Skidamarink a Doo, We Love You!

“Skidamarink” is our favorite Valentine’s Day song, it’s a little bit silly and very sweet. The actual word “skidamarink” doesn’t ‘mean’ anything, but it’s sure fun to say!!

Besides singing it to tell people you love them at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day, Skidamarink can also be used to talk about times of day like morning, afternoon, evening and night time (symbolized by the moon).

When do you…?

Demonstrate the times of day gestures from Skidamarink, (download the gesture guide here) for morning, afternoon, evening and the moon. Use a cardboard clock to talk about the different times of day and what types of activities you do at those times. Ask kids about their daily and weekly activities. When do you eat breakfast? Go to school? Eat lunch? Have soccer practice? Go to English lesson? Eat dinner? Take a bath? Go to sleep?
Put the students in pairs and have a dialogue practicing with each other.

When do you….eat dinner?
I eat dinner in the evening.

When do you…eat breakfast?
I eat breakfast in the morning.

Afterwards, watch the video and sing Skidamarink together.

Let us know what you’ll be doing for Valentine’s Day this year!

Downloadable Colored Hearts Worksheet

Valentine’s Day is a great holiday for practicing or reviewing a number of vocabulary topics. We particularly like to use it for colors, shapes, counting, and emotions.

Colors are some of the first words we teach our students, and like the alphabet and numbers, it is a good idea to practice them often. In almost every lesson, we ask the kids about the color of different items; flashcards, clothing, pictures from the storytime book, and classroom objects.
Knowing the colors is a big confidence booster, which can help students feel more comfortable speaking in English.

Here are some ideas for practicing the four language skills with colors.
Download the three different Hearts worksheets from our Valentine’s Day ideas page.

Listening – Print out several sets of the colored heart cards so that two to four students are sharing them. As you say the name of each color, students point to that card.
Give each child a blank hearts worksheet and have them color a heart as you name the colors.
Afterwards, pair up students and use the cards for a game of concentration.
Speaking – Hold up a colored heart card and have students say the name of that color. Ask students to name their favorite color.
Reading – Print the colored heart worksheet and the color word cards. Have students match the name of the color with the correct card.
Writing – give each student a blank hearts worksheet. Say the name of different colors. Students write the name of the color on the cards and then color them.

Check the Super Simple Songs Valentine’s Day ideas page for more games, free worksheets and activity suggestions.

Red hat, white beard...

We created a special holiday version featuring our favorite jolly man in red, Santa. The familiar tune makes it easy for them to learn right away. Combine this with the excitement of Santa’s impending visit, and you’ve got a great song for the Christmas season.

What other songs can you make using B-I-N-G-O as the theme?

From all of us at Super Simple Learning, we wish you a Merry Christmas!

♪ Decorate the Christmas tree ♪

We love traditional Christmas songs. However, young learners and emerging speakers often get frustrated and tune out when learning some Christmas classics because the songs are either too fast or too difficult. On our Christmas CD, we decided to take a few classic Christmas carols and make them simple.

Making a song simple does not mean dumbing it down. Sometimes it just means adjusting the pace so younger learners can keep up and do gestures. Sometimes it means simplifying the language to make it more comprehensible. And sometime it means actually adding more language that is meaningful and useful for young learners. As learners grow older and develop greater language and motor skills, they can “graduate” to the more traditional versions with confidence.

Jingle Bells (Learn & Sing)

“Jingle Bells” is one of the most popular of all the Christmas songs. With sleigh rides and bells, this song is sure to be a hit. But traditional versions are often too fast for young learners. We’ve created a special version to introduce this song to them. The first part of the song is a call and response format, so that children can get to know the words slowly. The second part of the song encourages singing along at a normal speed. You’ll be amazed how quickly kids will pick up this song and you’ll all be merrily singing it in no time.

Decorate The Christmas Tree (based on “Deck The Halls”)

“Deck the Halls” is such a beautiful melody and the song feels like Christmas. But lyrics like “boughs of holly”, “Don we now our gay apparel”, “Troll the ancient yule tide carol” go way over young learners heads. On the Super Simple version (“Decorate The Christmas Tree”), we use the same melody to introduce a whole bunch really useful vocabulary and expressions that are easy to learn with gestures. This song is full of rich holiday language and collocations: “decorate the Christmas tree”, “hang the stockings” “make a snowball” “wrap the presents” “kiss beneath the misletoe”, etc. It’s a lot of fun to act out, and the call and response format makes it easy for young learners to follow along even though there is so much language. Plus, we love singing “Fa la la la la, la la la la” ^_^.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

“We Wish You A Merry Christmas” is another classic with a great melody that includes lyrics that young learners often tune out from. The Super Simple ”We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, keeps the classic chorus and then makes the rest of the song into a fun and simple action verb song. Practice clapping, stomping, jumping, whispering and singing loudly.

