Miss Lucy's Teaching Fun

To Be or....To Be

2012-02-05T21:28:00.000+01:00

This activity is dedicated to those teachers who are dealing with children that can write, but not that fast. I'm referring to first grade primary school kids.
You want them to learn the basics, but they find that writing the verb 'to be' is not so exciting… And they don't remember it very well because is not interesting. So at the end they find it difficult and start not to pay attention to it, challenging your patience.

Try this worksheet based on three easy steps.
First: (Visual memory + craft activity) cut out the verb and shuffle it.
Second: (Visual identification + craft activity) paste the pieces of the 'puzzle' in the right order.
Third: (Writing + challenging activity) write the verb 'to be' faster than your classmates.

Take the time and give them a little reward… They deserve it!

Winter / Christmas Board Game

2012-02-03T15:24:00.000+01:00

It's not Christmas any more, but… Have you seen the snow out there?

Temperatures have just crashed down so why don't print up an ESL board game

http://bogglesworldesl.com/christmasboardgame.htm

to spend an hour sipping hot chocolate with your children and finding out about winter vocabulary?

Here you can print the cards with the questions and multiple choice answers.

Cut them out and enjoy your learning!

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl

2012-01-30T11:44:00.001+01:00

James is a little English boy who had lived by the seaside with his beloved parents until they got eaten by an 'enormous angry rhino escaped from the London Zoo'.

He was sent to live with his two horrible aunts: Aunt Sponge, fat and lazy, and Aunt Spiker, bony and cruel.

Their house was ramshackle, set on top of a high hill and surrounded by a big garden, where James was practically a prisoner for years.

He was absolutely alone and desperate when, one day, he ran away to the edge of the garden, and right there an old man gave him a bag with tiny green things that James was supposed to eat to finally end his miserable life.

But he stumbled over the old peach tree's root, dropping the entire content of the bag that disappeared in a few seconds into the ground.

The very next day something awesome happened: on the top of the old peach tree, that never had produced a single fruit, a peach suddenly appeared that, in less than one day, grew up and reached the volume of a house!

One night James found a hole in the skin of the massive fruit and… Enormous friendly insects and exciting adventures finally flew him toward a new happy life across the Ocean!

This book is worth to reading for at least 3 different reasons.

First of all, the story is founded on few basic Propp's functions that bring the young reader from an initial status of unhappiness of the hero (James) to an happy ending thanks to a magic gift given to him by a mentor. The hero makes new friends that will join and help him through many adventures with characters like sharks and stormy Cloud-Men.

You can also find many nice and funny rhymes in it and we all know how much important they are to developing reading skills and phonetics.

Finally it teaches children about insects: the Grasshopper, the Centipede, the Spider, the Earthworm, the Glow-worm, the Silkworm and the Ladybird.

They will discover who is useful to agriculture and who is a pest, why only certain kinds of grasshopper can play beautiful melodies, how many legs a centipede really has, several uncorrected beliefs about them and much more!

So enjoy the reading and, if you are a teacher, here you can find some really useful activities based on the book, designed by Nancy Polette:

http://www.nancypolette.com/handouts/guide_jamespeach.htm

MOMO

2012-01-07T18:57:00.006+01:00

When I was 10 I was shown a movie entitled 'Momo'. I remember there was this little orphan with an 'unruly mop of jet-black hair' and everything was kind of grey. I also remember that the film was about time.

Three good reasons to embrace the adventure of reading this book, written by the author of 'The Neverending Story', Michael Ende, and published for the first time in 1973 in Germany.

No-one knows Momo's age. She lives by herself in an little room under the ancient amphitheater at the edge of the city. She makes a lot of good friends because she knows how to listen to people and at the same time it seems that she helps them to improve the good side of themselves. Every day many inhabitants of the city spend a good time with her, either playing or chatting.

But a grey shadow is planning to rule the city in a very different way. It's the Timesaving Bank and its men in grey. They want to steal people's time. They need it to exist. But 'time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart'.

So they convince everyone, little by little, not to waste their spare time. They want people to work as hard and fast as they can. No more chats, no more daydreams, no more love. 'All that matters in life is to climb the ladder of success, amount to something, own things.'

But Momo is different. She doesn't need anything. She only cares about her friends and the special moments they spend together.

