Easy activities for teaching Montessori English

What is the Montessori Method?

The Montessori Method was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori in the early 1900s as an alternative approach to teaching that allows students to learn English or any other subject in a self-directed way.

Traditional teaching methods normally require a teacher to direct students on which activities to perform and how to carry them out, while the Montessori Method allows students to have more choice in how they learn.

This type of independence is known as learner autonomy, and not only can it be a more effective way for your students to learn English, but it can make your job as a teacher much easier.

What are some of the benefits of the Montessori Method?

This approach can benefit students in the following ways:

• Builds self-confidence
• Teaches self-regulation
• Encourages cooperation
• Increases independence
• Inspires artistic creativity
• Enhances critical thinking
• Fosters overall well-being
• Sparks intrinsic motivation

How are Montessori activities carried out?

In a traditional Montessori classroom, you’ll set up tables, which function as stations, with different topics represented at each one and different activities. Montessori classrooms normally teach multiple subjects at once, so one table may be focused on Science, while another has a Math activity.

For English activities, you can offer minimal support by introducing them to students, and this may be done on a one-on-one basis as you notice specific students showing interest in the activity at the English workstation you’ve set up.

Montessori English activities

The following are three easy Montessori-based activities for teaching English to younger, beginner-level students one-on-one:

Activity #1: Sandpaper Letters

One of the many activities that Marie Montessori recommended is Sandpaper Letters, which is a perfect activity for younger ESL learners who are learning the English alphabet for the first time. With this activity, you’ll have two decks of large cards with all the letters of the alphabet on them.

These cards can be purchased online or you can make your own. They’re basically paper cards that have large letters on them, and the shapes of the letters are slightly raised above the paper, as they have sand or another material attached to them.

The letter shapes are therefore palpable, allowing your student to feel the shape of the letters as they run their fingers across the card. Consonants and vowels should be separated into two different colors, with red and blue being the two most commonly used ones.

How it works

To have your student engage in this activity, you should:

1. Take three letters out at a time and lay them on a table in front of your student.
2. Have your student choose which letter they’d like to learn first, and once they’ve chosen one, model an action for them by saying the sound aloud while following the letter’s shape using your finger on the paper.
3. Have your student do the same with their finger while you say the sound out loud.
4. Ask your student to choose another and repeat these steps, though in many cases they may then choose one on their own without having to be asked once their interest is piqued.

Tip: how to make Sandpaper Letter cards yourself

1. Use colored paper as cards by cutting each sheet of paper into a smaller square or rectangular shape.
2. Draw or trace each letter of the alphabet on each card, but make sure to make the letters large and wide to give them a recognizable shape.
3. Use a glue stick to go over the letter shapes, so you’re filling in any of the empty spaces inside each shape. Then, use sand, sugar, or any other gritty material by pouring it over each card until it sticks to the paper.

Activity #2:  Three-Part Cards

Three-Part Cards, also known as Nomenclature Cards, involves the use of three cards all associated with the same vocabulary word or concept. Using the word “dog” as an example, the first card would be an image of a dog with the word “dog” printed directly below the image.

The second card would only be an image of a dog without the word below it. The third card would simply be the printed word “dog” with no image above it. You’ll have many cards for this activity for all of the vocabulary words you’d like to teach, each with their three respective parts (image and word, image only, and word only). You can find these types of cards online on many sites, such as Teachers Pay Teachers.

How it works

Part 1: Model the word+image 
There are many different ways that you can prepare this activity for your students, but the most common way is to lay multiple cards on the table (e.g. dog, cat, bird, fish, etc.), but only the first card for each image (the card that has both the image and the word beneath it). To keep things simple, you should only place about 3-7 cards on the table.

Point at the first card, which in this example is the first dog card, and say “dog” while pointing at the image, then point at the word beneath it and say the same. If your student follows by either pointing themselves or saying the word aloud, that’s great, but you shouldn’t push them to do so, as speaking isn’t necessary just yet.

Part 2: Model the image only
In the second part of this activity, you’ll then take out the second card associated with the dog (the card that has the image but no word on it). You’ll then lay this on the table and say the word “dog” as you slide it toward the first dog card and place it directly next to it. This allows your student to see that you’ve matched the two images together while they’re hearing you say the word.

Part 3: Model the word only
The third step is similar to the last, and as you might’ve guessed already, you’ll now take out the third dog card (the card with just the word “dog” printed on it with no image). Like the last, you’ll say the word “dog” while sliding the card next to the other two dog cards. 

Your student then follows
Now that you’ve modeled how to carry out this activity, your student can do the same while you simply provide minimal support as you place the cards on the table and introduce them by saying the words aloud.

Activity #3: Discovery Basket

Discovery Basket is an activity that has many variations, though the most common and basic way to use it with young learners is to hide items in a basket and have your student discover them while you teach them what the items are.

You have virtually unlimited possibilities when it comes to the types of items you can use for this, as some teachers use only items that start with the same letter, while others keep the activity focused on items that all fall within the same topic or concept.

How it works

1. Prepare the basket
Gather different items and put them in a basket where they’re hidden under foam, confetti, a small blanket, or anything else that works to conceal them.

2. Student discovery process
Allow your student to choose an item from the basket by feeling around in the basket until they find one. Once they pull it out, say the name of the item out loud and have the student repeat this by saying it as well. One by one, allow your student to do the same with all the other items until they’ve all been pulled out of the basket.

3. Listen and find an item
To make this activity more fun for your student yet more difficult, you can call out the name of an item and have your student search the basket for the item. This activates their senses even more as they’re paying close attention to what they’re feeling while listening closely to what you’re saying.

Benefits
Similar to the first activity, this one is highly sensorial, as it’s hands-on and incorporates tactile, auditory, and visual senses. Students are more likely to remember things that they can see, hear, and touch.

Final advice: provide only the initial support

Being a Montessori-based English teacher differs from a traditional English teacher because you’re only providing minimal support while allowing your students to discover and interact with things on their own. This minimal level of support is known as autonomy support, and while you play a role in introducing and modeling the activities above, you should always allow your students to perform the choosing, thinking, and discovering aspects of the activities on their own.

Related links

• Maria Montessori
• Montessori schools
• What is Montessori? 7 principles of the Montessori Method