Revisiting numbers and physical listening and responding

Every year you think that all the children have "got" those numbers ....and then at the beginning of the year you realise that ssome of the children really haven't "got" those numbers yet!!

Here is a physical and  novel ways to revisit and practise the numbers and keep everyone engaged and interested, no matter if you are still practising one to ten or counting up in tens or even three digit numbers!

Firstly children need to be standing in a clear space- away from chairs and tables and with sufficient space inbetween each child.The hall or the playground woud be an ideal space.

Physical Warm Up with Numbers (Listening and responding activity) 

• Everyone stands up .
• Tell the class that the number they represent standing up is a specific number e.g "eleven".You decide the number and this  number can be changed as you go along.
• Ask the class to stand very still and listen...
• If they hear a number higher than "eleven" (if that's the number you have chosen as the standing up straight number) they must reach to the sky with their arms and hands.
• If they hear a number lower than "eleven" they need to touch their toes.
• Start with one number and say it slowly 
• Speed up the numbers- who can keep up?
• Say a sequence of numbers (mixture of numbers,higher and lower than eleven ) which children can deminstarte a correct pattern of movements.
• Ask for a volunteer to lead the activity.
• Play the game as "the slowest to react is out"!  

0-100 percent! It's the Winter sales!

Les soldes!

It's January and it's the Winter sales - what a gift to help us practise familiar and new numbers between 0 and 100 with our moving on language learners. You can add a mathematical twist for our older learners too and revisit familiar content such as clothes, colours and Christmas gifts. 

These activities will work well with our Year 5 and 6 children but could also be useful with Year 7 too.

The steps are:

1. Practise those numbers 
2. Take virtual tour of a sale
3. Getting to grips with percentages and written numbers
4. Play the percentage converter game 
5. Convert the real price and find out where the sale tag belongs!

Simple first steps: practise those numbers! 

• Counting up in fives or tens from 0-100
• Counting down from 100- 0 against a count down clock in fives and tens  
• Un-muddling mixed up number words- e.g. which two numbers in French can you see below?

vtringteen

Why not take a virtual tour of the sales in the target language country? For example here are the sales in the French department store Galerie Lafayette for Winter 2015

les soldes lafayette 2015

Getting to grips with percentages and the written form of numbers  

• Step one with your class may be to practise percentages with the class in English 
• Now you need some cards or bags labelled like the bags you can see on the picture below. It works best if each table has a set of bags or cards to sort- so all the class are actively working with numbers.
• Ask your tables to sort the bags/cards in ascending order or in descending order
• Ask the tables to listen carefully to a percentage reduction you call out and to use two bags from their table to create the number you called out.

• Share written labels with the class and ask the tables to call out what they can read on your labels - loudest and most well pronounced "call out" wins the label for the correct bag on their table.
• We are asking our children to really think about how they read and write familiar spoken words so there may be an opportunity here to ask the children to Look, think ,link and read
• Ask your tables to label the bags in the target language with a written number card.
• Ask each table to place the cards they have written labels on into the bags or under the percentage cards- they can decide to out incorrect labels in to the bags / under the cards.Ask a second table to investigate the labels and bags and to reorder the labels correctly .

Where does the sale tag belong?

You will need some sale tags like the ones in the picture below and pictures of/ or real items that you are going to reduce on price.

• Try a percentage converter game in the target language.Say a cost and then ask the class to say the reduced cost when you write the percentage reduction on the flip chart .Let the children work in pairs or groups and use mini whiteboards to work out the new cost.
• Ask the class to help you convert the real price to a sale price on items of clothing that the children are already familiar with in the target language.This makes a great listening activity.Share items or pictures of items of clothing with the children.(You could make this a challenge by saying each item of clothing adds so many seconds on working out time in the game - e.g 30 seconds per item of clothing remembered accurately) On the flip chart share as a written percentage the sale reduction for an item - you say the item in the target language and the normal cost of the item and the class must work in pairs on mini whiteboards to convert the price to the sale price. Who is confident to come to the front and label the item with the new sale price? Does the class agree?

Count down to Epiphany! Numbers and dates.

Thanks to one of my wonderful associate teachers Andrea for this simple idea to start the New Year in Spanish ,,,,and I think this will work in other languages too!

Andrea brought home from Spain a couple of weekends ago this advent calendar with a difference if you are a Spanish child waiting for the three Kings to bring your presents on 5 January!

The activities below would  transfer to other languages too where there is a festive celebration of Epiphany.

The activities are about numbers and dates

Puzzle It Out 

• Give out number cards on each card is the figure for one of the numbers 
• Ask the volunteers with the cards to stand at the front of the class
• Don't give any of the children any clues but ask the class to decide how to put these numbers in to a sensible order.
• Can they work out that these are dates of the calendar month from 25th December to 5 January?
• Explain the significance of these numbers and how they are linked to the dates from 25 December to 5th of January.
• Can the children say the numbers with you?
• Can the children count with a partner the missing numbers from 6 to 24?
• Listen to volunteers count the missing numbers.

Hunt the first!

• Share with the children the written form of the number as a date.
• Can the children spot an odd one out because the first of the month will be el primero in Spanish and le premier in French.  
• Can the children identify and explain the difference between the first of the month and the other dates they can see.
• Can the children now help you to write some of the dates in the target language between 25th December and 5th January

e.g. Spanish 

el primero de enero / el triente de diciembre

e.g.French

le premier janvier/ le trente décembre

Dates and a Quiz Quiz Swap Game of "Happy New Year" or "Kings for the Day"!

• Give out date cards - one to each child (each card is between 25th December and 5th January).
• Ask the children to remind you what is special about the date "first of January~" and why it's different to the other dates they can see on their cards.Have they remembered that its el primero /le premier...? Share with the children the importance too of 1st January or ask the children do they know the significance of the date. Practise with the children wishing  each other a "Happy New Year" in the target language.
• The children must walk around the room whispering the question "What  date is it" to  another child.
• The other child says the date on his /her  card.
• The two children swap roles and then when they have completed the question and answer this second time, they swap cards and move to a new partner.
• Hold pauses in the game and anyone holding the date card for 1st January must sit out the next round of questions and answers until you pause the game again.The class should wish them a "Happy New Year" in the target language: "
• Anyone with the date card of 5th January gets a team point...as their Epiphany treat! At the end of the game which team will have most points and be "Kings for the Day" ?

Happy New Year in Spanish!

Happy New Year in French!