Teaching Preschool or Very Young Learners (VYLs) is a fast growing segment of the EFL/ESL industry, but one that many teachers are ill-prepared for. Teaching children aged 3 to 6 years old is very different from any other age group – even primary aged students. This 4.5 hour workshop is designed to give new & experienced teachers practical skills & principles for teaching very young children.
Topics Covered
Lesson Staging for VYLs
- Key Concepts & Principles including balancing stirrers and settlers, ordering skills, and pacing.
Demo Lesson & Analysis
- Four-Year-Old Demo Lesson – Pets: a 30 minute lesson taught by Will to give teachers direct experience in many of the skills and concepts covered in the workshop.
- Demo Analysis: Teachers work in groups to discuss key issues on the demo lesson
Understanding VYL Students & Great Teacher Presence
- VYL Students’ Emotional, Physical, & Intellectual Needs: A brief intro into core concepts that will help teachers understand their students
- VYL Fallacy & Key Concepts: Teachers discuss how VYLs learn and the “Silent Period”
- Improving Challenging Students’ Behavior: A brief case study and discussion of a difficult student and how his behavior was improved.
- Elements of Great Teacher Presence: Key teacher behaviors that greatly improve student behavior and performance
VYL Classroom Management
- Integrated Classroom Management: Discussing how different parts of a lesson can affect student behavior including activity design, instructions, and layout.
- Using Effective Routines & Rules: A presentation on why rules and routines are effective and how to implement them
- Using Behavior Management Systems for VYLs: A brief presentation on an effective BMS for VYLs and how to use it
Presenting Language to VYLs
- Presenting Meaningfully to VYLs: How to present language to large classes of VYLs in an engaging and meaningful way.
- Engaging Drilling Techniques: Includes techniques like chants, volume drills, and microphone drills
- Using Miming & Total Physical Response (TPR): Teachers practice creating their own mimes and use them with each other
- Improving VYL Pronunciation: A brief presentation on issues with VYL pronunciation and how to improve it
Teacher Talk Time (TTT) and Instructions
- Analyzing TTT & Key Concepts: A brief discussion of what makes for good Teacher Talk Time
- Stages of Effective Instructions & Common Mistakes: Teachers work together to identify the best staging for giving instructions and how to avoid some common mistakes
Songs with VYLs
- The Benefits of Songs: A brief discussion of how songs help children improve their English
- Techniques for Using Songs: Teachers practice popular VYL songs and how to use them effectively in class.
Games & Activities with VYLs
- Principles & Traits of Good Activities: Teachers work together to identify key traits of good activities including generative, participatory, and purposeful.
- Effective Listening Activities for large VYL EFL classes: Teachers play several listening activities that are great for VYLs
- Effective Speaking Activities for large VYL EFL classes: Teachers play several speaking activities that are great for VYLs
Workshop Details
When: Thursday, August 18th 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Where: Papaya House 220/ 66 Xô Viết Nghệ Tĩnh, Phường 21, Quận Bình Thạnh
- The building is located in an alley off of Xo Viet Nghe Tinh. There’s a Lotteria at the entrance of the alley. The workshop building (Papaya House) is located near the end of the alley on the right side.
- You can park at the Chung Cư Mỹ Đưc apartment complex nearby at the end of the alley.
- The workshop will be held on the ground floor.