Five Santa Christmas Counting Song for Children’s English Class

The Five Santas Counting Song is a fun and active way to practice counting from 1 to 5 with Christmas characters. How to teach, Lyrics, Poster, and Free Song MP3 below the video:

In the song we count five Santas, five reindeer and five elves. To make the song more fun, I added some actions for each character. Your students will have a lot of fun with this song. Recommend Ages 2-7.

Free Downloads:

  1. Click here to download a Free MP3 of this song to use in your classes. (please note the song is copyright and this is for classroom use only.
  2. Click here to download a free poster to teach the vocabulary of the song (as pictured below)

    five santas poster sample

How to Teach

  1. Start by introducing the characters in the song using the poster: Santa, Reindeer, Elf. Teach each character name with the action. Santa says, “ho, ho, ho”, the reindeer jump, and the elves dance.
  2. Practice counting the numbers 1 to 5 using your hands or the poster.
  3. Watch the video and sing along and do the actions.

Practice Quiz

You can use the poster above to ask the students questions like, “How many Santas?” For example, use another piece of paper to cover up two Santas. Next, ask the students to count the remaining Santas. The answer is 3 Santas! Repeat with other characters.

Vocabulary Practice Game

Try a simple gesture game. Do the actions of one of the characters, and ask the students to guess which character you are. For example, dance like an elf, and ask the students, “Who am I?” The student should answer elf. You can also let your students try to be the characters. They will love it!

I hope you have a lot of fun singing this song in your classes! Check out more Christmas songs from Dream English at www.dreamenglish.com/christmas Merry Christmas!

 

Shake It Out Song and Rain, Rain Go Away with Dream English and The Learning Station

Learning from others is a continuous journey as a teacher, I think. That is why I was thrilled to get the chance to make some videos with The Learning Station! The Learning Station are award winning leaders in the children’s education music industry.

Shake It Out is a song I wrote to get students up and moving. And teachers, too! It teaches body parts and actions. Be sure to sing and dance along. Don joins me in the dance, and I think we can all agree that he can shake it with the best of them!

Singing In The Rain is a fun and silly song, perfect for a rainy day! Don taught me this song, and it was so much fun to sing and dance to. Have a look at the video, and give it a try in your classes.

A big thank you to Don and Laurie for hosting Dream English and inviting us to make some videos together. And most importantly learn from some great people who are making amazing children’s educational content. Check out The Learning Station here!

New Halloween Walk Song and Video for Children’s English Class

Children learn English (ESL, EFL) through input, and adding actions to that input makes it even easier for the students to learn. The new Halloween Walk song combines Halloween vocabulary and fun actions to get your students learning effortlessly. More below the video:

How to Teach the Song

If you have time in your class, show the video one time to your students so that they become familiar with the song and actions. Next, teach them the lyrics, and do the actions. You can have your students repeat after you, but if they are not ready yet, just simply have them do the actions and listen. Here are the lyrics:

Let’s go for a Halloween walk. (x2)
I’m not scared, no, no. (x2)
Stop! What’s that sound? A black cat?
Shh! Be very, very quiet! Safe!
(repeat with pirate and witch)

After practicing the lyrics together with your students, play the video one more time and have your students sing and do the actions the best they can! Remember, if they are young learners do not pressure them to sing if they are not ready. All students learn at their own pace. You should, however, encourage them by saying, “Let’s try singing a little bit louder. Here we go!”

I hope you find this song useful and fun for your classes. Check out more Halloween songs at www.dreamenglish.com/halloween Happy Halloween!

Halloween Lesson Plan for Students Age 3-6 Years Old

Hi, Teachers! Here is a Halloween Lesson Plan. It is for beginners ages about 3-6, and a 30 minute class:

  1. Warm-up- Say hello then do action warm ups: clap your hands, clap, clap, clap. Shake your hands, shake, shake, etc.
  2. Count Numbers using flashcards from 1-20. First repeat after teacher, then see how high students can count.
  3. Song: Let’s Count 1 to 10 http://www.dreamenglish.com/numbers, or Halloween Counting song available at www.dreamenglish.com/halloween
  4. Book Time: My Favorite Pumpkin Free printable book available at www.kidsenglishbooks.com
  5. Song: My Favorite Pumpkin Song available at www.dreamenglish.com/halloween
  6. Vocabulary: Introduce Halloween vocabulary using flashcards, bat, ghost, witch, black, cat, pumpkin, etc.
  7. Circle Time: Have students hold hands and make a circle. Sit down, and pass a flashcard around the circle with every student getting the chance to say it. For example, bat, pumpkin.
  8. Activity time: Walk around the circle and pretend with the students to be the Halloween characters. Fly like a bat and witch, hop like a black cat. etc.
  9. Quiz Time: See how many Halloween characters the students can remember. Help the students if they can not remember. It is a beginners class. so do not push the students too hard to talk if they are not ready.
  10. Goodbye: Sing the Goodbye song available at www.dreamenglish.com/goodbye

I hope this gives you some ideas to have a great Halloween lesson! Make sure to have a lot of fun and keep the atmosphere relaxed and cheerful. Happy Halloween!

