OAK
TREE
Carvalho
Group 4 (9-12 year olds)
THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS CYCLE ARE:
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Engage in debates on content-related topics and establish connections among claims, arguments, and supporting evidence within oral discourse.
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Make significant contributions to the class atmosphere.
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Express ideas and opinions clearly, precisely and convincingly, performing and responding to a wide range of language functions.
WE SUGGEST YOU CHECK THE EVIDENCES WITH WHICH YOU WILL OBSERVE IF YOUR STUDENTS HAVE ACHIEVED THESE OBJECTIVES
CLASS PLAN
My class is 25 to 30 minutes long!
Remember that if your periods are shorter than 50 minutes, you can try out these shorter plans!
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.
Remember
1. STARTING SONG
As usual, we will begin the class with the starting song.
We suggest you let the kids start this activity by themselves, even with a bit more autonomy than in previous cycles. Once you see they’ve started singing and dancing, you can join the fun.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES
CONCENTRATED MODE
If the kids are concentrated, we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
MIRROR DANCING
Ask the children to get in pairs.
One of them will be the dancer and the other will be the mirror.
The idea is that the dancer moves freely to the rhythm of the starting song and the mirror has to imitate the dancer’s moves.
You can tell the children to switch roles halfway through the song so that they all get to act as dancers and as mirrors.
FOUR WORDS EACH
In a circle, start the song by singing the first four words.
The student sitting by your side should sing the following four words, and the next student the four words after that, and so on.
The idea is that the kids listen and pay attention to the words they have to sing out loud.
They win the game if they manage to sing the whole song in this manner!
EUPHORIC MODE
If the kids are euphoric, we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
ADJUSTING VOLUME
Open your hand and raise it as high as you can. While your hand is up and the starting song is playing, sing the lyrics in a loud volume and encourage the kids to do the same.
Then, as your hand goes down, slowly lower the volume making them understand they should lower the volume too. Once they understood the game, play with the volume of the kids singing of the starting song with the use of your hand.
*you can use this resource anytime to adjust the volume of the class by raising or lowering your hand.
CHANGING PLACES
Choose a few of the words that are repeated during the starting song, for example “room” “English” and “Vivadí”.
When the children listen to these words they should switch places with another student or just move to another place in the classroom.
This activity will require an active listening of the song, which will help with the general concentration of the group.
ORCHESTRA
Tell the children to sit in four separate groups. During the starting song, you will be an orchestra director. This means that you decide which group has to sing in different parts of the song.
So, you will point at the group that has to sing and the others will have to remain silent until they are pointed at.
2. HARMONY
After the starting song you will guide a brief harmony exercise based on breathing movements.
This exercise will help the children gain awareness of their body and concentrate in the present moment.
Divide the students into groups of four and tell them to form small circles.They should remain standing throughout the exercise.
Another alternative is that you choose one of the following videos in the playlist
BLOOMING FLOWER
Guide:
“Concentrate on your own breathing, without worrying about anyone else or looking at how your classmate’s are breathing. It is important that you focus on your own body now. Observe the rhythm of your breath and gently, when you inhale, open your arms to the sides of your body and bring them up above your head, like a blooming flower.
When you exhale, bring your arms to your chest like a flower that is closing. When you finish exhaling, your forearms should be crossed in front of your chest and your hands on your shoulders.”
FIRST STAGE:
Individual breathing
1
You will first tell the children to focus on their own breathing and do the blooming flower exercise. Show them how the movement is done as you guide them through it.
*We suggest you watch this video before the class to be able to explain the exercise more clearly to the students. Let the children repeat this exercise until they manage to coordinate the inhaling movement and the exhaling movement.
SECOND STAGE:
Group breathing
2
Now, the children should do the same exercise but trying to maintain a breathing rhythm in their groups of 4. The idea is that all four students do the inhaling and exhaling movements at the same time.
THIRD STAGE:
Whole class breathing
3
Finally, you will do the blooming exercise trying to maintain the same rythm with the rest of the class. This means that every student should try and inhale and exhale at the same time.
