Do your students get confused by all of the different quantifiers in English? There are many ways to indicate the amount of a noun, including using words like many, much, a lot, lots, some, several, a few, a couple, etc. The common term some is used when we want to indicate an amount that is not too much and not too little. But can we use some in all types of English sentences, including positive statements, negative statements, and questions? Sometimes we need to use any instead, and that can be a source of confusion for English language learners! Teach your students the differences using the tips below, and get them to try the practice exercise below.

Some

In English, we usually use some in positive sentences. Some is used with both count (countable) and non-count (uncountable) nouns.

Examples: (more…)

This week in the Spotlight, we’re featuring a lesson from our Library on the Past Progressive. An easy way to start practicing the past progressive is with clock times. Kids love talking about themselves and their lives outside of the classroom. Try this activity after you’ve reviewed the structure of the past progressive.

Preparation: Print and Cut

Print this FREE 3-page PDF to use with the “What were you doing?” activities below.

Page 1: Print as many copies as you need of the Time of Day sheet. Cut the clocks out, and give each student one or more clocks to fill out. Have an envelope or container handy to put the clocks in after students write times on them.
Page 2: Print one page of Days of the Week strips for the class and cut them into strips. Place them in an envelope or container.
Page 3: Print one Day Planner page for each student for the Personal Assistants activity.

(more…)

Are you looking for a fun, yet educational, game to play with your English learners on Valentine’s Day? Here’s a Valentine’s-inspired activity for practicing gerunds!

How to Play “Love, Like, Live Without, Loathe”

1) Review
Review the differences between “love” and “like” and review how to use these before a gerund:

• I like eating chocolate.
• I like eating peanut butter.
• I love mixing chocolate and peanut butter.

2) Introduce Vocabulary
Teach your students two more words and expressions: to be able to “live without” (to not need or to not like a lot), and to “loathe” (to really dislike).

• I can live without vegetables.
• I loathe broccoli. (more…)

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! It’s a zoo at Sprout English this week! Most kids love animals, so lessons and activities involving animals usually get their attention. Our Lesson of the Week is on Hippos, and materials writer Tara Benwell will be blogging for us on Thursday with a fun activity involving animals.

I thought I’d share one of my favorite animal activities to do with young learners. Students get practice with descriptive adjectives in this activity. They think they’re describing their favorite animals, but it’s actually a surprise personality profile! This activity always results in lots of laughs. (more…)