There are so many ELT books for primary students. How do we choose a good one? Some of them are obligatory in schools because books are already bought. Every teacher has a legal right to use the book he prefers. To say the truth, more often we wait until the school administration decides to renovate the books stock.
Imagine, they have asked what you need. What will be your answer? Decide while reading this article.
The following courses have books for grades 2-4. They are included in the Federal list of books recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation:
Authors: V.P. Kuzovlev, N.M. Lapa, E.Sh. Peregudova and others.
The components of the course: Student’s Book, Teacher’s Book, Activity Book, Audocourse, Grammar Book, Handwriting book, Assessment tasks, Readers.
Students learn the transcriptions, the ABC; learn to work with a dictionary, to read; learn to write about themselves. Learners can speak on such topics as “Toys”, “Holidays”, “Friends”, “Pets” and etc.
From the first pages students learn how to read whole words and their transcription. Some vocabulary units seem too specific for beginners (the first book of the course has the words “mermaids” and “stepmother”). This book contains a lot of grammar. Children get acquainted with most of the tenses in the primary classes. Anyway, the course gives a strong basis for further learning.
2. “English”
Authors: I.N. Vereshchagina, K.A. Bondarenko, T.A. Pritykina and others.
The components of the course: Student’s Book, Teacher’s Book, Workbook, Readers, In summer, Tests, Picture Flashcards.
The course is aimed at speaking, getting to know the foreign culture, developing creative and critical thinking; improving all 4 skills; constant revising of the whole material; project work.
It is mostly used in schools affording intensive study of English as the book includes a bit complicated vocabulary and grammar. Thus, teachers notice the course can be adapted for “stronger” and “weaker” classes.
Authors: O.V. Afanasyeva, I.V. Mikheeva.
The components of the course: Student’s Book, Teacher’s Book, Workbook, Handwriting book, Tests, Extra vocabulary and grammar activities and readers.
The course is logical and systematic; includes constant revision of the material; various vocabulary and grammar activities; creative tasks.
Authors: N.I. Bykova. D. Duli, M.D. Pospelova, V. Evans.
The components of the course: Student’s Book, Teacher’s Book, Workbook, CDs, Test Booklet, Picture Flashcards, Posters, DVD, Interactive Software.
The course uses the communicative approach. It’s based on real-life topics. Students learn about other cultures and English-speaking countries. The course includes songs, games and fairy-tales.
It is considered too easy in comparison with its analogues. On the other hand, children of primary school have enough time for practising new material, even “weak” students perform successfully.
Author: M.Z. Biboletova.
The components of the course: Student’s Book, Workbook, Audio course, Teacher’s Book.
The course is aimed at developing 4 language skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing. It also includes tests to prepare students for the final assessment in the 4th grade.
Here’s the list of the books I find effective and engaging for tutoring children: young learners really love them. We can use these editions during classes in a private centre or at free clubs at school.
6. Super Minds
Authors: Herbert Puchta, Günter Gerngross and Peter Lewis-Jones.
It’s a 7 level course. It covers the following levels: A1-B1 (True Beginner to Pre-intermediate).
The components of the course: Student’s Book, Workbook, Super Grammar Book, DVD-Rom, Flashcards, Wordcards, Teacher’s Book, Teacher’s Resource Book, Posters, Class Audio CDs, YLE tasks.
The course includes vocabulary and grammar lessons, songs, stories that include social values, craft activities, phonics, guided visualisation exercises, TPR activities, CLIL lessons.
7. Kid’s Box
Authors: Caroline Nixon and Michael Tomlinson.
It’s a 7 level course. It covers the following levels: A1-A2 (True Beginner to Elementary).
The components of the course: Pupil’s Book, Home Booklet, Activity Book, CD-ROM, Language Portfolio, Teacher’s Book, Teacher’s Resource Book, DVD with Teacher’s Booklet, Posters, Flashcards, Wordcards, Class Audio CDs.
The course includes vocabulary and grammar lessons, songs, stories, craft activities, phonics, CLIL and Values sections, exam-type tests.
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