Always remember that kids naturally love singing, and if they are expressing disinterest in singing songs you are teaching them, often it’s because the songs are not at their level. Making some small adjustments can really help!
To learn more about these songs and for more super simple Christmas ideas, visit our Christmas page ^_^ .

Check out this amazing video from Eva and her students in Slovakia.  Now this is what Christmas looks like!

Super Simple Songs – Christmas includes this version and a karaoke track so you can add your own actions to the song.

Gestures makes learning fun and easy!

One way to really enhance language development in the classroom or at home is through the use of music and gestures together. There are a number of studies that indicate that both music and gestures on their own greatly assist learning (see “Songs as an aid for language acquisition“, “Gesturing makes learning last“, and “Music and movement; instrumental in language development” for a starter). From our time in the classroom, we know that songs and gestures together absolutely assist learning. Songs allow students to feel the language, and gestures and movement help them make sense of it. Kids learn more quickly and retain the knowledge longer when they sing and move together.

Here are a few tips on using gestures and movement together with songs to foster language development.

1. Use songs that start with music and movement in mind, and just follow along! 

Many traditional children’s songs are not created with movement in mind. Of course, kids can benefit from dancing and moving to any song, but when using songs to help kids become more confident and competent with the language, it makes a world of difference to select songs that have the appropriate pacing, language complexity, and gesturability. You’ll often find that even some songs that are great for 6 year-olds will be discouraging for 4 year-olds because they are too fast to keep up with, or feature language that the younger learner doesn’t connect with.

When searching for songs, look for terms like “music and movement” or “interactive music”. We’re fortunate to live in a time where you can almost always listen to samples of some or all of the songs on CDs. Have a listen to some of the songs and imagine how you would move with them. If you have a hard time imagining what kind of gestures you would do the songs, your kids will very likely struggle with the songs, too. Listen for songs that, even after just one listen, allow you to easily imagine what kind of actions you would do to accompany it. With many great music and movement songs, all you need to do is put them on and follow along…no “teaching” necessary. Some of our favorite artists you might want to check out are Sue Schnitzer, Laurie Berkner, and Dr. Jean.

With our own Super Simple Songs CDs, we always try to imagine the gestures we’ll use as we write each line of each song, so that when you play a song, you can imagine pretty quickly how you can interact with it.

2. Let the children create the gestures

Using gestures helps students internalize the language. When children have a chance to create movement and gestures themselves, it makes that connection to the language even stronger. If the students are not yet familiar with a lot of the words in the song, try introducing the vocabulary with pictures, objects, or flashcards.

When using flashcards, introduce the card, say the word together, and then have the children create a gesture for that word. You might need to help, but do it together. Remember that if you are creating gestures for a song, you’ll need to make sure they are not too big or complicated because there may not be time to do them while you are singing. Keep the gestures simple and concise.

Next, review the flashcards by showing the card, naming it, and asking the kids to do the gesture. Then follow up by showing the cards and having the students name it and do the gesture. Last, do the gesture and have the students name it!

You’re all ready to sing!

3. Use online resources

Can’t think of a gesture to use with the song? Hop online. There are a lot of great resources available to help you. Start with YouTube. There just may be some classroom videos that are perfect for your situation. Just search for the song you are using.

Another great place to look for help is a sign language site. Even if you don’t use the actual signs, they will often help you think of gestures that will work with your song. We really like the site Signing Savvy.

If you are using Super Simple Songs, you can find gesture ideas for a lot of the songs on Super Simple Songs 1, 2, and 3 by visiting the song pages.

4. Gesture select words

One of the great benefits of using songs with gestures is that it helps learners understand where the words are in a sentence. We’ve all had the experience of singing a song but later realizing we had gotten the words all wrong because the words all ran together and we misheard them. When we sing with gestures, even if we only do a gesture for one word or phrase in a sentence, understanding that one word helps us piece together the rest of the sentence.

Remember that you don’t need to try to make gestures for everything. When doing gestures with songs with very young learners, too many gestures will confuse and frustrate the students. When using songs with older learners, there will usually be too much language in the song to gesture everything. Identify key words and create gestures for those. Keep it simple!

Here are gesture suggestions for “Goodbye, Snowman” from Super Simple Songs – Christmas. You can easily use these same gestures for “Hello, Reindeer” or the sing along version. Of course, feel free to make up your own!

“Hello, Reindeer” and “Goodbye, Snowman” Gesture Guide

Christmas

Rest your right elbow on top of your left hand. Make a “C” shape with your right hand.

