Engaging Young Learners With Projects

Bringing the world to the classroom and the classroom to life
N G L . C E N G A G E . C O M / E LT
A PART OF CENGAGE
Poll
How would you describe your

young learners? (YLs)?
Some Characteristics of YLs
• Active
• Curious
• Creative
• Easily bored (short attention spans)
• Challenging to teach – especially
when you have large classes
• Fun
Activities that help children
learn language :
• Involve lots of practice: repetition

• Use language to do things: purposeful
• Are understandable: meaningful
• Lead to success: enjoyable
• Involve interaction: social
(Adapted from C. Read, 1998, p. 1)

What are some activities
young learners DO NOT like
to do in class?
Students usually don’t like to:
• Memorize lists of vocabulary
• Focus on grammar rules
• Read about things they aren’t interested in
• Be told to be quiet and stop talking to friends
• Be passive
• Never be asked what they know about a topic
• Never be asked for their opinions
• Have an activity last for a very long time
• Be asked to sit while others finish
Now, let’s compare this
with project work:
• Instead of memorizing vocabulary or
grammar rules, they are using them
• Instead of being told to be quiet, they can
work together on a project, help each other –
and talk
• Instead of being passive, they are active
• Instead of not being asked what they know or
their opinions, they can share these while
doing the project
• And, they can work until they finish, and if
they are done early, they can share their
project with others who are also done or help
others
Projects: Experiential Learning
Projects are “knowledge in action.”

(Wrigley, 1998)
“Learning through projects” or “experiential

learning” “is a tried and tested way of
motivating children – by doing what they
naturally like doing
and avoiding what they don’t like.”
(Project work with young learners)
What makes projects so engaging?
Learners get to:
• Use their imagination; their creativity
• Make things – and draw, color, use
multimedia
• Do their own research and demonstrate what
they have learned
• Write and talk about themselves, their
families, friends, pets, and interests
• Share what they have made with their peers
& their families – or sometimes, an entire
school
• Be proud of “their” work – of being an artist,
an author, an inventor, etc.
Poll
What are some successful projects you
have asked your students to do?
OR
ones you have seen other teachers use?
Projects for Young Learners
Drawings, Collages, Posters, Murals
Booklets, Scrapbooks
Greeting Cards, Poems, Brochures, Ads
Puppets, Masks, Mobiles, Costumes
Interviews, Surveys, News Shows
Timelines, Graphs, Charts
Experiments, Inventions
Role Plays, Drama, Performances
Autobiographies, Photo-autobiographies, Biographies
THE LIST IS ENDLESS!
Characteristics of Successful Projects
While projects vary a great deal in form and language
expectations, all projects share the following. They:
• Have a real or authentic audience

• Result in new information for the learners
• Involve an exchange of information among learners
• Require a specific product to be developed and shared in
English
• Involve multiple ways of obtaining and sharing results
(Internet research, interviews, field trips, etc.)
NOTE: Projects can be short or long,

simple or complex.
Successful Projects for YLs
Can Take a Little or Long Time
• Create a mural, a poster, an accordion book, etc.
(Short term)
• Create a shoebox/pizza box diorama (house, park,
habitat) (Short term)
• Do research on plants, animals, places, and create
a poster or object to present (Medium term)
• Make masks or costumes and present a play or
Reader’s Theater (Medium term)
• Plant seeds in cups/glasses; put some in sun and
some not; Water some and not others – Describe
what happens. Measure growth (Longer term)
Some Interesting Projects
• Making creative things
• Using your hands
• Writing poetry
• Making class books
• Connecting class with home
• Linking language to math, science, etc.
• Developing caring learners
• Encouraging research
• Developing visual literacy skills
• Developing critical literacy skills
Puppets
Mobiles
Mobiles
Parade Masks
Art from Trash
Musical Instruments
Getting to Know Classmates
• Children trace their hands on a card.
• They write sentences on each finger about what
they like, with a word on each finger. (“I like ___.”)
• They turn the card over and write their name.
• Then in small groups, the cards are shuffled and
learners have to guess who likes all these things.
Fingerprint and Thumbprint Animals
(A, Musielak)
My Name Acrostics
J oyful
A thletic
I ntelligent S mart
M arvelous O utgoing
E nergetic F abulous
I nteresting
A mazing
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/adjectivesforpeople.html
Negative Adjectives?
Witch or Monster Acrostics
W icked M ean
I cky O ld
T errible N asty
C ruel S cary
H orrible T errible
E vil
R otten
More Complex Name Acrostic
My dog’s name is Junior.
He has a black nOse.
He’s 10 years olD.
He’s a b----I---g dog.

