Are you an EFL teacher or a concerned parent? Do you teach Young Learners and often find yourself stressing on how to motivate them? Here are 5 tips on how to motivate young learners and keep them interested.
1. Give them a choice
Giving young learners more autonomy, and control over their work, will boost their confidence and
motivation. Simple decisions, for example ‘do you want to sing a song or play a game’ will make the
learners feel more motivated.
2. Don’t forget to praise and have a reward system
Praise is very important it helps learners feel engaged and motivated and helps build their confidence. It
is also important to reward good behaviour or good use of language/vocabulary. I like to combine choice
with rewarding learners. How do I do that? I use a point system during my lessons; the student that
scores 5 points by the end of the lesson will decide what to do the first 10 minutes of the next lesson.
They can choose anything: a song, a game, a workout, the only limit is that it has to be in English.
3. Repeat fun activities
If you find something that works with a learner or group use it and stick to it. Ask your learners to get
creative and find other ways to carry out the same activity. For example, an activity that works well with
my students is any type of vocabulary guessing game. I usually play this game at the end of each lesson
and I try to find alternatives (e.g. mime, give a description, spell, draw).
4. Vary your material and get them moving
Make sure you do not fall into the lazy routine of only using the student’s book. Young learners will get
tired of it. Try to use their book as a guide for your lessons and homework assignments. Bring in new
material (e.g. a song, game, video). Also, young learners will get tired of sitting for a whole lesson. Make
sure you have an activity in your lesson that gets them up and moving (e.g. sing and dance, stand and
stretch, miming games).
5. Build rapport- get to know your learners
As teachers we can all relate to the fact that every class is different. A lesson or activity that works really
well with one group may be a total failure with another group. For this reason, it is very important to
build rapport with your learners and get to know them; what it is they enjoy doing and what they don’t
like. This will help you plan and carry out successful activities in class. The best way to find out what they
like is by asking them and showing interest. Watch here
🇮🇹 Sei un insegnante EFL? Insegni a bambini e adolescenti e spesso ti ritrovi a stressarti su come motivarli?
Ecco 5 suggerimenti su come motivare i giovani studenti e mantenerli interessati.
1. Dai a loro una scelta
Dare ai giovani studenti una maggiore autonomia e controllo sul loro lavoro aumenterà la loro fiducia e
motivazione. Decisioni semplici, ad esempio "vuoi cantare una canzone o giocare a un gioco" aiuta a motivarli e renderli più independenti.
2.Non dimenticare di premiare e avere un sistema di "ricompensa"
La lode è molto importante perché aiuta gli studenti a sentirsi coinvolti e motivati e aiuta a costruire la loro fiducia. È anche importante premiare un buon comportamento o un buon uso della lingua e del vocabolario. A me personalmente piace offrire la possibilità di scelta delle attività didattiche e anche un premio come ricompensa.
Come lo faccio? Uso un sistema di punteggio durante le mie lezioni; lo studente che
totalizza 5 punti entro la fine della lezione deciderà cosa fare nei primi 10 minuti della lezione successiva.
Possono scegliere qualsiasi attività: una canzone, un gioco, un allenamento... l'unico limite è che deve essere svolta in lingua inglese.
3 Ripeti attività divertenti
Se trovi qualcosa che funziona con uno studente o un gruppo, usalo di nuovo e miglioralo. Chiedi ai tuoi studenti di essere creativi e
trovare altri modi per svolgere la stessa attività.
Ad esempio, un'attività che funziona bene con i miei studenti sono i giochi in cui devono indovinare le parole, attraverso disegni, indovinelli o giochi di mimo.
4. Varia il tuo materiale e farli muovere!
Assicurati di non cadere nella routine pigra e usare solo il libro ESL dello studente. I giovani alunni si
stancheranno velocemente di esso. Prova a usare il loro libro come guida per le tue lezioni e per fare i compiti a casa.
Meglio usare materiale stimolante ed interattivo come musica, canzoni, giochi, video, podcast...
Inoltre, i giovani studenti si stancheranno di stare seduti per un'intera lezione. È fondamentale includere l'attività nella lezione che li faccia alzare e muovere (ad esempio cantare e ballare, stare in piedi, mimare e giocare).
5.Costruisci un rapporto: impara a conoscere i tuoi studenti.
Essendo insegnanti sappiamo tutti che ogni classe è diversa. Una lezione o un'attività che funziona davvero
bene con un gruppo può essere un fallimento totale con un altro gruppo. Per questo motivo è molto importante
costruire un rapporto con i tuoi studenti e conoscerli; cosa gli piace fare e cosa non piace. Questo ti aiuterà a pianificare e svolgere attività di successo in classe. Il modo migliore per scoprirlo è chiederglielo e mostrare interesse.
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