Young Learners, level 4 and Top Cats. Snakes & ladders review game.

30th November 2022

Continuing from yesterday’s blog, which was aimed at younger learners, a review lesson focusing more on listening and pronunciation skills.

Warm up

Quick writing: You have 10 seconds to write down as many words as you can beginning with the letters:

s / p / t

Tell me something you like and something you don’t like.

EXAMPLE: I really like English because it is fun, however I don’t like maths because it is so difficult.

Tell me four things you can have in a:

kitchen / bedroom / living room

Tell me about your family. Try to speak for as long as possible.

Example: I have a mummy, a daddy and two brothers. My mummy is friendly. She is small and has black hair. My daddy is tall. My older brother likes to play video games. My young brother likes to read books.

Write a sentence with these adverbs. One sentence each:

always / usually / sometimes / never

Screen test. Watch this Christmas advert, then answer the questions.

The Questions:

What colour was the girl’s umbrella ?

How many buttons (not eyes) did the snowman have ?

Name three shops that you saw.

How many snow people were on the street ?

What was on the wall in the man’s kitchen ?

What toy did the old man have in the bath ?

What was the old man’s job ?

How many pigeons were standing on the street ?

What fruit was the man on the subway (Tube train) holding ?

What was the number of the bus ?

Complete the slogans: Give a little _______ Together we can make a big ____________

Pronunciation, intonation and stress

Thay Paul loves coffee and so does his friend Agent Cooper: Students can act out the scene. Not only does it require stress and emotion, but also pacing.

Tell me the story of Theseus and the Minotaur

The Answers

Red // 5 // Scarf Hut, Pharmacy, Opticians, Florist // 8 (one in the window doesn’t count) // a fish, a picture of the family, a shelf // a toy duck // a barber or haircutter // 4 // an apple // 222 // ‘love’ & ‘difference’

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

Young Learners, levels 2 & 3. Snakes & ladders review games

29th November 2011

Team games are a great way to motivate younger students, as well as reinforcing their knowledge of English. Ideally, games should test all learning skills; reading, writing, speaking and listening, not to mention focusing on pronunciation and grammar.

Here’s a familiar game which can be used in the classroom together with an online dice. Put the students into small teams, and give them mini boards and markers.

First, some questions for level 2

Give me a sentence with these verbs:

dance / drink / eat / take / hold / listen

some or any ?

Is there ____ milk ?

There are ________ eggs.

Are there _____ fries ?

There are _____ carrots.

Would you like ____ ice cream ?

There aren’t ___ sausages.

Grammar: conjugate these verbs

I like watching football (you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they).

I don’t like taking photos (you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they).

I can float in space (you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they).

Adjectives. Write two adjectives for:

a tiger / a dolphin / a puppy / a vampire / a frog

Time

What do you do at 7.00 in the morning ?

What do you do at 1.00 in the afternoon ?

What do you do at 9.00 in the evening ?

Quick writing: You have 10 seconds to write down as many words as you can beginning with the letter:

s / p / t

Tell me something you like and something you don’t like. EXAMPLE: I really like English however, I don’t like maths.

Tell me three things you can have in a:

kitchen / bedroom / living room

Tell me about your family. Try to speak for as long as possible.

Write a sentence with these adverbs. One sentence each:

always / usually / sometimes / never

Tell me what children can do in Sai Gon

Image from Pinterest from teacherspayteachers.com

IELTS – Some footnotes to help you stand on your own two feet.

25th November 2022

Last night I was speaking with my wonderful TA about boosting her IELTS score. Our lesson used the Greek hero Achilles. Furthermore, we had both been standing more or less for four hours. I gave her two expressions then realised they were connected – Achilles heel and my dogs are barking. Therefore, here’s a quick list of foot-related expressions.

Achilles heel – this hero was invincible because his mother immersed him in a special river, as shown in the painting. However, she held her son by the heel so the water didn’t touch the boy’s skin. This was his one weak spot, and he was killed by Paris who shot an arrow into Achilles’ heel.

In everyday English, an Achilles heel refers to a person’s weak point, or flaw.

John’s vocabulary was excellent but his pronunciation was his Achilles heel.

This means John knew many words, but his pronunciation was so bad, he would lose points in a speaking test.

My dogs are barking – this mean your feet are very sore or hurting. Bob Dylan uses the expression in his song ‘Summer Days’

My dogs are barking, there must be someone around
My dogs are barking, there must be someone around
I got my hammer ringin’, pretty baby, but the nails ain’t goin’ down

To foot the bill – means to pay for something, or all of something.

We went out drinking but I had to foot the bill !

To put your foot in your mouth – means to say something that you shouldn’t have said – maybe you tell a secret, or you hurt somebody or get somebody in trouble.

Tony said the man was very stupid but he didn’t know he was talking about her husband ! He really put his foot in his mouth.

Foot and mouth disease – this is a very serious disease affecting cows, pigs and sheep. We can also use it to speak about a person who always puts his or her foot in their mouths.

Shelia can’t keep her mouth shut, she always says the wrong thing. She has foot and mouth disease.

To stand on your own two feet – means to be independent, not to need anybody’s help.

It’s time you stood on your own two feet, young man.

To toe the line – to do as you are told, to follow orders, or to follow the rules.

You better start toeing the line, mister, or look for a new job !

You won’t have a foot to stand on – you have no rights, or evidence to help you. You have no chance. Sometimes you may hear you won’t have a leg to stand on.

Without photo evidence or a witness, you won’t have a foot to stand on.

Two left feet – refers to someone who can’t dance.

No, I can’t dance, I have two left feet.

Footloose and fancy free – a person who is not in a relationship, so they can go out and meet new people. Someone who is ‘single and loving it.’

Footnotes – information or explanatory notes at the bottom of the page in academic books. The fiction author, David Foster Wallace was famous for using footnotes in his novels.

Legless – slang for being totally drunk.

You should have seen Peter last night – he was absolutely legless !

To have a hollow leg – someone who can drink a lot of alcohol but doesn’t get drunk, or appear to be drunk.

That’s her 7th beer and she looks fine. She must have a hollow leg.

To be a heel – this is now old-fashioned, but it means to be a bad person, to cheat people or be unfair.

He tricked the man out of $100. What a heel !

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

Young Learners, level 2: Greek heroes to help you learn.

14th November 2022

Divide the class into small teams. Each team is given paper, crayons, markers and a board.

The teams are names after Greek heroes:

Heracles

Theseus

Perseus

The heroes need to fight evil monsters.

Heracles must beat Cerberus, an angry dog with three heads.

Theseus must beat the Minotaur, an animal half man, half bull. The Minotaur is very, very strong.

Perseus must beat Medusa, a woman with dangerous snakes in her hair. Anyone who looks at Medusa will turn to stone.

The task is not easy, it is a task for heroes. The heroes must answer questions, write, draw and conjugate verbs.

The first team to get 10 points will win. Let’s get started.

1) Write down an animal that is black and white

2) Write down 2 animals that can fly

3) Write 3 animals that can swim

4) A _________ can _____ a house

5) A _________ can ____ fruit and vegetables

6) A ________ can ____ people who are not well.

7) A football player scoring / scores goals.

8) A teacher teach / teaches students.

9) I play / plays guitar.

10) Chose one person to draw. On the board, draw your monster (Cerberus, Minotaur or Medusa). You have three minutes each.

11) Complete the sentences with adjectives.

A dog is very ____ and _____ .

A crocodile is very ______ and ______ .

A panda is very ______ and ________ .

12) Write 2 things you do in the morning

13) Write 2 things you do in the afternoon

14) Write 2 things you do in the evening

15) Draw a clock on your board

Show me five o’clock

Show me seven o’clock

Show me twelve o’clock

16) Write 2 words that begin with bl, cl, pl.

17) Conjugate these verbs

Heracles:

I am scared of lions / you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they

Theseus:

I am very strong / you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they

Perseus:

I am not scared of snakes / you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they

18) Answer ‘Sure, that sounds fun,’ ‘Good idea,’ or ‘Not really.’

