O2 Innovative Best Practices Collection - European Commission

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information

contained therein.

EDUGATE – Multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care

Project number: 2016-1- IT02-KA201- 024294

O2 Innovative Best Practices Collection

2016-1- IT02-KA201- 024294 EDUGATE – Multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care


contained therein. 1

Content INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………………………………..……2 1. CZECH REPUBLIC – ZS Angel……………………………………………..…………………………..….3 2. ITALY - University Milano-Bicocca and Municipality of Piacenza .………………..…17 3. LATVIA – Municipality of Riga ………………………………………………………………..……..35 4. POLAND – Municipality of Krasne ..................................................................... 48 5. Slovenia – FINI Institute ………………………….……………………………………………………..67 6. Sweden – Gothenburg University ….…………………..…………………………………………..79 CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………..………………………..91




Introduction

The collection of innovative best practices contains 39 innovative best practice examples presented by seven partners of the Project. The best practices demonstrate the teaching methods of the second language in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in the countries involved. The best practices are aimed at promotion second language acquisition. The practices comprise findings, methods and techniques brought forth and acquired as part of daily activities with children. Daily content and language integrated learning is an innovative methodology which turns out to be very efficient for children mastering other language than their mother tongue.

The data on file presents and shares a vision of successful acquisition of second language.

The good practice examples of various countries enable teachers to get acquainted with the views and experiences as regards second language teaching and learning. The collection is useful both at partners’ and teachers’/educators’ level because it fosters the knowledge of methodologies and approaches that could be implemented in the teaching of a second language in ECEC services.




1. BEST PRACTICES COLLECTED BY ZS ANGEL – CZECH REPUBLIC 1.1. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care - Czech Republic

General Idea Language through illustrative aids, corresponding songs and rhymes

Innovation Paper house with teddy bear family

Child involvement Children hold the teddies, respond to them

Approach to learning enjoyable, adequate, wide range of activities, engaging senses

Approach to language

learning learning in context

Teacher (name, surname) Šárka Johanisová

Degree/academic degree (if applicable)

University degree - Bc.

Age of children 2 - 3 years

Theme of the lesson Family

Educational institution Mum, Dad and Me - Toddlers´Club

Country Czech Republic

Contact details (e-mail, telephone)

[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson A rhyme, a song, vocabulary and structures related to the topic Family

Vocabulary (new words, chants and poems, songs, grammar)

Vocab: house, chimneys, windows, door, mouse, mummy, daddy, brother, sister, baby

Detailed description of the

lesson

Song: Hello Everyone Warm up: put your hands up and down, nod your head, wave your arms, wiggle your fingers, pat your tummy, pat your legs, stamp your feet Part I - known songs, rhymes, finger plays etc. while sitting down




Part II - songs, dance etc. standing, walking, running, hopping, dancing Part III - new song, rhyme and vocabulary The teacher has a paper box house that shows two chimneys, the windows, the door and a little mouse hiding inside: Rhyme: This is a house, built up high, With two tall chimneys reaching the sky. Here are the windows, here is the door, And there´s a little mouse on the floor. The teacher knocks on the door of the house, opens the door, takes the teddies out one by one commenting: “This is the baby teddy bear. This is the brother ... sister, mummy, daddy.“ The children can choose to hold the teddies. The teacher then collects the teddies from the children: “Who has mummy teddy?“, “Where is daddy?“ etc. Song: I love you, you love me, We are happy family With a great big hug And a kiss from me to you Won’t you say you love me, too. (Barney) The teddies then one by one wave goodbye to the children and go back to the house. Part IV - arts and crafts activity. The children make a picture of a house, colour it in and glue the pictures of their family into the windows. Final: The teacher and the children say the rhyme again Song: Bye Bye Everyone

Tools

A house made from a paper box, with two chimneys, windows

and a door. Teddy bear family (mummy, daddy, brother, sister,

baby) and a little toy mouse inside. CD player, photos of the children’s family members, scissors, glue, A4 paper, crayons

The obtained result The children learn a new rhyme, song, vocabulary and structures

Cooperation

(with parents, other

institutions and teachers)

Cooperation with parents (Mum, Dad and Me - Toddlers´Club is

a course for children and their parents - takes place 2x/week)

Possible application of the

lesson Possible to adapt for any kindergarten or language school lesson

Other essential

information

It is essential that the parents actively participate in all the activities and thus motivate their children. The lessons in the course should follow the same routine




pattern: Hello song Warm up Part I - known songs and fingerplays while sitting down Part II - stand up songs, dancing, hopping, walking etc. Part III - new song, rhyme or story Arts and Crafts Revision of the new song, rhyme Goodbye song

Date

1.2. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care - Czech Republic


Innovation A toy farmhouse with animals, dramatization

Child involvement Children hold the animals, sing, point to them








Theme of the lesson Farm animals




[email protected]




Goals/aims of the lesson Song, vocabulary and structures related to the topic of Farm animals


Vocab: duck, sheep, cow, dog, horse (any other farm animal that is in your version of the song Old McDonald had a Farm), farmer


lesson

Song: Hello Everyone Warm up: put your hands up and down, nod your head, wave your arms, wiggle your fingers, pat your tummy, pat your legs, stamp your feet Part I - known songs, rhymes, finger plays etc. while sitting down Part II - songs, dance etc. standing, walking, running, hopping, dancing Part III - new song and vocabulary A toy figure representing Mr. McDonald walks out of the toy farmhouse, introduces himself to the children, opens the door of the farm and lets the animals out one by one. There are two animals of each kind (i.e. a pair of ducks, a pair of dogs, etc.). The teacher always says the name of the animal and the sound it makes. Children can take one of each pair so that one animal stays in front of the teacher and a child holds the other of the pair. So when the song says “with a quack quack here“, the teacher points to the duck in front of him/her, “and a quack quack there“ – the teacher points to the child holding the duck. The teacher plays and sings the song, pointing to the appropriate animals. At the end the animals “go home” - the teacher and the kids put them back into the farmhouse one by one. The teacher comments as the farmer: “Now ducks go home. Ducks, come here. Bye-bye, ducks.” The farmer “thanks” the children for their help putting the animals back into the farm, says Bye and goes to the farm, too. Part IV - arts and crafts activity. The children make a collage of farm animals. They cut out pictures of the animals, glue them onto an A4 paper and colour them in. Final: The teacher and the children sing the song again. This time the children are encouraged to point to the animals in their pictures. Song: Bye Bye Everyone

Tools

IKEA toy farm house filled with animals that appear in the song

Old McDonald had a Farm – a pair of each kind (i.e. two ducks,

two sheep, two dogs etc.), a toy farmer CD player, A4 handouts - black and white picture of farm




animals, scissors, glue, A4 paper

The obtained result The children learn a new song, new vocabulary and structures

Cooperation







Other essential

information

It is essential that the parents actively participate in all the activities and thus motivate their children. The lessons in the course should follow the same routine pattern: Hello song Warm up Part I - known songs and fingerplays while sitting down Part II - stand up songs, dancing, hopping, walking etc. Part III - new song, rhyme or story Arts and Crafts Revision of the new song, rhyme Good-bye song

Date

1.3. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care – Czech Republic


Innovation Paper house with teddy bear family

Child involvement Children hold the teddies, respond to them











Theme of the lesson Food




[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson Vocabulary and structures related to the topic Food


Vocab: bananas, apples, chocolate, ice-cream, cake, fish


lesson

Song: Hello Everyone Warm up: put your hands up and down, nod your head, wave your arms, wiggle your fingers, pat your tummy, pat your legs, stamp your feet Part I - known songs, rhymes, finger plays etc. while sitting down Part II - songs, dance etc. standing, walking, running, hopping, dancing Part III - new song and vocabulary The children are offered to smell and taste a bit of a banana, apple, chocolate, ice-cream. Pretend play – shopping. The teacher is a shop assistant and sells laminated pictures of bananas, apples, chocolate, ice-cream, cake and fish to the children. He/she prompts the children to make a dialogue like this: Teacher:”Good morning. What would you like?“ Child: “Bananas, please.“ T:”OK. Bananas cost five.“ The child slaps the teacher´s palm five times as if giving him five coins. T: “There you are.“ The teacher gives the child the bananas picture. Ch: “Thank you. Bye.” T:“Now it´s time to put the shopping in the fridge.“ The children take turns and put the food pictures in the fridge =




stick the pictures with a sticky tack onto a large picture of a fridge. Chant: Chocolate in the fridge, Chocolate in the fridge, Eat it up. Eat it up. Chocolate in the fridge. (Cookie and Friends) Part IV - arts and crafts activity. The children make a collage of different food they want to buy in a shop. They cut out pictures of the food from a supermarket leaflet and glue them onto A4 paper. Final: The teacher and the children do the chant again. Song: Bye Bye Everyone

Tools

A banana, an apple, a chocolate bar, a cup of ice-cream, coffee

spoons, a plate, a knife to cut the fruit. CD player, a table as a counter, toy cash register, laminated food pictures,

supermarket leaflets, scissors, glue, A4 paper

The obtained result The children learn new vocabulary and structures

Cooperation







Other essential information

The parents must be consulted in advance for possible food allergies. It is essential that the parents actively participate in all the activities and thus motivate their children. The lessons in the course should follow the same routine pattern: Hello song Warm up Part I - known songs and fingerplays while sitting down Part II - stand up songs, dancing, hopping, walking etc. Part III - new song, rhyme or story Arts and Crafts Revision of the new song, rhyme Good-bye song

Date






Innovation Using teddy bears as teching props

Child involvement Children hold the teddies, point to their body parts








Theme of the lesson Body parts I




[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson A new song and vocabulary related to body parts


Vocab: legs, arms, head, tummy, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingers, back walk, run, sit down, stand up, turn around, dance Song: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear


lesson

Song: Hello Everyone Warm up: put your hands up and down, nod your head, wave your arms, wiggle your fingers, pat your tummy, pat your legs, stamp your feet Part I - known songs, rhymes, finger plays etc. while sitting down Part II - songs, dance etc. standing, walking, running, hopping, dancing




Part III - new song and vocabulary The children knock on the box with teddies. Knock, knock! Teddies, wake-up! The teacher opens the box. The children take one teddy each and sit down in a semicircle in front of the teacher. Teacher: “Point to teddy’s eyes, nose, touch his ears, tickle his tummy, pat his back, shake his head, wave his arms, shake the legs.” “Let the teddy walk, run, sit down, stand up, turn around, dance...“ The teacher plays and sings the song Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, everybody performs the moves according to the song: Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around, Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground. Teddy bear, teddy bear, show your shoe, Teddy bear, teddy bear, that will do. Teddy bear, teddy bear, go upstairs, Teddy bear, teddy bear, say your prayers. Teddy bear, teddy bear, switch off the light, Teddy bear, teddy bear, say good night. The children put their teddies in the box to sleep, saying Good night, Teddy. Part IV - arts and crafts activity. The children are given a stencil in the shape of a teddy bear. Using the stencil, paintbrush and paints they paint a picture of a teddy onto an A4 paper. Final: The teacher and the children sing the song again, this time using their own pictures. Song: Bye Bye Everyone

Tools CD player, a large box of teddy bears - one for each child A4 paper, stencils - the shape of a teddy bear cut out in the

middle, paints, paintbrushes

The obtained result The children learn a new song, related vocabulary and structures

Cooperation







Other essential

information

It is essential that the parents actively participate in all the activities and thus motivate their children. The lessons in the course should follow the same routine pattern:




Hello song Warm up Part I - known songs and fingerplays while sitting down Part II - stand up songs, dancing, hopping, walking etc. Part III - new song, rhyme or story Arts and Crafts Revision of the new song, rhyme Good-bye song

Date



Innovation Driving a toy car on the body

Child involvement Children copy the teacher








Theme of the lesson Body parts II




[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson A new song and vocabulary related to body parts





Vocab: legs, arms, head, tummy, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingers, back, shoulders, knees, toes Song: Head and Shoulders


lesson

Song: Hello Everyone Warm up: put your hands up and down, nod your head, wave your arms, wiggle your fingers, pat your tummy, pat your legs, stamp your feet Part I - known songs, rhymes, finger plays etc. while sitting down Part II - songs, dance etc. standing, walking, running, hopping, dancing Part III - new song and vocabulary The children are given a toy car - matchbox size (they pull them out of a bag). The teacher has one too and drives the car on his/her body, describing the body parts. The children copy that. “Drive your car on your toes, on your knee, tummy, neck, mouth, nose, forehead. Balance the car on your head without holding it. Then go to your ear, shoulder, arm, down to your fingers, up the arm again, shoulder, tummy, leg, knee, foot and on the ground.“ The children put the cars back into the bag. Song - Head and Shoulders (activity song, everybody touching the corresponding part of their body) Part IV - arts and crafts activity. Modelling. The children make a head, a body, arms and legs from modelling clay onto an A4 paper. Final: The teacher and the children sing the song again. Song: Bye Bye Everyone

Tools CD player, a bag of matchbox size cars - one for each child A4 paper, modelling clay

