1. The Use of Presentations,
Puppets, Videos, Role-play
& Drama in TEYL
Lesson 11

2. OVERVIEW
Look at how we can use presentations, puppets, videos, role-play and drama with our young English language learners.
Motivate the young language learners through involvement in meaningful and purposeful activities.
Use different activities in the young learner English class to give learners a key sense of audience that will aid fluency and accuracy in their language production and motivate them to speak out.

3. Language learning is about communicating with each other in meaningful and purposeful ways.
General Introduction to Using Presentations, Puppets, Videos, Role-play and Drama in TEYL
Keeping communication central is a major component to language teaching in that will help our students learn, use and acquire more language.
The more ways we can create opportunities for YLLs to communicate in English, in and beyond the classroom, the better and the more confident and motivated they will be when using the language.
Using presentations, puppets, videos, role-play and drama will also encourage our learners to focus on an audience with fluency and accuracy of language firmly in place.

4. Providing Language Learning Opportunities
All the approaches to language learning below have key similarities in that they provide students with the opportunity to do the following:
Deliver their message to an actual audience. This means clear and prepared language is required.
Perform for others in a specified way at a designated time and place. This allows them to prepare language for different situations.
Go beyond their normal student roles and take on different personas or roles within the class, school or community.
Use a different persona through puppets, role-play and drama. For those who may be timid when using English in public, this can help them find a strong English voice in a fun way.
Experiment with the physical aspect of language, including the use of intonation, gestures, facial expressions and clarity of voice.
Work individually or in pairs, groups or as a whole class to create a production of some sort for delivery to others

5. Preparing for Presentations
When you present something rather than tell us about something there is an implication that you have prepared what you are going to say to a particular audience and have not just said it without thinking about it. This means that you have had time to create the words, phrases and sentences that you are using.
The teacher should…
The class should…
encourage YLs to know what they are going to say.
brainstorm ideas in class and recommend that YLs rehearse their presentation with a classmate.
encourage YLs to have some notes or pictures (if they cannot read yet) to help guide them.
encourage YLs to speak slowly, clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear.
listen to the presenter.
not talk or move when the presentation is going on.
think about what the presenter has said.
ask questions afterwards if they want more information.
show your appreciation by thanking the presenter and clapping your hands when the presentation is finished.

6. Delivering Presentations
Children should be trained to give presentations in the target language so that they are prepared for talking out loud to a small or large audience.
At first, they can make short, easy and clear presentations on everyday topics, such as:
what day it is today;
what the weather is like;
what they have done in an activity.
Presentations can progress from one-word responses, to phrases and then to sentences.
These can then develop into lengthy descriptions or monologues.
While the requirements and approaches can be adjusted to suit the interest and level of individual students, everybody should have the opportunity to make a presentation at some time during each term.
The best way to start children doing presentations is to ask them to present their findings to the class based on a class activity, such as the results of a game, survey or group discussion or the review of a book or TV program.
In advance of an activity, tell your students that they are going to be presenting their findings.

7. Semi-formal Presentations
Ask individuals, pairs or small groups of students to make formal presentations such as reading aloud a story from class activities in a school assembly, presenting the news from your class to the whole school, or presenting small talks at the end-of-term concert.
The same guidelines noted earlier apply to all of these presentation types. Be sure to give your students encouraging feedback. As they do more presentations, they will become increasingly proud of what they can effectively communicate in English.
Remember that all students in your classroom need the opportunity to give presentations, as this experience will give the language learners the practice and the confidence they need to use the language in an important and public way.
When the informal presentation training has gone well, you can start to ask your learners to take part in semi-formal presentations.
These may involve presenting some work to the class, talking about an individual or group project, or presenting something the whole group has created, such as story or poem.
Make these semi-formal presentations longer and more intensive as the academic year progresses.

