Page 85 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Developing Speaking

Classroom Insight: Acting Out
Petra often uses drama with her pupils for 4. She determines the order of the perfor-
developing speaking skills. She uses the pic- mances by groups which represent dif-
ture book Elmo the Cat to discuss feelings and ferent feelings and emotions. Each group
emotions with 2nd graders. The activities she has a rehearsal before the final show – the
has developed around the picture book are pupils rehearse their feelings or emotions
carried out over two lessons. and their role by expressing a complete
1. She first asks the pupils to sit in a cir- sentence (for example, I am happy ha ha
clearoundablanket andguess what is ha). Thegroup whoisnextinlinefor the
hidden under it. She helps them with performance, waits on the side while the
questionsand invitesthem toexplore by other groups sit on the chairs arranged as
putting their hands over the blanket and in the theatre and play the role of audi-
also under the blanket. She then imitates ence. For every group performance, she
the cats meowing. starts the show with: ‘Ladies and gentle-
2. Petra then reads the picture book by show- men! Welcome to the show! Have fun!’ For
ing the pictures. She names the different every group performance, Petra reads the
feelings and emotions and adds special story in the role of the narrator while the
voices for each. The pupils first repeat af- pupils step on the stage as actors to act
ter her, then she mimics a feeling or emo- out their scene.
tion while the pupils try to guess which. According to Petra, one of the benefits of us-
3. In the next activity, the pupils create ing this lesson model is that all the pupils, in-
masks for feelings and emotions by work- cluding the ones who are still reluctant to use
ing in groups, each group has one feeling English, participate in the performance, espe-
or emotion. Petra then projects the pic- cially since scaffolding is provided, if needed,
ture of a stage with curtains to create a at all stages of the learning process.
theatre background.

Further Reading
Becker, C., & Roos, J. (2016). An approach to creative speaking activities in the
young learners’ classroom. Education Inquiry, 7(1), 27613–27626.
Kırkgöz, Y. (2018). Fostering young learners’ listening and speaking skills. In S.
Garton & F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to
young learners (pp. 171–198). Routledge.
Nixon, C., & Tomlinson, M. (2009). Primary communication box: Speaking and
listening activities and games for younger learners. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

85