Case Study on Materials Adaptation

Case Study on Materials Adaptation
Situation 3
I had a group of 10 year old students who needed to practice present simple for likes, dislikes and everyday activities in a 'free stage' environment (with minimal teacher interference). I found some adult material that needed them to share information from role play cards, then use a kind of scale of preference to find their ideal romantic partner. It was going to be time consuming and complicated to explain, and the group was multilingual, so there was no chance of going into the mother language. So how to explain?

Solution: Don't! They say a simple picture can save a thousand words, so don't get caught up in explanations. First I asked them how old they were, and then told them to imagine they were actually 20 years older. They liked this. It let them identify with the role play cards. Then I did the activity as though I were a student. I took 2 students to the front of the class as an example, got their information by asking questions, and then compared them on the blackboard, using the preference scale. I chose my favourite one of the two and said I was going to be her boyfriend. The penny dropped. The principle of this situation don't explain complex activities to young learners. Do them as though you were a student, and let the students 'see' what it is you are expecting of them.