Do you want to fight a lion ?

Do you want to do homework all day ?

Do you want to play tennis ?

19) Team Heracles suggest something to Team Theseus and get a response. Team Theseus ask Team Perseus, and Team Perseus ask Team Heracles.

EXAMPLE: Do you want to drink water ?

20) Some or any.

There is ____ milk.

There isn’t ____ chicken.

There are _____ grapes.

Are there ______ eggs ?

Is there ____ juice ?

_____ there _____ water ?

21) You have 10 seconds. Write food that is healthy. Write food that is unhealthy. Write some drinks.

22) Write 2 fun places for children in Sai Gon

23) Write a sentence using

exciting / dangerous / happy

24) Sing the finish work song (“Dear teacher, I am finished.”)

25) How can you kill a skeleton. Watch the hero Jason.

How to kill a vampire: post-Halloween review game

1st November 2022

A chance to review recent lessons, and be a brave hero.

First, split the class into two or three teams: Vampire, the Mummy & Werewolf.

Second, what can kill these evil creatures ?

For a vampire, we can use garlic, and a crucifix or cross.

For the Mummy, we can use fire, and a cat.

For a werewolf, we can use a silver bullet or mercury.

Team Vampire

Team Mummy

Team Werewolf

The game:

Ask the students questions, testing vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and writing skills.

A correct answer means the student may roll a die. The following numbers represent weapons:

1 = garlic // 2 = mercury // 3 = an Egyptian cat //

4 = fire // 5 = silver bullets // 6 = crucifix or cross

Therefore, Team Dracula needs a 1 or 6, Team Mummy needs a 3 or 4, Team Werewolf needs 2 or 5

The first team to reach 5 points is the winner

Sample questions

Adjectives: what is the opposite of …

sharp / smooth / easy / cheap / high / modern / soft /

Countries: what countries begin with letter …

B / D / E / G / H / R / S / T / V /

Grammar: conjugate the following verbs …

I don’t like vampires / You / He / She / It / Ms Anh / We / They …

I’m not scared of the Mummy / You’re …

I don’t want to be a werewolf / You …

Speaking: tell me about the pairs of food, using adjectives and your opinion

Example: water and cola

I always drink water because it is very healthy. However I never drink cola because it is bad for my teeth.

Pair 1: banana and crisps

Pair 2: hamburgers and salad

Pair 3: phở bò (beef noodle soup) and pizza

Free speaking. How long can you speak about …

Give the students some time to prepare as a group, then select one spokesperson.

Sports //

What you can do at home //

Your family //

Bonus Goth points … an extra throw of the die for the student who can sing this song, ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead.’

The song builds up, and the vocals don’t start until around the 2:50 mark

Bauhaus

Young Learners, level 2: Basic Simple Past exercises

26th October 2022

A chance to review the simple past (verb 2).

I expect all students to be able to use the past tense by the end of the seminar.

infinite / present (verb 1) / past (verb 2)

1 to be am / was [I am / I was]

are / were [they are / they were]

2 to have have / had

3 to do do / did

4 to say say / said

5 to go go / went

6 to get get / got

7 to make make / made

8 to know know /knew

9 to think think / thought

10 to take take / took

11 to see see / saw

12 to come come / came

13 to want want / wanted

14 to use use / used

15 to find find / found

Past Tense Exercise

1. You (have) a test yesterday.

You had a test yesterday.

2. They (do) their homework last night.

They ——- their homework last night.

3. You (are) lazy last week.

You ——- lazy last week.

4. I (am) hungry yesterday.

I ——- hungry yesterday.

5. Sam (go) to Hong Kong last year.

Sam ——- to Hong Kong last year.

6. The man (make) tables and chairs yesterday.

The man —— tables and chairs yesterday.

7. Two weeks ago the boy (has) a new bicycle.

Two weeks ago the boy ——- a new bicycle.

8. In London I (know) many people.

In London I _______ many people.

9. I (get) 10 points in my English test.

I ______ 10 points in my English test.

