Introduction

This didactic unit is designed for the Second Academic Year of the Second Cycle of Infant Education for the Autonomous Community of Castilla la Mancha. 

It is very important to set beforehand the objectives that our students have to meet at the end of the academic year and also at the end of each didactic unit and the contents that will help them reach the objectives set. In this sense, the teaching programme is a very useful tool that makes our job, as teachers, easier since we establish the objectives taking into account the characteristics of the school, as well as, students ‘characteristics and interests. The teaching programme contains all the didactic units that are designed for the entire academic year.

The success of the teaching-learning depends largely on a previous planning of the education action and this involves, establishing beforehand what to teach (taking into account the objectives and the contents that will help students to meet the objectives), when to teach, (sequence of contents, from general to particular, from the easiest to the most complex, always taking into account students' previous knowledge), how to teach (methodology and approaches, this is crucial since not all methodologies are appropriate for all students), and what, when and how to evaluate (evaluation and assessment criteria).

All the aspects mentioned above are detailed in each didactic unit.

Context

The school

This didactic unit will be implemented in Santa Maria de la Expectacion Infantil School.

The students

The students, for which we have designed this teaching programme, are aged 4 years old and according to Piaget, they are in the preoperational stage and that means that they interpret, understand, and know the world by language, mental imagery and symbolic thought.

As for contexts (situations and texts) the following are used (Garcia, 2013):

Objectives

Topic

HAVE FUN WITH FARM ANIMALS

In this Didactic Unit, students learn the names of farm animals and vocabulary related to the topic. In the previous unit, students have learnt the colours and in this unit students can put into practice their previous knowledge since they have to identify the names of the animals with photos, but also their colours and numbers. So the main topic is animals; however, students will put into practice their previous knowledge. Nevertheless, apart from animals, they also have a great opportunity to review the contents previously seen in the other units, contents such as: colours, numbers and pets. 

This topic arouses students’ interests since they love animals and it is a good opportunity for them to learn their names and to represent these animals by sound and/or mimic. 

Skills

Listening:

• Listen and sing this song. 

• Watch this video and sing the song.

Speaking:

• Look, listen and answer:

http://sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/animals/farm/animalfarmgameII.htm

• Look, ask and answer:

Is this a sheep? Yes, it is.

                        No, it isn´t.

Is this a horse...? Yes, it is.

                             No, it isn´t

Is this a pig? Yes it is.

                           No. it isn´t

Is this a hen? Yes, it is.

                            No, it isn´t

Domino:
Play and have fun.

Reading:

• Look, read and repeat:

 http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/animals/farm/animalfarmflashcards.htm

•     Click and count the animals that you hear.
•     Play and choose the correct animal.

http://sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/animals/farm/animalfarmgame.htm

•      Listen, point and say. Then play with a partner.

   
Writing:

• Trace the following words, then colour the animals.

•      Trace the words and match:

• Make a mini book and show it to the class:

Functions

• Asking and giving information about farm animals.
• Identifying farm animals, colours and numbers.
• Giving and responding to instructions.
• Communicating and interacting with their peers in the classroom using the English language.

Tasks

• The students have to prepare at home charts about the farm animals.
• The teacher gives them masks to colour and cut them. 
• In the class the children choose their favourite animal and then they introduce themselves.
• This activity will be a funny party at the end of the unit.

         Hello. I´m the pig and I say oink,oink.

Conclusion

This didactic unit “Farm animals” is proper for the students since it takes into account their interests and previous knowledge. The Communicative Approach (CA),whose main aim is to communicate and interact using the second language, as well as the Total Physical Response Method (TPR) are taken into account in the design of the activities that students will do in the classroom. In this sense, Games, videos, songs and charts are used in the classroom to facilitate their learning process and at the same time motivate them to participate actively in the classroom.