Music In the Classroom. Bob Dylan Printable Lesson Plan

Motivation is a key concept in learning foreign languages. My motivation as a language learner was, and still is, music and literature, which I desperately wanted to be able to understand in the language in which they were written. When the time came to choose my dissertation topic for my MSc it was clear to me that music in ESL classrooms should be my focus. The bibliography was almost as sparse as my mood was rotten while I wrote it. No one wants their student years to be over and relocating back to my home country was not a prospect I was looking forward to. Poring over hundreds of song lyrics in order to find appropriate songs, my conviction that music promotes language acquisition became stronger and remains with me today.

Noam Chomsky on Standardized Testing and the Creation of the Economic Man.

When Chomsky speaks, we, teachers and parents, must listen carefully.

… the recent years there is a strong tendency to require assessment of children and teachers. So they have to teach the test and the test determines what happens to the child and what happens to the teacher. That’s guaranteed to destroy any meaningful educational process. It means that the teacher cannot be creative, imaginative, pay attention to individual student needs, the student can’t pursue things the student might be interested in, because you got to memorise something for this test tomorrow and the teacher’s future depends on it as well as the student’s. These are all ways… well there are people that sit at their offices, the bureaucrats and design this, like you say they are not evil people, but they are working within a system of ideology and doctrines which turns what they are doing in to something extremely harmful.

Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! Printable vocabulary memory set.

Here are the additional materials that you can use after or while reading the book Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!

 These are some of the ways in which you can use the cards:

1. Hand the cards to your child ask them to spot the word in the book. 
2. Give them the Greek word and ask them to find the English one in the book. 
3. Play memory
4. Play Bang
5. Ask them to sort the words into three categories: verb, nouns or adjectives.
6. Rainbow write the words.
7. Write silly sentences.
8. Make word ladders.
9. Make a Word Wall

Book Club: Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!

Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! is one of my favourite books for children, since it addresses many behaviour issues from demanding attitude to anger tantrums. It is the first of many in the series of pigeon adventures. It is funny and witty and perfect for beginner readers. So consider getting one of the Pigeon books for Christmas these holidays, they ensure a good laugh. 

photo via wikipedia 

While you are at it,  click on the book photo to visit the official site and play the games you can find there online. 

Book Club: Books to read over the holidays: 2nd and 3rd Grade Reading List!

Learning to read is a difficult task. When parents ask me what they can do to help their child start reading with fluency, I can only reply with one answer. Read to them, read with them, let them read on their own. In other words, do what you did when your child was learning to read in their mother tongue. Pick a book they would be interested in. Pick a book appropriate to their reading level, that won’t be that difficult that will turn the reading process into a hateful experience.

There are thousands of books out there that can help your child read faster and better.  In this post I list some of the books that I would buy for my child if they were beginner readers.  

·       2^nd grade

During our first semester in 2^nd grade, we learnt the alphabet and ventured into the difficult task of blending sounds to read our first words. Here are a few books that will help them practice reading over the Christmas break.

Alphabet and word books:

1. Lift the Flap Word Book by Felicity Brooks

A great book to help your child make that precious word to picture connection. The drawings are very beautiful and it is made out of sturdy material for reading over and over again. Click on the photo for video link.

Sight Words Games : Memory Game and Loop Cards Printables

Dolch words are very important to a child learning to read. They are also very hard to teach, because they have to be identified by sight, hence their other names: sight words or high frequency words. Since they make up for the 70-80% of all english printed materials, they are a determining factor for success in reading, especially for beginner learners. 

The following printables are part of the Dolch Word set I have been posting for the past month. 

So go ahead, print, colour and laminate the cards and play with your child or use in class. It is simple, fast and effective. 

Dolch Words Memory Game

Digraphs Oral Practice

Here are some more fun ways to practice reading digraphs. I found hundreds of videos, so you can use these or find your own online. 

This one is from TurtleDiary.

Digraphs: th Printable Activity Trace and Play Cards

This is the tracing version of the set of words I posted earlier. Print and enjoy. You might want to print the rest of the activity pages.  For the rest of the pages and instructions on how to use them click here.