10. I (want) to see a great film.

I _______ to see a great film.

Extra work for Top Cats

Corrections: Write in the past tense

I (am) born in Vietnam and (arrive) in Sai Gon in 2020. I (go) to school in District 1 because I (want) to work near my home. Last week, my friend (have) a party. She (dance) all night and I (hear) her singing. In the morning, she (have) a headache.

Young Learners, Level 3: using new adjectives.

14th October 2022

The last two lessons focused on adjectives and their opposites, including:

big~ small // high ~ low // sharp ~ blunt //

easy ~ difficult // rough ~ smooth //

quiet ~ noisy // fat ~ thin // safe ~ scary

Complete the sentences with the correct adjective.

I can’t cut my hair, my scissors are __________

My puppy is so _______ however, my hedgehog is very _____________ .

The maths test was so _______ however the science test was so ________________ .

Be careful, Ms Thuy ! The man is very ______ .

Laurel and Hardy are so funny. One is very _____ however, one is very ______ .

Yoyoko is only _________________ however she is very ______________ !

Harold is climbing very _____

Oh, no ! Crocodiles have very ______ teeth.

Now … your turn

Get out your list of adjectives. Write THREE sentences with new adjectives.

To help, look at these photos:

Young Learners, Level 1: the basics

7th September 2022

Objectives:

Students able to form a short, four-word sentence using an article, a noun, a verb and an adjective.

Check and correct pronunciation.

Develop intonation.

Improve confidence in speaking.

Train students how to behave in a classroom, to bring pen and paper to class and to write down new words.

First a warm up

Board some letters (a, b, c, p, t, etc). Ask for animals beginning with the letters.

Write some adjectives (about 5 – 8 depending on class ability). Last night I chose:

angry / big / small / cute / dangerous / fast / slow

Students write down these words, then complete three sentences, and read to the class:

A dog is ______ .

An elephant is _____ .

A tiger is __________ .

Erase the adjectives from the board, leaving only the first letter.

Ask the weaker students to say the adjective, which they should have written down and repeated (several times).

Example: What adjective begins with ‘a’ ?

If the student is unable to answer, homework is to write the word five times and to use it in a short sentence:

A lion is angry

Young Learners, level 6: It’s festival time

3rd September 2022

Many countries have festivals that can be:

colourful / dangerous / exciting / fun / noisy / peaceful / traditional / unusual

Question 1:

What festivals do you have in your country ?

What do people do ? What are the customs ?

Is there special or traditional food ?

Complete this piece:

In Vietnam, the biggest festival is Tet Holiday. At Tet the custom is for parents to give …

Vietnamese eat special food such as …

People wear beautiful, colourful … and watch …

Festivals around the world

Tell me about these festivals. Use the new adjectives to describe them. Would you like to go ? Why or why not ?

Do you think these people are crazy or brave or just having fun ?

First, to Europe, and this famous festival in Spain:

Staying in Europe, we go to the UK:

Now we are off to Africa, to the country of Niger:

Now let’s cross the Atlantic and head to Mexico:

Time to head back to Asia, stopping at Thailand:

Young Learners, Level 3: Sentence building using the Past Tense

24th August 2022

Last week, we learnt some adjectives and used them in a short piece of writing.

Can you remember the adjectives ?

The adjectives:

old / young / beautiful / handsome / ugly / happy / angry / sad / healthy / unhealthy / amazing / clever / cute / dangerous / exciting / great / intelligent / interesting / lazy / talented

This week, we are going to write another short story, but this time using Past Tense (Verb 2).

To start, here is a list of verbs in the Present Tense (Verb 1). What is the Past Tense ?

buy // drink // eat // go // listen // make // play // read // say // see // take // watch

bought / drank / ate / went / listened / made / played / read / said / saw / took / watched

What did you do last week ?

Use Past Tense (Verb 2) and the new adjectives. I want three sentences with at least three verbs and three adjectives.

EXAMPLE:

On Saturday I watched an interesting video on YouTube. A young girl played drums very well. She was so talented. On Sunday, I read an exciting book and listened to some old music.