🥕 From Planting to Harvesting: Growing English in the School Garden

In my previous post, Let’s Grow English! School Garden Activities for Teaching English in October, we explored how a school garden can become a wonderful outdoor classroom for learning English through real-life experiences.

But planting is only the beginning! 🌱

As the garden grows, it also gives us plenty of opportunities to teach and practice grammar in a meaningful context. Here are some simple grammar activities we can build around our plants:

🌱 1. Have Got: Describe Your Plant

Once the children have spent some time observing the plants in the garden, we can use them to practice have got. Each child can choose a plant and describe it:

• My plant has got green leaves. 
• It has got a long stem.
• It hasn't got any flowers 
• It has got three small leaves.

And the real plants provide all the visual support children need.

We can also turn this into a little Guess My Plant game. One child describes a plant while the others try to guess which one it is: 

• It has got long green leaves.
• It is small and thin.
• It has got a short stem.

What is it?

📏 2. Comparatives: Which Plant Is Bigger?

The school garden is also a great place to bring Maths and English together. Children can look at different plants, leaves and vegetables and compare them using pairs of opposites like big/small, tall/short, long/short, thin/thick etc.

Then we can introduce comparatives:

The broccoli is taller than the lettuce.
This leaf is bigger than that leaf.

Finally, give children rulers or measuring tapes and let them collect some real measurements.

How tall is the plant?
Which leaf is bigger?

They can record their results in a simple table and then use the information to make sentences.

📓 3. English Garden Diary

A school garden gives us a wonderful reason to return to English again and again. Why not create an English Garden Diary? Every time the children visit the garden, they can record what they see and what they have done: 
October 3rd: We planted peas.
October 10th: The peas are growing.
October 24th: The plants are bigger.
November: Look! We have peas!

In addition, the diary allows children to use different verb forms naturally:

Past simple: We planted.
Present Continuous: They are growing.
Present Simple: The plants are bigger.
Future with will: We will pick them.

For younger learners, the diary could include drawings, labels and simple sentences. Older students could add measurements, weather observations and photographs.

---

🥕 5. From Planting to Harvesting

Eventually, the waiting is over...

It's time to harvest! 🎉

After all those weeks of planting, watering and observing, children can finally see the results of their work, and, of course, harvesting gives us another opportunity to practice English, asking questions such as: 
What did we grow?
How many vegetables did we pick?
What colour are they?
Are they big or small?
Which vegetable do you like?

So that children can count, sort, measure and describe the vegetables they have harvested. We can also create a simple class survey: What's your favorite vegetable? And even turn the answers into a simple class graph, bringing English and Maths together once again.

From the first tiny seed to the final harvest, the school garden gives children something meaningful to see, touch, measure, describe and talk about. And perhaps that's the real magic of growing English outdoors: the language is no longer something that only lives on a worksheet.

It grows alongside the plants. 🌱💚

🌟 ¡Learning English doesn’t simply mean filling in the blanks!✨

Many English as a Second Language (ESL) activities rely solely on “fill-in-the-blank” exercises ✏️… but the real goal should be to help children speak, understand, and use English naturally. 🗣️💬

🎨 Learning by doing makes it much easier, more fun, and more motivating!

And you’ll be surprised at how quickly children can start achieving real results. 🌈🚀

📚 If you’re looking for creative and engaging activities to make English learning more dynamic, check out my online store! 🛍️💕

👉 ESL Children's Worksheets

✨ Learn, play, speak, and grow! ❤️

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

📍Do you struggle with a challenging class, where many of your students get distracted and their academic performance doesn’t reflect all the effort you put into preparing and teaching your lessons? 

📍Does this situation frustrate you, and would you like your students to learn more while enjoying the process? 

👉Something similar happened to me during my elementary teaching internship, and in my latest book, Pygmalion in the Classroom: A Real Experience—based on my senior thesis and my internship at a primary school in Madrid—I’ll tell you how we managed to turn things around and achieve resounding success! 

Don’t miss it! 

Available in digital and print formats on Amazon in every country, and on the major e-book platforms.

Let’s Grow English! School Garden Activities for Teaching English in October 🌱

Years ago, I shared a little idea on this blog about growing plants in tiny pots and making simple labels for them. At the time, it was a small gardening activity, but looking back, I can see how many opportunities there are to use a school garden as a natural English learning environment.  Over the years, as educational approaches have evolved and schools have embraced more innovative ways of learning, the value of outdoor education and hands-on experiences has become increasingly clear  and a school garden can be much more than a place where children learn about plants. It can become a wonderful setting for teaching English through real-life activities, combining vocabulary, grammar, Science, Maths and outdoor learning. In facts sometimes, the best English classroom doesn't have four walls, instead it has soil, seeds, little hands… and something growing.

