During a family vacation last week, we had one stormy afternoon that kept us indoors in a hotel room for a few hours. We drew pictures of the animals we had seen in the Everglades, read The Secret World of Og (a Canadian classic), and played a variety of card games. Though we spent most of the holiday unplugged, my husband couldn’t resist searching for a family game to play on his mobile phone. He came across Heads Up!, the game Ellen Degeneres plays with her guests. He downloaded the app, and before the first round was over, I knew this game would be a hit with English learners. (more…)

Spiders, snakes, small spaces, and storms. What do these things have in common? Ask your students this question. If they say that these words all start with “s,” ask them to guess again! These “s” words are all things people are scared of! Other common phobias include the fear of germs, dogs, needles, and flight.

This week in the Spotlight, we are featuring our Discovery Center lesson plan on Spiders. After you try the lesson plan, get your students talking about their own fears and phobias. Your students will have fun learning NEW English idioms and sayings that are related to fear. (more…)

Halloween takes place on October 31. Will your students be dressing up for the occasion? Do they know how to respond to the standard question that people are asking kids at this time of year?

“What are you going to be for Halloween?”

Talking about Halloween costumes before the big day is useful for practicing “going to” to make simple future plans.

Listening Activity (more…)

This week in the Spotlight, we’re featuring a printable from Sprout English’s Games Room. Swimming with Sharks is an adaptation of the traditional game of Snakes and Ladders. Tanya offers some ideas for using this game to review grammar and vocabulary. (more…)

Sprout English’s theme of the week is all about Reviewing the ABCs. You’ll find hundreds of creative ideas for ABC-themed crafts, games, and activities all over the Internet if you start searching. Here are some of the best ideas we discovered. Be sure to click on the links for full tutorials and instructions from creative teachers and parents. Share your own ideas in the comments!

A is for Art Book

Assign each student a letter (or two) of the alphabet. (Or put some students in pairs if you want to have exactly 26 pieces of art.) Give each student (or grouping) a blank piece of three-ringed paper to create a page of art for the letter (e.g., A is for Auntie). Place all of the art into an Alphabet Art Book binder. Let students take turns taking the book home. Alternatively, do this over the course of the year as a “letter of the week” project. Each child would have his own binder full of art. (more…)

“Every family tree produces some lemons, some nuts, and a few bad apples.”
– Wise Author Unknown

Sprout English’s NEW Comparative Adjectives lesson plan for young learners covers everything from the basic grammar explanation to spelling rules and exceptions. After your students learn the rules and practice making comparisons of people, places, and things on paper, be sure to do some oral practice off the page!

Here is a fun activity you can do with your young learners. This Family Tree Craft will help your learners review English vocabulary for members of the family while also practicing comparative adjectives for describing people.

Family Tree Craft

1. Give each student a copy of Tanya’s handy list of Comparative Adjectives for Describing People.

2. Print a Family Tree worksheet for each student.  (more…)

Sprout English has been growing for over a year now!

As a materials writer who contributes to various Red River Press publications, including Sprout English (previously English Avenue) and ESL Library, I was excited about the opportunity to blog with the Sprout team. I have been blogging in the field of ELT for many years both personally and professionally. Here are a few reasons why Sprout English has been my favorite place to blog so far!

• It’s beautiful! The clean design and gorgeous illustrations make it a pleasure to blog here. I love looking at the finished product. Thanks, Robyn!
• It’s organized! Sprout’s editor Tanya Trusler has the blog team working on a handy, theme- and grammar-based schedule. Each post connects with a featured lesson in our Spotlight section.
• It’s useful! Many of our posts offer free, professionally designed worksheets to go with our suggested activities. The blog allows teachers to get a feel for the quality-based materials that Sprout English offers to subscribers. (more…)

Have you tried this week’s Spotlight lesson with your English learners? In this lesson, Pako, a young actor from Brazil, is starring in a movie. The reading and exercises in this lesson focus on a movie poster. Students complete exercises that review the simple present and present progressive tenses.
You can extend this lesson by having your students create their own movie posters! These posters will be a great addition to your classroom walls.

Movie Poster Activity

1. Make sure that your students are familiar with how to talk about themselves using the simple present and present progressive tenses. Use the lesson Pako from Sprout English’s Library to review these tenses.
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Our theme of the week on Sprout English is The Face! If you teach absolute beginners or very young children, these are probably some of the first vocabulary words they learn in English. Do your older or more advanced students know how to make sentences with these words? Do they know some of the adjectives that go with face nouns? Our resource pack offers everything you need to introduce and expand on this vocabulary.

Word Bank Lesson Plan: The Face
Describing the Face: Adjectives and Sentence Patterns
Draw My Face: Listening Activity (below) (more…)

During the first few days of school, everything looks neat and tidy at home and at school. Items are labeled and drawers are organized. Everything has a place! But how do you keep things this way in the upcoming weeks and months?

Start the year off right with Sprout English’s Lost and Found Challenge! (more…)