With the holiday season approaching, it’s good to add some fun into teaching to keep your students engaged and motivated. We’ve created 12 simple classroom activities and tips that you can carry out with your primary class to encourage them to be good.
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Fact: Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas – whatever we call him, many countries around the world have a tradition that naughty children will only receive coal, twigs or even onions. But do children always know how to be good?
Classroom tip: Catch students being good
Watch out for good behavior and praise it when you see it - much more effective than dealing with problems as they arise.
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Fact: Advent calendars count down the days to Christmas, and for children that usually means gifts! But is the festive period all about presents?
Classroom tip: Kindness calendar
Challenge students to carry out one act of kindness every day in December. They can plan this on a blank calendar and tick the kind acts as they complete them.
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Fact: Did you know that greeting students individually at the door improves learning and engagement?
Classroom tip: Holiday password
Have a holiday-themed password for children to give as they enter the classroom. Students choose a new password every lesson.
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Fact: The largest snowman in the world was actually a snowwoman. and had trees for arms.
Classroom tip: Concrete poems
A concrete poem written in a shape that reflects the topic of the poem, for example a poem about a snowman written in the shape of a snowman. Challenge your students to write their own concrete poems about Christmas (or a current holiday for them).
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Fact: Chinese New Year is the most important winter festival in China. Like Christmas, one of the main activities is putting up paper decorations.
Classroom tip: Collaborative tree
Each child draws around their hand, cuts it out and either draws a picture or writes a sentence about themselves. The whole class makes a display out of the handprints.
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Fact:ÌýStars feature in many Christmas traditions. For example, in Poland, the Christmas eve feast only starts when the first star appears in the night sky.
Classroom tip: 2 stars and a wish
Give focused feedback on written tasks by identifying two positive aspects of work and one area to work on. Works great for peer assessment too.
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Fact: Everyone loves getting presents. In Liberia, instead of Santa bringing toys, you’ll find Old Man Bayka, who walks the streets asking for gifts!
Classroom tip: My gift to the world
Brainstorm things students can do to help make the world a better place, such as volunteering at a local charity or planting a tree. Challenge them to do one thing as a holiday gift to the world.
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Fact: Famous fried chicken in Japan, caterpillars in South Africa, hot tamales in Venezuela and oysters in France. Christmas dinners vary greatly as you move around the world.
Classroom tip: Recipe for success
Students can make their own Recipe for Success by thinking about what they need to be successful in the new year.
Example (to be designed to look like a child wrote it):
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Fact: Festive saunas in Finland, roller skating in Venezuela and Christmas cobwebs in Ukraine, no two countries celebrate Christmas in exactly the same way.
Classroom tip: Venn Diagrams
Students choose 2 countries and research how they celebrate during wintertime. They record their findings as Venn Diagrams. They record the different traditions of the two countries in the sections on the left and right. Anything they have in common goes in the middle.
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Fact: Anticipation plays a big part in the excitement of Christmas. Will Santa come? What presents I get? Who will win the annual family game of charades?
Classroom tip: Big questions
Start lessons by posing big questions to engage students’ natural curiosity and motivate them to find answers. Open questions work great, such as How do animals communicate? or What makes someone a hero?
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Fact: Forget the Grinch, the festive season is a time for feeling good and spreading happiness.
Classroom tip: Compliment corner
Allocate a space in the classroom as the compliment corner – a notice board or a big piece of paper. Students can write compliments to each other on sticky notes and put them on the board. Such as ‘I love the pictures you drew of your favorite hobby’, or ‘You’re so good at singing’.
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Fact: The start of a new year is a great time to focus on self-improvement, but only 8% of people are successful in sticking to their resolutions.
Classroom tip: Self and peer reflection
At the end of each lesson, ask students to reflect on their learning. Support students by providing sentence stems such as I learnt…I enjoyed …I’m good at…To improve I will…I didn’t understand…
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Make these activities your own and adapt them to your class. They should help you turn the lead-up to the holidays in the classroom into an exciting one for your students and almost make them forget they're learning at the same time.
For more inspiration and general activities for your primary learners, try readingÌý5 quick and easy ESL games for teaching young learners.ÌýIf you're looking for inspiring and engaging English courses for young learners check out our range:
As demographic shifts and technological advancements reshape the global workforce, the gap between the skills people have and the skills they need continues to widen. This "skills chasm" is particularly evident in language learning, where traditional education systems often fail to keep pace with the demands of the modern economy.
With the continuous evolution of AI tools, it has become more critical to incorporate AI into our teaching practices. AI has the transformative power to improve our teaching methods, tailor learning experiences, and increase student engagement.
To give you a taste of our webinar 'Teaching in the age of AI: 7 tips for preparing for an educational evolution'. We'll cover seven tips designed to prepare you for an educational evolution with AI.
The first step in integrating AI into your teaching practice is deciding your approach. Are you an AI methodologist who practices based on theory or an AI experimentalist who develops theory based on practice? Both paths are valid, but it's crucial to choose one to avoid inertia. Understanding AI's basics and experimenting with different tools will help you find your footing.
AI should be seen as a thought partner and assistant, not a replacement. Use AI to enhance your creativity and efficiency. For example, if you're stuck on creating a warm-up activity, ask AI for ideas. Treat AI as a helpful assistant to handle tasks you find time-consuming or less enjoyable, allowing you to focus on what you love about teaching.
Understanding AI's capabilities and limitations is essential. AI learns from the data we provide, so it's crucial to feed it accurate and relevant information. Developing empathy for AI means understanding how it processes information and how to give clear instructions to get the best results.
AI can help cover all aspects of language learning, including:
Move beyond simple substitution and augmentation of tasks with AI. Aim for modification and redefinition of your teaching methods. For instance, use AI to create interactive and personalized learning experiences that were previously unimaginable.
AI offers new teaching possibilities that break away from traditional constraints. Embrace these opportunities to redefine your pedagogy. Think about what is now possible with AI that wasn't before and how you can leverage these capabilities to enhance learning.
Use AI to develop formative assessments that provide continuous feedback. These assessments should help students understand their progress and guide you in improving your teaching strategies. AI can generate rubrics, provide instant feedback, and help track student performance over time.
To help you integrate AI into your teaching practice, here are some practical tips and challenges:
1. Experiment with AI tools: Find tools for creating text, audio, images, and video. Create activities using these tools to see how they can enhance your lessons.
2. Develop custom AI applications: Create custom GPTs for specific tasks, such as generating rubrics or formative assessments.
3. Engage students with AI: Design activities where students use AI to generate content, evaluate AI-generated work, and reflect on their learning process.
4. Focus on formative feedback: Use AI to provide continuous, formative feedback to students, helping them understand their strengths and areas for improvement.
Integrating AI into your teaching practice is not just about using new tools; it's about transforming your approach to education. By embracing AI, you can create more engaging, personalized, and effective learning experiences for your students. As you embark on this journey, remember that the goal is to enhance your teaching, not replace it. Embrace the challenges, experiment with new ideas, and let AI help you become the best educator you can be.
Ready to dive deeper into the world of AI in education? Watch our webinar, 'Teaching in the Age of AI: 7 Tips for Preparing for an Educational Evolution'. Discover how AI can augment teaching, personalize learning, and boost engagement. Delve into the AI-first pedagogy, ethical considerations and practical strategies to make your classroom more effective, engaging, and innovative.
Engaging in conversations, especially in a language that isn't your first, can sometimes be daunting. Whether English isn’t your first language or you’re just looking to improve your conversational skills, having a few handy phrases up your sleeve can make a world of difference. Here are seven essential phrases that can help you navigate conversations in English with greater ease and confidence.
