Author Archives: Tanya Trusler

Superlative Adjectives

Posted by on Nov 17, 2014 0 Comments

Which animal is the furriest? Our brand-new Superlative Adjectives lesson gives young learners a lot of practice comparing groups of people, places, and things.

This colorful, eight-page lesson starts off with a simple explanation that reviews the form and function of the grammar target. It is followed by a variety of activities such as a fill-in-the-blanks exercise, a spot-the-errors exercise, and a group work exercise that are sure to engage your students. There is also a bonus page on spelling rules for adjectives ending in -est that you can hand out and review with your class if needed. (more…)

Veterans Day or Veterans’ Day?

Posted by on Nov 10, 2014 0 Comments

Lest We Forget

On November 11, many countries have special ceremonies that honor the men and women who served during wartime. As teachers, it is important to help young learners understand this historic day. The famous saying “Lest we forget” means not only do we need to remember in order to honor the sacrifices of many people during past wars, but also to remember what happened so that history doesn’t repeat itself.

November 11 is called Veterans Day in the US, Remembrance Day in Canada, and Armistice Day in parts of Europe. At Sprout English, we’ve created two vocabulary lessons for you to use this year, Veterans Day and Remembrance Day. This led me to think about mistakes people often make with the titles of this holiday. Why is it Veterans Day and not Veterans’ Day or Veteran’s Day? Why is it Remembrance Day and not Rememberance Day? These punctuation, spelling, and capitalization rules can be tricky for native speakers as well as English language learners. I hope the explanations below will help your students keep these rules straight. (more…)

Writing: Using the Past Progressive to Create Atmosphere in a Story

Posted by on Nov 05, 2014 0 Comments

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
—Anton Chekhov

Writing is a skill that English learners usually find challenging. Writing in a second language is even tougher. Not only do students need to understand and apply grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules, but they also need to know how to compose a paragraph, story, or essay! Guiding learners step by step through the writing process can help—check out How to Write a Paragraph and our Writing section in the Project Depot for tips and writing activities.

Another way to help students write is to teach them ways to start a story. The past progressive (past continuous) verb tense is a great way to create atmosphere and set the mood of a story. For a good example, our Spotlight lesson this week, UFO Report, uses the past progressive to set the scene of the story. In that lesson, students will also practice using the past progressive by writing the first few lines of various stories. (more…)

UFO Report – Past Progressive Reading

Posted by on Nov 03, 2014 0 Comments

The past progressive (or past continuous) is an English verb tense that’s not used very often, so students are usually unclear about when to use it or how it compares to the simple past. Seeing the simple past and past progressive together in the same text really helps students figure out when to use each one. This week’s Spotlight lesson, UFO Report, features a reading and exercises that compare both tenses. (more…)

Spiders

Posted by on Oct 27, 2014 0 Comments

With Halloween coming up on October 31, it’s the perfect time to learn about Spiders!

Our creepy, crawly Spiders lesson in our Discovery Center includes discussion questions, vocabulary development tasks, a crossword, a word maze, comprehension questions, and a short reading full of interesting facts (did you know there’s one bug spiders won’t eat?). There is even an optional black-and-white title page for your students to color.

For more Halloween activities and lessons to do this week, check out Spooky Halloween Fun for Young Learners on our blog! We’ll also have two new blog posts for you this week: Fear and Phobias – English Idioms on Tuesday and That’s Wicked! 20+ Halloween Activities, Apps & Tools Kids Will Love All Year Long on Wednesday. (more…)

Spooky Halloween Fun for Young Learners

Posted by on Oct 21, 2014 0 Comments

If you live in a country that celebrates Halloween, you’ll soon be surrounded by little witches, zombies, and pirates! With the focus on costumes and candy, it’s a given that kids love Halloween. Teachers can make the most of this time of year by decorating their classrooms, putting on a costume parade, and having pumpkin-carving contests. There are many ways to make Halloween educational as well. Read on for many spooky ideas! (more…)

Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive

Posted by on Oct 15, 2014 0 Comments

The differences between the present perfect and the present perfect progressive can be subtle, and many students aren’t sure when to use each one. Luckily, both are correct in most cases, but students still want to understand why there are two tenses with such similar uses.

The worksheet below has charts and examples so students can compare these two tenses side by side. For the other use of the present perfect and to compare it with the simple past, see Teaching the Present Perfect. (more…)

Swimming with Sharks – Modifiable Board Game

Posted by on Oct 14, 2014 0 Comments

This week’s Spotlight lesson is Swimming with Sharks! Having a blank board game like this one is very useful for teachers—there are so many ways it can be modified.

This game is an adaptation of Snakes & Ladders, a game that progresses by rolling a dice and trying to be the first to reach the end. Nets allow students to skip some spaces, while red squares knock students back several spaces. Because this board is blank, teachers can modify it to suit whatever language target students are studying!

Modification examples (more…)