Teaching Digraphs: th voiced and voiceless Printable Activity

When it comes to phonics, digraphs are one of the most difficult things to teach. It takes alot of practice for a child to learn to identify them, then actually be able to understand the word meaning and finally read them. As teachers we sometimes forget the natural process that is required for our students to produce oral speech. We believe that since we taught something, it must immediately show in our students' output. As most of us know, this is not the case. It takes time and effort for new skills to be internalised to that point, that they can be used by our students.

More specifically, we tend to forget that practice does make perfect and that practice shouldn't necessarily mean controlled writing and reading activities. After discussing this with one of my students' parent, I decided to make a th digraph game to help my students grasp these difficult sounds. It also makes a great Sunday morning game that one can quickly make to play with one's child.  

Calligraphy Club: Shel Silverstein Handrwriting Printable Poetry Journal Pages

My love for the poetry of Shel Silverstein cannot be denied by any means. His writing is funny, witty, unconventional and speaks straight through to a child's heart. 

This is another Calligraphy club printable, this time including a few poetry journal pages.  Just print, ink up your pens and write away! 

The voice by Shel Silverstein

Calligraphy Club: Handwriting Worksheet - Christina Rossetti Printable

 Another Calligraphy Club Printable, this time featuring a children's poem by Christina Rossetti. 

Christina Rossetti by her brother.
Photo via Wikipedia

The Rainbow 

by Christina Rossetti

Grammar Comic Strip

Technology today offers us teachers a large variety of mediums through which to present grammar structures. Last week I discovered a great comic strip maker called toonlet and tried my hand at making a few strips. I can't wait to show my 5th grade.  

These strips feature my favourite grammar robot Serious Grammaticus, who has started to become popular among my students. Maybe I should start writing his adventures down!

Dolch Words Printable Memory Game Group 1b

This is the second group of the first 100 dolch words. Just print two sets of each page and colour them in with your child. Practice reading the words with them.

Play memory.

Play Bang!

Ask them to line them up in alphabetical order.

Give them a newspaper or book and ask them to find the dolch words in the text.

Make a word wall.

Ask them to use them in a sentence. (more advanced)

Dolch Words, Printable Memory Game Group 1a

Sight words, Fry words, high frequency words, dolch words. Call them what you might, sight words are very important for young learners when learning to read. According to linguists they enhance reading skills and fluency and give learners the confidence they need in the target language. The fact that they constitute up to 75% of any written text for children is indicative of their importance. For instance you will be surprised to hear that the ten most frequent words in English are the following:

1. the 

2. be 

3. to

4. of

5. and

6. a

7. in

8. that

9. have

10. I 

Calligraphy Club: Printable Handwriting Practice Sheets with a Poetic Twist!

I' ve been using fountain pens since primary school and I have come to realise that those writing instruments have shaped the way I write. 

To begin with, as one of my students once told me, fountain pens are like toothbrushes, they are very personal. They adjust the ink flow to the writer's writing angle and pace, and they don't require any pressure, which means that one is able to write in a fluent motion. This means that the fatigue caused by writing for a long time is minimised. Moreover, fountain pens cater for both left-handed and right-handed students, not only because of the adjustable ink flow. Many brands have issued fountain pens for children that offer both left-handed and right-handed grips. 

One of the most difficult things to teach a child learning to write is how to hold their pen properly. Fountain pens adress that issue, too. If you don't hold the pen correctly, the ink flow is obstructed and the pen won't write. In other words the writer is "taught" by the pen how to hold it correctly in order for him or her to be able to write. 

Using fountain pens increases motivation to write. Many of my students actually HATE writing. A large number of them believe that their handwriting is horrible and that there is no way to fix that. Using fountain pens reshapes this belief, since it helps them transform the appearence of their writing within a couple of weeks. It gives students the satisfaction that they have accomplished something they thought was beyond their reach. 

You don't have to spend a fortune in order to buy your child a fountain pen. As a matter of act I advise you not to. There are plenty of quality fountain pens in the market that range from 1,50 to 10 euro and are especially made for children. I also advise that you buy cheap bottled ink to refill the pen. It is cheaper and eco friendly. You might also want to invest in a fountain pen correction pen that will last the whole school year.

So you made your trip to the fountain pen store and got your child a pen... Now what? There are many websites that offer handwriting practice sheets that you can use. I for once prefer to make my own, not only because I can choose the font but I can also play around with the content. In order to help my students get familiarised with poetry and songs that I love, I use poems and songs for my handouts. I have also bought a cheap calligraphy notebook that I give to the students that finish early. 

