A Fun Way to Teach Left and Right to Children

Hi there! Long time no see! Autumn has arrived in Madrid, the children are back in school and I've been busy, busy and beyond busy, planning new classes and much more.

A month has passed since my last post, written right after getting back, with my batteries fully charged, from the middle of nowhere in Norway (though it already seems an eternity ago), and it's definitely time to get back to blogging.

Today's topic is something I've had on my mind for a long time.
I've been living in Spain for 9 years and I've always been surprised by the fact that when you ask people for directions, most of them usually end up pointing left, when they mean right and vice-versa.

I also remember how difficult it was for me too, as a child, to distinguish left from right, especially during PE classes. I've been wearing a watch on my left wrist since then mainly to avoid confusion and I must admit that this trick still helps a lot.

So, before starting any lesson about left and right, I provide my students with one of those animal-shaped rubber bands you see everywhere to wear on their left wrists.
Then, I ask them to raise their left and right hands several times, pointing out that the left side of their bodies is the one with the bracelet. After that, I teach them this song, and we try to sing and dance while following the instructions. It might seem a bit of a mess, especially the first few times you rehearse it, but it's reeeeaally funny.

Another game you can definitely use to teach children not only left and right, but also some colors and parts of the body, (especially for younger kids) is Twister. The version you can buy in the shops is designed  for a maximum of 4 kids, so I made myself a bigger one, using a white cotton sheet, some fabric paint and a simple circle stencil. The spinner is quite easy to make too; you'll only need a paper clip and a paper fastener.

This DIY option is better if you have more than 4 children in your class, if you want to use a different palette of colors or even different shapes (instead of circles), and it's also handy if your children are not so short, since you can choose what size to cut the sheet and how many lines to paint on. Not to mention the fact that it's significantly cheaper than buying the original version and that painting is a relaxing activity you can enjoy!

--->Quiero leer este post en Castellano

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DOES HE/SHE/IT LIKE...? Students Start To Use 'DOES'

I'm teaching a lot of grammar these days! Related with food, of course! 

So this is a new activity I've designed for my students to learn how to use the verb 'like' in the 3rd person.

Here in Spain it is quite common that very young children might know the meaning of the verb 'like' and could use it to ask someone if he/she likes something.

But the introduction of the 3rd person in a question, with a verb different from to be or have got,  is a little bit more complicate for them, and they start to study it at the age of 7.

This is a simple 'interview' activity. Each table can be cut in two halves. One half presents the name of the boy/girl/pet and ticks on the food items that he/she/it likes or doesn't like. The second half hasn't got any tick because the student who takes it will interview the other one with the first half, to know where each tick must be placed.

This way they will use these grammar structures:

Does he/she/it like…?

Yes, he/she/it does.

No he/she/it doesn't.

The words for food items you'll find in the tables (and the names of boys and girls) are the essential vocabulary that your students must know to take any of the LEVEL A1 exams. 

The second part contains interviews about sports, games and other verbs, to use the -ing form.

But in the meantime 👉You can get my activities on my online store: ESL Children's Worksheets

MORE GRAMMAR: To Be and Have Got

MORE EXERCISES ABOUT FOOD: Food Sentences

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DOES HE/SHE/IT LIKE...? Los niños empiezan a usar el auxiliar 'Does'

En estos días estoy enseñando mucha gramática relacionada con comida. Así que esta que os presento hoy es una actividad que he diseñado para mis estudiantes, para que aprendan a usar el verbo 'to like' en la tercera persona singular.

Es una actividad que se basa en 'entrevistas'. Cada ficha se compone de 2 partes: en una hay indicado con un 'tick'lo que al niño/niña/mascota le guste o no le guste. En la segunda mitad la faltan esos datos, que serán recopilados a por parte del niño entrevistador a través de preguntas y respuestas que utilizan las siguientes estructuras gramaticales:

Does he/she/it like...?
Yes, he/she/it does.
No, he/she/it doesn't

Os recuerdo que los nombres de comida utilizados en esta actividad son presentes en la lista de vocabulario que los niños necesitan conocer para poder decir de tener un nivel A1 de inglés.

La segunda parte presenta fichas con verbos en la forma -ing.

MÁS GRAMÁTICA: To Be and Have Got

MÁS EJERCICIOS SOBRE COMIDA: Food Sentences

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:

http://childreneslworksheets.bigcartel.com