New Video: Open Shut Them Song

Open Shut Them has become a favorite warm-up song for my children’s English classes (ESL, EFL). It is fun, simple, and has plenty of actions. More below the video!

How to Teach

I start out teaching this song by doing the actions of opening and shutting my hands as you can watch in the video. Then I teach clap and the body parts in the song: head, knees, and nose.

Next, I slowly go through the actions and lyrics of the song with my students. At first, go slow and you do not have to force your students to sing along. They will sing when ready. From the beginning, encourage your students to do the actions. Full lyrics below!

Open Shut Them Lyrics

Here we go!
Open shut them, open shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open shut them, open shut them
Put them on your head
Open shut them, open shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open shut them, open shut them
Put them on your knees
Open shut them, open shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open shut them, open shut them
Put them on your nose

One more time, faster!
Oh boy! Here we go!

Open shut them, open shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open shut them, open shut them
Put them on your head
Open shut them, open shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open shut them, open shut them
Put them on your knees
Open shut them, open shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open shut them, open shut them
Put them on your nose
Great Job!

Listen to Open Shut Them

You can use the above YouTube video in your classes, or stream Open Shut them on the following services:

Stream Open Shut Them:
Spotify
Apple Music
Amazon Music

Search Dream English Kids on any of these streaming services to find the song!

I hope this is helpful. Give it a try in your classes. Happy Singing!

Yes No Game Video

Learning how to answer a question with “yes” or “no” is an important skill for young English learners (ESL, EFL).  Children also love to answer questions and show their knowledge. (More below the video).

Target vocabulary: dog, cat, bird, fish

In this fun video I ask, “Is this a dog?” and students have to answer either “yes” or “no”. I go through all four animals. This helps build children’s answering skills and confidence!

Teaching idea:

After watching the video, use flashcards to ask the students, “Is this a dog?”  holding up different flashcards. Next, have the students get into pairs and ask each other questions. You can use animal flashcards, or any objects.

I hope this is helpful. Happy Teaching! – Matt

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

I made this new version of Old MacDonald to help teach the vocabulary words with repetition. Repetition is very important for young learners of English (ESL, EFL). More below the video!

Repetition for Learning

In the original version of this song the key words like “farm” and the animal names are only sang once. In my version, I repeat these words three times! It is a simple and effective way to learn the animal names. Sing along and have fun! E-I-E-I-O!

New Jingle Bells Video! Sing and Chant Version

Check out the Dream English version of Jingle Bells! Lyrics below:

Merry Christmas!
Let’s Practice
Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, toys a stocking, presents, a candy cane,
here we go
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey!
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey!

1,2,3,4!
I can jump, I can dance, I can sing, I can laugh
I can jump, I can dance, I can sing, I can laugh

Let’s practice;
a reindeer, a sleigh, a snowman, an angel, an elf, mistletoe,
here we go
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey!
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey!
1,2,3,4! I can jump, I can dance, I can sing, I can laugh
I can jump, I can dance, I can sing, I can laugh
Merry Christmas!

Free Download Christmas resources for your classes: www.dreamenglish.com/christmas

New Album! Action English Available Now on Spotify and Apple Music

We all know how important it is for young English learners (ESL, EFL) to move their bodies while learning English. With this in mind I created Action English! 10 Fun New songs to get your students moving and singing in English! Available now on Spotify and Apple Music (Links below player)

Action English Album

Cover-Action-English-Edit2

Available now on Spotify and Apple Music.
Search “Dream English Kids” or follow the links below:

Download printable lyrics to the Action English Songs:

Happy Singing!
Matt 😀

 

New My Name Is Song For Children to Practice English

Teaching young English learners (ESL, EFL) how to say “My name is…” can be a challenge. This video uses modeling and repetition to help your students:

I wrote in an earlier blog post about using modeling to help young English learners  how to say “My name is …” in English. Check out that post here. 

I hope this song helps your students on their way to basic conversation skills in English!

Visit the Free Downloads page to download many free songs for your classroom. Click here!

New Feelings Song Video: I’m Happy! Song for Children’s English Class

Feelings vocabulary is important in the young learners classroom (ESL, EFL). This simple feelings song teaches 8 emotions. More below the video:

Lyrics:

Sometimes I’m happy, happy
sad, sad
sleepy, sleepy
angry, angry
Sometimes I’m hot, hot
cold, cold,
hungry, hungry,
thirsty, thirsty
(repeat)
But now I’m happy, happy…

Give the song a try and practice the question and answer:

Student 1: How are you feeling?

Student 2: I’m happy!

New Podcast: Lesson Plan Archive # 2 And Book Announcement!

Hi! In this podcast I talk about my lesson with young learners ages 3-4. It was a 20 minute class and we sang a few songs and covered basics like body parts, numbers, and ABCs. Also available on Apple Podcasts!

My new book is available on the Kindle at Amazon.com! Search for “10 Steps to Teach English to Young Learners” on Amazon.com.

Here is a direct link for the book: https://amzn.to/3ncHuVn

Thanks for listening and happy teaching! -Matt