Kids Love English

First Day Ideas

2012-01-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

Name Bingo
On my first day of class, I'm planning to play a Name Bingo with my 16 students.
I'll write their names on separate slips and have them choose 8 names and write them down in their notebooks for the game.

Time Capsule
I'll give the students a worksheet for them to complete with their personal information, likes and dislikes, favorites, and abilities. I'll collect their sheets and read the information (not mentioning their names) for their peers to guess who I'll be referring to.
After that, I'll keep all the sheets in a capsule (a Pringles canister wrapped in foil) and return them back to the students on the last day of class. I wonder if anything will have changed by then.

Storytelling
I chose "The Teacher from the Black Lagoon", by Mike Thaller. There's a fantastic YouTube video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuRlqN2aZow - I'll show it to the students in class. Later we'll play Bingo with the book characters.

Page Corner Bookmark

2012-01-26T11:11:00.000-08:00

Here's the sample of page corner bookmarks I'll make with my students on the first day of class. I'll bring the templates already cut for them to fold and glue. They'll use theirs to mark the homework page. I hope they like it.

Instructions can be seen on: http://nheilke.com/blog/?p=2628

Nature

2011-10-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

What is there on this landscape? Students chose a geographical feature to illustrate a card.

Next, they drew and wrote a postcard to a person they liked most.

How's the Weather?

2011-10-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

A Window Booklet for the students to practice asking and answering questions about the weather.
The cover is a cut-out window and the inside pages are 6 different weather conditions.

My Classroom

2011-10-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Students practiced asking What's this? and What's that? by making a pop-up booklet to identify some school supplies.

A Bat Mini-Book

2011-10-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

After coloring and cutting out the bat, students cut out the story, stapled them together, and glued the pages to the center.

Felt Nocturnal Animals

2011-10-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here are three nocturnal animals (bats, foxes, and owls) my group is going to talk about this week.

The finger puppet bat represents "Stellaluna", a beautiful story written by Janell Cannon. I'm sure they'll love it.

Clothes - A Craftfoam Booklet

2011-10-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

I used craftfoam for the pages and the cut-outs to make this booklet and have the students practice the vocabulary related to clothes. They pretended they washed the clothes in a washing machine, dried them in a washing line, put them in a closet, and dressed up the boy and the girl.

Family in a Matchbox

2011-10-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun way for the students to practice the spelling of family-related words.

Tape the picture of a family member to the top of a matchbox, write the letters that form the respective words on slips, and put them inside the box.

Divide the class into as many groups as there are boxes and give each group a matchbox.

At your signal, the groups open the box and form the words related to the member illustrated on the top of the box.

This is more effectively played if the nature of the task is that of cooperation rather competition.

After you check the correct spelling, groups move their boxes to their right for a new turn with a different word.

Parts of the House

2011-09-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here's an easy project for the students to practice the parts of the house.

1. Fold an A4 sheet in half.

2. Crease the center of the fold.

3. Fold the left and the right parts to the center.

4. Open the fold.

5. Press the corners to form a triangle on each side.

6. Tell the students to draw the rooms in the house on the front ...

7. ... and inside it.

8. Have them label the parts of the house.

Wheel Book - Opposites

2011-09-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

My group is going to start working with opposites. This wheel book technique is a great way for them to identify the new vocab. Here are the instructions.

1. Cut two circles out of cardstock.

2. Make a template to mark the slits and the center on one of the circles to help you make all the other circles for your students.

3. Cut the two slits and fold them to the back of the circle.

4. Use a large needle to make a hole in the center of the two circles.

5. Use a brad to secure both circles, keeping the one with slits on top.

6. Students write the opposite words, moving the top circle clockwise.

They write the title and the author's name on the top circle.

Have them stand up and walk around, asking their peers what the opposite words are.

My students carried out this task listening to Waka, Waka. As I paused the song, they asked the peer next to them: What's the opposite of ... ? It was hard to change the activity, for they had lots of fun.

Here are some of their projects.

Mini-Dictionary

2011-09-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Each student has a mini-dictionary to record the new words as we finish a unit.

We stamped the pages after we put them together. The students love keeping record of the new words this way.

