Song for Teaching/Learning about Present and Future "Wishes"

The Nicest Thing by Kate Nash is a great song for teaching/learning/revising about "wishes" for various reasons:

First:  all of its sentences express a present and/or a future wish using:  

• wish + past simple  : 'I wish you loved me.'

• wish + would  : 'I wish you would hold my hand when I'm upset.'

• wish + could:    'I wish we could give it a go.'

 Second: the animations are simple but gorgeous and add a nice detail to the song.



Last but not least : it has the lyrics on screen too!

 BUT in case you don't remember much about the "grammar" of wishes here are some resources for further revision:

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                 

1. A lesson on the Subjunctive Mood: Wishes

2. A great power point slideshow:

Wish Structure

3. Videos on Youtube

by JenniferESL

by ValenESL

and of course, the song: 

and that's all folks!

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Earthquake Vocabulary : Printable Worksheets and Online Activities

Here's a list of some web resources dealing with vocabulary related to "earthquakes"

 "Earthquake vocabulary terms" 

• 1. List with words and definitions at BrightHub

• 2. Power Point presentation at Slideshare

• 3. Online flahscards at Quizlet and Proprofs

Worksheets you can save on your computer and print for classroom use only: 

• A printable wordsearch puzzle at The Potters

• A Crossword Puzzle at SurfNetKids

       (An interactive version of the same crossword puzzle here.)

• An Earthquake Word Search Puzzle

       + Vocabulary Sheet 

       + Earthquake Crossword Puzzle 

       + Earthquake Multiple Choice Activity 

       +  Alphabet Activity 

       + Earthquake Coloring Page 

       + Draw and Write 

    at HomeSchooling  ------------->

(you need to click on the link to download the pdf file with the corresponding worksheet)

 

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Learn English Through Stories with Storybird

SoryBird.com is an superb site (at least for those who enjoy reading) which let's people create and "illustrate" their own stories. The quality of some of the stories is simply amazing. The following slideshow presents a tutorial on how to use the site.

How to use Storybird




This is one of the many stories you can read on StoryBird, and who knows maybe give it a try. Enjoy!

Everyone Tried, Except the Giraffe by 047Mister3 on Storybird  

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How to Practice Listening with Lyrics Training

This is great website for practicing your Listening Skills in a fun way, especially if you love music. The only problem is that YouTube is banned in some countries like Turkey or China and most videos are hosted there... snif. :-(

Let's see how it works.

Choose a song, and select the level you prefer. (My two coins: start with Beginner mode, then switch to a higher level as you improve your listening skills. BUT if you have never heard that particular word it'll be a bit difficult to guess it. If that happens, don't worry, it doesn't matter, this is your chance to learn it. :-))

 Once you select the level, the lyrics of the song will be displayed and  you will have to "fill in the blank" with the word you hear. Each dot represents a letter. In this case you have to fill in the blank with a six-letter word.

 

The great thing is that the song stops while you are filling in the blank, and starts again once you finish with that particular word.

At the bottom you can read the number of words the exercise has and how many you got right. If you start typing a word and nothing happens, it is simply because it's the wrong word. In that case you can click on the "HELP" tab at the bottom-right.

So, if you want to "skip" the word press "TAB" in your keyboard and you will hear the next line of the song. You need to do this because the song does not play unless you either fill in the blank with the correct word or skip it.

Enjoy!

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