Shape Poem
Class Book of 5 Senses Poems
Class Scrapbook
Linking Class with Home:
Families Big Book
Bringing the World into the Classroom:
My World Circles
My place in the world project
Celebrating Culture!
Greeting Card Acrostic
(Shin & Crandall, Teaching Young Learners English, 2014)
Balloon Projects
• Make faces on balloons to represent feelings:
sad, happy, tired, bored – then share them
with the class and have them guess how the
balloon is feeling
• Draw Monsters: in small groups, children give

each other directions on how many noses,
eyes, ears, etc. to draw on the balloon
(A. Musielak)
Bringing the World Into the Classroom:
Connecting with Other Classes
Experimenting: Make a Volcano
Supporting Learning in Other Classes
Helping Save Sea Animals
Encouraging Positive Behavior
Plant a Seed & Watch It Grow
Measure Growth Over Time
Vary Conditions (sun, water, etc.)
Encouraging Research
Old MacDonald’s Farm
with Familiar Animal Sounds
• Small project for you and your children: Insert the sounds
animals make in their own language
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow
E-I-E-I-O
With a moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo, there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
How do cows sound in your language? Pigs? Ducks? Horses?
Lambs? Chickens?
Are there other animals they can add?
Can they find out how these animals sound in other languages?
Story-retelling with Drawings
Integrate Math with a Story
Acting Out a Story
(The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
Reader’s Theater
Developing Visual Literacy Skills
Daily Schedule
Using Graphic Organizers
to Plan an Extreme Sports Camp
Developing Critical Literacy Skills
Why Use Projects?
Poll
What are some benefits of using
projects in your classes?
Benefits of Projects for YLs
Projects:
• Encourage learner independence
• Provide ways for children to apply what they
learning (vocabulary, grammar, etc.)
• Help link school with home and community
• Support learning in other classes
• Encourage creativity and communication
• Make learning more enjoyable
• Appeal to different learning styles
• Bring the classroom to life
…And They Are Fun!

Projects Also Develop 21st Century Skills
• The 4 C’s of:
• Creativity
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Critical Thinking
(Partnership for 21st Century Skills)

Benefits of Projects for Language Learning
• Build on previous language activities
• Require authentic use of English
• Integrate skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading,
Writing)
• Connect classroom with the wider world
Bring the world into the classroom
Take learners outside the classroom to the
world
• Make learning meaningful and purposeful
• Challenge learners to use English in new ways
Projects for
Different Learning Styles
Linguistic/Verbal: five senses poetry, daily
schedule
Mathematical/Logical: transportation chart,
extreme sports camp
Interpersonal/Social: class scrapbook, culture
capsule
Personal: my world circles, family features
Kinesthetic; mobile; art from trash
Musical: create and play an instrument
Naturalist: mural of plant and animal habitat,
poster to help sea animals
Guidelines for YL Projects
• Give very clear directions. Show children a
model of what you want them to produce.
• Be sure all needed supplies and resources are
available.
• Provide opportunity for children to use what
they know and are learning.
• Engage their imagination.
• Connect to their lives inside and outside of

school.
Challenges for YL Projects
• Children need lots of monitoring. Check on their
progress often.
• Allow enough time (including some time at home
and time to clean up the room at the end of class).
• Expect noise! (Noise is good for learning, but
maybe not for relations with other teachers!)
Explain to other teachers what you are doing and
close the door!
Whatever the challenges . . .
Projects are worth the effort!
Projects:
Knowledge in Action!
Less Teaching:
More Learning!
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Bringing the world to the classroom and the classroom to life

N G L . C E N G A G E . C O M / E LT
A PART OF CENGAGE

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Bringing the world to the classroom and the classroom to life

How would you describe your

• Involve lots of practice: repetition

(Adapted from C. Read, 1998, p. 1)

Projects are “knowledge in action.”

“Learning through projects” or “experiential

• Have a real or authentic audience

NOTE: Projects can be short or long,

He has a black nOse.

He’s 10 years olD.

He’s a b----I---g dog.

• Draw Monsters: in small groups, children give

…And They Are Fun!

(Partnership for 21st Century Skills)

• Connect to their lives inside and outside of

Bringing the world to the classroom and the classroom to life

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