Walky Talky

Lesson 1

I came up with the idea of a walky-talky lesson during lockdown times, as soon as I realised that neither my students nor I could just sit in front of a computer and have Zoom lessons all the time.
We needed to get up and get out of the house even if it means just walking around our houses or buildings or a garden and talking over the phone. It has become a regular thing among all students; the younger ones and adults.
My first walky-talky lesson started as a revision of animal habitats and the comparison of adjectives.

As it happens, there is a famous recreational park where people spend their free time, play various sports, play cards, walk and take their kids out to play.

My student is 10 years old and she likes nature, animals, trees and everything that includes outdoor activities, so visiting this park initially sounded like the most sensible idea. Our first conversation was about why people come to this particular park and what activities they can do while they’re here.

“It’s a park where you can play basketball, football, there is an outdoor gym and you can walk or run or just sit and enjoy the beautiful nature around you. You can watch and listen to the birds, as well. Look, there is one flying out of a tree hole!” my student began explaining where we were, and the look on her face, the smile when she saw the bird was worth a million dollars.

Then we talked about activities that needed to be done to maintain such a park, how to keep it clean and what else needed to be done to protect nature and the environment so that people can enjoy and love the area around them. We came up with activities such as mowing the grass, trimming the shrubs, cutting down and planting trees, removing the rubbish, looking after the running tracks and paths, taking care of animals and deciding which other activities could be included and which other sports grounds could be added.

The revision included facts about trees, forests and animals as well as adjectives that we can use to describe all of these things.

We found the biggest and smallest trees, then the nicest, the oldest and the newest benches, the most creative benches, the trees with the most branches, trees with no branches, trees with the biggest trunks and the oldest looking bark. We also talked about why some of the trees are cut down and why it is important to plant new trees, what it does for our planet and our lives.
“We need woods and nature to feel better and to have shade and oxygen.” Clever, isn’t she?

While we were walking, we took a lot of photos to show you how and what we compared and what caught our eyes.

She wanted to find some mushrooms, and she did. The tiniest of them all. Here it is.

While looking at some trunks and roots she saw yoga poses, while I saw a giant leg.

She even found one tree she could climb, but it had a damaged branch, so we decided not to damage it even more.

There was also a contest to find the most unusual shrub, and the winner is:

We both enjoyed the experience and cannot wait for another lesson, next time with a different topic.