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