Washing Line

2011-09-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Each student received an item of clothing to color. The helper of the day helped me staple each item to a piece of thread as students, in turn, came to the front, identified the peer, and said what color his / her item was.

Magazine Cut-outs for Clothes

2011-09-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

I cut some pictures of people out of magazines and glued them on sheets of paper for the students to write the color of the depicted clothes, practicing the use of his and her, singular and plural, clothes-related vocabulary, and colors. His T-shirt is green. Her shorts are blue.

Happy Birthday! Here's Your Gift.

2011-09-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

In our lesson, we talked about toys and birthdays. The students made this card which illustrated two toys they chose to give to a peer and helped them act out a dialogue: Happy birthday! Here are your gifts. Thanks.

After that, they wrote a thank-you letter to their respective peers. They had a lot of fun.

Step Book - What I Like and Don't Like for Different Meals

2011-09-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here are the Step Book projects my students developed to write about what they like and don't like for different meals - breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Play-Dough Food

2011-08-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

The students loved using play-dough to make their favorite food items. It was a very fast activity, in which I handed out a small piece of colored dough for them to mold their food and write it on a piece of paper. Next class, peers will interview each student about it.

Food Categories - Where do fruit and vegetables grow? - Pop-Up Book

2011-08-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

Using the pop-up book is an involving way for the students to classify different food items: Do they grow on trees, on plants, or underground? We used one page for each category.

Here are the steps for a dimensional effect on the project:

1. For each page, fold an A5 sheet of paper in half and cut slits down from the fold. Narrow slits for the tree and wide slits for the plant / underground.

2. Push the cut area through the fold and crease it to form a pop-up section.

3. Glue the 3 pages back to back.

4. Label the pictures.

5. Glue a cover to the pop-up book and write the title and the author's name.

Food - Step Book

2011-08-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

This is the project my group is going to develop to write about the food they like and don't like for different meals. They'll choose among breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

1. For each student, 2 A4 sheets cut in half. They receive 4 A5 sheets.

2. Place the four sheets of paper on top of one another, overlapping the ends.

3. Hold the pages together and fold them over to create more overlapping pages. Staple it.

4. Write the book title on the top page (students choose one mealtime: breakfast, lunch, or dinner), write the sentences - I like ... / I don't like ... , and draw the respective food item on each succeeding page.

Here's the sample the students will be exposed to:

Stand-up Animals

2011-08-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is the project my group developed after we talked about pets and zoo animals. It focused on the animals they can usually see at the zoo.

First I set five minutes for them to color the pictures. Then five more minutes for them to cut out the animals and glue them to the cages they wanted. Finally, they wrote the animal words on the respective signs, read the words for me individually, and taped their projects to the wall.

Here are their projects.

Animal Pop-Up Cards

2011-08-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

My group made this pop-up card to illustrate the pets they have or would like to have. It gave a dimensional effect to the project.

Here are the directions:

1. Fold two pieces of paper in half. Put one aside.Starting at the folded edge, cut a line. The longer the line, the bigger the mouth.

2. Fold back the flaps to form two triangles.

3. Open the flaps again. Open the whole page.

Put your finger on the top triangle and push down. Pinch the two folded edges of the top triangle, so that the triangle is pushed through to the other side of the paper.

Put your finger on the bottom triangle and do the same thing. The top and bottom triangles will now be pushed out to form a mouth inside the card. When you open and close your card, the mouth will look like it is talking. When your card is closed it will look like this:

4. Glue the inside and outside cards together. Do not apply glue in the area of the pop-up mouth. You now have a cover for your card.

5. Draw an animal around your mouth.

Here's an example of a frog.

And here's an example of a dog. Following the content covered in the lesson, the students wrote, e.g. I have a dog. I don't have a cat.

Here are some samples you can show to your students to model the project.

Here are the students' projects:

Paper Plate Animals

2011-08-08T06:12:00.000-07:00

Paper plates - here are some ideas you can use to work with pets and wild animals. I handed out the animal plates and the respective word slips for the students to match. They also classified the animals as pets and wild animals, or both, and talked about their colors.

Making Books with Children

2011-05-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Making books promotes better retention.

Making books encourages exploration.

Making books fits any topic.

Making books allows students to work on their own.

Making books generates excitement.

Making books encourages communication.

Pop-out Books

2011-05-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

stories

dictation

copying

description

Pop-up Books

2011-05-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

stories

dictation

copying

description

Accordion Books

2011-05-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

stories

information display

opinion survey

sequencing

Flip Books

2011-05-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

sequencing

timeline

cause + effect

Q + A

riddles

information

factfile

descriptions

Lift-up Books

2011-05-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

stories

copying

description

Flap Books

2011-05-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

riddles

secret messages

surprise and mystery

copying

Wheel Books

2011-05-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

Q + A

contrasting

story illustration

secret messages

Step Books

2011-05-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

sequencing

recipes

story events

research project

diary

directions + rules

Quilt Books

2011-05-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

biography

4 Ws

Q – A

sequencing

Window Books

2011-05-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

riddles

identification

Shape Books

2011-05-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

projects

stories

picture dictionary

copying

Fan Books

2011-05-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

categorization

classification

exemplification

lists

Envelope Books

2011-05-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

riddles

secret messages

vocabulary list

descriptions

Hot Dog Booklets

2011-05-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

picture dictionaries

categorization

narratives

Ziploc Books

2011-05-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

projects

show + tell

realia

Who Am I? Books

2011-05-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

descriptions:

people

places

animals

Triarama Books

2011-05-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

sequencing

classification

categorization

My Family

2010-09-29T20:19:00.001-07:00

This photo album customized with Smilebox

2009-07-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

This elephant knows great stories. Let's listen to one!

2009-07-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

2009-07-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

2009-07-09T17:53:00.001-07:00

2009-07-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

A briefcase especially decorated for story time. What is the story today?

2009-07-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

A storage frog made out of party plates. A piece of cake!

2009-07-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

A happy frog to take care of my pencils.

2009-07-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

Cartoon strips to cover storage boxes or cans? Great idea!

2009-07-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

This is a sign to control the mood of the class. A clip on the red sign indicates there's no game at the end of the class.

2009-07-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

Where to keep all those large sheets and left-overs? Here's the right place.

2009-07-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

We can't forget our students' birth days! This chart helps me remind them all.

2009-07-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Young students love to talk about their feelings. Here's a chart for them to pin and for me to know how they are feeling.

2009-07-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Assigning a helper gives me some extra time to focus on other things - monitoring the groups or selecting materials. The helper has to hand out / collect worksheets, erase the board, tape flashcards, and so on. Here's a chart for everyone to know who the helper is.

2009-07-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

A new semester has started! Isn't it nice to welcome the students with a sign like this?

2009-07-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

What's the weather like today? The helper is responsible for updating the weather chart every class.

2009-07-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

Is everybody in class today? When students arrive, they pick up their name cards and put them in the slots taped to the charts.

2009-07-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

My daughter Clara loves the Backyardigans. I used this glove to make the puppets and tell her stories. Sometimes she tells me the stories.

2009-07-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Let's put all the magazines we are going to use for specific projects in a shoe box! It looks better when you decorate it.

2009-07-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

Craft foam is a versatile material to decorate empty cans. Here's an idea.

2009-07-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

What to do with empty milk cartons? Cut the top out and make a storage box for colored pencils!

2009-07-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

A frog to keep pencils and pens? Good idea!

2009-07-09T17:16:00.000-07:00

Where should I put all those clips? Why don't you recycle a small plastic bottle and make a pig out of it? A good place to keep small clips.

2009-07-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

Make a stage out of Styrofoam and craft foam for your favorite stories. Do you want to hear the "Old MacDonald" song?

2009-07-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Do you have a big box you don't know what to do with? Just cut a square out, wrap it with felt, decorate it the way you want, and make a great stage to tell your favorite story!

2009-07-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

I love surprises! Use this surprise box to guess what objects are hidden inside. Just touch them! You can't look inside!

2009-07-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

This is a game for you to play when you want to practice vocabulary. Put the cut-outs in a plastic bottle, fill it out with Styrofoam, shake it, and identify the word according to the color selected.

