Five-Minute Activities for Young Learners

Box 4
Names of animals
One Two  Two 
syllables: 
Three Three  Three 
syllable
syllables:  stress on the 
syllables: syllables: 
syllables: 
stress on  second 
stress on  stress on 
stress on 
the first 
syllable
the first 
the middle  the first 
syllable
syllable
syllable
and last 
syllable
cow
chicken
giraffe
elephant
mosquito
kangaroo
bird
lizard
gazelle
crocodile
koala
polar bear
cat
tiger
baboon
duck
hippo
dog
monkey
frog
spider
goat
horse
mouse
sheep
snake 
Follow-up
Make a chart of animal names and stress patterns. Each time the children
come across another animal name, e.g. in a book they are currently reading,
ask them to add it to the chart.
1.5 Singing about animals
Level
*
Language focus
Song, vocabulary: animal names
Skills focus
Speaking: pronunciation
Thinking focus
Ranking
Teaching approach
Promote accuracy – correct errors
Interaction
Whole class work, suitable for large classes
Procedure
1 Introduce the song Old Macdonald had a farm.
2 Ask the children to suggest which animals to sing about, but they must be
ranked in order of size, starting with the smallest animal.
Animals
13

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3 Write the children’s suggestions on the board in a grid. See Box 5.
4 Then ask the children to identify the sound that these animals make. Add
these to the grid.
5 Finally, ask the class to sing their new version of Old Macdonald had a
farm.
Box 5
Animal sizes and sounds
Animals ranked according to size
Sound that the animal makes
1 Bee
Buzz, buzz / Hum, hum
2 Mouse
Squeak, squeak
3 Hen
Cluck, cluck
4 Dog
Woof, woof
5 Pig
Grunt, grunt / Oink, oink
6 Cow
Moo, moo
Follow-up
For other songs, see Activities 2.14, 5.4, 6.7.
1.6 Writing an animal Haiku
Level
*
Language focus
Poem, simple sentences, question forms, present tense,
adjectives
Skills focus
Writing: joint construction
Thinking focus
Creating
Teaching approach
Promote creativity – accept errors
Interaction
Whole class, suitable for large classes
Preparation
Select suitable Haiku poems from the website on page 148.