Strategies for teaching from the front

If students have already studied the topic in primary school, they can only express their knowledge in Kiswahili. Therefore, use Kiswahili to ask them questions about their previous learning.
Use diagrams and pictures to illustrate concepts. Use the pictures in the book, or draw them on the board.
Write key concepts on the board. Repeat them and get students to say them.
Translate new concepts into Kiswahili. Draw attention to those words in the text.
Refer to the glossary in the book. Encourage students to use the glossaries.
Use what students know already. Some of this knowledge will be in Kiswahili or a mother tongue. Get students to access their prior learning by asking them to talk in a vernacular language.
Check regularly whether students understand. Ask questions to check this. Short answers (e.g. yes/no questions) are easy to answer. If you ask questions that require a longer answer and the learners cannot give it in English, accept their answers in Kiswahili. You can then translate them into English.
Use Kiswahili strategically to help learning. For instance to get the meaning of key concepts.
Remember that Form I students have to concentrate very hard to listen to English. If you talk for a long time in English, it will be difficult for them to keep focused on what you are saying.