Hi there!

This week I am sharing with you my super speaking game box!

I’ve been working in many different levels, and with some years of experience, I finally build a box with some games.

You will see, that there are some games I’ve bought , but there are some more that I create…. Are you ready?

 

Tiger Eye masks

My first objects are 3 eye masks. I really like them, because they give me many different possibilities in short games. I bought them in Tiger.

My students love them, the pictures make them laugh a lot!

Who is Who

I am sure you already know this game! I really like the idea of the it, and I wanted to build one for my students. One day, I was searching other materials in Abacus, and I found this amazing WHO is WHO in cards.

Buy it in Amazon ( similar)

What’s up

This is another of my favourite games ever! Do you know it? Personally, I am very happy with it, and there are many different possibilities to use it in class!

Buy it in Amazon

Traveling cards

The traveling cards are so good for students around 11-12 years old. In my opinion there are some questions and structures and also contents in the game that are better for older students.

Buy it in Amazon

Brain box

There are so many different games in the same collection, and they are all really nice! I only have played with one, but I am so happy with it. It is a very simple game that gives you the possibility to make your students play with it alone.

Buy it in Amazon

Boggoss

A very easy and quick game to play with your students in the class. It is perfect to review parts of the body and bones!

Buy it in Amazon

Speaking dice

Some years ago, I found this group of dices and I found them so interesting to use them in class. You can use them as a speaking activity or maybe as a writing activity too.

Buy them in Amazon

The werewolves

Another of my favourites! I really like to use this game in Halloween. I am teaching young kids in grade 3 and 4, so I have to adapt it. With children around 10-11 years old you won’t have any problem!

Buy it in Amazon

Story cubes

Story cub es are always a good option.There is a post on the blog about the different games and activities you can do with this material. HERE you can see it!

Buy it in amazon 

Story maps

As you already know, I am a story lover, and I adore anything related to it. This year I started using some new material to work on storymaps, and I have a good experience. There are some posts on the blog too about it!

Disney Maps

One of the important topics in English is to know how to give directions . Some years ago, I went to Disney Paris, and I decided to keep them and use them in class. Normally, they play in groups or pairs, and the idea is to give instructions to arrive to a specific place in the map.

That’s all for this week! I really hope you found it interesting!

Kisses!

Hi there!

Today I am sharing with you a very simple and useful activity you can do with your students.

Or Englush lessons this term are about food, and as you know, I like to do different activities. As I explained in the video “Planifica tus clases” it is nice to mix different activities during a lesson, and today I am showing you a speaking activity that really works!

OBJECTIVE

Make the students speak and practise vocabulary related to food.

Make them learn and use specific structures.

MATERIAL

• DIY salad worksheet
• Ingredients worksheets
• Grammar box

GROUP CLASS

In order to make your students participate a lot, I recommend you to join your students in pairs. This way they need to use the language to complete their worksheet.

HOW TO PLAY

The idea is to make a perfect salad for your partner. To do it, they have to ask questions to their partner. Each student would make a salad by asking thier partners what are their favourite ingredients.

It is important to give them the vocabulary and the structures they would need ( Grammar). That’s why they need a worksheet with all the vocabulary and the pictures, with a grid where they can find the structures they would need to ask or answer the questions.

STRUCTURES 

And here you have the final result! It was really nice to do this activity at class, because it gives you the oportunity to know your students better. With the last group, I also make them design my favourite salad.

I really hope you like it!

Lots of kisses 🙂

Hello everyone!

Sorry for beeing out many days, but I’ve been sick…

Now I am feeling better, so I can share with you more ideas that I hope you find useful!

Today I am coming with a collection of books/songs/stories I am obsessed with! I am talking about…

They have a very nice collection of books and songs perfectly adapted and ready to be used in class. In my opinion, they do a very beautiful and magic material. It is nice, because they offer you 3 formats of their stories; SONG – BOOK- VIDEO.

This week I am presenting you three of their books with some ideas to work with and printables to download! 🙂

UP IN A BALLOON

Let’s know a little bit about it: Up in a balloon is a nice song that talks about many different things related to the Earth. There appear transports, parts of the earth, animals, habitats… So we have a huge variety of topics to work with.

Tips: When you want to work on a song, I always recommend to use TPR and try to connect a gesture with words of the song. This way, your children would be more engaged and it will be easier for them to learn the song.

Activities: There are many different activities to do with this song. As I said before you can work many topics. I decided to work on something easy and simple: BALLOONS. So HERE you can download the pdf with all the activities for your students!

A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

Let’s know a little bit about it: It is a funny song to do with children, because it is an additive song; it means that the same structured is repeated and the only thing that you have to do is add new words or elements.

Tips:In my opinion it is perfect for children around 6-7 years old. It is a very nice song that is perfect to wok on the marine animals.