2009-07-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is a great place for you to keep all your puppets. You may also use it as the scenery of your story!

Let's Sing - Three Little Birds, Connie Talbot

2009-07-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKG9yaHpcWA

A Games Slideshow

2009-07-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

http://slideshow.betodilello.imageloop.com/

2009-07-05T16:44:00.000-07:00

Use all your imagination and creativity to tell a story. Use a beautiful scenery made out of felt, craft foam, and cardboard, as well as your favorite characters taped to a glove. Let's start!

2009-07-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

Do you like to play Tic-tac-toe? Choose a friend and say who those school materials belong to. If you say three sequential lines correctly, you are the winner.

2009-07-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Oh, oh! What's in the beak of these birds? Choose a number and try to guess.

2009-07-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

Imagine using a telescope to identify the pictures taped to the walls! It' s a lot of fun!

Play and Learn

2009-07-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Using matchboxes, you can play with vocabulary. Here's an example of a game for you to practice the spelling of family-related words. Just tape the key images to the top of the boxes and the respective letter cut-outs inside them for you to form the words. It's nice to do it in pairs.

2009-06-25T18:34:00.001-07:00

Do you know Hansel and Gretel? This is the story of a brother and a sister. Their father and stepmother abandon them in the forest because they have no money for food. In the forest, they find a house covered with candies and cookies. Who lives in the house? A very bad witch. She puts Hansel in a cage, like a bird. She gives him food to eat because she wants him to be a fat boy. Do you believe she wants to eat him? Gretel does all the work in the house. She washes the dishes. She cleans the floor. She cooks. One day, when the witch is sleeping, Gretel opens the door of the cage for Hansel to run back home with her. They take all the food to give to their parents. They live happily now.

2009-06-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

What's the name of that boy who doesn't want to be a big man? Right!
It's Peter Pan. He teaches Wendy, Michael, and John how to fly. They fly to Neverland, an island where the kids never grow up. All of them, together with Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys, fight with Captain Hook. He is afraid of an animal. What animal is it? You can see it in the picture.

2009-06-25T18:33:00.001-07:00

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This is my favorite story because it has my favorite character - the bad Queen. She wants to kill Snow White because every time she asks the magic mirror: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of us all?, it answers it is Snow White. What fruit does the witch give Snow White to eat? What does the Prince do to save Snow White? Do you know how to sing the Seven Dwarfs' song? Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's home from work we go, heigh ho, heigh ho.

2009-06-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

A Prince with no love in his heart? This is the story of Beauty and the Beast. Belle, a very beautiful girl, decides to live as a prisoner in the Beast's castle in the place of her father. The castle has very special objects that can talk. There is also a very special flower. Is it a violet or a rose? The Beast finally becomes a handsome Prince when Belle expresses her love for him.

The Fruits I Like Most

2009-06-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

What fruits are these? Unscramble the letters and find out.

paple

rape

shirecer

naroge

My Favorite Fruit

2009-06-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

Oranges are my favorite fruit. They are green, yellow, or orange. They come from China, but there is an orange tree in the backyard of my house. It is very sweet. Oranges like hot days and cool nights. They are famous for their vitamin C. I like to eat oranges with fruit salad, ice cream cereals, and cake. I like to drink orange juice, too. What's your favorite fruit?

My Favorite Sport

2009-06-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

Do you like sports? What's your favorite sport? I like soccer, but I don't like to watch soccer games on TV. My favorite soccer team is Palmeiras. That player in the picture is not from Palmeiras. Do you know his team? Do you know the difference between soccer and football?

Wild Animals

2009-06-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

Wild Animals

2009-06-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Do you know the difference between wild animals and pets? Which ones live in the forest? Which ones live at home? Here are some wild animals. How many animals can you see? Can you name and describe them?

Description

2009-06-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

Read the description about this beautiful girl. Is it true or false? Correct the false sentences.

1. She has long hair.
2. She has black eyes.
3. Her mouth is big.
4. Her nose is small.
5. She is wearing a red T-shirt.

Starting a new journey

2009-05-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dear young learners,
I am so excited about starting to use this new tool with you all as part of our classes. I do hope you join me in this journey so we can share our learning experiences.