Whether it is a class of 200 or 14 learners, students learn more when they participate or collaborate with each other in class, according to a report from Stanford University. You can use a participatory lesson that is well managed to teach 5 to 7 year old children about what animals do in winter.
Making it a fun lesson
One way you can achieve this is by using the game of musical chairs to teach the kids what animals do during winter. Cut a piece of paper into several small pieces that are big enough for you to write on them legibly. Ask the children what they do during winter and you may get activities such as sleep, wear coats, wear boots and look for a warm place and more. Then write each answer on the pieces of paper you cut earlier and then fold each paper at least three times and put them all in the basket.
Once the basket is full, divide the learners into five groups or more depending on your class size. If there are five learners in each group, arrange four chairs in a circle for the kids to walk around them as they play musical chairs. Choose music that has a good beat for walking and play it on your phone. Remember that educational games that require kids to think should be entertaining and fun.
What happens to the one left standing?
The learner that is left standing is then expected to pick a paper from the box, unfold it and read what is written on it. If say a student picks the word “sleep”, you get to tell the learners about animals that hibernate. If the student picks “search for a warm place”, you can tell them about birds that migrate to warm regions when winter approaches. Create adequate space for the musical chairs game to prevent any student from getting hurt.
Hold their attention with teaching aids
Photos or brightly colored drawings help in memory retention. They should be simple without unnecessary labels and the animals in the pictures should look cute. The photos or images should be large enough for the whole class to see. Alternatively, you could make copies of the images or drawings for each student.
Teaching aids help to reinforce the concepts you are trying to explain to the learners. The musical chairs game will keep the children active and interested, and the photos or images will help them remember what they learn in class. What will make your lesson successful is the lesson plan you prepared and whether or not you let all the learners participate. At the end of the lesson, the homework should be about the animals they learned about that day.
Contributed by: Karoline Gore
Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash
