Hey there!

I am following this website on instagram and I adore Teo Zirinis’ works. Then I came across with this image one day. So I decided to use it as an introduction of “used to” with my 5th graders. I showed this picture on the board asked them what they see. Obviously they saw a ghost. We called it “she”  I asked them about “used to”. “Is she alive? – No. / Can she be somebody? –No.” And they wrote some sentences about her previous life using “used to” like “She used to    live in Paris. / She used to be a waitress.” 

Then I went on giving some more examples about my own life. After that they gave some more examples about themselves to their partners. We discussed who in the classroom had the most interesting life- because some of my kids are really creative =) Then I concluded with a handout on the subject.

They loved the picture and the fact that they had a chance to find out what “used to” means by themselves.

You can check Teo Zirinis' works on his web site.  You can order his drawings as t-shirts or art prints!

http://www.handsoffmydinosaur.com/

With my 5th graders we have been working on The Past Simple and Past Continuous Tense these days. For the writing task we wrote about one of our dreams using “when” and “while”. 

For the task, I gave them an A 3 page and in pairs they divided the page into 2 so that every one can have one page. Together they wrote about their dream and draw a Picture at the bottom.

Here are a couple of examples: 

Hey!

I told my 5th graders about Earth Hour and they were really interested. First I asked them what they know about climate change and they discussed some ideas. Then I told them about the Earth Hour event and they really got excited. To be able to have a say against climate change is definitely exciting.

I’m not sure if they will really turn off the lights for one hour, but to have that idea in mind is efficient enough – for now.  

http://www.earthhour.org/

A Video Lesson

    Here is a video that I used in one of my CELTA TPs.

We first talked about the holiday they had. Then I told them that we were going to watch a video about running away. I showed some pictures of words that I thought my students did not know. Then we watched the video by paying attention to the order of events. You can watch it twice. Then I gave my students the jumbled sentences of the story and asked them to put in order. Then I have them check the answers together and with the handout I hung beforehand. After that, they made questions and answers about the video. Then to sum up the target grammar they asked some questions to each other by completing the blanks.

Here are the handouts:

The name of the video was Runaway. The boy took a bottle of soda from the bridge. He tried to close the door, but the door didn’t close. The door handle fell down. The boy and the fridge were sad. The fridge saw the magazine in the boy’s hand. The fridge was sad. The boy went out. The fridge ran away.  It walked on the street and saw new fridges at the shop.  The new fridges weren’t its friends because they laughed at it. The boy went home and he didn’t find the fridge. He looked for it. The fridge was in the scrap yard. The fridge wasn’t happy, it was angry. The boy didn’t buy a new fridge. He bought a new door handle. They were very happy.

The name of the video was Runaway. The boy took a bottle of soda from the bridge. He tried to close the door, but the door didn’t close.

The door handle fell down.

The boy and the fridge were sad.

 The fridge saw the magazine in the boy’s hand.

The fridge was sad.

The boy went out.

The fridge ran away. 

It walked on the street and saw new fridges at the shop.

The new fridges weren’t its friends because they laughed at it.

The boy went home and he didn’t find the fridge.

He looked for it.

The fridge was in the scrap yard.

The fridge wasn’t happy, it was angry.

The boy didn’t buy a new fridge.

He bought a new door handle.

They were very happy.

  

Please put the words in order and answer the questions

1.     the boy/ were/ friends/ the fridge / and ?

Were the boy and the fridge friends?

Yes, they were.

2.    the fridge/ was/ black ?

___________________________________

___________________________________

3.    the door of the fridge / fall/ did ?

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

4.    the fridge/ happy / was/ in the beginning ?

________________________________

_________________________________

5.    the fridge/ run away/ did ?

________________________________

_________________________________

6.    the boy/ buy/ fridge/ did/ a new/ ?

_______________________________

_______________________________

7.    the boy/ what/ buy/ did ?

_________________________________

_________________________________

8.    they/ were/ happy/ in the end ?

_______________________________

_____________________________________

Question form                                                           Short answer Did             you/we/they     sleep      last night?                Yes, I/we/they_____ Auxiliary           subject                   infinitive                                                  No , I/we/they______ Verb                                                                                                          _____           he/she/it     sleep      last night?                Yes, he/she/it did. Auxiliary           subject              infinitive                                                  No, he/she/it didn’t. Verb                                                                                                                _________  he/she/it at home yesterday?                  Yes, he/she/it was.    Auxiliary           subject                                                                         No, he/she/it wasn’t.                Were       you/we/they   at home yesterday?               Yes, you/we/they ____. Auxiliary           subject                                                                            No, you/we/they _____.    When ___ you last go to the cinema?   What ____ the name of the movie?   _____ you like it?  ______ it a comedy?  Would you like to watch it again?

                                                                                                                  

                 Hope you’ll like it!  ^.^ 

Hey! This will be my first post, so I'm really excited ^.^ I couldn't decide what to post, but then I chose this. In this site there are some optical illusion pictures gathered together. This might be a good writing prompt from grade 5 and above - I guess.


If you're not interested in these photos, still you can use this site for your own taste! It's great!

http://www.lostateminor.com/2015/02/25/optical-illusions-made-photo-manipulation-will-mess-mind/