New Fruit Counting Song

Fruit counting songs are a fun way to practice counting and fruit vocabulary in your young learners English class (ESL, EFL). Teaching tips and lyrics below the video:

Teaching Tips:

This song gets faster and faster, so it is a bit of a challenge. If your young learners are having trouble holding up their fingers, you can replace that with a clap. Practice the song once slowly with no video before trying the video.

Lyrics

1 apple, cha-cha-cha
2 bananas, cha-cha-cha
3 grapes, cha-cha-cha
4 strawberries, cha-cha-cha
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, oranges, cha-cha-cha
(repeat and get faster!)

Have fun and happy singing!

Learn Some Words Episode 1: Animals New Original Learning English Show

New Show on YouTube: Learn Some Words! 😀
Perfect for the ESL/EFL Children’s English Classroom!

Learn Some Words Episode 1: Animals. This special new series from Dream English Kids teaches six words each episode with songs, repeat-after-me, and a quiz. Join Matt, Tunes, Bell and our friend the Pencil in this exciting learning adventure!

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/eHSTJuUpVQs

A to Z Letters Song Album now on Spotify and iTunes

The A to Z Letter Songs Album is now on Spotify and iTunes! 26 Songs, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each song introduces one letter and three words that begin with that letter. For example, “A, apple, ant, alligator.” Great for the ESL and EFL classroom!

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Song Videos on YouTube

Above you will find the YouTube Playlist with the 19 Today’s Letter Song videos that are now on YouTube. We are currently through letter S. The remaining videos will be uploaded in coming months.

How to Teach

Teachers can use the videos to teach the vocabulary in the song, or simply an alphabet chart and some pictures on the board for the vocabulary.  First, teach the vocabulary slowly, and then try to have the students sing along with the song. Be sure to do the actions in the songs, clap, shake, and dance!

Activities

After singing the song, have the students sit down and write the letter on a piece of paper. Next, ask the students to draw something that starts with the letter. For example, if you are starting with letter A, ask the students to write letter A and then draw an apple. For younger students, you may need to help and draw an apple first on the board so that they can follow along.

These are just some ideas, be creative and come up with your own!

Happy teaching!

Halloween Song for Kids – Are You Scared? No, no!

The Are You Scared? song is a fun way to teach Halloween vocabulary, and the questions “Are you scared?” to your young English learners (ESL, EFL).  More about how to teach the song and where to get a free MP3 download below the video!

Listen to a Podcast on How To Teach The Are You Scared Song

Download the song for free at www.dreamenglish.com/halloweenareyouscared

Topic: Halloween

Vocabulary: bat, black cat, ninja, spider, superhero, witch, pirate, snake

Question: Are you scared? Answer: No

How to teach:  You can pre-teach the vocabulary by using your own flash cards, or download and print for free these great cards at MES-English.com https://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/halloween.php

Then, look at one of the cards, for example the witch, and ask your students, “Are you scared?” The teacher can make a scared face, then relax and say, “No.” For advanced students you can teach, “I’m not scared.” Go through a few of the flashcards like this until you think the students understand.

Next teach the lyrics to the song. Have the students repeat the words after you.
Song lyrics:

Are you scared?
No, No
Are you scared?
No, No
Are you scared?
No, No

All right! Here we go!
A bat, a black cat, a ninja , a spider
Are you scared?
No!
Catch!

(repeat with a superhero, a witch, a pirate, a snake)

Next, watch the video and have your students sing along. You can repeat the song a few times to make sure the students really understand it.

Vocabulary Practice Game: Try the Tower Game with the Halloween vocabulary. You can read about the Tower Game here. The teacher can  show a bat flashcard to a student and ask, “What is it?” the student will answer, “a bat.” Next, the teacher will ask, “ Are you scared?” after the student answers, give the student the flashcard to build the tower and move onto the next students.

I hope this helps you teach the song. Happy teaching!