One day she finds the doll 'Lola' waiting for her at the amphitheater. After her, a man in grey also appears. The particular doll can talk, but she only wants new outfits. That's why from the boot of the grey car of the man in grey, one after another, a huge quantity of doll's stuff starts to appear. Because 'There's always something left to wish for.'

Momo answers something about love to him and suddenly something unexpected happens. The man in gray feels a strong desire to tell her the truth about him and his organization. He keeps talking until he realizes that it 's the secrets of the Timesaving Bank that he was revealing. He stops and escapes from that uncommon little girl and 'like an explosion in reverse, all the dolls and their scattered belongings flew back into the boot.' This is one of the best scenes of the film, at the very moment I read the passage I could clearly see in my mind all this dresses and shoes flying back into the grey car.

Here you can see the Spanish version of the scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWYd-TabJdA&feature=related

After that many adventures entertain the young reader (and the old one).

I only would like to highlight some of the most illuminating passages in the book: concepts and ideas that are absolutely modern despite the book's age.

For example at some point of the story children are no longer allowed to play children's games in the streets. 'Child Depots' are built by the men in gray. There 'the youngsters can be moulded into useful and efficient members of society'.

What kind of society they refer to is the question that immediately arises.

The answer lasts a line: 'A world dependent on computers and nuclear energy'.

Does it ring a bell to someone out there?

Into Child Depots, kids, wearing grey uniforms, are taught how to play. The author describes a game like the 'data retrieval' where all of them pretend to be a card, each one carrying various bits of information about himself, sometimes they are just long strings of letters and numbers and so on. 'It's useful for the future'. They say.

It's impressive how time is stolen second by second from people who don't even notice that something is, slowly but inexorably, changing in their lives and the relationships among them.

To be honest, I don't remember if I caught the meaning of these metaphors when I was 10. Probably not. Probably when you are 10 you just don't like bad grey men and sympathize with Momo, feeling her pain of losing all her friends suddenly for some very bad reasons.

But probably for a child these strong emotions and surrealistic scenes are impressive enough.

Anne of Green Gables

2011-09-10T16:31:00.009+02:00

This is an old book, written when dinner was at lunch time and lunch coincided with tea time. Uncommon vocabulary could generate some embarrassing moments for the teacher who has to explain its meaning, but it's really worth the effort, because 'lovely' and 'thrilling' are the two adjectives that will stay with you as you follow Anne around the landscapes of Prince Edward Island. Everything is "so romantic" and enjoyable. Everything is a gift to give thanks for.

Anne, who has got nothing but her imagination and her red hair, will tell you about the simple life and old-time education, but also about dreams and the strength of will to make them come true.

It was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a child. I suppose because kids can identify with the little girl who, like them, has to learn how to be a well-mannered child and wants to be an excellent student to make her parents (adoptive, in this case) very proud of her.

Tiny garden - Pot's labels

2011-09-08T10:16:00.001+02:00

Do you have a little garden in your school?

So why don't allow your pupils to grow flowers and vegetables in it?

Even if you don't have space, and the only area you can use is the windowsill, few pots and a selection of seeds might improve the enthusiasm of those young learners.

Plants like radishes and lettuce grow very fast. Your students will be able to collect them after few weeks, with great satisfaction.

Slower plants like charts, strawberries or tomatoes, otherwise, can teach them that there is the right time for everything.

Decorate the pots with labels to remember which plant is in it and how to take care of its life. It could be a craft activity to teach them new vocabulary.

You can also teach 'responsibility' handing tasks out to each one (or to each group if they are very young).

Tiny Garden - Pot's Labels

2011-09-08T10:10:00.007+02:00

An example of simple labels that your kids can easily make.

Cover them with a plastic film so you can avoid that water damages the drawings and the paper.

GARDEN SCRAPBOOK

2011-08-31T16:22:00.003+02:00

This activity is suitable both if your school or house has a garden or even a little park in front of them. It consists of drawing or taking pictures of a part of the green area during the different seasons to observe how they change depending on the weather.

Your kids can put leaves and flowers in it. You can provide them a seed catalogue, so that they can cut out pictures of the plants their seeds are going to grow into.

They can draw, cut out and label every kind of wildlife they see. It will make the work even more exciting!

Here, an example!

These activities, apart from keeping the task of learning a little bit more participatory, also raise their awareness about the environment all around. That's the first very important step towards growing up to be sensitive human beings.

