How to teach remotely with
Teaching and learning online is probably new for you and your students. These are challenging times, but it is important that your students keep up their English and feel secure that life is going on as normal. So, focus on making the online experience fun for all of you and even though you cannot see the children, make sure you encourage, praise and reassure them during the online lessons. If possible, contact the parents and explain how you will be running the lessons and how they can help. Get the students to practise good learning habits by asking them to prepare their learning space – have their books, pens, coloured pencils, etc ready before they start and stress how important it is that they do their ‘homework’. You can also suggest they watch English videos of songs and stories on YouTube and other sites. Please, check them out first to ensure they are suitable before sharing links with your classes. The BBC and British Council websites have lots of stories and songs for children and lots more are being posted, even by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, at this time.
Here are some suggestions for how you could use the units in the Storyfun coursebooks and materials to support your online classes. The link below takes you to the teaching resources. You can download and share these links with your students. They include links to all the audio and video files in the coursebook lessons: https://www.cambridge.org/us/cambridgeenglish/catalog/ cambridge-english-exams-ielts/storyfun-2nd-edition/resources click here
The Presentation Plus software is also available. Please contact your local representative to receive a copy. The suggestions below are based on a combination of: > live lessons online > ideas for homework and self-access study While we normally try to limit the use of L1 in the classroom, there may be times when clarifying key words may be helpful to make sure all the students are clear about meaning. Don’t be tempted to use lots of L1, though. Use it only when you know that some of your students will benefit from the extra support.
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Useful tools in live classes: SCREEN-SHARING: share Presentation Plus (if you have it), image files, audio files and short video files (bandwidth permitting).
G R E AT F O R : > giving instructions
> sharing stories and songs
> setting up tasks
> creating your own ‘boardwork’ on screen – extra pictures, words etc to support the lesson (just as you would in the classroom).
> presenting grammar or vocabulary
If you don’t have this, hold your book up to the camera and point at sections of the page you are focusing on.
C H AT B O X : this could be used for older students at a level when they can read and write simple phrases particularly those using Storyfun 5 & 6, who are at Flyers level. use chat box for short answers and brainstorming, allows for all students to participate actively at the same time.
G R E AT F O R : > starting the lesson
> closing the lesson
> checking concepts
> getting feedback.
To find out more about how to conduct a live online lesson and make use of these functions in your online class, please follow this link: https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2020/03/16/using-video-conference-platformteaching-online/ click here
VIDEO OR AUDIO RECORDINGS: students can make short video recordings on their phones, tablets or computers and share them with you and/or the whole class.
POSTING WORK: if your school has a website or blog, it would be good to create a space where classes can upload photos, videos, or their work and share it. If your school doesn’t have this, it would be really great if you could create a blog for each of your classes.
You can also ask parents to email you student’s work, videos etc.
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A suggested structure for an online course following a mainly synchronous approach Teachers will find different ways of conducting these online courses. Timings may be different to the lessons children usually have. It is a good idea to schedule at least 2 lessons a week, so that students get into a rhythm of learning.
Here is an example from Storyfun, Level 2 To best prepare your students for an online lesson, ask them to > read through and review the previous lessons and test themselves on the vocabulary they have learnt recently by covering the written words with a small piece of paper and saying the word out loud (maybe someone at home like an older sibling can help) > before a new unit, look through the pages and check if they know the words already > make small flashcards of pictures of key vocabulary they can use during their lessons e.g. to raise or point to when you say them or to lift up when they hear them in a story. Tell them exactly what flashcards they will need beforehand.s they will need beforehand. Use the Home Fun Booklet as you normally do. Most teachers set tasks from the Home Fun Booklet for homework. Make sure you go over these tasks the following lesson (e.g. by writing the correct answers into a Word file which you can then share during the lesson). You can show the students the correct answers on screen and ask them to be ‘teachers’ and check their own work and if they think they did a good job award themselves a smiley face or sticker. You may also be encouraging your students to play the online games in the Cambridge LMS, and they can continue to do so.
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There are a number of tasks we do in class like drawing which will be best done by children on their own and not during the live online lesson. This programme suggests what can be done by the children on their own. Make it clear to them when they should do this. Warmers: Why not start each lesson with a song or game (like Simon Says) that the students know well. Encourage them to join in and have fun. This should get them into a positive mood before they start the main part of the lesson. Throughout lessons use ways of ensuring students are paying attention and not drifting off because you aren’t there in person. You can use class management chants like: Eyes on the Door Feet on the Floor Hands behind your back And say no more And ‘shout-outs’, where you shout the first half of a phrase and the students have to shout back the second half. e.g. Teacher
Students
Hocus Pocus!
