Meet Leon, Pixy and Sky! As a part of our support for teachers of Pre A1 Starters, A2 Movers and A2 Flyers, we are continuing our series of exam vocabulary worksheets. The worksheets introduce children to unique characters designed by children from around the world with fun exercises to help them prepare for their exams.
In my last blog post, we introduced you to Nedda, Bolt and Clunk in part 4 of the series. This week, for the final part 5 of the series, we introduce Leon, Pixy and Sky, designed by children in Brazil, Russia and Portugal.
Below are some ideas for introducing the worksheets with classes:
Meet Leon – Pre A1 Starters
Pretend to look through a magnifying glass (or even better, look through a real magnifying glass!). Look through it at your other hand and say I’m looking at my hand. Wave your hand and say: Wow! My hand is waving at me! Repeat, this time asking What am I looking at? What’s my hand doing? Do the same with your feet and mime kicking a ball.
Pairs of learners then ‘look’ through their magnifying glass at themselves and each other and mime actions with their eyes (looking), their ears (listening) and their mouths (speaking, singing).
Share the Leon worksheet with learners by giving out photocopies of pages 1-3 or sending it to their tablet or computer.
Introduce Leon. He likes looking at and doing things. Learners write the things he likes doing in the table in exercise 1.
Learners can add one more thing for Leon in one or more of the boxes in the table. You can help by showing them flashcards or miming actions. (Suggestions: ears: listening to the radio in English, listening to the sea; hands: drawing and colouring pictures; eyes: watching TV; feet: walking, running, jumping.) Download the Pre-A1 Starters flashcards.
Next, show the picture in exercise 2 of the family in the living room for 10 seconds, and learners say things that they saw in the picture. Then, they read the sentences and write yes or no. You can get all learners, or more confident learners, to correct the ‘no’ sentences (2 There are two fish swimming in the water.; 4 The man’s hand is on the mouse.; 5 The woman is reading a story in her book.)
When checking answers for exercise 3, look through your magnifying glass at the learner who is saying the answer.
Meet Pixy – A1 Movers
Ask learners to stand up and mime doing different actions. If you have space, they can move around. If not, they stay in the same place and mime.
Say: Today, we’re moving! Are you ready?
We’re on our bikes. We’re riding. Wait! Stop.
Now, we’re putting on our roller skates. We’re roller skating! Left foot, right foot, Stop!
We’re playing baseball now. We’re holding our baseball bats. Ready? Hit the baseball!
You could continue with a tennis racket, a badminton racket and a hockey stick.
Share the Pixy worksheet with learners by giving out photocopies of pages 1-3 or sending it to their tablet or computer.
Point to the pictures on page 1 and ask learners What’s Pixy doing? and they say words that they think they will read in the texts next to the pictures. Do the example (skateboard), then learners write words to complete the texts. If you have time, learners could write a text about roller skating or basketball.
Have fun doing Kangaroo bounces and Starfish jumps. Re-use these actions in other classes when your learners are sleepy or restless. They could also ‘invent’ other animal exercises.
Meet Sky – A2 Flyers
Write a big S on the board and while you are drawing it, say sssssssssssssssss (a very long s). Practise saying this letter with learners. Add a big P after the S on the board and say sp. Learners repeat.
Say words starting with ‘sp’: spell, speak, special, spoon.
Now, write a big SK on the board and practise that sound: skip, skirt, skateboard.
Share the Sky worksheet with learners by giving out photocopies of pages 1-3 or sending it to their tablet or computer. Learners write sk or sp on the lines in exercise 1.
Challenge learners to say: Sky skated, skied and skipped. That spider’s special!
Say: Sky moves quickly and quietly! Last weekend, Sky waved at the sheep in the field. Point to the sheep picture and to this sentence in exercise 2. Learners draw lines using different colours to make 3 more sentences about the things Sky did. When checking answers, learners could mime the actions.
FOLLOW UP IDEAS: Learners can write their own character cards like the ones for Leon, Pixy and Sky, using a photo or drawing of themselves. Or, they could draw a new character and complete the card.
Download the worksheets by clicking on each of the images above. Otherwise, you can download them here:
For more ideas on preparing young learners for exams, catch up with our experts in our Catch Up FUN series.