 

5 Tips for Teaching Halloween to Young English Learners

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Halloween is a super fun time of year. We can all play dress up, and be the superhero we always wanted to be! When teaching children English (ESL, EFL) Halloween is a fun time to break out of the regular routine and do something a bit different. Below are five ideas for great Halloween Classes:

5 Teaching Halloween Tips:

  1. Songs and Chants- There are not a lot of traditional Halloween songs that are great for kids, so I have made several songs for teaching Halloween. Sing about Favorite Pumpkins, Ghosts and Witches, and Chant about the Halloween characters. Check out all of our Free Download Halloween Songs here!
  2. Games – You can use Halloween themed flashcards and do any of the fun classroom games I recommend on this page.  I like to play a “Trick or Treat” game with the kids. Have the kids line up and knock on a pretend door. They have to say, “Trick or treat” then I ask “What are you for Halloween?” The students can either choose a character, or hold a character card to answer. Next we play Rock, Scissors, Paper, and if the students win I give them a pretend Halloween candy made out of paper. We go through the line a few times to make sure every students gets a paper candy. At the end, we count how many paper candies each student has. Simple and fun!
  3. Worksheets and coloring – We have several worksheets on the Dream English Halloween Page. One of my favorites, is the draw your own pumpkin worksheet. This lets the kids be creative, and have a lot of fun. Be sure to show several examples of Halloween pumpkins to get their ideas flowing.
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  4. Halloween Books – There are many great Halloween children’s books available at your local bookstore. Make sure you choose books that are age appropriate, and not too scary. We have this fun and simple My Favorite Pumpkin book that you can download for free. Print it, and have a blast reading it to your students. After the book, sing the Favorite Pumpkin song with your students!
  5. Halloween Parties- Halloween is a fun time to host a party! You can have a classroom day be a Halloween party, or schedule a separate time to have an informal, non classroom setting party. Play Halloween games, read books, do some trick or treating activities, sing some songs. The idea is to get your students out of their normal classroom environment using English.

I hope this helps give you some ideas of what to do this year in your ESL and EFL classes for Halloween! Check out the Dream English Halloween page for more ideas, songs, and worksheets. Happy Halloween!

Teaching Food to Young Learners of English – What Do You Want to Eat? Song Part 2

Teaching food to children can be a lot of fun. Children who are learning English (ESL, EFL) love learning the names of food, It is really important to teach kids how to ask for food in English, so I made some fun videos! More below the video:

This song focuses on asking for food using “want” and “some.” For example, ” I want some pizza, I want some ice cream.”

Lyrics: What Do You Want to Eat Song Part 2:

What do you want to eat? (x2)
I want some pizza (x2)
(repeat with rice, cheese)

Do you want some spider spaghetti?
No, thank you.

(repeat with soup, fish, ice cream,
worm cookies)

Game Idea

Put a bunch of food flashcards on the floor. Have the students ask the teacher, “What do you want to eat?” The teacher answer, ” I want some pizza.” The first students to touch the pizza flashcard gets a point! You can change it up by having the students answer the question.

Be sure to check out the What Do You Want to Eat? Song Part 1 for more food vocabulary. This song focuses on using “want” and “a”. For example, “I want a hot dog.” I hope this is helpful. Happy singing!

New Video: Alphabet Actions for Children’s English Class

Learning the ABCs is a really important part of children’s English class (ESL, EFL). It is a good idea to teach the alphabet with books, games, activities, and of course songs! Here is my new Alphabet Phonics Song:

Give it a try in your classes. You can pre-teach the actions, or just play the video and have the students follow along.

Game Idea:

After singing the song, get your students in a circle. Toss a ball around saying the letter of the alphabet and action that goes with it. For example:

Teacher: A add (do the action from the video)
Student 1: B bounce (bounce the ball, or pretend to)
Student 2: C catch

You get the idea! Keep going until you get to Z. You may have to help the students a bit if they can not remember the letter or action. Give it a try, and have fun!