How many breaks should I have in my primary English lesson?
I have heard that it is good to have breaks in my lessons but I don't know when or how many to have. Our lessons are 45 minutes long and I am a teacher of Primary. What do I do? Soha Adel
Dear Soha,
It is true that it is good to have breaks during lessons. In an ideal world, for lower primary pupils, it is best to give them a break every half an hour and higher primary can easily cope with a break every 40 or 45 minutes. However, break times are usually dictated by the institution where the teaching takes place. So while unable to give a break whenever he or she wants to, a teacher can change activities often enough to suit his or her pupils. Having a reading corner or a quiet reading time during lessons also gives pupils a break from the usual lesson activities. As we all know, children love stories and so these kinds of activities tap into this feeling.
The Cambridge Storybooks series has numerous attention-grabbing stories for primary pupils. The stories are accompanied by a Teacher's Book which has ideas on how to use the readers as well as photocopiable activities for each story. For listening practice, the stories are in audio format on cassette and audio CD.
Regards,
Amy
Amy Sarkiss is a Teacher Trainer and Editorial Consultant for Cambridge University Press in the Middle East and North Africa. Amy holds a BA in English and Comparative Literature from the American University in Cairo and the RSA CTEFLA and DTEFLA from Cambridge University. She was an EFL teacher for 14 years, the last 9 of which were at the British Council in Cairo.
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