This week’s Spotlight lesson, Haul Video, features a fun reading that uses the simple present, simple past, and simple future tenses in context. Your students will hear “be going to” used naturally as they listen to Daisy make a video about her recent shopping trip. (more…)
Please see our updated 2015 post here: http://blog.sproutenglish.com/christmas-vocabulary-lesson-3/
The holiday season is upon us! Whether or not you live in a country that’s cold this time of year, snow is forever linked to Christmas because of the many Christmas carols and movies of Santa Claus in the North Pole. Paper snowflakes, hanging from the ceiling or taped onto windows, are a common sight!
Have you ever made paper snowflakes with your students or children? I remember doing this activity in class every year as an elementary school student, and I’ve also done this craft many times with my students. It’s a fun, easy way to decorate a home or classroom for Christmas, and because of the listening involved (following instructions), it can be educational, too.
Print out the handout (optional) and read the instructions out loud as your students follow along (more…)
Please see our updated 2015 post here: http://blog.sproutenglish.com/christmas-word-puzzles-pronunciation-spelling-vocabulary/
We have a new Spotlight lesson on Injuries this week, and reflexive pronouns and injuries go hand in hand. We say he cut himself, she burned herself, and he hurt himself, to name a few examples. Whether you’re using our Injuries lesson or simply teaching reflexive pronouns, we’ve got some tips for you below!
FORM: Reflexive pronouns include a mix of possessive adjectives (my, your, our) and object pronouns (him, her, it, them) + “self.” Use “oneself” (not “one’s self”) for the general third person singular pronoun. (Scroll down to “English Pronouns” for a review of the five main types of pronouns.) (more…)
With all the snow and ice at this time of year in many countries around the world, it’s a good time to discuss accidents and injuries! Our new Word Bank lesson has enough variety and repetition to ensure your young learners master this set of terms for common injuries.
Our Injuries vocabulary lesson includes a colorful picture dictionary, matchup, word choice, word search, word scramble, and spelling bee. This lesson will also teach students when an injury needs a reflexive pronoun (e.g., He cut himself). Discussion questions at the end allow your learners to practice the new vocabulary in context. (more…)
Do your students have difficulty with the pronunciation of short and long English vowel sounds? There are some spelling rules that can help young learners recognize when a long vowel sound is needed. One such rule involves the final, silent ‘e’ in a word, and this is the focus of this week’s Spotlight lesson: Silent ‘e’ Words 1.
This lesson is one of four involving four-letter words with a silent ‘e’ ending. There are 11 pages of spelling and writing practice in the first lesson, but what about audio? Listening and oral repetition is essential for a good pronunciation lesson. The teacher can certainly model the words, but it’s a good idea to have another source for listening practice too. (more…)
English spelling and pronunciation can be difficult to master, but we can help! Sprout English has four lessons on words ending in the unpronounced final ‘e,’ a little letter that greatly affects the pronunciation of the main vowel of a word. This week’s Spotlight lesson is Silent ‘e’ Words 1. (more…)
Updated for 2015. Please use this link to find out about this lesson: http://blog.sproutenglish.com/thanksgiving-vocabulary-lesson-3/
Spelling in English is very difficult to learn. There are only 26 letters in the English alphabet, but there isn’t a one-to-one spelling/pronunciation system like there is with some other languages. For example, the /i/ sound can be spelled as “ee,” “ie,” “ei,” “ea,” or “e” in English (cheese, thief, receive, leaf, impede). Even though English spelling involves a lot of memorization, there are some patterns and rules that can help. Today, let’s focus on the spelling rules for superlative adjectives.
Here are four easy spelling rules for adding -est to the end of adjectives. For more examples and practice, check out our Spotlight lesson this week on Superlative Adjectives. (more…)
