Resources

Give the students some words and get them to choose one and write a sentence. They pass the paper to their left and then try to correct any mistakes made, if any. To make it harder get them to use the past, or use adjectives or adverbs in the sentence.

Have students cut one small circle and one medium circle out of construction paper. They are to staple the circles together to create a snowman figure. Then, have them glue cotton balls to the snowman to create a fluffy, white exterior. Finally, they should draw eyes, a mouth and a nose on the small circle to make a face.

Political Speech. The student is to write a politically motivated speech in the role of prime minister/president of a country of their choosing. The speech is to address a national crisis and its' purpose is to empower and reassure the general public as well as reaffirming power and order. Look at some notable examples such as "winds of change", "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself", "tear down this wall", "the few".

Countable nouns are used for things we can count - things that are numbered. Countable nouns can be singular or plural. Most countable nouns become plural by adding 's' to the end of the noun.

a job/jobs

• He has a job

• He's had a few different jobs.

apple/apples

• I had an apple with lunch.

• Do we have any apples?

Uncountable nouns are used for things that cannot be counted. They are used for abstract ideas or objects that are too small to be counted. Uncountable nouns require a singular verb.

advice

• I need some advice!

snow

• The mountain is covered in snow.

traffic

• There was a lot of traffic today.

weather

• We had great weather last weekend.

Common quantifies for uncountable nouns:

a little, much, some, a piece of, an amount, a sum

• a little bit of snow

• too much coffee

• a piece of cake

• a sum of money

Some nouns are countable and uncountable, depending on the meaning.

• These grammar exercises are easy!

• Exercise is good for you.

• The gallery was showing works by several different artists.

• I don't enjoy hard work.

Have students assemble the craft wheel, spin to choose a word and then guess the opposite.

This activity will help students use their imagination to invent their own holiday! It can be done in one lesson, or spread out over a few lessons as a longer project. This student works for media level students, but can be toned down for elementary students as well.

Students invent their own holiday! Begin with a discussion about different holidays that are celebrated around the world. Then, have students think of a holiday that they think should be celebrated. The more creative, the better!

Students will think of a story or reason the holiday should exist. Have them choose a month and day that the holiday should occur on. Then, have them think about different activities that people might do to celebrate. Have them think about things such as what foods people might eat or where they might go on this day.

Students will use this information to make a poster advertising their new holiday. They will draw pictures and write information to explain to other people what the new holiday is about. At the end of the project, students will give an oral presentation to their classmates, persuading them to make their new holiday official. The student with the most persuasive argument is the winner!

Prepare this activity by folding paper in half (one for each student) and marking the centre with two lines (this will be the connecting point for each drawing).

Each student draws the bottom half of any animal (or monster) they want, making sure that it blends in with the connecting point. When finished, they exchange their drawing with a friend - but keep it a secret! On the other half of the paper, everyone draws the top half of a different animal. In the end, everyone has created a crazy animal!

Have students answer the following questions: What is your favourite day of the week? Why do you like this day? Does your favourite day change with the seasons? Do you do a special activity on this day?

You'll need a fairly long classroom with space for everyone to march up and down (or space outside). Teacher stands at one end of the room against the left wall. Line the Students up along side Teacher and Teacher says "Go!". As you all march together, Teacher starts calling out the days in order ("Monday", "Tuesday", etc.). Students repeat each day (Teacher:"Monday" Students:"Monday"). March along at a slow pace, but smartly (backs straight, arms swinging). At certain points teacher suddenly shouts "Stop!". Everyone must stop and be EXACTLY in line with the teacher. If someone is out of line order them back in line and then continue marching where you left off. Turn around each time you reach the end of the room and continue the march. Once finished start again, but this time walk briskly. You can do it the final time running! This is even more fun when there are tables, etc, in the room that the students need to climb over/under. After a few lessons you shouldn't have to say the words - just get the students to chant together as they march.

Choose a topic and have a friendly debate about it. Help them to structure their opinions in a constructive way and respond to the points the opposing side makes. Some example topics:

School uniforms should be compulsory

Smoking should be banned

Plastic water bottles should be banned

Supermarkets should donate unsold food

Children should have cellphones

Social media makes bullying worse

Have students discuss a current political situation relevant to them.Ask about the students' opinions and discuss the events leading up to a political situation such as this. Ask the student whether he/she thinks education and class has an impact on votes such as this and discuss possible predictions and repercussions with the student.

A defining or identifying clause tells us which specific person or thing we are talking about in a larger group of people or things. If a defining relative clause is removed, the meaning of the sentence changes significantly. A defining relative clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas or parentheses.

