Greetings

Kindergarten Course for Teachers

Course 01

Teach your students simple greetings, inspire them to sing and make the actions of a good morning song, help them to write the letter A, get them to work together, first in pairs and then in the wet and dry and fun drama games.

Course Objectives

At the end of the session, the student will be able to:

Use the greetings, Good morning”, “Good afternoon”, “Good night” and “Goodbye”
Identify words with /a/ sound.
Pronounce words with /a/ sound
Write letters/A/ and /a/
Show/appreciate the value of respect.

Materials

MP3 player, flashcards, glove puppets

Tips

The teacher will need a lot of energy and variety of approach, as small children get very easily bored.

Meditation

Before you start you have the option to introduce your children to meditation.

Description

A young Thai girl says, “I like to meditate. I sit and meditate every day. It makes me feel good and I think it makes me do better at school too.” In each of the following courses, we have advice on introducing your children to the benefits of meditation which can help them not be stressed and help them to concentrate – and help them to learn English. We advise looking at the advice in each course so that you can adapt our suggestions to your practical circumstances.

Beginning Meditation

Play some peaceful music.
Find a space for the children to lie down or sit. Explain in their own language and repeat in English that they can cross their legs or try and sit up nice and tall or they can sit on a chair. Take a moment to get settled.
Give them a little moment to fidget or wriggle a little bit, so they are happy to stay still and relaxed.
Ask them to notice their breathing. Get them to slow their breathing down, so that it is easier to follow…. the in-breathe … and the out-breathe…. in .. and .. out. Next time as they breathe out let their eyes softly close.
Perhaps have a soft chime or bell to start and stop the meditation. Meditate for just 3 minutes

Greetings

Before you start you have the option to introduce your children to meditation.

Phonics

Say after me: “Good morning”, “Good morning”, “Good afternoon”,

“Good afternoon”, “Good night”, “Good night”, “Goodbye”, “Goodbye”.

Sing

Good Morning

Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Clap your hands. Clap, Clap, Clap
Stomp your feet, Stomp, Stomp, Stomp
Spin around. Spin, Spin, Spin
Alright Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning
Wash your hands. Wash, Wash, Wash.
Shake your hands. Shake, Shake, Shake.
Brush your teeth, Brush, Brush, Brush
Alright
Good Morning

Flashcards

Facial Gestures

The teacher greets the students with appropriate gestures and facial expressions using glove puppets.
Address the students by name.
Encourage the students to respond.

Practice by Pairs

Bring the students in front of the classroom in pairs.
Prompt them to repeat the greeting and say it properly to each other.
Let them call each other by name.
Do the same with Good afternoon, Good evening, and Goodbye.
The teacher again uses facial expressions and gestures.

Practice by Individuals

Call students to the front of the classroom. Let them say the greeting individually.

Letter A

Present then produce letter /a/ sound. Let the students repeat.

Flashcards

Show flashcards with /a/ sound: axe, angry, apple, ant, airplane, angel.
Teacher says the words then let the students repeat.

The Game

Students identify the words with /a/ sound through a game.
The game will consist of dividing the class into teams, showing the /a/ cards, and seeing who is the first team to say, for example, “A, a, axe”.

Song

Sing letter a sound “Ants, ants, ants on my arm they’re causing me alarm”.

Numbers

You can save and print this numbers sheet and the children can colour it

Numbers Song

One little star shining bright
Two big clouds fluffy white
Three red apples on a tree
Four blue birds sing with glee
Five black cars go rolling by
Six round balloons in the sky
Seven fish go swishing way
Eight bright kites fly away
Nine cute puppies wag their tales
Ten big ships set their sails
Count with me one to ten
Let’s start over once again

Colour

You can save and print this colouring sheet

Another Song

To go with lesson plans 6 and 7

FIVE little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs – yum, yum!
One jumped into the pool, Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were FOUR speckled frogs – glug, glug!

FOUR little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs – yum, yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were THREE speckled frogs – glug, glug!

THREE little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs – yum, yum!
One jumped into the pool, Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were TWO speckled frogs – glug, glug!

TWO little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs – yum, yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there was ONE speckled frog – glug, glug!

ONE little speckled frog,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs – yum, yum!
He jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were NO speckled frogs.

Game

You can improvise this game.

Wet and Dry Game

One of the things adults can do for children learning English as an additional language is model the language that arises in different situations. Very young children may not be able to pronounce words or articulate what they’re thinking, but their ears are open to new sounds and language. It’s this exposure to the language that’s vital. Children need to hear lots of languages in order to be able to produce them later on. In this game, the teacher has set up an activity that’s engaging and motivating. And by doing so, she’s able to input and model the language needed for the situation.
The teacher can improvise upon the following. She puts her hand in the bowl and sprinkles some water. She says; “Look. (GASPS) Rain. Put your hands in the bowl” She guides them. “Like your hands are wet. (SINGING) Rain, rain. Go away. (TALKING) It’s wet. Wet. Wet. This is wet. Look. My fingers are wet now. (SINGING) Raining, raining. (TALKING) Dani, Are your fingers wet? No. They’re nice and dry.
Oh! Is the duck gonna get wet? Yes? Oh, very good, Paulo. You want the fish. I say bye to the duck. Yes, it’s a duck. Quack, quack! Duck. (GASPS) So they’re all wet now! Swimming.
Oh! Can you make room for the little fish? Yes! Make room for the little orange fish. OK. There’s room for everyone in the pool. There you go. There you go. Very good.
(WHISPERING) Can you get the towel? Yes. OK, everyone. Now let’s get them dry. OK? OK. Take them out. Take the duck out. And now look what I have here. (GASPS) Ah! Ah! Very good! (LAUGHTER) OK. Here’s the frog. Here’s the frog. It’s dry? Very good. No. It’s still wet. It’s still wet.” etc.

Drama

You may improvise this game.

Drama Game

Form the class in a large circle. Draw the happy, sad, angry, crying, laughing, surprised, hungry, sleepy faces on the board – or show flash cards. Also do the facial impressions of the emotions.

The teacher says to the first student: “What happens if you have ants in your pants?”
Get the child to copy you miming scratching and ask, “Are you sad, happy, angry, laughing, crying, surprised, hungry, sleepy?” The teacher then prompts the first student to say and do this to the second student and so on around the circle.
The teacher says to the second student: “How do you feel if you eat an apple?”
Get the children to copy you miming crunching an apple and ask: “Are you sad, happy, angry, laughing, crying, surprised, hungry, and sleepy?”
The teacher then prompts the first student to say and do this to the second student and so on around the circle.
The teacher says to the first student: “What happens if you swing an axe?”
Get the children to copy you miming swinging an axe and ask, “Are you sad, happy, angry, laughing, crying, surprised, hungry, sleepy?”
The teacher then prompts the first student to say and do this to the second student and so on around the circle.
The teacher says to the first child: “What happens if you are angry?”
Get the children to copy you pretending to be angry and ask: “Are you sad, happy, angry, laughing, crying, surprised, hungry, and sleepy?”
The teacher then prompts the first child to say and do this to the second child and so on around the circle.
The teacher says to the first child: “What happens if you crawl around the floor like an ant?”
Get the children to copy you crawling around the floor and ask: “Are you sad, happy, angry, laughing, crying, surprised, hungry, and sleepy?”
The teacher then prompts the first child to say and do this to the second child and so on around the circle.

Kindergarten graduates in Rama IX Park, Bangkok

Rewards

Certificate for you to design?

Rewards and Homework

The teacher gives each of the student a sticker or a Learn English through Drama certificate or something of your choice for doing so well in the competitions. Remind them to fill in their colouring and writing sheets by the next lesson or draw or paint any pictures with words beginning with the letter A. Perhaps their parents can help. If you like to send us some of your children’s drawings or paintings we could insert them on our website and thus they will become part of our global community.