This week
we continue discussing teaching strategies to help our English Language
Learners. Keep in mind that these strategies are a help to ALL children and are
good ways to assist children who may not have background knowledge and school
skills. These two strategies are
different and may be used depending on your class and the topics you are
presenting. They are Total Physical
Response and The Silent Way.
Total Physical
Response
Children
can learn language when they listen to and follow along with an adult’s speech.
The key is that the adult must use many gestures and facial expressions to talk
with children. Children can merely watch and participate using their bodies,
without any oral responses. This helps children feel less pressure to speak.
They can respond in a physical way, which is so appropriate for preschoolers.
An example of this might be to talk about elephants by using your arm as a
trunk, your hands as ears, making an elephant sound, and showing pictures of
foods elephants eat. Children can then pretend to be elephants, without any
pressure to describe an elephant.
The Silent Way
When we
give children a train of unifix cubes in a pattern, with a tub of cubes to
continue this pattern, we can think of this as being an example of The Silent
Way. Adults should give as little direction as possible and let children
explore and discover new concepts on their own. Adults might use gestures and
gestures, but little language is used. Children can experiment, without the
need to process teacher direction. This helps children develop important
concepts and encourages self-reliance.
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC - 2.D.01 & 03.
Head Start - VIII.A. & B.
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