Tag: learn english kids

What’s New with Dream English – Week of September 21, 2020

More fun new songs and videos this week for your beginner English young learner classes (ESL and EFL). Let’s get started!

New Videos on Dream English Kids YouTube Channel:

New Songs and Albums on Spotify:

Halloween-Shapes
Click on the link to go to the song on Spotify. Also available on Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon:

  1. Halloween Shapes
  2. BINGO
  3. Halloween Let’s Go
  4. Santa Wears a Red Hat (Christmas Song)
  5. Christmas Shapes Song
  6. Finger Family Songs Album

That’s the wrap up for this week. Please follow Dream English Kids on YouTube and Spotify to get notified of new releases right away. Or, stay tuned for the next What’s New! Thank you for your support! – Matt

Count to 1000 by 1s Video

Counting is really important for young English learners (ESL, EFL). Numbers are useful in every day life (shopping, cooking) and numbers also contain many important phonetic sounds of the English language. More below video:

It takes a bit over 23 minutes to count to 1000 by 1s in this video. That is a long time to sit through a video! However, you can use parts of this video to practice. For example, try counting from 1-100 one day, and the next 101-200.

Put it on in the background before class, and let your students listen to the numbers. These are just a few ideas. I hope you find this video useful for your classes and students! Happy Teaching!

How to Teach Children to Say “My name is …” in English

Children learning English (ESL/EFL) love to introduce themselves in English. Asking the students, “What’s your name?” and having them answer is a daily task in my classes. Here are my top tips for teaching this:

Top 5 Tips for Teaching Children Self Introduction with Name

    1. Introduce yourself first: I always begin by saying, “My name is Matt.” Next, I will invite a student up and after learning their name help them say for example, “My name is Bell.” The students can slowly repeat each word after you.
    2. Use puppets to introduce the idea: I often use small hand puppets that I bought at a local store to model saying, “My name is…” I have a dog puppet, and a cat puppet. I introduce myself by saying, “My name is Matt” then I pull out the puppets. I make a silly dog voice and using the dog puppet say, “My name is Douggy Dog. Woof, woof!” Then I take out the cat puppet and say, “My name is Catey Cat. Meow!” The students start seeing that we are introducing ourselves.
    3. What’s Your Name? Song: After introducing the idea of saying our names, we sing the What’s Your Name? Song. You can get a free mp3 download of that song here. And check out the simple video here:
    4. Game Idea: Have the students stand in a circle. Use a ball, and have the students throw it to each other. The student that throws the ball has to ask “What’s your name?” The student who catches the ball answers, “My name is _____.” See if they can gradually speed up without making mistakes. If the students are younger, ages 2-5, you can have them pass the ball and say their name.
    5. Name and Numbers Quiz: When the students are comfortable saying, “My name is …” you can combine asking the student’s names and a number quiz. I do this in big classes with students ages 4-6. I invite a group of students to the front of the class. I ask, “What’s your name?” and they all answer. Next, I show them a number card usually from 1-10 and ask, “What number?” and they answer for example, “Five!” Then I ask those students to sit down again, and invite another group up until all of the students have had a turn. This is fun, simple, and gives young learners confidence in English!

      Tip:       Simplify! If something is too difficult for your students, you can always simplify the activity. For example, in the game above if the students are not ready yet to ask “What’s your name?” have them pass the ball and say, “My name is…”

I hope this helps you get your students introducing themselves in English. Happy Teaching! – Matt

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.

Santa is Coming Christmas Action Song for Young Learners EFL ESL

Learning English through actions is a great and tested way to get the most out of your classes. The Santa is Coming Christmas song is full of useful actions and phrases for your young learner class. Lyrics and more below the video:

Lyrics:

Merry, Merry Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas

Decorate the Christmas tree.
Put out milk.
Put out cookies.

Santa is coming, Santa is coming here

Put on your pajamas.
Brush your teeth.
Go to bed early.

Santa is coming, Santa is coming here

Wake up.
Go to the living room.
Find your present.
Open your present.

Santa is coming, Santa is coming here
Merry, Merry Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas

The great thing about using actions is that children learn at different paces. Some students might get the actions right away, and others might get the words first. You do not have to pressure your students to sing the song. Encourage them, and teach the actions to start. You can also make up your own actions to fit your class.

I hope this song brings a lot of fun and learning to your Christmas classes!

Getting Ready for The New Year – Happy New Year Chant

It’s been an amazing year at Dream English, thanks to your support from around the world. I got to visit students in Thailand, and had a wonderful time making songs and videos for teachers and students around the world!

Start off your New Year with the Happy New Year Chant! A great chant to clap and dance your way into the New Year! Check it out here! Happy Teaching!

Let’s Count to 10 on a Pirate Adventure! A Fun Young Learners Classroom Song!

When teaching young learners English in an EFL or ESL environment, I love doing circle time songs. A circle time song is a song you sing and act out while walking in a circle with your students. With this in mind I created the new Pirate Ship Action and Counting Song. More below the video:

Counting and Moving

The idea of this song is very simple: Let’s count numbers while moving in a circle and doing some fun actions. The pirate ship part is an extra layer of fun! We’re not just walking and singing, we’re having an adventure!

How to Teach:

Target Vocabulary: pirate ship, pirate, numbers 1-10, plank, beach, crocodile, treasure, open, gold coins. (If you are not sure about some of this vocabulary, please watch the video. Also, check out the video thumbnail for the following vocabulary: pirate, plank, beach, treasure, 1,2 ,3.)

You can let the students watch the video one time, and have them act along with it. Or, draw some pictures on the board, or use flashcards to show the different parts of the ship, beach, etc.

After the students are familiar with the vocabulary, you can teach the song without the video if you like. Try getting your students in a circle, and singing the song. You can either do this a cappella (without background music) or using the song only. Your students will have a lot of fun getting their energy out and doing all of the actions. Give it a try, and happy singing!

The song Pirate Ship Action and Counting Song is available on iTunes, Spotify and other streaming services. 

 

Teaching Places and Vehicles with the New It’s a Beautiful Day Song

I think it is important to introduce fun and memorable ideas when teaching young learners of English (ESL, EFL). I created a new song to teach places (library, playground, restaurant, and supermarket) with a fun twist of getting splashed by vehicles. Check out the video here, more teaching tips below:

Teaching Tips

Before playing the video for your students, use flash cards, or pictures to introduce the vocabulary in the video. Here are all the vocabulary words needed to teach:
Places: Library, Playground, Restaurant, Supermarket
Vehicles: Fire Truck, Bus, Banana Car, Bulldozer
You can use flashcards you already have, or look around the web to source your cards, I recommend MES English for great flashcards for teaching kids English.

Introduce the vocabulary on the flashcards, and the action of walking. Here are the full lyrics of the song if you want to pre-teach all the lyrics:

It’s a beautiful day
I’m on my way
I’m walking to the playground

Look, it’s the library
the library
I got splashed by a fire truck
Oh, no!
(repeat with other vocabulary above)

Now you are ready to play the video, and sing-along with your students. I would make the students stand up, if possible, and do the actions. They can really get into it and act like they are getting splashed, too!

The idea of these types of songs are that they are a fun natural way to learn English. Give it a try, and happy singing!