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Kids,children,andteens,collectivelyreferredtoas“younglearners,”makeuponeofthemostcommonstudentdemographicswithintheTEFL/TESOLindustry,andteachingthisgroup,whichiscommoninAsia,Europe,LatinAmerica,andonline,posesuniquechallengesandrewardsforEnglishteachers.AsmorecountriesworldwideprioritizeEnglishlanguagelearning,thedemandforteacherswhoknowhowtoteachEnglishtokidscontinuestogrow.ThispostwillteachyoueverythingyouneedtoknowaboutESLforchildrenandteens.
Technically,ayounglearnerisconsideredanystudentundertheageof18,thoughsomeschoolsmayevenincludeyoungadultsbeyond18inthiscategory.
KnowinghowtoteachEnglishtothesestudentscanbeagreatboosttoyourprofessionalTEFL/TESOLprospects.
ChildrenandteenagerslearningEnglishcanbefoundaroundtheglobe.Insomeregions,it’scommonforforeignTEFL/TESOLteacherstoeitherteachorassistant-teachinaK-12setting(eitherinpublicorprivateschools),whileinotherregions,teachersworkwithstudentsafterschoolandonweekendsatlanguagecentersorvirtually.
Oneregionwhereit’spopulartoteachkidsisEurope.Standardteachingpositionsexistatlanguageinstitutesworkingwithawiderangeofages.
AnotherpopulartypeofopportunityinEuropeisworkingwithkidsatEnglishsummercamps.Thesecampsareshort-termand100%English-focused,makingtheexperiencefunandimmersive.
Anotherregionwhereit’sextremelycommontoteachkidsisAsia.AsiancountrieshaveputanincreasingemphasisonEnglishlanguageinstructioninrecentyears,leadingtoalargenumberofTEFL/TESOLjobs.
TeachingkidsEnglishinLatinAmericaisbothpopularandinhighdemand,asmanycountriesintheregionrecognizetheimportanceofEnglishproficiencyforglobalengagementandeconomicdevelopment.Theestablishmentofvariousgovernment-sponsoredprogramsandteacherrecruitmentinitiativesisproofofthisrecognition.
PublicschoolsareaprimarysettingwhereEnglishisoftenincludedinthecurriculum,especiallyincountrieswithnationalprogramsaimedatimprovinglanguageskills,suchasChile’sProgramaInglésAbrePuertas(EnglishOpensDoorsProgram).Privatelanguageschoolsalsoplayarole,offeringafter-schoolorweekendclassestailoredtoyounglearners.
Insomecountries,remoteandonlineteachingprogramsaregainingtraction,suchasUruguay’sCeibalenInglésproject,whichaddressesteachershortagesbyconnectingremoteEnglishteacherstoclassroomsviatechnology.Non-profitandvolunteerprograms,suchasthoseledbythePeaceCorpsandWorldTeach,deliverEnglishinstructiontounderservedregions,broadeningeducationalaccessforchildreninremoteorlow-incomecommunities.
Theonlineteachingmarket,ingeneral,isanotherplacewhereyou’llfindplentyofopportunitiestoteachEnglishtoyounglearners,asthisiswhatthemajorityofpositionsinvolve.Thisisagreatoptionforthosewholovetravelingandwanttohaveasteadysourceofincomewhilemovingaroundfrequentlyorforparentswhoprefertoworkfromhomesotheycanstaywiththeirkids.
Onaverage,onlinecompaniespayanywherefrom$9-$26perhourandallowyoutomaintainaflexibleschedule.Allyouneedisasteadyinternetconnectionandsomebasicequipmentandyoucanteachkidsfromanywhereintheworld!
Anotherdifferenceisthatwhilesomeonlinecompaniesallowyoutoteachthesamestudentsrepeatedly,othersaresetupsothatyourstudentsaredifferenteachtime,resultinginaverydifferenttypeofstudent-teacherrelationshipthanwhatyouwouldexperienceteachingthesamestudentsataB&Mforanentireyear.
However,doyouneedaspecialcertificatetoteachEnglishtokids
TraineeswhoaddthiskindoftargetedtrainingwillalsocompletemoretotalhoursofTEFLcertification,thussurpassingtheminimumhoursrequiredtoqualifyformostjobsandbecomingmoreattractivecandidates!
YoumaybewonderinghowtoteachEnglishtochildreniftheyaretotalbeginnersanddon’tspeakanyEnglish.Thiscanbeanintimidatingideafornewteachers!However,it’simportanttonotethatformostjobsatlanguageschools,TEFL/TESOLteachersareunlikelytobeassignedtoworkwithcompletebeginnersiftheteacherhaslimitedknowledgeofthelocallanguage.
