to jump back and bring the story to a close if it is floundering.
We have provided a couple of ideas.
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS
The object of this version of the familiar game is not to win, but to see how many rounds you can stay in the game vs. the teacher. Play begins with one, two, three shoot. Everyone makes their choice and makes sure that others can see their choice on screen. If the teacher’s choice beats yours, you’re out. If not, you keep playing.
MINGLE
MYSTERY SOUND
Material: Questions
Meeting online has put a damper on spontaneous conversations with and among your students. Spice up the conversation with your students by asking new and interesting questions.
This is a fun activity that tests students’ power of perception. With your hands out of sight from the camera, make a sound with something. For instance, crumple up a piece of paper, strike a spoon on the rim of a glass, or snap your fingers. Let students take turns guessing what they hear.
TAKE A CUE FROM THE STADIUM
Here’s one for a group of kids—start the wave! Beginning at one end of the room, kids stand up and throw their arms overhead, bringing them back down as they return to their seats. Each row follows until you reach the other end of the room. Amp it up by encouraging your kids to tap their feet or tap their hands on their legs so that they are in constant motion. This activity works great on Zoom too!
AFFIRMATIONS
Positive affirmations are all about helping your students learn how to encourage and motivate themselves. Affirmations build confidence and promote self-love.
Here are a few affirmation activities you could try remotely as well.
Firstly, have students fill in the blanks on a piece of paper, for example:
I am...
Today I will…
When they’ve completed this, create a digital affirmation circle where students read out their affirmations in turn, or to add a twist, put on some music and have them sing their affirmations to the tune!
3. EMOTIONAL VIDEO
Invite the children to sit together looking at the screen in the class. Introduce the moment, with the assistance of the character explaining that they will watch a video and they must focus on the scene going on.
You can choose between the different options. They are both great! (this can be prepared from the first moment to avoid wasting time and prevent the kids from dispersing).
*If you don't have a projector: we recommend that you act what happens in the video. You should create a situation in which two people laugh wildly.
After watching the video, play the following game!
SEE AND GUESS
You will start making a facial expression that shows a feeling that relates to the story that has just been told. For example: a sad face.
The student that guesses the feeling will come to the front and you will tell him a feeling to make with his/her face. If the student doesn’t understand the word in English show the face to him taking care that none of the other students see it.
After a few rounds, the game can be changed to listen and guess.
In this case, the children will have to guess the feeling by listening to a sound that relates to the feeling. That is to say, the kid that goes to the front will have to emulate the sound of a feeling for the others to guess. For example: a kid can cry to represent sadness.
4. STORYTELLING
In this section we want to show students that there's multiple formats for telling a story. One of the examples is songs through musicals. In musicals, songs tell a lot about the characters emotions, but also can advance the plot.
You will find four examples of songs in musicals with the scene from the movie or TV show and the lyrics.
MORE ACTIVITIES
Game: I'm Still Standing
How: Ask students to stand behind their desks. You will say a word, and point to the first student in the row. S/he must say another word that begins with the same letter. Example: Map / Monkey / Money / Milk / etc. If a student can’t come up with a word, s/he must sit down. The game will end when only one student is standing.
Game: Do It Like Me
How: Divide students into pairs and ask them to stand up with their backs to their partners. You will give a situation, and all students must make a face to match that, for example: You’ve just got a bad grade in math / You woke up late for school but remembered it was Sunday / Your parents forbade you to use your phone for a week / etc. When a situation is given, you must shout Action!, and both students must make a face and turn around to see if they came up with the same face.
MORE STORYTELLING OPTIONS
ACTIVITIES
Inspired by "Try Everything"
Pre reading
Before listening to the song, put the lyrics on the blackboard and ask them to mark the action verbs they know. Ask them to mime these actions.
After listening to the song, ask the students to discuss these questions with other two classmates. They are supposed to make drawings that represent their answers. At the end, ask them to show and explain their drawings to the rest of the class:
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Do you give up easily?
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When a problem appears in front of you what do you do?
-
What do you think about making mistakes?
-
What did you learn from this song?
-
When we lose a battle what should we do?
TRY EVERYTHING LYRICS
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I messed up tonight
I lost another fight
Lost to myself, but I'll just start again
I keep falling down
I keep on hitting the ground
But I always get up now to see what's next
Birds don't just fly
They fall down and get up
Nobody learns without getting it wrong
I won't give up
No, I won't give in till I reach the end
And then I'll start again
No, I won't leave
I want to try everything
I want to try even though I could fail
I won't give up
No, I won't give in till I reach the end
Then I'll start again
No, I won't leave
I want to try everything
I want to try even though I could fail
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Look how far you've come
You filled your heart with love
Baby, you've done enough
Take a deep breath
Don't beat yourself up
No need to run so fast
Sometimes we come last, but we did our best
I won't give up
No, I won't give in till I reach the end
And then I'll start again
No, I won't leave
I want to try everything
I want to try even though I could fail
I won't give up
No, I won't give in till I reach the end
Then I'll start again
No, I won't leave
I want to try everything
I want to try even though I could fail
I'll keep on making those new mistakes
I'll keep on making them every day
Those new mistakes
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
ACTIVITIES
Inspired by "Inside Out" and "All Aboard"
Pre reading
Before the reading, play the scene below from the movie “Inside out” to talk about moving house or city. Ask them if they already did it and how they felt. Open space to the students to express their feelings.
All Aboard Story
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How is the girl feeling?
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Why was she feeling that way?
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Why doesn't she want to move?
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What did the parents do to try to make the girl happier?
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Where are they from?
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What did they see during the game?
-
How do you face changes in your life?
DISCUSSION: After you have played the song with your students, you will find a section next to the song called "Discussion." This is so that you can discuss with your students about what you heard and saw. There are discussion points for each song.
NOTE: These are examples of some discussion points, feel free to add others!
Discussion for "I'm Still Standing"
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What happens in the scene?
-
What is the song about?
-
Think about the lyrics and what happens in the scene for a moment. What could be the connection between them?
Discussion for "Night Falls"
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What is the idea of this video and the lyrics?
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What can we understand from the relationship between the two groups? (A: that they’re enemies, but they’re fighting together against a bigger enemy)
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Do you think that in life we sometimes have to do that? Can you give examples?
Discussion for "Stick to the Status Quo"
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What is “status quo”?
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What is the idea of the scene?
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Do you agree with it? Should people be what others expect of them?
ACTIVITIES
Inspired by "Night Falls"
Game: Wink murder
How: In each round of the play, one player is secretly assigned the role of "murderer", another is assigned the role of “detective”, and everybody else is assigned the role of “victim”.. The murderer has the ability to "kill" other players by making eye contact and winking at them. If a player is winked at, they must count silently to five before announcing their own death. They must say “I’m dead” and lie their heads on their arms, on the desk. When a victim is killed, s/he is out of the game and needs to wait for the round to be over.
The objective of the murderer is to murder as many people as possible without being caught.
If the detective suspects s/he knows the identity of the murderer, s/he may raise his/her hand and announce "I accuse (name)”. If the guess is correct, the detective wins. If it is wrong, the murderer wins. Either way, when an accusation is made, the game is over.
ACTIVITIES
Inspired by "I'm Still Standing"
Game: Virtual Escape Room
How: Students are assumed to be “imposters”, as a classroom version of the game Among Us. The teacher will prepare 10 questions and/or puzzles for students to solve individually, in small groups, or as a whole class. In order to “escape” as the imposter, students must answer the questions or solve the puzzles.
Questions can review content or be used to challenge certain students. As students answer questions correctly (or “complete tasks,” as they would call it in the real game of Among Us), they will get closer to escaping.
But, if questions are answered incorrectly, they risk being caught and losing the game! If students miss three questions, game over!
5. MOVE YOUR HIPS
Change of rhythm!
In this section, there are two types of activities: activities based on the songs and move your hips. Students will do activities based on the songs they heard. Choose the activity that corresponds to the song you heard.
CONCENTRATED MODE
If the kids are concentrated, we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
EUPHORIC MODE
If the kids are euphoric we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
FREE DANCE
Let them dance one of the following songs on our Spotify list (or Youtube list) that is also aligned with what we have been experiencing in the class. Just select a song that they will enjoy and press play to let them move freely around the space.
CHOREOGRAPHED DANCE
Play either one or both videos so that the students can mimic the motions. This way the students are listening to a song in English and matching the words with their actions.
KARAOKE TIME
6. HARMONY
Mindfulness and body awareness is a structural part of our English program. That's why we include a specific section that is directly related to these practices. The most interesting thing is that children will acquire qualities of the English language through these practices.
To set the mood, press play on this playlist that will help everyone relax:
Meanwhile, go ahead and start
with the following activities:
1. ASANA
2. SWARA
3. SAVASANA
4. ANJALI
1. ASANA (Postures)
We will start with the asanas, which means postures. Try these three different positions with your students.
Each position will be related to the story previously read. You can explain to the kids why they connect to the story.
FACE POSTURES
First, encourage the kids to loosen up the face, to relax the muscles with the help of the hands.
You can raise your eyebrows, move your mouth, open your mouth and show your tongue, etc.
Now you are going to make some face postures and the kids should copy you. This should be fun!
Happy face
Dog face
The face is essential within integral
yoga for two reasons:
-
It is the site of greatest density of muscles of the whole body;
-
The face is a zone that reflects another organ or system in the body (The same thing happens with the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet).
HAND POSTURES
Anjali mudra
Join your palms and take them to your chest.
Gyan
Look at your right hand. Bring your right thumb and second finger together.
Now, look at your left hand. Bring your left thumb and second finger together.
BODY POSTURES
Dog
Bend down and place your palms flat on the ground. Step your feet back to create an upside-down V shape with your buttocks high in the air. Relax your head and neck, and look down between your legs.
Warrior
Step back with your right foot. You want to step back enough that your back leg is extended and your front knee is bent. Both feet should be firmly planted on the floor. Sink your butt so that your front knee is directly over your left foot, bent almost to 90-degrees. Slowly raise your hands up to the line of your shoulders.
Feel your inner strength as you stay in the Warrior’s pose.
2. SWARA (Breathing)
Then we will continue with a moment of breathing.
When there is complete silence, begin to exaggerate the inhalation and exhalation.
While you inhale say "Breathe in" and exhale "Breathe out".
Repeat this 4 or 5 times!
Important: inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth!
3. SAVASANA (Final relaxation)
Children should lie on the floor with their eyes closed (ideally) while they listen to a very quiet song.
*Turn off lights so that their senses register in a different way.
Final Relaxation
4. ANJALI
Tell the students to sit on the floor and put their hands together in front of their chest
To end the harmony moment encourage the kids to repeat "Thank you"
MORE HARMONY OPTIONS
7.ENDING
SONG
With this song, you will rearrange the classroom as you found it at the beginning of the class to continue with the rest of the day. This way there will be a clear closure to conclude the English class.
It is important that in this cycle you sing along with the children loudly and that you make each gesture and word that the song indicates so that in subsequent cycles the students can begin to sing by themselves.
Lyrics
If you enjoyed our time together, sing along
If you can’t wait for next class, high five!
To get ready for what follows, tidy up
See you next time dear teacher, goodbye!
It’s not goodbye with Vivadi
The things I learnt today will always stay in me
It’s not goodbye with Vivadi
We are all in this together
We’ll do it you and me
We’ll be a big great family
ALTERNATIVE
ENDING SONGS
Once you finish singing the song and rearranging the classroom tell the kids to say bye to the character as well.
Don't forget
To remind your students to access the platform and do the jornadas.