Inside a Pilgrim's House

As I was finding printables for a Thanksgiving Lapbook (will post soon) I ran across lesson plans that are created especially for ESL/ELL students. What is great about these type of lessons is that they are great at developing language and aiding in the ability to communicate. These are all great skills for our young children to learn as well, since they are also learning language acquisition.

As most of us adults know, a huge part of communicating and language is learning to listen. Adults listen about 50% of the time they are communicating, but for children it is closer to 90% of the time. Learning to listen is a valuable skill to be taught to children (and some adults too). Part of listening is being able to hear directions and be able to decode those directions so that you can do what is asked. Following directions is something that all people use almost on a daily basis. As a way to teach this skill I found a printable of the inside of a pilgrim house. Then I gave step-by-step direction to "A" to tell him how to recreate the inside of the room, including straw on the floor, hook and pot in the fireplace, and table in the corner. Even though he was learning a valuable skill he enjoyed  wondering what would come next. To him it was like a puzzle he was coloring one place at a time. It was really cool to see how it turned out and how well he was able to listen.

Even if it isn't Thanksgiving and you aren't using this pilgrim house to teach following directions you can do this with just about anything. In fact, just get a picture from your child's coloring book. Then give instructions on what to color. Start with single instructions and then as they get older give multiple steps at a time. Make it fun and have them color things in an unsuspecting way (the tree purple with pink polka-dots), and at the same time they will be learning a valuable tool!

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