The New Ways Series is a collection of activities and exercises for classroom practice. Here are three great activities for teaching reading from New Ways in Teaching Young Children.

Classroom Store

Procedure

1. Introduce the topic of superlative adjectives by writing the words Adjective Adventure on the board. Then give an example, such as longest hair. 
2. Brainstorm other examples for the adventure, such as widest palms, smallest feet, funniest person, and tallest person. Write 10 examples on the board. Be careful to avoid potentially offensive or embarrassing examples such as fattest, thinnest, smartest, and so on.
3. Divide the class into groups of four or five. Give each group a ruler and a meter stick or yardstick.
4. Have the groups determine which member represents each category and write their findings (e.g., Lucia has the smallest feet).
5. Let the groups compare their results.
6. Ask a “reporter” to give the figures for each group. From the information displayed on the board, have the students compile written reports about the facts they learned while on their Adjective Adventure.

Caveats and Options

Have the students who are not yet readers or writers in the L2 draw pictures as you introduce each concept to help them understand the vocabulary used in this exercise.

Contributor
Sean Bracken teaches in Port Vila, Vanatu, in the South Pacific.

Name That Object

1. Seat the children in a circle. Give the bag or box of objects to the first child. 
2. Tell the child to select one object from the bag and give its name both in English and in his or her native language.
3. If the child answers correctly, place the object in the middle of the circle. If not, replace the object in the bag.
4. Continue until all objects are in the middle of the circle.

Caveats and Options

1. This activity is excellent for prereaders and beginning English speakers. It offers a nonthreatening way for children to build self-esteem and make concrete connections between English and their native language.  
2. Reinforce the oral language further by having all the children repeat the words at the end of the exercise.
3. Use this game regularly and thematically (e.g., a week with fruits, the next with vegetables, the next with shapes) to help the children become very comfortable and familiar with it.
4. If you like, allow the children to help classmates who are having problems with a particular object.
5. This activity is also helpful for monolingual English speakers, as they will hear objects named in another language. It can help build self-esteem for both monolingual English speakers and non-English speakers in a bilingual classroom.

Contributor
Maria Artiaga and Lari Cobos teach at MacArthur Elementary School, Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the United States.

________________________

These activities were originally published in New Ways in Teaching Young Children, published by TESOL. TESOL retains all copyright.

Schinke-Llano, L., & Rauff, R. (Eds.). (1996). New ways in teaching young learners. Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL).