S7E3: Language Games for Very Young Learners with Jema Perry

Founder of Mooncake English, Jema Perry, talks about stages of child development and shares three recyclable games that we can use with our very young (ages 2-4) language learners.

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Key talking point

✅ Motor skills and emotional regulation at this stage of child development

✅ How we can drill new words and phrases in a fun way using our voice and Total Physical Response (TPR)

✅ How to play the 'What's in my pocket’ game using flashcards and props

✅ How we can involve all of our kindergarten students in a Ball Drop game

While creating this episode, I enjoyed reviewing Jema's Confident Teacher Programme and seeing these activities and many more in action. Learn more about the programme and book a call with Jema here.

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To watch this episode with closed captions, click on the video below or scroll down to view the transcript.

Transcript

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:21:15
Laura
TESOL Pop. Season seven Episode three. Hello and welcome to TESOL Pop: the mini podcast for busy Teachers. My name is Laura and joining me today to talk about games for very young ladies is Jema Perry. Jema is the founder of Mooncake English and the Confident Teacher Program providing teaching support for ESL teachers, teaching English to kindergarteners across the world.

00:00:21:19 - 00:00:25:02
Laura
Jema it's lovely to have you on the show. Welcome and thank you for your time.

00:00:25:04 - 00:00:27:22
Jema
Well, thanks for having me. Laura It's great to be here.

00:00:27:24 - 00:00:50:00
Laura
In today's episode, we'll talk about language games that we can use with very young learners. That's the kindergarten age from 2 to 4 years old. Jema is going to briefly cover what children's level of development is at this stage. What we should keep in mind when we're using games in these type of classes and share some of her favourite games that she uses with her kindergarten students.

00:00:50:02 - 00:00:57:23
Laura
When teaching young learners or very young learners aged 2 to 4 years old. What sort of development needs should we bear in mind as teachers?

00:00:58:00 - 00:01:18:01
Jema
Most importantly, I think there's two elements that we need to consider. First is their gross motor skills. You know, a lot of the time we we know that children can't sit down for very long and we want to get them up and we want to get them moving. And the tricky thing is with 2 to 4-year-olds is that their gross motor skills aren't really developed yet and they're a little bit wobbly on their feet.

00:01:18:02 - 00:01:34:14
Jema
They're not able to throw and catch or really be very accurate when it comes to stamping on things or hitting things. And this can cause lots of problems in the classroom because if we get our students stood up and we get them moving around very quickly, it can turn into chaos. You know, our students can bump into each other.

00:01:34:20 - 00:01:51:23
Jema
They can bump into things around them. We might ask them to do activities like throwing and catching, which they're just not able to do. You know, they're trying to throw a ball at you or at a at a flashcard or something, and then it just goes somewhere else. And you've got ten two year olds all wandering off to try and get this ball that's run away.

00:01:52:00 - 00:02:18:16
Jema
So we really need to consider what they're able to do physically in terms of their gross motor skills and manage that appropriately. And again, like I said, those kind of games where we're throwing or catching can be really tricky. But what we can do is adjust for that, you know, for throwing instead of throwing might just have them come up and place the ball or place, you know, whatever it is we want them to throw onto a card instead of throwing, catching or come and get collect, you know, the ball or beanbag from us instead.

00:02:18:18 - 00:02:37:17
Jema
And then in terms of like any kind of movement, instead of running or walking around in a circle, what we can do is have students stand up and use chants to help us control the movement that our students are doing. So there's a chant that I always use for for standing up or transitioning or getting a bit of movement in.

00:02:37:17 - 00:03:05:00
Jema
And it's really simple. We just go something like, Stand up, stand up, one, two, three, stand up, stand up, one, two, three. And then we'll just simply follow through with another. Stamp, stamp, stamp your feet. Stamp, stamp, stamp your feet. Stretch, stretch, stretch your arms. Any kind of movement like that with chants, because we've put some rhythm there. We've got the students’ attention that follow us with those movements.

00:03:05:01 - 00:03:27:12
Jema
It's much easier to kind of control that environment. So gross motor skills is definitely one element that we need to think about in terms of developmentally to keep students safe and kind of plan our activities accordingly. And the other element is social emotional development, because at this age students, you know, most of them are coming to school for the first time, or they come into this classroom environment for the first time.

00:03:27:14 - 00:03:46:02
Jema
And, you know, children at this age are very self-centred. You know, it's all about them. They haven't been in this environment where they have to wait their turn or they need to share with others. And this is something we have to develop and teach our students during class. And so as a new teacher, we need to expect that, yeah, our students aren't going to be able to do that.

00:03:46:02 - 00:04:12:08
Jema
And another element with social-emotional development is that at this stage students are still learning to recognise their emotions and then manage those emotions. So when things do come up, like they feel like they want to join in right there and then rather than waiting, you know, they might cry because they just don't know how to manage that emotion and they don't understand why it is they they can't have their turn now or they can't do what they want to do straightaway.

00:04:12:10 - 00:04:40:12
Jema
So again, it's it's about being patient and understanding that, you know, students are going to go through that. And when they do cry, it's letting them know that we're there for them. Not getting angry, but being patient enough and allowing them that space and understanding to to regulate their emotions over time. And again, that's something I talk about in the Confident Teacher Program is how we can use activities over time to help students keep themselves emotionally calm and, you know, happy in the classroom.

00:04:40:12 - 00:04:49:15
Jema
But again, it takes time and patience from teachers, but we have to have this understanding to be able to really incorporate that into our classes as we're planning.

00:04:49:17 - 00:05:05:24
Laura
I'm really excited to unpack some of your favourite activities or games, we should say, that use with this group of learners, because I saw some of them in action. You actually teaching them on that programme [The Confident Teacher Program] with your students and it was a real delight to watch. Could you share with us the first game that you'd like to introduce?

00:05:06:01 - 00:05:23:21
Jema
The first one is is Quiet Loud, and it's a really simple activity that you can use to keep students’ attention and really get them repeating new vocabulary in a fun way that kind of avoids that awkward kind of, you know, I say, you say repeat, which was what we always do as new teachers. We always make that mistake.

00:05:23:23 - 00:05:41:05
Jema
And it's really simple. We we simply use our flashcard and we'll move our flashcard up. And as we're moving the cash card up, we repeat that word. So let's say that it's banana. We'll say banana, banana and as we're going up, we're going to say it louder and louder. Louder. Banana, banana, banana. We get them all screaming and shouting.

00:05:41:07 - 00:06:00:15
Jema
And then, of course, we want to quiet the students down again so we can bring that flashcard back down. And as we're coming back down, we repeat that word again, but getting quieter. Banana, banana, banana, banana. And this is a great game that can be used at any time that you're introducing vocabulary and you can mix it in with some of your your other games.

00:06:00:17 - 00:06:24:11
Jema
So that Quiet Loud game is great. Once we've got that that new flashcard or that new vocabulary word there. But how do we introduce that? And there's a really great way that we can, you know, activity that we can do called What's In My Pocket and what I love about this activity is it's something that we can use continuously, but also use it to introduce other words that we're not teaching at that time.

00:06:24:13 - 00:06:47:05
Jema
But with that still key vocabulary in mind. And all you'll do before class is you’ll have your pockets full of different things. So this might be things from the classroom and you put all these things into your pocket and then you'll have, you know, your flashcards and you'll lay them out in front of the students. And every time I'm presenting flashcards, I’ll always count them out nice and slowly and make sure I'm making eye contact with the class as I'm doing that.

00:06:47:05 - 00:07:05:05
Jema
So I'll put them out face down on the floor and I'll count as I do looking at our students. Anyway, back to the game though, so we've got our flashcards all laid out in front of us and then we're going to have our chant together. So what's in my pocket? What's in my pocket? What's in my pocket? Let's take a look.

00:07:05:07 - 00:07:26:07
Jema
Let's take a look. And you'll see that I'm you know, I'm kind of half animated as I'm doing this on on the film now. But when I'm in the classroom, I'm very animated, you know, and I'm really exaggerating all of my TPR [Total Physical Response] making sure I have eye contact with students. And then what I'll do, let's say I'm using pom-pom balls, different coloured pom-pom balls as I pull one out of my pocket.