The obtained result the children learn a new song, related vocabulary and structures

Cooperation








It is essential that the parents actively participate in all the activities and thus motivate their children. The lessons in the course should follow the same routine pattern: Hello song Warm up




Part I - known songs and fingerplays while sitting down Part II - stand up songs, dancing, hopping, walking etc. Part III - new song, rhyme or story Arts and Crafts Revision of the new song, rhyme Good-bye song

Date



Innovation A toy bus as a teching aid

Child involvement Children point to the bus parts, sing, act








Theme of the lesson Transport - a bus




[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson A new song and related vocabulary

Vocabulary (new words, chants and

Vocab: bus, wheels, driver, doors, wipers, blinkers Song: The Wheels on the Bus




poems, songs, grammar)


lesson

Song: Hello Everyone Warm up: put your hands up and down, nod your head, wave your arms, wiggle your fingers, pat your tummy, pat your legs, stamp your feet Part I - known songs, rhymes, finger plays etc. while sitting down Part II - songs, dance etc. standing, walking, running, hopping, dancing Part III - new song and vocabulary “Let´s pretend to fly like a plane, ride a bike, drive a car …” the children copy the teacher's movements. The teacher has a toy bus (Lego) and she plays with it, shows where the doors are, the driver, wipers, blinkers etc. The teacher plays and sings the song “The Wheels On the Bus“, pointing to the corresponding parts of the bus. Part IV - arts and crafts activity. The children make a collage of a bus. They cut out the wheels, doors and other bus parts from coloured paper and glue the pieces onto an A4 paper to form a bus. Final: The teacher and the children sing the song again, this time pointing to the bus parts (wipers, doors, blinkers…) in their own pictures. Song: Bye Bye Everyone

Tools CD player, a toy bus, A4 paper, coloured paper, crayons, scissors, glue

The obtained result The children learn a new song, related vocabulary and structures

Cooperation








It is essential that the parents actively participate in all the activities and thus motivate their children. The lessons in the course should follow the same routine pattern: Hello song Warm up Part I - known songs and fingerplays while sitting down Part II - stand up songs, dancing, hopping, walking etc. Part III - new song, rhyme or story




Arts and Crafts Revision of the new song, rhyme Good-bye song

Date




2. BEST PRACTICES COLLECTED BY UNIVERSITY MILANO-BICOCCA AND MUNICIPALITY OF PIACENZA – ITALY

2.1. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care - Italy

Screening children with potential speech and language delay using a

scientific-based but playful and non-clinical approach General Idea

Up to date kindergarten and crèche services are prevented from

performing a (linguistic and cognitive) screening due to the absence of

clear protocols of testing, agreed by clinicians, researchers and

educators. In the current practice we propose some playful activities

to evaluate basic linguistic abilities in children of monolingual and

bilingual classrooms by means of tools that might be easily proposed

by teachers too, but that are created by academics/clinicians.

In multilingual classrooms such intervention might provide additional

information. Indeed, according to results from cross-linguistic

research, children’s early word productions are sensitive to language-

specific phonologies (Levelt, Schiller, & Levelt, 2000; Roark & Demuth,

2000), therefore, it would be important to test the linguistic level of

children speaking a minority language in their L2. In such a case, it

would be interesting for the school to verify whether there is a delay

in L2. If so, it will be the duty of the clinician to verify to what extent

the delay is due to real linguistic impairment or to impoverished

linguistic stimulation.

Innovation

The child will be individually tested on a series of very short, but

scientifically inspired games. Child involvement

Under the view that language development and learning are strictly

intertwined (Leonard, 1997), the current practice is based on the

account that an early identification of language problems might be

important for the appropriate planning of educational activities in

order to support all children, but specifically those who show a delay.

Approach to learning

According to the literature, a delay in reaching typical milestones of

language and communication development is a risk factor for later

language difficulties (Whitehurst & Fischel, 1994) and a predictor of

difficulties with literacy (Catts et al., 1999). Therefore assessing the

linguistic level of children might help educators to provide ad-hoc

activities both within a specific child’s skills, but also with respect to an

entire class or group in order to help children to catch up with the


learning




delay before literacy skills are introduced.

Staff of the University Milano-Bicocca Teacher (name, surname)

- Degree/academic degree (if applicable)

4-6 years old Age of children

Phonological skills Theme of the lesson

University of Milano-Bicocca Educational institution

Italy Country

[email protected] Contact details (e-mail, telephone)

Individual evaluation of phonological skills Goals/aims of the lesson

Children are exposed to a series of words/sounds that are selected with respect to their phonological characteristics as well as by their frequency based on the Italian Child Lexicon (Marcolini et al., 1993).


The teacher/experimenter presents by means of a computer/tablet different types of tasks:

1. Words discrimination based on a single phoneme change (MURO[wall]/PURO[pure]; TORO[bull]/TORO[bull]; CARA[dear]/GARA[competition]); Items are based on a standardized set of stimuli (Test BVL; Marini et al.,2014);

Implementation: two different puppet characters appear on the screen and pronounce a word (i.e., MURO vs. PURO). Children have to tell whether the characters are saying the same word or not.

2. Identifying pictures and matching them with their corresponding word;

Implementation: the child sees a picture depicting a king (RE in Italian); then one character pronounces the corresponding word “RE” (i.e., king); the other one names the word “TE” (i.t., the). The child has to indicate the character that named the picture appropriately.

3. Repetition of multi-syllable non-words ( GAPS; Vernice et al., 2012);

Implementation: children hear a non-word such as “SAVRO” (no meaning in Italian), pronounced by a little alien that appears on the


lesson

mailto:[email protected]




screen, and have to repeat it. Note that there are experimental evidence indicating that non-word repetition proficiency is preserved for L2 Italian pre-school children whereas seriously impaired in Italian monolingual SLI (Specific language impairment; Vender et al., 2012).

4. Sentence repetition (14 sentences) (GAPS; Vernice et al., 2012).

Implementation: participants see a picture and hear a short sentence describing what’s going on (e.g., “I gatti bevono il latte”; “the cats are drinking milk”). Children have to repeat it as soon as they hear it.

Pictures and audio files are presented by means of a computer/tablet. Pictures and sound files are loaded on a power point presentation.

Tools

The overall evaluation would provide the teacher with an overview of

a child’s phonological skills with respect to normative data for Italian

children.

The obtained result

The University of Milano-Bicocca provides the stimuli, the normative

data for the Italian language and, at the end of the testing sessions,

analyzes the data in order to identify those children whose

performance is significantly below chance.

Cooperation



The current activity will provide a quick overview of a child’s

phonological skill.


lesson

-- Other essential

information

-- Date

2.2. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care – Italy

Enhancing children syntactic competence in English/Majority language General Idea

The current educational proposal uses a methodology based on the

psycholinguistic phenomenon of syntactic priming (Pickering &

Branigan, 1998). The effect known as syntactic priming refers to the

natural tendency to repeat the same syntactic structure over

subsequent utterances. For instance, if a speaker hears a sentence such

as: “Give Stella a book” (double object dative structure), s/he will more

likely describe a similar event (but involving different characters) by

saying “Give Paul the cake” (again, double object dative) instead of

Innovation




“Give the cake to Paul” (prepositional object dative structure). In

particular one might use this methodology to train speakers on

actives/passives; dative structures; full nouns/pronouns; etc. This

methodology has been extensively used in rehabilitation with aphasics,

as well as with SLI children.

For its simple implementation it would be possible to propose it as a

classroom activity not only with children learning English, but also with

multilingual children to improve their syntactic competence on a

specific syntactic structure in L2. As far as we know this methodology

has never been proposed as an educational activity in schools.

The child will be prompted to produce short sentences in

English/Majority language after hearing a description involving a

specific syntactic structure produced by the teacher. Children need to

comprehend what the teacher is saying and continuously interact with

him/her, by providing another description.

Child involvement

The current practice assumes that linguistic development is based,

among other things, on the implicit learning of syntactic procedures

(Chang et al., 2001). Procedures that are more complex, but also more

rare, will be acquired later by children.


Additionally, the current practice is based on the assumption that

language learning depends to a great extent on the quality of the input

provided to the children. Therefore a richer input, not only in terms of

lexicon, but also with respect to syntax, will help the child to acquire

adequate linguistic, narrative and syntactic skills.


learning

Staff of the University Milano-Bicocca Teacher (name, surname)

- Degree/academic degree (if applicable)

3-5 years old Age of children

Syntactic competence Theme of the lesson

University of Milano-Bicocca Educational institution

Italy Country

[email protected] Contact details (e-mail, telephone)

Enhancing syntactic competence of children Goals/aims of the lesson





Children work in small groups (max 5 children) with a teacher. Vocabulary (new words, chants and poems, songs, grammar)

The teacher/experimenter has a sets of 20 (in the short version) and 40 (in the long version) picture/cards involving colored hand-drawings.

Example based on transitive events (Possible descriptions: active /passive).

The teacher shows to the children the first card [a bear chasing a mouse] describing it with an active structure: “The bear is chasing the mouse”. Then s/he asks a child to describe out loud the second card [a turtle washing a cat]. The child is free to describe the sentence the way s/he prefers. The teacher might correct the sentence only if it is not grammatical (it has to contain a verb, a subject and possibly a direct/indirect object).

Again, the teacher shows a third card [a crocodile chasing a rabbit] and describes it using a passive structure: “The rabbit is being chased by the crocodile”. Then, one of the children has to describe the fourth card.

The game continues until children have been exposed to an even number of passive vs. active primes (i.e., at least 10 each) or prepositional vs. double object datives.

Detailed description of

the lesson

40 cards showing transitive events/40 showing dative events (Type of event: someone giving something to someone else).

Tools

The exercise will allow children to acquire a deeper knowledge of the

different syntactic structures of English (or of the majority language

spoken in the country). Children might eventually become more aware

about a structure which is more complex and less used.

The obtained result

The University of Milano-Bicocca provides the stimuli as well as the list

of all the possible syntactic options available to describe a specific card.

The teacher needs to be aware of the fact that the same picture can be

described using different structures.

Cooperation



The current activity will improve child’s syntactic competence by

allowing him/her to realize: i) that language offers many different

options to vehicle a message; ii) that some options that are more rare

and difficult might be also communicatively effective under some

conditions.

Possible application of

the lesson

-- Other essential

information




-- Date


General idea To promote play, exploring and object combination

Innovation Utilizzo di L2 in contesti di gioco

Child involvement learning by doing

Approach to learning active partecipation of the child


learning instrumental use of L2

Teacher (name, surname) Educators of New Bilingual Infant Service


Educator- Degree in Educational science

Age of children 1-2 years

Theme of the lesson The mystery bag

Educational institution New Bilingual Infant Service 1-6 years

Country Piacenza-Italy


[email protected] [email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson Exploring by touching listening to names in L1 and L2


Listening to words


lesson

The activity takes place on a rug with a group of 3-4 children (1-2 years old). Th educator puts the bag on the floor; picks up an object and says their names in L1 and L2. The educator asks the children, one at a time, to pick up an object. The children say or listen to the name of the object.






The objects are left to the children so that they can play and explore them

Tools A small cotton bag that can contain about 5-7 objects. It is important to choose objects that can be combined such as a box that can be opened or a zipper, or a small coard.

The obtained result experiencing be touching Listening to words in L1 and L2

Co-operation



Cooperation with parents during the research of objects used daily and natural ones


lesson


Date 3-4 times a week, during 10.00 and 10.20 (about), till the children are interested


General Idea Inclusion Give value to all mother languages

Innovation To promote collaboration and friendship between parents

Child involvement The child lives an experience of multicultural exchange. The participation of the parent, that teaches words in his mother language gives value to his culture.

Approach to learning active involvement


learning learning from experience and from his peers

Teacher (name, surname) Educators of the classes of children 2-3 yars old.


Educators-Degree in Educational science


Theme of the lesson Multilingual Bingo




Educational institution Nurseries of Municipality of Piacenza




Goals/aims of the lesson

- To help teach the learning of the L2 - To encourage communication and inclusion of children in the class - to give value to different mother languages


Listening and learning words in L2 and L1


lesson

The educator proposes to a small group of children (4-5) to play Bingo (at a table). Each parent in a certain date (the date will be established) will lead the game in his mother language, between to and 10.00 and 10.30. At the end of the game the Bingo images are given to the children so that they can explore them and play with them. In the future the Bingo game will be lead by the educator.

Tools

The Bingo game contains images of common things, toys, animals and so on. The name of the object is written under each image in each language present in the class. Beforehand the parents had taught the educators how to pronounce the words. To facilitate the learning process a CD has been created with the help of cultural mediators

The obtained result

-To help children that don't know the L1 get used to the pre-school -Multilingual and multicultural experience -Enrichment of vocabulary in L1 and L2

Co-operation



Collaboration with parents and cultural mediators


lesson The activity can be done with one child in order to teach him new words or with a group of children as a usual game of bingo


Date Once or twice a week everyday while the child is getting used to the pre-school







General Idea Reading stories in each mother language of the class to give value to each child and encourage curiosity and interest towards what is different.

