Welcome, welcome, merry May!

Superb English spring songs for kids

Today I'd like to post these awesome  ESL  spring songs for kids. All of them are with lyrics, so you'll be able to sing them with your students. Lively melody and simple vocabulary make them must used  for primary school pupils.

Hope,these spring songs help you to make your lessons  more emotional. So, sing, learn and enjoy them together !

Lesson Plan : The Home of My Dream

The  Home of My Dream

 

1.Start the lesson with the song "Home on the range"

Ask students to complete the lyrics of the song  with the missing words. 

I will follow you forever

English for kids : Whether the weather

To teach students to talk about weather I advise you to use these short poems. It's better to start with this  fun tongue twister. Don't forget to explain your pupils the meanings of words whether-weather :

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We’ll weather the weather

Whatever the weather

Whether we like it or not.

Weather video

Everyone knows that  weather is the main point for discussion . 

In this video you'll find some quotes  and useful expressions about it. And , of course, you'll listen to good English.
So,let's watch, listen and learn!

English reading :You Are the Rose About to Bloom by Nicholas Gordon

 

You Are the Rose About to Bloom

by Nicholas Gordon

 

You are the rose about to bloom,

The color soon to wake,

The perfume set to scent the breeze,

The bud about to break.

You stand upon the lip of time

Alight with what will be,

And see yourself out to the sky

Across the open sea.

We see you vertically, a gift

Too beautiful to plumb,

And treasure all the years you were

And all the years to come.

Happy Friday!

Past Continuous

How to form Past Continuous

Today we'll learn a new verb tense. It is Past Continuous .
As you can see in the table ,the formula of this tense is to be Ving. As it is the past tense, we should use the past forms of the auxiliary verb to be : was or were and the main verb in ing -form Ving.

 We use the past continuous:

• for the action wchich was in progress at a state time in the past. We don't mention when the action started or finished.

 
They were having afternoon tea at half past four .

Songs for Learning English : All Of Me by John Legend

Love Words...
Do we often use them for our dearest  people? I don't think so...
We are always busy with our work, problems  and the Internet. However, the great poets and singers don't let us forget that Love is the main thing in this World  .

The Fame of English Literature : William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564-1616),

`The Bard of Avon', English poet and playwright . 

 On the 23rd of April Shakespeare’s birthday is celebrated around the world. This year we mark the 450 anniversary of his birth. More books has been written about the greatest English dramatist and poet than about any other writer. But yet many facts of his life are unknown to us.

But what is more important for human society : we have the unique heritage created hundreds of years ago and still touching our souls and hearts .

ESL teaching : developing speaking and writing skills.

Today I'd like to share my ideas about developing pupils' speaking and writing skills .

 I'm sure that teachers should use simple  short  poems widely. They give us  examples of everyday vocabulary and common grammar. What is more, they are easy memorising due to the rhymes. All of these make them a useful teaching tool. Concidering  them very effective,  I    use  this type of poems for the classroom activity as often as possible.
 

 As a rule, I start studying a new topic with a poem that  is connected with the content of the  current unite.

•  Firstly , read a poem to your pupils,then explain the meanings of all new words.
• Pupils should read this poem alone ( as a variant - with different emotions : sadness,happiness,  and so on)
•  Then we have to pay attention to the grammar structures used in this poem.
•  After this we start our work targeted on the developing pupils' speaking skills.Ask them to make  sentences using the words and phrases from this poem. It can be done in a form of a team game or a chain - story when each pupil adds his sentence to the story. It's really funny!
• You should finish this work asking the pupils to make a cartoon  or write a composition. They will be glad to show you and their parents how well they can do it now!

English reading for kids: Easter Poems

 Happy Easter, dear readers!

Today I'd like you to read these nice Easter poems with your kids or pupils. 

Hope, you'll like them.

So, read,learn ,enjoy!

Easter

The Easter Bunny's feet
Go hop, hop, hop,
While his big pink ears
Go flop, flop, flop.
He is rushing on his way
To bring our eggs on Easter Day,
With a hop, flop, hop, flop, hop.

Happy Easter!

 Happy Easter, my dear readers! My best wishes for you!

English reading for studying language. April Showers by Karen Chappell

 

  

April Showers

by Karen Chappell

April showers bring May flowers,

That is what they say.

But if all the showers turned to flowers,

We’d have quite a colourful day!

ESL Songs for Kids: Prepositions

The ESL teachers like to use simple songs for teaching kids. They sing,  play and memorise those words and phrases which repeat in the songs.Today I 'd like to recommend you this song for studying prepositions. I'm sure ,your youngest students will be happy singing it with you!

Teaching English : Projects

Method of projects helps teachers to create the situation of success for each of his students, involve them in atmosphere of English speaking society, its traditions and culture.

As for me, I like to use this method for all ages of my pupils. This method gives students independence in choosing the sources of the information, and forms of its presentation. If the theme of the project is interesting for pupils, they work with the great inspiration, that undoubtedly increase students motivation . Of course, pupils always use additional sources of information , analyze, compare , leaving most important and entertaining .

