WARM-UP FOR THE SMALL STUDENTS

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL LISTENING ACTIVITY. UGH!!

You can use the above video to prepare a listening activity for your class as a warm-up gift for the new school year!

HOW TO PRACTICE NAME WRITING

By Traci Geiser
A young child begins her journey of reading and writing as she learns to read and write her first word. For most children, that first word is her name. But just how do preschoolers make the jump to writing their names and the other letters of the alphabet? And is there a right and wrong way to teach your child to write?
“Ideally, the first materials used are not markers and pencils but materials that allow children to strengthen the muscles in their hands needed to properly hold writing implements (fine motor skills), “ says Mara Guckian, Early Childhood Specialist and Managing Editor for Teacher Created Resources. "We add a tactile (kinesthetic) component when we practice shaping the letters with different materials. Shaping letters with dough, tracing them on textured paper cutouts, and writing in the sand or salt trays all help children internalize the shape of the letter, while developing their fine motor skills.”

• Air Writing. Have your child write letters in the air first. These large muscle movements will help your child process what she is writing and make it more likely to stick. As she writes the letter, have her say the letter name or the directions for writing the letter. For example, for the letter T, she might say, “Start at the top, go straight down. Pick up your pencil and cross it.”

• Kitchen Tracing. Pour a small amount of sand or salt In a cake pan or baking dish. Allow your child to practice tracing letters without the pressure of more permanent writing utensils such as markers and crayons. If she makes a mistake, she can simply erase what she wrote and try again.
• Puzzle Practice. Make a name puzzle by writing your child’s name in large letters on a sheet of paper. Cut the letters apart and have your child reassemble the letters of her name in the correct order. Click here for more info on how to make your own name puzzle.
• Glue writing. It’s time for glue writing! Have your child dip a popsicle stick into the glue mixture and draw each letter, following the pattern of the pre-drawn template on each index card.  Be sure to focus on just one letter at a time.  After your child traces the written letter in glue, set that card aside to dry.Cards all dry? It’s time to play with the bumpy bet! (For alphabet.) Have your child touch and feel the letters they created and trace their finger over the way each letter is formed. How well did the glue letters match the written ones? Which letters need another go-around? Feeling the handwriting strokes with her fingertips as she looks at the letter template will help your child make important connections.

Keep the cards for later play. For example, you can string several cards together to make words. Or you can add pictures of words that begin with each specific letter. Let your child be your guide, and keep those art supplies handy!

• How do you spell fun and learning? B-I-N-G-O! Don’t forget , this is a game. You want to challenge the child, and help him learn his letters and numbers, but not bring him to the point of frustration.  If the child does not know the letter or number that you’ve called, show him the card.  That way the child can find the matching letter on his bingo card. You can find printable alphabet template at  http://www.education.com/files/32201_32300/32289/file_32289.pdf

• After a  child has written all of his letters onto paper, have him glue rice on top. It may sound a little odd, but working with rice and glue helps improve hand dexterity (which works those writing muscles!), plus, it helps kids think about the shape of the letters, and the direction they moved while writing them. Dried corn, macaroni, raisins, or uncooked noodles also work well for this purpose.  
• When they are capable of writing their names on their own make the students feel like KINGS and QUEENS !!!!  They can write their names on crowns, decorate them and wear them!

RISKY BUT FUNNY WAY TO ARRANGE SEATING POSITIONS

AND A TRICK TO SET UP YOUR CLASSROOM SAFELY

AN IDEAL SCHOOL

For me, as a teacher, the most important element for a "successful" school and effective teaching is a mutually respectful relationship among teachers and students. It seems that students relating well with their teachers acquire positive academic and social skills. So, a supportive classroom environment is above all other school "facilities".

