Summer homework? Graded readers, brain teasers, crosswords, and more

Hi there! 

I'd like to share with you in a quick post the summer 'homework' I suggested for my students this year. Besides the classic graded readers to practice reading comprehension, I thought that some puzzle/quizz/riddle book might be, not only entertaining, but also a good way for connecting the different areas of knowledge (English, Natural and Social Sciences, Maths, etc.) in order to enhance significative learning and the 4 language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking).

So... here's some of the books I selected for primary school students starting from National Geographic, which has some good ones:

     

      

Then, I thought about brain teasers, which are useful for learning how to think outside the box. They usually come with the age of the children they are designed for. However, since they are for native speakers, I would pick a level below your child's age if yours is not. Also I would choose the paperback version which usually comes with pictures and illustrations.

       

         

From Usborne, as suggested by my friend Marine, who is an independent book seller you can get in touch with from her FB Page Kidibook:

 

   

HAVE FUN!

English in the Garden - Zoo Animals

I'm a little busy these days. I'm teaching every morning a small group of children aged 3 to 4 in the garden of their house. 

The location is pretty nice: green grass constantly watered by sprinklers and tall pine trees to keep us in the shade during the hot summer of Madrid.

Here you can see some pictures of an activity I'd like to share with you, because the children found it easy, entertaining and satisfactory.

It's basically a big poster, representing a zoo -- inspired by the book 1,2,3… To The Zoo, by Eric Carle -- that the children have decorated with stencils of zoo animals.

The result was amazing! We've got rainbow tigers too!