Form:

Use 'who' to give more information about a person.

• An architect is a person who designs buildings.

Use 'which' or 'that' to give more information about a thing.

• A corkscrew is something which is needed to open bottles.

• The book that you gave me for my birthday is really interesting.

Use 'where' to give more information about a place.

• That’s where we got married.

• The town where my uncle lives is a few miles from here.

If the noun which the relative clause describes (usually at the beginning of the sentence) is the object of the sentence, you can eliminate which, that or who.

The man who is wearing the blue suit is my brother.

Because 'the man' is the subject of the sentence, you cannot eliminate who.

The man (who) George is talking to is my brother.

George is the subject of the sentence, so we can eliminate 'who'.

'The' is the primary definite article in English. It's used to refer to a specific thing that both the speaker and listener are familiar with.

We use 'the'...

• for (a) person/people/thing that we have mentioned before.

- The girl from the party

- The Italians

- The bakery I told you about

• for someone/something that is unique.

-The first man to walk on the moon.

-The Pope

-The only girl I've ever loved

• for someone/something that the speaker and listener already know about.

-The government

-The Beatles

-The Queen of England

• 'The' can be used with singular countable nouns, plural countable nouns, and uncountable nouns.

-The cat

-The cats

-The advice

• We use 'the' for: oceans, seas, rivers, regions, groups of islands, countries that include a word such as Republic, Kingdom, States or Emirates, deserts and mountain ranges.

-The Atlantic Ocean

-The Dead Sea

-The Nile River

-The West

-The Galapagos Islands

-The United Kingdom

-The Sahara Desert

-The Swiss Alps

We DO NOT use 'the' for: lakes, continents, most countries, cities, states, towns, villages, most buildings and places such as schools, universities (unless it contains 'of' Ex: The University of Maryland) stations and airports that use the name of their town.

-Lake Michigan

-Europe

-Spain

-Paris

-Hartford

-Mykonos

-Hartford elementary school

-Yale University

-Baltimore-Washington airport

Demonstratives tell us where an object, person, or event is in relation to the speaker.

Near - here, this, these

• Here is my house. (the house is near the speaker)

• This is my sister. (the sister is near the speaker)

• These are my friends. (the friends are near the speaker)

Far - There, that, those

• My school is over there. (The school is some distance from the speaker.)

• Was that your sister? (The sister is gone, the speaker is not near her anymore.)

• Those houses are huge. (The houses are some distance from the speaker.)

Choose an image of a scene, pattern or activity. Ask the student to describe it to you in detail, as if you aren't able to see what's happening. (what is it, what is happening, who's in it, what are they wearing, etc)

A creative activity that can take anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour (split up over multiple lessons).

Have the student imagine a fictional Island Nation and then describe and illustrate all the features:

The Island's name

Flag

Language spoken

Landscape

Infrastructure (e.g. a rollercoaster district, or a floating village, a town centre with a chocolate fountain etc)

Climate

Population

Typical foods eaten

Animals

Typical activities done there

Currency

Language spoken

Typical clothing / traditional dress

Style of government

...etc

Encourage their creativity and have fun with it. At the end have them present their Island project orally.

When using direct speech, we tell the message of a speaker in their own words.

• "I'm hungry," said Kate.

• "I'm going to the supermarket," said John.

When using indirect speech, we tell the message of the speaker by using our own words.

• Kate said she was hungry.

• John said he was going to the supermarket.

The tense we use for indirect speech is typically one tense back in time from the tense we use for direct speech.

• "I am tired," she said. - direct speech

• She said she was tired. - indirect speech

The tense of the verb does not need to change if the reporting verb is in the present, or if the original statement was about something that is still true.

• "I always walk to school," he said. - direct speech

• He said he always walks to school. - indirect speech

Modal verbs of probability do not change.

• "I might bring a friend to the party," Elena said. - direct speech

• Elena said she might bring a friend to the party. - indirect speech

Taking turns, students describe a drawing action using a preposition. They continue building on the same drawing until you tell them to stop. All of the sentences should contain prepositions of movement or placement that are commonly used when giving directions.

Each student is given a blank piece of paper and some coloured pencils. The teacher begins to give instructions for what the student should draw. E.g. Draw an elephant in the centre of the page. Draw a blue flower on its head. Draw a piece of pizza next to the elephant...etc.

Have students colour the Easter egg template, cut along the lines, and fold the paper together, linking through the corresponding slits. Instruct them to describe the locations where the Easter bunny has hidden his eggs.