Everybody focus!
All set!
You bet!
Oh me!
Oh my!
Chiko. Chiko!
Boom. Boom!
You can find lots more like this online e.g. Pinterest.
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For pair work/dialogues: They won’t be able to work with a partner, so ask students to make 2 puppets (if they have a printer at home, they can download and print out finger puppets from https://worldoffun.cambridge.org/storage/app/media/FingerpuppetsA4.pdf), find 2 animal toys or 2 funny hats and do the dialogues as if two different people are speaking. They should use a different voice for each person. This encourages them to practise speaking and the different voices help them avoid speaking unnaturally. These dialogues would be great fun shared as videos with the rest of the class.
click here
Lessons are based on pages of the Student’s Book, but of course, your lessons may be longer and you can choose which homework to set. With students of this age it is a good idea to keep online lessons relatively short, i.e. no more than 30 minutes, as it is hard for young learners to participate in online lessons. But you will soon get a good idea of what is doable and practical. If any of your learners need dyslexia support, all the stories in Storyfun are available in a dyslexia-friendly format. You can find examples here: https://worldoffun. cambridge.org/storage/app/media/storyfun12dyslexicfriendlystorysamples.pdf click here
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ay’s garden Mrs D
Mr Gray is a farmer. There are cows, sheep, goats, ducks and chickens on his farm. There’s a dog too! Mrs Day lives next to Mr Gray’s farm. There are potatoes, onions, beans, peas and two pear trees in her garden.
Mr Gray is going to the town now. He’s going in his truck. Mrs Day is going to the shops. She’s going on the bus.
Oh dear! Mr Gray’s farm gate is open. Oh dear! Mrs Day’s garden gate is open too! Look at the cows and sheep! Look at the goats and ducks and chickens! They’re running and jumping in Mrs Day’s garden!
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Lesson 1: The story: lead in/vocabulary.
Before the lesson Ask students to make their own flashcards for animals: cow, sheep, goat, duck, chicken, dog. They can draw, copy pictures from the book, use clip art or find pictures in magazines. Ask students to revise the vocabulary they know for food and clothes.
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Welcome the students and show a picture of a farmer (from the Image carousel).
Online class
Elicit the word and allow time for them to respond (even if you cannot see or hear them imagine they are responding). Say ‘It’s a farmer’. (For all the words you model, try to say them clearly and naturally using correct word stress). Ask: ‘What animals he has on his farm?’ and show the flashcards for the animals (cow, sheep, goat, duck, chicken, dog) one at a time, saying the words clearly.
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Play a game.
Online class
Say the name of an animal. Students have to raise their flashcard high in the air. Start slowly and speed up. Optional If you know the song: Old MacDonald had a farm (you can find it on YouTube), sing the song with the students using the animals you are focusing on.
Online class
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Ask students to look at page 29 of their book.
Online class
Ask them to look carefully at the picture of the animals in the farm and count how many cows, sheep, etc. they can see. Have some realia or flashcards for the food in the story: beans, onion, peas, pear, potato.
Online class
Hold them up and say ‘Look, I’ve got peas.’ etc. Sometimes say the wrong word, so they are focusing on meaning, pause, then correct yourself. Hold up the flashcard or real food and ask students to shout out what you are holding (remember to pause while they are doing it).
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Stand up and make sure students can see what you are wearing on camera (today is not the day to teach in pyjamas).
Online class
Say ‘Today I am wearing e.g. blue jeans, a red t-shirt etc’. Ask them to write three sentences about what they are wearing, supplying the sentence stem on screen I am wearing ……
Independent work Ask students to draw a picture of themselves and label everything they are wearing with sentences like the ones they practised in class. They may need to check vocabulary and spelling. Ask them to send you the picture or share it in your online space. Ask students to make flashcards for the food vocabulary (beans, onion, peas, pear, potato) or find realia to use next lesson and also make flashcards for the clothes vocabulary (hat, T-shirt, shirt, dress, sweater and skirt).
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They’re They’re They’re They’re
eating her potatoes and her onions and peas. eating her beans and the pears in her trees. wearing her hats and her T-shirts and shirts. wearing her dresses and sweaters and skirts!
But look! Here’s Mrs Day. She’s coming home from the shops. Mr Gray’s coming home too.
