This document summarizes activities and techniques for teaching English to young learners. It describes using a "washing-line" to display student work and questions. Colorful "speaking hats" are used to encourage students to speak in English by color topic. A "writing train" provides creative writing prompts to help students express feelings and dreams. The teacher finds that these hands-on methods engage students and make the classroom a fun, motivating place for learning English.

1. ‘Sharing my experience of teaching
young learners’
Δράμπα Σουζάνα
20ο Δημ. Σχολείο Σερρών-ΕΑΕΠ
2011-2012

2. What are a “washing-line” ,
some hats and a train doing
in a classroom?

3. The “ washing-line” activities !
Ice-breaking activities
• Questions you want to ask your students on
the first day
• Students write questions they would like to
ask their classmates
• Suggesting favourite topics for discussion,
ideas for projects etc.
• BINGO GAME

4. Activities for advanced Primary students
•Reading Comprehension questions
•True or False sentences
•Dictation (give the explanation/ definition and ask for the
word) (make sentences with the word)
•Divide into groups by hanging the names of 4-5 (depending
on the number of students and groups you want to
form)animals or nationalities etc.
•MATCHING activities (English proverbs/Countries-Capitals,
two halves of sentences etc.)
•Complete sentences: “I like…” “Two days ago…” “ I’ve
never…”
•Assigning Projects (6th Grade/Unit 1 Project)
•Hang our projects

5. Just for Fun
Scrambled words
GAME “Find the word”
Even after or before class encourage them to
hang
• Questions directed to the teacher
• Classroom rules
• New Year Resolutions
• “I believe or I think “ sentences about a topic (Environment,
Violence in schools etc.) to raise self-esteem
• Brainstorming (give the topic of the next Unit or Lesson
and they can find, bring to class and hang words on the
“washing-line”
• Writing their opinion and feelings about lesson or activities

6. Activities for younger students
•Introduce new Vocabulary
•Revise Vocabulary
•Group Vocabulary (colours, animals,food words,
school objects)
•Learn songs (The colour song, The clothes song)
•Hang their drawings
•Hang things to remember like healthy food flashcards
or recycling packages
•“English around us” corner with whatever cut-outs of
English words they can find

7. “Colourful Speaking Hats”
Made for a school show and then left forgotten in a dark storeroom for three
whole years! Found after cleaning up the storeroom. 2 seconds before given
for recycling they started to speak English. Saved at the very last moment ,
they have proved to be very useful to me and my students
We have used them to learn, play with and sing the colours.
We have used them to tidy our teacher’s desk and
unscramble her piles of flashcards putting them in the right hat-red for toys,
blue for school objects, green for food, brown for animals etc.
They are magic!
Whoever wears one of them can speak English!
Then our teacher took them to other higher classes
to help those students speak English too!

8. •Choose two words from two hats and form a sentence or a
question to your classmates
•Put words in order
•Produce speech using a word from one hat
•Form groups according to the colour of the hat which the
leader of the group wears
•Guess “What have I got in my hand?” “Is it…?” “Does
it…?”

9. The writing train(3rd grade 9 year-old students)
Our own “writing train”!
A train carries people and goods.
Our train carries words but not any words.
Words which hide our feelings and thoughts and dreams!
Now writing is our favourite task!

10. What do a “washing-line”, some hats and
a train have in common?
I feel they have turned my classroom into a fun ,
motivating, colourful environment and the
teaching and learning process different, fun and
interesting for my students, satisfactory and
fulfilling for me as a teacher.
THANK YOU