EAL/ESL Pets and their Homes

In ‘Pets and their Homes’ there is a focus on helping pupils to learn and retain the associated vocabulary. At the beginning, there are pictures with the names of pets/homes written underneath so that pupils can refer to this when completing tasks, if vocabulary is unknown. The photocopiable / printable booklet offers a range of worksheets, activities and games to reinforce the targeted vocabulary. These include matching words to pictures (with the use of reference pages if required), cut and stick, sentence completion, writing a simple sentence to answer a question and following instructions to colour pets. All resources are supported by visuals which make it a very useful tool for EAL/ ESL/ pupils, or indeed native English speakers who are not secure in the targeted vocabulary. The selection of worksheets is suitable for children of different academic abilities.
The games are Bingo, Dominoes and I have… Who has…? game and a board game. A set of the dominoes pieces could be cut in half and used for playing snap or matching words to pictures.
This booklet provides supplementary material for a class doing a topic on pets or it could be used alone to teach some vocabulary associated with pets. The vocabulary building worksheets provide opportunities for EAL/ESL pupils to develop reading and writing skills, experience success and build the confidence essential for learning a new language. The games give pupils the chance to develop listening and speaking skills and encourage integration with peers. For maximum benefit to pupils when playing games,, pets/ homes on the cards should be named when they are placed on the table. Other players can then help if vocabulary is unknown.
Most pages have a self- assessment facility i.e. colouring a star a particular colour depending on how well the pupils thought they had done.
The vocabulary included is:-
horse, cat, dog, fish, budgie, lizard, hamster, guinea pig, rabbit, stable, basket, kennel, tank, bird cage, aquarium, hamster cage, guinea pig cage, hutch, bone, whiskers, mirror, wheel, a big tank and wheel.
There is a chart towards the end of the booklet for doing a class survey about pets and a page of miniature pets to be stuck on to make up the bar chart plus a survey results page to be completed by pupils when all the information has been collected.