ACTIVITY 1 (“One Potato”)
Number of students: 28
Time: 15 minutes
Aims:
1) linguistic:
- to practise speaking,
- to develop the awarness of the rhythm of English,
- to revise numbers from 1 to 7.
2) global:
- to improve deducing meaning from the movements.
Keywords: potato, more, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Assumed knowledge:
- some students know the numbers in English.
Anticipated problems:
- some passive learners may not be willing to participate in the activity,
- some students may be too shy to join in saying the chant.
Suggested solutions:
- to motivate children to join in doing the task,
- the teacher will ask pupils to say the chant chorally, thus making the task less stressful.
Materials: a tape with the chant, handouts with the picture of these potatoes (Ashworth and Clark, “I-Spy”, 1999, Oxford University Press), a tape recorder.
Procedure:
1) The teacher introduces the chant by explaining its title in the learners’ mother tongue. Then, s/he asks children to say the numbers from 1 to 7 in English. Children count.
2) After that, the teacher shows pupils the handout with potatoes and says the chant. Next, s/he asks them to repeat each line of the chant after her/him. The students do this.
3) The teacher explains that now they are to listen to this chant and asks them to show with fingers the numbers mentioned in it. S/he plays the tape and demonstrates the chant.
4) Next, before playing it for the second time, the teacher asks pupils to not only show with fingers the numbers, but also to say them. S/he rewinds the tape and plays it again. Children say the chant and show the numbers with their fingers.
5) The teacher distributes the handouts with the chant to students and asks them to colour each potato different colour. Children do that.
Evaluation:
The activity facilitated learners’ acquisition of the target language, particulary the numbers from 1 to 7. The task was conducted successfully, because all children participated enthusiastically in the activity.
mlmalgorzata1984