Plain presentations are a quick way to lose your students’ interest early in a lesson. Boredom blocks children from learning as surely as all the cars in HCMC are clogging the roads. Use this technique to spice up your vocabulary drilling by using emotions drilling to easily increase energy, enthusiasm, engagement, and learning.
You can use this technique after you have elicited the vocabulary and presented the pronunciation in a neutral tone.
Next, you can repeat the words with exaggerated emotions. My favorites are drilling sadly, angrily, lovingly, happily, and fearfully. The kids will have a laugh and mimic your emotions and tone. Use gestures like shaking your fist angrily to act out and emphasize the emotions as well.
Related Post: Use Gestures for ESL Awesomeness
This is all good practice for Vietnamese EFL students. They get to hear and practice different tones of natural English pronunciation. In real life we don’t always speak in the neutral tones used in classrooms (though some kids may already be well familiar with angrily spoken English.) đ
Also, make sure to exaggerate your emotions and gestures during vocabulary drilling. Little kids aren’t great with subtlety. They do best with big supporting gestures; a shaking fist, a deep frown, or palms to the face like Munch’s The Scream. The more cartoonish the more fun and easily understandable it is for your students.
Finally, this technique works as well for 3 years-old children as it does 10 years-old students. Just don’t try it in middle or high school.
Used for just a minute or two, Emotions Drilling will brighten up your lessons and lead to better participation and learning.
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What other things do you do to make your presentations & drilling interesting for students? Comment below, like & share!