CLASSROOM ARCHITECTURE

http://classroom.4teachers.org/

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Don't forget the desk

Another element of the ideal classroom design is the teacher's desk. Traditional teachers often like to place their desks front and center. The not-so hidden message here is "I'm in charge." I am not the least bit naïve for the need for leadership and discipline in the classroom. In the ideal classroom, however, I believe that there is shared leadership and an emphasis on community. When we speak of a community of learners, we need to think carefully about how to create community and what we mean by learning.
If we engineer our classroom design backwards, from the point of view of maximizing student learning, we can begin to think in terms of communication, reflection and reinforcement rather than miscommunication, rote learning and punishment. I would say that many of the discipline problems we encounter in our classrooms stem, in part, from poorly designed classrooms where students can sometimes feel like an alienated audience rather than an engaged community.
Source:

Your Ideal Classroom
By Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

LEARNER-CENTERED DICTATION

"JIGSAW DICTATION"

Cut the text up and then distribute one line to each of the students. They take turns dictating their sentence while the other students listen and write it down. Then give them a copy of the full text to compare with their own.

"RUNNING DICTATION"

Divide the class into pairs and ask them to choose one person to be the "writer" and one to be the "runner". Stick the text to be dictated up at one end of the room. The runners have to go to the text and return to their partners having memorised the lines of the text, which they dictate. The roles can be swapped halfway. Their text is then compared to a correct version and corrected. This activity requires only a short text.

"RECORDED DICTATION"

Do the dictation yourself but let the students control the speed that you speak at and the amount of repetition you do. Tell the students that they need to pretend that you are no longer a teacher but you have turned into a human tape recorder. As you read the text, they call out instructions such as "Stop", "Rewind", "Play", etc.

"COLOURING"  DICTATION"

The students have line drawings and the teacher gives them instructions on how to colour the drawing. The instructions are not direct commands, instead the teacher dictates sentences and the student must listen and understand how the picture is to be coloured. For younger children it can be as simple as "the green tree", "three blue balls", etc. For older students it can be more complex : "The boy on the left is wearing blue shoes." Repeat each phrase several times before moving on. Give the children plenty of time for colouring. Don't be afraid to continually add more complex sentences as they get used to this type of dictation. Children love the challenge and they will listen carefully to avoid making costly mistakes as it is very difficult to erase colouring pencils.

You can find coloring pages at   http://coloringbookfun.com/

CHALKBOARD ACTIVITIES

LET'S NOT FORGET THE CLASSIC GAME ! TEST YOUR SKILLS !!

DECORATE THE SONG AND POST IT ON THE WALL !

MAKE MUSIC IN CLASS

1. No one is sure how bagpipes began, but people in the Balkans, Ireland and the Highlanders of Scotland were responsible for the bagpipe’s development. No one is sure about the origins of tartan plaids, either. Many people believe that tartans became associated with clans or families in Scotland in the 1700s. That’s when it was possible to mass-produce fabric in factories.
2. Find pictures and information about bagpipes. Listen to recordings. If you can, watch bagpipes being played at a Celtic festival, parade, or other event.
3. Traditional Highland bagpipes include one loud, high-pitched pipe or chanter and three big, loud upright pipes or drones. All of these pipes are connected to a bag held under the arm. The bag is either covered with velvet or the clan tartan plaid. Bagpipe players fill the bag with air by blowing through a blowpipe. To make your own set of pretend bagpipes, use your imagination and adapt these directions.
4. Use  Markers to decorate a small brown paper bag with a tartan plaid. If you have Scot or Irish heritage, try to find out what your family’s plaid is, and duplicate it. Stuff your bag with crumpled newspaper so it looks like it is full of air.
5. Use  Scissors to cut one short piece of cardboard roll for the blow pipe. Cut a piece that is a bit longer for the chanter. Cut three even longer sections for the drones.
6. Cut construction paper to fit all five cardboard rolls. Decorate your pipes if you like with Celtic designs. Attach the paper to the pipes with  School Glue. Glue the three drones together at slight angles to each other. Air-dry your pipes.
7. Insert the blowpipe into the open end of the paper bag. Glue the bag’s mouth around the end of the blow pipe. Hold in place with a rubber band. Air-dry your project. Remove the rubber band.
8. Poke a hole in your bag near the blow pipe for the chanter, which hangs below the blow pipe when played. Glue it in place. Make slits in the bag for the three drones. Glue them in place. Lay the bagpipe flat to air-dry.
9. Drape colorful yarn around the drones. Glue it in place. Air-dry before humming along on your bagpipes.