HERBARIUM

2011-08-31T16:13:00.004+02:00

Introduce your pupils to the magical world of plants!

As we already well know they will enjoy doing some crafts, more than a boring explanation, so why don't make them start by exploring their gardens and taking notes on what they can see?

The first activity could be making a book, called an Herbarium, used in Botany to classify plants. They can pick flowers, dry them and stick them in this book made of sheets of heavy cardstock.

I personally prefer to leave plants where they are and take pictures of them, and so will some of your students, while others will enjoy a direct contact with the plants best.

Here there is an example of my Herbarium made of pictures and drawings that your students can also do.

It's a good exercise to improve their ability to pay attention!!!

If they have a good level of English, they could find interesting a little research on the plant and write a summary of its most important characteristics.

Here http://www.education.com/activity/article/Herbarium_Sheets/

is a page where you can find out how to make a traditional one.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2011-07-17T00:07:00.000+02:00

Roald Dahl was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He had an unhappy time at school - at Llandaff Cathedral School, at St Peter’s prep school in Weston-super-Mare and then at Repton in Derbyshire.
Dahl’s unhappy time at school was to influence his writing greatly. He once said that what distinguished him from most other children’s writers was “this business of remembering what it was like to be young”. Roald’s childhood and schooldays are the subject of his autobiography Boy.

Every Christmas, during my childhood, I used to watch the movie inspired on this book.

Little Charlie and the four old grandparents in only one bed, the incredible moment when he finds the Golden Ticket etc.

Everything has magically come back to my mind. It surprised me and it made me laugh once again.

I loved it!
Here you can find some activities for your class:

http://www.leapinginto5thgrade.com/CharlieChocolateFactory.htm

Classic Starts: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

2011-07-16T23:52:00.003+02:00

Sterling has published this collection of classic novels abridged for young readers. The intention is to give them a sense of independence and the satisfaction of finishing a "grown-up" book. I bought the version which has two audio CDs included.

I think it's an interesting project. It helps to improve both reading and listening skills.

Listening and trying to understand a different language it's the first step in a new language world.

After that the student will have got enough self confidence to start speaking it.

Learning languages is magic!

Action Comecoco!!!

2010-03-21T21:45:00.004+01:00

'Paper origami fortune teller'
Teach your students and play one of their favorite games
at the same time!

The Beatles

2009-06-04T12:14:00.004+02:00

The Beatles

2009-06-04T11:57:00.003+02:00

Beatles songs are very useful for teaching English.
They are easy to listen to, to remember, and to dance to!!!
Kids will enjoy the entire learning process.

I brought the lyrics to my class, one photocopy for each student, and the CD with the song. The first 3 times I explained the song and I sang with them. Then I let them mix freely in the classroom with the text...
It was really fun, they started marching to the sound of "we all live in a yellow submarine..." and ended with a conga line.
After 2 months I heard someone of them singing it.

You can propose a second activity to go into the lyric in depth.
Take a Beatles song, divide it in verses and write them with a pencil
on different sheets, possibly one for each student, underlining words they could represent with drawings.
Then pass out the papers and:
1st let them go over the words again with a coloured marker
2nd hand out pieces of coloured papers where they will draw the underlined items.

you can find a specific CD entitled ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE - BEATLES SONGS FOR KIDS
(produced by Music For Little People - www.mflp.com) if you want to save time on searching for the most appropriate songs.
I bought it on eBay for 10 euros more or less.

Rules

2009-04-02T13:15:00.006+02:00

I found some nice songs to introduce rules to your class:

I am in school to learn. 
I will follow the directions of my teachers.
I will not say unkind things to others. 
I will report problems to the teachers.
I will try my very best. I am in school to learn.

We raise our hands to speak.
We work quietly at our seats.
We use voices soft and sweet. 
We keeps our places tidy and neat. 
We are helpful, friendly, and fair. 
We take turns and willingly share.

I make mistakes so I can learn.
I learn so I can succeed. 
I succeed so I can help others.

I pledge to show my respect by listening to others,
using my hands for helping,
caring about others feelings,
and being responsible for what I say and do.
My Promise
Each day I'll do my best, And I won't do any less.
My work will always please me, And I won't accept a mess.
I'll colour very carefully, My writing will be neat.
And I simply won't be happy 'Til my papers are complete.
I'll always do my homework, And I'll try on evey test.
And I won't forget my promise -- To do my very best!
A Circle of Friends
We've joined together as classmates as the new year begins...