A lovely way to introduce our school garden project is with Eric Carle's The Tiny Seed. 

Here you can read about a whole lesson plan built around this fabulous book especially if you live in a part of the world where spring is just around the corner.

The story gives us a wonderful starting point for talking about seeds, plants, seasons, weather and growing and after reading or watching the story, we can ask: What does a seed need to grow?
☀️ sunlight💧 water / 🌧️ rain 🌱 soil  🌡️ warmth... And suddenly, we already have our first English lesson! 

Are you teaching older students? Then it's time to practice Present Simple sentences! Because... Grammar doesn't have to start with a grammar worksheet, sometimes it can start with a real question about the world around us:  

A plant/ seed needs water/ soil / sunlight.
Roots take water from the soil.
Plants grow.

It is also a simple way to notice the difference between:

A plant needs...
Plants need...

🥕 Now comes the big question: What can we plant in our school garden in October?

Depending on the local climate and growing conditions, October can be a good time to grow a variety of cool-season vegetables. 🌱🍂 For example:

🌱 Seeds to sow in October

• 🥕 Carrots
• 🫛 Peas
• 🫘 Broad beans
• 🥬 Spinach
• 🔴 Radishes

🪴 Young plants or seedlings to plant

• 🥬 Lettuce
• 🥬 Cabbage
• 🥦 Broccoli
• 🥦 Cauliflower
• 🥬 Kale
• 🧅 Onions

Once we have chosen what to plant, the garden becomes a fantastic context for learning and using English garden vocabulary.

We can introduce our Garden Word Wall:

seed – soil – root – stem – leaf – flower – plant – vegetable – water – sunlight

And then our Garden Action Words:

dig – sow – plant – cover – water – grow – pick – pull – smell – touch – count – measure

The important thing is that children don't just learn these words from flashcards, but they use them: they touch the soil, they plant the seeds, they water the vegetables, they observe the leaves, and, while they are doing all these things, they are using English. 

At this point, depending on your students’ level, you can expand grammar and vocabulary practice through a variety of games and activities. Here are some suggestions:

1. Imperatives: Let's Work in the Garden!

When we are gardening, English becomes the language of action. Sentences like dig a hole, plant the seed, cover it with soil, water the plant, can be even turned this into a quick game of Simon Says:

• Simon says, dig / plant a seed / pick a tomato
  
• Simon says, water the plant / smell a flower
  
• Simon says, touch the leaves! / pull the weeds
  
  

 2. What Will Happen to Our Seeds?

And now we can go back to our tiny seeds, before planting, ask: What do you think will happen?

 Children can make predictions:

I think the seed will grow.
I think the plant will get bigger.
I think we will have flowers.
I think we will have vegetables.

This is a lovely, meaningful way to practise will for predictions and you can create a Garden Predictions Chart and come back to it as the plants grow.

Were our predictions correct?

The children will have a real reason to use English to talk about what happened.

3. Present Continuous: Guess What I'm Doing!

While the children are working, ask: What are you doing? or... You can turn this into a little garden charades activity: one child chooses an action and mimes it while the others guess:

• Are you digging? 
• Are you planting a seed? 
• Are you watering the lettuce? 
• Are you picking a tomato? 

Definitely a fun way to practice Present Continuous questions and answers.

4. Past Continuous: What were they doing?

Finally, if you take a few photographs while the children are gardening, you can use them later for practicing some past continuous Q&A: What were they doing?

• She was planting a seed.
• He was watering the plants.
• They were digging the soil.

Real photographs give children something meaningful to talk about and help them connect grammar with their own experiences.

There are many ways to develop this activity: students can write sentences in their notebooks, work in pairs to ask and answer questions, create a poster using the photos, or even make a short class presentation!

5. There Is / There Are: What's in Our Garden?

Once the garden starts growing, children can explore it and make their own sentences using there is and there are, together with some, any and numbers.

• There is a tomato plant.
• There are three lettuce plants.
• There are some carrots.
• There isn't any broccoli.

They can also play Garden Detectives, exploring the garden with a little checklist:

☐ There is a flower. 
☐ There are five leaves. 
☐ There is a tall plant. 
☐ There are some small plants.

This way, a simple grammar activity turns into a fun outdoor treasure hunt! 🌱🔎

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🌟 ¡Learning English doesn’t simply mean filling in the blanks! 🇬🇧✨

Many English as a Second Language (ESL) activities rely solely on “fill-in-the-blank” exercises ✏️… but the real goal should be to help children speak, understand, and use English naturally. 🗣️💬

🎨 Learning by doing makes it much easier, more fun, and more motivating!

