Fly High is a motivating and charismatic four-level course for
young learners aged between 6 and 10. It is intended for children who are being
taught at a faster pace, and aims to give them a sound base in English and to
maximize their potential by providing the appropriate level of support and
challenge.
While
progressing through the Fly High
course, young learners will build up a solid bank of useful vocabulary and the
ability to apply grammatical structures appropriately. They will also develop
and refine their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
Fly High is based on the principle that children learn best
when they are using engaging materials that appeal to their imagination and
build their confidence. Familiarity with a group of characters, which the
children get to know as the course progresses, combined with the element of fun
that runs through the course, ensure that the children enjoy, and thus
remember, the language they are learning. The wide variety of activities caters
for children with different learning styles: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic,
musical and interpersonal.
Metodology
Fly High is organized into seven Cycles, and each Cycle is
based on a theme chosen to reflect the children's world, their interests and
activities. Vocabulary within each Cycle is organized into lexical sets, which
makes it easier for children to learn and memorise.
The
lexical sets in Fly High 2
are: school, family, dressing up, toys/
possessions, parts of the body, places in a town, hobbies, food, daily
routines, clothes, sports and exercise, activities at home, sea creatures,
numbers
Key
words and target grammar items are introduced in context through humourous cartoon
stories featuring the Fly High
characters. Each story has two episodes. This breaks the language down into
manageable chunks and gives the children the opportunity to guess what happens
next and to look forward to the conclusion. Through the stories, the children
get to know and identify with the characters, and share in many amusing
situations and adventures.
The
main characters in Fly High 2
are five zoo animals that wear clothes, talk and play in a band: Chatter the
monkey,
Tag
the tiger, Karla the kangaroo, Patty the penguin and Trumpet the elephant.
Sally the zoo keeper supplies the adult human element needed in a primary
course.
The
children can act out the stories, before moving on to focussed language
practice. This helps to reinforce the new language in a fun and non-threatening
way.
The
target grammar is presented clearly in the Learn
with Tag box and the meaning reinforced by means of humourous
cartoons and examples. Children can refer to the examples to help them with the
exercises that follow.
The
new language is practiced through a variety of activities that enable the
teacher to change pace and keep the children interested.
Skills
There
is a strong focus on skills in Fly High.
All four skills are developed, and each Cycle contains a minimum of two writing
tasks, three listening activities, a story for extended reading, and two games
to practise speaking in a natural context.
Songs
and games
There
are at least two songs in each cycle of Fly
High 2.
Songs
are one of the best ways for children of this age to learn and remember
language. Singing songs builds confidence in the language through repetition,
and promotes musical skills and development of rhythm. Many songs in Fly High have accompanying actions,
which also supports kinaesthetic learners.
Games
provide motivating and meaningful ways of practising the new language and are
very popular with children. Each cycle of Fly
High 2 contains two or more games in which the children can speak in
a genuinely communicative context. The teacher's notes also suggest extra
games. There is a further list of games on p.xi of this Teacher's Guide.
Recycling
and review
Regular
recycling and review serves to reinforce the vocabulary and structures that
have been taught. In Fly High, 'ecycling
is provided by these features:
•
Sally's
Story presents new vocabulary but no new structures. The structures
from the whole Cycle are used in new contexts to reinforce meaning and offer
further practice. There are seven stories, featuring adaptations of traditional
fairy stories as well as newly written ones.
•
The Fly
High Review offers traditional practice activities to revise the
structures and vocabulary from the whole Cycle. Each Review includes an
activity that provides practice for Cambridge Young Learners exams.
•
Three Fun Time sections also revise the
language the children have learnt, but in a more game-like context. These can
be used at the end of term.
Children's
progress can be evaluated in the following ways:
1
Ongoing assessment: the teacher monitors
progress during classroom activities and by checking homework.
2
Formal testing: Fly High provides photocopiable tests as follows: seven
Quizzes, seven Progress Reviews and three End-of-Term Tests. The Quizzes can be
used before the Reviews to identify what needs most remedial work. The Progress
Reviews can be used as a class test after working through the exercises in the
Review lesson. The End-of- Term tests cover the work from all the previous
Cycles.
