Dream English School Show – Brescia, Italy, October 16, 2019

It was such a pleasure to visit northern Italy and do a performance with great students! The students sang so well, and were enthusiastic for the whole show! More below the photo:

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(Photo: Matt and students singing Shake it Out)

The Show

There were about 30 students at this show, which made it fun and easy to interact with everyone. We could make a circle, and sing in a circle. We did this for a few songs.  The teachers and students were very helpful and enthusiastic, which made for a very fun show!

Here are the Dream English songs we sang at the show:

1. Let’s Count 1 to 10
2. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
3. The Weather Song (The Sun Comes Up)
4. ABC Song ( with guitar)
5. Days of the Week Song (with guitar)
6. Baby Shark
7. Colors Action Song
8. Shake it Out
9. Do You Have a Pet?
10. BINGO (with guitar)
11. Goodbye Song

After the show I was invited to see how the students practice Dream English songs in the classroom. It was amazing to see my videos on a large smartboard. We even sang the Weather Song and the Goodbye Song watching the YouTube Videos together. It was a blast!

I had so much fun at this school. A big thank you to teacher Linda, the other teachers at the school, and of course the wonderful students for an amazing morning!

Dream English School Show – Rome, Italy October 24, 2019

I had a lot of fun singing with the great students at a primary school in Rome, Italy! There were about 200 students, and we did three shows for the different age groups. Read more below the photo.

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(Photo: Matt and students singing the Weather Song)

The Show

We split the students into three age groups with about 70 students per show. The first group were 6-7 years old, the second group 7-8, and the last group 8-9. Each show was a bit over 20 minutes, and the energy was amazing for each group!

I was so inspired by the students singing, dancing, and enthusiasm that it helped me to perform. It was exciting for all of us!

Here are the Dream English songs we sang at the show:

1. Let’s Count 1 to 10
2. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
3. The Weather Song (The Sun Comes Up)
4. ABC Song ( with guitar)
5. Days of the Week Song (with guitar)
6. Baby Shark
7. Colors Action Song
8. Goodbye Song

One of my favorite parts of the show is singing the Days of the Week song with students. I always invite a few students up to the front to sing and do the actions, while I play guitar. It is amazing to hear all of the children singing a song that I wrote.

Thank you to teacher Isabella, the other teachers, and all of the students at the show for making this a wonderful afternoon of music and fun!

Dream English School Show – Paris, France Show # 1

One of the best parts of Dream English for me is meeting teachers and students around the world. I have been fortunate to do Dream English Shows in Thailand, Japan, Spain, U.S.A, and now France!

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The Speak N’ Play English school just outside of Paris, France was my first show in France. I was invited by the school owner, Eliza. She is very nice, and a great teacher! If you have children in the area who are looking to learn English, I highly recommend Speak N’ Play.

Show And Songs

There were about twenty students, a nice number and I could really interact with all of the students. It was my first time meeting these students, so I started out by doing simple warm-ups. I used repeat after me action warm-ups like this, “clap your hands, clap, clap. wash your hands, wash, wash.”
It was important for me that the students feel relaxed before starting into the songs.

Song List:

We did the following Dream English songs at the show:

1. Let’s Count 1 to 10
2. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
3. The Weather Song (The Sun Comes Up)
4. ABC Song ( with guitar)
5. BINGO (with guitar)
6. Baby Shark
7. Colors Action Song
8. Goodbye Song

The students were great. They had a lot of energy and were focused throughout the show. I had a lot of fun singing with the students, and their teacher Eliza.

A big thank you to Eliza for inviting me. Until next time! Goodbye, see you, thank you!

Back to Basics: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes is a great warm-up song for English Class

One of my favorite ways to start a new English class for young learners (ESL, EFL) is to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. The song is fun, simple, and active. After this song, the class can sit down and settle down for a fun class.

Recommended Ages: 3-7 Years old
Target Vocabulary: Body Parts

Give the song a try in your class! You can also download a free MP3 of the song here.  Happy singing!

