January - Directions

Teaching directions and cardinal points was super fun with year 1, because it meant we could use our bodies to learn! 

Everyone stood up and I taught them the different cardinal points 'North, East, South and West' by using my arms to point. They copied and shouted the words out. Then I tested them by pointing to a direction and getting them to shout the correct cardinal point. I made the game faster and faster to challenge them. We also watched a song on Youtube to help remember the cardinal points. 

Then it was time for a challenge so I gave a compass picture to the students and we had to direct one student around the class. I would pick different students who would say 'Go North', for example. We made it more difficult by saying the steps as well, 'Go 2 steps North'. Some students even gave two directions! We had a picture of the correct cardinal point on the walls around the classroom so they couldn't get too lost. They found this game really funny as it was almost as if the student walking around the class was a robot being controlled by the rest of the class. 

We did an activity in the workbook to practise their writing skills and solidify what they learned. 

The following week, we played a game where the students had to direct Pepito (small blue fluffy toy) around the town. We had a big picture on the board of a map with different places in each square, for example a bakery, a police station, a school. The students had to get Pepito to a specific place like the bakery and use their English skills to tell him 'go North 2 steps and east 3 steps', for example. If they got it wrong, Pepito fell off the map and we had to start again. They really enjoyed this game.