BUT WHICH SONG ???

When I use musical material in class for the first time, I always choose the songs I know and love myself. This enables me to be more emotionally persuasive as I expose my students to the songs and their interpretation of them. Later, while encouraging students to choose the songs for discussions, I ask them to follow the following criteria (though they are not free from being subjective):

• The song must be an example of a particular musical trend.
• There shouldn't be any form of violence in it.
• The song should contain a certain artistic image.

• Be able to select interesting texts on the topic music.
• Be able to analyze the didactic potential of a particular song.
• Know how to teach a song to the pupils.
• Critically evaluate songs with the purpose of including them in class activities.

• Study the song lyrics by your favorite group. Select those ones you believe would be effective for language teaching while discussing the topics “Friendship”, “Parents and Children”, “Love in Song lyrics and Poetry”.
• Collect interesting stories about music and musicians. Explain why these texts may be effective tools for language instruction; work out pre-reading and post-reading activities.
• Select five pieces of music that belong to different musical genres; etc.
• Listen to the song and think of the questions you could ask your pupils to help them understand the song.
• Give a two-minute introductory talk on the importance of being a careful listener.

 The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. IX, No. 3, March 2003
http://iteslj.org/

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http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Orlova-Songs.html

SONGS ASSOCIATED TO FEELINGS

• Music is an extremely powerful art. It may evoke a strong emotional response. Listen to the song (choose any song you like ) and determine the mood the song evokes as well as the feelings it arouses. Useful vocabulary: quiet, peaceful, active, buoyant, calm, restful, happy, dreamy, mysterious, self-pitying, intimate, sad, somber, festive, joyful, etc.)
• Music gives rise to our imagination and feelings. Bring to class several instrumental pieces of different genres of your preference. Play them and compare the associations caused by them among your fellow students. You may use the following phrases:
  • It reminds me of ...
  • It depicts the picture of ...
  • While listening I can easily imagine ...
• You may often hear somebody saying “I like the voice of this singer." Describe the voices of the singers you know, using the words given below.
  • Deep, gentle, soft, fresh, clear, lyrical, expressive, nasal, guttural, hollow, resonant, gruff, harsh, raucous, husky, mellow, metallic properly/not properly placed.
• It is possible to define the rhythm of a song in different words. Study the list of adjectives below and use them in the sentences of your own while speaking about the songs you prefer to listen to.
  • Assured, distinct, crisp, regular, irregular, dense, scattered, impatient, regular dance, abrupt, jaunty.
  • Models:
    • The song attracts me by its regular and assured rhythm.
    • I like the regular dance rhythm of this song, etc. 
     Introduce a fresh style of melody, of harmony, of rhythm; retain originality; have an outburst of new sounds; present an entertaining stage act; satisfy audience tastes; tend to be detached while singing; meet the tastes of the audience; put emphasis on vocal expression;

Mr Bean - Adverbs of Sequence Worksheet

Hello!!! I’m Mr. Bean. Let’s make
a sandwich.