Innovation Reading stories in different languages and involving foreign parents will become part of the ordinary activities proposed by the infant service.

Child involvement The children are involved in the story thanks to the pictures and can spontaneously reproduce the words that the foreign parents say.

Approach to learning Reading stories in other languages and from other cultures encourages a multicultural approach.


learning

Listening to other sounds and languages helps the child's mind to become more open and flexible. Reading out loud creates the habit to listen.

Teacher (name, surname) Educators of the classes of children 2-3 yars old


Educators-Degree in Educational science


Theme of the lesson Reading a book in a foreign language with a foreign parent

Educational institution Nurseries of Municipality of Piacenza




Goals/aims of the lesson To give importance to different mother-languegs spoken in the class. Learning different codes and narrative rhythms.


New words about daily actions or object in different foreign languages.


lesson

On parent's day, the parents of other cultures read in their mother tongue a story/book from their country, to a group of 5children (including the child of the reader), sitting in his/her own place in a circle in the reading area.. the parent will be






sitting in front of the children on a high chair so that everybody can see the book. The parent reads in his language holding the book in one hand up high, with the pictures facing the children. With the other hand the parent will show the children the pictures or the story in order to guide them in their listening. There is the possibility to propose a story/book in a dual language: the educator reads in Italian and the parent in his mother language. It is also possible for the educator, with the parent, to use objects that recall the characters of the book.

Tools Stories/books in different languages.

The obtained result To highlight other cultures. Parents partecipation.

Co-operation



Co-operation from parents in the class.


lesson In classes with childern aged from 2-3 and 3-5


The activity is observed by another educator or the co-ordinator, in order to assess adequacy of the book proposal, the level of involvment of each child etc. Then the activity is documented by videos.

Date

Once a week during the beginning of the year, when the child is getting used to the education center Once a week for one/two parents at a time in the last term of the school year (April-May).


General Idea Reading simple English books about the daily actions and the themes known to the child, so that his/her understanding could be easier.

Innovation Reading stories in English will become part of the ordinary activities proposed by the infant service.

Child involvement The children are involved in the story thanks to the pictures and can spontaneously reproduce the words that the educator pronounces.




Approach to learning Reading out loud creates the habit to listen.


learning Listening to other sounds and languages helps the child's mind to become more open and flexible.



Educator-Degree in Educational science


Theme of the lesson Reading children English books.





Goals/aims of the lesson Learning of sounds and words in English.


New lexis and words in English about daily actions, object, animals and characters, that they are on the books known to children in L1 language (Italian).


lesson

In the reading area the educator reads, to a small group of 5 children, classic books for children in English, with pictures and words that describe the actions of the characters. At the beginning the educator chooses the books known to children in L1 language (Italian). The educator pronounces sounds and words slowly, the children can freely repeat the words. While reading, the educator or children (according to their age) attaches on a bulletin board of the reading area pictures of the book, so that the memorization of words and names of characters is easier. Later the children can freely look at the bulletin board, repeat the name of the characters and the objects of the book. It's possible to read new and more complex books. While reading the educator can also show some objects associated to the characters of the book. After reading, the educator gives children the box with the objects, so they can play with the characters and repeat the story themselves.






Tools

Hardpaper Books: Pimpa is playing- Altan Pimpa is moving-Altan Pimpa is busy-Altan Pimpa and colours – Altan Pimpa and numbers- Altan Who- Leo Lionni When- Leo Lionni Where-Leo Lionni What-Leo Lionni Colors, Numbers, Letters- Leo Lionni The very hungry caterpillar- Eric Carle Brown Bear- Eric Carle It' s mine- Leo Lionni 10 Hangry Rabbits-A. Lobel etc.

The obtained result The child will learn new words in English.

Co-operation



Parents co-operation for collecting the book-box.


lesson In classes with childern aged from 1-3 and 3-5 .

Other essential information The activity is observed in order to assess adequacy of the books proposal, the level of involvement of each child etc. Then the activity is documented by pictures and videos.

Date Each child will do this activity at least twice a week.


General Idea The child can spontaneously learn a second language (English), if he/she does useful actions in his/her real life.

Innovation The child will be able to use the English language in his/her daily life.

Child involvement Active involvement.

Approach to learning Learning by doing: the child is more motivated to learn if he/she lives significant and concrete experiences.





learning

Learning by doing, that encourages the development of all the senses, it will be able to promote a long-term linguistic learning and the growth of the child. The child spontaneously will learn a second language (English) in a context of real life, because the new words gain meaning in the concrete actions and in a relationship with her/his educator: if the educator says the name in English about what he/she is doing, the child will be able to repeat those actions and to internalize their name.





Theme of the lesson Table setting activity






The child will be able to set the table himself. To promote the using of hands. To encourage manual-eye co-ordination. To learn new names of household objects in English.


The English name of the tools to arrange the table.


lesson

The educator, speaker L2 (English language), proposes the activity to six children of different ages, chosen during the circle-time in the morning: all the children will be able to do it once a week in turn. The educator explains the aim of activity to children and shows them a trolley of their measure, where there is all the necessary material adequate to the number of children who will eat in that day (tablecloth, american placemats with the name of the tools, glasses, plates, bread basket, jug of water, an empty container for dirty cutlery, a flower pot as a table center). The educator takes the tablecloth and says its name, then he/she starts to put it on the table, with the help of a child.






Subsequently he takes an american placemat and reads in English the name of objects pictured; then he takes a plate with both hands and puts it on the picture of the plat. Then he takes a spoon, a fork and at last he takes a glass with both hands, puts them on the pictures telling their name loudly in English. Then he takes the bread basket, the jug of water, the empty container for dirty cutlery and the flower pot. At last he/she splits the children into three pairs and asks them if they would like to try, helping them and telling the name of their actions in English. In the previous week the same group of children did the activity with the educator speaker the L1, in order to learn the development of the activity.

Tools Tools for tableware: tablecloth, american placemats with the name of the tools for tableware, glasses, plates, bread basket, jug for water, an empty container for dirty cutlery.

The obtained result To arrange the table himself Learning new vocabulary in English

Co-operation



Co-operation with the staff working in the kitchen.


lesson Class of children of 2-3 years old and pre-school of children 3-6 years old.


The activity is observed by another educator or the co-ordinator, in order to assess adequacy of the material proposal, the level of involvement of each child etc. Then the activity is documented by pictures and videos.

Date The activity takes 30/45 minutes; each child will do this activity once every two weeks.


General Idea Through simple and fun songs, children are motivated to learn a wide range of words in the L2 language (English)

Innovation Using English systematically during musical activities

Child involvement The child, thanks to the melody of the song, sings the song spontaneously and repeats it later by him/her self.




Approach to learning Interactive learning stimulates active interest and envolvement in the child


learning

Songs activate an involuntary verbal repetition and facilitate memorization of new words because the pronunciation of words is guided by the musical rhythm. Thanks to rhymes, rhythm and melody the child learns new words, idiomatic sentences and grammatical structures easily.





Theme of the lesson The family fingers song.





Goals/aims of the lesson Learning of sounds and vocabulary in English


New words and songs in English about different themes known by children (family members, animals, number etc...).


lesson

The educator proposes to a group of 7 children to sit down on the circle carpet in the reading area to sing the family fingers song. The educator sits down in front of the children sitting in a circle, he takes the small box of the puppets with fingers, shows it to children, opens the box slowly, takes the father puppet finger and sings: “Father finger, father finger, where are you?” and moving the father puppet sings “ Here I am, Here I am, How do you do?, Hello”. Then the educator takes the mother and sings: “Mother finger, mother finger etc; then he takes the brother, the sister and at the end the baby, saying “Baby finger, baby finger. Where are you?” and moving the baby puppet: “Here I am, Here I am. How do you do, Hello!”. Once the educator has all the family members on his fingers, he begins singing the song all over again starting from father finger






and puts the family members one by one back into the box saying bye bye to each one: “Father finger, father finger, where are you?” “Here I am, Here I am. How do you do? Bye, Bye! In order to teach the children new words, the words of the song can be changed by using names of other family members (grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt). Names of anilmals can also be used. The same scheme can be used with other or more complicated songs.

Tools Puppets with fingers of family or animals. A small box with the family picture (or of animals) and the title of the song.

The obtained result Building confidence with vocabulary in English

Co-operation



No external co-operation


lesson In classes with childern aged from 1-3 and 3-5

Other essential information The activity is observed and documented by pictures and videos.

Date The song can be proposed daily in different ways or changing the name of the characters and it can be proposed at any time of the day, in the different ways.


General idea The educator prepares the setting The children learn thanks to experience (manipulating objects)

Innovation Combining different ages

Chil involvement Concrete experience

Approach to learning Active partecipation of the child


learning Instrumental use of the L2

Teacher (name, surname) Educators new educational service





Educator- Degree in Educational science


Theme of the lesson A box with geometrical shapes






- to recognize geometrical shapes by touching them - to learn the name of shapes and colours - to develop logic concepts (to classify. to combine) - free play (to build, destroy and cooperate)


New words in L1 e L2


lesson

The box contains 10 wooden shapes that differ for the shapes, measures and color; each child chooses and recognizes 2 shapes. The educator slowly pronounces the name of the shape, dimension and color of the object in L1 and L2 The children repeat the word in group After, the educator leaves shapes to the children so that they can freely build and watches them play and interact

Tools A cardboard or wooden box with a hole Objects: wooden shapes with different shapes colours and dimensions

The obtained result - learning new words - development of logic concepts - learning with and thanks to peers

Co-operation




lesson

Other essential information While free play the educator introduces new objects (plastic animals, cars...) saying their names in L1 and L2






Date

2 time a week from 10.00 to 10.30 til the children's interest is high. After the material is put on a shelf that the children can reach so they can use it when they want




3. BEST PRACTICES COLLECTED BY MUNICIPALITY OF RIGA – LATVIA

3.1. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care – Latvia

General Idea

The main aim of the lesson is to encourage children to communicate, to enhance their ability to produce short sentences, to put together several words and, on the other hand, catch the idea/meaning just from several words, even if it is not a proper sentence and, what is most important, even if a child does not understand each word. Simultaneously children learn animals, talk about their habits, appearance, habitat, likes and dislikes. From the point of view of CLIL the lesson is closely related to science lessons when pre-primary children acquire knowledge regarding the environment. Revision of pre-taught animals, adjectives, colours, food.

Innovation

More talking during the lesson, encouraging children to talk, even if it is one word or two words. One of the most effective techniques is to respond to all your pupils’ questions and comments in English. In that way you are showing them:

1. That you are listening; 2. That you can do the same thing in both languages 3. How to say in English what they said in their own language 4. That they should try and say more in English

Finding themes which are interesting for children and familiar to them.

Child involvement Listening, answering questions, producing short sentences (not more than 3 words), miming, moving, playing games.


Cognitive approach to learning. It is concerned with the role of the active mind in processing learning opportunities and developing.

For learning to take place it must be meaningful to each individual, with students critically reflecting on information presented; they have to be able to 'experience' the information and the way to facilitate this is to draw on past experience.


learning

The adult/ teacher has a responsibility to provide rich environments where children are able to explore, touch, manipulate and experiment with different materials and where children can ask questions, make hypothesis and form new concepts. Children have to construct learning for themselves,




with the focus of learning on the reasoning processes rather than on the end products. This requires time for children to engage in their explorations. Active learning cycle 1. Play: stimulation of brain connection 2. Pleasure: enjoyment 3. Repeat activity: makes choices learning becomes ‘hardwired’ 4. Mastery: sense of all is well with the world competence 5. Well-being: takes risks. Learning through play. Repetition is vital for little ones. Recasting is a very important step in children’s language development. This is changing into English what the child has said in their mother tongue. It helps:

1. children to know they are understood 2. children’s acquisition of English because they hear what they said

repeated in English; 3. to strengthen the idea that they can communicate in English as

they do in their mother tongue. Rephrasing what children say. When children start to use English in class, you should encourage them. If they make mistakes, one of the best techniques you can use is rephrasing. Changing what the child said in English into better English without any negative comment is very supportive:

1. you show that what they said was not perfect, but that it doesn’t matter;

2. you show that what the child is communicating is valuable; 3. you encourage the child to continue speaking by showing

they communicate successfully; 4. you are rephrasing for one child but usually other children are

listening too. Music and emotional development. Music and physical development. Music and movement naturally go together. Children most naturally respond to music by moving and being active with it. Music can get children marching and jumping, or doing other kinds of physical activity.

Teacher (name, surname) Kristine Freimane


Bachelor’s Degree in English philology




Age of children 6

Theme of the lesson Animals and adjectives

Educational institution Pre-primary school No 213

Country Latvia



The main aim of the lesson is to encourage children to

communicate, to enhance their ability to produce short

sentences, to put together several words and, on the other

hand, catch the idea/meaning just from several words, even if it

is not a proper sentence and, what is most important, even if a

child does not understand each word.