Have students cut out "eyes" of each students' paper plate. Have the students design a bunny face in the rest of the space, cut long, thin oval-shaped ears out of white construction paper and then glue a thinner version of this shape in pink on top. Lastly, they are to staple the ears to the top of the plate.

Have the students work together to create an Easter play utilising the bunny masks for certain characters.

Have students cut yellow construction paper into the shape of an oval. Help the students trace hands on the yellow paper, then cut them out. Tape the handprints to the oval to create feathers for the Chick. Have students use orange construction paper to create a beak and legs and glue googly eyes to complete the face.

Relate this project to English by instructing students to write a short story or poem on the back of the chick, giving it a personality, or talking about an Easter adventure.

Have students answer the following questions about dreams:

Do you dream often? What kind of dreams do you have? Do you typically remember your dreams? If so, describe a memorable dream in details. If not, discuss the types of things other people might dream about. Do you ever daydream? What things do you think about? Why do you think we dream?

Have the students cut paper into large, oval egg shapes. Pre-cut thin strips of colored construction paper. Have the students glue strips to the egg to decorate it.

Ask the students to imagine they have gone on an Easter egg hunt. On the back of the egg, have them describe where they found the egg.

Have students answer the following questions about eating out:

Do you like to eat in restaurants? Why/Why not? What differences are there between what young people and older people like to eat? Do you think we should try to eat food that is produced locally? Why/why not? Which food or drinks do you think are unhealthy? Some people say we eat too much in modern-day, do you agree? Which food from your country would you miss the most if you were abroad?

Each student will take turns pulling a face or doing an action and the rest of the group will guess which emotion they are miming.

Each student will be given two sets of cards, one with emotions written on them and the other with the faces that correspond with them. They will have to race against the clock (and their classmates) to match up all the faces and the words.

Split the class into two teams. Have the teams stand in a line, with the first two people facing each other, and the other students behind them. Team 1 asks a proposal question: Do you want to go to the park? Team 2 must respond with an 'excuse' for why they cannot, using the present continuous form.

(E.g. Do you want to go for an ice cream? I can't, I'm eating lasagna.)

The first two students go to the end of the line, and the turn switches (team 2 now begins.) The students must make proposals/ create excuses until someone says a repeat. The person who repeats a question or response is eliminated.

Explain to the students that the following animals are currently endangered: Gorillas, tigers, rhinos and polar bears.

Have students answer the following questions related to endangered animals

Why do you think these animals are endangered? If you could save one, which one would you save, and why?

Follow up questions:

1. Do you agree that global warming is threatening certain species?

2. Do you think governments should be required to keep the environment and animals safe?

Have students answer the following questions about life experience: What is one exciting thing you have done in your life? How was this different than anything else? Do you hope to do it again someday?

Print out a blank calendar month and have your students plan a month of events, but instruct them to leave a small number of days free. Then pretend you are trying to organise for them to come and clean the school (or other similarly unappealing tasks). They'll use their planned events as excuses, using the present continuous tense to describe their plans.

For example "Can you come and clean the school next Saturday?" "No, sorry -  next Saturday I'm cleaning my house".

Have fun with it by acting frustrated at how many excuses your students have. You 'win' if you pick a day that they are free. In which case they reply "Ok fine, I'm not doing anything that day."

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We choose one camp day to be a dress-up day. For the Fairy Tale themed camp we encourage students to come dressed up as their favourite Fairy Tale hero or villain. We make sure to make some simple props such as star wands to hand out to anyone who forgets or wasn't able to come dressed up. We also have plenty of these crowns so students can decorate their own crowns to wear.

We print them on card and make sure we've done at least one colourful example for inspiration. While they work, it is a great time to sing camp songs and enjoy a food treat. They can also be useful props for the end of camp show.

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Perfect for junior groups, rainy day activities and free time options for students wanting a calm activity - these 8 colouring sheets are on theme for our Fairy Tale Summer Camp. What a lovely way to connect with students, repeating colour vocabulary and simply chatting as they colour in. Use the finished work as colourful decorations or add them to your student portfolio. They can also be used as inspiration for final show story ideas and character choices.

Each day for half an hour before lunch, our summer camp groups get together to learn to sing and dance to a song that ties into our camp theme. For the fairy tale themed camp, this song matches perfectly and is so catchy and fun. After getting comfortable with the words, we teach choreography that highlights the meaning of key phrases and practice staging so we can impress family and friends with a performance at the end of camp show.

Here are the lyrics and 3 fun worksheets to help the students learn the words and dance moves.

