Training English Language Teachers Blog

I just wanted to thank all those teachers that have attended the Oxford Seminars in Tarragona, Girona, Barcelona, Logroño, Oviedo, Málaga, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Madrid, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Badajoz, Sevilla, Alicante, Murcia, Valencia, Baleares, Bilbao or the upcoming seminars in Vigo, Coruña and Ourense.

I had a request for my English class lyrics for Gangnam Style. Here they are:

Play a game.  Sing a song or listen to a story.

Remember to say ‘please’ and ‘thankyou’.

Don’t say ‘What?’ it’s ‘Sorry?’

Come on everyone.  Listen and look.

Bring your pencil and your pen.

Don’t forget your book!

This is English time!  Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

This is English time!

Some of you also asked for websites for science songs.

Do a search of ‘Singing to learn Science’ and you can download the Word document directly to your computer.

The link is:

http://www.take2theweb.com/_user/4/3/A/P/T/THE_BOAT_FLOATS.doc

Even if they aren’t exactly what you are looking for, you can adapt the words to fit your content but someone else has found the traditional tune and started the work for you!

For a lovely song about the planets with lots of information:

http://capstonekids.com/sciencesongs/

There are also some fun songs on:

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/science_songs.html

The children find The Hurricane Song fun.

 You now have to pay for Have Fun Teaching songs,

http://havefunteaching.com/songs/science-songs/.

The good thing is that on Amazon, you can buy the individual songs you need.

You can find the Five Senses song we did at the seminar in:

Reilly, V. (2013), Big Surprise 2, Oxford University Press

Finally, if you want more ideas and read a little more into using music in the classroom, go to:

http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/songs/alphlist.html

¡Llamando todos los profes de inglés de Infantil en España!

It’s that time of year again!

¡Oxford ha lanzando el Oxford Splash Sing-along!

Han colgado recursos gratis en su página web www.oxfordsplashsingalong.es con las canciones, máscaras, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okhuJTII9Vs&list=PL698A9CD771299532&index=2

Todos los profes que entregan su vídeo tendrán un diploma y el ganador/la ganadora tendrá un premio.

This year’s prize is a Kindle!

This is last year’s winner:

http://www.oxfordmagazine.es/2013/02/01/meet-the-winners-of-the-super-sing-along-workshop/?utm_source=Landing+Splash&utm_medium=Enlace&utm_campaign=Oxford+Magazine

For more photos see: http://ceiplaesperanza.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/taller-con-vanessa-reilly.html

Good luck!

Today is a very important day for a number of reasons.

It is St.George’s Day.  Go to my activities for St. George’s Day http://vanessareillytelt.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/happy-st-georges-day-or-happy-diada-de-sant-jordi/

‘Feliç Diada de Sant Jordi’ to all my teachers in Catalunya!

It is also World Book Day.

One of my favourite authors for children is Peter H. Reynolds.  If you don’t know him yet, here is ‘The Dot‘.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5mGeR4AQdM

A lovely story of how a teacher inspires her pupil.

Go to: http://www.peterhreynolds.com/dot/ for some activities to go with the story on the authors webpage.

Finally, today is the UN English Language Day.  It was chosen as English language Day as it marks the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s Death.

Check out these websites for everyday sayings and expressions we have Shakespeare to thank for:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/phrases-sayings-shakespeare.html

and

http://www.pathguy.com/shakeswo.htm

Tomorrow, April 16 is World Voice Day.

Although voice is very important in many jobs, to a teacher it is our main work tool.  If we lose our voice, we are like a carpenter without wood or a fisherman without nets.

I found out personally what it is like to lose my voice quite early on in my career.

I had two teaching jobs, one in a particularly noisy school and before long, I had nodules on my vocal cords.  One day my voice literally went and didn’t come back for over a month!  I had to have nearly two months off work.  After months of going to speech therapy, I actually learned how to speak in class and know how to use my voice properly.

April 16 is World Voice Day.  If you don’t look after your voice now, start tomorrow.

http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/news/health-wellbeing-how-look-after-your-voice/23376

I try to:

• carry a bottle of water with me
• not work with chalk – it dries your throat out
• chew gum – yes, it keeps the vocal cords lubricate

It is best:

• not drink things that are too hot or too cold
• to know the signs of when your voice is going and do something about them before you lose it!

I’m just looking for things for the children to make for Father’s Day for next week.

There are some lovely ideas on:

http://www.thecraftycrow.net/fathers_day/

http://simplekids.net/gifts-to-make-for-fathers-day-2/

There are things for all age groups to do!

Here are some ideas for songs to sing in your English class.

http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/holiday_themes/fathers_day_songs.html

The song to the tune of Bingo sounds really easy and fun!

There are aloso 23 songs to choose from on:

http://www.fathersdaycelebration.com/fathers-day-songs.html#thank-you-dad

I am really happy to say that the new Big Surprise is ready.

Read all about it on:

http://www.oupe.es/es/ELT/Primary/bigsurprise/Paginas/bigsurprise.aspx

If you already work with Surprise, I think you’ll be happy to see all the things you already love plus many more new surprises!

Surprise is now bigger and better.

I particularly liked writing the new CLIL songs.  They make the content much easier for the children to remember and they have a lot of fun singing and doing the actions.

I was looking for some nice music for my class and came across:

www.mymissnina.com

I just love Miss Nina’s enthusiasm.  She has some fun versions of traditional songs.  You can also find her on Youtube.

I absolutely love her version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c091xxY1xZE

http://pinterest.com/luxurytax/classroom-ideas/ – love this page.  Links to some lovely and varied ideas for the classroom