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Teaching Euskara
in Early Childhood |
By Axun Azurza
Thanks to Axun
for making this material available. Eskerrik asko! For a
copy of the music that goes with these lessons, send an email
Our first aim
is to create a warm inviting atmosphere in the classroom: the
children need to feel comfortable, for most of them it will be the
first time they hear Euskara, so they might feel a little nervous.
The school will also be new for them, and the teacher will be
speaking to them in a language that many will not be able to
understand at first. We need them to feel secure and comfortable,
this will give them the confidence to start speaking a new language.
If the children feel secure and happy, it is easier for them learn.
On the other hand, the activities have to be interesting to them as
well, and they need to provide them with opportunities to start
speaking in another language, apart from the one they already speak.
Therefore, they will feel happy and have fun!
A
well-organized classroom, divided into centers, also helps (a
blackboard and a place for circle time, another center with tables
and chairs for writing or doing worksheets, and a little library).
We decorate the classroom with Basque pictures and words, for
instance, with the numbers and their corresponding words, also
colors...
When learning a
second language and specially at this age, it is important for them
to get into some routines, as these routines give them a kind of
security, they feel more confident when they know what comes next.
Thus, we always start the class in the same way, asking similar
questions and doing warm-up activities, and then we start the
different activities planned for that lesson.
As we learn a
language by speaking, we encourage them to start speaking from the
very first day, with these warm-up activities, so that they can see
they can speak Euskara, and feel motivated from the beginning.
The method used
in the Basque Country for teaching Early Childhood is called "Urtzintga",
and it is based mainly on stories, which are a good way to reach
children, besides the games. Each month they work on a new story,
many times, a traditional one (like "Txanogorritxo" Little Red
Riding Hood).
The story is an
excellent opportunity for them to learn new vocabulary and
expressions. They have an activity book with activities related to
the story they are learning. Apart from that, they also use
flashcards with images of the story, play bingo and so on. In the
end, they will be able to tell the story (a simplified version) they
have learned by using a small poster with the characters of the
story or tale (this is not exactly what "Urtxintxa" asks, but this
is what we have started doing in Boiseko Ikastola).
There are some
variations in the way "Urtxintxa " is used in the Basque Country and
how it is used here, in Boiseko Ikastola. The situation here is
different, and therefore the method requires a different image of
itself, and we have adapted the method to be more developmentally
and linguistically appropriate, for our young learners.
ROUTINES
It is
convenient to start every lesson the same way, so that they can get
into a routine, which is very helpful for learning a new language.
As it has been said before, it is good for the children to know what
they are going to do, or at least, the order of the activities, as
this way they feel more relaxed, more confident, and a as result,
are more prepared to learn.
Sitting on the
floor in a half-circle, next to the blackboard, we start the class
in the same way each day:
- Greetings. We
encourage all the children one by one to repeat or answer (of
course, if they do not want to do it the very first day, we try
again, until the child feels confident enough with the teacher and
in the classroom).
Kaixo!
Egun on! /
Arratsalde on!
Zer moduz?
- Date: We have the days of the week and the months written in
flashcards near the blackboard, and talk about them (example: which
days we go to school, which days we do not...). Then, we write the
date on the blackboard.
- Who is
missing and who is not: We have the name of each child written on a
nice picture (it could be a bus...). Then, near the blackboard, we
also have a chart, divided in two: on the top left side, we write:
ETORRI DIRENAK, and on the right side: ETORRI EZ DIRENAK. Each day
one child, standing up in front of the class, takes the names from
the chart and asks:
"Kepa etorri
(al) da gaur?" and Kepa, says:
"Bai, hemen
nago"
If that child
is missing that day, the other children say:
"Ez da etorri".
Once they have learned to say this, we add " gaixo dago", if that is
the case.
When the pupil
asks about his own name, the others say "hor zaude!". (They really
like this).
- The weather:
We have a big blue cloud, with a question inside:"Zer eguraldi
daukagu gaur?"
In addition to
that, pictures with the different possibilities (sunny, rainy,
snowy, cloudy and windy) and other flashcards with sentences like: '
eguzkia dago, euria ari du (or euritsua), elurra ari du, lainotuta
dago, haizea dabil".
