BACK TO SCHOOL: LET'S GET TALKING! 🎒❤️

The first week of school is the perfect time to get children moving, playing and, most importantly, talking in English!

After the summer break, I like starting with simple activities that help children feel comfortable, have fun and get to know each other. One of my favourite topics is LIKES AND DISLIKES.

🏃 I LIKE IT!

Many years ago, I shared a simple game called I LIKE IT! on this blog. The idea is very easy. Put a happy face 🙂 on one wall and a sad face 🙁 on the opposite wall. Children stand in the middle.

Show them a flashcard and say: "I like strawberries!" They will run to the happy face.

Then say: "I don't like strawberries!" They will run to the sad face!

It's a fun way to practise I like / I don't like while getting everyone moving. And you can use it with lots of different vocabulary: food, animals, hobbies, sports and more.

💬 FROM PLAYING TO SPEAKING

This year, I wanted to take the idea a little further. I've created a new set of worksheets and speaking activities to help children practise:

I like... / I don't like...
He/She likes... / He/She doesn't like...
Do you like...?
Does he/she like...?

The activities start with characters and guided practice and gradually move towards pair work, group speaking and personalisation.

Children can talk about things they know and love: 🍎 food, 🎮 playing, 📚 books and subjects, 🐶 animals, 🎵 music, 🎨 hobbies, 🎬 films, 📺 TV programmes, 🌍 places and more.

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👯 LET'S TALK ABOUT US!

The best part is giving children the opportunity to ask their classmates:
"Do you like...?"
and discover what they have in common. Because the first week of school isn't only about revising English. It's about building relationships, creating a positive classroom atmosphere and making children want to communicate. So let's start the school year with some movement, some fun and lots of questions!

DO YOU LIKE...? ❤️You can find the complete Likes & Doesn't Like resource in my Payhip shop. 

Take a look at the Free samples here

Have fun and have a wonderful first week back!

I LIKE IT! A game for young learners!

Time to teach your young learners some food vocabulary and introduce the verb 'like'?

Here's a game I tried in my class, that achieved a great success and involvement.

You'll need two opposite walls and an empty space of 3/4 square meters , food flash cards and, finally, several sheets of paper, where you will draw happy faces and sad faces. 

To avoid painful crashes among your students, calculate 1happy face every 3 children and the same for the sad faces. 

  

Stick the happy faces on one wall and the sad faces on the opposite one, at different distances from the floor.

Line up your students between the two walls, in the middle of the area.

Stand in front of them and show the first flash card, a strawberry, for example, and say: 

"I like strawberries" or "I don't like strawberries".

When they hear "I like" they will have to run towards the happy faces to touch them.

On the other hand, if they hear "I don't like" they will run towards the sad faces on the opposite wall.

Speed of sentences depends on their level of attention and age.

Try slowly first. With 3 to 4 ones it's enough. 

5 year old ones are faster and, mine at least, enjoyed running quickly and splatting themselves against the wall (!!!!). 

The second time you can give 2 or 3 flash cards to a volunteer and let him say the sentences.

Once again: HAVE FUN!!!

P.S. You can also try different vocabulary sets, like animals, verbs, etc.

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