Sunday 30 November 2014

Counting numbers with rhymes


Rhymes are a very fun way to learn vocabulary, besides it can help to work rutines. Children love rhymes and they can learn rutines and skills.
Let's learn this fragment of the rhyme "One, Two, Buckle my Shoe". Children will learn to count numbers.

One, two, tie my shoe.

Three, four, shut the door.

Five, six, pick up sticks.

Seven, eight, stand up straight.

Nine, ten, count again!

At first, we say the rhyme doing all the actions described in it, and encouraging the children to join in.
Then, together with the children, we say the rhyme and act it out.

Now, let's sing a fun numbers song called "Ten Little Numbers", to count from 1 to 10 with a very catchy tune.


With the game "How many apples", we can learn to count from one to ten and to ask using the question phrase "How many" to response with numbers.  Click on the link below:


Thursday 27 November 2014

Teaching the Alphabet


Learning the English alphabet is something than can seem difficult for young learners, and this is because some letters are pronounced differently. It is important to work with letters that are pronounced always in the same way.
Using pictures can be a good help to learn the letters and to get familiar to them. 
We can print the alphabet and have it hung on the wall.
Click on image below to download picture cards for the alphabet.

Songs are a good source to enhance motivation in preschool children. 
I love this two songs, they are very pleasant and will help children to memorise the sounds while enjoying music.


 


 


We can provide lots of activities to work the alphabet. I would suggest three simple and fun activities recommended for young learners:

WRITING CHILDREN'S NAMES:
Children love to work with their names. Let's write their names with the English alphabet.

DRAWING THE LETTERS ON A SMALL CHALKBOARD:
We give one small chalkboard to each student. We say out loud a letter and they have to draw it.

I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE...:
We say "I spy with my little eye something beginning with T". The children have to guess the object, for example, the table.






 








How are you feeling today?

I think it is a good idea to ask the children how they feel when we begin our class. It can help them to express emotions.


Let's prepare a poster and some flashcards with different feelings. Every morning, at the beginning of the class, we can stick the flashcard on the poster, after asking them...
HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?

Every time we show them the flascards, we can teach them the words and mime facial expressions.

Click on image to download the worksheet and print out the pictures to prepare the flashcards.

http://www.teachingdisplays.co.uk/images/thumbs/0000260.jpg


Now, let's listen to the song: 
IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT

We listen to a very simple version of the traditional song, which is more suitable for young learners.

We sing the song all together and do the actions described:
Clap, clap / Big smile / Sniff, sniff / Sad face / Stamp, stamp / Frown







Monday 24 November 2014

Storytelling: The Very Hungry Caterpillar



One way to introduce preschoolers to English is through storytelling. 
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my favourite illustrated albums. 
It is a timeless and simple story. And it is a wonderful resource to practice English.


We will enjoy listening to the story
We will learn vocabulary: days of the week, colours, fruits 

Firstly, we show the book to the children.
Then, we can watch a nice video...


And now... Maths! Counting with fruits.
We can make copies and distribute the templates. Click on image to get the printable.

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