A teacher asked me today how to teach this and that, this and that. Teaching this and that, this and that is easy and fun. You need lots of real objects on hand to demonstrate the concepts of singular and plural as well as distance.
Start by introducing the meaning of this and that by demonstrating with real objects. Don’t jump into plurals right away, teach in stages so your students don’t have too much to do at once.
TEACHING THIS AND THAT
The main concept here is distance. This is near and that is far. Demonstrate this using real objects around you. Use only vocabulary that students already know, which is useful for review, so that only the words “this” and “that” are new. Point to a chair near you, stand next to it, and touch it. Point to a chair that is far away saying “that chair.” Switch to this pen and that pen. This shoe and that shoe. This nose and that nose. This window and that window. Check the items in the pencil box, the items on the desks, the furniture in the room, the posters on the walls, the clothes, and the body parts. Those are all things that you are likely to have around you. Every time you say “this”, be sure to TOUCH the object so it is clear that you are close. And every time you say “that” make sure you’re far enough away to show distance.
Say “this pen” and ask students to pick up a pen and point to it, the one in their hand and say “this pen”. She says “that door” and ask students to point to the door and say “that door”. Continue like this until most of the students have gotten pretty good at it. As students improve, switch faster and faster between different objects.
Students follow along by pointing to the correct objects, either near or far. They will find it fun as long as you move at a good pace and don’t drag it out. Start with “this pen, that pen”, “this book, that book”, “this shoe, that shoe”. Then mix up the nouns: “this shoe, that book, this nose, that shirt, that nose, that door, this eye.” Mention your best students and let them talk about things to the class. That challenges them as they have to think of things for others to point out, which prevents them from getting bored in the lesson if they are better than others.
Make it more complicated if students are doing really well by adding adjectives like “this red book, that blue shirt.”
Present these and those in the same way.
Put the children in pairs now and say “this pen” and “these pens.” Students gather their thoughts so they are close and point to them. For “those pens”, all students hold their pens while pointing to someone else’s pens. It will be fun when you do “these noses” and “those legs” and so on because the students have to move to get the objects closer. Obviously, you need to assess whether getting up close to someone else’s nose is appropriate for your class: adults won’t enjoy it, but most kids will find it fun. Adults can gesture without touching.
Play music while the children pass pens and books around the classroom. When the music stops, say “these pens” and any child with a pen jump up and walk over to another person with a pen to show “these pens.” Play the music again and say “those books.” Any student with books jumps up, collects at least two books, and everyone points to them from a distance. Music plays, students pass their objects. Stop the music and say “these eyes” – ALL students must point to their eyes. And so.
My best wishes
shell