‘I’m very angry!’ says Mrs Day. ‘Look at my clothes and look at my trees!’ ‘I’m very sorry!’ says Mr Gray. Would you like to have dinner with me?
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Lesson 2: The story: reading and listening.
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Review the vocabulary from previous lesson, e.g. on screen show 5 images of animals previously presented.
Online class
Point to each and say the word. Ask students to look, listen and repeat. Remove one picture at a time, point to pictures plus the gaps where pictures were removed. Ask students to say the name of the animal, so pause as you point, then say the word so they can check. Do this again with food and clothes vocabulary.
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Ask students to look at the story in their books starting on page 28.
Online class
Read the story aloud and ask students to follow. Then play the audio of the story and ask students to follow. If you have Presentation Plus, you can play the story video for learners to follow. Then ask students to read the story along with you as you read it. Pause at the end of each sentence.
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Play the audio of the story only – students do not read. Ask students to raise their flashcards (or realia) as they hear the words in the story.
Online class
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Ask yes/no comprehension questions about the story for each page.
Online class
If your platform has a polling tool, use this to get responses, otherwise pause after each question, then supply the correct answers. e.g. Page 28, ‘Does Mrs Day live next door to Mr Gray? Is she going shopping?’
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Ask students to listen to you read the story again / or play the video and as they listen they should act out the story e.g. as you say cows, they moo; or as you say: He’s going in his truck, they should mime someone driving.
Independent work Ask students to choose their favourite part of the story and draw a picture of it. Ask students to use their puppets to act out the story.
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Online class
D
4
A
Look and read. Say and answer.
’s garden Mrs Day Look, count and write.
1
2
two
cows sheep goats
3
onions beans potatoes
B
Look and number the pictures.
C
Look, read and write.
I’m very sorry. Would you like to have dinner with me?
Your animals are eating my flowers. I am very angry.
E
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Your pet frog is sitting on my new phone! I am not happy! Your baby brother is drawing on my baseball cap. I am angry! Your pet goat is eating my school bag! I am really angry now!
Listen and draw lines.
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clothes
animals
bus
farm
truck
1
Mr Gray has got lots of animals on his
2
Mr Gray drives his
3
Mrs Day goes to town on a
4
The
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They wear Mrs Day’s
farm
.
F
Write and say.
to town. .
eat Mrs Day’s potatoes, onions and peas.
For breakfast, I eat
.
For lunch, I eat
For dinner, I eat .
. Oh dear!
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Lesson 3: Number, vocabulary and listening.
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Start with a picture dictation.
Online class
Ask students to get their coloured pencils and a piece of paper. As you describe a picture, they have to draw what you say NOT write words. e.g. There is a farm. There are three cows. Two cows are blue and one cow is red. There are two sheep. They are grey. The farmer is wearing a red hat and blue trousers. Do this slowly and repeat each sentence at least twice. At the end show a picture (you have prepared earlier) of the scene you have described, so students can compare to their picture.
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Ask students to look at page 32.
Online class
Ask them to do task A, look, count and write. Allow time for them to do this. Check the answers with them, by telling them the answers and asking them to mark their own work and make corrections if necessary.
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In task B students look at the pictures and try to remember what order they came in the story. Let them think and write in the numbers. Then ask them to check by reading the story again. Tell them the answers, so they can mark their own work.
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.
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In task C, ask students to fill in the gaps with the missing word.
Online class
Allow time for them to do this on their own. Read the whole sentences aloud so they can check their answers. Ask students to look at page 33, Task E.
Online class
The animals are eating everything in Mrs Day’s garden. They have to listen and draw a line between the animal and what it’s eating. Go through the example, by playing the audio extract, so they know what to do. Play the audio twice and allow time for them to draw their lines. Check the answers with them by showing you picture with the lines clearly drawn and repeat the dialogue where it gives the key information. e.g. What’s the cow eating? It’s eating Mrs Day’s peas.
Independent work Ask students to do Task D on page 33. They can use puppets and/or funny voices to act out the dialogues. Ask students to write what they eat for each meal: Task F on page 33. Ask students to send you what they have written.
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G
H
Look, read and write.
skirt
1
The brown cow is wearing a dirty blue
2
The duck is wearing a dirty green
3
The black sheep is wearing a dirty white
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The chicken is wearing a dirty red and yellow
.
. . .
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The grey goat is wearing a dirty pink
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The black and white cow is wearing a dirty yellow
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Read the questions. Listen and write a name or a number.
. .
Examples
Mark 12
What is the boy’s name? How old is the boy?
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Where does Mark live?