These
resources can be printed from the Resources section of the Active Teach
component.
3
Self-assessment: at the end of every Review in
the Activity Book, the children have the opportunity to evaluate their own
progress. Under the heading My English, there is a number of statements, or
questions and answers, which use the key language presented and practised in
the previous Cycle. They can be used for substitution practice.
Suggested procedure for My English
•
Explain that you want the children to think
about their work during the past Cycle of lessons. Tell them to read the
sentences/questions silently.
•
Deal with each item in turn. Use flashcards,
real objects or oral prompts to substitute new words into the framework given.
Individual children or pairs make new sentences/ questions using the new words.
•
Focus on the three different faces next to the
sentence or question. Explain that they represent Good, Very good and Excellent.
Ask the children to assess themselves, then colour the face they think best
represents their effort and achievement.
Repeat for the next item.
Course components
Pupil's
components
Pupil's Book
Fly High Pupil's Book 2 presents, practises and revises the
target language. It consists of:
•
an introductory section, which revises the
alphabet, colours and numbers from Pupil's Book 1.
•
seven theme-based Cycles each containing six
lessons:
•
four
presentation and practice lessons (28 in total).
•
Each
lesson presents five to seven new vocabulary items
•
Sally's
Story; the stories feature adaptations of traditional fairy stories as well as
newly written ones, all with an element of humour. Four to seven new vocabulary
items are presented, but no new structures.
•
one
Review revising the language from the whole Cycle.
•
three Fun Time lessons after Cycles 2, 5 and
7, which can be used as end-of-term reviews
•
three Festivals: Christmas, Carnival and
Easter
«
an end-of-year Music Show which can be performed for the school if possible
•
a Picture Dictionary (with listening element)
which illustrates the key words in each lesson
•
full colour stickers for use with sticker
listening activities
Each
lesson is on a double page spread for ease of use, and provides material for at
least one class hour.
Pupil's audio CD
The
Pupil's audio CD is packaged with the Pupil's Book and contains all the cartoon
presentations, Sally's Stories and songs for children to listen to at home.
Activity Book
The
Activity Book follows the same structure as the Pupil's Book. It provides
further practice and consolidation of the language presented in the Pupil's
Book through a range of exercises. There is a further personalised writing task
in every Cycle helping to develop the children's writing skills in a context
that is relevant to them.
At
the end of the procedural notes in each lesson of the Teacher's Guide, there
are specific references to the Activity Book pages that should be given for
homework after each lesson.
The
Answer Key to the Activity Book is included at the end of this Teacher's Guide.
CD-ROM
The
CD-ROM provides extra grammar and vocabulary practice for the children to do at
home or in the classroom.
It
includes interactive games and activities based on the key language in each
cycle of Fly High. It also
includes additional exercises to exploit songs from the Pupil's Book, extra
listening practice and animated versions of Sally's Stories.
The
children can check their scores at the end of each Cycle, and they receive a
printable Certificate if they achieve a total score above 60%.
Fun Grammar and audio CD
Fly High Fun Grammar complements the Fly High series, and can be used in
class or for homework. It includes:
•
clear and simple explanations for all the
grammar points in the Pupil's Book
•
a variety of practice activities, with
constant recycling
•
further exploitation of songs from the Pupil's
Book
•
games and role play activities
•
regular Reviews, end-of-term I can do thisI tests and a Look what I can do! end-of-year test
The accompanying audio CD includes the
grammar explanations, listening tasks, songs and example dialogues for the
speaking activities. The Fun Grammar
Teacher's Guide contains answers to the exercises, audioscripts and further photocopiable
tests.
