Children read body language quickly and easily. They can tell your mood and emotions by the way you hold your hands, stand and move around the classroom. They are also very visual learners. What better visual is there, than your own body language when you are trying to communicate to them? One of the first things I do with a new class, regardless of age, is to teach the gestures which accompany classroom verbs and instructions.
Here are the gestures I use:
It is not really that important which gestures you decide to use. What is important is that you are consistent and use the same gesture every time. Different ages and different levels will require different classroom verbs. To get an idea of the instruction verbs you will need, take a look in the course book you are using. The book that is used for 8-9 year olds might need verbs such as match, draw a line, act for younger children you may need touch, walk, run, hands up.
There is no need to spell out to the children what they are going to do by saying ‘First we’re going to learn the gestures then we’re going to repeat the words and do the gestures….’ just motion for the children to stand up, do a gesture and say the word. When one of them copies you, react encouragingly until they are all copying the gestures and repeating the words if they are ready.
Try putting the words that collocate into a chant to make it more interesting:
Listen. Repeat. Listen Repeat.
Listen. Listen. Listen. Repeat.
Draw. Colour. Cut.
Draw. Colour. Cut.
Draw. Colour.
Draw. Colour.
Draw. Colour. Cut.
Once you have presented the classroom verbs to your learners recycle the verbs you are going to use at the beginning of each lesson. For example, if you are going to do some craft work you will need to remind the children of cut, colour and stick.
Having gestures also lends itself nicely to miming games such as charades, to help reinforce the vocabulary. What is nice about presenting the instructions to the learners as gestures is that they can easily relay what they have to do back to you without resorting to their first language.