Happy holidays

Indicate “happy” by smiling and pointing to your cheeks.

Reindeer

With your hands open wide, put your thumbs on your forehead to indicate antlers.

Santa

Pat your big, round tummy!

Snowman

Put your hands on your hips with your elbows our wide, making one circle. Bend your knees outward, making another circle with your legs.

Now watch the video and sing along!!

“Goodbye, Snowman” Lyrics

Goodbye, snowman.
(Wave goodbye. Snowman gesture.)
Goodbye, reindeer.
(Wave goodbye. Reindeer gesture.)
Goodbye, Santa.
(Wave goodbye. Santa gesture.)
Happy holidays.
(Happy holidays gesture)

We wish you a Merry Christmas. (Indicate we by moving your index finger in front of you from one shoulder to the other, making a semi-circle.)
We wish you a Merry Christmas. (Christmas gesture.)
We wish you a Merry Christmas.
Let’s sing it again. (Pretend to hold a microphone.)

Goodbye, snowman.
Goodbye, reindeer.
Goodbye, Santa.
Happy holidays.
Happy holidays!

What do you want for Christmas?

We know that this time of year isn’t just about giving and receiving presents, but the holidays do provide a great opportunity to talk about gifts and toys. Many children get quite excited at the idea of Santa coming for his annual visit and want to discuss the possibilities.

“What do you want for Christmas?” is a question that many children will be asked during the upcoming holiday season. So, we decided to make a very simple, active song to help kids talk about their Christmas wishes.

There are two versions of “What Do You Want For Christmas?”, the original on Super Simple Songs 1, which features train, rocket, robot and teddy bear, and “Santa’s On His Way” from Super Simple Songs – Christmas with ball, yo-yo, bike and jump rope. The Christmas CD also features a sing-along version so that you can sing about other toys as well.

In addition to talking about different types of toys, this song is a great way to introduce “I want…” You can easily extend the conversation with “I don’t want…”, “I have….” and “I don’t have….”

These are also nice, easy songs for young children to sing and act out at Christmas pageants and parent presentations.

Language Activity

Using realia, or real objects, in the classroom is a great way to keep students’ interest. Flashcards or picture cards also work well, but there’s nothing quite like being able to touch and pass around a physical object. This is the perfect opportunity to bring in actual toys for the kids to talk about.

When introducing new vocabulary or doing a review, we like to build excitement and interest by being very mysterious. Rather than just showing students the objects or flashcards, we slowly reveal them, perhaps putting them in an envelope, bag, or hiding them around the room.

Mystery Box

One of our favorite ways of introducing new items is with the Mystery Box. It’s easy to make a Mystery Box and it may quickly become one of your favorite teaching tools. Once students recognize the song and The Box, they will be very excited when they see it, there’s always something good inside!

You can make a Mystery Box out of any box.  Just wrap it or decorate it with question marks, letters of the alphabet, seasonal pictures, or whatever you like. Just looking at the box itself can be a whole activity.

Play the “Mystery Box” song from Super Simple Songs 2 and point to the box. Ask students what they think is inside. You can give hints and have them guess. Look inside and act very surprised, intrigued, and excited to build the tension. Slowly pull out one item, in this case, a toy, and have students identify it.

Look it over together, demonstrate how to use it and make up a gesture for it. Pass it around so everyone can take a closer look. Then move on to the next item.

After you have taken all the items out of the Mystery Box, you can use the objects to play games or use with a song.

Here’s a video from MILK English in South Korea. You can see just how fun a Mystery Box can be!

Do you have more tips for using a Mystery Box in the classroom? Please share them below!

Make a shaving foam Santa

Do you need a fun activity this holiday season that the kids are sure to love? Make shaving foam Santas!

All you need are some cans of shaving foam, red food coloring and tables to work on.
Prepare the area by covering the tables in plastic covering (garbage sacks work well) or use place mats.

Be sure to go over some basic rules with the children before you start. Hands to yourself and don’t rub your eyes! After everyone agrees, you’ll be all ready to start the activity.

First, spray some shaving foam on the mat and make a big fluffy beard. Then, make the outline of his face and add some hair. You can use buttons to make his eyes, nose, and mouth, or just use shaving foam. Last, make his hat and put a fluffy white ball on top. Mix in one or two drops of red food coloring to make the hat red. It’s Santa!

After finishing, you can smooth out all of the shaving foam and practice writing letters. Show the students the S picture card, name the card, and then show them how to write the letter in the shaving cream with your finger. Let the students try. Continue with the rest of the letters from SANTA. After you have gone though all of the letters, try again…this time without showing the picture cards.

You can practice other letters of the alphabet, shapes or different holiday vocabulary like snowmen, stars, and Christmas trees.