The lesson is prepared taking into consideration that the following adjectives have already been taught: big, small, tall, short, long, fat, thin, old, young, fast, slow, dangerous, friendly, strong. Since this lesson is designed for the second year of English study, children already know approximately 20 animals (a dog, a cat, a mouse, a frog, an elephant, a fish, a tiger, a lion, a bird, a monkey, a zebra, snake, a crocodile, a cow, a horse, a sheep, a chicken, a duck, a pig). Lesson is stared with a new song ‘On the Earth’ by Ch.Goodger. (Lyrics of the song together with movements is attached to the description). New vocabulary: an eagle, an insect, a dolphin, a whale, a snail, a ladybird. Grammar: It is. Is it? It can. It can’t. It eats. It lives.

Detailed description of the lesson

Young students listen to the song and using L1 tell the teacher what the song is about. The song is played once more and translated bit by bit. The teacher teaches movements for words or expressions. Firstly, children do not sing along, but only listen and do the movements. Using some movements is crucial because movements help activate the little students’ mental capacities and stimulate neural networks, thus prompting learning and retention. Second task includes miming and guessing animals. The teacher has got animal cards which are shown to the children and they take turns to mime and guess an animal. Next step is producing sounds which are characteristic for each




animal. Children are allowed to do it in L1 (they are told about difference in Latvian and English for some of the animals). One child stands at the front of the classroom with his/her back towards the others. The teacher points to one of the children sitting in a semi-circle and says: ’Say something like a cat/dog/mouse/cow etc.’ The child who is standing with his/her back towards the classmates tries to guess who says that: Is it John/Jane?’ However, the main task of the lesson is to listen to the teacher describing animals and guess what animal he/she is talking about. To make the above task easier animal cards may be spread on the floor so that they can see the animals they have to choose from. Sentences should be very easy, with several key words, which could help them to understand the idea. For example, while talking about a monkey the teacher can mention ‘bananas’ or, for example, ’funny’, ‘jungle’ or ‘climbing trees’. This animal loves bananas. It is very funny. It lives in the jungle and it can climb trees. This animal is very big. It lives in the water (a whale). This animal is very fast. It lives on the farm. It has got long hair (we do not use a word ‘mane’). It is strong (a horse). This animal is dangerous. It is long and green. It has got a big mouth (a crocodile). This is a bird and it is dangerous. It eats meat (an eagle). Stronger or more sociable children are usually interested in describing animals by themselves. Then the teacher invites one child and lets him/her choose an animal and describe it. At the beginning children pronounce one or two words, but gradually they make short sentences. Here recasting and rephrasing is very useful. For example: water, big (a whale) Dangerous, fly (an eagle). Later: It is big. In the water (a whale). It’s a bird. It’s dangerous. Eat meat (an eagle). If they are encouraged to say at least something and they are not interrupted or corrected they feel confident and later assure parents that they speak English. That is the very first step towards communication in English. If children show goods results and there is still time, the game can be slightly altered. The teacher chooses an animal and children have to ask questions in order to find out what it is. In that case they have to make questions and it is more complicated. Firstly, the teacher explains that they are going to




classify animals in four groups: animals, birds, insects and fish. Four questions: Is it an animal? Is it an insect? Is it a bird? Is it a fish? Then they try to get additional information: Is it big? Is it dangerous? Is it brown? It is followed by one or two words questions: Live water/jungle/forest/farm? Eat fish/meat?

Tools A CD (for a song), a CD recorder, animal cards

Co-operation (with parents,

other institutions and

teachers)

Possibility for parents to attend an open lesson at the end of each year. Vocabulary taught during the lessons is available to parents.


To take part in this lesson children need some basic knowledge as well as they have to be used to asking and answering questions during lessons. Evaluation of the lesson/method used - Confidence is the most important thing. If children are confident, they do well. If children are willing to participate and interact, the particular lesson or method has been valuable and appropriate for the age group. If you have had a perfect lesson (or just opposite) spend some minutes to reflect on it. What was it and why? Observation sheets may be introduced which help in communication with parents. If appropriate – worksheets. Tools for monitoring and evaluation results (observation’s diary, video, photos, conversation with children, etc.) - conversation with children, parents and other teachers, observation sheets. Risks and difficulties to be taken into account - lack of relevant knowledge, grammar structures or vocabulary to do this lesson.

Date 30.05.2017.


General Idea

The main aim of this lesson is to encourage children to answer simple questions. These questions should be asked in almost all the lessons, at least several times, just themes may differ slightly. Consequently, children get used to perceiving and using




English. Not less important is their ability to use adjectives, thus further improving their English language quality. Without adjectives it is almost impossible to communicate on high quality basis. Adjectives are taught through games implying repetition and movement.

Innovation

Asking questions during the lesson, encouraging children to ask questions, even if it is one word or two words. One of the most effective techniques is to respond to all your pupils’ questions and comments in English. In that way you are showing them:

5. That you are listening; 6. That you can do the same thing in both languages 7. How to say in English what they said in their own language 8. That they should try and say more in English

Child involvement Listening, answering questions, producing short sentences (not more than 3 words), miming, moving, playing games, drama


Cognitive approach to learning. It is concerned with the role of the active mind in processing learning opportunities and developing.

For learning to take place it must be meaningful to each individual, with students critically reflecting on information presented; they have to be able to 'experience' the information and the way to facilitate this is to draw on past experience.


learning

The adult/ teacher has a responsibility to provide rich environments where children are able to explore, touch, manipulate and experiment with different materials and where children can ask questions, make hypothesis and form new concepts. Children have to construct learning for themselves, with the focus of learning on the reasoning processes rather than on the end products. This requires time for children to engage in their explorations.

Learning through play.

Repetition is vital for little ones.

Recasting is a very important step in children’s language development. This is changing into English what the child has said in their mother tongue.




It helps:

4. children to know they are understood 5. children’s acquisition of English because they hear what

they said repeated in English; 6. to strengthen the idea that they can communicate in

English as they do in their mother tongue.

Rephrasing what children say.

When children start to use English in class, you should encourage them. If they make mistakes, one of the best techniques you can use is rephrasing. Changing what the child said in English into better English without any negative comment is very supportive:

5. you show that what they said was not perfect, but that it doesn’t matter;

6. you show that what the child is communicating is valuable;

7. you encourage the child to continue speaking by showing they communicate successfully;

8. You are rephrasing for one child but usually other children are listening too.

Storytelling and drama – encourage active participation, increase verbal proficiency, serve as models for civic education, enhance listening skills, encourage cooperation between students, can be used as links to cross-curricular themes.

Teacher (name, surname) Kristine Freimane


Bachelor’s Degree in English philology

Age of children 6

Theme of the lesson Story ‘Harry Hare and Timmy Tortoise’, adjectives

Educational institution Pre-primary school No 213

Country Latvia





Goals/aims of the lesson The main aim of this lesson is to encourage children to an-swer

simple questions.


Adjectives to be taught and revised during the lesson: big, small, tall, short, long, fat, thin, old, young, fast, slow, dangerous, friendly, strong. The chant ‘Tall and short’ from Happy Earth 1. Tall and short 2x Everybody’s out in the street. Fat and thin 2x Old and young2x. Story ‘Harry Hare and Timmy Tortoise’ Animals: a hare, a tortoise, a fox, a deer, a bear, skunk, an owl, a squirrel. Grammar structures: It is. Is it? He has got. Has he got? He can. Can he? What? How many? Where? When? What colour? How? Revision: Seasons, the weather, clothes.


Each adjective is pronounced and mimed so that children associate it with a specific movement (movements used by teachers may differ). For example, ‘fat’- blow your cheeks, ‘thin’- show your little finger, ‘slow’- move your hand very slowly, ‘fast’- move your hand very fast, friendly – shake imaginary hands. Simultaneously pronounce each adjective with a different intonation. If you say and mime fast - say it fast. If you say and mime slow- say it slowly etc. Children show and guess adjectives themselves. The teacher asks children what animals are big, small, dangerous, slow, fast, friendly, tall, long, short. Children are explained what difference is between ‘tall’ and ‘long’. They give examples (a long snake, a tall man etc.) Children say the chant (‘Tall and Short’), accompanied by movements. Second task includes listening to the story. Children listen to the first page, without pauses and without looking at the pictures. In L1 they tell the teacher what they have understood. Then children listen to the first part for the second time, look at the pictures and translate the story. They usually listen to about four parts (pages). The teacher may pause now and then to ask if they can guess what happens next, or to get them to identify characters or thing in the pictures. Next step includes asking all the possible questions about each page with a picture. The teacher shows the book (a picture) and asks questions, but the children answer.

1. What is the hare’s name? What legs has he got? What




ears has he got? What colour are his eyes? What is he wearing? What colour is his t-shirt? What number is on his t-shirt? What colour are his trainers? How can he run? What season is it? Is it sunny? Is it hot/cold? How many clouds can you see? What colour is the sky? Are there any trees? 2. What is the tortoise’s name? What legs has he got? What has he got on his back? What shell has he got? How can he run? Can you see any flowers? What colour are they? How many flowers can you see? What is the weather like? 3. Why is the hare laughing? What are they having? When are they having the race? 4. What animals are gathering at the start line? (In the book there is a picture depicting a lot of animals gathering at the start line. Children name the animals they already know, as well as they are taught the other animals.)

During the next lesson the pictures from the book are discussed once more. The teacher can check what children remember and what should be revised and taught once more. The same questions are turned into personal questions. ‘What is your name?’ What colour is your t-shirt? How can you run? What season is it today? Look out of the window. Can you see any trees?’ With stronger groups the story is roleplayed. Pictures of favourite characters may be drawn, story cards put in wrong ordered and rearranged as well as the story evaluated.

Tools A CD (for a song), a CD recorder, animal cards



teachers)

Possibility for parents to attend an open lesson at the end of each year. Vocabulary taught during the lessons is available to parents.


To take part in this lesson children need some basic knowledge as well as they have to be used to asking and answering questions during lessons. Evaluation of the lesson/method used - confidence is the most important thing. If children are confident, they do well. If children are willing to participate and interact, the particular lesson or method has been valuable and appropriate for the age group. If you have had a perfect lesson (or just opposite), spend some minutes to reflect on it. What was it and why? Observation sheets may be introduced which help in communication with parents. If appropriate – worksheets. Tools for monitoring and evaluation results (observation’s




diary, video, photos, conversation with children, etc.) - conversation with children, parents and other teachers, observation sheets Risks and difficulties to be taken into account - lack of relevant knowledge, grammar structures or vocabulary to do this lesson.

Date


General Idea Active participation of pupils, involvement

Innovation Interactive board, interesting use of flashcards

Child involvement Active child involvement

Approach to learning Individual approach and engagement


learning Also individual approach and pupils involvement

Teacher (name, surname) Anete Borneo


Bachelor’s degree in pedagogy

Age of children 4-6

Theme of the lesson Colors

Educational institution Kindergarden

Country Latvia


[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson Saying names of colors


Red, yellow, pink, green, purple, orange, blue, rainbow, apples, sun, flowers, grass, grapes, carrots, sky.





New Learning and Practice: 1. Teach the colors vocab 2. Play "Color Stand Up and Jump" 3. Play "Touch the Colors on Posters" 4. Do "Color the Circles" activity 5. Play "Point at the Colored Circles" 6. Sing "The Rainbow Song" 7. Do a colors worksheet

Tools Flashcards, plastic materials, songs



teachers)

Collaboration with parents and other teachers

Other essential information Risks and difficulties to be taken into account - pupils in different knowledge, shyness, behavioural problems

Date 25.05.2017.











Age of children 4-6


Educational institution Kindergarten

Country Latvia





[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson Saying farm animals and animals noises


"What animal is that?" "What noise does it make?" Target Vocab: farm, cow, moo, dog, woof, sheep, baa, duck, quack, pig, oink


New Learning and Practice: 1. Use farm animal plastic toys for "play time" 2. Introduce the vocab 3. Teach & practice the vocab 4. Play "Put the animal on the flashcard" 5. Play "Flashcard touch" and "The missing flashcard" game 6. Sing "Old MacDonald" 7. Read classroom reader "Old MacDonald's Farm Animals" 8. Do "Match up the Animals 2" worksheet

Tools Flashcards, plastic materials - animals, songs



teachers)


Other essential information Risks and difficulties to be taken into account - Pupils in different knowledge, shyness, behavioural problems

Date 22.05.2017.














Age of children 4-6

Theme of the lesson Fruits


Country Latvia


[email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson Saying different fruit and talking about likes


apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, melons, pineapples, lemons, strawberries, yummy, yuk


New learning and practice: 1.Teach the fruit vocab 2. Play "Fruit Fetch" 3. Play "Fruit Rope Jump" game 4. Read classroom reader "Fruit Salad" 5. Teach structures "What fruit do you like?" and "I like~" 6. Play the fruit wall touch game 7. Sing the "What Fruit do you Like?" song 8. Do the "Color Lots of Fruit" worksheet 9. Do "Fruit Tasting" activity

Tools Flashcards, plastic materials, songs



teachers)


Other essential information Risks and difficulties to be taken into account - Pupils in different knowledge, shyness, behavioural problems

Date 16.05.2017.