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What is the name of Mark’s dog?
3
How many chickens has Mr Gray got?
4
What is the name of Mark’s favourite cow?
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How many goats live on Mr Gray’s farm?
in
Street
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Lesson 4: Skills: Reading, Listening and Phonics.
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Start with some phonics gymnastics.
Online class
Ask students to repeat these phrases after you. Model them 2 or 3 times before asking them to repeat. Start slowly, then get faster and faster. You can display them (one at a time) on screen: Mr Gray and Mrs Day say Hurray! How now brown cow. The frog and the dog are on a log. I see peas, beans and trees. The duck is in the truck. She’s wearing a shirt and skirt.
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Ask students to look at page 34. Ask students to look at the picture in task G. The animals are wearing clothes. Display the task on screen. Explain that students have to read the sentence, find the picture of the animal and write the item of clothing it is wearing in the gap. Allow time for them to do this. Check the answers with the students.
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Online class
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Tell students you are going to practise spelling aloud.
Online class
Show the word farmer on screen. Ask students to spell it with you – F-A-R-M-E-R Show more words on the screen and spell aloud together: Potatoes Garden Shirt Onions Truck.
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Now you are going to spell words to the students and they have to listen and write them down.
Online class
e.g. H-A-P-P-Y, C-H-I-C-K-E-N, B-R-O-T-H-E-R When you finish spelling out the word, ask students to read the word out. Check the words together by showing them on screen. Now you are going to say numbers and they have to write them down e.g. 4, 14, 40, 8, 12, 6. Check the numbers together by showing them on screen.
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Ask students to look carefully at the picture in Task H.
Online class
Can they say what they see in the picture? Pause while they speak. Explain that they will hear information about the boy in the picture. Do they know his name? It’s Mark (point to it on the page). How old is he? 12 Where does he live? We don’t know the name of the street. They have to listen very carefully and write the answers in the gaps. Play the audio for the first piece of information only, twice. Ask if they heard the answer. Show it filled in on the page. Ask if they all got that right. Now ask them to do the rest of the task. Play it twice. You can also read it aloud to them, so they hear a different voice. Check answers on screen.
Independent work Ask students to practise spelling words from the unit aloud (with their puppet). Ask students to reread the story, both silently and aloud, and check they understand all the words.
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I
Look. Ask and answer. 1
2
3
What is that boy doing?
4
J
That boy is playing football!
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5
Look, listen and say.
Now draw and write. Then ask and answer. What is this? What is the colour of this ? Do you like ? What is your favourite ?
What is this?
p. 69
p. 72
It is a … . 35
Lesson 5: Skills: Speaking, Listening and Writing.
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Review the present continuous tense by going back to the story. Show page 29. Ask ‘what are the goats and chickens doing?’ Pause for the answer after each question then give it clearly: They are running and jumping. Show page 30. Ask ‘what are the animals doing?’ They are eating beans/wearing dresses etc. What is the sheep doing? It’s eating potatoes. What is the goat doing? It’s wearing a hat. Do an action. Ask ‘what am I doing?’ e.g. I’m reading a book. What are you doing? (point at camera). You’re looking at me / the computer.
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Online class
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Ask students to look at task I on page 35.
Online class
Read the example question and answer while pointing to picture 1. Ask students to listen and repeat. Go through each picture eliciting the question and the answer for students, pause, then say the correct question and answer. If students have their puppets, they can use them to act out the dialogues.
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Ask students to look at task J.
Online class
Point to the picture of the sheep. Ask – what is this? Encourage students to answer your questions as if they were in the Speaking test. They have to pretend they are talking to the examiner. Ask – do you like sheep? What is your favourite animal? Ask similar questions for the other pictures.
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Ask students to look at the story again and choose something from it to draw in the box.
Online class
Then they should fill in the questions about their picture and practise asking and answering questions (with their puppets). Finish the unit by:
Online class
A. Reviewing key vocabulary using flashcards. B. Telling the story (students can’t look at it) but making mistakes e.g. Mr Gray is a teacher. When students hear a mistake, they should shout out the correct word or phrase. C. Ask students what was important in the story. Do they think it’s important to say sorry?
Independent work Ask students to find a video of the song Old MacDonald had a farm on YouTube (Mummy or Daddy can help). They should listen to it and try to sing along. They can go to CLMS and find fun activities to do.
Once a unit is finished, it would be nice to send each student a message congratulating them on working so hard online and saying you understand if it is difficult for them and you miss them, too.
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We hope you find these guidelines helpful.
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