00:07:26:09 - 00:07:46:17
Jema
But what I'll do is I'll have two. I’ll have one that I show students and I'll keep one in the palm of my hand, and then I'll show everyone and ask them what's this? And if it's the first time I'm using this chant I'll say, I don't know. What's this? I don't know. And I go through this maybe two or three times and then I'll use a chant to then introduce it.

00:07:46:17 - 00:08:08:22
Jema
It's a blue ball. Roll, roll. It's a blue ball. Roll, roll. And again, we'll repeat that a few times. And then as I'm rolling, maybe on like the third time it’s in my hand, I'll switch that pom-pom ball and I'll bring it out and it'll be a pink pom-pom ball and then I'll be like, huh! What? And I'll show everyone and they’ll be like ohhhh. And then we'll chant together.

00:08:08:24 - 00:08:38:17
Jema
That's not blue, that's not blue. And again, repeating two or three times. And if you do this continuously, you know, over a period of two or three weeks, you'll have your two, two, three year olds be able to tell you that's not blue or that's not yellow, that's not green. And then what we'll do well, we've done that a few times is replace those coloured pom-pom balls on top of the flashcards and then the students can do is then come you pick one of the students from the group and then they'll come to the front.

00:08:38:19 - 00:09:01:00
Jema
Oh you have the whole class. Ask them all together. What's your favourite colour. What's your favourite colour? What's your favourite colour? Again, chants TPR [Total Physical Response]. And that student will say, you know, red or blue. And at this stage most students will only be able to, you know, repeat or repeat the colours if you're, if they've only learned recently or their reply with a one word response.

00:09:01:02 - 00:09:24:21
Jema
But what we can do is encourage a sentence. I like red, I like red. And again using TPR [Total Physical Response] to help students be able to follow along and repeat. Repeat it three times. And if our students don't say anything, that's fine. But what you'll find is, again, if we're doing this over and over again, over a period of a few weeks, students will be able to start to repeat with you and they'll understand because it's in context.

00:09:24:23 - 00:09:43:19
Jema
Then again, to keep everybody engaged, because at this age we need to make sure that everyone has a chance to participate, not just that one student we're asking to come to the front. We have everyone else repeat. Then that student will come to the front. They find the flash flashcard with a red pom-pom. They'll pick up that flashcard and then I'll have the whole class ask altogether.

00:09:43:21 - 00:10:08:17
Jema
Let me see, please. Let me see, please. One, two, three. So again, we're teaching students to ask. Let me see. And because we're doing it rhythmically and we've got that 1 2 3, we're building anticipation, right? There we're keeping everybody's focus on you. Then we reveal that flashcard. And then once we've got that flashcard there, then we can use that Quiet Loud [drill] and we can have that student.

00:10:08:17 - 00:10:28:02
Jema
We might need to help them because again, gross motor skills, they'll be all over the place, but we can help them bring that flashcard up slowly. And we say that word louder and louder. And then again, as we bring that flashcard down, we say it quieter and quieter. Then we'll put that flashcard down that student high five and repeat that process again for the other flashcards.

00:10:28:04 - 00:10:40:11
Laura
So you've already covered Quite Loud that chanting and fun drilling as well as the What's In My Pocket a game slash activity. I know you have one more that you'd like to share today. What is the final game that you'd like to share?

00:10:40:13 - 00:11:04:18
Jema
Yes. So, yeah, the last one is is called Ball Drop. For this game, all you need is a couple of coloured balls. What I like to use usually is those are those ball pit kind of balls. They're very soft on the inside, they're hollow. But what's great about them is that they come in different colours. So once you've done this activity, a few times, you can use different coloured balls and ask students what colour balls they like, so you can add in some review of colours in there as well.

00:11:04:20 - 00:11:28:10
Jema
But all you need is that ball. And again what you'll do is you lay out those flashcards one by one, counting as you do, and trying to hit that left to right to help students with that early reading comprehension. And then you'll see who's sat nicely and we're going to chant altogether, Roll the ball, roll the ball, roll the ball, and you'll pick someone and you're going to roll that ball to that student.