Teacher's
components
Teacher's Guide
The
Teacher's Guide contains:
•
this Introduction
•
a list of ideas for games that can be used in
the classroom with minimal preparation (see page xi)
•
a list of flashcards (see page xii)
•
a list of useful classroom language for
teachers and pupils (see page xiii)
•
lesson-by-lesson teaching notes
•
the answer key for the Activity Book (see page
120)
•
a lesson-by-lesson word list (see page 128)
Each
spread of the Teacher's Guide notes contains a reduced :oiour facsimile of the
Pupil's Book spread, for easy reference, -s well as step-by-step guidance on
how to teach the lesson, :-e
teacher's notes include:
•
lesson objectives, target vocabulary and
grammar, and a list of materials needed for each lesson
•
ideas for optional activities
•
useful teaching tips
•
regular references back to the methodology
notes in the Introduction
•
suggestions for teaching the festivals pages
and the Fly High Music Show
Class audio CDs
The
Class audio CDs contain all the audio material in the Pupil's Book, including
the cartoon stories, listening tasks and songs. Complete audioscripts for the
recordings which are not included on the pages of the Pupil's Book can be found
in the appropriate part of each lesson in this Teacher's Guide.
Flashcards
There
are 133 vocabulary flashcards for the key items presented in the Pupil's Book.
A complete list of the flashcards is provided on page xii of this Teacher's
Guide. A separate pack of alphabet, colours and numbers flashcards is also
available. These are also listed on page xii.
Active Teach CD-ROM for Interactive Whiteboard
Fly High Active Teach is designed for any Interactive
Whiteboard (IWB). It can also be used with a computer and projector. It
contains all the Pupil's Book lesson pages in digital form, together with the
class audio material. In addition, it provides:
•
animated Sally's
Stories
•
interactive flashcards for all the vocabulary
in the Pupil's Book, accessible by topic or in alphabetical order
•
printable Teacher's Resources, including
Quizzes, Progress Reviews and End-of-Term tests
Teaching with Fly High 2
Warm-up
Signal
the beginning of the lesson clearly and start with a warm-up activity that is
enjoyable and involves the whole class. You can use the suggested Warm-up
activities in the step-by-step teaching notes. Alternatively, you can choose
(or add) a game from the relevant section in the Teacher's Guide, sing a song
or use a guessing game the children have enjoyed in a previous lesson.
Checking
homework
It
is important that the children know that their homework will always be checked.
However, using class time to mark homework leaves many teachers feeling that
they are wasting precious teaching time; meanwhile, the children often get
bored and restless.
Suggested procedure:
•
Find out whether the children had any
difficulties doing their homework and deal with general queries or areas of
difficulty.
•
Check quickly that the children have done all
the work, but don't correct all the Activity Books in every lesson. Select the
work of different children each time, making sure that you are not predictable.
•
Check only one or two exercises as a whole
class. Correct some Activity Books during the lesson while the children are
working on something else.
•
Collect all the Activity Books at regular
intervals (maybe once a week) and correct the children's work carefully.
Presenting
vocabulary
The
new words for each lesson are always presented in Picture Dictionary style at
the top of the Pupil's Book page, and recorded on the audio CD. The way you
choose to present the words and their meaning - using the Pupil's Book
pictures, flashcards, realia or mime ֊ will depend on the kind of words
that
are introduced and on whether you would like to bring in some variety. If the
new words are related to things in the classroom, or small objects that can
easily be brought into the lesson, use realia that can be touched, handled and
labelled. Relating the new words to tangible objects makes the words instantly
more memorable for the children. When the book introduces action verbs, miming
the words is a sensible way to convey the meaning. Otherwise, use the Pupil's
Book pictures or flashcards (where they are available).
Avoid
the use of LI as much as possible. Translation into the children's own language
should only be used to confirm - if necessary-what they have already
understood.
Suggested procedure for vocabulary:
•
Use the small pictures in the Pupil's Book,
flashcards, real objects or mime to find out if the children already know
a
word.
•
Play the CD and point to the small pictures,
hold up flashcards or objects, or mime. Stop the CD after each word and repeat
it. Say it again after a pause; then ask the children to repeat it as a class
and to point to the picture in their book. Ask children to repeat individually.
•
Point to the small pictures, hold up
flashcards/objects again in random order, or mime, and elicit the words from
the class and individual children.
