All You Need is Paper (and a little love) ESL/EFL activities

I always like to use what my students make as flashcards. They’ll pay a lot more attention and be more engaged if it’s their work you’re talking about. We’ve been studying food and we also listened to a story about a giant and his hunger for a big sandwich so we made giant paper sandwiches.  At the beginning of each class, I use one of their sandwiches to review vocabulary. I not only ask what is this? but also how many, what color, do you like and what’s your favorite. Their favorite question is: Whose sandwich is this? because then they get to proudly answer: It’s my sandwich.   Here are some before and after pictures. 

My fourth grade bilingual class read a story about the life of Ida Lewis, a famous heroic lighthouse keeper who lived in Rhode Island. After we read and discussed the story, I had them choose four important parts of the story. They had to draw these important moments on a paper circle divided into four parts. We then cut out another circle the same size as the first with an opening so we could see each drawing separately. The students put the circles together with a brad. When they were done, they shared their circles with their classmates and had to retell each part of the story to their friends. It was a great way for me to check they had understood the story and knew how to use the new words.

My little ones are now studying food. We started with a salad and a cookie for dessert. I plan to use their work as flashcards in the following classes. Kids are always much more engaged if it’s their work you’re using to teach and review. I also plan to have them ask each other questions about their delicious colorful salads. I was amazed at how much effort they put into making these. Very pleased with the results and the many opportunities of classroom practice they offer.

O ur new unit is about sea creatures and going to the beach. In one class, we made pails and decorated them with the different sea animals we were studying about. Each student got to say what was on their pail. The following class the students helped me count seashells. If the student said the number of the shell correctly, they got to place it in their pail. We later looked for some seashells which were hidden around the classroom. At the end of the class, each student made their own seashell to add to their collection and take home to count with their families. Aren't all the colors beautiful?

My little ones were studying seasons. Although my favorite season is summer, we decided to focus on the cold seasons this time. We talked about what characteristics each season has and decorated our trees with snowflakes and red and yellow leaves. Everyone counted and shared with the class how many snowflakes and leaves their trees had.