Peter:

Yes, I will play with you. Let’s play with the blocks. (Substitute blocks with
dolls, puzzles, etc.)

When planning teaching activities, the teacher should keep the language skills
(listening and speaking) as well as the aspects of language (phonology, morphology,
semantics and syntax) in mind to ensure a balanced approach to teaching an FAL.
The following teaching–learning activities have been internationally proven to
be successful in teaching an FAL to young children.

Teaching–learning activities
Teachers need to be creative and use continuous assessment to help them make
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informed decisions about teaching–learning activities, such as how to support

individuals what learning material to use, and the pace and progression of activities.
Vocabulary is taught in context and supported by real objects or pictures. Stories
should contain repetitive phrases that children can memorise and use to participate,
and thus provide a sense of accomplishment. Given the integrated nature of Grade
R and the different learning styles and interests of the children, it is suggested that
every FAL activity should, where possible, include singing, dancing and creative art.
Usually the following approach works well:
Table 12.1 FAL teaching–learning activities

Lesson/ Activity steps Skill/ Estimated

activity knowledge/ time
plan values allocation
Introduction Sing a well-known song, tell a well- Speaking 3 minutes
known story or Auditory recall
recite a well-known rhyme
Content Teacher Listening 5 minutes
Introduces new song, story or rhyme
Children Speaking 10–15 minutes
Sing, dance and/or perform actions Learning new
depicted in the song, story or rhyme vocabulary
Say repetitive phrases from story/ Interpreting text
rhyme through movement
Dramatise story/rhyme with masks Physical activity
and/or props
Conclusion Through drawing or painting, children Thinking and 10–15 minutes
represent their understanding of the reasoning
Copyright 2015. Juta and Company [Pty] Ltd.

song, story or rhyme Pre-writing

– fine motor
(strengthening thumb
and forefinger grip)
Imagination and
creativity

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 Try this out
We have suggested some of the skills and knowledge that can be fostered in these
activities. Now add some more of your own.

Themes
Themes and theme tables can promote both HL and FAL. A theme table should
display related items and pictures. Some items should be labelled in both the
LoLT and, if appropriate, the HL of one of the children in the class. It is better to
label concrete objects such as a ‘cup’ or ‘cone’ rather than more abstract concepts
such as ‘rough’, ‘heavy’, etc. Care should be taken that themes (see Chapter 7)
suit the children’s interest. The theme discussion can be used to teach vocabulary
and sentences as well as expand the children’s knowledge and understanding of
a particular topic.
Throughout the theme discussion, the teacher emphasizes the vocabulary that
he/she wants them to acquire. Duplicates of the labels are provided and children
have the opportunity to match them with the labels on the theme table. This
activity encourages children to pay attention to the printed words, and they
might make spontaneous remarks like: ‘Red and rectangle both start with /r/.’
Individually labelled pictures are better than posters, because they enable children
to pay attention to the one word that is being presented. This can also provide an
opportunity to assess matching skills.
Introduce a few words at a time rather than too many at once so that children
can work with the words, play with them and internalise their meaning. Newly
taught words should be repeated frequently in context to try to ensure that
children memorise them. Children should also be encouraged to use the newly
introduced words within theme teaching or when talking about a book read to
them. Songs and rhymes which repeat words frequently provide an opportunity
for this.

Songs and rhymes

Songs and rhymes allow a teacher to teach, if necessary, a large number of
children even if resources are limited. Young children enjoy songs and rhymes,
and, as Murphey (1992) notes, these help children to improve their listening
skills, vocabulary, sentence structures, sentence patterns and pronunciation, and
ultimately their speaking skills. Action songs and rhymes can be particularly
useful because actions help children to understand and internalise the meaning
of the words.
Pictures can be used to support the teaching of a song or rhyme. Towards the
end of Grade R, word cards can also be used in relation to songs and rhymes,
perhaps displayed as incidental print above the picture that relates to the song or
rhyme. Word cards can be written in both the LoLT and the children’s HL so

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 that a bi- or perhaps multilingual word wall begins to emerge on a wall of your
classroom.
An approach in line with this method is the following:
• Step one: The teacher models the song or rhyme, pointing to the pictures as
he/she sings.
• Step two : The individual pictures are discussed in detail.
• Step three: The teacher tries to ensure that every child understands the
vocabulary in the song and knows how to pronounce the difficult words.
• Step four: The teacher and the children sing the song/say the rhyme, pointing
to the pictures and/or doing the actions of the song/rhyme.
• Step five: The teacher and the children sing the song/say the rhyme and do
the actions.
• Step six: Individuals take turns to sing the song/say the rhyme, doing the
actions or using the pictures.

Find out more

See Appendix 2 for songs and rhymes.