Likewise,inK-12classroomsoftruebeginner-levelstudents,teacherswhodon’tspeakthestudents’firstlanguage(L1)typicallyworkalongsidealocalteacherasanassistant.Thiscanbeagreatwaytolearnfromanexperiencedteacherandwatchtheirtried-and-truetechniques.
You’dbesurprisedhowmuchyoucangetstudentstounderstandjustbyactingoutwhatyou’resayingandkeepingphrasesshortandsimple.
Younglearnerspresentteacherswithanumberofuniqueopportunitiesforcreativityandengagementintheclassroom.Checkoutsomepopulartechniquesbelow.
Whenworkingwithyoungerchildren,itisbesttoincorporategames,songs,videos,props,andotherfunandinteractiveelementsintoactivitiestokeepthestudentsmovingandengaged.Childrenlovetobeactiveandincluded!
Toholdstudentinterest,besuretobuildinavarietyofactivitiesthatinvolvedifferentskillsandincorporatebothquietandnoisytaskssothatstudentsexperienceabalanceofcalmandenergeticperiods.Buildinglessonsaroundthemescanalsohelpkeepstudentsattentive.Itcreatesasenseofcohesionfromoneactivitytothenextandreinforcesnewmaterialthroughvariedlearningtechniques.
“IhadmyclassesdrawhandturkeysforAmericanThanksgivingandtaughtthemsimpleholidaysongsnearChristmastime(like‘JingleBells’and‘WeWishYouaMerryChristmas’).Thiswasawaytoofferthemafunactivityandalsototeachthemculturallessons.”
Forexample,havingspecificroutinesforcommonactivities,liketransitioningfromonetasktoanotherorcleaningup,canhelpchildrenstayfocusedandreducedisruptivebehaviors.Overtime,theseroutinesmakeiteasierforstudentstofollowalongandparticipateactively,makingclassroommanagementsmootherandlearningmoreenjoyableforeveryone.
TotalPhysicalResponse(TPR)isateachingtechniquethatturnsvocabularylearningintoanengaginganddynamicactivitybycombininglanguagewithphysicalmovement.Younglearnersstayengagedandretaininformationbetterwhentheyactivelyparticipate.TPRnotonlyhelpsstudentslearnvocabularyandphrasesfasterbutalsoallowsthemtoexpendenergyproductively,makingitanidealmethodforbothphysicalandvirtualclassrooms.
TouseTPRinclass,teachersfirstsayawordorphrasewhiledemonstratinganaction,encouragingstudentstomimicthemovement.Inaphysicalclassroom,studentscandothisasacircletimeactivitywheretheycanseeeachotherandinteract.Online,TPRisalsohighlyeffective.Inone-on-onesettings,teacherscanswitchrolesandhavethechildleadwithactions;ingroupsessions,studentscanusehandmovementsorgesturesinresponsetophrases.
Musicalsoworkswellinbothphysicalandvirtualclassrooms.Teacherscanusesongstointroducenewvocabulary,signaltransitions,orevenincorporatefunroutineslikedancing.Inonlineclasses,studentscansinganddoactionsoncamera,creatinganinteractiveexperiencethatboostsengagement.UsingsongsbuildsapositiveassociationwithEnglish,encouragingchildrentolearnthroughplay.
Adolescents,meanwhile,canabsorblessonsonmoreadvancedelementsofthelanguage,likegrammarandsyntax.Theywillalsohavemoredevelopedconversationalskillsandbeabletocarryoutmorestructuredactivities.
Teacherscanhaveacoursediscussiononissuesinthenewsorhavetheirstudentswriteandactoutadialogue–thesearegreatwaystoteachEnglishincontext.
Rememberthatstudentshavedifferentlearningstyles,soaimforvarietyinthetypesoflessonsandactivitiesyoudo,sothatyoucanfacilitateallstudents’learning.
Somestudentsmaythrivewithvisualaids,likevideosordiagrams,whileothersmaypreferhands-onactivitiesorinteractivediscussions.Forauditorylearners,tryincorporatingmusic,podcasts,orspoken-wordexercises,whilekinestheticlearnerswillengagemorewithrole-plays,movement-basedactivities,orreal-worldscenarios.
Creatingabalanceofindividual,pair,andgroupworkalsohelpsaddressdiversepreferences,assometeensfeelmorecomfortableexpressingthemselvesinsmallergroupsorone-on-onesettings.Offeringarangeofactivitiesnotonlykeepsstudentsinterestedbutalsoallowseachstudenttolearninwaysthatsuitthembest,ultimatelyfosteringamoreinclusiveandengagingclassroomenvironment.
Anothergreatwaytoengagestudentsinlearningistoinvolvethemincreatingtheclassroomenvironment.
