St. Paul's Bay – Teaching English to very young learners (pre-school/early primary) [ALP-T2]

throughout the week participants will consider how activities can be used to meet this curriculum.

Participants are expected to take a full and active part in all aspects of the course content in order to maximise the teaching and learning opportunities on offer. A wide range of ideas will be explored, creating a forum for experienced classroom practitioners to share and discuss teaching at this important time in a child’s educational development. Areas covered in this course include language for classroom management and communication, psycholinguistics, the design of materials, planning lessons, the use of songs, games, drama, art, and storytelling in the pre-school English classroom.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
Aimed at: Teachers of English to very young learners (age 3-6) at pre-school or early primary level. English level: Intermediate (B2).

SAMPLE PROGRAMME:
1) Monday – GETTING STARTED
This session aims to:
– introduce you to the 10-day course, highlighting your rationale for attending, your expectations and your personal aims
– allow you to reflect on your personal professional practice and discuss your interaction with young learners
– provide you with a practical presentation task which will be peer and self-assessed
2) Tuesday – VISUAL CLUES AND TOPICS
This session aims to:
– focus on using a range of visual clues which allow young learners to understand key instructions in the English language i.e. hand and face gestures, pictorial cues, modelling
– develop ideas about what could be delivered to young learners as part of a relevant curriculum i.e. topic areas
– discuss what makes an engaging lesson for young learners i.e. the use of regular transitions between tasks and repetition
– allow participants to share best practice and ideas about teachings youngsters in the classroom, including praise and correcting poor behaviour
– give you the opportunity to create a custom-made story, and accompanying active and paper-based tasks, to share with your peers in a team teaching/presentation exercise (this task will run throughout week 1, giving you a chance to develop your ideas and resources each day)
3) Wednesday – STORY TIME
This session aims to:
– discuss the rationale behind storytelling to young learners, touching on the value of post-story learning opportunities and further activities in the classroom
– provide opportunities to observe and judge good practice of integrated storytelling within our establishment
– investigate simple story books in the English language and assess their usefulness for teaching non-English speakers
4) Thursday – LEARNING GAMES
This session aims to:
– discuss the educational worth of learning through play and language-centred games
– investigate and discuss a wide range of practical ideas which allow our young learners to use and improve their English language skills both in and out of the classroom; examples include: paperbased games, active games, team games, games to buy
– feedback on the games investigated, as well as sharing personal practice in playing games
– provide further opportunities to observe and judge good practice of integrated storytelling within our establishment
5) Friday – REFLECTION OF WEEK ONE AND PRESENTATION TASK
This session aims to:
– provide you with time to discuss and share ideas about the programme to date, giving feedback on the observations you have made related to the good practice you have witnessed within our establishment
– give you the opportunity to present your own ideas that you have developed throughout the week and then give feedback to others about their presentation skills and ideas

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY – Free days

6) Monday – SONGS
This session aims to:
– discover a range of resources through various media, such as YouTube and CDs, that can assist practitioners to teach topic areas in a musical sense.
– allow participants to link songs to mimes and actions and how these can complement stories and games within the curriculum.
– observe demos of using songs in the curriculum and provide feedback on this style of English language delivery in the classroom
– to provide you with an opportunity to develop ideas so as to produce a video clip or series of video clips, related to action songs, coupled with arts and crafts (this task will run throughout the week in the third session each day)
7) Tuesday – CRAFTY ARTS
This session aims to:
– discuss the smooth integration of arts and crafts sessions into an English language classroom, with attention to starting and maintaining an organised and orderly approach to it
– provide you with the confidence to give clear and useful instructions within the target language during arts and crafts tasks
– discuss how the target language can be taught to your young learners during the seemingly informal ‘playtime’ of such activities
– research and assess a range of arts and crafts activities in terms of engaging and teaching your students
8) Wednesday – CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: ESTABLISHING A ROUTINE
This session aims to:
– discuss a variety of techniques and strategies that can be implemented in a classroom in order to establish a routine which makes young learners feel safe, motivated and relaxed in their learning environment
– recall the teaching and learning ideas that have been covered in the course and how they can be used to bring about meaningful routines and make learning fun, yet orderly
– share your own best practice and how you may develop it as a result of listening to the ideas and strategies other people
9) Thursday – LESSON PLANNING
This session aims to:
– discuss effective lesson planning on a short-term and long-term basis
– investigate exemplars lesson plans, assessing them on their merits and downfalls
– discuss the pros and cons of individual and collaborative planning, highlighting the restraints of time, the curriculum and establishment expectations
– provide an opportunity for you to film your presentation task, started on Day related to action songs with an arts and crafts theme
10) Friday – REFLECTION OF WEEK TWO AND PRESENTATION TASK
This session aims to:
– provide you with an opportunity to finalise and present your video task on an action song/arts crafts
– provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your own presentation and give feedback to other people about their presentations
– discuss the pros and cons of filming activities and songs within your establishment for future use in the classroom, as well as to provide visual evidence of best practice for staff and/or inspectors
– discuss the course as a whole, reflecting on what you have learnt and what you can take back to your classroom to use in your teaching of the English language

INCLUDED IN THE FEES:
– Course resources
– WiFi on school premises
– Europass Mobility Certificate
– Certificate of Attendance
– One off-site training day per week (including entrance ticket to one attraction: Malta National Aquarium / the Malta Experience / Malta 5D / the Domus Romana / St. Paul’s Catacombs)