Introducing … the Blue Star.

12th January 2014

I have a red and black marker system for class management: the red is a happy face, awarded for leading the students in repeating class rules, for interesting and imaginative answers, for exceptional work.

The black is for breaking the class rules, disrespect, noise etc. Two or three Black Stars result in the student being sent to Student Care.

Today I will introduce a new star:

the Blue Star

which will be given to students who speak too much, too loudly, or for interrupting the teacher.

Should a student get three Blue Stars, they will have to conjugate ten verbs during breaktime or for homework.

To kick off, conjugate these verbs:

allow // become // believe // change // create //

decide // follow // grow // help // leave // make

pass // provide // remember // return // show

spend // suggest // tell // think // walk // work

To everything, there is a season.

A time to play, and a time to work.

A time to talk, and a time to listen.

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What’s the problem with your city … and what’s the solution ?

9th January 2024

Does this look like your city ?

Or is it more like this … ?

An exercise for students to use critical thinking, and to practise speaking.

First we shall let the students work in pairs, discussing today’s question:

What’s the problem with your city … and what’s the solution ?

Let’s kick off with some useful vocabulary

pollution

litter

noise

traffic congestion

You may start like this:

I live in Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City). The city is very large and busy, and has many great places. However, it also has many problems.

Then talk about pollution (air and water),

litter (paper, plastic, food, bottles, cans etc)

noise (karaoke, motorbikes, street vendors, building work)

traffic (is it fun or safe to drive ?)

Remember to use amazing adjective as well as linking words to give longer, better answers.

Now for some solutions

How can we make rivers cleaner ?

How can we make the roads less congested ?

How can we stop people littering ?

How can we reduce noise pollution ?

Young Learners Levels 3 & 4: class objectives.

27th December 2023

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year one and all. Here is what we shall be studying this block, and what I expect from you:

Students will have a large vocabulary, and speak in long, interesting sentences.

Students can tell if a word is a noun, adjective, verb, pronoun etc.

Students will be able to use Simple Present & Simple Past (Verb 1 & Verb 2)

Students will come to class on time, and will be prepared; that means having pens, pencils and a notebook.

Class rules will be followed. I demand that MY students

DO NOT RUN in the halls

DO NOT SHOUT.

If you do, you shall receive a …

Additionally, you will have to sing a David Bowie song in front of the whole class !

Our classes will kick off (start) with a song

‘Love Me Do’ by the Beatles.

Next we shall have speaking time.

I will write a subject and you will talk to your partner for as long as possible. Remember, English is never finished – you can always improve (get better). Today the question is:

What do you want in 2024 ?

You can say want you want to have, where you want to go, and why, what you want to study (and why), what new skill you want, maybe some new food or drink.

Let’s break it down.

First, what do you want to have ?

A new toy // a baby sister or brother // Lucky Money // A+ in your tests // an iPhone 15 !

Next, where do you want to go, and why ?

Da Nang because it is beautiful and cool. Also I can eat fresh fruit.

London because I want to see Mr Paul’s hometown 🙂 Also I can visit many famous places like Tower Bridge.

Thailand because the people are friendly and the temples are amazing and peaceful.

Next, what you want to study (and why)

I really want to study English because …

What new food do you want to eat ?

I want to try British Christmas food because …

EXAMPLE:

In 2024 I want to go to Thailand because the food is spicy and delicious. Also, it is quieter because I don’t hear karaoke.

I want to have great classes with super students who are respectful !

Maybe I will learn some more Vietnamese so I can talk to people.

Finally, I really want to learn this music on guitar. However it is very difficult and very fast. I will have to practise every day.

Happy New Year everybody. Peace and Love.

Let me have silence always … That is essential

25th December 2023

But let me have silence always, in the centre of the shouting—
That is essential! Let me have silence so that no pin may drop
And not be heard, and not a whisper escape us for all our spouting,
Nor the needle’s scratching upon this gramophone of a circular cosmic spot.
Hear me! Mark me! Learn me! Throw the mind’s ear open—
Shut up the mind’s eye—all will be music! What
Sculpture of sound cannot—what cannot as a fluid token
Words—that nothing else cannot!

verse iv from ‘The Song of the Militant Romance’ by Wyndham Lewis (1933)

Young Teens: “I’ve just seen a face I can’t forget …”

6th October 2023

Let’s kick the speaking exercises into overdrive !

A surefire way to get that A+ is to speak in long sentences, with adjectives, linking words and some basic expressions.

Let’s practise – look at these photos, then describe what you see. As simple as that.

Then, add your own ideas about how the subject feels and what they are doing.

Let’s go to work

Always start with the subject

Never start with a pronoun

In Picture 1 start with the woman; what does she look like ? What do you think is her personality ?

Next, where is she and what is she doing ?

We need our vocabulary toolbox

First some adjectives about appearance:

amazing / Asian / beautiful / chubby / cute / healthy / middle-aged / old / short / tall / ugly / young / wealthy /

Then some adjectives about personality:

caring / friendly / greedy / hard-working / intelligent / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / outgoing / popular / quick / rude / selfish / talented / talkative /

EXAMPLE

The young Asian woman has long, straight, black hair. She is wearing a blue coat and holding a large, pink book. I think she is very intelligent and hard-working. She looks very happy. In my opinion she is waiting for a friend and they will go for a coffee.

Now … your turn

Young Learners: tell me more, tell me more !

26th September 2023

One of the purposes of teachers asking questions is to give students an opportunity to practise their speaking skills; vocabulary, syntax, intonation etc.

However, many times students, of all levels, will merely answer the question in as few words as possible, and they need to be encouraged to elaborate on their responses.

Teachers are taught to refrain from asking ‘Yes,’ or ‘No,’ answers:

“Did you have a good weekend ?”

“Yes.”

A better option would be:

“What did you do on Saturday ?”

Hopefully this will elicit a more suitable reply.

(Yes, teachers should be prepared for, “Nothing,” “Sleep,” etc … some students simply do not want to learn or work. Teachers have a limited supply of energy and enthusiasm; it should not be wasted.)

And so to work … my young learners have speaking tests soon. Here are some exercises to help boost their scores.

First we need our vocabulary toolbox. Let’s start with some adjectives:

amazing, angry / beautiful, big /clean, clever, cute / dangerous / easy, electric / fantastic, funny / greedy, great, / happy, healthy, huge / important, intelligent / Japanese / kind / lazy / messy / nervous / old, outgoing / popular / quick / rude / sad, selfish, shy, small / talkative, tiny / ugly, unusual / valuable / wealthy / year-long, young

Now some linking words:

also, as well as / because / furthermore / however

Finally, a smattering of expressions and idioms:

in my opinion / it costs an arm and a leg / let’s dive in / more than likely / over the moon.

Let’s dive in ! Work in pairs and ask each other the following questions:

Tell me about your house or apartment

(where is it, how many rooms, what does their room look like, what colour is it, what toys do they have, do they have pets ?etc)

Does this look like your room ?

Tell me about your school

(Name of the school and address, their favourite subjects and teachers, why do they like them, their friends, what do they do at break time, do they play sports or music ? etc)

Does this look like your school ?

Tell me about food you love and food that you hate

Tell me about a film you love

Where would you most like to visit ?

What job would you like to do. What job would you hate ?

Young Learners – let’s get talking !

28th August 2023

We have had lots of writing lessons and planning – time to boost our English speaking by practice, practice and … practice.

First subject: food and drink

What is your favourite drink ?

Do you like milk tea, water, juice or coffee ?

Where do you go to drink ?

With whom do you go ?

What do you like about the place ?

An example ? OK … work in pairs – ask and answer

Do you like milk tea, water, juice or coffee ?

I really love drinking coffee.

Where do you go to drink ?

I really like Highlands Coffee, a famous shop where I live. I enjoy going there so much because there is a lot of choice.

I can have tea or coffee, hot or cold. I usually order cappuccino. In my opinion, it tastes delicious and is damn fine coffee.

With whom do you go ?

I always go alone.

What do you like about the place ?

What I like about the shop is the free wifi and the comfortable chairs.

However, it is very busy and noisy so it is not a good place to read.

Now, tell me what you like to eat and where you like to go … and why.

Work in pairs – keep asking questions to get more information. Remember to use lots of adjectives to describe the restaurant.