New Video: Let’s Count to 100 by 1s Chant for Learning Numbers

I review numbers every class with my young learners, and this video is a fun and simple way to count from 1 to 100 by 1s in your young learner English classes! More below the video!

You can also review numbers in class using flashcards, or object, or fingers. After reviewing the numbers, I always like to do a quick quiz with my students. I show a few numbers and ask, “What number?” Children can learn numbers quickly and a numbers quiz is a fun activity to give children confidence in their English learning adventure!

You can download the audio only for this chant for free! Click here to go to the webpage with the chant! You will also see an action version of this chant on that page. Try it when your students need some excercise!

 

A to Z Animal Chant New Video

When I teach young learners English (ESL, EFL) I always spend a bit of time on the letters of the alphabet. In class I use flashcards with a letter and an image on it (A, apple, B, bird), or a video. More below the video:

Teaching the Alphabet without Phonics Sounds

When I first started teaching, all of the teachers around me were teaching letters with phonics sounds. In general, I see no problem with this. However, there are many different sounds for each letter. For example, say out loud “orange, owl, otter, orangutan” same letter “o” with different sounds.

I did some research, and found that teaching just the letter name, and a word that it begins with is also excellent for learning. The students start to recognize that letters have different sounds. They also learn letter recognition, and vocabulary.

I made the A to Z Alphabet Animal Chant to use this idea of teaching a letter, and a word that starts with this letter. We also have on YouTube an A To Z Vehicles chant. 

I recommend doing your own research and finding the best way to teach your students. I use a bit of phonics, and a bit of letter recognition, and so far I have had great results in getting my young students to learn to read in English. Happy teaching!

Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes Song in Kids English Class

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!

Wheels On The Bus What Do You See Song? Learn English Vocabulary for Children

The new Wheels On The Bus What Do You See? Song is a fun way to teach vocabulary within the framework of a familiar song. In this song we learn five animals. More below the video:

The Wheels On The Bus

The Wheels on The Bus is a fun traditional song that many young learners of English might already know. I took the fun actions of this song, and added another verse to teach vocabulary. In this song we learn dog, cat, bird, horse, and cow.

Your students will have fun doing all of the actions of the song, and pretending to look through the window to see different animals.

Target Vocabulary

Animals: dog, cat, bird, horse, cow
Vehicle Vocabulary: bus, wheels, wipers, horn, doors, people
Action vocabulary: round and round, swish, beep, up and down, open and shut

Give the song a try!

Try this fun Wheels on The Bus What Do You See? Song in your classes, and watch how your young learners (ESL, EFL) learn vocabulary in a fun way.
Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Where Is The Lion? New Song and Lesson for your Young Learner English Class

I made the Where Is The Lion? Song to teach animal names, asking and answering “Where?” questions and to practice drawing with shapes and writing. How to teach below the video:

How To Teach

There are three main parts to this video: The song, the drawing, and writing the word lion.

Song

You can start by showing the thumbnail of the video (as seen above) and asking the students what animals they see. If they can not say all of the animals names you can teach them. Then, watch the video. The students will learn the animal names by watching, and if possible singing along. It could take awhile for them to sing along, but try to encourage your students to try.

Drawing

After watching the video one time, go back to the drawing section. Either have your students imitate the drawing in the video, or you can draw on the board and have them copy you. If you draw on the board it can be slower to your student’s pace.

Writing

Next, you can go back to the writing section and have your students write the word “lion.” In the video it is lower case, but if you like you can also teach upper case letters.

At the end of the class the students will have a lion picture, and the word “lion” written to show their friends and family! They should also be able to identify the animals in the video.

End of video question

At the end of the video I ask, “What was your favorite animal from today?” Ask your students and encourage them to answer.

These are my ideas for using this video to make a whole class. You can also use flashcards to teach the vocabulary, and play flashcard games. Be creative and come up with your own ways to make a great class for your students. Happy teaching!