A year full of learning while we become friends. 
We'll share and be kind as we work and play. 
And our friendship will grow with each passing day.

I am wonderful.
I am good at learning. 
And I like to learn.
Class Promise
Today is a new day! I will act in a safe and healthy way. 
I will respect the rights of others.
I will treat all property with respect.
I will take responsibility for my learning. 
Today I will be the best me I can be!
My School Pledge
I pledge today to do my best in reading math and all the rest.
I promise to obey the rules, in my class and in our school.
I'll respect myself and others too, I'll expect the best in all I do,
I am hear to learn all I can,
To try my best and be all I am.
Important Rules
(to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle")
Here are some rules for you and me,
See how important they can be. 
Always be honest, be kind and fair, 
Always be good and willing to share. 
These are rules we all should know, 
We follow these rules wherever we go.

Personally I chose 5 simple sentences, so they could easily understand them.

I made a booklet of 5 sheets, one rule for each paper and then I introduced it to them saying it was a contract. We all signed it on the cover.

When they start behaving bad I take the booklet out.

They usually recognized it and turn quiet, if not the bad kids loose points.

Kids with the lower score have to prepare the snack for the class and bring it the last day of the current month.

Prototyping©

2009-03-10T20:22:00.003+01:00

2009-03-06T20:22:00.007+01:00

Here we are!!!
Another trick to get your students involved in learning English.
You can do it by yourself, buying:
"stacks" (little squared magnets) at the newsagent's and white sticker paper, so you'll be able to draw, colour and write on it.

Game example:
These Magnetic Cards could be used for many different classic games: Dominoes, Bingo, Memory, or, simpler, throwing the matching pair at the magnetic board from a certain distance (my students, currently do it with their "staks" of Star Wars).

It’s a MODULAR GAME, rechargeable like ‘Trivial Pursuit’, for example.
You ‘buy’ the first box with the base and one or two subjects,
then when you need another one because you’re explaining it in class,
you can buy the "recharge" that contains Cards dealing with the subject you need only.

Subject Areas:
Clothes, Body parts,
Seasons and weather,
Days, months, holidays,
Sports, Professions,
House - furniture,
City, Telling time,
Park, The classroom, Animals, Verbs, everyday routine, Food and Drink, Colours, Adjectives (opposites) Verbs.

Functions:
Combine words with their
correspondent pictures.

Combine present tense with past tense.

Connect verbs with subjects, or objects,
words with definitions.

Little Blue and Little Yellow

2009-02-26T22:24:00.001+01:00

Little blue and little yellow share wonderful adventures. One day, they can't find one another. When they finally meet, they are overjoyed. They hug until they become green. As a single green shape, they play and then go, first to Little Blue's house and then to Little Yellow's only to be rejected and unrecognized.

When you read this passage try to emphasize the dialogs between the colorful parents and the green ball!!!
You will notice all the eyes of your pupils gazing at you with a mixing of suffer and curiosity, it's great!!!

In the link below you can find a downloadable pdf with some activities concerning the tale:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/profbooks/blueyellow.pdf

Others Details
Little Blue and Little Yellow: A Story for Pippo and Other Children
by Leo Lionni
Illustrated by Leo Lionni
Edition: reprint, illustrated
Published by Harper Collins, 1995
ISBN 0688132855, 9780688132859
48 pages

More translations... more languages

2009-02-26T22:09:00.009+01:00

Pequeno Azul e Pequeno Amarelo
Editora: Berlendis & Vertecchia
ISBN: 8586387916
Ano: 2005
Número de Páginas: 44
Acabamento: Encadernado

Este é o Pequeno Azul.
Está em sua casa com a Mamã Azul e o Papá Azul.
O Pequeno Azul tem muitos amigos.
O seu melhor amigo é o Pequeno Amarelo,
que vive na casa da frente.(...)

Leo Lionni

Pequeño Azul y Pequeño Amarillo
(Little Blue and Little Yellow, 1959)
Leo LIONNI
Kalandraka, 2005;
44 pp.;
col. Libros para soñar;
trad. de Pedro Almeida;
ISBN: 84-96388-25-5.
3 años: prelectores.
Álbumes ilustrados.
El mejor amigo de Pequeño Azul es Pequeño Amarillo.
Un día que Pequeño Azul abraza a Pequeño Amarillo se vuelve verde.
Y cuando los padres de ambos también se conocen les pasa lo mismo.

