Bring in the New Year!

Bring in the New Year of language learning! Simple start of year lesson sequence below.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAh_3p2yERo&w=560&h=315]

Quick and simple New Year’s language learning activity here with a touch of music and peformance too!

This video above is just a simple snap shot clip of a band marching in an “Epiphany” parade. It was filmed this weekend in Spain but can be used whatever the target language you teach, to celebrate the start of a new academic term at the start of 2019..

Here’s how we suggest you use the clip:

• Set the scene and talk about celebrations in January and how people celebrate and bring in the new calendar year.

• Revisit simple or core language taught or practised regularly last term. Think - greetings , numbers , colours, months. days of the week, feelings.

• Play the clip of the band. Can the children recognise the tune being played?

• Divide the class in to differentiated ability groups of 6 - 8 children .Give each “group” now working as a “marching and musical band” a core language focus - so one group focuses on numbers , one group focuses on months or colours etcetra.

• Challenge the groups to put the core language to a familiar tune. We suggest this needs to a lively tune that they can then march to, like a band.

• Ask the children to add performance and become a marching band, pretending to play imstruments and perform their core language marching songs and tunes.

• Ask each group to present their performances to the class.

• Join all the performances together and order the groups in a way that the class feels is the best fit both musically and in terms of types of core language.

• Create a class performance and why not video it too!