THE ANIMALS

          In this whole unit, students had the opportunity to get familiarize with animals and their environments. They had to learn about vocabulary related to animals and their environment and they learned about forms & shapes, colors and some key sentences that could be useful while they were working on the final output of this unit: the diaporama. After three classes learning about animals, students were asked to create a diaporama where they had to construct the environment of their choice (ocean, jungle, forest and the farm) and where they had to include 8 animals that were living in the chosen environment.

  Lesson 1          Lesson 2          Diaporama

    What a great activity to bring primary level students to use English in class. Talking about animals with my students was one of the great moments I had during my practicum at the primary level. As I just said, students used a lot of English during those 4 classes dedicated to this project. My students worked so well. At the beginning of this project, I had concerns about how I would manage to make them speak in English, but I found a way that worked so great. I wanted them to use English while they were building up their diaporama, so I wrote some key sentences on the board (pass me the glue please, can I have the scissors, may I have some tape, can you give me some cardboards…). It worked so well. All my students were using English. While they were working, I also asked them some questions about the animals they were using in their diaporama. I asked them what color they were, if their animals were big or small. I was very impressed about the fact that they were using English, and even more after they presented their project to the class, because their use of English was fantastic.

    The students really enjoyed that project, because it was involving arts & crafts and because they learned a lot about animals (vocabulary, environment, forms & shapes and colors). If I’m doing this project again, I won’t change a thing.