AKITA: September – The M&M’s of teaching English to young learners by Kathleen Kampa. In a word – energy! Kampa led an active workshop on how to keep young learners engaged mentally and physically. The two go hand-in-hand for her pedagogical approach to teaching young learners. After introducing some information about cognition and how music and movement enhance language learning, Kampa showed us what the research was telling us. Activating minds and muscles, all participants sang and danced their way to enhanced English proficiency. Even though the introduced activities were targeted towards elementary and junior high school learners, Kampa encouraged teachers of other learners – senior high school and university – to incorporate movement and music into their classrooms as it is a break from the traditional seated learning style. Participants agreed using music and movement could motivate learners at any level (and is a good way to stay fit).

Reported by Wayne Malcolm