A). First learn these useful words:
Garden, bread, hot water bottle, sneeze, scissors, spin, surface,
take out, overcoat, spices, butter, food item,armpit, squeeze,
crush,scrape,lettuce.first, second, third, next,then finally,
Language Focus: Adverbs of sequence: First, second, next, finally etc.
Skills focus: Describing a sequence.
B). Watch the movie and answer the following questions.
1. What does Mr. Bean do when he first gets into the garden ?
2. What does he want to do?
3. What does the man sitting next to Mr. Bean offer?
4. What food item does he take out of his overcoat first?
5. What does he do then?
6. What does he do after cutting the bread?
7. What does he use to scrape the surface of the butter?
8. After putting the butter on the sandwich what does Mr. Bean take out
next?
9.What does he do with the lettuce?
10.After spinning the lettuce in his sock what does he do next?
11.What does he take out next?
12.what does he do with it?
13.What does he take out next?
14.What does he do with the spices?
15.After putting the spices on the sandwich what does he take out then?
16. Where does he put the hot water bottle?
17.What does he next take out?
18.What does he do next?
19.What happens finally?
C). Draw comic strips of scenes in the movie and write subtitles.
D). Student task
Describe the stages involved in cooking your favourite food.
Hope you enjoyed it!!! Bye
bye students!!!

Copyright© Kisito 2005 www.esl-galaxy.com

Mr Bean - Adverbs of Sequence Worksheet

http://www.esl-galaxy.com/movies/Mr%20Bean%20Adverbs%20of%20Sequence.pdf

FOR OLDER CHILDREN - MR BEAN MAKES A SANDWICH

SONGS AND GESTURES

YOU CAN LISTEN TO SOME OF THE TRADITIONALS SONGS HERE:

www.kids.niehs.nih.gov/musicchild.htm

www.freekidsmusic.com

www.kididdles.com/lyrics/allsongs.html

Prepare for Autumn !

Autumn Leaves

Tune: London Bridge

Autumn leaves are falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

Autumn leaves are falling down,

Yellow, red, and brown. 

Take a rake and pile them up,

Pile them up, pile them up,

Autumn leaves are falling down.

7 Ways to Use Songs and Music in the ESL - EFL Classroom

By:Craig Peterson

For teachers of ESL and EFL, it is necessary to go beyond the book and use alternative activities in the classroom. What could be more fun than using songs to teach English? Here are seven ways that you can use music to make your classroom more exciting.
Cloze or Fill-In-The-Blank Worksheets
One of the simplest ways to introduce a song is to remove all appearances of the grammar point from the lyrics. For example, if the grammar point is adjectives, and the lyrics are, "I'm so tired," the fill-in-the-blank worksheet will show, "I'm so ______." Give your students the worksheets and have them try to fill in the blanks while listening to the song.
Scrambled Lyrics
Another popular activity is to cut up all the lyrics. Most people seperate them by line, but you could even do it by phrase, that's your choice. Divide the class into teams and give each team a set of lyrics. Play the song and have them try to put all the lines in the correct order.
Act Out The Verb
If the song you are playing uses a lot of verbs, play the song for them once without any lyrics. Every time the students recognize a verb, they have to act it out. This can be a lot of fun and gets the class relaxed.
Listening for Points
To introduce a song to the class, divide them into two teams. Explain that the song contains a certain grammar point that you have been studying. If someone hears that grammar point, they must raise their hand. If they identify it correctly, their team gets a point. It's a good idea to pause the song at this point so that you don't miss anything.
Theme-based Songs
If the song you are using is not related to a specific grammar point, but instead to a theme, that's okay! Play the song first without the lyrics and have students write down anything they hear that is relevant to the theme: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
Combinations of Topics
Of course, the above activities can be combined or altered to make different activities. For example, Act Out The Verb and Listening for Points could be combined to make a fun and competitive activity. I find that students often get more involved when it is a competition, even if there isn't a prize!
Sing the Song!
After any activity, remember to take a few minutes and sing the song as a class! The students enthusiasm will be influenced by yours, so be excited about it. Singing the song after these games will give your students a sense of accomplishment. They have just learned some authentic material and are proud of it!
Craig Peterson
http://www.eslsongsource.com

A useful site to download flashcards and songs

http://www.supersimplesongs.com/freeflashcards.html

TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS