Put Your Poster to Use!

Children have more opportunities to listen and speak in English

when they work in pairs or groups. The amount of language
they produce will depend on the task that has been set and the
objectives of the activity. Whether you want your students to
practice a short dialogue in English or work together on a group
project, you need to establish some ground rules and
expectations. Your Be Stars Together poster can help you teach
your students how to work together.

What is the Be Stars method?

Be focused: There are many ways to help students stay on task

and avoid distractions. For larger projects, it is important to
set an overall goal and break it down into manageable
tasks. Children who play computer games are familiar with terms like ‘missions’ and ‘quests’.
Introduce activities using these terms to keep students engaged. Make sure the activities are
challenging, achievable, engaging and interesting.

Explain your ideas: While working in groups, students should share ideas and receive input.
Each group member needs enough time to think before sharing. Don’t forget that some
students may not have the language they need to explain their ideas in English. So, as long as
they use some English words, allow them to share in their first language.

Share: Ask each group to share their ideas and progress with the other groups. Students can
better judge their own work when they have something to compare it to. Try nominating one
child in each group as a ‘secret agent’ who spies on the other groups and reports back.

Take turns: Whether students are working in pairs or groups, playing a game or doing project
work, they need to learn to take turns. When playing a game, it is often very obvious whose turn
it is. When working in groups, you may need to elect a ‘Captain English’ who makes sure
everyone gets a turn. This doesn’t need to be the strongest student in the group. Make sure
everyone has a turn at being the captain.

Ask questions: Encourage your students to ask each other questions about what they are doing
and why. This shows that they are listening and interested in their group members’ ideas. You
may need to help them ask questions in English or allow them to speak in their first language.
For conversation tasks, provide students with English language questions to practice.

Respect others’ ideas: As a basic rule, every idea is valid unless it is completely off topic. Groups
should not make decisions until everyone has shared their ideas. Most importantly, students
should feel comfortable contributing and should never worry about being ridiculed.

Stay together: It is not always possible for students to work with their friends. They need to
understand that the groups you place them in are the groups they will stay in. You can
encourage groups to stay together using team spirit. Try asking them to come up with a group
name! Finally, keep track of who works well together and who doesn’t.

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Activity Time!
The best way to learn effective group work is through practice. Below, you’ll find instructions for
a Build a Board Game activity that challenges students to work as a group. You can easily adapt
the activity to suit any age group or language level. The activity is divided into an overall mission
with individual quests. These manageable tasks will help keep your students engaged and
motivated.

Build a Board Game

The activity: Put your students into groups and challenge them to create a board game! The
games should support English language learning. They might challenge students to complete
reading and writing tasks or answer questions from your curriculum. Provide your students
with language they can use in their games and offer lots of guidance.

What you will need (per group): squares of coloured paper (about 4 cm²), a large A3 piece of
paper/card, coloured pens/pencils, glue and dice. On the next page, you will find an
instruction sheet you can print out and give to each group.

Mission: Make and play a board game

Instructions
Quest 1: Come up with an idea and rules.
Task 1: Come up with a game idea.
Task 2: Write down the rules
in English.
Quest 2: Create game squares for the
board. Each square can give a command
(e.g. start, finish, miss a turn), ask a
question or pose a challenge.
Quest 3: Construct the game.
Task 1: Decide how to place the
squares on the board. Will they
make a shape? Which order should
they go in?
Task 2: Glue the squares onto the
board and decorate it.
Quest 4: Play the game.
Task 1: Each group member
chooses a small item to represent
them on the board (e.g. a rubber or
a coin).
Task 2: Play the game!
Teacher’s notes
This is a great opportunity to introduce the
language of board games. For example:
finish, miss a turn, dice. Once groups have
come up with game ideas, help them write
down the rules in English.
Think about the language you have studied
recently or want your students to review.
Help them create squares that support
their learning. For example, you may have
recently taught your students about colours
and animals. Suggest they create questions
like: What colour is an elephant?
Make sure every group member has
squares included on the board. Also ensure
they are ordered in a way that allows
students to move around the board. For
example, make sure there aren’t too many
Go back to start squares.
You can write some phrases on your board
to help students play in English. For
example: Is it my turn? or Where is the
dice? You can also ask students to evaluate
their games afterward. Ask what they liked
and didn’t like, or what changes they would
make next time.

© Copyright Oxford University Press

 Mission: Make and play a board game
You will need: squares of coloured paper, a large piece of paper,
coloured pens/pencils/markers, glue, dice.

Quest 1: Think of a board game idea and rules.

