It is well known that generally adults use only a fraction of the brain in every day life. The same remains true for children in the course of their time at school in a learning environment.
It is my belief that by working with rhythm in different ways, we can harness more of the child’s capacity, interest and motivation in learning. This is especially true with language acquisition where we need to involve the whole child in the learning process, ie appeal to the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic senses.
It is our responsibility as teachers to understand these processes, not only because it helps the teaching and learning process, but it also makes the lessons FUN!
I therefore endeavour to incorporate a kinaesthetic element into as many different areas as possible.
For example:
Tête, épaules, genoux, pieds song - do all the movements with the class,
Matin, midi, après-midi, soir, bonne nuit – hands over the head, eye level, chest level, lap level, pretend to sleep,
J’adore – hands make big circle over head,
J’aime – thumbs up,
Je n’aime pas – thumbs down,
Je déteste – cross hands and shake head!
The ‘As-tu’ question – have a sneeze!
Les sports – find your own movements for each sport (over emphasize)
Verbs – again find your own movements (large and slow)
This is clear with the four line number rap to embed numbers 1-10 and 4 verb phrases. Use fingers for the numbers and a movement for each response:
Un deux trois il ne fait pas froid,
Quatre cinq six J’adore les saucisses,
Sept huit neuf J’ai horreur du boeuf,
Et numero dix on va en Suisse.
Weather song – find your own movement for each weather condition:
Il fait chaud,
Il fait mauvais,
Il fait froid (clap clap),
Il y a du vent,
Il pleut,
Il y a du soleil,
Il neige,
Il y a des nuages,
Et un orage,
Il y a du brouillard.
Directions
Pretend to be a policeman/woman on point duty and enjoy waving your hands everywhere – a clear movement for each direction.
e.g. Continuez tout droit…passez le pont…aux feux, tournez à gauche…au rond-point tournez à droite…et c’est à gauche.
Means of transport
Having taught the ‘Où vas-tu?’ question with ‘je vais’ and a few places in a town e.g. à la piscine…à la bibliothèque...à la banque ...au café...au parc...au cinéma...
you can teach the means of transport, each one with a movement - again large and funny!
Quantities of food / drink
Having taught the ‘Je voudrais’ phrase, it is useful to work with the quantities – again a movement with each quantity. This can be reinforced with plastic food and drink. It is then possible to work in pair/small group role-play, for example ‘Au marché’.
It is often useful to teach the song where there is no access to the written word so that the pupils learn correct intonation, accent and rhythm. Once the song has been learnt it is then a very good idea to show the words so that pupils can link the correct sound to the word. It is also necessary to test comprehension so that pupils know what they are saying!
Songs are very useful in primary language teaching and learning in that they have the ability to embed not only a good foreign accent but also an understanding of the natural rhythm of the language.
Although using mime and music, of course, is not the only way of introducing and reinforcing grammatical structures and/or vocabulary at primary level, I believe it is a very powerful tool as it is extremely interactive and can engage the pupils fully in the learning process.
©David Hicks 2004