October 2006

Happy October Everyone!

This is the first newsletter from www.Teach-ESL-to-Kids.com. The site is only three weeks old and aleady I'm getting such a great response. I have to admit that I'm a bit surprised that there are already people to send a newsletter to. :-)

The best theme for October is, of course, Halloween!

When teaching holiday-related ESL to kids it's important that you start early. You want them to fully understand the vocabulary so that it's more fun for them the actual day of the event.

Some Halloween vocabulary and ideas can be a little bit scary for young children. It's up to you to make things not scary. Kids will follow your lead, and I find that the best way to present scary ideas is to show it, then laugh. Laughing creates a more lighthearted atmosphere in your classroom which makes the kids feel safe. It's also important to teach them the phrase "Go away!" (or a variation of this), which gives them control over the scary thing.

Check out the Halloween lesson plan that I will be using with my students by clicking the link below:
http://www.teach-esl-to-kids.com/halloween-lesson-plan.html

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I've also added an advice for teachers section to the site. Here, you can write in with any questions or problems that you have with your class. I'll respond with an answer as soon as I can.

The main advice page can be found here:
http://www.teach-esl-to-kids.com/advice-for-teachers.html

Our first question comes from Peter:
Shannon Sensei, I have this really bad kid in my class. Let's call him Johnny. He's not interested in learning at all. If he's not running around the classroom and tearing things off of the walls, he's annoying the other kids in the class. I'm constantly spending time yelling at him, but nothing seems to do the trick.
I really dread going to school each day. I just don't know what to do with him.
Help!!
Peter
PS This is a class of three year olds.

Click on the link below to see my response:
http://www.teach-esl-to-kids.com/badkid.html

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This site is still in its baby stages. I'm always interested in hearing more about what you'd like to see. So if you have any suggestions, please reply to this email, or use the contact form page on my site: http://www.teach-esl-to-kids.com/contact-shannon-sensei.html

Until next month...

Love,
Shannon Sensei