Selling books, magazines and newspapers

I want to share an activity that I did in a Kindergarten. Work communicatively is possible even when students are very young.

On one table I put the magazines, on the other books and in the last one the newspapers and the cash register.  Then I explained to Ss the activity. I brought them the flashcard with the things they had to buy and some “money” (they already knew until 12, so I gave them $2, $5 and $10).

One of them would be the seller and the others had to buy. They were used to say “Can I have…? So in that way they bought, for example, “Can I have 2 newspaper and 1 book, please?”. I was there, helping them to count and pushing them to talk, but they were not shy.

I changed 5 times the sellers until the bell rang and the activity was over.

I had thought that the activity would be disorganized but they behaved very well, as the activity was going on, they shifted places alone, I did not need to tell them several times what to do. I really enjoyed it and Ss had fun.

I think that the activity was truly communicative because Ss lived it naturally. Kids Come First (2003, p.65) said that it is essential that the teacher use every available resource to keep motivation high and keep Ss interested in participating in class activities. I used colourful materials and the T and I played first to captivate them with the activity.  Some of them were very active so I selected them to be buyers and sellers just to do not feel bored.