The same pupil
who asked about those who came and who did not, takes the picture of
the weather and the corresponding sentence and puts it inside the
cloud. After these everyday routines, we do other activities,
still sitting in a circle or half-circle.
CIRCLE TIME
We do a variety
of different activities:
-Sing songs: To
teach them a new song, we ask them to repeat the song line by line,
first without the tune, then with it. Then, we start, and see how
well they manage by themselves.
- Activities
with flashcards:
a) We give
children a different flashcard, and ask them to say what they have.
Then, the teacher says: "Prest? Or Prest zaudete?", they have to
raise their flashcard whenever they hear the teacher calls its name.
After a while, the children exchange flashcards. We also do this
activity for learning numbers, colors, or any other vocabulary such
as clothes, parts of the body, food... We also practice "gora/behera"
with this flashcards With only one flashcard we can also say: "Horia
... belarrian ... sudurrean!"
b) Three
flashcards for each child: For instance, we give each one a yellow
flashcard, a red flashcard and a blue flashcard. Then ask everyone
at the same time to pick up the yellow one, then the red one, then
the blue on.. . After doing it this way for a while, we ask each
child individually. If we don't have many flashcards, we prepare the
rectangles in a sheet, and then ask them to color them and cut them
out.
c) Numbers: We
use flashcards with numbers from l to 10 with the written form
below. Spread them on the floor and ask them to pick up the ones you
say. Then, after practicing this activity, we take marbles or
similar objects and ask them to take the same quantity as the
flashcard says.
d) Colored
magnets:
-Ask them to
pick up the colors you want.
-To practice "
asko / gutxi".Ask them to count how many they took, the colors...
e) Three boxes: Hide an object inside one of them (for example a toy
car). Ask them one by one:
- Non dago
kotxea?
- Hemen!
Then, by
playing the choosing game "dona, dona, katona", one of them will
hide it, and the other ones guess where it is.
f) Blindfold game: They sit on chairs, in a half-circle. One of the
pupils will be blindfolded, and she/he will have to find another
one, by saying: - Miren, non zaude?
- Hemen nago!
The blindfolded
one will keep asking until she/he gets all the pupils.
g) Dice.
Sitting on their chairs in a circle, one of them throws the dice,
and counts the pupils beginning from his/her right. Then he/she
says: "Tori, hemen duzu"
h) 1. The telephone game: We pretend we call one pupil, and when
he/she picks up the phone, we have a conversation about: the
weather, brothers and sisters, or anything...
2. The
telephone game: We say a word into one child's ear. That one says
the word to the one next to her/him. We continue until the last one
says what he/she understood.
i) T.P.R. (total physical response): It is like 'Simon says", but
nobody is out of game. We say : Altxa! Eseri! Lo egin ! Dantza!
Salto egin!... We encourage the pupils to be inventive when they say
the commands. It is recommended that this activity is done sitting
on chairs rather than on the floor.
HOW TO WORK ON
"URTXINTXA "MATERIAL:
There is a
project for each age (one for three-year-old children, another one
for four-yearold, and another for five-year-olds), but the basic
idea and progression of each is very similar.
Teacher's
material:
Big posters
(one for each subject, so 12 in total)
Flashcards
Large laminated
cards for telling the stories
Storybooks CD-
Songs CD- Activities
Pupil’s
material:
Activity book
Storybooks
BIG POSTER:
First of all, to introduce the new subject, we put this poster on
the blackboard, and talk about it. We leave this poster up for the
whole month, while we work on the subject.
Activities:
We talk about
it, and ask them what they see in it
We point to
something on the poster, say it aloud, and they repeat it.
We ask the
pupils one by one to point and say what different things are from
the poster. We ask them to count the different objects in the
poster.
STORY TELLING
This activity
consists on learning a specific dialogue of the story. It is
important because these sentences (or very similar ones) will be
very useful in a normal conversation, both inside and outside the
classroom.
First we tell
the story and they listen.
Then we tell
the story again two or three times eventually leaving our words then
asking them for help. We ask them to tell us what is going to happen
next, encouraging them to use the basic vocabulary and expressions
from the story.
In a different
lesson, after they know the story well, we re-tell the story, but
with "mistakes", so that they correct us.