O’Sullivan (1991: 3) observed that: ‘It is all very well to point out the advantages
of teaching literature but the key to success in using literature in the ESL classroom
depends primarily on the works selected.’ Books should be chosen carefully,
taking into consideration the young child’s interests and stage of development.
Although every teacher should be led by the unique circumstances of the
children and their needs and abilities, the following books are good examples that
could be used for teaching EFAL in Grade R:
• The Foot Book by Dr Seuss
• The Little Red Hen by Michael Foreman
• Meerkat in Trouble by Allan Frewin Jones
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear,What Do You See? Bill Martin, Jr/Eric Carle
• Tusk Tusk by David McKee
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
• The Elephant and the Bad Baby by Elfrida Vipont and Raymond Briggs

Examples of South African-authored storybooks

• Hi, Zoleka! by Gcina Mhlophe and Elizabeth Pulles (ill.)
Shuter & Shooter
This is a story many children will relate to. The story is about Sunday school
– songs sung and dramas practised, and the performance of these for the
congregation. It also considers the apprehension Zoleka experienced when
she was called forward to recite a Bible text.

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 • Papaniki by Edna Quail and Ann Berry (ill.)
Ravan Press
The book is about Papaniki, a young rural boy who lives with his grandmother.
He likes playing with his friends, but he also has to work, look after the donkeys,
fetch water in the wheelbarrow, and help with sowing the crops, etc.The family
really wants a donkey cart to make it easier to fetch the water. Papaniki asks his
grandmother to make clay pots, which he sells on pension day to make money
to buy wood for his uncle to make a cart. While this is happening, the donkeys
wander away, and Papaniki finds them down by the river. A crocodile was getting
ready to pounce and eat one of them. Papaniki throws stones at the crocodile
and saves the donkeys. The family celebrates because he has been so brave and
has also managed to get them a donkey cart.

Find out more

Other interesting stories are The Monkey and the Crocodile by Paul Galdone and a series
of books by Robert Munsch. Even though the storyline, the content and vocabulary of
these books may be too advanced to be used in Grade R for FAL children, this does
not mean the books should be discarded. The teacher can tell the story using simplified
vocabulary to foster comprehension. Old-time favourites like The Gingerbread Man and
The Three Little Pigs could also be used.

Something to consider

When reading stories, the teacher should take care to vary the tone and pitch of
his/her voice to emphasize the different characters of the story and in so doing
enhance understanding. Books can be revisited on a number of occasions. In fact, it
is important to repeat well-known storybooks throughout the year. As Peck (2001:
141) advises: ‘Many children do not tire of practising a repetitive and rhythmic text
several times a day, many days a week.’ Additionally, Burns (2006: 22) noted that
‘students were almost unanimous in their desire for teachers to read aloud to them’.
When teachers read stories, they should try and provide a model of quality English
so that the children hear fluent English and correct intonation patterns.

Making the book ‘talk’

The following steps are suggested:

Step one: A ‘picture walk’. The teacher pages through the book and discusses
the pictures with the children by asking open-ended questions. The teacher tries
to ensure that all the children understand the vocabulary and encourages the
children to predict what they think is going to happen in the story. Discussions

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 could focus on the facial expression of the characters in the book and details in
the pictures as well as other aspects. The children’s predictions create a purpose
for listening because they want to know if their predictions are right.

Step two: The teacher reads the story, perhaps pointing to the words and
indicating the direction of the text. After reading the story, the teacher can ask
questions to see if the children know the content of the story.

Step three: This involves the re-reading of the story on further occasions. While
reading takes place, the beginning sounds or rhyming words are emphasized by
either saying them more loudly or whispering them. The pictures from the book
can be either photocopied or copied to create individual pictures or story cards.

Step four: The children re-tell the story using picture cards or the book. If
picture cards are used, the child who tells the story has to arrange the story cards
in the correct sequence and may sit on the teacher’s chair to tell the story to his/
her peers.

Step five: Many of the children now know the story by heart. They can use
fantasy clothes or masks to dramatise it. The children can also construct a simple
dialogue to use during dramatisation.

Step six: The children draw a picture of the story and tell the teacher what their
picture represents. The teacher then writes simple text on each picture. Children
can also be provided with a blank book to draw their own interpretation of
the story.

Find out more

Dramatisation is a hands-on experience which provides meaning to language learning.
Performing a story can deepen understanding. Once the children have learnt the new
vocabulary and can retell the story, they will be able to dramatise the story more easily.
Encourage children’s curiosity about language and allow them to experiment and change
the dialogue should they wish to do so. Divide the class into small groups and let each
group take turns to dramatise different parts of the story using the newly learnt vocabulary
and sentences. Providing all groups with one or more opportunities to dramatise the
story allows for meaningful repetition and practice of the newly learnt language. Keep a
sense of playfulness and fun. This activity can be repeated, but be aware at all times of the
children’s interest level and stop the activity if they become bored.

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