Dream English Teaching Tips Blog
Fun Thoughts and Creative Ideas for Teaching Children English
Click on the player below the picture to hear Matt say the word! American accent pronunciation. Word below the Picture Dictionary Animals songs video!
Great work! Now watch and sing the Picture Dictionary Animals Song with Matt and Bell!
I hope you enjoyed this audio lesson with Matt from Dream English! Download and listen to free animals songs. Click here!
Young learners of English (ESL, EFL) love to interact by saying, “No!” For example, if I hold up a flashcard of a dog and say “banana” the students will either say “no” or “dog”. This always comes with a lot of laughter. The Walking, Walking Song is based on this idea. More below the video:
Give the idea a try. Don’t over do it, but when you are counting numbers for example, when you get to 10 say banana instead of ten! See how your students react.
Lyrics:
I’m walking, walking in the park
And I see a dog (No!)
I see a dog (No!)
I see a dog (yay!)
I’m walking, walking in the park
And I see a cat (No!)
I see a cat (No!)
I see a cat (yay!)
I’m walking, walking in the park
And I see a bird (No!)
I see a bird (No!)
I see a bird (yay!)
I’m walking, walking in the park
And I see a bear (No!)
I see a bear (No!)
I see a bear
A bear?
Run! run, run,
run run, run,
run run, run,
run stop, safe!
Great job!
Visit our Free Download page to download our top songs for teaching children English. Click here!
When I teach young learners English ages 4-6 I do not use any of their L1 (native language). Teaching these students to say “My name is (student name)” can be a challenge. In this post I will talk about one method to teach students without using any props or L1. The basic concept is what I will call modeling.
Modeling
The definition of modeling in an online dictionary is:
use (a system, procedure, etc.) as an example to follow or imitate.
What I mean by modeling is to get the students to imitate you, but also take the extra step to say the words and actions with your students until they can say it on their own.
Below are the steps I would take:
It could take a few days, or a few weeks depending on the students age or level. Be patient, have fun with it. Laugh and smile a lot. I hope this is helpful!
Check out a Video on this Topic:
For more resources and a What’s Your Name? Song click here!
I use a lot of actions with language in my classroom. It is an excellent way to get children moving and listening to English, without the pressure of speaking right away. Have a listen to this podcast with my short introduction to TPR:
Total Physical response is a way for language students to acquire the sounds of the language before being asked to speak. I think it is important not to put a lot of pressure on young students to speak English, before they are ready.
Using actions and commands like, “sit down, stand up, touch your nose, spin around” is a fun way for students to get used to the sounds of English without requiring them to speak. When they are ready, they will begin speaking.
I hope this is helpful and gives you some ideas for your classes!
I’m excited to share the new Today’s Number Song video: Number 1. This is a new series. More below the video!
Today’s Number Song: Learning to Count Numbers and Objects
This fun new series introduces the concept of numbers and counting to young learners of English (ESL, EFL). A children’s English class is not complete without some counting. This video teaches the number 1 and counting one apple, one t-shirt, one dog, and one car.
Activity idea: After watching the video, ask your students to find one object in the room and bring it to the front of class. Each student can take turns saying the number 1 and the name of their object. For example, “1 pencil.”
I hope you find this video helpful for your kids English classes.
Happy singing and learning!
It’s time again for Halloween! Halloween can be a lot of fun in the young English learners classroom (ESL, EFL). I enjoy teaching Halloween as it offers a chance to break out of the normal (fruit, jobs, colors) to something more fantastical (monsters, witches, pirates).
Listen to this blog as a podcast:
Halloween Lesson Plan (20-30 minute preschool English class)
This is an idea of what you can do in your classes for a fun and simple Halloween lesson.
1. Warm Up– Simple action warm up: clap your hands, wash your hands, brush your teeth, jump, etc.
2. Greetings– Hello! My name is Matt. What’s your name? (students answer)
3. Numbers– Practice counting numbers 1-10 or higher depending on level. This month we have been singing the Dinosaur Chomp to Ten song to practice numbers. It is not Halloween, but not everything in the lesson has to be, I think.
After the song, I use some Halloween numbers flashcards to count to 10 with Halloween objects. For example, 1 vampire, 2 ghosts, 3 pumpkins
4. Book Time-This week we are reading My Favorite Pumpkin. The book teaches body parts, numbers, and some actions. You can download the book for Free Here. There is a song that goes with the book that we will sing next week.
5. Halloween Song Time – I have about four new Halloween songs this year. This week we are singing the Halloween Shake Song. Before singing the song, I teach the vocabulary and lyrics.
6. Halloween Vocabulary Practice-I use the MES English Halloween flashcards. You can download those by going to this page. For the first week I teach the vocabulary word, or you can practice “It’s a bat.”
7. Game Time-Depending on your situation (online classes, in person classes with no contact) you can play a simple touch game, or quiz game with the Halloween vocabulary flashcards. To read some more classroom game ideas click here.
8. Goodbye Song- I always finish the class with the Goodbye Song. These days I often sing the song without backing music, and usually do the short version like you see here:
I hope you find some of these ideas useful for your classes. You can go all out and wear a Halloween costume or hat, or just keep it simple with the vocabulary and songs. Be creative, and have fun. If you are enjoying the class, the students will too! I’ll leave some more Halloween resources below. Happy Teaching!
Halloween Teaching Resources from Dream English:
Dream English Halloween Page (Free song downloads and more)
Dream English Halloween Songs YouTube Playlist
Dream English Halloween Songs on Spotify
It’s that time of year again! It’s Easter! Spring is a wonderful time of year to have fun with your young English learners (ESL, EFL). At Dream English we have a fun, simple Easter song full of actions and vocabulary. To go to the page with the Free MP3 Download click here. Here are the lyrics:
Happy Easter Lyrics
Here comes the Easter Bunny
Hop, hop, bunny
Here comes the Easter Bunny, say hello!
(repeat)
Happy Easter (hop.hop)
Happy Easter (clap, clap)
Happy Easter (hop,hop,hop)
Let’s practice:
Easter Eggs
The Easter Bunny
an Easter Basket
good job!
Easter Egg Hunt
a Chocolate Bunny
Jelly Beans
Ok!
Here comes the Easter Bunny
Hop, hop, bunny
Here comes the Easter Bunny, say hello!
(repeat)
Happy Easter (hop.hop)
Happy Easter (clap, clap)
Happy Easter (hop,hop,hop)
We have teamed with MES-English.com to use the same vocabulary as their great Easter Flashcards. You can download the flashcards for free, and use them with the song for a fun Easter lesson.
Click here to learn more and download the free song. Happy Easter!
The Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes song is a basic song I use a lot when teaching children English (ESL, EFL). It is simple, active, and teaches useful vocabulary.
How to Teach
I start with the students by touching my head and saying, “head.” To add a little fun you can then shake your head with your hands and say, “wiggle, wiggle” kids love this. Repeat the same for all body parts: head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
If you know the song, sing it once a cappella (without background music) then press play on the CD or video and sing with your students!
Free Head, Shoulders MP3 Download
You can download a free MP3 of the Head, Shoulders song, and watch a video with the actions by clicking here. Make this song a regular in your classes!