LESSON PLAN FOR THE 1ST DAY OF CLASS

Age: 3-5 Number of students: 5-25 Lesson Length: 1 hr

Theme: Day 1 Fun!

Key For many children, particularly those learning a foreign language for the
concepts: first time, the English language classroom can be an unfamiliar place that
may cause fear or anxiety. This will have a direct impact on a child’s
willingness and ability to adapt to the environment and learn what is being
presented. The start of the school year is the perfect moment to help
children and their caregivers feel valued, respected and welcome in the
English classroom.

Learning Learning names and playing together will be the building blocks that this
Goals: lesson uses to make healthy connections between the teacher and students
and also between the students themselves. The children will participate in
a series of activities that will get them familiar with the physical space, the
routine, and foreign language environment. This will create a sense of
security in the English classroom and motivation to return to class each
day.

Links to (EI02EO04)
the BNCC: Communicate with colleagues and adults, seeking to understanding be
understood.

(EI02EO06)
Respect basic social norms in everyday interactions and games.

Materials and Preparation 

Story Time: Print animal flashcards:
http://bit.ly/brownbearflashcards

Role Call Print simple outlines of a body and glue to an A5 sized piece of
Cards: cardboard. Set up a table with glue and materials to decorate their
body. Crayons or markers. Blocks or other toys for fast finishers.

Game: Small beanbags or balls - 1 for every pair of students

Lesson Stage Instructions Observations
& Timing

1. Greeting Start your lesson by greeting This is a moment when you

the children at the front door of
5 minutes the classroom. Introduce
yourself with minimal English
but smile and use plenty of
friendly gestures and body
language to make them feel
welcomed.
Get down to their level and use
their name, eye contact and a
smile to greet each child
individually as they come into
the room.
can interact individually and
build relationships with your
students. It marks the
beginning of the lesson and
prepares them to switch to
English in a non-threatening
and enjoyable way.
We can not underestimate the
value of these moments.

2. Starting the Lead the children into the room
class and sit down on the floor in the
place that you will always start
5 minutes your lesson. Wait for everyone
get settled. Praise those who
have settled and are ready to
learn.
Have this space marked
visually with a mat or even
just tape on the floor so the
children have a clear space to
sit for this stage of the lesson.
This is very helpful for your
classroom management.

Sing the Hello Song using plenty Not everyone will sing the first
of facial expressions and time you introduce a new
gestures. Encourage the song, but that’s ok! Show
children to copy your actions. enthusiasm as you sing,
encourage them but never
insist. If you make singing, a
fun and low-pressure activity,
eventually they will all sing
along with you.

3. Group Introduce the game “Walk, Don’t Including group formation

formation Touch”. Demonstrate this activities as a regular part of
game activity with a volunteer before the routine can help lower
getting the whole class to play. anxiety and develop positive
5 minutes Walk around the room while relationships between the
chanting “Walk, don’t touch, students. This particular game
walk don’t touch, walk, don’t is also good because it gets
touch and STOP!”. Stand in the children communicating
front of someone else and ask with EACH OTHER in English,
 greet them. Repeat these steps
until they have had a chance to
greet at least 5 other
classmates.
4. Story Transition the children to an
area of the classroom where you
10 minutes do storytelling. Get them
settled before bringing out the
flashcards you will use to tell
this story.
Tell the students you will tell
them a story about some
animals. Remind them about
the rules of listening to stories.
“Look” (point to your eyes and
have them copy). “Listen” (pull
both your ears and have them
copy). “And be quiet” (put your
finger to your lips and have
them copy). When you have
their attention you can begin.
Show the first animal on the
flashcards and elicit the name -
“bear”. Then say “Brown Bears
says hello like this…”. Make the
noise of a bear and encourage
the children to do the same.
Repeat with the other animals.
At the end of the story, tell them
“There’s only one hello that’s
missing…. YOURS!”. Invite each
child to show you how they say
hello!
5. Circle Get them up and into a circle in
a new part of the room for circle
10 minutes time. Use a song or chant to
transition them to this next
stage of the lesson. Get them up
and moving again with a quick
circle game. Hold hands and
make a big circle and then move
quickly into the middle to make
probably for the first time!
Be patient! It may take a few
attempts for them to
understand the game. Once
they do, it is easy and fun.
For this storytime moment,
you use flashcards instead of a
book. Be sure to practise this
story many times to get
comfortable with the lines and
also holding the cards up while
you read.
It’s a good idea to put children
in rows and NOT in a circle
when listening to stories. This
is so they can see your
gestures and expressions as
well as the pictures you are
using for language support.
Take a look at my other tips
on reading stories to children
here:
http:// www.onestopenglish.com/children/skills-
and-methodology/teaching-young-
learners/teaching-young-learners-how-to-
use-stories-in-the-classroom/556440.article
It’s important to, after a
period of concentration and
stillness, that you get them up
to burn some energy with a
physical activity. Then, bring
them back down again with
another cognitively engaging
activity. These are called
“settlers and stirrers”.
 a small circle. Repeat this a few Some school provide photos of
times, getting faster and faster. all the children before the first
You could also go up and down class. If it is possible, glue
and around and around! these photos to the cards
before class. If not, use circle
Sit them down on the floor and time to take photos of each
bring out the Roll Call cards you child’s face. This can be
prepared earlier. printed and glued onto their
cards before the next lesson.
Demonstrate what they have to
do by decorating the body Example:
outline with a range of different http://bit.ly/examplecards
materials. Show them the
finished example that you made
with your photo.

6. Table-Time Lead the children to the table This activity is wonderful for
where you have prepared the developing their fine
10 minutes materials for this art activity. motor-skills and creative
expression.
Let them decorate their cards in
any way they wish. Monitor and Some younger children will
provide support where needed. need more help and
supervision using art materials
Provide some toys for fast but encourage as much
finishers to play with on the autonomy as possible.
floor while waiting for the others
to complete their art activity.

7. Game Bring the children into the

middle of the room and get
5 minutes them standing in a circle. Take
a beanbag or small ball and
throw it to someone as you
greet them, using their name.

Then, put the children in 2 lines

and hand out a beanbag to each
pair. Let them throw these back
and forth and greet each other.
After a while, have them swap
places so they can greet a new
friend.
8. Ending the Lead the students over to the
class classroom door and have them
stand in line. Sing the Goodbye
5 minutes song and say goodbye to each
one as they leave the room.
It is very important to make
time for the goodbye song and
that the lesson ends in a calm
and enjoyable way. The
goodbye song also teachers
children about social skills and
gives closure to the sequence
of activities they participated
in that day. The last moments
are what the children will
remember most and you
would like them to leave the
room feeling positive and
excited to return again the
next day.

Lilian Lara has been dedicated to teaching young learners for over
a decade. After graduating in languages and literature she went on
to do a postgraduate degree in ELT and obtained the CELT-P from
Cambridge University. She has since worked in a wide range of
teaching contexts but is most passionate about and currently
working in bilingual education.