The Letter G Song, Teaching Letter Names to Young Leaners

Today’s letter is G! Students need a lot of review and repetition to learn letters. I created the Today’s Letter Songs to help young English learners (ESL, EFL) in this process. You can use these songs and videos to introduce a letter, or to review. Also, each Today’s Letter reviews the whole alphabet, making it even more useful for your classes. How to teach after the video!

 How to teach the Letter G Song
You can pre-teach the letter G by writing it on the board, or using a flashcard of the letter G. You can also pre-teach the vocabulary of the video using flashcards or drawings. In this video we have grapes, goat, go-kart. One way I teach the vocabulary is to play the video once, then play it again, pausing at each vocabulary word and having the students say it a few times.
After the Video Activities
Here are some of my ideas for extending the learning experience from the video in your classroom.
  1. Speaking Activities: Ask the students questions like, “ What is today’s letter? What words that start with the letter G were in the video? What other words that start with the letter G do you know? Do you have the letter G in your name? Do you have letter G as the first letter in your name?”
  2. Writing Activities: Ask the students if they can write the letter G on the board. In the video I use the capital letter, but feel free to teach the lower case at this point. Ask the students if they can draw anything that starts with the letter G, like grapes, a go-kart or a goat.
  3. Worksheet Activities: We have a Letter G touch and say phonics worksheet that you can print out and use in your classes. Find that here: http://www.dreamenglish.com/phonics-a-lesson You can also create your own handwriting worksheet or search the web for something great to use in your classes.

    So far we have uploaded A to G on YouTube with more to come in the following weeks. Have a look at the A to G videos here.
    These are a few ideas to get you started with the Letter G.  Happy teaching and singing the letter G! 

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!

 

Top 10 Dream English Songs for Teaching English to Children

When I started Dream English there were not many songs available that were great for teaching young learners English (ESL, EFL). Now there are hundreds! I thought it would be helpful to talk about the songs I use most teaching children ages 3-8 English.

Top 10 Dream English Songs for Teaching Children English

  1. Hello Song – A great song to start the class. Say hello, make a circle, and walk this way! Watch video here!
  2. What’s Your Name? – Asking students, “What’s your name?” is something that I do in every class! It’s simple interaction, and kids always enjoy saying their names. Watch video here!
  3. Let’s Count 1 to 10 – A favorite numbers and actions song. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, jump! Watch video here!
  4. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes – This traditional song is perfect for teaching body parts. The speed up part makes it super fun for students! Watch video here!
  5. ABC Rock Song – A bit of a twist on the ABC song with a fun A to Z chant in the middle. Watch video here!
  6. Colors Action Song – Let’s sing colors, and do actions with each color. A great movement and color song! Watch video here!
  7. Weather Song – The sun comes up, up, up! Another fun action song, teaches weather and some prepositions. Watch video here!
  8. Days of the Week Song – Monday, Tuesday, la, la, la! Be sure to do all of the actions in this pop song about the Days of the Week! Watch video here!
  9. What Can you do? Action Song – Jump, I can jump! Let’s do some fun actions while we sing along to this simple song! Watch video here!
  10. Shapes Song – A circle, a triangle, a square, a heart. I’ve always liked the simplicity of this song, and the actions that go along make it a great motor skills song. Watch video here!
  11. Wake Up Song / Daily Routines – One of the first, and still most popular Dream English songs. Let’s wake up, brush our teeth, and more in this fun daily routines song. Watch video here!
  12. Goodbye Song – Another early Dream English song, that is still a favorite. Let’s clap our hands, spin around, do more actions and say Goodbye to the class! Watch video here!

So that is the list of the songs I use most to teach English. Some of these I wrote years ago, and some more recent. Check out the videos for all of the songs , and you can find most of these songs on our Free Download Page, or on Spotify and iTunes. Happy Singing!

5 Tips for Teaching Halloween to Young English Learners

halloween-banner-small

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!

Singing with Dan Zanes and Claudia Eliaza – The Wheels on the Bus and More!

I’m a big fan of Dan Zanes, so I was super excited that he could join me in the studio to sing some songs! Dan’s wife Claudia, an amazing singer, joined us and we had a musical blast!

Join us as we sing the Wheels on the Bus Song, a classic children’s nursery rhyme. Be sure to sing-along and do all of the actions.  More songs from the session coming soon!

To learn more about Dan Zanes, the Grammy winning singer for all ages, check out www.danzanes.com

To learn more about Claudia and hear more of her amazing singing visit: https://www.instagram.com/claudiaeliaza/

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!