And you’ll be surprised at how quickly children can start achieving real results. 🌈🚀

📚 If you’re looking for creative and engaging activities to make English learning more dynamic, check out my online store! 🛍️💕

👉 ESL Children's Worksheets

✨ Learn, play, speak, and grow! ❤️

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

📍Do you struggle with a challenging class, where many of your students get distracted and their academic performance doesn’t reflect all the effort you put into preparing and teaching your lessons? 

📍Does this situation frustrate you, and would you like your students to learn more while enjoying the process? 

👉Something similar happened to me during my elementary teaching internship, and in my latest book, Pygmalion in the Classroom: A Real Experience—based on my senior thesis and my internship at a primary school in Madrid—I’ll tell you how we managed to turn things around and achieve resounding success! 

Don’t miss it! 

Available in digital and print formats on Amazon in every country, and on the major e-book platforms.

🌈 Starting your Lessons with Circle Time

I like to start my English lessons with a familiar routine: Circle Time. It is a small moment, but it helps children settle down, switch into “English mode” and get ready for the lesson ahead. Repeated routines also give children plenty of opportunities to hear and use the same language in a natural way.

We usually begin with the day of the week. 📅

We sing our Days of the Week Song and, most importantly, we do the movements that go with it. 🎶🕺
I find this particularly important with younger learners. When children hear a word, say it, sing it and move at the same time, they create a stronger connection between the sound and its meaning.

Then we check the month. 🗓️
We sing our Months of the Year Song song and ask: “What month is it?”

Next comes the weather. ☀️🌧️🌈
We look outside, choose a weather flashcard and sing our Weather Song. Children can take turns saying:

“It’s sunny!”
“It’s cloudy!”
“It’s raining!”

Finally, we talk about our feelings.  Of course we have a feeling song, too! We use it with flashcards and encouraging children to use facial expressions to show how they feel. Children can choose a feeling card and say:

“I’m happy.”
“I’m tired.”
“I’m excited.”

For younger children, pointing to the correct face is already a great way to participate, while older children can ask a partner: “How are you today?”

I love these routines because they are predictable without being boring. Children know what comes next, but there is always room for singing, movement, creativity and conversation.

Circle Time is also a great opportunity to practice some of the simple English classroom phrases that children hear and use every day. If you need more ideas, have a look at Simple English Classroom Phrases for Young Learners Part 1 and Part 2.

And before we know it, English has already started! 💛

Here are a few things you might find useful for your classroom: 🛒

📅 A colorful classroom calendar to hang on the wall and use every day with your students! 

🌦️A Weather Chart

😊 Feelings / Emotions Posters

🗓️ Months of the Year Posters

🍂 Seasons Posters

🧸 Puppets

🎭 Emotion Flashcards

Once our Circle Time is over, I like moving on to a short, focused activity. For children working on early phonics, you might also enjoy Read, Find, Colour & Count, a playful way to practice sounds, reading and vocabulary.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🌟 ¡Learning English doesn’t simply mean filling in the blanks! 🇬🇧✨

Many English as a Second Language (ESL) activities rely solely on “fill-in-the-blank” exercises ✏️… but the real goal should be to help children speak, understand, and use English naturally. 🗣️💬

🎨 Learning by doing makes it much easier, more fun, and more motivating!

And you’ll be surprised at how quickly children can start achieving real results. 🌈🚀

📚 If you’re looking for creative and engaging activities to make English learning more dynamic, check out my online store! 🛍️💕

👉 ESL Children's Worksheets

✨ Learn, play, speak, and grow! ❤️

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

📍Do you struggle with a challenging class, where many of your students get distracted and their academic performance doesn’t reflect all the effort you put into preparing and teaching your lessons? 

📍Does this situation frustrate you, and would you like your students to learn more while enjoying the process? 

👉Something similar happened to me during my elementary teaching internship, and in my latest book, Pygmalion in the Classroom: A Real Experience—based on my senior thesis and my internship at a primary school in Madrid—I’ll tell you how we managed to turn things around and achieve resounding success! 

Don’t miss it! 

Available in digital and print formats on Amazon in every country, and on the major e-book platforms.

📚✨When They Finish First… What Do You Give Them Next?

Hi all! ❤️

August is finished, and many of you are already getting ready to plan lessons that will meet the needs of your dear pupils.

In all of this, differentiation is a cornerstone of good teaching. And while we are usually very good at reducing, adapting or scaffolding the workload for children who struggle, we sometimes forget about those who learn quickly, finish early and are hungry for more.