Here is the first calligraphy handout I made for my calligraphy club, featuring a poem by one of my favourite poets: Shel Silverstein. Print and enjoy. There will be more soon. 

Printable Weekly Timetables

Being organised is a challenge both for children and adults. Here is something that might help! 

Η δραστηριότητα της Κυριακής!

How to teach reading in a second language.

Parents often ask me what they can do to help their child become more proficient in the second language. My answer has always been the same; Read to your child, buy books with your child, encourage your child to read alone. Read, read, read and then read some more.  Reading has always been the most neglected skill in the ELT classroom, probably because of its complexity to teach. We tend to underestimate the power of free, voluntary reading, because its benefits are not instantly evident in our conscious learning classroom environments.

At this point we must make a distinction between acquisition and learning. Acquisition refers to the subconscious comprehension of a linguistic system, which is profound and leads to fluency and accuracy in grammatical forms. Conscious learning refers to the explicitly taught rules of a language. In his Comprehension Hypothesis Krashen maintains that L2 (Second Language) acquisition takes place in only one way: when we decipher the message, when we understand what is said or read. In other words we don’t acquire language when we produce it, but when we understand it (1).

Alphabet Printable Board Games: Bang!

Another simple craft, easy to make and easy to play. I use it to teach the alphabet, vocabulary and irregular verbs to more advanced students. Come to think about it, the ways that one can use this game are endless.

Materials
1 box
paint 
markers
cutter
blank cards

Instructions

1. Paint the box whatever colour you like. 

2. Use your cutter to open a whole in the box. Decorate it whichever way you like. I made mine into another robot!

3. Prepare your cards. Print, colour and laminate the cards bellow.  You may also want to make your own cards just like I did for the first set I made.

Click on the pictures and save them to your computer in order to print. 

I made two sets, one for 2nd graders and one for 3rd. The first set includes words that the children have to recognise and read out loud. The second one includes more difficult tasks, like solving riddles, saying the alphabet by heart, remembering the days of the week or the months, etc. You can also use trivia questions or questions about a book you read with your child. 

Η Δραστηριότητα της Κυριακής

• Ο κάθε παίχτης τραβάει ένα φύλλο. Αν μπορεί να διαβάσει την κάρτα την κρατάει, αλλιώς την ξαναρίχνει στο κουτί. Αν τραβήξει κάρτα Bang! χάνει και όλες του οι κάρτες επιστρέφουν στο κουτί. 

• Για να κάνετε αυτό το παιχνίδι πιο δύσκολο, απλά προσθέστε κάρτες Bang! . 

• Για περισσότερες κάρτες που μπορείτε να χρησιμοποιήσετε με την κατασκευή αυτή ρίξτε μια ματιά στην κατηγορία Printables. 

Organise your child! DIY Stand and Printable Weekly Schedule Cards In Greek and English.

Teaching children how to be organised is always a challenge.  Through the years I came to realise that things that come natural to us can be frustrating for children. Like packing their own school bags for instance. 

This DIY stand  guides them step by step, so that they pack the correct books for the correct day every single time. It is easy to make, cheap and above all your children will love it. 

Materials

1. two pieces of cardboard
2. washi tape 
3. markers
4. printout of the days schedule (see bellow)

Instructions

1. Mark the cardboard to make the pocket and the base. 

2. Put it together with washi tape.

3. Print the cards, cut them and fill them in with your child. Go through their schedule and write down what they have to pack for every single day. (You can make your own handwritten cards if you want something more personal.)

GREEK_1

GREEK_2

ENGLISH_1

ENGLISH_2

Η δραστηριότητα της Κυριακής.

Φτιάξτε αυτό το τρισδιάστατο εβδομαδιαίο πρόγραμμα με τα παιδιά σας για να τα βοηθήσετε να οργανώσουν το διάβασμά τους και να μάθουν να φτιάχνουν την τσάντα τους μόνα τους.  

Αρχικά ίσως να χρειαστεί να το χρησιμοποιείτε μαζί τους, μέχρι να βεβαιωθείτε ότι έχουν καταλάβει τι πρέπει να κάνουν.