1. Fun Activities for very young learners By Miriam D’Amico

2. What kind of activity is a task?

3. Will the activity engage learners' interest? Is there a primary focus on meaning? Is there a goal? Is there an outcome? Is success judged in terms of outcome? Is completion a priority? Does the activity relate to real world activities?

4. ‘ The more confidently you can answer yes to each of these questions, the more task-like the activity.

5. Activities like the following generally have the potential to become effective tasks: Listing and/or brainstorming Ordering and sorting Matching Learning from exposure Problem solving Sharing personal experiences and storytelling Comparing: finding similarities and differences

6. Ordering and sorting

7. Learning from exposure

8. Matchin g

9. Sharing personal experiences Sharing personal experiences

10. Communicative activities have the following characteristics: They are purposeful. They are beyond strictly practicing particular structures. They are interactive. The activities are often conducted with others and often involve some form of discussion. Authentic materials are used. The situations in which the learners have to use language should be as realistic as possible. The language models given should be authentic. They are based on the information gap principle.

11. Teachers need to be aware that children have a much shorter concentration span than adults and this will affect the number of different activities we plan for a single lesson. Different kinds of activities to practice the different skills need to be balanced against each other. Teachers need to take many factors into consideration when planning a balanced primary lesson and it is important to plan varied lessons. How to plan the activities: Stirrers and Settlers for the Primary Classroom

12. Settling students ‘Settlers' are activities which are designed to calm students down and settle them into a routine. Basic classroom management and routines are essential to establish as a pre-requisite for learning. Make sure children know what the routine is when they arrive in class e.g. coats off, books out. Have a clear signal to get the children's attention and make sure children know what it is. Clap your hands, say a signal word clearly and hold up your hand, sing a song.

13. Settling Activities Wordplay activities Whole-class listening activities or games Arts and Crafts activities Read and draw activities Use stories or storybooks

14. Stirring Activities Mingles or surveys Use action/movement games Use songs, chants and raps Use drama/acting out Make the most of technology

15. Songs and problem solving