You know that child.

The one who always finishes first, but whose reading level is still not quite strong enough to pick up a little book independently or follow lengthy, complex instructions without your help.

So what happens?

You give them another task. Then another. And before long, you find yourself spending precious time explaining something new to the child who has already finished, while the rest of the class is still working and needs your attention.

This is exactly where these phonics activity books come in.

They are designed to complement, not replace, your phonics lessons. The activity books come into play after each new group of sounds has been explicitly taught in class, providing children with meaningful opportunities to consolidate, review and practise what they have already learned.

They are particularly valuable for those children who are ready to work more independently, yet are not quite ready to access traditional reading materials on their own.

The activities are engaging, hands-on and carefully structured around the phonics children already know. The instructions are accessible, so children can understand what to do without needing you to sit beside them and explain every step.

That means purposeful practice for them—and more teaching time for you.

Because differentiation isn't only about giving less to the children who need support.

Sometimes, it's about making sure the children who are ready to move ahead have somewhere meaningful to go.

And because, let's be honest, being a fast finisher shouldn't mean sitting there waiting for the teacher. ❤️

So… I'm incredibly excited to finally share a project I've poured my heart into:

Read, Find, Colour & Count! ❤️

✨ A phonics activity series designed to make independent practice meaningful, accessible and fun.

Each booklet is designed to be used after a new group of sounds has been explicitly taught, giving children the opportunity to consolidate what they already know while developing confidence in decoding.

Another feature I carefully considered is the format of each booklet.

Every page has been designed so that children can successfully complete the activities, regardless of their confidence level. I strongly believe that experiencing success is essential for building motivation and self-esteem.

When children finish a page thinking “I can do this!”, they become more willing to keep learning and to tackle new challenges with confidence.

Each booklet offers four engaging learning experiences:

📖 Read – Read simple phonics words and develop decoding skills.

🔍 Find – Search for the target word among many others, strengthening visual discrimination, concentration and word recognition.

🎨 Colour – Turn every page into a relaxing colouring activity while reinforcing learning and developing fine motor skills.

🔢 Count – Count the matching pictures, combining early literacy with numeracy practice.

AND... GAMES! of course😁

🌀 Mazes
🧠 Memory
🐍 Snakes & Ladders
4️⃣ 4 in a Row
👏 Snap
🐟 Go Fish...

The books are photocopiable, making them perfect for classroom use, literacy centres, homework, independent practice, intervention groups, early finishers or homeschooling.

👧👦 They are especially suitable for children in the final year of kindergarten and Year 1 / Grade 1 who are beginning their reading journey.

🎁 And I have a little gift for you!

The first booklet in the series is available FREE as a PDF when you subscribe to the Miss Lucy's Teaching Fun newsletter.

It's my little way of saying thank you for joining this wonderful community of teachers and parents. ❤️

If you'd rather have the printed version—or explore the rest of the collection—you can find the books on Amazon:

👉 Read, Find, Colour and Count SATPIN

👉 Read, Find, Colour and Count CKEHRMD

or 👉  in my store on Payhip

As an English teacher, I've always believed that teaching children to read through phonics is one of the most practical and useful skills we can equip them with.

When children learn to decode words confidently, they don't just learn to read—they build the foundations to truly master the English language.

This is exactly why I created this series.

My dream is to help bring systematic phonics instruction into ESL classrooms, where this essential part of literacy is still often overlooked in favour of less systematic approaches to early reading.

In my experience, explicit phonics instruction—including the correct pronunciation of each sound—supports every aspect of language learning. It helps children become more confident speakers, more accurate readers and stronger listeners by enabling them to connect sounds, letters and meaning.

I truly hope these books help many little learners discover that learning to read can be meaningful, confidence-building… and lots of fun! 💛

❤️💛❤️ Lee esta entrada en español

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🌟 ¡Learning English doesn’t simply mean filling in the blanks! 🇬🇧✨

Many English as a Second Language (ESL) activities rely solely on “fill-in-the-blank” exercises ✏️… but the real goal should be to help children speak, understand, and use English naturally. 🗣️💬

🎨 Learning by doing makes it much easier, more fun, and more motivating!

And you’ll be surprised at how quickly children can start achieving real results. 🌈🚀

📚 If you’re looking for creative and engaging activities to make English learning more dynamic, check out my online store! 🛍️💕

👉 ESL Children's Worksheets

✨ Learn, play, speak, and grow! ❤️

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

📍Do you struggle with a challenging class, where many of your students get distracted and their academic performance doesn’t reflect all the effort you put into preparing and teaching your lessons? 

