In 3 sentences: Cynthia conducted 4 English lessons with a group of 27 4-year-old kindergarten students. She found that using songs, flashcards, and a stuffed teddy bear (Bobby Bear) were very effective at engaging the students and fostering communication in English. While some activities like worksheets and crafts were less successful, Cynthia improved her classroom management techniques and plans to continue using engaging materials and activities that keep students active and focused, like TPR games. She is also working on finding new ways to keep students calm during transitions between activities.

1. Trainee’s name: Cynthia Estebo
Practicum level:Kindergarten
Group: 27 students, 4 years old
Date: Monday 13th April
Lesson number: Observation class nº1
I arrived the institution and I was welcomed by the janitor and the headmistress. The English
teacher was already waiting for me and the regular teacher opened the classroom door to let us
in. She explains the students my role there.
As the class starts, I noticed that students are sitting down in 4 tables of 5 or 6 students each.
Today, there are 9 girls and 12 boys.
The English teacher started the class with the “Hello song”. Students sang and danced
along.The teacher uses flashcards to introduce colours and they played a game: the teacher
asked ”What colour is it?” and the students who answered correctly she gave the flashcard.The
game finished when they have been through all the colours. Then, they counted the flashcards(
from 1 to 10) in choral repetition. As soon as this finished, one student collects the flashcards.
The teacher uses the “head and shoulders, knees and toes” to move from one activity to
another.
At the middle of the class, the teacher played a song for students to relax on their tables.
Finally, they sang the goodbye song in the same manner they sang the “Hello” one.The teacher
played the “Goodbye song” one more time but she asked students to relax their tables again.
The regular teacher came into the classroom to say goodbye to us and continue with
students´regular activities
Notes:
● Students go to the toilet with the regular teacher
● they are really noisy and some of them really naughty
● The teacher turns off the lights every time she wants students to be silent
● The teacher resorts to Spanish when students do not understand questionsWhenever
students behave badly, they are invited to sit on the “Thinking chair”(They do the same
with their regular teacher)
● Students asked all the time what I was doing there, even though the regular teacher and
the English teacher explained to them.
Trainee’s name: Cynthia Estebo
Practicum level:Kindergarten
Group: 27 students, 4 years old
Date: Wednesday 15th April
Lesson number:Obeservation class nº 2
I arrived to the institution and the whole staff welcomed me. The English teacher and me
knocked on the classroom´s door and Romina, the regular teacher opened the door. She asked
the students to behave well with the English teachers ( she referred to Tiara, the English
teacher, and me).

2. The English teacher began the class with the “Hello” song, they sang and danced. They played
“Touch something red….blue…”. the teacher played the flashcard game again. Now students
are familiarized with it, so they knew what they were expected to do. They counted the
flashcards and one of them collected then and gave them to the teacher. The teacher presented
numbers from 1 to 10 with flashcards and asked them “What number is it?”. students answer
the number, even though the teacher tried to introduce “It is…”
They sang the “goodbye song”.
Notes:
● Students still ask why I am there
● They behaved really badly this time, even worst that the previous class
● The regular teacher spoke with the whole class due to their disruptive behaviour.
Trainee’s name: Cynthia Estebo
Practicum level:Kindergarten
Group: 27 students, 4 years old
Date: Monday 20th April
Lesson number:1
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and deliveryof this lesson?
I designed my lesson plan under the Communicative Approach and I followed the PPP method.I
tried to follow as much as I could the class routine students are used to in order not to make
students feel lost and help them with the comprehension of the class management and provide
a relax atmosphere.The only ICT device I used was the stereo as it is the unique resource
available in the institution. For this lesson, I prepared a poster with colours, I used colour
balloons and worksheets. Besides, students listened and sang the “Hello” and “Goodbye” song
they always do.
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
We listened to the same “Hello” and “Goodbye” song in order to keep students routine and
guarantee a relaxed atmosphere for learning. I revised colours with the visual support of the
poster. We played with colour balloons to make the class more lively and fun. Then, we
coloured a worksheet. As regards behaviour, I tried to be supportive and whenever students
behaved badly, I showed a sad face to them.

3. 3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How
did they react to the lesson?
Mostly, students understood what they were asked to do. They were familiarized with the
materials and they were surprised when I took the balloons out of the bag, as they have never
worked with them before. Unfortunately, the craft section was not successful because they did
not normally colour worksheets in the English class.
4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
I believe that the class was only successful in the activities students were used to. The new
ones were a bit difficult for them to follow. Besides, they misbehaved most of the class due to
the presence of the camera in the classroom. Even though I placed it in a corner that was in the
opposite direction they were facing, they found it. This made was challenging for me so as to
maintain students motivation and classroom management. They love songs and visual aids, so I
will keep on using them.
5. What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
I will avoid the use of worksheets in the craft section as students get naughty. I will have to look
for other strategies to maintain students motivation and avoid misbehaviour. I will plan classes
based on their short span of attention, as they lose focus every 3 minutes.
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?
When I finished the lesson, I watched the video and I saw myself, which gives me a perspective
on what things I did wrong.I am really worried about students misbehaviour, but now I know
what things work with them. I will include more games, songs and TPR activities. I will avoid
activities that take too long.
7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here
To be honest, I felt that many of the my previous ideas on kindergarten classes were different
from reality. I need to reflect on how young learners think and act and plan my classes
accordingly. I have never taught very young children, so I made a couples of mistakes that
made me review my teaching strategies and made me change my perspective as regards very
young learners.
Trainee’s name: Cynthia Estebo
Practicum level:Kindergarten

4. Group:27 students, 4 years old
Date: Wednesday 22nd April
Lesson number: 2
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and deliveryof this lesson?
This lesson was designed under the Communicative approach and I used the PPP method to
organize the activities. Even though I tried to stick as much as possible to the use of English as
a primary communicative vehicle, I mimed, demonstrate and use another students´ progress,
there were two instances in which I had to resort to Spanish. I felt pressured to use L1 to
comfort students who felt anxious about different class situations ( the fight each other,
someone did not lend the glue to another, they did not share the material in the activity and got
angry, among others), so they felt frustrated and cried. I approached to them, I sat by their side
and I used Spanish to make them feel better and hug them to show my affection and concern in
their problems.
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
For instructions, I tried to use English as much as I could miming, showing and beginning the
word so they could discover it and finished it. Singing and TPR activities were used to practice
the new content and we played flashcard games to revise it. A cut and paste activity was
conducted at the end of the lesson to consolidate the topic dealt during the class. The whole
class was students-centered, only in instances where students did not understood what to do I
resorted to teacher-centered interaction.
3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How
did they react to the lesson?
Students loved the flashcards and the appearance of the new friend Bobby Bear ( a stuffed
teddy bear). With these material, students were eager to speak and answer in English. They
showed surprise and interacted with the objects. The use of the poster guided them in what I
was presenting and the songs were familiar to them, so they sang and danced accordingly.
4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
As a general overview, I believe that this class was far more successful than the previous one
because I had the chance of discouraging strategies that were not useful ( for instance, using
sad and happy face to show students how they were behaving) and applied new ones such as
taking their hands and guide them to the chair if they were standing or I approached them when
they did not understand what they were expected to do or felt anxious. Students reacted
positively to songs, flashcards and TPR activities.
5. What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
Craft and worksheet activities were difficult for them to follow as they were not able to work in
groups.They are not mature enough to work together as a team, so I will avoid these kind of
activities in the future.Although some new classroom managements were successful, I still need
to look for new ones to keep them calm in the transition to one activity to another.
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?
I will still use the materials that worked today such as songs, flashcards and Bobby Bear
because they were engaged interacting with them and fostered communication. I will use songs
to aid them with their behaviour.

5. 7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here.
There were many interruptions in the class such as teachers coming in into the classroom and
students asking to go to the toilet. I will ask politely to teachers not to come in during the lesson,
unless it is really necessary. I cannot prevent students to go to the toilet, as they are really
young and they really need to go when they ask me but I will ask before the class begins if
anyone needs to go to the toilet.
Another remark is that today students manifested they were tired. Probably because they were
working with the Religious studies teacher before I went into the class, so I will look for more
relax activities on Wednesdays.
Trainee’s name: Cynthia Estebo
Practicum level:Kindergarten
Group:27 students, 4 year old
Date: Monday 27th
Lesson number:3
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and deliveryof this lesson?
This lesson was designed under the Communicative approach and I used the PPP method to
organize the activities. Even though I tried to stick as much as possible to the use of English as
a primary communicative vehicle, I mimed, demonstrate and use other´s students progress,
there were two instances in which I had to resort to Spanish. I felt pressured to use L1 to
comfort students who felt anxious about different class situations ( they fight each other,
someone did not lend the glue to another, they did not share the material in the activity and got
angry, among others)This happened especially in the pelmanism activity because it was the end
of the lesson and they were really tired.
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
I used English as much as I could. When I realized they did not understand the activity I resort
to techniques such as miming, showing and beginning the word so they could discover it and
finished it.Singing and TPR activities were used to practice the new content and we played
flashcard games to revise it. A game was conducted at the end of the lesson to consolidate the
topic dealt during the class. The whole class was student-centred, only in instances where
students did not understand what to do I resorted to teacher-centered interaction.
3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How
did they react to the lesson?
Students loved the flashcards and Bobby Bear ( a stuffed teddy bear). With these material,
students were eager to speak and answer in English. They interacted positively with the objects.
The use of visual materials and songs that are familiar to them always produces a positive
outcome.
4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
The use of flashcards and the teddy bear was the best part of the lesson, and songs make them
active and eager to participate. Although some new classroom management techniques were
successful, I still need to look for new ones to keep them calm in the transition from one activity
to another