Althoughyou’reultimatelyincharge,olderstudentsappreciateitwhenyouletthemhelpdecideonclassroomdecorationsorvoteonwhichoftwogamestoplayinthenextclass.Itgivesthemasenseofinvolvementandmakestheminvestedintheoutcomeoftheclass.
Inadditiontoboostingstudentengagement,ensurethatteensreceiveadequateandfrequentfeedbacktoavoidfrustrationlateron.Havethembeapartoftheevaluationprocessbyreflectingontheirownprogressthroughjournalentriesorcomparinghowtheyperformedonapasttestwithamorerecentoneonthesamematerial.
Thisensuresaclearlineofcommunicationbetweenyouandthestudentatalltimesandpreventscomplicationsfromalackoftransparencywhenitcomestimetohandoutfinalgradesorofferbroaderfeedback.
FourofthemorecommonEnglishteachinggamesforkidsinclude:
Onestudentthinksofawordanddrawsshortlinestosignifyspacesforeachletterofthewordonthephysicalorvirtualwhiteboard.Classmateshavealimitednumberofchancestoguessthelettersintheword,andeachtimetheyguessincorrectly,anelementofthe“hangingman”isdrawn(suchasthehead,body,arm,etc.).
Ifteachinginperson,alloweachstudentaturntobethecaller,whopicksonesquareatatimefromtheboxandcallsoutwhatisonthesquare.Ifteachingonline,theteachercanbethecaller.Theotherstudentslistentowhatiscalledandmarkthecorrespondingimageorwordontheircards.
Thefirststudenttofillacompletelineofsquaresontheircard,eitherhorizontally,diagonally,orvertically,callsout“BINGO!”andisthewinner.
Dividestudentsintotwoteamsandgiveeachteamasetofvocabularycards.Setuptwostationswithpicturesorobjectsthatcorrespondtothevocabularywords.Eachstudenttakesturnsracingtomatchawordcardtothecorrectpictureorobject,thenrunsbacktotagthenextteammate.
Theteamthatmatchesalltheirvocabularywordsfirstwins.Thisgameencouragesteamwork,reinforcesvocabulary,andletsstudentsreleaseenergyinastructuredway.
ManyusefulgamespromptstudentstousetheEnglishlanguageactivelyandcreatively.Theseactivitiesworkwellforteenagers,whotypicallyhaveahigherlevelofproficiencyandmoredevelopedskills.
Someclassicgamesinclude:
Pairyourstudentsup.Havethemchallengeeachothertomakeatoughchoicebetweentwofunnyorthought-provokingscenarios.Forexample,astudentmightask,“Wouldyouratherfindyoursoulmateorfindamilliondollars”Then,theymustexplainwhytheychosetheonetheydid.
Ifyou’dliketoinvolvetheentireclassinthisactivityorareteachingonlinewithoutvirtualbreakoutgroups,askstudentstowritetheirownquestions.Then,havethemtaketurnsaskingtheirquestionstoclassmatesinfrontoftheclass.
Askstudentstocomeupwiththreestatementsaboutthemselves,twoofwhicharetrueandoneofwhichisalie.
Then,eachstudentpresentshisorherthreestatementstotheclassandtheotherstudentsmustguesswhichoneisthelie.Notonlydoesthispromptstudentstousethelanguagewitheachotherbutithelpsthemgettoknowtheirclassmates!
Dividetheclassintotwoteamsandassignatopicrelevanttotheirinterestssuchas“Shouldstudentshavehomeworkeveryday”Givetheteamstimetobrainstormkeypointsandexamplesandprepareargumentsfororagainstthetopic.Teamstaketurnspresentingtheirarguments,andafterbothsideshaveshared,studentscanaskquestionsorchallengeopposingviews.
Thisgamehelpsteenagerspracticepersuasivelanguage,criticalthinking,andspeakingskillsinastructured,interactiveformat.
Assigneachstudentasecretcharacterorprofession(e.g.,adetective,acelebrity,ateacher)andhavethempreparetoanswerquestionsastheircharacter.Pairstudentsupordividethemintosmallgroups,andhaveonestudentactastheinterviewerandanotherasthemysteryguest.
Thegoalisfortheinterviewertoaskcreativequestionsandguessthemysteryguest’sidentitybasedontheirresponses.Thisgameisgreatforpracticingquestionformation,conversationalskills,andcreativethinking.
KevinisaprogramadvisoratBridgeinDenver.Heholdsabachelor'sdegreeininternationalaffairsandhasworkedasavolunteerEnglishteachingassistantinPortugal.Asanadvisor,henowhelpsprospectiveteacherschoosetherightTEFL/TESOLcoursesfortheirprofessionalgoals.
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