To bring English into one of the young learners’ class lessons specially, is not easy. The teacher needs to pay attention to the children’s physical, language, cognitive, and social developments. As they only have quick attention, offering some interesting activities to them is essential. Besides, they need stimulus to make the lesson is not only giving them knowledge but also experience. Experience has shown that when children have a chance at physical activities which bring their natural impulses into play, going to school is a joy, management is less of a burden, and learning is easier. Craft can be offered in the EYL class to support foreign language learning from songs, games, and the other movements (Batianoni, n.d).
To support the successful program of offering craft in EYL class, the teacher need to know some strategies. They are:
1. Using Simple Language
By using simple language the students will understand the message easily. By
using simple language, the students can develop the stages in language development and use the language based on their vocabulary knowledge. Linking the simple instruction while acting what to do with the crafts, benefit the children both in understanding and using the language.
2. The Teaching should be Gratifying, not Terrifying
For the condition that the English class is only offered once of twice a week, the teacher should be able to make the class fun. The teacher should be able to make the students keep memorizing the vocabulary or expressions that they have learned by repeating them in different situations. To make the students enjoy the class, the class should be limited to make the students’ convenience in learning. It avoids hectic situation when they are doing activities such as craft making. Also, they are doing proportional activities, using the facilities properly, and getting the opportunity to talk to their friends and teachers frequently.
3. Using some “Tricks”
In the class, the teacher can use some tricks such as using words and movement in
balance, playing with the language, becoming aware of language, creating routines, making cooperation not competition, and teaching simple grammar. By using those tricks the teacher will be easily managing the class, especially by offering crafts.
Procedures of Offering Crafts in EYL Class
Sabilah (2008, 13) mentions that controlling, facilitating, being well prepared, designing activities, selecting appropriate targets, drawing children in, and giving accomplishments are important roles for teacher in EYL class. To succeed the program of offering crafts in EYL class, the teacher should be careful in putting the activities together and in setting the time. The following is the procedures that the writer proposes, namely, presentation, project, and review.
1. Presentation
This is the time for teacher to present the material of the day. The teacher explains the concept to understand the material. To better the students understanding, the teacher can ask the students about their brief understanding about the topic. For example, when the topic is “My House” the teacher can ask “Do you live in a house or in apartment?”, “Is your friend’s house big?” They may be asked to mention vocabulary related to house that they know, too. The teacher can show a house picture, and asks the students: “How many rooms are they in this house?” “What is it? a window or a door?” To make it more fun, the teacher may ask the students to gather around and sing a song “where is the window, where is the door….” In transition between material presentation to crafts, the teacher can take the students to the corner to read a story about house. Possible book to be used such as The Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks and Three Bears.
After reading, the teacher can mention the craft that the students will make. The craft that will be made is based on the lesson plan. Coloring and gluing the 3D house can be chosen as weekly crafts, to complete the daily crafts such as cutting and pasting various pictures of rooms and household objects onto a house-shaped backboard, activity sheet with writing, connecting the dots worksheet with numbers 1 – 20 for a house. This is the time for the teacher to show and mention the materials used for crafts. The students memorize them by repeating after the teacher. As everything is ready, the students move to the corners and are ready to work in a group.
2. Project
For small students, the equipments and materials for crafts have been ready at every corner for students. This way can avoid hectic time to start the project such as running in the classroom and fighting over toys or materials (Dodge, 1991:18). Then, time is ready for the students to create crafts. It can be done as individual or group project. If it is individual project, the equipments and materials should be enough for everyone to finish crafts. To check whether or not everything is running well, the teacher supervises the students’ activities by moving from one group to another and is ready to answer students’ questions about crafts. The communication between students and teacher is using English. Dodge (1991: 181) suggests, when the teacher talks to students engaged in crafts activities, she/he can support their efforts such as:
• Describe what the teacher can see: “I see you are great in choosing the colours.” “Look, this is cool.”
• Talk about the students’ actions: ”You really are pounding that playdough.”
• Ask the children about the process: “How did you make the colours?” “Which one do you enjoy most?”
• Ask open-ended questions: “How is it different from your friend’s?”
• Use words to encourage and support: “You spent all morning to make it, it is awesome.”
Furthermore, to train the students’ responsibility, they have to help each other cleaning up the class after the crafts. If the students can finish their crafts before the time, they are allowed to choose the other activities that they like such as reading book at the book corner or playing at the house or toys corners.
3. Review
Review session is conducted after the time for crafts is offer or at the end of sessions of the day. If some students cannot finish their craft properly, they can finish it if there is free time, with the teacher permission. Then, the teacher and students are gathering and the teacher may ask the students experience about doing crafts. All crafts must be appreciated because not all of students are crafty. To develop students’ confidence, the teacher may ask one or two students to tell about their crafts to their friends. Sometimes, the students get stuck or need encouragement. This is the teacher duty to tell; “what can you do with this?” “No worries, you can make it” At the end, the students have to display their crafts on their locker so that every student can see his/her friends’ crafts. By the end of the week, the students can take their crafts home.
Thus, in setting the schedule for incorporating crafts in EYL class to help the EFL learning, the teacher should pay attention to the time allotment for a meeting. The available time should be managed well, so that the teaching procedures run smoothly. As the example, the time allotment per period, based on the Minister of National Education decree No. 125/U/2002, is 30 minutes for grade one and two and 40 minutes for grade three to six (Setyaningrum, 2007:31). Within two periods the teaching and learning process can be put into 15 minutes for presentation, 30 minutes for project, and 15 minutes for review. The time allotment varies based on the time table of different school or different country.
Beside as weekly project, craft can be fortnightly, monthly, or semester projects. The three later projects can be additional projects that will be done in the last meeting of certain periods of time to add the weekly project. Click here to see what to do with crafts in teaching.
Click here to see EYL (Adobe Flash Player version).
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