4. BEST PRACTICES COLLECTED BY MUNICIPALITY OF KRASNE – POLAND

4.1. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care – Poland

General Idea Children are engaged intensively in activity, become active and involved participants in learning.

Innovation movement lesson

Child involvement Children respond with relevant gestures, actions, a chant, a song.


Children: - have positive emotions about learning - develop understanding - unconsciously make connection between current knowledge and previous experience


learning

Children develop cooperation and confidence. Their ability to stay interested, engaged in activities supports positives outcomes, including language development.

Teacher (name, surname) Beata Chwistek


Age of children 6 - 7 years old

Theme of the lesson Action words

Educational institution Primary School

Country Poland


[email protected] +48604902459

Goals/aims of the lesson - to engage children in movement activities - to become familiar with action verbs - to cooperate in a group


action words: stamp, clap, wiggle, move, wave, shake, run, jump, touch, walk, run, march, hop, dance body vocabulary a song: ”Arms, arms”




Arms, arms, wave your arms, wave your arms with me, feet, feet stamp your feet, stamp your feet with me, hands, hands, clap your hands, clap your hands with me, toes, toes, touch your toes, touch your toes with me, legs, legs, move your legs, move your legs with me, body, body, shake your body, shake your body with me. Stamp, stamp, stamp, moooove, waaaaaave, shaaaaake, clap, clap, clap.


lesson

1. Children greet cheerfully in pairs: shoulder to shoulder, head to head, knee to knee, ear to ear etc. 2. Game ”Caterpillar” Children can be divided into two groups but it’s not necessary. They stay one by one. This ”caterpillar” goes around the classroom and says: ”Green and furry Caterpillar in a hurry. Stamp, stamp, stamp. Suddenly STOP!” The Caterpillar stops with its feet far apart. A child at the beginning goes under the legs and stands at the end. Each time children say different verb: jump, walk, hop, run, march, dance instead of ”stamp” and the caterpillar does the right action. Children can say the chant at different pace: slowly or fast. The teacher leads the game. 3. Game ”Dance Of The Ostriches” Two children (volunteers) are in the middle of a circle. The teacher attaches one of the action flashcards at their backs, for example run, jump or swim. ”Ready, steady go!” and they have to find out what is on another child’s back. The first is the winner. The teacher sets the rules at the beginning of the game: children inside keep their hands at the back, the rest of the group mustn’t prompt. 4. A song ”Arms, arms” Children sing and perform actions.

Tools flashcards with action verbs, adhesive tape

The obtained result Children: - understand the given commands and do the right actions - are eager to take part in games and movement activity




Cooperation



Parents of the children are informed of what we are doing, they can play with them at home giving them simple commands.


lesson kindergarten and school

Other essential information Children become engaged in social interactions. The teacher encourages children who need help playing cooperatively.

Date


General Idea exchanging experiences between teachers teaching English in other countries, sharing ideas and using ideas from other people

Innovation

use of technology in education - using a tablet during lessons connected to speakers, using small plush toys with bells (pin you the little bell to the plush toy,iIt can be bought in the shop with fishing articles ), we use these instruments in different ways

Child involvement Full of activity

Approach to learning Learning through action lots of movement, lots of fun, new vocabulary and phrases on each lesson


learning English for fun, learning English connected of movment, Total Physical Response (TPR Method)

Teacher (name, surname) Ewa Nowak


master’s degree

Age of children 4,5 years old

Theme of the lesson Body parts.

Educational institution The Kindergarten in Strażów

Country Poland





[email protected] 603 322 291


to connect vocabulary with actions

to remember body parts

to count 1-5

to play roles

to enjoy learning

to develop of musical hearing


Play: Open, close https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_VcSQn73do

Open, Close! Open, Close! Everybody clap, clap, clap! Open, Close! Open, Close! Everybody touch your eyes! Open, Close! Open, Close! Everybody clap, clap, clap! Open, Close! Open, Close! Everybody touch your ears! …….. nose, arms, knees Song: Five little monkeys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhODBFQ2-bQ

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed, One fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Four little monkeys jumping on the bed, One fell off and bumped her head. Papa called the Doctor and the Doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Three little monkeys … Two little monkeys … One little monkey ….. Body parts Brendan Parker


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_VcSQn73do

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhODBFQ2-bQ




https://gpstrazow.edupage.org/text/?text=text/text9&subpage=5

Everybody has a body Everybody has body parts, body parts You have 10 fingers, you have 10 toes You have 2 eyes and you have 1 nose You have 2 arms you have 2 legs And you have hair on the top your head Everybody……..


lesson

1. The song “Open close”. The teacher sings the song and points the body part. Children stand in the circle and imitate the teacher.

2. The teacher asks: - Where are eyes? - Where are ears? - Where is nose? - Touch your nose. - Touch your knees.

3. The children watch movie “ Five little monkeys” and they

repeat the lyrics of the song. 4. Counting in the range of 5. 5. The children play the roles:

five children are jumping on the matterss (5 monkeys, they have cards with numbers)

mama - call to the doctor the doctor (dressed in a white apron)says: “no

more monkeys jumping on the bed” (he threatens finger)

Others children are sitting on the floor and they are singing. They shake small plush toys with bells. Next time change roles. This fun takes up most of the lessons.

6. Listen song from a tablet “Body parts”. Children are

dancing in the whole room. They try to sing and shake plush toys with bells.

7. Goodbye song – everyone sings calm song (for example: Bye, bye everyone.

https://gpstrazow.edupage.org/text/?text=text/text9&subpage=5




Tools mattress, cards with numbers, tablet connected to speakers in the CD player (input AUX), small plush toys with bells

The obtained result repetition of words and phrases, good fun while learning English,

Cooperation



The parents can watch and sing with children. All the songs they know children are on our website: http://gpstrazow.edupage.org/ section: English for fun.


lesson The lesson for parents, for other groups of children

Other essential information The children play roles when they know very well lyrics song

Date 01.03.2017


General idea Animals knowledge (vocabulary and living place)

Innovation Making sounds of animals

Child involvment High involvment

Approach to learning A very satisfactory approach

Approach to language learning Kids are highly interested in the classes

Teacher (name, surname) Małgorzata Sosnowska


-

Age of children 5 years old


Educational institution Nursery school

http://gpstrazow.edupage.org/




Country Poland

Contact details

(e-mail, telephone) [email protected]

Goals/aims of the lesson The main goal: to enrich animal vocabulary, The detail goals: to name farm animals, to distinguish the souns of animals, to act in a group


Farm animal vocabulary, song "Old McDonald had a farm", grammar-What is the animal?/Do you know what is it?"


Activity 1.Teacher says "hello" and asks them to sit on the carpet, then he shows them pictures of animals. Teacher asks - "What is it?/What is the animal?". Some of children may know the animals but if they do not then the teacher names animals. Teacher can use up to 6-7 flashcards. Children repeat the names. Activity 2.Teacher presents the sounds of animals using CD player. Children listen to the sounds and they are asked to guess the names. (teacher helps) Activity 3.Teacher asks the children to sit on the carpet. Then he give the pupils "Domino" game and asks them to match the pairs. This exercise needs more time to do (it depends on the number of the children).Then pupils present the pairs of animals aloud. Activity 4.Teacher asks the pupils to stand up and give them one name of the animal. The children have to guess and imitate animal that is said. This exercise needs more time to do, as well as the previous one. Activity 5.Teacher asks children to sit on the carpet once again and listen to a song "Old McDonald had a farm"-pupils can sing the song at once or they can listen first. The exercise can be connected with the imitating sounds of animals. One child can sing one verse.

Tools flashcards, pictures, CDs, domino game

The obtained result Children are able to know the names of animals, they can distinguish them among other animals.

Cooperation


institution and teachers)

-


lesson High possibility of lesson application




Other essential

information -

Date February 28th, 2017


General Idea Topics with everyday vocabulary help our kids to deal with English easily and efficiently

Innovation All activities are based on TPR

Child involvement Kids are involved All the time

Approach to learning Mostly TPR, visual aids


learning Mostly TPR, visual aids

Teacher (name, surname) Edyta Stachowicz


Master of English Studies

Age of children 5-6

Theme of the lesson Food (the topic should be divided into small lesson units)


Country Poland


[email protected], +48604694823

Goals/aims of the lesson -to introduce and practice vocabulary connected with food -to present and practice proper pronunciation - to engage students attention in the learning procces


Do you like..? Yes, I do! No, I don’t Yummy! Yucky! I’m hungry!!




Apples, bananas, oranges, carrots, green peas, eggs, milk, chocolate milk, chocolate, muffins, cookies, ice cream, spaghetti, broccoli, pasta, chips, crisps, sausages, tomatoes, cheese, ketchup, tuna, fish, chicken, chicken legs, yoghurt, jam,

lollipop… etc


lesson

1. I introduce my best friend (a puppet dragon) to my students, saying that his a very, very hungry dragon. He loves eating and it’s high time to feed him. I explain that i’m going to ask my dragon whether he likes sth or not. He can say: Yummy, yummy or Yucky Yucky. Students can repeat after me. Then I take thing from the play food set e.g broccoli and ask the dragon : Do you like broccoli? We put our thumbs up –Yes, I do, or put our thumbs down – No, I don’t to practice possible answers. I present new food vocabulary by asking the puppet what he likes or not. After some time students can try to do the same.

2. To repeat new words we watch a song ‘Do you like broccoli? (Super Simple Songs). Then listen to it again trying to sing and act the song out.

3. When vocabulary is indroduced and practiced, I put my play food set to the mystery box. We sit in a circle and sing: ‘Mystery box, mystery box, what’s inside my mystery box’. The box goes round in a circle until the music stops. The person who has the box comes to the teacher, closes his/her eyes(you can tie them with a scarf), take one thing out, touch it and try to guess the name. Each good answer should be rewarded!!:)

4. Next thing is to read or listen to a story The very hungry

caterpilar(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4HI7q38VmQ ), I make sure students know all needed vocabulary. Then I put my play food set on the floor, I read the book and point to students who know what food the caterpillar is eating( The caterpillar should be made of long sock or even two or three joined together, so that her body can become longer and longer while eating).

5. My Last favourite game to practice food is Hungry Charlie.

Charlie is a monster made of a shoe box

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4HI7q38VmQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4HI7q38VmQ




Charlie is very, very hungry...and he wants to eat a muffin! Kids who know what is a muffin can feed Charlie

6. At the end I often let my students ask questions: Do you like....? and this time my task is to answer. They love it

Tools

- Play food set

- A puppet - Songs - Box ( used as a Mystery Box)

- A hand-made caterpillar (made of a very long socks) - A box ( used a Hungry Charlie)

The obtained result Students can pronunce words properly, they can ask simple questions, they can have fun with English!!

Cooperation



Parents get a piece of paper with word list to practice at home and tip how to do it.


lesson Lesson can be used in the kindergarten, at the age of 5 – 6

Other essential information I prepare most of my teaching aids myself.

Date 01.03.2017


General Idea Children become active and involved participants in learning.




Innovation innovate using of technology

Child involvement listening, speaking, moving, using their sense of taste


Children: - develop understanding - have positive emotions about learning - make connection between current knowledge and previous experience


learning Children become engaged in learning experiences, acquire new knowledge, demonstrate their speaking skills,




Theme of the lesson Healthy fruit


Country Poland




- to revise already known fruit vocabulary and introduce more words for different kinds of fruit - to learn a song - to practise listening and speaking


words: healthy fruit; apple, banana, pear, lemon, grapes, cherry, watermelon, peach, strawberry, orange, pineapple, mango, plum, kiwi; questions: What fruit do you like?, Do you like apples?”, and answers ”I like..., I don’t like...”, Yes, I do. No, I don’t; singular and plural forms: banana – bananas; A song ”Fruit song for kids” (Super Simple Songs) I eat fruit every single day




Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays. Mondays I eat apples. Tuesdays I eat pears. Wednesdays I eat cherries. Thursdays I don’t care. I eat fruit every single day Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays. Fridays I eat mangoes. Saturdays some grapes. Sundays I eat berries. I think that fruits are great.


lesson

1. ”Talking flashcards – fruit” (a video - Maple Leaf Learning) The students look at the pictures and the written names of the fruit, listen to and repeat words (some of them are known, some are new). 2. The teacher asks questions e.g. What fruit do you like?, Do you like apples?”, the students answer ”I like..., I don’t like...”, Yes, I do. No, I don’t (some shy students can say Yes or No). The students can work in pairs or groups of 3 asking ”Do you like...?” 3. The teacher can talk for a while to the students about eating fruit, why it is healthy, why we should eat it every day (they talk in students’ native language). 5. The students watch a video and listen to ”Fruit song for kids”, then they try to sing the song together with the children on a screen. While singing they memorize and practise fruit vocabulary (there are no specific gestures for this song, the children can rub their tummies if they like the fruit). 6. Game ”Change your place” The students sit in a circle. The teacher gives each child a small card with a picture and the name of a fruit written below the picture. The teacher says the name of 2 or 3 kinds of fruit, then the children with proper words at their cards change their places as quickly as they can. 7.”Fruit tasting” (The teacher or student’s parents buy some seasonal fruit – one of each kind). Before the lesson starts the teacher cuts the fresh fruit into tiny squares and puts them on separate plastic or paper plates. They’re hidden in a safe place till now. The students guess which fruit is on each plate by smelling and tasting, the teacher encourages children to say what fruit it is and put the written name of the fruit next to the right plate.




