build an elephant lesson plan - early years english · pdf filebuild an elephant age group: 5...
TRANSCRIPT
Build an ElephantAge group: 5 - 10English level: Beginner to intermediateResources: Dice, pencils, paper (vocab cards)Preparation time: Coffee breakSkills used: Vocabulary, speaking and listening, teamworkLesson objective: Use numbers, body parts vocab in a game context
Pre-lesson preparationOptional:Print elephant vocabulary cards.
Lesson plan
If necessary, revise animal body parts using the vocabulary cards, as well as numbers one to six using a die.
Display the game key and vocabulary cards, and explain the game by modeling it with yourself and two other students. Take it in turns to roll the die until a 2 is rolled. The person who rolled the 2 draws the elephant’s body on the group’s paper. Once the elephant has a body, continue to take turns rolling the die, and drawing the corresponding body parts as each number is rolled. Show students how to draw the elephant side on, with its head turned to face forwards, so it is ‘looking’ at you. This way the elephant will have four legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears and a trunk. When a player throws a 3, they may only draw one leg. The same rule applies when drawing ears or eyes. An elephant can only have 4 legs, 2 eyes and 2 ears. If a number is rolled and the elephant already has enough of that body part, nothing is drawn and the dice passes to the next player. When the team has finished drawing the elephant they should shout ‘ELEPHANT!’ When demonstrating the game to the students, make your drawing simple and childlike. If the students spend too long drawing a perfectly artistic elephant, they will miss the point of the game!
Adaptations:Once students are familiar with this game they will play it very quickly. To lengthen it, make a grid of 6 squares. Teams must draw a complete elephant in each square before they shout ‘ELEPHANT!’
This game format can be adapted to draw almost anything - other animals, cars, plates of food, outfits, etc. Once students are familiar with the rules of the game it can be used in many different contexts. Have fun!
Take-home explanation
Dear Families, Today we learned about animal body parts by drawing an elephant. We learned that an elephant has a head, body, trunk, ears and eyes. Can you draw an elephant at home?Best wishes,
Early Years EnglishSupport and resources for young English language learners
Free for personal classroom use. Please credit our website if you distribute our materials to your colleagues. © Early Years English 2011 www.earlyyearsenglish.wordpress.com
65
3 4
21
leg
eartrunk
bodyhead
eye © Early Years English 2011 www.earlyyearsenglish.wordpress.com
elephant!
Free for personal classroom use. Please credit our website if you distribute our materials to your colleagues. © Early Years English 2011 www.earlyyearsenglish.wordpress.com