This year my pupils did the interesting project “Hot Cross Buns ” .

I must tell you that I have 14 girls and only 6 boys in my group aged 16. So while studying the unite “British Food” we read a lot of information about traditional British cuisine. And the girls asked me if they could bake Hot cross buns. I took this like a joke. But coming next lesson into the classroom I saw this picture.

English poetry. Our Suburb by Arthur Guiterman

Today I'd like  we to read and enjoy the poem by Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943). The poems of this American writer are full of light, humour and warmth. I'm sure, you'll love  not only this one but others as well.

Our Suburb

Our Garden Spot is always bright and pretty
(Of course it's rather soggy when it rains),
And only thirty minutes from the city
(Of course you have to catch the proper trains).
We're through with Grasping Landlords, rents, and leases
(Of course there's still a mortgage debt to pay).
At last we know what True Domestic Peace is
(Of course you can't compel a cook to stay).
Our Little Home is always nice and cozy
(Of course the furnace needs a lot of care).
The country keeps the children fresh and rosy
(Of course the schools are only middling fair).
The Country Club is glorious on Sunday
(Of course it's overcrowded now and then).
We see a play on Broadway every Monday
(Of course we have to leave at half past ten).
It's lovely having grass and trees and flowers
(Of course, at times, mosquitoes are a pest).
Yes, life is life out here in Rangely Towers
(Of course Some People like the city best)!

Arthur Guiterman

English grammar practice. State Verbs

Hello English lovers!

I'm glad to see you in this Grammar Section.
Hope, you 've learnt Present Simple and Present Continuous Tenses.

Today we'll talk about  State Verbs.

These verbs aren't normally used in the continuous tenses. Why?
Because they express a state rather than an action !

We can devide state verbs into some groups. Look here:

1. Verbs of the senses:
hear, see, smell, taste, sound, seem, feel.

2.Verbs expressing feelings and emotions:
love, like, hate, dislike, detest,enjoy,want,ets.

3. Verbs of perception:
agree, believe, suppose, understand, know, forget, remember,think,ets.

4.Some other  verbs
be, have (= possess),  own, possess,want,need,cost,fit,wish.weight ets

Songs for improving listening skills : I need your love

Hello dear English-lovers!

Singing  songs makes our spirit bright and gives us a chance to develop our English

Today I 'd like to propose you this rythmic song for developing listening skills.  There are  long beat breaks  in it,so you'll be able to learn English and dance. Sure, it'll be great!

Unexpected English project!

Today I'd like to show you the most unexpected result of the project work which I have ever seen.

We studied the theme Art with the students of the 10 form  ,and they were asked to make the project  about their favourite artist or piece of painting. 

One girl told us about French artist Emile Vernon and she described his lovely work Summer Rose. We were listerning   to her presentation with a great  interest.

But you can't imagine how  surprised  I was with the last page of this project!

English reading : Love story

Two Butterflies were in love.
One day they  played hide - and- seek. They found a beautiful flower and decided that tomorrow  who would come first and sit on this flower loved the other more.
In the morning the mail Butterfly came very early and watched when the flower would open.
When it opened he was shocked to see that the female Butterfly had died inside it.
She was waiting for him since last night.

Don't forget to take care of your love!

English reading for learning language

Reading, reading, reading again… It’s a waste of time.

Sometimes we can hear that reading is not useful for  practising fluent English speaking. But this is a big mistake.

First of all, reading widens the student’s vocabulary, it helps understand the rules of correct using the words and phrases in real speech (writing or oral). What is more, it gives us lot of information about the world. 

ESL reading is a specific kind of reading. It must encourage students to learn language, show him his progress. So you have to be very careful while choosing a proper book.

Don’t forget ,too much new words  can make reading too difficult for readers and this can possibly lead to refusing from learning language.

I’m sure the books for learners should be exciting, meaningful, and understandable.

Using reading for developing speaking skills

As for using reading for developing speaking skills , it can be extremely useful if you follow these rules of reading:

Аудирование/ Listening : If you are, you breathe.

Today we'll try to improve the listening skills. The wonderful video will help us to to do this. Listen to this narration . Each sentence  in it has the same structure "If you...., you..." So,let's start!

English songs for kids: What's the weather like today?

Let's sing this song with kids and learn weather vocabulary!

English Preparation: English Reading Problems And Solutions

English Preparation: English Reading Problems And Solutions: How to help children with reading problems: Introduction There are many ways how to help children with reading problems. The seemingly sim...

Read more here
http://www.english-preparation.com/2011/05/english-reading-problems-and-solutions.html

Enjoy English Poetry: A KISS IN THE RAIN

 For poetry lovers.

Love and rain are extremely common in spring. 

And what can be more romantic than kiss in the rain ?

Let's read and enjoy this marvelous poem!

One stormy morn I chanced to meet 

    A lassie in the town; 

Her locks were like the ripened wheat, 

    Her laughing eyes were brown.

