Incorporate games and hands-on activities to teach English-related skills and concepts, such as grammar and vocabulary. For example, when learning verbs, students can pantomime the words and guess the verbs based on one another's actions. To increase vocabulary, you can have students try to think of lists of vocabulary words that mean the same things; for instance, you can supply the word "walk," and children can create a list of words such as "strut," "stroll," "pace" and "saunter." Name the child or group of children with the longest list the winner.
Dress up as authors or characters from books. While dressed up as a character or author, read the book that the individual is related to aloud to students. Students will be intrigued and their attention will be sparked when they see that you're "in character."
Have children perform in readers' theater. Select a text and, instead of simply reading it aloud, assign students to roles based on the narrator and characters within the book. Encourage children to dress up and use props during readers' theater. Allow them to move around the classroom and get into their roles as they read the book aloud in the classroom.
Invite authors to come to the classroom, if possible. Encourage students to ask the authors questions. Ask authors to offer information about their books and to explain why they are writers, what writing and reading mean to them, and how English has affected their lives.
Encourage children to write creative pieces of writing that interest them. After they've composed their pieces, invite them to share their written work with the class. Sharing their work will make it more meaningful to them and will allow students to gain an appreciation for the varied opinions and interests of their peers.