Activities: As I said before, it can be nice using the song to work on the marine animals, so I prepared some activities that you can download HERE.

PORTSIDE PIRATES

Let’s know a little bit about it: Asthe title of the song says, this is a song about PIRATES! It is one of my favourite songs from this collection because it is different. It is also one of the most difficult songs of the collection( maybe the most), but the vocabulary is perfect for working with children.

Tips: I recommend you to use this story with children around 10-11, because the vocabulary is more difficult.

Activities: The main topic that you can work with this song without any doubt is “The Pirates”. You will find many different activities and materials, but I decided to prepare something simple. HERE you can download it. I hope you like it!

That’s all for this week!

Lots of kisses!

Hello teachers!

This week I come with my favourite books for this month! They are nice and perfect for this season, because you can do many activities outside.

Of course, there are many books, but this is my selection.

 

WE ARE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT ( Michael Rosen)

A perfect story for young and older children. Nice to read it alone or in groups. It is my favourite because you can use it in many different ways in class!

There are lots of materials online, videos, songs…

From my point of view, the best way to use this book in class is telling it with the song and gestures, and make your students act out the story at th end (for example).

 

SQUASH AND SQUEZE (Julia Donaldson)

This is another nice story created by Julia Donaldson. As I said in other posts, she is one of the best children’s books author. Her books have something special that catch you from the beginning.

This is a very funny story, with difficult vocabulary. So, from my point of view it is a good story for students around 11 years old.

 

STUCK (Oliver Jeffers)

Of course my list of books has to include a story by Oliver Jeffers… In this situation I recommend you the funny story called Stuck. It is a tale that talks about a boy and his troubles.

In my opinion it is perfect for year 2-3 (7 and 8 years old). The vocabulary is not easy, because as many of his stories, the text is in past tense. Also the objects that appear in the book are complicated.

There are some resources on the Internet, but I am using this story in class as a traveling suitcase, and my students are building a kite with different materials. So… it can be perfectly adapted.

 

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS 

A classic story, but very nice to work specific structures. It is perfect and easy to work with. You can do many different activities with it ; for example a short play.

Simple activities like sequence the story, change the end of it, or watch the video of the story, can be very interesting.

 

 

 

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR (Eric Carle)

I am sure you will know this amazing story from Eric Carle. This is a classic story, and for little students. I would recommend it for children around 4-5 years old. The vocabulary is very simple, and the pictures are perfect for children on that age.

You can wok on colours, fruits, numbers, days of the week and the life cycle of a caterpillar.

 

 

That’s all for this week!

Hi there!

Today I am coming with something I really hope you like it!

Is it known that nowadays we need to be more active and lively in class. We have many different types of children, with many different needs and curiosities. That’s why I find so important to have different resources and methodologies.

Of course there are many games that work, but I think that the following 10 would work for sure!

HOT SEAT

Write a word on the board, and sit a student behind that word. The rest of the class have to give him/her some clues (words related to the main word on the board), in order to make him/her guess.

It really works

SIMON SAYS

This is a very famous game where the students need to pay attention and be concentrate in order to play as many times as they can!

The teacher says: Simon says….. touch your nose!

The students can do it, because the teacher says Simon says . If the teacher gives a statement without the “magic words” they can not move. It is very useful as a BRAIN BREAK. It is a short game, and you don’t need any material to play it.

WHAT’S IN MY MIND

This is probably one of my favourite games, and I have explained before!

The idea is to write something on a post-it and stick it on our student’s head. They have to guess who or what are they by asking yes/no questions! In my opinion it is really useful and simple!

You can use it in many different subjects, and it really works.

RUNNING DICTATION

I love running dictations! As the tittle says, the idea is to do dictations while running.

Join your students into pairs. Put some texts/ words/sentences in different corners of the class, and display 1 person of each couple near the text. The other half of the class should be in a different place of the room.

The idea is that one person of each couple runs, reads the text or the sentence, runs again and dictates it to his or her couple.

I REALLY RECOMMEND YOU THIS GAME!

CRAZY PROFESSOR

In orther to understand this game, I recommend you to read about WBT.

This is one game that tries to change a little bit the way that chldren read in class. The idea is to have fun reading in pairs.

Here you can read more about it!

ACT OUT

This is a very useful game, that you can use in many different subjects and in many different ways.

Students have to represent different words/sentences/ definitions, and the rest of the class have to guess what is it. Sometimes we only think about mimmics when talking about words, but I have tried this game in a different way (with definitions and sentences, and it really works).

BOOM!

This is a very simple game, and it is perfect to review vocabulary. The main goal is to say as many words related to a topic, as possible.

Sit your students in circles around 10 students more or less. Give them an object that will be the BOMB, and say a topic. They must say words while passing the “bomb”.

