Session #1 : Water – What is it ?
(Sensory workshop – discovering water)
Whatever students’ abilities, introducing or revising key vocabulary is
essential and should be done throughout the sequence.
Introduction: water is shown to the students in a container large enough that
the students may put in their hands to touch. The teacher may start by pouring
some water from a larger container into a smaller one while questioning the
students:
What is it? The question is accompanied by actions: pour, touch,
shake the container, pretend to drink… etc.
Once the matter has been named the teacher may propose a game to consolidate
by placing different objects in different containers (one container has
water). He then asks the students to find the matter: Is it water? Which one
is water ?
The teacher may then ask students to describe the matter in several stages.
Notes are taken as the students advance:
-
Touch - (water is light/heavy/hard/soft/liquid/solid) – pour bien établir la différence entre liquide et solide, l’enseignant
peut verser l’eau d’un récipient à un autre en soulignant qu’on peut verser
l’eau qui est liquide mais pas le livre (ou un autre objet) qui est solide.
-
Feel – (water has no smell) – To facilitate
language acquisition, the teacher can compare water to other things that the
students may already know).
-
Taste – (Water has no taste) – The teacher may do as in the
previous stage and compare: water tastes like…. The teacher may also add
mint or strawberry syrup to the water. Students then say whether the water
has changed taste and colour, and if so what it looks/tastes like.
This sensory activity may be followed by one similar: students pass through
the previous stages to find water but with their eyes banded/closed (certain
younger children do not like having a bandanna over their eyes). Students
touch, smell and taste several substances (sugar, salt, syrup, jus) and say
whether it’s water or not: It’s water;
it’s not water; It’s syrup.
See Document 1_Songs