Indonesian Farm Animals

Teaching Junior Primary

I really enjoy teaching Junior Primary students. They know many colours and numbers, and now we can integrate that with new nouns and verbs to get students to develop many fun simple sentences.

Our Teaching Indonesian Unit 'Peternakan' is all about farm animals. Students love learning the names of common animals, recalling many from the colours and animals unit they did in Foundation, but adding new animals and extending their sentences. Many students might have a dog or cat at home, making these words personal and valuable. You can begin to have your students read and write simple sentences in Indonesian. I think it is super essential Foundation students do not do much reading and writing, as they are still learning their letters, and it can be a struggle for many young students. Focusing on listening and speaking first and then having students draw, trace, or match is plenty. However, once students have been at school for a year or two, expecting them to copy or create simple sentences opens up many new possibilities.

I have my word cards printed and cut off the word from the bottom. I find that students get distracted initially by having the word to read, and their pronunciation is usually better if they hear it multiple times before seeing the word written. I often have a second set with the word left on for students to reference so that I can differentiate to meet student needs.

We play so many games with these cards:

1. Point to the card that matches the Indonesian word I say.
2. Stick picture cards around the room, and students move to the card when I say that Indonesian animal word.
3. Acting out the animal when I say the word and holding up the card.
4. Students choose a card, I say it, and we act it out.
5. Using fly swatters to slap the matching card or word.
6. Matching the words and the picture cards
7. Rolling pocket dice with mini picture cards in and saying the word.
8. I say the sentence, and students have to listen and hear the animal different in the sentence and find that card. 
9. Students choose a card and say the animal name or the sentence they are learning using that animal.

Students will love repeating these games week after week, so the list above can last you all term and can be repeated each term with new material. In fact, I would encourage you to repeat the same games over each term. Your students will have to think less about how to play the game, freeing up their working memory to concentrate on learning what you are trying to teach.

With a little intentional teaching time, some games, a page in their booklet, and repeating those same games at the end for review, your students will have a wonderful, enjoyable Indonesian class each and every week.

What games do your grade 1 and 2 students love best?

Selamat Mengajar,

Ibu Tasya