Author Archives: Tanya Trusler

Icebreaker Interviews

Posted by on Sep 03, 2014 0 Comments

Going back to school can be a fun, exciting time for kids. But it can also be a bit intimidating, especially if they’re going to a new school. This is often doubly true for students who are learning a new language! Put your English language learners at ease with an icebreaker activity so they can get to know their classmates. Doing an interview such as the one below will allow them to talk to a new classmate one-on-one, which is usually less intimidating. Later on, they can introduce that classmate to the rest of the class—that way, they will get to know all their classmates, and it’s also much easier to talk about someone else than it is to talk about yourself. Make sure you tell your students your own answers to these questions so they can get to know you, too!

We’ve prepared two printable worksheets (an American spelling version and British spelling version) so that teachers around the world can use this interview without having to make any changes.
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Back to School – Find the Objects

Posted by on Sep 02, 2014 0 Comments

This week’s Spotlight lesson is Back to School – Find the Objects. Kids are back to school this week in many countries, and we think this worksheet is a fun way to go over basic classroom vocabulary!

Have your young learners match the objects in the drawing to the vocabulary words. Being able to visualize the vocabulary on paper as they learn it should help them remember new words. Once they’ve finished matching the vocab, you can correct it as a class and demonstrate the pronunciation of the words. Then your kids can color the picture for fun! A good follow-up activity would be to have them walk around the class in pairs, saying each vocabulary word out loud as they find the object in the classroom. You could also have them explain what each object is used for. (more…)

Teaching the Present Perfect

Posted by on Aug 26, 2014 0 Comments

The present perfect is a very common verb tense in English, but it can be confusing for students to learn because it has two main uses that are quite different from one another. Adding to the challenge is the present perfect’s similarity to the simple past and the present perfect progressive. In my experience, most textbooks teach the two main uses separately, and some students never realize that this verb tense can do two different things.

Also, most textbooks don’t include an exercise that combines the present perfect and the simple past. It’s easy enough to produce have + past participle over and over in a written or spoken exercise—the real challenge lies in recognizing the difference between the present perfect and the simple past and being able to produce the correct tense.

Below is a grammar explanation that highlights the two main uses of the present perfect. The simple past and present perfect progressive are also discussed, and a worksheet comparing the present perfect and simple past is available on page 3 of the handout. We hope this handout helps your students understand and use this common tense! (more…)

Smart Cars

Posted by on Aug 25, 2014 0 Comments

The environment is an important topic, but students can find it a little dull. Kids love talking about cars, though! Combine these two topics in our updated Smart Cars lesson, which makes learning about the environment lots of fun!

Our Smart Cars lesson in the Discovery Center includes discussion questions, pre-reading vocabulary, a short reading full of interesting facts, comprehension questions, vocabulary review exercises, and a word maze. There is even an optional black-and-white title page for your students to color.

For related materials, check out Where’s the Puppy? Preposition Practice for IN and ON on our blog for a free worksheet on prepositions used for transportation. (more…)

Text Message Abbreviations List

Posted by on Aug 19, 2014 0 Comments

English students of all ages love learning slang and abbreviations! Language learners always want to know the current, modern way of speaking and writing. This week our Spotlight lesson is The Test – Simple Future Reading, which involves a phone conversation between two students, so I thought I’d extend the lesson from talking on the phone to a very common communication method nowadays: texting! One of the most popular activities I’ve done with my students (of all ages, at one time or another) was to go over and practice using text message abbreviations and acronyms.

Hand out this free, printable list of text message abbreviations and go over them with your students, and then practice by having students text or write out messages back and forth with a partner. (more…)

The Test – Simple Future Reading

Posted by on Aug 18, 2014 0 Comments

Getting ready to go back to school? This week’s Spotlight lesson, The Test, features a dialogue between two friends about typical school subject: exams! It’s a great lesson to use at the beginning of a new school year. Students can practice the simple future using be + Ving and be going to + V, both of which are natural to use when planning out goals for the year.

This lesson includes a short reading, comprehension questions, a be going to grammar chart, sentence puzzles, and a group discussion activity.

All of the readings in our Library section have a digital component, so teachers and parents can choose how to present the reading and comprehension questions—either on paper or online!

Sprout English has many simple future resources: (more…)

Travel Vocabulary Game

Posted by on Aug 08, 2014 0 Comments

This week’s Spotlight lesson is a Listen and Draw / Read and Draw activity on Hotels, which may naturally lead to a discussion on travel. Travel is a popular topic with students—they love to discuss where they’ve been and where they would like to go next! Expand their travel vocabulary with one of my favorite go-to games that makes learning vocabulary fun. A little competition is great for engaging beginner/low-intermediate or high-intermediate/advanced students and it also helps them remember the new words!

Use the green links below the vocabulary lists to download one or both of the PDFs. The instructions for playing are also below the lists! (more…)

Hotel – Listening/Reading/Drawing Activity

Posted by on Aug 08, 2014 0 Comments

Kids love getting creative! Give them a chance to draw while developing their listening, reading, and vocabulary skills with our Hotel activity.

You can present this lesson as a Listen and Draw or Read and Draw activity. Both ways teach students how to follow instructions while they have fun! Sprout English has 15 drawing activities in our Project Depot, so you can alternate the way in which you present them. (more…)

There Is / There Are

Posted by on Aug 05, 2014 0 Comments

A lesson on there is / there are is useful for low-level students for many reasons. It uses the simple present, a very common verb tense. It demonstrates subject-verb agreement. It introduces students to prepositions of place (since we often mention a location in this type of sentence). And students will also learn vocabulary on food and containers in our There Is / There Are lesson! (more…)

There Is or There Are for Nouns in a Series?

Posted by on Aug 01, 2014 0 Comments

We all know that when a series of subject nouns are joined by a conjunction, a plural verb is needed. Take this example: Fruit, grains, and vegetables are good for your health. It’s your basic subject-verb agreement. But when we start a sentence with the very common indefinite subject there followed by a series of nouns (e.g., one man and two women), the normal rules go out the window. Should we use there is or there are? Not all style guides and grammarians agree, so what’s best to teach our students?

In honor of Sprout English’s new grammar lesson on There Is / There Are, I decided to create a worksheet for teachers and students who want to elaborate on the two basic rules (there is + singular or uncountable noun and there are + plural noun) by looking at what happens to the verb when it’s followed by nouns in a series. Use this explanation and worksheet to challenge more advanced students, or have it as a follow-up in case any of your students ask about nouns in a series.

A. Singular Verb

Examples: (more…)