ROLE PLAY
Example:
Otsoa: Kaixo,
Txanogorritxo! Nora zoaz? Txanogorritxo: Amonaren etxera noa. 0: Eta
non dago zure amonaren etxea? T: Hor dago, zuhaitz horien atzean.
First, they
practice and learn this dialogue, and then we change the words:
Pupil A: Maider,
nora zoaz? Pupil B: Etxera noa. A: Eta non dago zure etxea? B: Nire
etxea Boisen dago.
First, they all
repeat the dialogue after the teacher. Then, we divide the class
into two groups. The first group takes the role of the wolf, and
says his lines. The second group answers. Then, we ask two pupils to
stand up and do this role play in front of the others. Continue
until all pupils have done it. They will probably need the teacher's
help at first.
FLASHCARDS
The teacher can
also tell the story using flashcards. Then, play games:
Memory game.
This game can be played with any flashcard, related to any subject.
There must be at least six pairs, and they can be pairs in two
different ways. Example: two pictures (i.e. two houses), or a
picture and its written form (a picture and "etxea"). We put the six
pictures diagonally face down, and next to them the other six
flashcards. The pupils, one by one, pick up first one flashcard, say
it aloud, and then, they pick up the second flashcard and again, say
it aloud. They objective is to get a matching pair. It is convenient
to go on the game until each child gets one pair (even if we have to
play with other flashcards related to a different subject).
The
Photographer: After reviewing all the flashcards, we choose four,
and put them on the blackboard. Each pupil comes in front of the
blackboard, and pretends he/she is taking a photo, and says "klik,klik
, etxea!". When he/she has taken the photos, he/she leaves the
classroom, and the others say: "agur! Gero arte!" Then we choose one
of the four flashcards to turn over. After that, we call the pupil
who is outside to come in: "Sartu!" Then the pupil has to guess
which one has been turned over. Dona, dona, katona...Zer da hau? We
give a pupil some flashcards, and he/she walks around the circle
playing the choosing game, and when finishes, shuffles the cards and
asks the pupil in front: "Zer da hau?" If the other one guesses it,
then he/she takes the cards and does the same thing.
It is
convenient to show the pupils the flashcards in every lesson, as
they are a very good way to review what they learned in the last
class.
MURALS
Before starting
this lesson, the pupils need to prepare some pictures in order to do
a mural, that is, they will color some drawings that the teacher
gives them (i.e. a hat, trousers, a sweater.. . if we are working on
the subject of clothes). They will cut these pictures out, and the
teacher will keep them until the time comes to stick them on the
mural.
Then, we put a
big mural with the title of the story on the top on the blackboard
(there will be a simple picture in it, for example a wardrobe to put
the clothes in. .. anything related to the story), and we start
telling them the story. The children need to be sitting near the
blackboard in a half-circle (preferably on chairs).
When the
teacher says the name of the clothes, she/he will give the pupil the
picture the pupil himself/herself colored and cut out, and the child
will name the item (or he/she will say a sentence, depending on what
the teacher wants the pupil to learn), and then she/ he will stick
it on the mural, in the proper place. We continue like this until
all the children do it.
After that, we
will finish telling the story (because they will probably do this
activity in the middle of the story).
Once we have
finished the mural activity, we put it in the classroom, and use it
to review the vocabulary anytime.
DRAWING WHAT IT
IS MISSING
We start
telling the story by mimics (we always encourage them to help us in
telling the story, we may say the first word...). Then, we give them
a sheet of paper in which they can see the scene of the story they
are working on.
They see in the
sheet that for example the main character is missing. So, after
having guessed that, they will say it aloud, and then draw it on the
paper. There might be missing more than one thing or character, so
we will continue telling the story until we complete the scene.
Then, we will finish the story.
STICKING ON THE SHEET WHAT IT IS MISSING
As we have done
with the mural, the children will color and cut out beforehand some
items or things.
Then we start
telling the story, and give them a sheet in which they will see the
scene in from that story. They will see that something or some
things are missing, and those will be exactly the ones they colored
and cut out previously. Therefore, they will stick them with glue
onto the sheet. We tell the story with their help until the
end.
