Kick off with primary languages

As the excitement of the forthcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa approaches, primary language teachers will be asking themselves what enjoyable and challenging activities can be prepared for this event for use in class.

The answer is of course, a whole range of ideas for learning opportunities exist and these can be used to motivate, further language acquisition and deepen cultural insights.

Why not try some of the following out with your class?

Where in the World…
Have a display with a map showing the names of the continents and the participating countries in your chosen language.  You could also have a display of the flags on the nations and use them to practice names of countries capitals and revisit colours!

South Africa here we come!
Research some facts about the host country. Your class could look at geography, language, culture, music  and history! Did you know that South Africa has eleven official languages?

How are we doing…?
Once the competition is underway, keep a chart tracking the progress of the teams – again, use your language for the team names and for the scores. This will generate some excitement!

Let’s bring the World Cup home!
Teach your class some simple refereeing phrases in your chosen language, then play a game of football with refereeing instructions given in the new language! The children will soon pick them up…

Theatre of dreams…
Make a display of a stadium, labelling the individual parts – stand, entrance, car park, pitch, goals, tunnel, changing rooms, and refreshments to name but a few.

Player portraits…
Get the children to pick a range of players and divide them up. They could do some individual or group research about their player, where they are from, which languages they speak, the children could then present their findings either as a PowerPoint or as a portrait.

My dream team…
Ask the children to then consider which players might be in their dream team, and to make a line up. They could then learn the names for the various football positions on the pitch!

What’s the weather like?
In your classroom show a map of South Africa and label the stadia. Get the children to help you to do a daily weather report for the various locations! How might you travel to them?

I want my team to wear…
Talk to the children about the team strips for the competition. Get them to design and label their own, maybe even for their dream team!

And not forgetting – refer to the official World Cup website - www.fifa.com/worldcup  

Above all, enjoy the competition, and may the best team win!