BOARD RACE

Draw a path on the board, and divide it into different parts. Divide the class in 2 teams, and make them play like a board game. Every square of the path can be a question. The first to complete all the squares wins.

It is perfect to review some contents!

TRUE OR FALSE?

This is a very useful game, that can be used as an evaluation activity.

Every child close their eyes and listens to a sentence. If that sentence is true, they must put their thumbs up, if not, they have to put their thumbs down.

It is really good to review contents too!

I SPY…

This is perfect for ENGLISH TEACHERS.

The idea is to play in pairs ( this way we can be sure that everyone is speaking).

Give your students pictures with many things on them. One student starts the game by saying:

-I spay with my little eye something that is green

It is nice as a speaking activity, and they really enjoy games in pairs!

I also recorded a video explaining the top 10 games:

That’s all for this week, I really hope you enjoy this post, and find it useful!

Lots of kisses!

Hi there everybody!

Today I come with some activities and printables to work on INVERTEBRATES!

As I explain you before, I also teach Science (IN ENGLISH) and sometimes it is really complicated to feel that they are learning…

After 3 years of  teaching this subject, I can tell you that it is a very slow process, that needs a lot of “repetition”. And it doesn’t mean to do the same thing during some classes, but to work the smae content in different ways.

So… That’s why I want to share with you all the activities we are doing to work INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS!

Let’s go!

MAIN GOAL:

To identify the 6 different groups of invertebrates.

CONTENTS:

•  General facts of invertebrate animals.
• Invertebrate groups.
• Main facts of the invertebrate groups.
• Examples of each group.

ACTIVITIES

IDENTIFYING INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS

The first activity I did was to identify invertebrates in a group of animals . I show them pictures of animals and I told them to find the animal who was different.

I asked them questions to make them think on the differences.

INVERTEBRATE GENERAL FACTS

You will find many videos about invertebrate animals, but I used this one! And it was really useful for me. It was perfect to introduce them some animals and the invertebrate groups.

INVERTEBRATE GROUPS

To learn the names of the 6 invertebrate groups, I used (TPR). The names are really complicated so.. I decided to invent a short “song” to learn the names. To do it we also created a little choreography to help us remember all the names! The idea is to invent a simple rhythm and gestures to practise the pronunciation.

SONG:

The six groups of invertebrates are…

1 sponges, 2 cnidarians, 3 echinoderms, 4 mollusks, 5 worms, 6 arthropods

FACTS OF EACH GROUP

In order to work on the facts of each group, we observed different pictures and we wrote sentences.

After that we collected all the information in a mindmap!

You can also findo two activities in order to practise all the concepts.

CLASSIFYING INVERTEBRATES

After collecting all the information in a mindmap, we were ready to classify other invertebrates by observing them!

I created this cards, that can be really useful. There are many ways to use them…

As you can see, there is a little white space where they can write the group name or the animal name by using fel-tips.

I also use little whiteboards to make them work in groups. The idea is to show them a card and they have to write the name of the group of invertebrates they think that animal goes in.

READING ABOUT INVERTEBRATES

Finally, we read adapted texts about some invertebrate animals.

It is very important to use adapted material when you are doing a CLIL subject. You have to adapt all the contents to your students level.

In the following link, you will find a complete folder with many material about invertebrates! I really hope you find it useful! 🙂

INVERTEBRATES FOLDER

We also look at invertebrates that we can find at the playground! It was nice to look at them and describe them later.

There are two stories that can be perfect for this unit:

 THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR AND SHARING A SHELL

  

That’s all for this week!

I really hope you find it useful! See you next week teachers!

Hi there!

Finally we arrive at the end of STORY MAPS! I really hope you enjoy  the block of posts related to story maps!

Well, today I come with the final activities and I also share with you the whole folder with all the printables to work STORY MAPS!

After working a lot with books, characters, settings…. we are ready to write and create our own story!

• To create a story, I though that it would be nice to use STORY CUBES!

5 ACTIVITIES TO USE STORYCUBES

1. ROLL AND SPEAK

The first activity I share with you is very simple. The idea is to create short stories by rolling the story cubes! You can use all of them or one by one!

If you look at the picture, they are using a worksheet ( handmade) to help them when speaking!

3. PROBLEM AND SOLUTION

Another easy way to use the story cubes could be to roll them for creating a problem in the story, and after that a solution to that problem. Sometimes the results haven’t got any sense!

4. ROLL AND MAKE A SENTENCE 

In order to create the Character traits, we can roll the storycubes and make sentences for each character! Look at the example:

5. STORY MAP

Then, we can use a story map and complete it with the story cubes!

6. LET’S WRITE A STORY

Finally, we have everything ready to start writing our story!

In this folder you will find all the worksheets to start working on storymaps! I really hope you enjoy it!