📍Does this situation frustrate you, and would you like your students to learn more while enjoying the process? 

👉Something similar happened to me during my elementary teaching internship, and in my latest book, Pygmalion in the Classroom: A Real Experience—based on my senior thesis and my internship at a primary school in Madrid—I’ll tell you how we managed to turn things around and achieve resounding success! 

Don’t miss it! 

Available in digital and print formats on Amazon in every country, and on the major e-book platforms.

Phonics - Teaching Reading and Writing (ESL)

http://dollarstoremom.com/2011/04/make-a-phonics-flip-chart/

In one of my previous posts I wrote that my challenge for 2014 was going to be teaching reading and writing in English to some of my students who could already understand and speak English quite well.

Looking for some ideas and advice I came across such an abundance of strategies and material that I almost felt overwhelmed.

However, I've been able to design an effective plan that is already showing some results.

Everything started to become clearer when I was able to take a look at a collection of booklets specifically designed with the purpose of teaching phonics.

It's published by Collins and it's called Collins Easy Learning Age 5-7

It's interesting because the books cover many letter sounds with examples and colorful drawings. Also, there are a couple of workbooks to keep practicing a little more.

I decided to use them as a sort of guide through the maze of phonics, but also as a 'test' to use at the end of each module.

Then, following my 'guide', I searched the internet looking for entertaining activities linked to phonics, first of all because I wanted to dive deep into the topic and second because engaged kids are the secret to successful teaching.

Well… I would say I found a treasure. 

Look at this page and take your time to explore it, because it's an amazing source of almost anything you need to teach this topic.

The worksheets you'll find here are great! Crosswords, puzzles, cut and paste activities, cards. So far my students have enjoyed them a lot.

Furthermore, it's so nice to see how the children are getting more and more confident with every class.

I can see how they are reasoning about what letters they need to write every single word, making a big effort not to peep at the word bank that follows the exercises.

However, the best of all is seeing their eyes light up with satisfaction when they realize that they can spell correctly.

Below, I give you a list of other things I'm using these days to expand the phonics experience:

- Cards to teach Rhyming words and Phonics

- Spelling Games from Instant File-Folder Games for Reading grade 1-3 published by Scholastic
  (sample pages available)

- Success with Reading Comprehension Grade 1, also published by Scholastic
  (sample pages available)

- Dr Seuss rhyming books (Children love them!)

- Alphablocks cartoons. (Very engaging and fun. Available on YouTube)

As you can see, tons of material is available, so I personally selected those phonics that Spanish children would find the trickiest to recognize. I imagine that kids from other countries will need to focus on different sounds and patterns.

Good luck with your work and, as always, have fun!

More about reading

More about writing

---> Quiero leer esta entrada en español

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🌟 ¡Learning English doesn’t simply mean filling in the blanks! 🇬🇧✨

Many English as a Second Language (ESL) activities rely solely on “fill-in-the-blank” exercises ✏️… but the real goal should be to help children speak, understand, and use English naturally. 🗣️💬

🎨 Learning by doing makes it much easier, more fun, and more motivating!

And you’ll be surprised at how quickly children can start achieving real results. 🌈🚀

📚 If you’re looking for creative and engaging activities to make English learning more dynamic, check out my online store! 🛍️💕

👉 ESL Children's Worksheets

✨ Learn, play, speak, and grow! ❤️

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

📍Do you struggle with a challenging class, where many of your students get distracted and their academic performance doesn’t reflect all the effort you put into preparing and teaching your lessons? 

📍Does this situation frustrate you, and would you like your students to learn more while enjoying the process? 

👉Something similar happened to me during my elementary teaching internship, and in my latest book, Pygmalion in the Classroom: A Real Experience—based on my senior thesis and my internship at a primary school in Madrid—I’ll tell you how we managed to turn things around and achieve resounding success! 

Don’t miss it! 

Available in digital and print formats on Amazon in every country, and on the major e-book platforms.

Free Downloadable Odd One Out worksheets - Homophones

Hi there! 

More odd one out exercises for your students!

This time the new worksheet is about homophones: words pronounced in the same way but differing in meaning or spelling or both.

Challenge your pupils and have fun!!!

If you're looking for more exercises, take a look at the PRINTABLES PAGE of this blog.

I design series of activities based on a communicative method that will help children to practice the grammar they're learning at school.

Many ESL activities, I see, are nothing more than 'fill in the blank' exercises that only teach kids how to fill in blanks and miss the whole point of learning to speak and understand a new language.

It's much easier and more fun to learn by doing, and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll see valuable results. 

You can get my activities on my online store: ESL Children's Worksheets