TEACHER'S RESOURCES

• SECTION ONE •SUNSHINE 1INTRODUCTIONThe following notes are for teachers who are using SUNSHINE 1. This is the first book in acontinuous syllabus of five course books that cover the first five years of English languagelearning from the first year of the scuola elementare.The art-work and types of exercises in the various components of the course will change anddevelop to meet the needs of the increased maturity of the children.Course components .................................The SUNSHINE project:• Pupil’s Books 1 and 2• Activity Books 1 and 2• Teacher’s Resources Ring Binder including:- teacher’s notes 1 and 2 (in Italian or English)- audio cassettes 1 and 2- 12 wall posters• Video cassettes 1 and 2• The introduction to the Teacher’s Resources for SUNSHINE 1 is divided into two sections,Methodology and Content.• The Methodology section discusses some of the aspects of the teaching of English to youngchildren.• The Content section describes the structure and organisation of the Pupil’s Book.MethodologyThe aim of this section is to discuss some of the aspects of language teaching methodologywhich have played an important part in influencing the authors in their choice of exercises thechildren are asked to perform and the sequence of the various activities.Routine and habitPrimary school children will perform any language learning activity the teacher tells them to doand if asked to repeat the same activity regularly, they quickly learn the framework of the task.When children learn English as a foreign language they are often asked to do activities that theywill not be asked to perform when they are learning other subjects, for example, role play, repeatingsentences with accuracy and pair work activities are particular to language learning.Therefore, as the teacher in the first year of language learning, you will not only be teaching thechildren the English language but you will also, and very importantly, be teaching the childrenhow to learn.Learning how to learnThe children will have no prejudices about the activities they are asked to perform. Explain tothe children that they will be learning a language that they can use as an instrument of communication(Progetto Lingue 2000). It is important that the teacher insists on good behaviourand discipline when the children are performing an activity or exercise for the first time. Whilethe pupils are working they must be able to concentrate on:• what is expected of themTeacher’s Resources • 5 •