8. Using Puppets in Language Teaching
The use of puppets in the class, as has been mentioned in earlier lessons, can be a great way to encourage young learners to speak out loud.
It can also be a great way of encouraging those students who may not be very confident to hide behind a puppet and speak English.
A child who is often very quiet could suddenly become very productive and use a lot of English when he or she is given the chance to talk through a puppet, and this is very exciting to see!
Using puppets gives students the opportunity to use language they may not be able to use meaningfully with their classmates in class situations.
For example: When asking and answering questions such as What's your name?, How old are you? and Where do you live?

9. Making Puppets
Puppets do not need to be great works of art. They can be the tip of a finger, the end of a pencil or a small piece of card on the end of a lolly stick.
Puppets offer a great opportunity for students to practice dialogues. Help them remember the language they will need for their dialog and give them guidelines about how to organize the dialogs.
Students can use puppets to become the characters from well-known stories. They can tell a story in groups and all take different roles.
Students can use all their skills (listening, speaking,
reading and writing) to create a successful puppet
show for the class.

10. Ways of Using Videos and DVDs in English with Young Learners
1. Watching videos (Approach 1)
Seeing and hearing people using the target language in a range of real-life situations is a great way to support, extend and enrich the language young learners can experience.
Students are able to see the whole person on the screen.
They cannot only hear that person using the target language (complete with intonation and expression), but they can also observe that person's body language and facial expressions.
When preparing videos in the classroom, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Set up the video before showing it in class.
Videos should not be used for long periods of time.
Have a clear task for the learners as they watch
Children are used to seeing and using, for pleasure and learning, a variety of hardware such as televisions, hand-held games consoles, computers, mobile phones, and so on.
We can use these in our language classes to provide a wider resource bank and extra motivation to encourage learners to take part in activities that will improve and develop their target language use.
There are many valuable ways videos can be used in the young learner class. We will look at three approaches:
watching videos
making videos
creating real-life dictionaries with videos

11. Using Videos with your Students
Before using the video
Set the scene and prepare students for what they are going to watch.
Give them a simple task so that they can watch for this information with a focus.
(How many boys can you see in this clip? What is the man putting on the table?)
While watching the video
Make sure all students are in the best position to benefit from the viewing.
Remind them to be still and silent so everyone can see and hear the clip.
Encourage them to write notes as they watch to help remember things you have asked them to watch
for (if they are at the age when they can take notes).
Give them different tasks each time they watch to keep them focused and interested.
After watching the video
Discuss what they discovered during their tasks. Then ask questions about the clip, such as:
Did you like that clip?
Was it funny?
What did you see in that video?
What happened in the clip?
What did the girl do … and why?

12. Putting Together a Video Production
Making Videos
(Approach 2)
Students could take on a more complex project by creating a documentary about their English class or school and send it to a group of children at another school.
For such a project, students will have to get involved in all aspects of the planning, such as the scripting, role taking (producer, editor, presenter, interviewer and interviewee) and then take on the recording and editing of the recording, as well as the showing of it in class.
Putting together such a production creates a real reason for teaching and using the target language that will allow students to carry out their tasks successfully in English.
Specific language for this project could include vocabulary such as:
action
cut
focus
zoom in and out
close-up….etc...
Making their own videos is getting very easy for children.
It is really motivating for students to record a presentation of a story they all know well or a puppet show they have created, or use the video to record a documentary involving a topic they are studying in class, such as A day in the life of … (a shopkeeper / teacher / bus-driver).
Making such a recording can be another way for students to demonstrate what they have learned in class (beyond speaking, writing or drawing).
For example, if they have been studying weather in class, they could observe a recorded weather forecast and then work together in groups to present their own weather forecast (perhaps providing weather reports from different cities or around the world).

13. Video Clip Activities for the Language Classroom
1. What did they say?
2. Freeze Frame
Play the video clip several times, each time asking students to look for or listen for something different.
Then, play the clip again and ask students to voice over what is being said at a specific time in the video by turning the sound down and asking them to be the voice(s).
After students have seen the clip a few times (with various focus tasks), play the video again and then suddenly pause or freeze frame it.
Ask students what happens next. This is usually a rather popular activity!

14. 3. When do you hear the word?
4. How many times?
3. When do you hear the word?
Have students count the number of times they hear a particular word or phrase in a short clip of no longer than five minutes.
Make sure you have checked the number of times in advance of the lesson so that you know the answer!
After viewing the video, students say how many times they heard the designated word or phrase.
Praise those who counted correctly as they were concentrating very hard and encourage the others to have better luck listening next time!
You will watch the video again. Put up your hands when you hear the words on the board.
freeze
row
seal
fish

15. Using Role-play in the English Class
Role-plays allow children to become someone else for a few minutes by
knowingly taking on the role or the persona of someone else.
Role-plays link with the use of puppets and videos.
If you want your young learners to successfully carry out role-play, you need to be very clear with them regarding:
who they will be playing (e.g., a customer and a waiter in a restaurant);
what they will be saying (e.g., the language involved in ordering some food from the menu);
who else is involved in the conversation (e.g., other students playing the role of family members);
why they will be holding this conversation (e.g., to practice using the language involved in decision making and ordering food in English);
what the conversation will be about (e.g., the customer and the waiter discussing the food order);
what the outcome of the conversation will be (e.g., to practice speaking out with a focus on the target language involved in ordering food and confirming choices).

16. Assign roles from a familiar story
Assign roles from a familiar story. The characters should be very well-known from stories they have read and discussed in English.
Ways to Set Up a Role-play
Assign roles from everyday life. Have YLs take the role of people in a particular situation, depending on their age and understanding of their role in the world at large, such as: a mother asking a child what he or she would like for a meal
Assign roles of famous characters. The characters should be famous personalities from television, film or sport. Allow students to contribute their ideas and choose characters that are especially relevant to their age and interest.
Assign roles of roving reporter. In this role, YLs stop and ask different people the same question and pretend to hold a microphone.
Assign role of weather forecaster. This role-play involves one person giving a monologue about the weather. It requires careful preparation and is often very interesting to watch, especially if the weather forecast is a bit shocking.
Remember: To give each role-play a clear structure you may want to support your students by giving them (or helping them prepare) cue cards that include a cue for each person in a particular sequence (to prompt them in what to say) as well as the scenario of the situation.

17. Using Drama in the Young Learner Classroom
Drama is different from role-play, in this context, as it is when lines are learned and costumes and props are used to make a more formal type of presentation for an audience of students from other classes or for teachers and parents.
Setting up plans
Involve your students in planning the type of production to present.
A drama at the end of a school year or term can be linked to:
the season that the drama is presented (such as winter or spring);
a global event that is taking place (such as the World Cup or the Olympics);
important people or events that are connected with their school or country.
The teacher, in the role of producer, will need to provide guidance and supervision to ensure that everything is done successfully and on time.
With advance planning, you can ensure that preparation for the production does not interfere with the regular delivery of your English lessons.
Remember: Students are likely to need a whole term to practice the drama, learn the lines, make or collect the props and get the costumes ready. All these tasks need to be well-organized and assigned to individuals

18. Getting ready for the production
All students in the class need to know exactly what the language in the drama is about and what it means. Additionally, those who will be the main actors in the play need to:
know their lines very well and know when to say them, which will require a lot of practice;
use loud, clear voices that can be heard at the back of the hall or theatre;
be confident enough to carry out their lines on the night of the performance
Lines that are learned by rote (involving memorization without understanding) are always rather 'dead' lines and need to be avoided at all costs.
Work with all the students to put together a play that is meaningful, interesting and engaging, and that involves them in using real English in all the stages – planning, preparing, and performing.
Give all the students some sort of job in the production. Make sure that they all are mentioned in the program and brought on stage at the beginning or end of the performance.

19. Preparation … and patience!
Performing a drama involves a lot of preparation and a lot of patience.
You will need the help of many other adults to assist with such things
as costumes and lighting.
Students may get tired because of the extra work required of them.
Things should go fairly smoothly if you remember the following:
make sure your rehearsals are not too long and tiring for the children;
keep preparation for the drama relaxed and laugh when things go wrong;
balance the workload well for both you and students during lessons, especially if you need to rehearse in lunchtimes and outside lesson hours;
manage the production closely from the first day of preparation.
start practicing far in advance;