Story to teach colours and numbers for very young learners

Every single human being on earth likes stories, needless to say children. So why not use them to teach numbers?

Every time my 5 year-old students see me walking around at school with a book in my hands they think it is for them and start asking all kinds of questions about it. They have just started learning English, therefore they are learning the basics, such as colours, numbers, family members, etc.

Since I wanted to revise colours and teach numbers from 1 to 10, I thought it would be a nice idea to do that through a story. I have used Ten Monsters in a Bed by Rozanne Lanczac Williams and my students loved it!!!

Lesson plan

1. Ask students to guess what the picture is by showing them a puzzle piece. Ask them to put the pieces together and check if their guesses were right.

http://www.4shared.com/document/gBH67kEJ/puzzle.html?

2. Tell them the story by using puppets (cut the monsters and glue lollipop sticks on them) and ask them questions about colours and teach them numbers by counting the monsters. You can tell the story including the vocabulary you want, I have used colours (... the blue one said).

http://www.4shared.com/document/QiyDD32R/Puppets.html?

http://www.4shared.com/document/g9U0muS3/Ten_in_a_bed_story.html?

3. Ask ss to count school objects, students, desks, etc.

4. Show them the bed handout and ask them to draw ten monsters.

http://www.4shared.com/document/pLWMx9yk/bed.html?

5. Ask ss to make playdough monsters.

6. Ask ss to watch the video and act it out using their playdough monsters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd8CApTkCtw

7. Ask them to watch the video and act it out. They loved it!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2bxC_TovZ4

How to become a millionaire speaking activity

Sometimes I find it extremelly difficult to choose an interesting and engaging topic to promote a natural speaking environment. This topic turned out to be really appealing to students in general, since almost everybody can relate to money.

1- Pair students up and ask them to look at the pictures and answer the question on the second slide.

http://www.4shared.com/document/6uzOml1N/how_to_become_a_millionaire.html?

2- Ask them to complete the sentences on the fourth slide.

3- Ask ss to write a recipe of how to become a millionaire (fifth slide).

4- Ask ss to watch the video "How to become a millionaire" and answer the questions on the sixth slide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLDenPdiXfg&feature=related

5-Ask ss to listen to "Price tag" by Jessie J and fill in the blanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxX-QOV9tI&ob=av2e

http://www.4shared.com/document/a1sECPYl/Price_tag.html?

6- Ask them to listen again and show them the sentences on the seventh slide.

7- Ask them disscuss about the importance of money on the eighth slide.

Hope you enjoy it as much as my students did!!!

Fun 4 teens and adults: listening, speaking and writing activity

Since we are in the beginning of a new semester, we ask ourselves how we can prepare interesting activities to involve and engage students. I find it really difficult specially when I get a new group and I don't know some of their characteristics such as level of English, interests, learning styles, etc.

Most teens and adults have as their hobbies watching videos and listening to music, so why not integrate both of them in an engaging activity?

I have used "I do" by Colbie Caillet with both adults and teenagers and their feedback was great. Here are the stages for this activity.

1) First of all, tell students they are going to watch a video with the sound off and that after that they are going to tell each other what they think the video is about (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0oyglKjbFQ&ob=av2e).

2) Pair students up and ask them to tell each other what they think the video is about.

3) Ask them to watch the video with the sound on and check if their guesses were correct.

4) Ask students to order the sentences and fill in the blanks:

Colbie Caillat (I Do)

( )If all relationships were nothing but a waste of time

( )It's always been about me myself and I

( )That was the only way I knew till I met you

( )I was happy to say that our love wouldn't last

( )I never wanted to be anybody's other half

You ……….. me wanna say
I do, I do, I do, do do do do do do doo
Yeah, I do, I do, I do, do do do do do do doo
Cause every ………… before we spend like
Maybe yes and maybe …………….
I can ……. without it, I can let it …………………
Ooh, I did, I get myself into
You …………. me wanna say I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do,

Tell me is it only me
Do you ………. the same?
You know me well enough to know that I'm not playing …………..
I ……………. I won't turn around and I won't let you down
You can trust and never feel it now
………….. there's nothing, there's nothing we can't get through

So can we say

I do, I do, I do, do do do do do do doo
Oh baby, I do, I do, I do, do do do do do do doo
Cause every ………… before we spend like
Maybe yes and maybe …………….
I can ……. without it, I can let it …………………
Ooh, I did, I get myself into
You …………. me wanna say

Me a family, a house a family
Ooh, can we be a family?
And when I'm eighty years old I'm sitting next to you.

And we'll remember when we said
I do, I do, I do, do do do do do do doo
Oh baby, I do, I do, I do, do do do do do do doo
Cause every ………… before we spend like
Maybe yes and maybe ……….
I won't ……….… without it, I won't let it ………….
Just look at what we got ourselves into
You ………. me wanna say I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do,
Love you

5) In pairs, ask students to come up with a story explaining how the song characters first met and fell in love.

6) Ask students to vote for the most creative and interesting story.

Devoted teacher

My name is Priscila Vanderlei (@PriVanderlei-pri.vanderlei@hotmail.com). I was born in Recife and I also live here. Since I was a child I have thought about being a teacher. My dream has come true and it's been eight years I'm a teacher.

I love teaching all kinds of levels and ages, but after some years teaching adults and teenagers I was asked to teach young learners. At first I thought I would never learn how to deal with them, but after the first classes I was completly in love .

This blog was created to share some of my ideas with other devoted teachers and also to help me reflect on my own teaching. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.