Part 3 of my Interactive Digital Resources series focuses on the family, an essential part of a young learner’s vocabulary.
Before I introduce the digital resources that I used for this lesson, however, I will say that it is so important to teach children that all families are different. Just like people, they can come in all shapes and sizes. Some children who come from non- “traditional” families are incredibly sensitive about this topic, and as a teacher it is important to be aware of this. I always introduce the topic of the family by talking about what constitutes a family – a mom and a dad, a mom or a dad, two moms or two dads, grandparents, etc. And if you sense that a child is uncomfortable talking about who is in their family, don’t press the issue in front of rest of the class.
With that said, the language of the family is foundational vocab for an English-learner, and it is important that they know how to recognize and speak the names of those who belong to theirs.
I introduced the topic of family to my students by talking about the family tree, using my own family as an example. I passed around a couple of photos and as I was verbally describing my family, I was inputting the names of family members (brother, sister, mother, etc) into this online family tree building tool (which I was projecting onto the whiteboard), so that my students could understand the vocabulary better. I then gave them the opportunity to draw their own family tree, using this worksheet. At the back of the paper (don’t be a waster! Always use both sides of any paper that you distribute ;)) I had them write “In my family there are [insert no. of family members] people: my [insert names of family members]. I have [insert no. of siblings] brothers and sisters. I love my family”, as a way to practice their English writing skills.
As a family vocab review, I used this online tool to play a game of Hangman using the interactive whiteboard. It went down a treat with my students. Hangman is a really great way of working on their speaking and pronunciation skills. I get my students to sound out the letters according to the Jolly Phonics sounds, as that is what they are currently learning with their other teacher.
I hope this post gave you some inspiration for your own family-themed lesson activities!
Same Same But Teaching 