Task 1: Think of a board game idea!
Task 2: Think of some rules and write them down in English.
You can ask your teacher for help.

Quest 2: Make board game squares. Write instructions on them in

English. For example: start, finish, answer a question, miss a turn.

Quest 3: Build your game.

Task 1: Decide what your board will look like. Will the squares
make a shape? What order will the squares go in?
Task 2: Glue the squares onto the board. Decorate the board.

Quest 4: Play your game!

Task 1: Choose a small item to represent you on the board.
For example: a rubber or a coin.
Task 2: Play the game!

© Copyright Oxford University Press

12 Tips for Teaching Young Learners
Starting a new academic year fills many teachers with excitement about everything they will
achieve. However, it can also be daunting for new teachers. Even experienced teachers may
need motivation and inspiration to create classroom boundaries and expectations.

Here is some general advice to help you take your students on a wonderful journey of language
learning:

1. Be friendly and approachable. Create a safe environment where students are

comfortable and not scared to be themselves. They need to get used to you, the
classroom, the school and their classmates in order to feel confident enough to
experiment with language and make mistakes.
2. Lower your expectations about what will be achieved in one lesson. Regardless of your
students’ ages, use the first few lessons to learn their names, introduce classroom
instructions and set boundaries. At the beginning of each subsequent lesson, review the
previous lesson and the classroom instructions relevant to that day’s activities.
3. Include routines in your lesson plans. They show students what to expect, which makes
them feel safe and secure. Activities like entering and exiting the room or getting into
groups take longer with children. Make sure you allocate enough time and consider
what language you use to give instructions. Routines also support language learning by
introducing contextualised, repetitive and easily acquired phrases. Make sure you have
considered which phrases you need and plan them in advance.
4. Ensure every child is cognitively engaged for as much of the lesson as possible. Get
them involved, interested and participating. Avoid ‘dead time’, such as when you turn
your back to the board. This is when children get bored and find their own
‘entertainment’.
5. Reward charts are time consuming and can distract from the content of your lessons.
Don’t spend your first lesson setting up something that you forget to use, or that is
unnecessary. Wait until you have established your routines, then decide if you need a
reward system.
6. Use consequences (not punishments) sparingly for unwanted behaviour. If necessary,
use warnings and consequences for repeated behaviour. It is the student’s responsibility
to decide if they will continue the behaviour and accept the consequences or not. Be
clear that it is the behaviour that’s unwanted, not the child. Finally, remember to
identify and praise the behaviour you do want.
7. Changes of pace and focus in a lesson are essential to keep students engaged. However,
don’t introduce so much variety that the students can’t keep up. If you repeat an
activity, introduce an added challenge. Stop while they are having fun rather than when
they are getting bored. You will then be able to repeat the activity in another lesson.
8. Children make noise. It’s what they do best, so use this rather than fight it. Make the
noise ‘productive noise’ using chants, rhythms and rhymes in English. Find ways to get
their attention without shouting. You need your voice for the rest of your career.
9. Children are motivated by what they are doing not the language they are learning.
Make sure the tasks you give them are challenging, achievable, engaging and
interesting. Use these adjectives as a check list while lesson planning. When planning

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 tasks and activities, make sure you also create guidelines and expectations for pair work
and group work.
10. Children are ‘sense makers’. They try very hard to understand what you are saying and
to be understood. If they have tried to communicate in English, then praise this.
Respond to ‘what’ they are saying. Only correct ‘how’ they say things (grammar,
pronunciation, word choice, etc.) when they are ready. If they hear enough ‘correct’
examples of language, they will make associations and produce more fluent sentences
over time.
11. Be proactive not reactive. Notice when your students need a change of pace, focus or
challenge. Praise their effort and behaviour as much as their abilities in English.
12. Remember that children have energy, enthusiasm and motivation. Given the right
conditions, they make a lot of progress very quickly. This is one reason why it’s so
satisfying to teach them!

About the Author – Jane Maria Harding da Rosa

Jane's ELT career has spanned over 25 years. She worked as the Director of
Studies and Teacher Training Coordinator at International House Porto,
specialising in Teaching English for Young Learners (in which she has a
master’s degree from York University). For 10 years, Jane worked as part of
the Academic Management Team at International House Newcastle and was
heavily involved in running CELTA, DELTA and CLIL methodology courses. In
2020, Jane completed a PGCE in Primary Education and has since taught in
Primary schools in the North East of England. She designed this Classroom
Management Pack using her expertise in English Language Teaching and her first‐hand
experience managing large classes of children.

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