Word Chain - Activity to help children learn vocabulary

This game is challenging enough to perform with any  group of children of any age. And it's useful if you want to review some vocabulary you've previously introduced.

First of all, we must choose a topic. This morning I was reviewing the parts of the body with a little girl. I started saying: "I have got a head, pointing to my head".

Then she had to repeated what I said and add another body part: "I have got a head and two hands". 

When it came my turn again I repeated "I have got a head, two hands" and I added "10 fingers". Then she said: "I have got a head, two hands, ten fingers and…" etc.

The game can last several minutes if the level of attention is good.

If someone forgets the sequence you can put him out of the game or start again with a new chain.

You can combine different verbs and topics 
"I like chicken" , "I like chicken and..."
"I can play tennis", " I can play tennis and..."
"I'm tall", " I'm tall and..."
etc.

When I played this game with 4-5 year-old children I placed flash cards on the floor to help them remember words.

Enjoy it!

More games: 

THE WORD EATING SNAKE  
I LIKE IT! A GAME   
JUMPING IN AND OUT OF SHAPES

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WORD CHAIN - Una actividad oral para ayudar a los niños a aprender vocabulario

Este es un juego que reta mucho a los niños y consecuentemente consigue centrar su atención durante mucho tiempo.

Como primera cosa hay que elegir un 'topic'.
Si estáis revisando las partes del cuerpo se puede empezar diciendo:"I have got a head" señalando vuestra cabeza.

El estudiante seguirá diciendo: "I have got a head and 2 hands".
El siguiente dirá: "I have got a head, 2 hands and ten fingers".
Otro repetirá todo lo dicho añadiendo una ulterior parte del cuerpo y a seguir hasta que alguien falle.

Evidentemente las posibles combinaciones son varias:

"I like chicken" , "I like chicken and..."

"I can play tennis", " I can play tennis and..."

"I'm tall", " I'm tall and..."

etc.

Si queréis jugar con niños de 4-5 años, mejor ayudarles con 'flash cards', puestas en el suelo o la mesa en el orden en que se nombran.

Más juegos: 

THE WORD EATING SNAKE  

I LIKE IT! A GAME   

JUMPING IN AND OUT OF SHAPES

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

Writing Tip nº4: THE FAIRY-TALE SALAD

If you've been reading my latest posts about books, you would certainly have  noticed a common theme (imprint?): the fact that some characters of a fairy tale, in some way, land in another one and meet its protagonist, giving birth to new tales or even novels.

It's the case of Hansel and Gretel in Gidwitz's book 'A Tale Dark and Grimm', but also of 'Witch Hazel' who moves from the story of Snow White to Hansel and Gretel.

But he most famous example, I can think of, is certainly the story of the ogre 'Shrek': a worldwide known case of fairy-tale salad.

Chapter twenty of 'The Grammar of Fantasy' by Gianni Rodari talks about this possibility of mixing different fairy tales to create new adventures and new developments of old and well-known stories. 

It's interesting because young readers have to deeply know the characters' inner worlds and the landscapes they move in to do this experiment of literature.

It's a good excuse for an accurate text analysis.

So, let your children think about what could happen if Little Red Riding Hood met Tom Thumb in the wood and if Pinocchio arrived at Granny's house: the Wolf would get every single tooth of his mouth completely destroyed!

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WITCH HAZEL by Enric Lluch

Witch Hazel

Witch Hazel is a little bored of poisoning apples in the Snow White tale and decides to visit Witch Bosslady to be relocated.

She is definitively a peculiar witch. She lands with her broom in the airport and uses the bus. She loves squid sandwiches, pays for the apples she's going to fill with a ton of poison and doesn't like arguments. She suffers chilblains and is very greedy.

Bossy Witch relocates her in Hansel and Gretel's story because the witch in charge is ill. Witch Hazel has to read the book to know what to do and finally she flies towards the chocolate house. 

For a little while everything happens according to the story we all know. Hansel is being kept prisoner in a cage and Gretel is going to light the oven. 

Due to the heat coming from the oven, the house starts to melt and… that's it! Witch Hazel manages to completely mess up Hansel and Gretel's tale because… she read only half the book!!!

Not a scary witch at all, is she? 