Each day for half an hour before lunch, our summer camp groups get together to learn to sing and dance to a song that ties into our camp theme. For the fairy tale themed camp, this song matches perfectly and is so catchy and fun. After getting comfortable with the words, we teach choreography that highlights the meaning of key phrases and practice staging so we can impress family and friends with a performance at the end of camp show.

Here are the lyrics and 3 fun worksheets to help the students learn the words and dance moves.

We schedule an excursion to a nearby park once or twice a week to give our summer camp students an exciting adventure. Here's a fun activity to do at the park, that fits our Fairy Tale theme. It's a "Magical Quest" scavenger hunt where each 'station' requires the students to complete a task in order to collect the magic beans.

Our lovely camp helpers and teachers attach the printed cards to different trees and benches around the park. Teachers carry small bags of dried beans to be ready to award each group as they complete the tasks.

Don't forget to snap some photos as they do these tasks to add to your photo slideshow for the camp show! At the end, the beans collected by each group can be converted into team points and added to their running total.

Have students write fake facts about famous people or places.

Describe each 'achievement' by using a relative clause.

E.g. Justin Bieber, who was the first man to visit Mars, will be visiting Rome next month. The Eiffel Tower, which is famous for selling hamburgers, will be open next week.

Here's 8 great riddle sets (with instructions) we use in our summer camp warm-up activities for our students aged between 10 - 13. On the first day of summer camp we organise the students into competition groups with mixed levels, so the more advanced students can help the less advances students and the teams are evenly matched.

We start each morning with some movement games and these riddle cards that they race to solve first. Print them on card and cut them into 4 mini cards per page. The 'sculptorades' is something they have to 'sculpt' out of playdoh or a similar material.

Don't forget to keep a running score of team points throughout the summer camp to keep them motivated to try their best at each activity.

Have students answer the following questions: If you were famous, what would it be for? Have you ever met a famous person before? Do you think it would be fun to be famous? What are some challenges a famous person might have?

Have students colour each family member on the template, they are to describe the roles and personalities of each family member.

Place flashcards around the room in different locations. Ask each student to bring the teacher the correct flashcard after saying who it is. Once all cards retrieved, place flashcards in different locations and repeat activity.

Have students answer the following questions:

What is an example of a tradition? Does your family have any special traditions, like eating pizza on Wednesday nights, or going to the same place for a holiday?

Have students cut two slits on each side of construction paper and fold into a "collar", they are to draw a tie and decorate how they wish. On back of the "shirt" students should write a list similar to the following:

Things I Like About You:

You make me laugh.

Your hugs.

You love me.

You play with me.

Have students cut construction paper in shape of a tie, decorate with different patterns and poem. Attach a length of thin elastic cord onto the back of the tie at the top to form a neck loop.

Have students answer the following questions: What's your favourite food? Describe it in as many details as possible. What's your favourite international food?

The student is to choose a feature-length film they have seen recently and make some brief, bullet-point notes on the events, characters and themes of the film. Once they have done this, the student will be instructed to write their own review of their chosen film.

Tips: Start with a compelling fact or opinion on the movie; give an early, clear and well-established opinion and approach the writing in a more depth way than just obvious plot analysis. Ensure that the student uses imaginative, descriptive and critical language.

Hold a bunch of coloured pens or pencils behind your back. Pick out one and call out the colour. The student/s must move quickly around the room and touch something of that colour while calling out the colour word in English. Eventually start to call the colour word out before showing which pen you picked, to test their listening comprehension. You can give them turns at holding the pens and calling out the colours.

Where are you from? What do you like most about the house or apartment you live in? What do you think is the best day of the week? Why? Tell us about a TV programme you really like. (Ask each student one question and have them answer with a 30-second response. Speaking part 1 is designed to help the students relax and speak about familiar information. Students must provide more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer during this task.

Using Movers or Flyers 'Find the Difference' help cards, ask the students to spot several of differences. Get them to use the sentence "In this picture .... but in this picture ....".

Explain the task requirements for this part:

In this speaking part, you will be working with a partner. Each candidate will have a long turn and a short turn. In the long turn, you will speak for one minute about two photographs. In the short turn, you will speak for thirty seconds about your partner's photograph.

Candidate A: Here are your photographs. They show people eating together in different situations. I'd like you to compare the photographs, and say why the people have decided to eat together in these places. (1 minute)

Candidate B: Do you often eat out with friends? (30 seconds)

Candidate B: Here are your photographs. They show people working hard in different situations. I'd like you to compare the photographs, and say what you think they might find difficult about working hard in these situations. (1 minute)

Candidate A: Do you ever go to the library to work? (30 seconds)