1. PALM TREE
Palmeira
Group 1 (2-4 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.
-
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
My class lasts between
25 and 30 minutes!
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!
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
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.
Lyrics
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:
Remember
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
FREEZE DANCE
This is more of a fun activity than a game, but it gets kids up and moving (and grooving!). It’s perfect for after an instruction block. Put on some fun music and encourage kids to show off their best dance moves. When the music stops, everyone freezes. Anyone still dancing is out and sits down to watch their classmates.
Use the songs from Move Your Hips!
I SPY
SIMON SAYS
The character will give orders to the children for them to do, for example "jump". The children should do it only if the order begins with "XXX says" where XXX is the character's name.
If the children do the task but you didn't say "XXX says" before, they will lose.
* For the kids to engage with the game, you should get involved and play with them.
EXPRESSIONS
For the first few rounds, in order to not confuse the students, you should be the leader and explain the rules. You will say a command and the students must match the command with the expression. The point of the game is to “confuse the students” so you could repeat the same command 3 times. Whenever a student messes up they are out of the game. The game ends when there is one student remaining. Once the students have understood, the winner will replace you as the leader.
The commands are:
“I am happy” and the students must smile wide
“I am sad” and the students must hide their face in their hands
Test your students’ observation skills with a quick round of I Spy. Choose an object from your onscreen background. For instance, “I spy something green.” Students take turns guessing what the object is. You can also choose something from someone else’s background. For example, “I spy something in João’s background that looks soft.”
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.
4. STORYTELLING
The character will explain to the children that they will listen to a very interesting story. Make the character create an atmosphere that generates curiosity for them to feel eager to listen to it.
Choose the story that you think your students will adapt to the best. The idea is that you read this story to the children interpreting it to the fullest, with a lot of gestures and different tones of voice. Think that children will probably not understand the words you use.
There will be video support that will help children imagine what you are saying. But in any case, we want you to concentrate more on yourself and your performance than on what will be projected or shown.
*If you don't have a projector: it is convenient that you read with nuances, while another person acts what happens in the story.
TIP: It is usually advisable to practice how you are going to do this, including mime, or actions you plan to use to convey meaning, the way you are going to use your voice, eg: for different characters or to create surprise or suspense, and the places you are going to pause or ask questions to encourage the children to show their understanding or predict what’s going to happen next.
When you tell the story make sure that everyone can see and hear you and the illustrations. As you tell the story, it is a good idea to maintain frequent eye-contact with the children, in order to help them stay focused and attentive. You also need to give them time to look and think.
%201.png)
%201.png)
CONCENTRATED MODE
EUPHORIC MODE
If the kids are concentrated, we propose a few activities that will help you to manage the energy of the group.
If the kids are euphoric, we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
Give the children objects that relate to the story and make them interact with them all together.
* For example, for the story “Hugs in the city” give the children flashcards or stuffed toys and make them hug the pets.
Assign a different word, that appears many times in the story, to each kid and tell them that whenever they listen to that word (that may be “monkey” in “Hug!", for example) they have to do something such as snap their fingers or touch the floor. In this way, you will encourage the children to listen actively to the story.
Take one transitional object that relates to a certain character in the story that you’ll tell and ask the children to pass the character to each other symbolizing the movements that the character is doing.
MORE STORYTELLING
OPTIONS
"Baby's first family photo"
Written by Edem Torkornoo
Illustrated by Megan Andrews
Designed by Nadene Kriel
Edited by Glynis Lloyd
"Mixed: A colorful story"
by Arree Chung
Pre reading
Family Photos. Have all of your students bring in photos of family members. Each student can tell the class who their photos are of and give some extra information (E.g. This is my uncle. He lives in Tokyo). As a follow up activity, the teacher or other students can ask questions about each family member (e.g. Where does he/she live?, What's his/her favorite food?, What does he/she do? (job), etc.).
-
Ask your students to draw their family members on paper. Cut out each drawing separately and then make a paper strip collage. Wrap up the drawings to the fingers or glue them on sticks. Tell the students to go around the room to talk about their relatives and also learn about their classmates'.
Pre reading
Walk around your classroom and ask the students to show you objects with the colors you say (for online classes you can play a game of 'Simon says', asking the students to find objects around the house).
-
Fun time. Put a primary color on each of the children's hands and ask them to rub them together to see what colors will emerge.
-
Play the Primary Colors Song
MAKING A HAPPY HAT!
After reading the adapted version of the story “The Happy Hat”, the kids will collaborate to make a big happy hat that will belong to everyone in the class.
Materials
Printed images (suns, flowers, stars, bees, rainbows, etc) & a cardboard poster
Before the class
Draw a big hat on the cardboard poster. Have the printed images cut and ready to be colored by the kids.
Instructions
Show the big hat to the kids and tell them that together you are going to make a happy hat for the class. Emphasize that everyone will contribute to it and that it will belong to everyone. Get some of the printed images and demonstrate how they will decorate the hat, by placing the images on the hat.
Tell them they will choose the images they want and color them as they wish, and then glue them to the hat.
As the kids finish coloring the images, ask them to go to you so that you can help them with the gluing process. It is important that they choose where to place their image -- you will only help them do it.
When the Happy Hat is done, ask the kids who would like to wear it, and then, one at a time, the kids will wear the hat they made together.
*Suggestion: Make the Happy Hat a part of your class! You may keep it on top of a shelf, for instance, and make use of it in other classes to revisit the idea.
CRAFTS ACTIVITIES
5. MOVE YOUR
HIPS!
Change of rhythm!
Children need to express themselves and move freely (especially after staying seated for some time).
CONCENTRATED MODE
EUPHORIC MODE
If the kids are concentrated, we propose a few activities that will help you manage the energy of the group.
If the kids are euphoric, we propose a few videos that will help you manage the energy of the group.
FREE DANCE
CHOREOGRAPHED 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.
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.
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!
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).
Sad face
Happy face
Monkeyface
TIP: Place your tongue between
your upper lip and your upper teeth
HAND POSTURES
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
Giraffe
Start by resting your knees and hands on the floor as if you were to crawl.
Raise your right hand high above your head, like reaching for the sky. You are now in the Giraffe Asana.
Breathe 3 times and go back to the previous posture.
Now raise your left hand, as you did with the right one.
Monkey
For the monkey pose, start by standing up and gently folding forward. Your knees should be flexed at first so that you don’t demand too much of your legs.
Let your body weight be the only pressure. Don’t worry if you don’t reach your feet, for it is not the objective here.
Once you are folded, bring your hands together in a fist.
Stay here for 3 breathing cycles and then begin to incorporate upwards very slowly, back to standing up.
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 the 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"
ADDITIONAL 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.
To remind your students to access the platform and do the jornadas.
Don't forget