Before meditation do The Weather Report exercise by Eline Snel. Ask your children: “What weather best describes what feelings are inside you at the moment? Is it sunny? Is it cloudy? Is it foggy? Is it windy? Is it freezing? Is it calm and snowing? How do you feel? Once you know how you are right now, just let it be . . . just as it is . . . ; there is no need to feel or do anything differently. You cannot change the weather outside either, can you? Stay close to your feeling for a while. Direct your friendly and curious attention to the clouds, the clear sky, or the storm that is brewing . . . this is how it is right now . . . ; like the weather, you simply cannot change a mood. Later today the weather will be completely different again . . . , but right now this is how things are. And that is absolutely fine. Moods change. They blow over. There is no need to take any action. What a relief.”
Most children enjoy this weather exercise. It makes them aware of the rain, the sun, and the storm inside them and teaches them to identify less with their moods: I am not the downpour, but I notice that it is raining; I am not a scaredy-cat, but I realize that sometimes I have this big scared feeling somewhere near my throat. What is most important is that they allow themselves to feel the way they feel. Now let them meditate for five minutes.
I can clap. I can sing. I can do anything.
I can clap. I can sing.
I can do anything.
Here we go. Let’s count.
One bicycle.
One bicycle.
One clap. One.
Two cars.
Two cars.
Two claps. One. Two.
Three boats.
Three boats.
Three claps. One. Two. Three.
I can clap. I can sing.
I can do anything.
I can clap. I can sing.
I can do anything.
Let’s count some more.
Four helicopters.
Four helicopters.
Four claps. One. Two. Three. Four.
Five airplanes.
Five airplanes.
Five claps. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
We did it.
I can clap. I can sing.
I can do anything.
I can clap. I can sing.
I can do anything.
Get the children to repeat transport noises: “Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong,whooh, whooh. The little train rumbled over the tracks.” You can shake up and down as you say rumbled.
R is for rabbit, r, r, Rabbit.
R is for rain, r, r, Rain.
R is for round, r, r, Round.
R is for ring, r, r, Ring.
R is for radio, r, r, Radio.
R is for road, r, r, Road.
R is for radish, r, r, Radish.
R is for red, r, r, Red.
R is for raincoat, r, r, Raincoat.
R is for reindeer, r, r, Reindeer.
R is for rectangle, r, r, Rectangle.
R is for river, r, r, River.
S is for seashore, s, s, seashore.
S is for small, s, s, small.
S is for snake, s, s, snake.
S is for snow, s, s, snow.
S is for sunshine, s, s, sunshine.
S is for square, s, s, square.
S is for starfish, s, s, starfish.
S is for stop, s, s, stop.
S is for shadow, s, s, shadow.
S is for sheep, s, s, sheep.
S is for shiny, s, s, shiny.
S is for shop, s, s, shop.
T is for tiger, t, t, tiger.
T is for tennis, t, t, tennis.
T is for telephone, t, t, telephone.
T is for tall, t, t, tall.
T is for travel, t, t, travel
T is for train, t, t, train.
T is for taxi, t, t, taxi.
T is for toe, t, t, toe.
T is for teacher, t, t, teacher.
T is for tent, t, t, tent.
T is for tomato, t, t, tomato.
T is for toothpaste, t, t, toothpaste.
U is for umbrella, u, u, umbrella.
U is for up, u, u, up.
U is for under, u, u, under.
U is for uncle, u, u, uncle.
U is for understand,
U, u, understand.
U is for us, u, u, us.
U is for unhappy, u, u, unhappy.
U is for up, u, u, up.
U is for uniform, u, u, uniform.
U is for use, u, u, use.
U is for unicorn, u, u, unicorn.
U is for utensils, u, u, utensils.
Great for practicing question formation!
It’s great because it’s open-ended, so fast finishers can just repeat.the lesson.
The teacher gives a flashcard to the first child, without the others seeing it. She/He then says to the student:
The other students have to guess. Let each student take it in turn to use: speech (in English of course), movement, gesture and sound to act out being a passenger or a rider.
Transport | Ideas for Sounds to Make and What to Say and Actions. |
Car | Noise of car. “Drive straight”. “Turn left”. “Park here.” |
Helicopter | Noise of helicopter. “Take off now. “ “Hover over the city.” |
Airplane | Noise of plane taking off. “We are taking off.” “Fasten your seat belts.” |
Parachute | “Jump!” Noise of Whooshing. “Get ready to land.” “Roll over onto ground.” |
Fire Engine | Fire alarm noise. “Put on your helmets.” “Get the water hose.” |
Steam train | Noise of steam train. “Which platform?” Whistle. “Close the doors please.” |
Rowing boat | “Get your oars ready.” Action of rowing. “Don’t fall in.” |
Bicycle | Action of cycling. “Let’s race.” “I’ve got a puncture.” Bicycle bell sound. |
Skateboard | “Can you ride on two wheels?” “I can spin.” Imitate actions of skate-boarding. |
Remind the students making the demo not to say the name of the transport. This is what they have to guess
The teacher gives each of the student a sticker or an English through Drama certificate or something of your choice for doing so well in the competitions. Remind them to fill in their colouring sheets by the next lesson or draw or paint any pictures with words beginning with the letters in the lesson.