I was nervous going into this day as it was my first day teaching the CM2 class. This was daunting as CM2 is the oldest class in the school and I have never done a lesson with them before. I have gotten very used to teaching the CP children who are the youngest. Having observed the CM2 class many times of the past four weeks I have gotten to know the children and gain an understanding of how they learn. There are some very big characters within the class, therefore, I was anxious to see how they react to the way in which I teach English.

In the morning I had a chance to get my resources together and make sure that everything was in place for the lesson. The children had maths in the morning before I taught my going shopping lesson. I had to ensure that I was able to recall both the English and French words for the various types of shop as this was a topic they have never done before. I was worried going into the lesson about how easy/ difficult they would find the topic. However, knowing that my teacher would be there to help if I needed it made me feel more at ease.

The lesson was a success and I was so relieved that all went well. As the children in CM2 are the oldest in the school they have a good level of English. This meant that learning new vocabulary was simple for most of them. Vocabulary was the main focus and the children picked this up very quickly. I used flashcards with pictures of various types of shop to teach the vocab before moving on to different games. One of the games involved the children closing their eyes while I removed a flashcard from the board, they then had to look and tell me which shop was missing. This proved to work very well as it required the children to think about the words they had just learned. Being able to recall the vocabulary was the main aim of the lesson and I am very happy that I managed to achieve this. I believe that repetition is the key when introducing new vocabulary. I was also able to test the children’s understanding of the items you would find in various shops. I was surprised that they were able to tell me so many different items that could be found. This allowed me to see that this class are very competent in English, meaning that I can give them more challenging task in the future.

I believe that moving forward with the topic of going shopping, I must begin to introduce more challenging vocabulary. I think I should also begin to ask them questions regarding the topic in English. This way they will be able to further develop their language skills. I will continue to play games with the vocab as I believe this is a good way to make a lesson interactive and keep the children engaged throughout. I already have ideas regarding what I could do for my next lesson on the topic of going shopping.

I continued the topic of colours with the CP classes. I have really enjoyed teaching this topic because the children have been very enthusiastic, and it has been rewarding watching them develop their language skills. As they are becoming more confident with the colours I am able to do more complex activities and games with them. I am really enjoying having the opportunity to work with the younger members of the school and using different teaching strategies.

Since I have now done a few lessons on the topic of colours I thought it would be a fun idea to teach them the song ‘I can sing a rainbow’. This song lists all of the colours in the rainbow. I found that my first CP class of the day found this very difficult. As I have mentioned in previous reflections, this is the case for most lessons I have taught. I have yet to learn why this is however, it meant that I just had to take the lesson slower and use more repetition. By the end of the lesson the children were becoming more confident with the song, however, still needed my input.

I was very excited when I went into my second CP class as they seem to soak up information and are very confident in their English. They picked up the lyrics very quickly and were able to remember them without me singing along every time. This was very rewarding to see as it meant that my teaching style was working for this class. I was so impressed with their singing that I managed to record the class singing and play it back to them. The enthusiasm in the younger classes makes every lesson so much fun and I always look forward to teaching in the CP classes. Because the children are so confident with their colours now, I think it might be a good idea to introduce some new vocabulary and a new topic.

Overall, I had a very successful day of teaching. This was the most I have taught in one day and it was great. I now have a good understanding of how all of he calls learn best. I look forward to further developing my teaching skills over the final two weeks of placement.