Piccolo Blu e Piccolo Giallo
Autore Lionni Leo
Prezzo € 10,00
Prezzi in altre valute

Dati 1999, 48 p.,
illustrato
Editore: Babalibri

Petit Bleu et Petit Jaune
Series: Lutin Poche
Authors: Lionni
Market: Ages 0-4
Level: Beginners
Subject: French
Publication Date: July 1997
Price: £6.25
ESB Code: 74303
ISBN:9782211058780

Numbers and balls

2009-02-09T16:46:00.011+01:00

This morning my students had a review of numbers.

I brought a yellow ball in class, I moved all the desks to create a space where they could stay in a circle and I threw the ball to one of them shouting 3!!!

The first part of the game was quite simple, they have to throw the ball to a classmate shouting the numbers in ascending order.

When they got bored I complicated the game in many different ways:

Tell the numbers in a descending order

Add 2 (or 3, 4, 5...) to the number you've just said trowing the ball

Subtract 2 (or 3, 4, 5...)

Don't say the numbers that contain 3 or 4 or 5 etc...

The game is quite useful because apart from using numbers, they'll improve their knowledge of multiplication table and mathematical calculations as well.

2009-02-03T10:37:00.003+01:00

2009-01-28T14:07:00.010+01:00

Ok, I discovered that my 8 years old spanish pupils have a problem with left and right.

So, today, I started the class making them raise their left hands than the rights.

Finally I told them to fold their left sleeves (to have a visual reference).

The second step was explaining them how to turn left or right (it's not obvious for them).

Finally we played Simon Says with this (now easy) 4 commands:

Go down 1st (or 2nd...) street

Turn right

Turn left

Go on

Stop

2009-01-27T11:10:00.010+01:00

This is a game to experiment street directions, let your pupils interact to acquire language skills and practice useful English.

Use the space between the lines of desks as streets (1st Street, 2nd Street, etc...) and write on the blackboard some easy street directions:

- Go down 1st Street, 2nd...
- Go on
- At the 1st, 2nd desk..
- Turn left
- Turn right
- Go straight on

Call on one of them and start asking him where one of his classmate 'lives' and..

Start the game!!!

P.S. Call first one of your best students:

the fact he'll be right will encourage the others on taking part in the performance.

2009-01-20T18:41:00.007+01:00

Subject Areas:
Clothes, Furniture,
Materials, Seasons, Rooms.

Language Items:
What is your belt made of?
It’s made of leather/ fabric/ etc.
What are the shoes made of?
They are made of ...
What is the table made of?
It’s made of wood/ plastic/ etc.
What are the curtains made of?
They are made of...

“Is your cap made of silver?”
“Yes, it is”
“No, it isn’t”

N.B. Combinations Material-Furniture/Clothes
made by kids could be really bizarre.

'When do you usually wear a scarf?'
'In which room of your house can you find a sofa?'
'What is it made of?'

Functions:
A visual (and tactile) experience of different materials their world is made of, and talk about it.

Combine seasons with clothes and materials,
Furniture with rooms and materials.

Answer yes or no questions.

2009-01-20T18:00:00.003+01:00

The proposal of the game is make students learn the different kinds of material, so I prepared some pre cut outlines images of kids bedroom’s furniture. And I gave to each one a small book with the drawings of the furniture. Then I prepared a table of materials, and I brought in class some sheets and yarns. So they trace out on the sheets the furniture they have in their bedrooms with the help of the outlines and stick the images on their books.

When they finish their activity of cut and stick, you can call every one to the blackboard with the book to describe the furniture they completed with the help of the table of materials.

Miss Lucy's Teaching Fun

To Be or....To Be

Winter / Christmas Board Game

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl

MOMO

Anne of Green Gables

Tiny garden - Pot's labels

Tiny Garden - Pot's Labels

GARDEN SCRAPBOOK

HERBARIUM

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Classic Starts: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Action Comecoco!!!

The Beatles

The Beatles

Rules

Prototyping©

Magnetic Moments!!!©

Little Blue and Little Yellow

More translations... more languages

Numbers and balls

Where is the playground?!?©

Where is the Playground?!?!?©

Where is the Playground?!?!?©

Shapes+Material!!!©

Shapes+Material!!!©_Game example: