Dream English Blog

Hi Everyone! I am starting a new Vlog (video log) right here and now. Here is the first installment, I hope you like it!

Mark and I recently recorded an ESL Teacher Talk Podcast about teaching holidays. We run through several ideas of how you can spice up your classes with holidays games and activities. You can listen to the podcast here.

Valentine’s Day

I only plan on spending a little  bit of time this year on Valentine’s Day with my students, but I will definitely be using the MES English flash cards (seen here) and the free download Skidamarink song with my students.  On MES English you can also find a bunch of cool crossword puzzles and more to make your classes great!

Are you familiar with Dolch sight words? I have known about them for quite some time, but only recently started using them with my students. Basically, they are words that are repeated often within text. I started drilling some of the sight words with my Elementary age students, and I have had remarkable results.

I will write more about what I am doing in upcoming posts, so for now, let’s familiarize ourselves with Dolch Sight Words. I recommend reading this page at MES-English.com. Mark has done a great job, as always, of teaching about the sight words, and making free downloadable flash cards for them! Thank you Mark!

Oh, wait! It is an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well, I have been having a lot of fun making videos lately, and here is another. This one is for the A Song from the Touch And Say Phonics Series. I hope you like it!!

By the way, I’m in the studio again lately. It feels great to be recording again after a month or so break. Some exciting things coming up!

I recently had a great performance with some of my students. The younger kids sang What’s Your Name? and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. The older students, ages 5-6, sang I’m a Monkey and did a play. We started off with the song, and then they did a short play in English. It was really fun, and the parents were super happy.  Here is a video of the song:

The students from this school come from what I think is a model type school. I only see them twice a month for one hour, but they watch and listen to English DVD’s every day. When I come to see them, they are so excited to learn English. This makes a huge difference, and you can see it in how well they perform this song!

The I’m a Monkey song is only available in the download packs, so if you are interested in singing this song with your students,  please consider purchasing a download pack!

I made this simple video of the Let’s Count 1 to 10 book from my KidsEnglishbooks.com site. I hope you like it and find it useful. It goes very well with the Let’s Count 1 to 10 Dream English Song! When I teach numbers to young students, I often read this book first, then we sing the song. It is also fun to count objects in the room using the same vocabulary. For example, you can say, ” How many chairs can you see?” and count he chairs in your classroom!

You may have read in the comments below that Jaqueline X. and her students sang some Dream English songs for her Prime Minister in Malta! This is really exciting, and I am really happy that she chose some Dream English songs. Here is what she says:

Our school was chosen to make the Prime Minister’s Christmas cards and e cards.   We were invited to present them to him at Castille Palace, which is the office of the Prime Minister.  While we were there we presented 3 activites one of which my 4 year olds sang your songs.

They sang the Merry Christmas Song and Happy New Year song. You can see a great picture of the students in front of the Prime Minister here.

Thanks again Jaqueline! If you have a fun, interesting, or educational story for our readers, Please let me know!

Wow! 2010, I feel very excited about this year.  A new year, and many more exciting opportunities for you and your students! We can all challenge ourselves this year to be the best teachers we can be, and the best parents we can be. Let’s give the gift of English all year long!

Happy New Year Chant

I always start my new year off with the Happy New Year Chant. It is fun, simple, and the kids love it. What a great way to start off the year, something positive and encouraging to set the tone for your classes. You can download the Happy New Year Chant for free here, and the coloring sheet that goes along

What’s New in 2010?

I have a few projects and collaborations I am working on now, and I can hardly wait to tell you all about them. Hopefully within the next few weeks I will have some news, so stay tuned. Thank you for your support. Happy New Year!

-Matt

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, at this time of year let’s all give a big smile to all of our friends, co-workers, students and our families. Some of you may have noticed that the gift in my new Christmas Song is a smile.  I love how this has been playing out in my classrooms, and the smiles it is bringing to my students. I hope also to yours as well.

We can all give a smile. I do think that Christmas is often thought of as a time to give physical gifts, and that is fine. However, we may not have the means to give something to everyone. I learned long ago in my travels throughout the world that a smile is universal. Understood in every culture I have been fortunate to witness. So give a smile this holiday season, and I am sure you will get one back  : )

Mark, from MES English, and I recorded a new episode of ESL Teacher talk about Motivating Your Students. We go over some key factors in how to motivate your students to get the best classroom environment possible. Here are some of the key points we talk about:

You can read more about the show and listen to it here on ESLTeachertalk.com

Christmas

Although there is not much time left for Christmas classes, we also talk about some new materials from MES English and Dream English for Christmas. Enjoy the show!!