•
Deal with aspects of pronunciation of each
item: silent letters, word stress and weak syllables, long and short vowels.
See detailed lesson notes in the teaching notes.
Presenting
the cartoon story
Children
love stories because they are interesting and fun and appeal to their
imagination. The cartoon stories feature the new vocabulary and present the
target grammar in context.
Suggested procedure for stories:
•
Allow the children to look at the frames and
encourage them to describe what they can see.
•
Establish the link with the previous story if
there is one. For more confident learners, get them to tell you in their own
words what happened in the first part of the story.
•
Use
mother tongue (LI) where necessary to ask questions about the characters that
are involved, where they are and what they are doing. Use the questions and
structures the children have been taught so that you can gradually speak more
English (e.g. What's this? What are
they?).
•
Ask the children to find the words they have
just learned as well as words from previous lessons. Point to pictures and
review words from earlier lessons.
•
Play the CD; ask the children to listen and to
point to each character as they are speaking. Play the CD again. Pause after
every frame and ask the children to repeat
the
dialogues.
•
Ask simple questions in Ll/English to check
understanding.
•
Give each child a role. Play the CD again and
ask the children to repeat their parts. Encourage them to copy the characters'
voice and intonation and to mime some of the actions.
•
Encourage the children to repeat their parts
without playing the CD.
•
Let the children practise in groups. You could
then invite a group to perform for the class.
Teaching
grammar
When
teaching grammar to young learners, it is best to avoid re use of lengthy explanations, rules
and metalanguage. The .earn with Tag
box focuses attention on the target grammar jsing examples. The humourous
pictures provide meaning support and help the children to remember the
language. -How them to refer to the box for the exercises that follow.
Suggested procedure for Learn with Tag:
•
Focus attention on The Learn with Tag box. Ask the children to
look at the cartoon pictures and elicit what they can see.
•
Read the examples; the children repeat.
•
Use flashcards, objects or mime to substitute
other vocabulary in the examples. The children repeat the new sentences.
•
Invite individual children/pairs to repeat
around the class.
•
Ask the children to practise in pairs.
Language
practice: speaking
Each
cycle of Fly High 2 contains
two or more games for communicative practice. Some are whole class games,
others can be played in pairs or groups. Be sure that you have all the
materials you need for the game before the class, such as flashcards, realia or
materials you need to make yourself. Refer to the list of materials in the
lesson notes.
Suggested procedure for games:
•
Ask the children to look at the photo in their
Pupil's Book and read the model dialogue.
•
Demonstrate the game with the class. This can
be done as follows:
4
teacher takes role A ֊ whole class responds in
role B
5
teacher takes role A - individual children
take role B
6
two children take role A and B (open pairs)
•
When you are confident that the children
understand what to do, put them into closed pairs.
•
Walk around the class and monitor. Make sure
the children are actively involved. Provide help with pronunciation etc. where
necessary.
Teaching
songs
All
the songs in Fly High 2
Pupil's Book are presented and sung by the main characters, who are all members
of the Fly High Band. The lyrics recycle language that has been taught in the
lesson and help the children practise pronunciation in an easy way. They can be
used as a warm-up at the beginning of a lesson as well as ending the lesson.
Suggested procedure for songs:
•
Ask the children to look at the picture(s) and
talk about what they can see, saying who the characters are and what they are
doing.
•
Play
the CD and ask the children to listen and follow in their books. They can also
clap the rhythm.
•
Recite the lines of the song rhythmically like
a chant. Say each line and ask the children to repeat. Demonstrate the
movements if the song lends itself to action.
•
Play the CD. Ask the children to sing along
and make the movements.
•
For some of the songs, you can divide the
class into groups and give them a part to sing.
•
Use the lesson flashcards and hold them up as
the words are heard in the song.
Setting
homework
Where
necessary, use LI to set homework in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Write
page and exercise numbers clearly on the board and allow enough time for the
children to copy them into their notebooks. Circulate and check that they
haven't forgotten anything. If there are any exercises that you feel require explanation
or clarification, do this with the class.
•
Play the CD twice. Encourage the children to
follow the text in their books.
•
Ask simple questions in LI to check
understanding of the main points of the story.
•
Use the comprehension exercise as a way of
getting the children to read for detail. Encourage them to look back at the
text to find answers.
•
Where appropriate, you can have the children
take character parts, and finally act out part or all of the story.
Using
My Picture
Dictionary
The
Picture Dictionary contains the key words from each Cycle in the sequence in
which they are presented. The words are recorded on the audio CD. It offers a
way for the children to review the words they have learned in each Cycle. They
label the pictures after completing the Cycle and, in this way, build up their
own reference dictionary. The Picture Dictionary can be used in class after the
Review activities have been done, or assigned for homework.
Ending
the lesson
Try
to round up and end the lesson in a way that makes the children feel good and
eager to come to the next lesson. Sing a song or play a game they like, which
doesn't need extra preparation. Always end on a positive and cheerful note.
Extended reading: Sally's Story
Sally's
Stories consolidate known structures in new contexts.
They
provide a fresh point of interest for the children and help
to
develop the skill of extended reading for pleasure.
Suggested procedure for Sally's Stories
•
Pre-reading: tell the children to look at the
pictures, and ask questions in LI about each frame. Invite suggestions about
what is happening in the story.
•
Ask the children to find the new words in the
story as well as words from previous lessons.
Practical tips and techniques
Maintaining
motivation
Teaching
young learners is great fun and can be highly -v.arding; they are full of
enthusiasm, motivated and eager : earn and to please their teacher. At the same
time, young e:'~ers have a very short attention span and get easily bored 3rd
restless. Here are some suggestions for maintaining ~ :՛. ration and attention:
•
• oung learners are happiest in a classroom
environment rat is friendly and inviting. The use of pictures, posters and a
splays of the children's own drawings and projects all ~elp to make the
classroom colourful and interesting and reate a sense of belonging and
ownership. Involving the children in how their classroom looks is also
worthwhile. =or the festival lessons, or for special times of the school .ear,
decorate the classroom accordingly to make it a fun race to be in.
•
All children need recognition and love.
Encouragement and support for what they do in the process of learning vi keep
their motivation levels high. At the same time, it is important to be sensitive
to any individual difficulties or oarriers to learning. Expecting too much of
young learners, ar placing them in situations in which they are likely to
fai,
can destroy not only their motivation but also their self confidence and self
belief.
•
Error correction is necessary, but it should
be done in a oositive and tactful way. Avoid the words No or That's .•/rong and instead use expressions such as Good try! Try again. Then praise the
child's effort at correcting
■ m/herself.
Classroom
management
Zhidren
need a clear framework of recognisable and :: "fortable routines with an
element of predictability (though t: ooredom). Knowing what to expect in a
lesson gives pcung learners a
sense of security. The basic pattern of each ֊■5son should therefore follow roughly the
same structure: »c"ti up, checking homework, language input and practice,
sedng homework and ending the lesson.
However,
within this framework, the children also need variety to prevent them from
getting tired, distracted and bored. For example, you can vary the types of
activity you use for the warm-up stage. A number of optional activities are
also suggested in the lesson notes, which can be used as appropriate to add
variety or fun to the lessons.
Using
English and the children's own language (LI)
For
most children, the language classroom is the only place where they are exposed
to the language, so it is important that the teacher speaks English as much as
possible to develop listening and speaking skills. Adapt the language to their
level by using and recycling vocabulary and grammar they have learnt. Accept
the contributions the children make in their own language, but answer in
English whenever possible. It won't be long before the class understands
everything you say in English.
Help
the children to use the language they have learnt by sticking pictures,
flashcards, posters etc. on the walls and refer the children to them for help.
Sometimes
it is appropriate to use the children's own language because it gives them a
sense of security.
Especially
at the beginning of the year, it is important to ask comprehension questions,
explain an activity, give and check instructions and set homework in LI. Once
the children have become familiar with routine procedures, start asking simple
questions, giving and checking instructions in English and continue to develop
this as much as possible, at a suitable pace for your class, throughout the
year.
