752. A class with young kids




One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “A couple years ago I taught English to a small group: they were three. The youngest kid was 9 and the others were 13 and 12. At those ages that difference of years, as you know, is very big.



The youngest one was smart, though had little English. I started to give him instructions, sometimes, at every class. Like ‘Go to the green door and open it... now close it,’ etc. I made gestures related to the actions, with my arms and hands. If I spoke to him in English he would understand little – actually some words were unknown to him - but he began to understand me, and other instructions given by his classmates. This young kid began to relate, to connect ‘that language’ – he knew it was English – with actions and the physical surroundings. Moreover I had got to have this kid move and stand up often: it was necessary for him to do that, at his age, and also because he had been doing homework and studying for rather a long while before, in another classroom.” / Photo from: blogs longwood edu. female teacher with children in classroom.

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