Edited by Algar Editorial, this incredibly illustrated book is part of a collection of ten titles called The Chest Full of Monsters where you'll find, besides Witch Hazel, all those creepy creatures, who usually scare our young readers, presented in a humorous way and unusual situations.  

For a more interactive experience The Witch, The Vampire, The Bogeyman and the Zombie are available for iPad too. You'll be able to choose among five languages, English, German, French, Spanish and Catalan, and also, to record your voice while reading it: it could be an alternative solution to teach pronunciation.

The publishing house gives us the opportunity to try The Zombie for free.

Don't miss it!

Some Witchy Printables

See You Soon!!!

Sentences about food for young learners

Before going on holiday, I'm leaving these sentences about food.

They include some of the food vocabulary and basic English structures that your students must know to pass the official Cambridge Starters Exam, level A1.

Cut each sentence into pieces and give them to your pupils to put them back together in their notebooks using some glue. It's a good exercise to check their grammar and their ability to produce the language.

 FOOD VOCABULARY LIST:

Apple, Banana, Bean, Bread Burger, Cake, Candy, Carrot

Chicken, Chips, Chocolate, Coconut

Drink, Egg, Fish, Food, Fries

Fruit, Grapes, Ice Cream, Juice

Lemon, Lemonade, Lime, Mango

Meat, Milk, Onion, Orange

Pea, Pear, Pineapple, Potato

Rice, Sausage, Sweets, Tomato

Water, Watermelon

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Birthday, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Supper, Morning, Afternoon, Evening

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Fridge, Kitchen, Table, Cupboard

Park, School, Store, Shop

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Some, Any, Much, Many, A Lot of, Lots of

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Eat, Make, Try

BASIC STRUCTURES:

Would you like….?

I'd like….

Do you/we/ they… affirmative/ negative short answer

Does he/she/it… affirmative/ negative short answer

Have got vs Have breakfast/ lunch/ supper

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Oraciones sobre la comida para 'young learners'

Estas son oraciones que utilizan parte del vocabulario que los niños tienen que conocer para presentarse a cualquier examen de nivel A1. 

Recorta cada diálogo separatamente para que los niños puedan recomponerlo razonando sobre las construcciones gramaticales necesarias.

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

Christmas Songs

Children's favorite period of the year is around the corner and I usually teach simple songs to cheer the classes up.

This modified version of 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas' is perfect for the very young ones, because they can move a little while they're singing it. 

Picture by Emma Reilly

We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
and a Happy New Year!

Let's all do a little clapping,
Let's all do a little clapping,
Let's all do a little clapping,
for Christmas is near!

Refrain...

Let's all do a little jumping,
Let's all do a little jumping,
Let's all do a little jumping,
for Christmas is near!

Refrain...

Let's all do a little twirling,
Let's all do a little twirling,
Let's all do a little twirling,
for Christmas is near!

We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
and a Happy New Year!

For the older ones, aged 6-7, I chose these two songs:

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

I'm showing these videos and trying to teach them the lyrics during the last 15 minutes of class. It's a process that requires repetition, but, as seeing the same words several times is also the best way to learn to read, I'm sure they'll make the most of it.

Writing Tip nº3: THE CASUAL SYNTAX

Chapter ten of 'The Grammar of Fantasy' by Gianni Rodari talks about Dadaist and Surrealist games to look for a 'fantastic theme' that will help your class to write stories.

An easy one to set up in the classroom is the Casual Sintax.

The students, one after another, have to secretly answer these 6 questions:

question 1: WHO WAS HE/SHE/IT?

question 2: WHERE WAS HE/SHE/IT?

question 3: WHAT WAS HE/SHE/IT DOING?

question 4: WHAT DID HE/SHE/IT SAY?

question 5: WHAT DID PEOPLE SAY ABOUT HIM/HER/IT?

question 6: HOW DID THE STORY END?

The first pupil answers the question and folds the paper like an accordion. He passes the folded paper to his classmate, who will answer the second question, fold the paper again and pass it to the third one and so on until the paper accordion will reach the sixth and last student of the chain. Once he has answered the last question you can unfold the paper and read the answers following the order of the questions. It'll be hilarious and perhaps you'll find material to write a whole story.

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