Giving
and checking instructions
In
a class with young learners, much teacher language is about giving
instructions. To ensure that the children understand what you want them to do,
use short sentences, and demonstrate, mime or use gestures to underline the
meaning. For example, if you want the class to open their books at page (6),
open your book at that page and write the number on the board. If you want them
to listen, put your hand to your ear when you say Listed.
When
working with the Pupil's Book and Activity Book, give the children time to read
the instructions, look at any pictures that illustrate the exercise, and the
example. Initially, it will be necessary to explain the exercises and the
examples in LI. However, it is time well spent training the children to
gradually become more independent. Teach them to read the instructions and the
examples carefully in order to work out for themselves what they have to do.
Setting
time limits
Some
children work slowly and need more time to get started while others complete
their work quickly, get restless and might interrupt or disturb those students
who are still working.
•
Set reasonable time limits for each activity
or exercise and keep to them.
•
Avoid putting pressure on slower children.
Tell them that they can finish their work at home if they need to.
•
Check the work of early finishers and give
them something quiet to do: drawing a picture, colouring, or a story book to
look at will keep them busy and happy.
Monitoring
While
the children are working individually or in pairs, the teacher has the
opportunity to observe how the children work, identify difficulties and offer
help where necessary.
•
Written exercises: while the children are
doing an exercise, walk around the class without interrupting them. Look at
their work and offer help if necessary by referring them to the story or the Learn with Tag box. Rather than
providing the correct answers, encourage the children to use what they have
just learnt.
•
Speaking activities: while the children are
involved in the activity, walk around and make sure they are all doing the
exercise. Don't interrupt or correct them, unless they ask you for help, but
make a note of frequent errors. Once they have finished speaking, write some of
the errors on the board and ask the class to correct them.
•
Listening activities: avoid walking around the class while the CD is playing so
that the children don't get distracted. Check the answers with the whole class.
Revising
vocabulary and spelling
Fly High 2 introduces an average of six new words per lesson.
Make vocabulary revision a regular part of the classroom routine. Try to vary
the way you review or test vocabulary and make sure you combine different
aspects of what it means to know a word (meaning, pronunciation, spelling).
Below are some suggestions. You can also use the Flashcards feature on the
Active Teach CD-ROM Interactive Whiteboard software for some of the activities.
•
Picture dictation
This
type of dictation can be used to review words that are easy to draw, for
numbers, colours or prepositions of place. Select the words you want to review.
Give each child a piece of blank paper. Say for example Draw a pencil. Draw a rubber. Draw a (yellow) bag.
The children draw a picture of the word they hear. As the children are learning
more language, make the task more challenging, for example: There's a book on the table.
•
Gap-fill spelling (letters)
Prepare
a handout with the words you want to review.
Put
one or more gaps in each word. Call out the words and ask the children to
complete the words by writing the missing letters.
•
Gap-fill spelling (words)
Prepare
a handout with short sentences and put a gap in the place of the word you want
to review. Read out the whole sentences. Ask the children to complete the
missing words.
•
Spelling with flashcards
Select
a number of flashcards. Hold up a card, showing the picture. The children say
the word and write it down. Ask a child Can
you spell [word]?
Group
dictation/spelling
Prepare
three or four sets of flashcards with the words . ou want to review. Divide the
class into groups and place the flashcards face down in the centre of their
desk. In urns, each child picks up a card and shows the picture to his/her
friends. They have to say the word and write it. ~he child with the card shows
the word so that the other children can check the spelling.
Matching
1
Prepare
sufficient sets of picture and word cards. Shuffle :oe sets and distribute the
cards to the children. Ask the children to walk quietly round the classroom in
order to *nd the matching cards.
Matching
2
Use
the same sets of cards. Divide the class into groups of nree or four children.
Give a shuffled set of cards to each group. The children should spread them
face down on meir desk. In turns, each child picks up two cards. If they match,
he/she can keep them. If they don't, they place the cards back on the table.
The children play the game until mere are no cards left.
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