6. 5. What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
Pelmanism was difficult for some groups, not for all of them. Some of them are not mature
enough to work together as a team, so I will work with these students in particular the following
class.Although some new classroom management techniques were successful, I still need to
look for new ones to keep them calm in the transition fromone activity to another, especially
after the flashcard game.
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?
I will still use songs, colour and number flashcards and Bobby Bear because they were
engaging, they helped students’ interaction and fostered communication in English. They love
visual materials and moving around the classroom, so I will look for more TPR activities.
7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here.
I believe that today´s lesson was quite successful in the sense that students are more involved
with me and see me as their teacher. The only activity that did not work for some students was
pelmanism. Moreover, I was short of time to ask them the closure questions because the
regular teacher was dealing with a narrative activity before my class and some minutes extra
were taken from my lesson.
Trainee’s name: Cynthia Estebo
Practicum level:Kindergarten
Group:27 students, 4 year old
Date: Wednesday 29th
Lesson number:4
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and deliveryof this lesson?
This lesson was designed under the Communicative approach and I used the PPP method to
organize the activities. Even though I tried to stick as much as possible to the use of English as
a primary communicative vehicle and I mimed, demonstrate and use another students´
progress, there were two instances in which I had to resort to Spanish. I felt pressured to use L1
to comfort students who felt anxious about different class situations ( they fight each other,
someone did not lend the glue to another, they did not share the material in the activity and got
angry, among others)
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
I used English as much as I could. Luckily, they understood what they were expected to do, they
only needed help to perform the activity of gluing up the animal parts, so I approached them and
helped them. Singing and TPR activities were used to practice the new content and we played
flashcard games to revise it. The craft activity was aimed at practicing and visualizing
vocabulary. The whole class was student-centered, only in instances where students did not
understand what to do I resorted to teacher-centered interaction.
3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How
did they react to the lesson?
As I mentioned in previous entries, songs, TPR activities and flashcards are always a success.
They are engaging and foster students responses in English. even though the activity might

7. result a bit noisy, the communicative outcome and students´answers are fostered through the
use of these materials. I believe they enjoyed the craft activity and they understood right away
what they were expected to do with the paper bags.
4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
The use of flashcards, paper bag puppets , and songs make them active and eager to
participate. Although some new classroom management techniques were successful, I still need
to look for new ones to keep them calm in the transition from one activity to another, especially
after working with answering direct questions from flashcards.
5. What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
I need to find more engaging final activities because ten minutes before the lesson finishes, they
know they are about to go home, so they get anxious to leave, lose focus on the class and
begin to misbehave.
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?
I will still use songs, flashcards and puppets because they are engaging, they foster students’
interaction and communication in English. They love visual materials and moving around the
classroom, so I will look for more TPR activities.
7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here.
I believe that all in all the class was quite successful. At the beginning of the lesson, there was a
students with a bleeding nose, so on the video you will see that I´m asking teacher Tiara what to
do. Also, this caused that some students payed attention to the student with a bleeding nose
and not to the “Hello” song, some of the kept asking to go to the toilet, even though I asked
them to go before we started the lesson. I think that they are allowed to go every time they
need, because “accidents” happen.
Trainee’s name: Cynthia Estebo
Practicum level:Kindergarten
Group:27 students, 4 year old
Date: Monday 4th May
Lesson number:5
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and deliveryof this lesson?
This lesson was designed under the Communicative approach and I used the PPP method to
organize the activities. Even though I tried to stick as much as possible to the use of English as
a primary communicative vehicle and I mimed, demonstrated and used other students progress,
there were two instances in which I had to resort to Spanish. use L1 to comfort students who felt
anxious about different class situations.
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
I used English as much as I could. As I stated in early entries, the use of flashcards is always a
success. As regards the pre-listening activity, they knew they will need to use the puppets to
perform an oral task and they sat down on the floor calmly to do the activity I was about to
propose

8. 3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How
did they react to the lesson?
As I mentioned in previous entries, songs, TPR activities and flashcards are always a success.
They are engaging and foster students responses in English. They did not react positively to the
video because I believe they did not understand what was expected for them to do. Besides,
even though I had checked everything before coming into class, I experienced technical
problems with the USB device and the audio was not audible as the cd player did not read it.
4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
Their routine songs and the flashcard games are always a success. The use of paper bag
puppets was motivating for them although it sometimes lead to misbehaviour and distractions.
5. What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
I was not able to do the final activity as planned due to the technical problems I experienced, so
students began to misbehave and lost the aim of the activity. Besides the last 10 minutes of the
class are always difficult because they are tired and they want to leave for home.
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?
I will still use songs, flashcards and puppets because they are engaging, they foster students’
interaction and communication in English. Songs, flashcards, TPR activities will always be in my
kindergarten classes.
7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here.
This was the most challenging experience I have ever had as I have never taught very young
learners. I left the class today with loads of love from the children and an enriching experience.
Even though today´s class was not successful as I expected, I believe that students learnt the
content in context, with motivating activities that produced elementary communicative
outcomes.
I am delighted with this experience and it encourages me to keep on learning and doing
research on how to teach in kindergarten level.