At
first I was going to recommend books such as The Gruffalo, The very hungry caterpillar,
Room in the Groom, etc. But I realized that those are the books everyone knows
about and we all know how good those books are. So I decided I was going to
look for other books that could be use in class and are less known.
The
books I chose are good to work with them in class for this main reasons:
They get used to another language, so it is not
strange for them and they learn a new language faster because of the inputs
that they are receiving from listening to the teacher reading a book in English.
By reading to them in English they learn faster
structures, such as how to announce questions, answers, how to describe, etc.
It also makes them learn a lot of vocabulary that can be really useful for them
and in a way that isn´t boring for them.
By listening to this books they also learn how some
words are written and this will help them in a future when they start writing
in English because while you are reading to them, in an indirect way they are
learning how those words are written, not all of them but some.
Another important fact to keep in mind is the fact
that while you are reading and they are listening to what you are saying, they
learn how words are pronounce and this will be useful for them when they
communicate in English. Because being able to communicate in a second language
is not easy, and working with them by reading to them will help them gain
confidence and will make easier for them to talk in English without being
afraid of embarrassing themselves.
Without knowing it they are going to learn a new
language in a fun way, in a motivating way because everyone loves a good story.
The books I chose definitely have enough elements in their pages to motivate children
and to make them have a good time.
The books I chose are also simple, easy to
understand and with beautiful illustrations so that children will pay attention
to them.
The books I chose are:
Ø
The pigeon needs a bath! By Mo Willems.
I fell in
love with this book since the moment I saw it. It is about a pigeon that doesn´t want to take a bath because she doesn´t think she smells; but when she ends up getting inside the tub… I´ll let you know what happens with this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymxNlpgcxU
.
It has
beautiful illustrations and is not difficult at all. I will use it with kids
with ages three and four. It also talks about a topic that probably happens to
children in the class, that they hate taking a bath or a shower.
We have
already talk about how important is for children lo be able to relate with the
main character of the book. They will definitely relate with this one.
With this
book I will work vocabulary, negative and affirmative phrases, communication
skills will be required because children will need to talk about their own
experience and knowing to distinguish talking with exclamations from talking
with interrogations.
Although
with this story we can do some fun activities and even games using water.
Ø
Pete the cat Rocking in my school shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean.
Here is the link so that you can see what´s
the book about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHHbAdcO0Y&t=190s
. Basically it’s a cat that tells us what he does at school: go to the library,
playground, etc. It’s a great book for kids learning a second language because
it makes them take part on the story by asking questions, it´s easy to
understand and talks about school which is something with what children can
relate because it is where they are while you are reading them the story.
I will recommend this book for children from
ages four and five, even maybe with three year olds depending on the main purpose
you have by reading them this book.
One of
the things that I loved the most about this book is that the cat sings a short
song and is repeated changing just one or two words through the hole book.
Children like singing and this will make them pay more attention to what is
going on.
With this
book we can teach kids a lot of school vocabulary which is really helpful for
the context we are in and taking this as an advantage we could do some fun
activities like a tour around the school with clues and games like a gymkhana
or getting to know each part of the school with some main aim for each room. We
could also learn the song and create a dance or imagine that Pete the cat goes
somewhere else that doesn’t appear in the book.
Ø
Go away, big green monster by Ed Emberley.
It is an amazing book for 3-4 year
old children because it is about a monster that appears and disappears. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK6aDPItjGk.
With this book you can teach colours and parts of the face. We also can talk about feelings like fear
and the feeling of relief.
We can do really cool activities
like creating our own monsters, activities and games related to colours and
face parts, etc.
There are lots of books that I will recommend to use
to teach English in infant education but the important thing is that you have
to make sure that children will love it as much as you do, that they understand
it and that they are motivated to learn.