00:11:28:10 - 00:11:46:00
Jema
And again, we're talking about those fine motor skills early, right, where students at this stage, they can't really throw you know, they're not going to be hard to catch. So if you try throwing, catching, that's not going to work. But what students can do is roll. You can control the roll to then and then you're going to have that student stand up and then come to you.

00:11:46:02 - 00:12:01:23
Jema
But again, we're talking about students with very low level of English, right? So we need to help them understand how we want them to do that and what we want them to do. And we can do this with chants and a little bit of TPR [Total Physical Response]. So we'll single all together, roll the ball, we'll roll that ball to that student, and then we all chant together.

00:12:02:00 - 00:12:24:01
Jema
Stand up, stand up. Come here, please. Stand up. Stand up. Come here, please. Then you might need to help them a little bit understand the first time that you do it, but you'll have them come over and then you again, keeping that chant going. We're going to chant. Drop the ball, Drop the ball. Maybe I'll have another ball and I'll show them how to drop the ball onto one of those flashcards.

00:12:24:03 - 00:12:42:06
Jema
Eventually, your students will understand. They'll drop that ball and as soon as they drop it, you want to snatch that ball away because otherwise you might have three students going to, you know, dive for the ball all at once. But also, we want to take the attention away from the ball now because we're looking at the flashcards and if there's still a ball in play, that's where everyone's focus is going to be.

00:12:42:06 - 00:13:03:22
Jema
So I'll take that ball away and then we'll pick up that flashcard in the same thing. Let me see, please. Let me see, please. One, two, three. Build up that suspense. And we show students and we introduce that new word. When introducing the new word for the first time. Again, always try to use chants and TPR [Total Physical Response] again. If it's a banana, I might do it's a banana. Peel, peel.

00:13:04:13 - 00:13:21:15
Jema
It's a banana. Peel, peel. And then we might use that Quiet Loud [drill], same thing again to have students repeat that word going loud as we bring the flashcard up and going quiet as we bring the flashcard down. Then that student goes and sits down and we repeat that process again with another student.

00:13:21:21 - 00:13:31:21
Laura
From what you've described with these activities, it sounds like these are activities I can recycle again and again rather than having to reinvent the wheel and think of a new activity or new game that I can bring to my classes.

00:13:31:23 - 00:13:51:16
Jema
Yeah, absolutely. And and again, I talk about this in The Confident Teacher Program, and this is where a lot of even experienced teachers, they feel, you know, this is where the headache comes from because they feel that they need to be finding new games all the time. And the lesson planning becomes really stressful and time consuming. And that's, you know, we don't have time for that.

00:13:51:16 - 00:14:16:19
Jema
And to be honest, kids don't need that. You know, these small changes like the the Ball Drop [game], just making you know, again, once we've introduced that concept, we can do so much more with that, you know, the colours, the sizes as you get to older students as well and you know, four [years old] and up then we can start doing some little basketball games or we can do little tweaks to things which are essentially the same thing.

00:14:16:19 - 00:14:37:07
Jema
Right. What's the Ball Drop? It's a basketball game, right? There's no difference there. But making these small changes and scaffolding on language and giving focus to different language in context as we play these different games means that we don't have that headache. We don't need to be thinking, Oh God, I need this new crazy game to come up with to keep students’ attention.

00:14:37:07 - 00:14:42:14
Laura
Thank you so much for sharing these top tips and these games with us. It's been really inspiring talking to you today.

00:14:42:16 - 00:14:45:01
Jema
Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. It's been loads of fun.

00:14:45:03 - 00:15:07:22
Laura
To learn more about Jema’s work, including The Confident Teacher Program, then go to Mooncake English.com You can find out all the details there, including the opportunity - you can book a call with Jema to talk about it with her more. All the links, as always, are in the show notes so you can access them easily. If you have a question that you'd like us to answer or an idea to pitch for an episode, then you can contact us via Instagram, Facebook or the website TESOLpop.com

00:15:07:24 - 00:15:20:18
Laura
And finally, you can support the work we do at TESOL Pop by leaving a rating and review wherever you listen to the podcast, sharing this episode with your teaching friends, or even by buying a coffee at ko-fi.com/tesolpop

 

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