Tools DVD, fruit flashcards, small cards with fruit pictures, real fruit

The obtained result

Children: - become familiar with the names of commonly known fruit and can express their likes and dislikes - are aware of the importance of eating fruit

Cooperation



At home children with their parents’ help can prepare fruit salad

using fruit from the lesson and name them in English.


lesson kindergarten, school


A proverb says: ”Tell me and I’ll forget Teach me and I’ll remember Involve me and I’ll learn” so to get children focused use movement and involve other senses.

Date


General Idea Children are active, involved and eager to develop their skills

Innovation attracting attention teaching aids

Child involvement Children sing, are involved in a guessing game, in speaking

Approach to learning Children have positive emotions about learning, are engaged in learning.


learning

Children become engaged in learning experiences, demonstrate their speaking skills, develop imagination, learn to solve problems







Theme of the lesson School things


Country Poland



Goals/aims of the lesson - to revise already known school vocabulary - to learn a new song - to practise speaking


words: pencil, pen, ruler, crayon, rubber, book, pencil case, scissors, glue, sharpener, colours, size, guess what

questions: What’s in the box? What’s this? What have I got in my pencil case? Is it a pen?

A songs ”Rulers” Rulers, rulers, how many rulers, how many rulers can you see?

Hurray! Let’s play! Let’s jump and climb. Books, books, how many books, how many books can you see? Hurray! Let’s play! Let’s jump and climb. Pencils... Pens... Rubbers...


lesson

1. There’s some rice or sand in a plastic box with hidden school things (2-3 different colour pencils, pens, short, long rulers, big, small rubbers, a pair of small scissors, a stick of glue). A child put his/her hand into the box and takes out one of the things. The teacher asks: What’ s this? Children say for example: It’s a red pen. It’s a green crayon. It’s a long ruler. It’s a small rubber etc. 2. Children listen to a song ”Rulers”, while listening they raise the proper thing and do action, then they listen again and try to sing. 3. Let’s play a guessing game. The teacher hides one of the school items in an empty pencil case, the children guess what is inside ”What have I got in my pencil case?” Children ask ”Is it a pen? Is it a ruler?... etc. A child who guesses first plays a




teacher’s role. 4. Children describe the contents of their pencil cases.

Tools real school items, a box filled with rice or sand

The obtained result Children:

- know the names of subjects used in everyday school life - are not afraid of speaking English, taking part in all activities

Cooperation



Parents and children can play a guessing game using school items names, for example “What am I thinking about?”


lesson For school

Other essential information The teacher motivates children to speak English, helps with vocabulary.

Date


General Idea Children become active and involved participants in learning.

Innovation Using technology to support early learning

Child involvement listening, speaking, singing, gaining the meaning from the context, art work

Approach to learning Children develop their creativity, enthusiasm and cooperation


learning Children acquire new knowledge, learn new skills, achieve goals, and demonstrate their language abilities



Age of children 6 -7 years old

Theme of the lesson Seasonal clothing





Country Poland




- to revise clothes and weather vocabulary - to learn names of four seasons - to practise listening and speaking - to cooperate in group


words: names of clothes, weather - sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy, snowy, stormy, 4 seasons

questions: What’s in the box? What’s this? What have I got in my pencil case?

a song ”Do you like” Do you like sunny days?

Yes, yes, yes I like sunny days. Do you like cloudy days? No, no, no I don’t like cloudy days.

Do you like snowy days? Yes, yes, yes I like snowy days. Do you like windy days?

No, no, no I don’t like windy days.


lesson

1. Children sing a song ”Do you like sunny days?”, they nod their heads and sing happily -” yes”, they pretend sad faces while singing ”no”. Teacher shows flashcards with weather pictures. 2. Children watch a video ”Seasons song” (Pancake Manor), they listen to the names of 4 seasons, listen again and try to repeat words: spring, summer, autumn, winter. 3. The teacher shows flashcards with seasons. Children are divided into 4 groups, groups are named as 4 seasons. The teacher prepares many clothes pictures from old newspapers. One child from each group chooses a picture related to his/her season and says: for example - ”It’s winter. It’s cold. I’m wearing a scarf or It’s summer. It’s sunny. I’m wearing shorts”. The teacher helps with vocabulary and encourages children to




speak English. Each group makes a season poster, using pictures from magazines.

Tools pictures of clothes, flashcards with seasons and weather, DVD, drawing pad for posters, glue

The obtained result

Children: - use known vocabulary to talk about clothes and weather - are aware of wearing clothes suitable for the weather and a season of the year - can cooperate with peers in a group

Cooperation



Parents of the children are informed of what we are doing


lesson kindergarten and school

Other essential information The teacher helps children to become successful speakers and encourages cooperation with others.

Date


General Idea have fun with English

Innovation to apply routine and variety (a lot of techniques)

Child involvement

-listening - activity - revision - speaking

Approach to learning The Natural Approach, Multisensory Teaching


learning The Natural Approach, Total Physical Response (TPR), Audiolingual Method, Audiovisual Method

Teacher (name, surname) Agnieszka Rybka


master’s degree




Age of children 4-5 years old

Theme of the lesson Toys

Educational institution Kindergarten in Palikówka, The Municipality of Krasne

Country Poland


[email protected]


- Introduction of new vocabulary The child can:

- recognize and call toys in English - recite nursery rhymes - answer simple questions - children revise colours


Toys: blocks, car, teddy bear, plane, ball, doll

Nursery rhyme:

Do you want to know What’s my favourite toy? These are blocks and a car,

a teddy bear and a plane, a ball, and a doll, I love them all!

Hello song

Hello everyone How are you today? I'm fine, thank you Come on

Let's play!

Goodbye song

English is finished Put your things away It's time to say goodbye

Let's play English another day It's time to say goodbye!





lesson

1. Hello song. Teacher says: “Let’s sing our “Hello song”. Children sing ‘’Hello song”. They are sitting in the circle on the floor. 2. Let’s play “Bob”- routine. One boy or girl has to find Bob.

He/She asks everyone : “ What’s your name?” . The answer is : I am .... One child, chosen by teacher is “Bob”.

3. Speaking with flashcards. Teacher says what they are going to learn today. Teacher shows flashcards with toys and says: “Listen”. Teacher calls toys and point to them (teddy bear, car etc.)

Then, children try to repeat. 4. Teacher asks: “ What is it?”. They anwer. (car,doll, etc.).

Teacher asks: Is it a car?/a doll etc. Children answer : Yes, or No.

5. What is in the magic box? Children (one after the other) pull one toy from the box. Teacher says:”What is it?” They call the toys.

6. My favourite toy – nursery rhyme. Children repeat what teacher says. Teacher shows called toys.

7. What’s your favourite toy? asks teacher. Children answer. Draw it! – says teacher. Children draw their favourite toy.

8. What colour is it? asks teacher and points to the toy. Everyone answers: blue, pink , green , etc.

9. Goodbye song – everyone sings.

Tools glove puppet Emma, toys flashcards, toys, coloured pencils, piece of paper, magic box.

The obtained result realised aims children can recognize and call toys in English, etc.

Cooperation



Parents know the programme of English lessons. They

participate in English lesson in May. The children show their language skills.


lesson lesson can be used in kindergarten at the age of 4-5

Other essential information revise and routine is very important

Date 29.02.2017




5. BEST PRACTICES COLLECTED BY FINI INSTITUTE – SLOVENIA

5.1. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care – Slovenia

General Idea The best way of early childhood education is through games, cooperation (child-child, teacher-child), creativity and routine. Children are also creators of the learning process.

Innovation Multisensory teaching, learning through games

Child involvement

Children have possibility to choose the activity they want. They can move individually from one activity to another. They followed the agreement that they have to be involved in each three activities.

Approach to learning Games, cooperation between teacher and children, cooperation between children, team work, individual activity


learning Developing listening skills and oral practice.

Teacher (name, surname) Neža Božič


Educator - Graduated English professor

Age of children 5

Theme of the lesson Colours

Educational institution JZ OŠ Marjana Nemca Radeče, Vrtec Radeče

Country Slovenia


[email protected], [email protected]


Children develop listening skills in English. Children learn words which are close to their world (colours). Children sing songs in English. Children learn in a multisensual way (smell, see, hear). Children enjoy learning through different games.


Words for colours.

Songs: Hello, hello; The goodbye song.







lesson

Warm-up: children sing a greeting song (Hello, hello). Teacher uses six plastic bottles with fluids in different colours (for example milk, coffee, mouth water, orange juice, strawberry juice etc.). Teacher also uses flashcards with colours. Then teacher asks children to take each bottle and smell what is inside. They have to predict what the colour of each fluid is. Then teacher uses clear glasses and asks children to pour the fluid from each bottle into glasses. They check their predictions. Teacher then introduces different games to practise new words:

- Fly catchers: the game is played in groups of 8 children. There are flashcards with colours on the floor. Teacher names a colour and children have to hit the right flashcard. The one who hits it the last is out of the game.

- A memory game: children play the memory game with colours.

- A whispering game: children whisper the name of a chosen colour by the teacher.

Ending: children sing a goodbye song (Easy goodbye song).

Tools Flashcards (colours), bottles with different fluids, clear plastic glasses, fly catchers.

The obtained result Children enjoy learning through games and in a multisensory way. We upgraded learning colours with creating songs.

Cooperation



Cooperation between preschool teachers and English teacher includes planning common goals and practice in both languages.

The activities that are started with English teacher are continued with preschool teacher.


lesson Multisensory teaching and games can be used with different topics and fields of learning (mathematics, science, language).

Other essential

information

Listening is the receptive use of language and therefore children have to get enough input of a target language. It is the first stage of learning a new language where children develop ability to identify and understand what others are saying. (M. Sevik, 2012) We use a target language in the lesson, translation in mother tongue is not needed.

Date





General Idea Children are also creators of the learning process and motivated to use their imagination in foreign language learning.

Innovation Developing of creativity in using known foreign language words in new situations and in creation of new stories.

Child involvement Children have possibility to develop imagination and creativity in use of new words.

Approach to learning Discovering the stories, cooperation between teacher and children, cooperation between children, team work, individual activity






Age of children 5

Theme of the lesson Family members and stories


Country Slovenia




Children develop listening skills in English. Children learn words which are close to their world (Family memebers). Children sing songs in English. Children listen story in English.


Words for family members. Songs: Hello, hello; The goodbye song, The finger family song.


lesson

Warm-up: children sing a greeting song (Hello, hello). Teacher uses flashcards to introduce a story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Teacher uses a book and reads a story to children. While reading teacher also uses flashcards. Children learn words: mummy, daddy, baby.






After reading activity: teacher spreads flashcards to children (3 bowls of porridge, 3 chairs, 3 beds) and asks children to give the flashcards next to the right bear (mummy, daddy and baby). Then children uses other stories, classic and modern (The Little Red Ridding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Franklin, Peppa pig etc.) which children know. Children are in small groups and each group gets a book and a set of flashcards with family members. Teacher asks children to look at the story in the book and find out which family members are in the story. Each group then presents their story. If there is time left teacher can also play a video with the song The finger family. Children watch, listen and join in. Ending: children sing a goodbye song (Easy goodbye song).

Tools Books (Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Little Red Ridding

Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Franklin, Peppa pig etc.), sets of flashcards with family members.

The obtained result Children enjoy developing their ideas and imaginations. We got new and very interesting stories where they used new words (family members).

Cooperation



Cooperation between preschool teachers and English teacher includes planning common goals and practice in both languages. The activities that are started with English teacher are continued with preschool teacher, where children used their stories in different ways of expressing their emotions (dancing, drawing, role play etc.). We also made an exhibition and a play for parents.


lesson

Developing creativity and imagination can be used with different topics and fields of learning (mathematics, science, language).

Other essential

information

Stories are perfect for teaching young learners because children already love stories and are already motivated at the thought of listening to one. And when children listen to stories, they’re able to internalise the language structure. Eventually they will begin recognize words and phrases they hear in the stories. Besides, there are endless ways to use them in the classroom. (S. Vernon, 2012).

Date





General Idea Integration of children and being aware of differences and looking for similarities between all of us.

Innovation Learning of social skills in foreign language learning.

Child involvement Children learn about differences and similarities between them and they develop social skills.

Approach to learning Discovering differences and similarities, developing social skills, learning through body movement.






Age of children 5

Theme of the lesson My Body


Country Slovenia




Children develop listening skills in English. Children learn words which are close to their world (body parts). Children sing songs in English. Children learn through physical activity.


