Dream English’s Weblog

Starting a New Class: My Top 4 Ideas

Exciting, nervous, fun, interesting are all words that come to mind when starting with a new group of students. We never know what kind of adventure a new class will bring. Each student has their own specialness they bring to the class, and the teachers as well.

Here is a list of my favorite activities when starting a new class of very young learners:

1. Warm Ups: Take several minutes and do some simple and maybe even funny actions, and have the children repeat after you. Say the action while you do it, and repeat a few times. For example, “clap, shake, wash, jump, up, down, silly face”. You get the idea.
2. Counting Songs: Many children when learning a new language have already learned numbers before coming to class. Count from 1 to 10 on your fingers, and have the students follow, count the students, etc. And of course sing the always fun Let’s Count 1 to 10 Song!
3. Read a Book: Try to find a book that students will easily recognize what is going on. Something about animals, or counting is a great start.
4. Circle Time: Teach the children how to make a circle holding hands. Pass a ball around the circle and as the students pass the ball have them say “hello” to the next student.

Basically the idea of the first class is to get comfortable with your students. And to have your students become comfortable with you the teacher.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. I have many more songs and lesson plans on the Dream English Site. Have a look, and happy teaching!

-Matt

Raising the Level in Dream English

If you have been following Dream English for awhile, you might have noticed something different about my new songs and videos. While I still use and love the older songs like the “Hello Song”, “Days of the Week”, and “Let’s Count 1 to 10” to name a few, I have been working hard to increase the overall educational level of the songs.

Why?

Great question! I found after years of teaching that my students were not retaining enough, because I was not presenting enough material for them. Children are amazing, and can learn so much, so quickly! But, you have to give them the opportunity. So I started increasing the vocabulary in a song from an average of about 6 words to 12 or more.

I have also been doing a lot of reading and research into SLA (Second Language Acquisition). The ideas I have learned, supported by scientific research, have been really helpful. For example, my songs now repeat a second time at a faster pace. I do this, because children need fluency practice, which this helps with. Also, the repetition helps the children learn the vocabulary and phrases in a way that enables them to  become automatic with the language. That is the goal! Say that three times with me, “Automatic, Automatic, Automatic!” Speaking and conversing in English without the need to stop and think about every word or phrase.  Like we practice a sport, repetition makes perfect.

I’m trying my best to raise the level of the Dream English songs. Both on my side, the producing side, and for the benefit of the learners. Thanks for your support in this!

If you would like to watch some of the new videos with these methods click here.

Shapes and Colors Long Play Video

We all know that repetition is really important for young learners. I’ve made this new video with 6 songs, plus a fun playing with play dough guessing game. The colors and shapes are repeated often, to help youngsters learn while having fun!