Your timetable gives English two or three periods a week. That's under three hours out of the thirty-five a child spends at school. An English corner stretches that time without touching the timetable: a small space at the back of the room children can drift into at break, after they finish their work early, or while they wait for a friend. Every minute spent there is free extra time for the language.
Five things every corner needs (you can make them all yourself)
- Word Wall: the vocabulary from your current topic goes up on the wall, with new words added every week. Children watch their pile of treasure grow.
- Card box: every set of flashcards you've already used, kept together in one place. Children can pull them out and play Memory on their own at break.
- Free-choice shelf: worksheets pitched a notch easier than the lesson, there for anyone to pick up. Finished ones go in the hand-in box and earn a star.
- Picture book nook: three or four easy English storybooks. Nobody has to read every word. Turning the pages and spotting the familiar ones counts.
- Sentence of the week board: one sentence in big letters, changed every Monday. Say it to your teacher any time that week and get praised on the spot.
How to stop the corner going quiet: give them a reason to come back
A corner that never changes is deserted within two weeks, every time. The trick is to give it a pulse. Swap the contents each week to match the topic you're teaching. Pin up a weekly mission, something like: this week, find five words on the Word Wall that start with S. Keep a small star chart for anyone who finishes it. Primary school children have almost no natural defence against a mission and a star.