Words for body parts (head, ears, eyes, nose, mount, arms, legs, feet etc.). Songs: Hello, hello; The goodbye song; The body song.


lesson

Warm-up: children sing a greeting song (Hello, hello). Children use the music box which contains pictures of the songs they have already learnt. Children stand in the circle and pass the box to each other while the music is playing. When the music stops, the child who holds the music box, shakes the music box, opens it and takes out one song. Then children sing this song. Teacher introduces songs for learning body parts: Head and






shoulders, My body, This is me. Children listen to each song and watch the movements, then they join in. The songs are repeated a few times. Teacher introduces the game Simon says (teacher says: “Simon says touch our nose” and children touch their noses; when teacher says: “Touch your nose” children mustn’t touch their noses). Children play the game. Then teacher uses mirror and asks children to look at their faces, hair and eyes. Children then use paper circles and make their faces – they use wool (light brown, dark brown, black etc.) for hair and they draw their eyes, noses and mouths. Then teacher asks them to make groups and put together all the faces with blue eyes, green eyes and brown eyes. They count how many students have eyes, green eyes and brown eyes. They do the same for hair colour. Ending: children sing a goodbye song (Easy goodbye song).

Tools Music box with pictures of the songs, cardboard circles for face,

wool for hair, coloured pencils for drawing faces.

The obtained result Children compared their body features and counted the results. They upgrade the differences and similarities in other things (their personality, wishes, emotions, reactions etc.).

Cooperation



Cooperation between preschool teachers and English teacher includes planning common goals and practice in both languages. The activities that are started with English teacher are continued with preschool teacher, where children played other social games and gained social skills.


lesson

Learning about similarities and differences can be used with different topics and fields of learning (mathematics, science, language, art).

Other essential

information

When students don’t release their natural energy, they become bored and distracted. Studies have shown that students learn better when they have more physical activity while learning.

Date


General Idea Integration of children and being aware of differences and looking for similarities between all of us.

http://www.fluentu.com/english/educator/blog/esl-games-for-students/




Innovation Learning of social skills in foreign language learning.

Child involvement Children learn about differences and similarities between them and they develop social skills.

Approach to learning Discovering differences and similarities, developing social skills, learning through body movement.






Age of children 5

Theme of the lesson My Body


Country Slovenia




Children develop listening skills in English. Children learn words which are close to their world (body parts). Children sing songs in English. Children learn through physical activity.


Words for body parts (head, ears, eyes, nose, mount, arms, legs, feet etc.). Songs: Hello, hello; The goodbye song; The body song.


lesson

Warm-up: children sing a greeting song (Hello, hello). Children use the music box which contains pictures of the songs they have already learnt. Children stand in the circle and pass the box to each other while the music is playing. When the music stops, the child who holds the music box, shakes the music box, opens it and takes out one song. Then children sing this song. Teacher introduces songs for learning body parts: Head and shoulders, My body, This is me. Children listen to each song and watch the movements, then they join in. The songs are repeated a few times. Teacher introduces the game Simon says (teacher says: “Simon says touch our nose” and children touch their noses; when teacher says: “Touch your nose” children mustn’t touch their






noses). Children play the game. Then teacher uses mirror and asks children to look at their faces, hair and eyes. Children then use paper circles and make their faces – they use wool (light brown, dark brown, black etc.) for hair and they draw their eyes, noses and mouths. Then teacher asks them to make groups and put together all the faces with blue eyes, green eyes and brown eyes. They count how many students have eyes, green eyes and brown eyes. They do the same for hair colour. Ending: children sing a goodbye song (Easy goodbye song).

Tools Music box with pictures of the songs, cardboard circles for face, wool for hair, coloured pencils for drawing faces.

The obtained result Children compared their body features and counted the results. They upgrade the differences and similarities in other things (their personality, wishes, emotions, reactions etc.).

Cooperation



Cooperation between preschool teachers and English teacher includes planning common goals and practice in both languages. The activities that are started with English teacher are continued with preschool teacher, where children played other social games and gained social skills.


lesson

Learning about similarities and differences can be used with different topics and fields of learning (mathematics, science, language, art).

Other essential information When students don’t release their natural energy, they become bored and distracted. Studies have shown that students learn better when they have more physical activity while learning.

Date


General Idea The best way of early childhood education is through games, cooperation (child-child, teacher-child), creativity and routine. Children are also creators of the learning process.

Innovation Multisensory teaching, learning through games

Child involvement Children have possibility to choose the activity they want. They can move individually from one activity to another. They followed the agreement that they have to be involved in each

http://www.fluentu.com/english/educator/blog/esl-games-for-students/




three activities.

Approach to learning Games, cooperation between teacher and children, cooperation between children, team work, individual activity






Age of children 5

Theme of the lesson Numbers


Country Slovenia




Children develop listening skills in English. Children learn words which are close to their world (numbers). Children sing songs in English. Children learn in a multisensual way (see, hear, touch). Children enjoy learning through different games.


Words for numbers. Songs: Hello, hello; The goodbye song. Five little monkeys


lesson

Warm-up: children sing a greeting song (Hello, hello). Teacher uses different boxes (cardboard, metal, wooden, plastic etc.) and puts inside different objects (small or big). Teacher then asks children to shake each box and predict how many objects are inside each box. They show the predicted number with the buttons which they put next to each box. Then teacher asks children to open each box and check the number of objects. They count together. Teacher then uses flashcards and tells a short story about five monkeys. Then he plays the video of the song Five little monkeys. Children watch and listen. Then teacher plays the song again and children join the singing and dancing. They may also get different roles in the song (five monkeys, a doctor, mother).






Teacher then introduces different games to practise new words: - Flash cards: teacher gives each student a small flashcard

with object. Each child counts the objects. Then children compare their flashcards and decide who has more or less objects.

- A game with stickers: teacher uses small cards with different number of stickers. Teacher asks each child to close his eyes and touch the stickers on the card. A child then tells how many stickers there are on the card.

Ending: children sing a goodbye song (Easy goodbye song).

Tools

Different boxes and different objects to put them inside

(marbles, plastic figures, hama bids etc.), buttons, flashcards for the song, flashcards with different number of objects, cards with stickers.

The obtained result Children enjoy learning through games and in a multisensory way. We upgraded learning numbers in different board games, where children count and practice numbers.

Cooperation



Cooperation between preschool teachers and English teacher includes planning common goals and practice in both languages. The activities that are started with English teacher are continued with preschool teacher. Children went for walk and looked for numbers around them and counted things in mother and foreign language.


lesson

Multisensory teaching and games can be used with different topics and fields of learning (mathematics, science, language, daily routine).

Other essential

information

Songs are a very effective way to teach listening comprehension, pronunciation and dictation. They also create a safe learning environment. Children like listening to music in the language classroom and they can join in when they are ready. (M. Sevik, 2012).

Date


General Idea Children are also creators of the learning process and motivated to use their imagination in foreign language learning.

Innovation Developing of creativity in using known foreign language words in new situations and in creation of new stories.




Child involvement Children have possibility to develop imagination and creativity in use of new words.

Approach to learning Discovering the sounds, cooperation between teacher and children, cooperation between children, team work, individual activity






Age of children 5

Theme of the lesson Sounds in my kindergarten


Country Slovenia




Children develop listening skills in English. Children learn words which are close to their world (things in the playroom). Children sing songs in English. Children learn in a multisensual way (see, hear, touch). Children develop their creativity.


Words for things in a playroom (chair, desk, scissors, door, etc.). Songs: Hello, hello; The goodbye song, The kindergarten song.


lesson

Warm-up: children sing a greeting song (Hello, hello). Teacher uses flashcards and gives them to children. Children go round the playroom and find the things in the flashcards (door, chair, desk, scissors, etc.). Then teacher play the sounds that things in the playroom make. Children listen and point to the right flashcards or things. Teacher asks children to imitate these sounds. For example the chair goes bum-bum, the door goes clap-clap, the scissors go shhh-shhh etc. Teacher introduces The kindergarten song (The door in the playroom goes clap-clap-clap... the same melody as for The wheels on the bus). Children create the song together with the






teacher. They choose the things in the playroom and say what sounds they make. Teacher uses the Orff instrument and asks children to imitate the sounds in their playroom with the Orff instruments (for example the drum for the chair). Children choose the instruments and imitate the sounds. Then we sing the Kindergarten song again, this time using the Orff instruments. Ending: children sing a goodbye song (Easy goodbye song).

Tools Flashcards (things in the playroom), the Orff instruments.

The obtained result

Children enjoy developing their ideas and imaginations. They used different ways to create sounds in the song (their voices, Orff instruments, hands and other body parts). In this way they could better memorize new foreign language words.

Cooperation



Cooperation between preschool teachers and English teacher includes planning common goals and practice in both languages. The activities that are started with English teacher are continued with preschool teacher, where children played different games with sounds (blind folded games).


lesson

Developing creativity and imagination can be used with different topics and fields of learning (mathematics, science, language, art, music).

Other essential

information When learning a foreign language children have to get opportunities to be creative and use their imagination.

Date




6. BEST PRACTICES COLLECTED BY GOTHENBURG UNIVERSITY – SWEDEN

6.1. Description of the best practice on multilingual teaching in early childhood education and care – Sweden

Teacher (name, surname) N/A


N/A

Age of children Appr. 6-years old

Theme of the lesson Translation activities with playful lyrics

Educational institution Preschool

Country Finland


[email protected]


We will ask teachers to work with groups of children where they first listen to a children’s song, then the children are challenged and supported by the teacher in collaboratively translating the lyrics to another language. A children’s song will be chosen that contains playful lyrics, such as wordplay and neologism (invented words). These kinds of studies could be seen as examples of the emerging paradigm of translanguaging and constitute one of the frontiers of contemporary research into multilingualism and how learning with and of several languages could be orchestrated and developed in early childhood education (for initial studies, see Jidai, Kultti & Pramling, in press; Kultti & Pramling, 2016, 2017).


Song lyrics containing mundane words as well as playful neologisms


lesson (see references given above)

Tools Music, song lyrics

The obtained result Attending to similarities and differences between different-language versions of popular songs. Here we will ask teachers to play for children a song that will be familiar to most – if not all –




children. An example would be the lead song from the globally popular Frozen movie: In the original English version, this song is called (and contains the lyrics in the refrain of) “Let it Go”; in Finnish, this is ‘Taakse jää’ [literally: Left behind]; and in Swedish this is “Slå dig fri” [literally: ‘punch yourself free’]. Speaking to the children about these differences, after having listened to the different versions, is used to make children aware of the fact that the same song is different in its images in different languages. Popular songs like this are used to engage the children and allow their experience to become resources in taking on a new challenge. Important meta-insights that could be developed in this way includes realizing the transformative nature of translation, and hence, that there tends to be some change in meaning when something is translated from one language to another. Children could also be engaged through such examples in talking about and cognizing about the fact that the metaphors may differ but whether these ‘say’ the same or not is a matter of interpretation. Leading children away from a simple substitution view of translation (i.e., the idea that one word in one language simply corresponds to its equivalent in the other language) in itself provides important meta-learning that could be promoted through this activity.

Cooperation



Cooperation between researchers and preschool teacher


lesson Applicable in any preschool (and school) setting


*Initial comment: In this text we write about what we will do; however, these best practices are based on current research conducted in actual early childhood education settings. We will work with playful activities where two or more languages are used, including translation activities. This work will be informed by contemporary theorizing on bilingualism in terms of translanguaging (García & Wei, 2014), and on learning theory more generally: developmental pedagogy (Pramling Samuelsson & Asplund Carlsson, 2008), variation theory (Marton, 2015), and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1998) (these theoretical traditions afford different kinds of analysis and can contribute to yield rich insight into learning of and with several languages and associated critical meta-linguistic insights. The aim is to design and evaluate activities where more than one language become assets in learning with the overarching goal of facilitating linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness in




children. Activities will be designed in close cooperation with teachers, and then documented and analyzed. As indicated in these short presentation of our examples, being cognizant with developmental pedagogy and sociocultural theory, means emphasizing the simultaneous and important learning of something (in this case language) and meta-learning (in this case about translation and the negotiated nature of the relation between languages that children already in preschool can be engaged in these kinds of conversations is evident in our initial studies, cf. above). Theoretical framework: The work here described is informed by a sociocultural perspective, aka. cultural-historical theory (Fleer & Pramling, 2015; Vygotsky, 1997, 1998), emphasizing the appropriation of cultural tools through participation in mutual activities. Children’s perspectives and children’s engagement: how the participating children perceive the meaning of the activity engaged in is studied empirically; the trajectory of children’s perspectives on translation is part of the analysis. The difference between children’s engagement in the activity and how this leads to differences in what they take with them from the activity, in terms of understanding, to build on in the subsequent analysis is shown empirically. Meta-analysis: This presentation builds on a meta-analysis of three separate previous analyses. Innovative parts: What is innovative with this work is that it reconceptualizes the practice of translation, in a manner that makes it responsive to young children, their perspectives, and playfulness. It is also innovative in that it shows how the language arts (poetics) can be employed to support the development of young children’s linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness.

Date Revised 2017-05-17.







