 I love when I find picture books that are so simple, and utterly delightful that both my kids (mother-tongue English speakers) and my newbie ELL students can fall in love. HOORAY FOR HAT written and illustrated by Brian Won is one of these masterpieces. The book structure is so simple you'll wonder why you hadn't thought to write it yourself, but the genius is in the simplicity. (And the best news of all for all us ELL teachers, this book has been so popular, it should be easy to order anywhere around the world. ) Your students will love the repetitive structure of the story. They will cross their arms and repeat, "Go away! I'm grumpy." They will smile at the adorable animals. And the yell along with you as you say "HOORAY FOR HAT!" Believe me!  When you finish reading, you can take one of two routes: focus on emotions (Grumpy, Sad, Mad, Happy, Scared) or the wild animals (Elephant, Zebra, Turtle, Owl, Lion, and Giraffe) as your target language. No matter what you choose, this book absolutely begs to be turned into a theater. So choose your actors and get them talking!
ELEPHANT: Today I'm feeling very grumpy. (Ding dong) Go away, I'm grumpy! (There is a present at the door) ELEPHANT: What's this? A hat? I can't be grumpy now! HOORAY FOR HAT! I will show Zebra. ELEPHANT: Hello, Zebra! ZEBRA: Go away, I'm grumpy! And if you'd like some more fun activities, I found this on FloweringMinds.
0 Comments
 ATTENTION!!!! ATTENTION!!!! ELL TEACHER MUST-HAVE!!!! Hello everyone! I'm back with an absolute must-have picture book for every ELL teacher who works with kids. GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER written and illustrated by Ed Emberley is everything! Do you want your kids engaged in a fun read-aloud which will introduce parts of the face? Eyes. Nose. Ears. Teeth. Mouth. Hair. Do you want your kids practicing English by repeating phrases? Then this book is for you. The genius of this book comes with each new page turn.  As page by page, the Green Monster gets built facial part by facial part.  And then page by page, gets deconstructed again as kids yell "GO AWAY!" It's so much fun!
Use it as a great intro into teaching parts of the face, or reviewing them...or just for fun, because my students absolutely squeal every time I get this one back out for a reread. I hope you and your students love this one as much as we do!  Hello everyone! I am back with another great suggestion for your ESL classroom. This book TANKA TANK SKUNK written and illustrated by Steve Webb is the perfect way to get your kids stomping their feet and trying out all sorts of new words, while introducing them to a lively cast of wild animals. The book introduces Tanka (an elephant) and Skunka (a skunk) who LOVE to play the drums. SKUNKA TANKA SKUNKA TANKA TANKA TANKA SKUNK Your students won't be able to stop themselves from joining you as you read aloud (which as an ESL is EXACTLY what you want!) Just look at these example pages.  Of course, after you read, it's the perfect time to introduce wild animals to your students. I usually start with the following: elephant, zebra, giraffe, lion, monkey, crocodile, penguin, and snake. You might be surprised how many animals they already know.
Remember to get the kids up and moving. Acting out the animals is a great way to do that. Then we usually pretend to take a visit to the zoo. Four students act as the family (Daddy, Mommy, Brother, and Baby) and the rest act as animals. If your students are anything like mine, they'll want to do this over and over again, switching parts each time. Hope you get some great ideas when you pick up this book! |