A Simple Past Tense Activity

It's been a while since I shared something I prepared for my kids. Here is an idea to work on Simple Present Tense and Simple Past Tense that I have written. 

I started the worksheet with a story of a boy named Tom. But to make it a little bit more interesting, I told that it was actually written by one of Tom's friends when they were 12. The year was 2004. And I asked them to underline the verbs - that's where they sometimes have problems: to identify the verb! 

Then, I continued with the same story but I erased the verbs. It's 2016 now, so how was Tom's life when he was 12? The kids completed the blanks using Simple Past Tense of the verbs in the original story. 

I ended the handout by asking the kids a question: How old is Tom now? What do you think he does for a living? And that's a speaking activity +.+ 

You can download the handout here =)

Enjoy !

Tips for More Entertaining Homework

We all know that most of the time homework is found really boring by our kids especially when they have loads of it. Even teachers get bored while preparing it. So, I came up with a few ideas on how to improve our homework to lure our kids ^.^

-Using qr code : Kids love their smart phones and never want to leave it. So, they can use their phones while they are on task. You can put I have already mentioned how to use QR Codes in homework. You can either use it if you want them to watch a video or listen to a song.  Here you can find more information.

- Putting students' own work: Wouldn't you feel surprised if you wrote a paragraph and got published? I bet you would! That's how kids feel, as well. You can use their texts as a part of homework with related questions. I do it and they love it. 

-Songs: Of course you can use songs in many ways- especially in teaching English. But also you can use songs just for fun. Putting a song and asking for the genre, for instance, is fun! This one is my favourite these days and you can talk / write about what A Cappella means.

- Tongue Twisters or Riddles: You can always finish the worksheet with a funny riddle or tongue twister. You can even put it in a QR Code so the kids can get excited. My kids always wonder what Ms Aysu will ask them the next week =)

-Using the Names of the Students: That's a small step for us, but not for them. Using their names helps students integrate more. You can turn it into a game and use it as an award. If they see their names on the worksheet, they know that they have deserved it

-Using Your Own Picture As A Story Starter: I found out that my kids love to hear stories about my own life. Though I don't talk about everything that is going on in my life, I sometimes share stories from my childhood when they get bored. This made me think using my own pictures in worksheets and ask them to write a story.

You can either leave them alone while writing or give them some guiding questions such as: 

*Where are they?                                   *Who is Ms Aysu's friend?    

*Why is Ms Aysu happy while her friend is not?

              *What happened?               *What didn't happen?   

       
      Here is an example from one of my students:

-Using Funny but Creative Pictures That Are All Over the Internet: Internet is a great source for everything. It just depends on how you use it. Here are some examples to entertain the kids while boosting their creativity:

In the first one can you spot the panda?

With these, homework turns into something that kids become curious about. They ask me from Monday what they will see in the homework sheets. To be honest, they would still be happy having a weekend without any homework, but still they look forward to it. 

Are you looking for a passage for homework?

Do you have difficulties in finding new texts for your kids? So do I.

With my 5th graders we have a writing lesson where they follow a pattern to write about different topics. Last week's topic was to tell about a member of their families. This boy chose to write about his dad - but it was a little bit scary !! So I liked it =)

Then, I used it for the weekday homework and added some questions. He got shocked! Now all the other kids want their paragraphs to be published! Why not?

P.S.: You can add small notes to your homework sheet ^.^