N/A

Age of children Appr. 4-years old

Theme of the lesson Book-reading conversations with several languages


Country Sweden


[email protected]


We will ask teachers to read books and discuss these on one language more or other than the majority one with a group of children. What happens in the story, what objects/animals etc. depicted are called in the children’s different languages and what words in the story means in the children’s other languages are important features of such conversations during and in extension of reading books for children (for an example, see Kultti, in press).


New words


lesson The lesson is described in detail in the publication (Kultti, in press)

Tools Verbal ones and picture books for children

The obtained result See the publication (Kultti, in press)

Cooperation



Cooperation between researchers and preschool teachers


lesson Since the study was carried out in practice it is directly applicable in ECE settings


*Initial comment: In this text we write about what we will do; however, these best practices are based on current research conducted in actual early childhood education settings. We will work with playful activities where two or more languages are used, including translation activities. This work will be informed by contemporary theorizing on bilingualism in terms of translanguaging (García & Wei, 2014), and on learning theory more generally: developmental pedagogy (Pramling




Samuelsson & Asplund Carlsson, 2008), variation theory (Marton, 2015), and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1998) (these theoretical traditions afford different kinds of analysis and can contribute to yield rich insight into learning of and with several languages and associated critical meta-linguistic insights. The aim is to design and evaluate activities where more than one language become assets in learning with the overarching goal of facilitating linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness in children. Activities will be designed in close cooperation with teachers, and then documented and analyzed. As indicated in these short presentation of our examples, being cognizant with developmental pedagogy and sociocultural theory, means emphasizing the simultaneous and important learning of something (in this case language) and meta-learning (in this case about translation and the negotiated nature of the relation between languages that children already in preschool can be engaged in these kinds of conversations is evident in our initial studies, cf. above). Theoretical framework: The work here described is informed by a sociocultural perspective, aka. cultural-historical theory (Fleer & Pramling, 2015; Vygotsky, 1997, 1998), emphasizing the appropriation of cultural tools through participation in mutual activities. Children’s perspectives and children’s engagement: using children’s different languages in a shared book-reading activity is a means of engaging children with different language experiences in the same activity, and opening up for them to be able to communicate their experiences of participating in this activity and about the topics covered by the book. Innovative parts: What is innovative with this work is that it gives a common preschool activity – book reading – a new form in which children of different language experiences can participate and benefit from. Encountering how the same meaning is communicated in different languages, present in the group, facilitates children’s linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness.








N/A

Age of children Up to 6-years old (but applicable also to older children)

Theme of the lesson Mathematics activities with several languages


Country Sweden


[email protected]


Different languages have different ways of representing numbers; counting rhymes are different, and reading direction may differ. These, and other, features of learning basic mathematics in preschool indicate that these are intrinsically intertwined with language features and cannot be understood irrespectively of these (for an elaborate discussion and examples, see Björklund & Kultti, 2017). We will ask teachers to organize basic mathematics activities with children where the children’s languages in addition to the majority one will be used as a means of instruction and discussion. Such basic activities can take many forms; taking a mathematics perspective on quantity, geometrical shapes, order etc. in picture-book reading activities (cf. above), looking for objects that can be arranged in order of size, grouped in the order of sequence (from first to last), arranged in pairs, wholeness-parts etc. (see Doverborg & Pramling Samuelsson, 2011, for examples and further discussion).


Mathematical terminology (distinctions, concepts)


lesson This is described extensively in the publication (Björklund & Kultti, 2017)

Tools Verbal tools, simple objects (e.g., to be counted, grouped in patterns)




The obtained result For an extensive description, see Björklund and Kultti (2017)

Cooperation



Cooperation with preschool teachers (and parents)


lesson Being carried out in practice in preschool, the results are directly applicable.


*Initial comment: In this text we write about what we will do; however, these best practices are based on current research conducted in actual early childhood education settings. We will work with playful activities where two or more languages are used, including translation activities. This work will be informed by contemporary theorizing on bilingualism in terms of translanguaging (García & Wei, 2014), and on learning theory more generally: developmental pedagogy (Pramling Samuelsson & Asplund Carlsson, 2008), variation theory (Marton, 2015), and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1998) (these theoretical traditions afford different kinds of analysis and can contribute to yield rich insight into learning of and with several languages and associated critical meta-linguistic insights. The aim is to design and evaluate activities where more than one language become assets in learning with the overarching goal of facilitating linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness in children. Activities will be designed in close cooperation with teachers, and then documented and analyzed. As indicated in these short presentation of our examples, being cognizant with developmental pedagogy and sociocultural theory, means emphasizing the simultaneous and important learning of something (in this case language) and meta-learning (in this case about translation and the negotiated nature of the relation between languages that children already in preschool can be engaged in these kinds of conversations is evident in our initial studies, cf. above). Theoretical framework: This work is informed by variation theory (Marton, 2015) and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1997, 1998). Children’s perspective and children’s engagement: opening up basic mathematics activities for children with markedly different language experiences is a means of engaging them in this mutual activity, and allow for their perspectives to be communicated. Innovative parts: recreating a common preschool activity (or rather set of activities) in a form that allows children with




different language experiences to participate and contribute. Through this practice children’s awareness of mathematics as a cultural tool is premised to be facilitated.





N/A

Age of children Up to 6-years old (but applicable also with older children)

Theme of the lesson Dramatized story-telling


Country Sweden


[email protected]


A story known by the children will be chosen. Children with the same first language, for example Turkish, will dramatize/enact the story in Turkish for the other children at the preschool who do not speak Turkish. Afterwards, orchestrated by the teachers, a discussion about how the story could be followed even if one does not speak the language of its performance, as well as what expressions the children have discerned and picked up (since many familiar stories for children contain key phrases that return throughout the stories, it is likely the children will pick up some of these phrases).


New words (contingent on what story decided to dramatize)


lesson See above

Tools Verbal ones as well as different props for the enactment

(garments, toys etc.)




The obtained result It has not been carried out (or rather, has not been documented) yet

Cooperation





lesson Applicable in any ECE setting, responsive to playfulness


*Initial comment: In this text we write about what we will do; however, these best practices are based on current research conducted in actual early childhood education settings. We will work with playful activities where two or more languages are used, including translation activities. This work will be informed by contemporary theorizing on bilingualism in terms of translanguaging (García & Wei, 2014), and on learning theory more generally: developmental pedagogy (Pramling Samuelsson & Asplund Carlsson, 2008), variation theory (Marton, 2015), and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1998) (these theoretical traditions afford different kinds of analysis and can contribute to yield rich insight into learning of and with several languages and associated critical meta-linguistic insights. The aim is to design and evaluate activities where more than one language become assets in learning with the overarching goal of facilitating linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness in children. Activities will be designed in close cooperation with teachers, and then documented and analyzed. As indicated in these short presentation of our examples, being cognizant with developmental pedagogy and sociocultural theory, means emphasizing the simultaneous and important learning of something (in this case language) and meta-learning (in this case about translation and the negotiated nature of the relation between languages that children already in preschool can be engaged in these kinds of conversations is evident in our initial studies, cf. above). Theoretical framework: see above. Children’s perspectives and children’s engagement: Allowing children to use their cultural resources in the form of their different languages (not only verbal ones) in a shared activity is a means of engaging them in this activity and allow them to share their experiences, including language experiences. Innovative parts: See previous point. Also, experiencing the same story dramatized in different languages facilitates children’s language awareness, through making visible similarities and differences between dramatic renderings.








N/A

Age of children 5-year olds

Theme of the lesson Bilingual language activity mediated by computer tablets


Country Norway


[email protected]


In a study by Sandvik, Smørdal and Østerud (2012) the use of computer tablets with apps were studied in a multilingual early childhood education setting with 5-year olds. Two different apps were used, one called Say and See and one called Puppet Pals. The former consists of a complex picture and the latter is an app for creating narratives. In the ensuing activities where the preschool teacher interacted with the children engaging with the app, it was seen that the Say and See app led to a brief exchanges where the child was to locate in the picture different objects (e.g., mustard, an anthill) while the activity with the Puppet Pals developed into mutual engagement in creating a narrative. In the latter case, the teacher participated and scaffolded the activity through giving suggestions and asking questions on the basis of genre knowledge (how to structure a narrative), relate the world of fantasy to the world of the child’s lived experience (e.g., “imagine you had met such a large squirrel then!”, p. 213) and in other ways reminding and contributing to the evolving story. Hence, the activities in which the technology and its apps were used developed into different kinds of talk, where the app affording the narrating of events contributed to children engaging in more complex, or higher-




order, skills such as narrating, imagination and reasoning. These are all important parts of becoming literate and appropriating a first and second language. While the apps, through their design, build upon or have inscribed particular perspectives on learning, behavioristic versus constructivist ones, it is important to study technology in use, since even the first app with its complex picture could have been developed, through fantasy, into a mutual narrative and the latter app with its tools for narrating could have been reduced to simply labelling objects and actors. However, the affordances of the two apps are picked up by the teacher and set in motion through her talk. Engaging children in more elaborate speech, such as creating narratives, with digital technology could constitute one form of best practice. How these activities develop and what their implication are for children’s learning of, and learning with, more than one language is something that we need to know more about through empirical research.


Vocabulary, appropriation of narrative genre


lesson The lesson(s) are thoroughly described in the publication (Sandvik, Smørdal & Østerud, 2012), see also above.

Tools Tablet computers and verbal tools

The obtained result (see the cited publication, also above)

Cooperation





lesson Since it was carried out in practice it is directly applicable in ECE settings


*Initial comment: In this text we write about what we will do; however, these best practices are based on current research conducted in actual early childhood education settings. We will work with playful activities where two or more languages are used, including translation activities. This work will be informed by contemporary theorizing on bilingualism in terms of translanguaging (García & Wei, 2014), and on learning theory more generally: developmental pedagogy (Pramling Samuelsson & Asplund Carlsson, 2008), variation theory (Marton, 2015), and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1998) (these theoretical traditions afford different kinds of analysis




and can contribute to yield rich insight into learning of and with several languages and associated critical meta-linguistic insights. The aim is to design and evaluate activities where more than one language become assets in learning with the overarching goal of facilitating linguistic and meta-linguistic awareness in children. Activities will be designed in close cooperation with teachers, and then documented and analyzed. As indicated in these short presentation of our examples, being cognizant with developmental pedagogy and sociocultural theory, means emphasizing the simultaneous and important learning of something (in this case language) and meta-learning (in this case about translation and the negotiated nature of the relation between languages that children already in preschool can be engaged in these kinds of conversations is evident in our initial studies, cf. above). Theoretical framework: This study was informed by a sociocultural perspective aka. cultural-historical theory (Fleer & Pramling, 2015; Vygotsky, 1997, 1998). Children’s perspectives and children’s engagement: both activities presented allow children to communicate their perspectives, and through sharing attention on the digital tool and what it renders, children and teacher come to share engagement. Innovative parts: the activity shows how contemporary digital technology can be used in preschool activities to engage children in shared activities where their experiences, including language experiences, are shown and become building-blocks in furthering their linguistic skills, not least the important complex skill of narrating.





CONCLUSION

According to the Project objectives, the Best Practice Collection has foreseen as contribution to improve achievement in relevant and high-level basic and transversal competences in a lifelong learning perspective, from the early childhood; it has to enhance the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) and has to strengthen the profile of the teaching professions, promoting the second language teaching.

The Best Practice Collection will thus contribute to improvement of skills of teachers and educators and the quality of the entire pre-school education system by dissemination pedagogical good-practices and relying on a professional profile.

The aim of the EDUGATE project is to support ECEC teachers delivering high quality teaching by fostering the development and adaptation of new teaching methodologies as well as to deal with diversified groups of learners, such as children coming from disadvantaged contexts, and to adopt collaborative and innovative practices.

Moreover, EDUGATE practices and methods address inclusive education, it applies to teaching ones own language to disadvantaged learners facilitating their transition and inclusion, migrant children will be facilitated in learning the local language. Nevertheless, even in those contexts that are less touched by the migration phenomena, it is extremely useful for children to learn English or another vehicular language that can be precious for them in their adult life for crossing linguistic and cultural barriers. In both cases, learning a second language for children can be a precious instrument for living in a multilingual, multicultural and open society.

Teachers from all the partner states have been using highly useful and mainly similar methods in teaching the second language. The teachers/educators involved are well aware of the necessity for children to move around, mime, listen to sounds, touch things, sing, listen to stories, tell stories and dramatize stories, and –on the top of all – play games.

It is obvious that generally the partner countries are quite close regarding the methods applied.

However, it is always possible to find something completely new and extremely valuable for a teacher’s routine.




The best practice collection could serve as one common programme regarding one theme which has been developed for 3-4 years old children, then going to 5 and at last to 6 years old ones. The above would help to show the sequence and development of language acquisition for very young learners. Furthermore, the teachers could better understand how to make progress and get children talking. In addition, the teachers know what is expected from their pupils in two or three years and it is really helpful.

However, this implies good language knowledge of pre-primary teachers and additional load for them. Thus, it could be a problem when applied at the state pre-school establishments.

O2 Innovative Best Practices Collection - European Commission

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Transcript of O2 Innovative Best Practices Collection - European Commission