Ask

1- What is their favourite food ?

2 – Where do they go ?

3 – What is so good about it ?

4 – What does the restaurant or street food stall look like

Fishing with birds: a writing exercise

25th August 2023

Let’s dive straight in ! Watch this short clip.

Board some new words:

swallow (verb) // count (v) // seek (v)

peaceful (adjective) // calm (adj) // tranquil (adj) // golden (adj) //disgusting (adj) // talented (adj) // cheeky (adj) // expert hunter (adj + noun)

landscape (noun) // cormorant (n) // noose (n) // tiddler (n)

Remember this chart ?

This blog may be accessed here: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2023/05/23/boost-your-english-speaking/

We shall have four sections to our writing:

1) Landscape 2) the men 3) the birds 4) the cheeky bird

1) Landscape

Where is this ? What can you see ? Describe the scene

(China, mountains, river, lake, trees, rocks. The sun is rising with a golden light. The scene is peaceful and tranquil.)

2) The Men

What do they look like ? What do they do ?

(The men are old, with lines on their faces. They smoke and have disgusting teeth, yellow and black. They dance and chant. They feed the birds tiddler fish.)

3) The Birds

Describe them

(The birds are intelligent and talented. They are expert hunters and can swim well. Also, they can count, up to 7. After 7, they refuse to work unless they get some tiddlers to swallow.)

4) Cheeky bird

What does the cheeky bird do ?

Now, write your short story about fishing with birds. Advanced students can practise writing in the simple past, using verb 2.

Good luck !

Young learners, level 1: some classroom games.

14th August 2023

A couple of games to help review recent lessons. First up, ‘Runaround‘.

A game based on a TV show. The teacher asks a question and then gives three possible answers.

EXAMPLE:

What animal is small, green and can jump ?

A – a dog B – a frog C – a hedgehog

The students – just one from each team – run to a letter. They are allowed 3 seconds to change their mind – then give the answer.

The following questions are based on our textbook, so adapt as you see fit.

What colour is a banana ?

A – purple B – white C – yellow

What is correct ?

A – 2 red marbles B – 2 red marble C – 2 marbles red

What animal is big ?

A – a mouse B – an elephant C – an ant

How much is 3 and 4 (3 + 4 =) ?

A – 6 B – 7 C – 8

What is in your bag ?

A – a pen B – a chair C – a classroom

Is this a book ?

A – Yes, it isn’t B – No, it is C – Yes, it is

What toy can fly ?

A – a train B – a plane C – a doll

What shape is this ?

A – a rectangle B – a circle C – a triangle

What animal has rectangle pupils in the eye ?

A – an elephant B – a goat C – Ms Huong (haha)

You play with a bat and

A – an egg B – a desk C – a ball

If you want to drink water, raise your

A – hand B – toes C – hair

Next, good old Snakes and ladders. In the same teams, hand out writing boards. Use an online die or dice, and this template:

1: Make a sentence I have a colour + toy

2: A rainbow is very (adjective)

3: Write 3 colours that begin with the letter ‘b’

4: What is your favourite toy ?

5: What can you see in this classroom. Write 2 things

6: What colour is your bag ?

7: A puppy is (2 adjectives)

8: Write a question starting with ‘Can …’

9: Tell me what is in your bag

10: Draw an elephant and then tell me about the animal.

Tony Bennett R.I.P.

8th August 2023

Time to say goodbye to another musical legend, this time singer Tony Bennett who sang Jazz and American standards.

Tony was the last of the singers to have emerged after World War II, singers such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Mel Tormé, Sammy Davis Jr.

Music changed from Swing Jazz to Cool Jazz, Blues to R ‘n’ B, while Rock ‘n’ Roll, Pop and Rock music emerged. Yet, they still kept their careers and popularity.

I saw Mr Bennett at the 1998 Copenhagen Jazz Festival. At one point, Tony asked for the microphones to be turned off, and he sang to the crowd unamplified.

The following year, I saw him again perform a short set at a London department store where he was signing copies of his autobiography.

Here’s Tony’s signature tune – ‘I Left my Heart in San Francisco’

Tony Bennett 3rd August 1926 – 21st July 2023