Benefits of the activity
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The rhythmic movements and the synchronization favors a calm atmosphere of the group.
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This exercise clears the mind and sharpens thinking by increasing the flow of oxygen throughout the body, particularly the brain.
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Interpersonal relationship is favored when paying attention to the group’s breathing and seeking a single rhythm.
3. POPCORN TIME
In this section, choose one of the following stories for your students to watch and listen to!
4. GAME
Game: Storytelling Memory Game
How: Students should begin by sitting in a circle. The first person (this can be you, but it does not have to be) starts the story with a fragment like “It was a dark and stormy night,” and then the next person has to repeat what the first person said and add a phrase of their own. For example, “It was a dark and stormy night and no one was around.” Keep going around the circle until someone messes up! Students love this game because they get to work together to be creative with their imagination. You could have someone write down the story, and then hang it up in your classroom for students to remember and get a good laugh! Everytime you play this game, write it down so at the end of the cycle you can read the stories and compare them and see which one was the best.
Online: Instead of sitting in a circle, make a list of the students or use this link to make a random order. The list order is for each student’s turn. You can type down the story to have proof of the activity! Everytime you play this game, write it down so at the end of the cycle you can read the stories and compare them and see which one was the best.
Game: Find the Object
How: Students don't even have to get out of their seats to play this game, but they can! One student starts by finding an object and saying, “I see something that begins with the letter [fill in the blank].” The first person who guesses the item gets to choose the next object. This can be a fun one to play on Zoom too!
Game: Charades
This simple but classic game is a great way to encourage your students to get out of their seats and participate in the lesson.
Resources: a list of people, actions or concepts related to the subject you are teaching.
Game: Select a student to stand at the front of the room and act out a word from your list (no speaking allowed). The rest of the class must then guess what the student is attempting to portray. Other students can shout out their guesses or put their hands up – depending on your teaching preference! Whoever guesses correctly can act out the next word.
Adapted from: Classroom Games
Game: Craft Time
How: Choose one of the following videos for your students to do!
5. HARMONY
CLEANING THE HOUSE
PART I
This exercise consists of making different movements with your feet and hands. Use this harmony phase to get the attention of the kids back to themselves by doing the short movement exercises.
FEET MOVES
ROTATION
This means moving your feet 5 times clockwise, and 5 times counterclockwise. To help the children imagine the movement, tell them to draw circles in the air with their feet.
FLEXION AND EXTENSION
This exercise consists of extending your feet to the floor and then flexing it back pointing towards your body. Repeat this movement 5 times with each foot. You can tell the kids to press the floor downwards with their toes and then raise their toes to the sky.
HAND MOVES
PASSIN THE BALL
Alternatively, open your hands and then close them back again. Tell your students that they have to pass an imaginary ball from hand to hand.
ROTATION
Make five clockwise rotations with your wrists and five rotations counterclockwise.
BOUNCING THE BALL
Extend your arms forward with your palms facing down, and then raise and lower your hands 5 times as if you were bouncing a ball against the floor.
TIPS:
You can count out loud to guide the students with the movements and those who want to count aloud with you can do it too.
These exercises are simple and do not require a prior training. The hands and feet are important nerve centers in the body. Therefore, these exercises that appear to be insignificant have a balancing effect.
6. STORYTELLING
It is time to read a story that expands the content we have been working on in our English classes. We remind you that, even if you have audio-visual support, your body language is key to make students understand the meaning of the story and also make it more significant to them.
You can choose from these options with no particular order, but remember how important repetition is. So, if you choose to repeat a story more than once, don’t worry if another story is never told.
Reading 1
Pre reading questions:
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Describe your best friends.
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What do you like to do together?
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Where did you meet him/her/them?
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In what aspects are you similar?
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How are you different?
Reading: Same-Same or Different?
Post reading questions:
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Why doesn’t the sparrow’s mom let her be friends with the snake?
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Why doesn’t the snake’s dad let him be friends with the sparrow?
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What are the greatest differences between the sparrow and the snake?
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What are the things they like doing together?
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Who helped them see they share interests?
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What do you think is going to happen the next morning, when the sparrow’s mom and snake’s dad meet at school?