I watched her as she tripped along 

    Till madness filled my brain, 

And then--and then--I know 'twas wrong-- 

    I kissed her in the rain! 

Verb Tenses

   

Very often we can hear the students'  about difficulty in using verb tenses in English. And they are right. English language has got a lot of verb forms. But we shouldn't memorise all of them. We just have to understand the system of verb forms. Let's look at this table:

Enjoy English: Beauty of Nature (vocabulary)

There are a lot of interesting words for describing the beauty of nature. Sometimes it's difficult for students to memorise them. To help them I creat this rhyme, which we read as a rap  using a rhythmic melody. My students like this idea, and what about you?

Ecological Education at the English Lessons

Modern world is full of problems. One of the most burning of them is the ecological one. Wherever you live you can’t be indifferent to this problem.

 The forests are being cut down and many species of animals and birds become extinct. The air in our cities is not clean and we have to breathe exhaust fumes   and a lot of people have health problems nowadays. Polluted water and land can’t give us good living conditions.

Teaching English: Interesting techniques

It is a great icebreaker!  It can be adapted for topic and level as you like.

Each student needs a piece of paper and a pen. Tell them to write the numbers 1-6 down one side.  You will do this too.  Next to each number you are going to tell them what to write:

1. The first name of your favourite actor
2. What job you wanted to have when you were little
3. Where you would like to go on holiday
4. Have you been to an English-speaking country?
5. The number of years you have been learning English
6. Your least favourite activity

Everyone’s paper should look something like this:

1. Dustin
2. Fashion Designer
3. Vietnam
4. Yes
5. 34
6. tidying my room

read more here
http://hiveofactivities.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/cocktail-party/

Learn English: a Visit to London !

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,

That I love London so;

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,

That I think of her wherever I go.

I get a funny feeling inside of me,

Just walking up and down;

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,

That I love London town.

Hubert Gregg

London is the most desirable city for those who study English. The capital of the United Kingdom attracts visitors from all over the world . In fact, it's one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe. People want to live,work and study here. What is more, London is famous for its theatres and galleries, clubs and shops. Although the sky is often grey, the city is so colourful: it mixes modern and medieval, the traditional and the new.

Amazing poem for studying English!

Painter Richard MacNeil

Today I'd like  to share this awesome poem with my readers. I'm sure it will be useful both for teachers and learners. Just read it and you'll be impressed with the rich vocabulary of this poem. Clothes, parts of body, shopping, verbs,emotions -these are the topics studying which you can use this poem. Isn't it amazing?
And moreover, it's really funny and entertaining!
So, read,learn, enjoy!

William Allen Butler

NOTHING TO WEAR

Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square, 

Has made three separate journeys to Paris; 

And her father assures me, each time she was there, 

That she and her friend Mrs. Harris 

(Not the lady whose name is so famous in history, 

But plain Mrs. H., without romance or mystery) 

Spent six consecutive weeks without stopping, 

In one continuous round of shopping;-- 

Shopping alone, and shopping together, 

At all hours of the day, and in all sorts of weather: 

For all manner of things that a woman can put 

On the crown of her head or the sole of her foot, 

Or wrap round her shoulders, or fit round her waist, 

Or that can be sewed on, or pinned on, or laced, 

Or tied on with a string, or stitched on with a bow, 

In front or behind, above or below;

Using songs for teaching English

Boys sing the famous Beatles song YESTERDAY

Song is a great source  of inspiration for learning English. As a rule, students of different ages  are interested in  old and modern English songs. How can a song  be useful for studying English?

First of all, you can learn new vocabulary.  Songs always touch upon the up-to-date  problems, that’s why they  introduce  the alive vocabulary. Usually they contain the colloquial words and phrases. But  there are  phrasal verbs,  idioms and a lot of emotional adjectives, adverbs and verbs in songs. Try to memorize them, it’s a great way to expand your own vocabulary.

Besides this, songs can be also used for studying grammar. However, songs often give us examples of  "live" grammatical constructions, so- called "shrinking and linking" structures.

No doubt, songs are very important for developing  listening and speaking skills.  Students should  listen to songs everywhere and every time they are free.  It is the most common way to hear " real English". Don't forget to repeat the words, sing  songs aloud  ,try to use the phrases from your favourite songs in everyday conversations.As you can see, it is an easy and pleasant way to improve your English.

 And last but not least, singing songs makes your mood better. You can sing alone or with your friends and become a more experienced and confident learner .

So, listen,sing,enjoy! 

As for me, I like to use songs for teaching English. I'm sure songs make it interesting,motivated and fruitful . 

My pupils take part in the Eglish show

All Fool's Day

Mom: What happened dear?

Daughter: Mom do I look like a wicked witch?

Mom: No!

Daughter: Are my eyes big as toad?

Mom: No!

Daughter: Is my nose flat?

Mom: No baby!

Daughter: Am I fat like a bulldog?

Mom: You have a fine physique, you are a Barbie doll!

Daughter: Then why people tell me that you look like your mom?