NEW COUNTRY... NEW ADVENTURES!

ChatGPT doesn't know where Macerata is (LOL)

Hello, everyone!

Wow!!!! it really has been a long time, hasn't it?

If you're still here after all these years, thank you! And if you've just discovered Miss Lucy's Teaching Fun, welcome aboard! Either way, I'm sooooo happy to be writing here again.

But... where have I been?

Well, life happened. Or, to be more precise... teaching happened!

For the past five years, I've been teaching in a couple of international schools. They were amazing experiences that helped me grow professionally, meet wonderful people, and challenge myself every single day. But let's be honest... international schools can be incredibly demanding. They require a huge amount of energy, creativity, flexibility... and time! By the end of the day, the last thing I could think about was sitting down to write a blog post.

Now, a new chapter has begun.

After spending four wonderful years on the beautiful Lake Como, I've moved on to a completely different adventure: teaching in an Italian state primary school.

And, as you can imagine, I've been observing... a lot.

New colleagues, new routines, new challenges, new opportunities... and plenty of ideas! I've filled pages with notes, reflections, little classroom victories, and, of course, a few funny stories along the way.

So yes... new blog posts are definitely coming!

This is actually a fascinating time to be teaching English in Italian primary schools. The new national guidelines are encouraging a much more communicative approach, giving greater importance to listening and speaking from the very first years of school. Music to my ears! 

We'll explore together how these changes can become meaningful classroom practice, with practical activities, games, storytelling, movement, songs... and all the fun that learning English should include.

And finally, there's one more piece of exciting news.

After years of writing every single post in multiple languages (yes... that took forever!), I'm officially retiring from my job as my own translator!

Artificial Intelligence has completely changed the game. Most of you can now translate blog posts instantly on your phones, tablets, or computers. That means I can spend less time translating and much more time doing what I enjoy the most: creating new ideas, sharing classroom experiences, and designing fun resources for teachers and children around the world.

So today we say a grateful goodbye to mihijohablainglés.com and open the door to this brand-new adventure.

I'm excited and, honestly, I can't wait to share everything that's coming next.

Thank you for being here.

Let's make English teaching fun... again!

Love,

Miss Lucy

Teaching English Through Games 3: ORCHARD TOYS

One of the best aspects of my job is the opportunity to use toys and educational games as tools for teaching English.

I really enjoy playing with my young students, noticing their concentration and the effort they put into doing their best and actively participating in the game.

But, what's even better is how easily they learn from play experiences. After a couple of times they've already acquired vocabulary and grammar structures without even noticing it!

One of my favorite educational games producer is Orchard Toys, a company based in Norfolk, UK.

Their games and puzzles are highly educational and at the same time really nice, creative and fun.

I personally had the opportunity of using 'The Shopping List': a memory game where each player has to fill his own shopping trolley with all of the items on his shopping list.

The items are drawn on little square cards, that have to be placed face down on the table. The first player turns over a card and if the item is on his shopping list then he can put it in his trolley. If not, the card must be placed face down again on the same place and the turn passes to the next player.

So, while you're trying to fill your trolley you can also review or introduce new vocabulary, some place prepositions like in and on, besides having your  students 100% concentrated.

Orchard Toys really sells many products that, as they say, make learning fun. 

I warmly recommend them!

             

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

Teaching English through games 2: GO FISH!

Apart from 'Guess Who?' I also use this simple card game called 'Go Fish' that can be played by a small group of children (from 3 up to 10 players).

You need a deck of matching cards (like the ones we use for a memory game). So for example I have a deck of cards representing animals in which there are 2 elephants, 2 mice, 2 penguins etc.

Deal 5 or 6 cards to each player, depending on how much time you want to spend playing, and leave the rest of the deck, faced down, in the middle of the table.

The aim of the game is to get pairs of cards. 

One kid, Antonio, starts asking to his classmate, Luis: "Luis, Have you got a TURTLE?"

If Luis has indeed a turtle (yes, I have), then he will give it to Antonio, who gets a point for the pair of TURTLES.

If Luis hasn't got any card showing a TURTLE (No, I haven't), then he will tell Antonio to 'Go Fish'

In this case Antonio picks a card and the game passes to the next player.

The next guy will ask another about an animal he needs to match cards, and so on, until someone ends up with no cards left in his hands. 

Afterwards the children have to count their cards. 

The winner is the one who collects the higher number pairs.

The best part of this game is the attention that your students will pay to the other players, even if it's not their turn to play, because they need to discover and remember who has got which card.

VARIATIONS

1 - You can use any set of matching cards you want. It depends on what vocabulary you need to reinforce or teach.

2 - I usually have two winners: the first, who ends up with no cards left, and the one with the higher number of couples. That way I can keep playing longer.

3 - Arranging your students into teams allows them to use the pronoun WE: Yes, we have or No, we haven't.

WHY SHOULD YOU US GO FISH TO TEACH ENGLISH?

1 - Because you'll be able to study and review any vocabulary you want.

2 - Because students can practice the interrogative form of the structure 'have got' and its affirmative and negative short answers.

3 - Because it is a fun way to teach English!!!

Teaching English through games 1: GUESS WHO? 

Teaching English through picture books: ERIC CARLE


      

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