Getting Back into Teaching English to Kids After a Break

For many teachers of English to children (ESL, EFL), the summer is a break from teaching.  Of course many teachers teach all year long, but for those of us who do have a break starting again can be a jolt to the system. A fun jolt, like a strong espresso in the morning, but it still takes some adjusting. Here are my top tips for getting things going in a great way!

5 Tips for Starting Teaching after a Break

  1. Go slow! If you have had a break, chances are your students have too. Do not rush the first lesson. Take things slowly, and have a fun review day with songs and games.
  2. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Even I forget the words to my own songs sometimes after a long break. Give yourself sometime to readjust to teaching. Laugh along with the students if any mistakes are made.
  3. Have Fun! Let’s not forget that teaching is fun! Take the first few lessons to establish the fun you can have in a classroom.
  4. Remember why you teach. We all teach for different reasons, but I believe that at the foundation of teaching is the want to help others. We want to help our students learn English. That idea is a great motivator!
  5. Try new things. It is great to try a few new things when classes start again. It could be a new song, a new game, or a new book. Do something fresh and exciting for you and your students.

Oh, and if you need some lesson plan ideas to get you started, check out the Dream English Teaching Tips Podcast here.

These are a few of my ideas, and I hope they help you get off to a great start! Or, if you did not have a break, give you some new ideas to keep things fresh. Have a great one!

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!

 

Matt’s Tube Episode # 3 Volcanoes! Learn about Volcanoes for Young English learners

While teaching English to children (ESL, EFL) it is important to teach as much about the world as possible. In this new episode of Matt’s Tube we learn about volcanoes!

Did you know that magma is the hot fluid inside the volcano, that becomes lava when it goes outside the volcano? Learn this and more cool things in this episode of Matt’s Tube!

Circle time! A quick tip for your Children’s English class

Circle time! A quick tip for your English class: Make a circle with your students and pass a flashcard around the circle. As the students pass the card they say the word on the card.

For example, pass an apple flashcard and each student will say “apple”, then they pass the card to the next student.

For more advanced students, try phrases like “it’s an apple” or ” I like apples.” Give it a try! This is a great confidence builder for your students. I hope this is helpful! Thanks, Matt

New Wild Animal Finger Family Video with Matt Mini Lesson for Kids English Class

I had a lot of fun making the Wild Animals Finger Family Song Part 2.  We sing about kangaroos, monkeys, zebras, giraffes, and bears! More below the video:

How to use the video in class:

Listen to Dream English Teaching Tips Podcast about this video. Click here!

Start by pre-teaching the vocabulary in the video: kangaroo, monkey, zebra, giraffe, and bear. Also teach the phrases, “Where are you?” and ” I see a monkey.” You can show flashcards with the animals and have your students repeat after you. Then, watch the video and sing the song with your students!

Mini Lesson about Wild Animals

Depending on the level of your students, you can do a few things with the mini lesson. Watch one time, the mini lesson is right after the song in the video. For younger students, have them just watch and listen. For older students, after watching ask the following questions:

  1. What animal can jump? (answer: kangaroo)
  2. What animal can swing from tree to tree? (answer: monkey)
  3. What animal has black and white stripes? (answer: zebra)
  4. What animal has a long neck? (answer: giraffe)
  5. What animal is a bit scary and says roar? (answer: bear)

These are just some ideas to get you started. As always, be sure to come up with your great ideas! Leave a comment on Facebook or Dream English Kids YouTube and let us know what you think about the video! Happy Teaching!

Do You Have A Pet? Song -New Free MP3 Song Download for your class!

My students love the Do You Have A Pet Song! It’s fun and easy to learn. See lyrics and download the Free MP3 below the video!

Click Here To Download Do You Have A Pet? Song Mp3
Right-click to download and save. (Mac users Control-click)
(Song for educational purposes only, copyright Dream English)

Listen to my Podcast on How To Teach This Song! Click Here!

Lyrics:

Do you have a pet? Do you have a pet?
p, p, p, p, p, p, p, p, pet

I have a dog. I have a dog. woof, woof, woof
I have a cat. I have a cat. meow, meow, meow

Do you have a pet? Do you have a pet?
p, p, p, p, p, p, p, p, pet

I have a bird. I have a bird. chirp, chirp, chirp
I have a fish. I have a fish. glub, glub, glub
I have an elephant. I have an elephant paw, paw, pawoo

You don’t have a pet elephant!
That’s true! But I want one!

Lesson Plan ideas

After the song, I always ask my students if they have a pet. Of course some do not. In that case, they can answer “No, I don’t.” If you have animal flashcards you can play a simple touch game. Place the flashcards on the floor. Have the students ask the teacher, “Do you have a pet?” the teacher answers, “I have a dog,” then the students have to touch the dog card. Whoever touches the card first wins. If you have a large class, you can have two or three students at a time play the game. I hope this is fun and useful for your classes!

 

 

Matt’s Tube Episode # 2 Vehicles and Transportation for Young English Students

I’ve been having a lot of fun making the Matt’s Tube Episodes! These videos are great to introduce vocabulary to your Kids English class (esl, elf). Watch here:

Episode # 2 Vehicles and Transport

In this episode of Matt’s Tube we are introduced to ten vehicles: airplane, boat, car, dump truck, fire truck, garbage truck, helicopter, motorcycle, race car, and train.

Watch real footage of the vehicles. Can you hear any tranport sounds? Can an garbage truck fly? Watch to find out!

Contents of the Show:

1. Welcome with Matt
2. Today’s Topic Vocabulary Practice
3. Today’s Topic Song
4. Crazy Dance with Bell and Tunes
5. The Spelling Game
6. Ask Tunes
7. Mystery Box Animation
8. Count with Matt
9. Song Time – Fire Truck Song
10. Quiz Time
11. What Did We Learn Today?

Matt’s Tube is a show designed to teach young learners of English vocabulary, basic phrases, letter recognition, spelling, and listening skills. The show uses songs, real footage, and animation. Let us know what you think on the Dream English Facebook page, or leave a comment on the video. Thanks for watching!

A Tip To Start Your New English Class!

I’ve been getting many emails asking my advice about how to start new classes with young learners of English. My advice: Keep it simple!

I like to start my classes by introducing myself, then learning the names of my students and saying hello to each student.  For example, “Hello, Sally. Hello, Bobby.” This helps the students feel comfortable.

Next, I do some simple action warm-ups like clap your hands, wash your hands, jump, spin etc. Then we practice counting from 1 to 10 with our fingers and flashcards. Counting is a great place to start because many young learners have already heard the numbers in English.

Finally we sing “Let’s count 1 to 10“ A great song to start a young learners English class. I also make sure to smile a lot, and I do not push the young students to speak at first. They will begin to speak naturally when they are ready. Slowly but surely!

I hope this is helpful happy teaching. Thank you, Matt

Podcast: Listen to these tips on the Dream English Teaching Tips Podcast here!

Let’s Count 1 to 10 Free Song Download: http://www.dreamenglish.com/numbers

Matt’s Tube Episode #1 Wild Animals, Learn with Songs and Skits

I’m excited to introduce a new show called Matt’s Tube! Great for young learners of English (ESL, EFL) Each show will introduce topics like Wild Animals, Vehicles and more. Students can learn the words through vocabulary practice songs, and skits. Have a look at the first Episode here:

I hope you find this useful in your classes! If you have any ideas for the show you would like us to hear, please put a comment on the video or on the Dream English Facebook page. Thanks for watching! Matt