EL Support Lesson
All About Location
Objectives
Academic
Students will be able to use position words to describe movement in relation to objects.
Language
Students will be able to explain how to use position words when describing the location of objects.
Introduction
(5 minutes)
Prior to the start of the lesson create your own path of obstacles throughout the room using different objects. There should be objects for students to practice all movements (over, under, around, through). Consider including tunnels, chairs, and tables in addition to things like cones.
- Gather the class together for the lesson.
- Explain that today students will be learning all about words that we use to describe how we move.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(10 minutes)- Read aloud the book The Bouncing Ball pausing as you read to define new vocabulary words using the visual vocabulary cards included in this lesson.
- Using the vocabulary cards, model the movement associated with each word using objects in the classroom (e.g., placing something under a chair, etc.) and hand gestures.
- Invite the students to repeat the hand gestures for each word (e.g., hands held up high for the word "above").
Guided Practice
(5 minutes)- Play the "Sesame Street Over, Under, Around and Through" song, using the gestures for each movement you introduced earlier in the lesson.
- Say one of the position words and ask students to show you the matching gesture.
- Repeat the song one more time to check that students understand the meaning for each word.
Group work time
(10 minutes)- Explain that now the students will get to practice using the movement words we just learned as they work with a partner to explore the obstacle course around the room.
- Model how to go over/under/around/through the different obstacles, emphasizing that students should wait their turn and use their safe walking feet during the activity.
- Pair students with a partner and explain that it is their job to decide which objects should be used for going under/over/around/through with their partner.
- Send students off to explore with their partner.
Additional EL adaptations
Beginning
- Practice the same activity using fewer positions (e.g., over/under).
- Use position words to ask students questions, e.g., "Are you going around the desk?"
Advanced
- Have students complete the My Room worksheet and share how they placed the items (using position words) with a partner.
- Ask students to provide positions to their partner when completing the obstacle course, e.g., "Go under the table and around the chair."
Assessment
(5 minutes)- Listen to students as they work with their partners to assess their ability to use position words when describing objects and movement in relation to the objects.
- Take note of students who are struggling to identify which parts of the obstacle course matched different position words.
Review and closing
(5 minutes)- Gather the class back together and ask student pairs to share which part of the obstacle course they liked the best.
- Using the vocabulary words over/under/around/through/top/bottom, ask students to identify different parts of the obstacle course they used for each of these movements.
- Close by asking students to turn and talk to share their favorite part of the lesson.
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