Activities
1) Sort it out - pictures
At the end of the story, there’s a sorting and grouping activity, using toy animals. Print the images (or choose another group of images as you wish) and let’s create grouping circles. Ask the kids to create a big circle, as it can be seen through all class, and let’s learn how to group and sort the pictures.
2) Sort it out - classmates
Organize the class in pairs or trios, and ask them to draw the sorting circles, just like the story. The goal here is to find out differences and similarities among the students, list at least three. After that, they can all shuffle the papers, the teacher picks one and all the class must find out which pair the sorting is referring to.
Reading 2
Pre reading questions:
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Do you ever get bored?
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What do you do when you feel bored?
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Have you ever lost anything you liked a lot? What?
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How did you feel about that?
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What did you do when it happened?
Pre reading activity: Pig Icebreaker
Reading: The Pig with the Runaway Tail – Adventure meets imagination
Post reading questions:
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What did the pig try to use as a tail?
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Where did she go to look for it?
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Could she find it?
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What happened at the end of the story?
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What would you try to use as a substitute for a tail?
Activities
1) Just imagine
Place different random objects on a table, such as a spoon, pan, clothes, hat, bottle, box, etc., and ask your students to choose one of them and create a story using the object as an accessory in a theatrical scene or transforming the object on a character in your imagination. It will be really fun and funny.
2) Guess the object
List of objects:
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mushroom
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balloon
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stalactite (or a rock)
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seaweed (or some kind of leave)
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cactus
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sock
Pick one of the students, who must close their eyes and stand in front of the classroom. The other students must describe the object, without saying its name . Is it hard or soft? Is it edible? Is it natural or manmade?
For this activity the teacher must bring these objects to the classroom. Another option is to hand the object to a closed eyed student, who must describe the object. The rest of the class, who is also not seeing the object, must find out which object it is.
For this activity the teacher must bring these objects to the classroom. Another option is to hand the object to a closed eyed student, who must describe the object. The rest of the class, who is also not seeing the object, must find out which object it is.
You can also practice this vocabulary by using games as “pass on” (when the students “pass” the word to its colleagues), “chinese whisper” or “I went to the market and bought…”.
7. HARMONY
CLEANING THE HOUSE (part 2)
This exercise, just like the previous harmony exercise, consists of making different movements with specific parts of your body only, that this time you will move your shoulders, your arms and your head.
ARMS AND SHOULDERS MOVES
SHOULDER ROTATION
With your fingers fixed on your shoulders, make five circles with your elbows in one direction and five in the opposite direction. Try to synchronize your respiration with the rotations
FLEXION AND EXTENSION OF THE FOREARM ELBOW
While you slowly inhale, extend your arms so that they are parallel to the floor and with your palms facing up.
While you slowly exhale, bend your elbows by bringing your hands toward your shoulders.
HEAD
MOVES
HEAD TO THE SIDE
Drop your head to your right side first, and hold it with your right arm. Then do the same but to the left side.
HEAD ROTATIONS
Slowly make five head rotations to one side and then five rotations to the opposite side.
Repeat these movements five times.
They favor the development of the thoracic cage and a good ventilation of the lungs, which in turn, increases the flow of oxygen to the brain and improve your overall muscle tone.
These exercises should be done with caution. Make sure that the cervical vertebrae are aligned with the dorsal axis. It is very important that the spine remains erect. Also, remember not to stretch your head too far forward or backwards.
They relieve tension from your head and neck. They have a calming effect, especially if you manage to synchronize the movements with your respiration. Also, they are an excellent way of bringing back the attention when you feel your students are restless and disperse.
8. MOVE YOUR
HIPS!
In this section, students will need to move around after sitting for so long, choose one of the videos for your students to dance to!
9. ENDING SONG
Finally, as always, you will sing our well-known Ending Song.
Make sure everyone sings it out loud together. Encourage, especially those kids that don't participate much in class, to see if they can repeat the song phonetically.
Do not forget to put the class back in order while you sing.
To remind your students to access the platform and do the jornadas.
Don't forget
