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

------------------------------------------------

Birthday, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Supper, Morning, Afternoon, Evening

--------------------------------------------------

Fridge, Kitchen, Table, Cupboard

Park, School, Store, Shop

--------------------------------------------------

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

--------------------------------------------------

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

WRITING TIP NUMBER 5
WRITING TIP NUMBER 4

WRITING TIP NUMBER 2

WRITING TIP NUMBER 1

NOT NOW, BERNARD by David McKee

May I say that I found this book a little weird? It's a bilingual version, published by Anaya, of a very famous illustrated novel written by David McKee and translated into many languages as well.

It's strange because the protagonist, Bernard, didn't get any revenge for being ignored by his parents all the time. 

On the contrary, right in the middle of the story, he's eaten by a monster, which was waiting for him in the garden. Can a supposed protagonist die in the middle of a book?

What terrible parents! Always too busy to pay any attention to their own son, who, desperately looking for someone to spend time with, ends up eaten by an unfriendly-looking monster. Can you see the metaphor?

This happens in real life as well, doesn't it?

The tale continues showing the monster, which has now taken the place of Bernard, going indoors and being ignored by those busy parents of Bernard. 

The monster has changed into Bernard now, we can recognize the child's expression on its face. It could be judged as an annoying kid: It bites the father's leg, it beaks toys… At the end of the story, even its identity as a monster starts to weaken. 

It rings a bell… it reminds me of some students with a difficult personality, whose distrust was overcome with some extra praise and affection.

Anyway, the book is easy reading for 6 year-old Spanish students and it's food for thought. It has got attractive illustrations that will catch your students attention, easy-to-follow story lines that will keep them attentive, and simple, repetitive language presented in a meaningful context that will help retention.

Many other classroom activities are explained in this READING GUIDE

AUTUMN LEAVES

Autumn Leaves

Autumn has been delighting this part of Europe with bright colors and warm temperatures, so far.

Amazed by my surroundings, I decided to use a little piece of this season to teach some meaningful English.

I looked for some coloring sheets about fall, to get inspired, and I found many pictures of leafless trees. 

Suddenly something clicked: as my 3-year-old student loves using glue, why not to stick some real leaves on one of those pictures?

So we did. And he enjoyed it very much.

PS Drawing a leafless tree is very easy and it could be a valid option if you haven't got much time to do a search on the internet.

I only suggest that you add a smiley face on its trunk. Children will appreciate it!

A TALE DARK AND GRIMM by Adam Gidwitz

A Tale Drak and Grimm Cover

It's universally known that the original Grimm brothers' tales were not exactly what we're used to hearing. The first version of Children's and Household Tales contained stories quite unsuitable for children, because of scenes of violence and sexuality, therefore, many details were changed in order to publish a less cruel and gory version of it (take a look on Wikipedia). 

Nowadays it is very easy to find sweet and generously illustrated versions of those tales, but where's the catharsis? What about the process of getting over life's difficulties to evolve into a wise adult? 

A Tale Dark and Grimm is a pretty complicated book to describe because it presents many different interesting aspects, but it especially guides the reader along the path of Hansel and Gretel's lives, exquisitely explaining the emotions that our young protagonists are feeling at every step of the adventure of growing up.

As the narrator says, this book presents 'the real story of Hansel and Gretel' from before their birth to their coronation as the new king an queen of the Kingdom of Grimm, passing through, not only the chocolate cake house and the old lady who wanted to eat them but, also, several other Grimm stories: Faithful Johannes, The seven Swallows, Brother and Sister, A Smile as Red as Blood and The Three Golden Hairs. From time to time The Three Ravens that can predict the future appear.

"A brilliant fairy-tale salad" as Gianni Rodari would have called it! (chapter 20, The Grammar of Fantasy)

The plot is basically based on these two siblings who run away from their original parents to look for new parents who will take care of them and won't hurt them. The reason they run away is that their father cuts their heads off in order to save his old servant Johannes' life, and when they are brought back to life by magic, they decide that they cannot trust their parents' love. But running away to find a new family seems more difficult and painful than expected. During their long journey they have many adventures, most of them gruesome and gory.

And here comes, if can I express my sincere opinion, the best part of the book: the narrator. Highlighted by bold type, pops up to warn the reader, with humour and pleasant fickleness, about the terrifying scenes waiting for him in the following pages. Also, he clearly gives us a pedagogic explanation of what we are reading. I've been imagining him as a sagacious little gnome coming out from the edge of this enchanted world to get some air during the entrancing reading of the story.

I was particularly pleased by the author's way of explaining the development of the parent/child relationship. Hansel and Gretel, after being beheaded, are naturally disappointed in their parents' behavior. Their parents, on the other hand, feel guilty for what they have done, and eventually these two emotions must be resolved in a final confrontation. It's not simple to forget and it's easier to be miserable, but in the end forgiveness and sympathy will triumph.

I have read many worried posts written by teachers and parents about this book.

  

While the reviews are generally positive, many people are worried that too much violence could traumatize their children or students forever. This impression reminded me a kind of comic moment in my teaching carer.

I was using fairy tales as activities in class, when an 8-year-old boy told me, referring to The Seven Kids and The Wolf : "I've never understood how it's possible that mother goat can cut the wolf's belly, take her kids out, fill the wolf's stomach with rocks and sew it again while the wolf keeps sleeping!!!"

In that moment I realized that we can't sympathize with anyone's pain if we haven't experienced pain in our own lives. Also, I think that children can usually distinguish real experiences from 'Once upon a Time' reality. 

Anyway, the author has a FAQ page on his website, to clarify any further doubts about it.

And while you are at it, take a couple of minutes to read Adam's posts and comments, he is a very nice and smart guy!

On the same page you'll find a Teacher's Guide with lots of classroom activities.

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted.