[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-412793-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-412793-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","channeling-childrens-energy-through-vocabulary-activities","Channeling Children’s Energy through Vocabulary Activities","","The article focuses on how English instruction for young learners can strengthen self-esteem and self-confidence while supporting positive language development, especially vocabulary acquisition. It emphasizes affective factors in second-language learning and argues for enjoyable, safe, and educational classroom activities. The text then explains practical, engaging vocabulary activity designs, including approaches for preliterate students and high-energy games that combine word recognition, fun practice, and classroom management to maintain student motivation.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/channeling-childrens-energy-through-vocabulary-activities/412793/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/channeling-childrens-energy-through-vocabulary-activities/412793.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"pop out","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why does the article stress self-esteem and confidence for young English learners?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It argues that when children feel incompetent, they distance themselves from the L2 and its culture. Developing self-esteem and confidence supports a more positive learning experience.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How should teachers structure classes for preliterate children?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Because preliterate students cannot yet read, the article recommends relying on oral learning and using activities that reflect natural language acquisition before introducing written forms.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What is the main purpose and setup for the “What’s Missing?” activity?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It trains students to recall vocabulary item names within a category. Teachers prepare large pictures or real items, display eight or more, then remove one after students hide their view so they can guess what is missing.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},412793,1790795368,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,99,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":55,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962090760408,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Andrea Schindler  \nJ O R D A N  \nChanneling Children’s Energy through Vocabulary Activities  \nriences in English classrooms. Many teachers forget the importance of developing students’ self-esteem and selfconfidence as language learners and users (Macintyre, Dornyei, Clement, and Noels 1988) . It is imperative that teachers make the learning experience both enjoyable and educational. Affect plays a large role in learning a second language, and when children are made to feel incompetent, they certainly don’t feel close to the L2 or the L2’s culture (Brown 2001) . One important part of language development is vocabulary development, and fun vocabulary activities can be used to develop a positive affect in the young learner English language classroom.  \nThe goals of English instruction for young learners should be to:  \n• make students feel competent and confident while learning English;  \n• provide a safe, entertaining, and educational environment;  \n• create life-long learners of English. Remember—if your students are laughing with you, they are paying atten  \ntion; they are probably learning something; and they most likely feel pretty  \n8 2 0 0 6 N U M B E R 2 | E N G L I S H T E A C H I N G F O R U M  \ngood about themselves. The next section will describe several activities to help teachers achieve these goals.  \nEntertaining and educational activities  \nOne of the hardest things about working with young learners is that often they are preliterate, that is, they have not yet learned how to read in their home or native languages. When, as a teacher, you are working with preliterate students, you can’t just write letters and words on the board and expect them to be able to read what you have written. However, preliterate students can orally learn a large amount of language before they learn to read and write. This is the order in which we learn our first language (Krashen 1981), so it makes sense to structure language classes in ways that take advantage of our natural learning inclinations. Described below are activities that work well with preliterate learners as well as with learners who have developed literacy skills in their native language and English.  \nIt’s important to mention that for the following activities to work well, the teacher has to be lively and enthusiastic! You need to put fun and energy in your voice (in English, of course) to get the students in the right frame of mind to participate. If you are excited about the activity, they will be excited, too.  \nWhat’s Missing?  \nPurpose  \nThis activity is designed to give students practice recalling the names of items in a specific category of vocabulary. Before doing this activity, students should have already been exposed to categories of vocabulary in real and/or pictorial form, such as food items, colors, classroom objects, seasons of the year, etc. Now, they can have some fun while practicing their new knowledge.  \nPreparation  \nYou will need large pictures of the vocabulary items in the category or the actual items themselves, if they can fit on the chalkboard tray or be taped to the chalkboard. If the chalkboard does not have a tray, you will need tape to fasten the pictures or items to the board.  \nProcedure  \nLine up eight or more large pictures of one category of items, such as colors, on the chalk-  \nboard’s tray. If your chalkboard doesn’t have atray, tape the pictures to the board. Tell students to study the pictures, looking carefully at each one and saying the word to themselves. Then, have students put their heads down on their desks to block their view of the board.“Heads down! Heads down!” you cry, imitating the correct posture. Once every little head is on the desk, you remove one picture, rearrange the others, and then yell: “What’s missing?” Students look up and then guess which item has been removed. The first student to guess correctly scores a point and gets to hold the item. Continue until there are only two items left. The student with the","cbCairX668hP09yT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairX668hP09yT","pdf",160952,"English","# Channeling Children’s Energy through Vocabulary Activities\n## Goals of English Instruction for Young Learners\n## Entertaining and Educational Activities\n## What’s Missing?\n## Spin-offs\n## Erase!","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article stress self-esteem and confidence for young English learners?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that when children feel incompetent, they distance themselves from the L2 and its culture. Developing self-esteem and confidence supports a more positive learning experience.\"},{\"question\":\"How should teachers structure classes for preliterate children?\",\"answer\":\"Because preliterate students cannot yet read, the article recommends relying on oral learning and using activities that reflect natural language acquisition before introducing written forms.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose and setup for the “What’s Missing?” activity?\",\"answer\":\"It trains students to recall vocabulary item names within a category. Teachers prepare large pictures or real items, display eight or more, then remove one after students hide their view so they can guess what is missing.\"}]","Channeling Children’s Energy through Vocabulary Activities | PDF",1790592820,13]