Try something new

February 25, 2009 at 2:01 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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In Japan they have these, well let’s just say, interesting sock/gloves. They are socks, but they have individual slots for each one of your toes. I haven’t seen these in the States, but maybe they have them now. I received a pair as a present about a year ago and finally tried them on. To me it felt a bit weird and uncomfortable, but I know some people love them.

So how does this relate to teaching English? The cool thing about most English teachers I know is that they are all willing to try something new in their classes. A new game, teaching concept, worksheet, or whatever. Too me this is really healthy. We learn things when we try something new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not work. However, the constant pushing forward of ideas is exciting and keeps things fresh for the students and the teachers.

Today I learned that I don’t like sock gloves.  Tomorrow I am going to try out some new games and exercises and hopefully learn many more things that we can all share.

Thank you- A Donation to Heifer International

December 15, 2008 at 5:53 am | In Teaching Tips: Reading, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

chicks-ecard212x212 On behalf of Dream English I have made a donation of a Hope Basket to Heifer International. If you don’t know about Heifer International, it is a really great organization that uses its donations to provide families with livestock, in order to empower them to make a difference in their lives. This is from their website:

Heifer International provides livestock and training so that families can improve nutrition and earn income for health care, shelter and education for children. Each gift multiplies because every family that receives a Heifer animal promises to “pass on the gift” by giving one or more of their animal’s offspring and knowledge to another family in need.

Thank you!

It is your support of Dream English this year  that helped make this donation, so thank you for your support! If you would like to make your own donation, or learn more about this great organization please check out the Heifer International website here.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

November 25, 2008 at 7:15 am | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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This is one of the classic Christmas Carols, and I love it! I was working on a version for awhile but I ended up not liking it, so I just scrapped it and started again. This time I got a special guest star to help me sing, you can check it out and download it for free here:  We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Lyrics

For this version, I decided only to use a part of the lyrics, because I will be singing it in my classes with mostly really young kids (2 years and up). Here are the lyrics:

We wish you a merry Christmas,We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!

How to teach

This song is pretty easy to teach, just break down the lyrics into small sections, and have the students repeat at first. Then try to sing it! You can use a little dance or hand gestures if you like.

Have you decided which songs you are going to sing with your students at your Christmas Party this year?

My Dream is….

November 6, 2008 at 1:50 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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My Dream is to unite children, teachers, parents and students around the world with songs.

My Dream is to give you the tools (songs, chants, exercises) to help you realize your dreams of teaching English.

My Dream is that children around the world will be filled with great joy singing the Dream English songs together.

When I was in college, studying music, I really wanted to write for Jazz Orchestra. I had no idea of how to go about it, but I started telling my friends that this is what I was going to do. Soon after, this simple dream became a reality, because I gave a voice to it. Our dreams may change along the way, but having them helps us find direction.

I started Dream English with the dream of helping children around the world to learn English through great songs. Songs they would want to sing whether or not they understood the English at first. It is through our collective work (yes, your hard work too) that children in over 70 countries are singing these songs. Thank you. My dream is becoming a reality.

What is your dream?

New Free Song Downloads

July 10, 2008 at 1:35 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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I’ve been busy lately with a bunch of projects so I haven’t had much time to blog. One of the projects I will be very excited to announce on this blog in a week or two when it is completed! In the meantime, I put a bunch of new songs up for free download on the Dream English website, please check them out here. Happy Singing!

Songs I Remember 1: Wheels On The Bus

July 1, 2008 at 12:29 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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There are certain songs which have stood the test of time. Many of these are songs for kids! I love the song Wheels on the Bus, and remember it fondly from my childhood. My children love it too, it’s a great song that keeps being passed along.

I am starting to record some of these songs for my kids, the first one is Wheels on The Bus. It is another free download, and you can check it out here on the Dream English website. I hope you enjoy it, and your kids, and their kids…..

Free Teaching with Songs E-Book

May 6, 2008 at 4:32 am | In Children's Classes, Teaching ESL Songs, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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I thought it would be a good idea to make a short E-book about teaching with songs. I put together a collection of these blogs, and some other ideas to make the Dream English Teaching with Songs E-Book.

It would be interesting to have some thoughts from my readers to expand this book a bit. I can easily update the PDF file, so if you have any ideas after reading the book that you think will be helpful to others, please let me know. If I like the idea (which I probably will) I can add it to the book. How fun is that? A Teaching with Song E-Book written by me and you! Click here to go to the Dream English site for the free download.

Sample English Lesson Plan 2-4 Year olds

May 3, 2008 at 3:15 am | In Children's Classes, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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I have not written much lately because I have been busy working on Dream English Kids Songs Volume 2. It’s almost finished, and I am really excited about it. In the meantime, I thought it might be nice to write out some simple lesson plans for young students. These are just some ideas and I recommend adjusting them to your students particular needs.

30 Minute English Lesson for Beginner 2-4 year olds.

1. Warm up- get the students comfortable by doing simple actions with them. Say and do the following, don’t worry if your students don’t follow you right away: clap your hands, jump, spin around, sit down, stand up. Also, I usually start out the lesson saying Hello and waving my arms.

2. Numbers- Practice counting objects from 1-10, or using flash cards. If the students are comfortable with numbers, play a simple touch game. Call out the number and ask the students to touch.

3. Song- Let’s Count 1 to 10, a free Dream English download.

4. Alphabet-Using flash cards introduce the alphabet from A to Z. You may want to introduce phonics at this point, or just the alphabet letters. Next, have the students stand up and make the shapes of ABC with their body.

5. Song-ABC Song, another free Dream English download.

6. Colors- introduce the colors using flashcards, objects, or items around the room. Try to have the students repeat after you.

7. Song-Color Song, yes another Dream English free download

8. Coloring- this is optional, but you can use crayons to have the students repeat the names of the colors again. Then have them color something simple. MES English has many free coloring sheets.

9. Read a book- Any book for kids is great. I recommend asking the students questions when reading. “What do you see on the page? flowers, that’s right. What color are they? how many?”

10. Goodbye Song- I use the Dream English Goodbye song, though you can use anything you like. I just make sure to say thank you to the kids when we are finished, and ask them to repeat.

Ok, these are some suggestions and ideas. One other point is that it is important not to force the beginners to speak right away. Once they become comfortable they will begin speaking. The time this takes varies from student to student. Be creative, and have fun, I hope this helps!

Dream English Months Chant

April 26, 2008 at 2:51 am | In Teaching Tips:Chants, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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I just added the Dream English Months Chant to the Dream English website.

I hope you like it, check it out here!

New Songs

I am working on an album full of new songs. It’s a long process, but I hope they will be worth the wait. I am certainly having fun working on them and testing them out with the kids!

The Importance of Observing Other Teachers

March 12, 2008 at 1:58 pm | In Children's Classes, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
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Everyone has a different situation, but I think many people who teach English to children, especially as a second language, might not have many opportunities to observe other teachers. I know I don’t, and I have met other teachers of children’s English who are in similar situations. Nowadays we can go to youtube and search for some lesson ideas, so this is great.

Today I had the opportunity to observe a teacher who has only been teaching for 6 months. He had a lot of great ideas, and was really refreshing to watch. It kind of gave me a boost of energy for my afternoon classes. I learned a game idea too, that I will try out and post here if it works well.

Another great thing about the web is we can read many teachers ideas online, in blogs and websites. So go ahead, make it a point to observe another teacher, and if you learn something cool, please let us all know!

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