When you are finished, get ready for clean up. Have some towels ready or get lined up to go to the sink. Shaving cream cleans up very easily, but be sure everyone washes their hands when the activity is finished.

Don’t forget to take pictures! Kids will love seeing their shaving foam Santa after he is all cleaned up.

Finish the lesson by singing “S-A-N-T-A” from Super Simple Songs – Christmas.

It doesn’t have to be elaborate or too complicated. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Parent Observation Day

One easy way for parents to see the progress their children are making is to invite them into the classroom to observe a lesson. You can even have parents participate by having them take part in the games, songs and other activities.
Don’t be worried or surprised if student’s change their behavior with their parents around. Sometimes they are nervous or self conscious. Let the parents know ahead of time that this is common. In addition to seeing some of what the students have learned, this is a good chance for parents to see how you structure your lessons.

Parent Demonstration Lesson

If students attend school during the daytime while parents are at work, you can hold a special session on a Saturday or a weekday evening. Invite parents and students to come for a short program. Thank everyone for coming and then do a few activities from a typical lesson. Sing a Hello Song followed by an active song or two. Follow this with a language activity or game that uses familiar vocabulary. If you stick with activities that students already know and enjoy, it will allow them to relax and show what they know with pride.

Pageant

Holiday pageants take a fair amount of preparation, but it gives students and parents something to look forward to and work towards for several weeks. Invite parents to the school, or another location if your school is too small, and have groups of students sing one or two songs each. You can ask parents to dress the students in a certain color of clothing, (all in primary colors, red shirts or in black and white, for example), or you can make costumes at the school, like a reindeer antler craft, or Santa hats for everyone. Visit our Christmas Party Ideas Page for some suggested songs for different age levels.

Here is a video from Mexico with students performing “Santa’s On His Way” from Super Simple Songs – Christmas using real toys. They even ride the bikes!

Don’t forget to sing “Goodbye, Snowman” together at the end. It’s the perfect way to end any holiday program or party!

Plays

Try making an original play to perform based on a song! Students are assigned to act out different parts of song. You can use props such as costumes, picture cards or make scenery. Practice in class so that everyone is ready for the big day. Val from Argentina always puts together great performances with her students. Here’s a great one using “Do You Like Brocolli Ice Cream?” from Super Simple Songs 3.

With a little creativity and planning, you can easily create a parent performance that is fun and memorable for everyone.

Are you doing a performance or program this year? Please share your videos with us, we love to see them!

Two Little Elves are Jumping

No matter how old your students are, from very young to elementary age, counting and numbers are always a topic worth reviewing.  You can easily add a quick counting activity as part of any lesson. Use a song (“Count and Move” from Super Simple Songs 2 is the perfect active song to review numbers and get some wiggles out!), or count objects in a storytime book.

Or spend a week incorporating more focused counting activities by combining a song, worksheet and game. Here are a few ideas using materials from the Super Simple Songs – Christmas enhanced CD.

10 Little Elves

Need a fun way to incorporate numbers with an active song and a familiar tune? Try “10 Little Elves.” It has some challenging new vocabulary, making it great for older students. Talk about active verbs such as sewing, painting, sawing, hammering, wrapping, and sleeping. You can discuss toys and practice demonstrating how to make them. Do activity sheet 9-6 to review the actions and practice counting.
Finish by singing the song as you perform the gestures. During the chorus, have students hold up their fingers and count together.

Jingle Bells

“Jingle Bells” is a classic holiday song that is often heard at this time of year. The call and response format of this version makes the song fun and easy for young learners. Bring bells to class so the students can jingle along!

Two, four, six, eight...how many horses?

Several of the worksheets on the enhanced CD focus on counting. How many bells? How many horses? Students can work just on counting, writing the numbers, or spelling.

For a fun new challenge for older students, try activity sheet 2-7 and practice counting by 2s! Students love the new way to count and quickly catch on. The worksheet provides a great visual for this concept.

Clapping Game

Sit in a circle with one hand palm up and one hand palm facing down. Alternate so that you can ‘clap’ the hand of the person next to you. Start by lightly clapping the hand of the child next to you as you say the number “1.” The child says “2” as he claps the hand of the student next to him. Continue around the circle, counting up as you go. How high can you count? Once students catch on, you can make it more challenging by counting by twos, threes, fives or tens.
You can also use this game to practice other sequential topics like the alphabet, days of the week or months of the year.

Countdown to Christmas!

How many days to Christmas? Print out the calendar activity sheets 1-6 or 1-7 and fill in the blanks. Then count the number of days together. This is a great activity to do throughout the weeks leading to the big day!

Have fun!