BINGO
We play "Bingo"
with the vocabulary we want them to learn. It is good if, besides
the picture, they have the written form below, so that they can get
used to seeing words, and start recognizing the letters.
Every time they
have the object that has been called out, they can say: 'Nik bai!
Badaukat!" or " Nik ez, ez daukat!".
The game
finishes when everybody gets bingo, not only when the first one gets
it.
First we will
call out the names, but then, after having the first "winner", they
can do it themselves. It is a good activity for them to start
communicating among themselves in Basque.
LITTLE PUPPETS
They have
little puppets that are the characters for each story. They also
have a laminated sheet of paper, with a landscape from the story.
The children tell the main story using these elements, first with
the teacher's help altogether, and then, by themselves. They can
take this material home and tell the story their parents.
ACTIVITY BOOK
They have an
activity book to do the exercises related to every subject. They
have one for every month (in case they come every day).
SONGS
With each
story, we will learn different songs. With these songs we will
reinforce the vocabulary and expressions they are learning.
Therefore, if with a story we are working on the parts of the body,
they will learn songs that will talk about the parts of the body.
PINTTO, PINTTO
Pintto, Pintto
gure txakurra da ta,
Pintto , Pintto bere izena du.
Txuri-beltza da
ta,
ez du kozka egiten,
begi bat isten du jolstu nahi badu.
Belarriak luze,
Isatsa jolasti,
Kalera irtetzen du beti presarekin.
PARISTIK
DATORREN ARTISTA
Paristik
datorren artista bat naiz ni (bis)
Ondo jotzen dut Baita guk ere.
Danborra nik
jotzen dut...
Biolina...
Txindata...
Turuta...
Tronboia..
TXIKI-T'XIKIA
Txiki txiki
txikia, ikusten naiz kalean
Handitzen handitzen, hasi naiz handitzen
Txikia izanik asko maite zaitut nik.
Bi begi
ikusteko, Bi belarri entzuteko
Handitzen handitzen, hasi naiz handitzen
Txikia izanik asko maite zaitut nik.
Ahoa dastatzeko,
sudurra usaintzeko,
Handitzen handitzen...
Eskuak
ukuitzeko, bi oinak ibiltzeko
Handitzen handitzen...
Burua
pentsatzeko, bihotza maitatzeko
Handitzen handitzen...
TXIKIENA
(Brother doinua)
Txikiena,
txikiena...Non zaude?
Hemen nago!
Kaixo laguntxoa,
kaixo laguntxoa
Banoa, banoa
Nagiena,
nagiena...
Luzeena, luzeena...
Bizkonena, bizkorrena...
Lodiena., lodiena... (change your voice, grave voice)
Eskutxoa, eskutxoa...
ZENBAKIEN KANTA
Bat, bi, hiru,
lau. Bat, bi hiru, lau
Bost, sei,
zazpi, bost sei, zazpi.
Euskaldunak
irabazi, irabazi, aurrera!
HAURRAK IKAS
ZAZUE
Haurrak ikas
zazue, euskeraz mintzatzen
Ongi pilotan eta, oneski dantzatzen (bis)
Airetun
txikitun airetun aire...
A LA
KINKIRRINERA
A la
kinkirreinera, a la samurrera
( izena ) plaza berriko jira hadi beste aldera.
HATZEN JOKOA
A-Kaixo! Hatz
bat naiz!
B-Ni ere bai !(edo "baita ni ere")
A-Eneeee! Banoa!
Gora! Gora, gora, gora, gora...
B- Ni ere bai! Gora, gora, gora...
A- Eneee! Banoa!
Behera! Behera, behera, behera...
B- Ni ere bai! Behera, behera...
A- Eneee! Banoa!
Eskuinera! Eskuinera, eskuinera, eskuinera...
B- Ni ere bai! Eskuinera, eskuinera...
A- Enee! Banoa!
Ezkerretara! Ezkerretara, ezkerretara...
B- Ni ere bai! Ezkerretara, ezkerretara...
A- Enee! Banoa!
Atzera! Atzera, atzera....
B- Ni ere bai! Atzera, atzera...
ARRE ARRE
MANDAKO
Arre , arre ,
mandako
Bihar
Tolosarako, etzi Irunarako...
Handik zer
ekarriko?
Zapata ta
gerriko!
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