Songs For Teaching English To Young Learners

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Children love music and they love songs in the classroom. Using English songs in the classroom can be effective to teach your learners. Children can benefit from having a lively and cheerful classroom full of music. So how can we be productive using songs in the classroom? And how can we motivate children to learn new English words and improve their pronunciation by using songs? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Edgar R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Children learn with songs by listening to whole sentences and absorbing vocabulary and phrases the same as adults. When we listen to music we try to mimic the signer we are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Songs are very popular in classes for young learners. Children need frequent changes in activities to stimulate their curiosity. Songs are fun and offer a nice way to warm up students and spend out their high-level energy. But songs are likewise an effective way to teach new vocabularies and sentences, improve speaking fluency and develop students’ artistic abilities. Often teachers make use of videos downloaded at YouTube or another online platform, but they can also reproduce songs in a micro-system or even sing or play the song with a guitar or another instrument. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Gabriel C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas To call oneself a good teacher is not only about knowing the most efficient teaching methods - creativity is very crucial for maintaining the learner’s interest through the lessons. Teaching languages there is all different kind of learners and each with variating motivations and reasons. Characteristics that should be highly considered especially for the selection of your creative tasks. But there are two facts: First, music is something most people like and feel connected to – no matter which country they are from or if they are old or young. Second, songs indeed can be very helpful for learning languages. Apart from exemplifying the use of vocabulary and grammar structures, they are very good for improving...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas For the summative task for this course, I decided to research the use of songs in the classroom. The use of songs interests me because it seems that this is a good medium to provide some variety in the classroom and develop interest. Songs and music can also be used with all age groups, although of course whereas singalongs may be more appropriate with very young learners, other activities such as lyric breakdown are still very useful for older learners. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate David B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For example, Lynch (2019) states that “Many teachers think that using songs in the classroom is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas For this task, I have selected learning modes: Young learners v.s. Adults. When teachers are instructing students, they should first think about how to instruct them using the best methodologies to make learning best or what factors or aspects of learning they should consider for their classes, such as student motivation, previous learning experience, language awareness, behavior problems that could arise in class and the students’ life experiences. All of the above factors can be divided by many different students, but it has been shown in this course that these facets are predominantly divided by young learners. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Heejeong K. Please note that this blog...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The use of songs in teaching English to children is an effective method that many parents and teachers are now teaching their children. Because of the benefits that teach him through song. Children love to listen to children's music because of their cuteness and closeness. Therefore, if children start to familiarize themselves with English songs, they will surely learn easily. The fun, lovely melody of the song will help your child not be bored. Also, it will help children practice pronunciation more accurately. English songs often use familiar, familiar phrases in everyday life. Therefore, music helps children to have good listening and reflexes when communicating with foreigners. This post was written by our...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have a great fascination and interest to teach English as well as proper study techniques to students of all ages. This next year, I plan on moving to China to teach English to young children. When contemplating these future endeavors, I plan on implementing songs as a method to help young children learn English. Singing songs is a fun, interactive method that engages the attention of children. When teaching children, I argue that singing songs is a great method to cultivate and maintain a strong foundation in their English language level. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Oni M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Young children...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Music plays an important role in our life. Music is also considered a form of international language. Everybody can enjoy and understand music. For children, the music brings back a lot of useful things. Therefore, songs are a great way for children to learn English. Singing, Playing, and Listening to music/songs every day is extremely important especially when you are teaching young learners. As we all know that repetition is the key to learning, so songs are the best way to help them learn English while having fun at the same time. Music helps children to remember things better and predictable, repetitive activities make them feel secure. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jovelyn A. Please...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas It is a very well known fact that English is a very melodic language, it sounds very soft and children love singing in English. When you keep a certain rhythm, rhyme, and pace, it is very likely to learn faster and better almost any topic. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Valeria T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For a group of very young learners, it is quite a must to use songs, to put the students move and have some action in the classroom as their attention span is quite short and they need entertainment, fun, and playtime. I will take as an example of body parts. If I were to teach the body parts, I would choose the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said "Music is the universal language of mankind” and it is still widely accepted today. Any language uses words to create sentences that convey messages with different tones and emotions as well as music does. Thus, bringing music to an English classroom is one good way to inspire the learners. There are tons of techniques or ideas involving music and songs that can be applied to any part of a lesson plan. It is available today in the form of online resources to use as a guideline for teachers. However, there are some arguments about how this strategy can be time-consuming and taking away the interest out of a focus lesson. In this case, the advantages outweigh the worries. Here...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As the mother of a 3-year-old son, born in Spain to British parents, I have found that singing the same song in both English and Spanish has helped my son become bilingual. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alessandra Fay B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Provided it is done in a fun and interesting way, James appears to retain information much quicker when presented to him in song form. For example, we sing the days of the week, first in English and then in Spanish, both to the same tune and he enjoys repeating these over and over. I have also used the tune from the song “if you are happy and you know it” to teach him...  [Read more]

Anna Domiczek Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Songs and music are such an important part of an ESL preschool curriculum. Not only are they fun, but they are also very powerful tools to help young students learn English in a fun and entertaining way. Learning a second language at the preschool level needs to be experienced through engaging activities - words and actions need to go in tandem. Songs allow the children to move along and learn in a pleasant, fun way, in accordance with the TPR technique. They also serve as a tool to lower students’ affective filter - according to the famous linguist Stephen Krashen’s theory (1983), students can develop a blockage/filter toward their study because of a negative emotional...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Have you ever wondered why nursery rhymes are one of the first grammar structures taught in the life of a young learner? And how come it is easy for most adults to remember lyrics to a song that they learned in Kindergarten? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dee S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Let us analyze a few elements that Song and Rhyme have that make them effective teaching methods in learning a new language in the classroom : In Unit 19 of this course, it was stated that it is best to teach very simple grammar concepts to beginner students. Nursery rhymes are short and contain no complex storylines, symbols, and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I was an English teacher in Japan for over three and a half years. In that time, I gained a lot of experience teaching young learners. My students were aged from two to fourteen. As I taught these students, I learned a lot about how songs can be used effectively in the classroom. Songs can be used to teach sentence structure, routines, vocabulary, and help aid the understanding of instructions in the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Megan B. Before students can even grasp the language, they can understand rhythm and music. When teaching the youngest students (two years old), we used a lot of chants. Chants are not necessarily music but work much in the same way. Generally,...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences We all probably know, that music has no language. It is kindly welcomed by all nations equally, as well as all races, ages and cultures. So how can music or songs help us to teach English and to do it more effectively? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alena A. Music lets us go deeper into conscious that anything else, it is much more memorable, so the words and grammar structures may be remembered much faster. It also helps to relax and to feel happy, so using songs in the classroom is not only a good idea, but it is also an extremely necessary part of teaching and language acquisition. Also read: 4 Tips on How to Teach English Using Music Music has no language, as I have said before, but it...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The English language is the most spoken one as a second language in the whole world. It has become the international language of business, science, technology, international relations, and diplomacy. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Askarbekkyzy K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Songs can be used to develop students’ listening skills. They improve listening skills ‘because they provide students with practice listening to different forms of intonation and rhythm. Songs can be really helpful in practicing listening skills “warm-up work can provide a basis for students to make predictions before listening; listening...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Why is the incorporation of storytelling and singing vital when teaching English to young learners? When a teacher is faced with the – sometimes daunting – task of teaching English to young learners, he or she must pause and consider a few things. First of all, if it is the first time a teacher is confronted with young learners, they must adapt their teaching approach. As with any new course, the teacher must evaluate his or her teaching approach. Who are the learners? What level are they at? How do I, as the teacher, reach the student, gain their attention and trust? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Therese B....  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas Many of us, who have had the opportunity to learn a new language have this exciting memory of learning a non-native language even though it could have been just a word or eventually mastering the language itself but, till date have that in our memory bank and access it as and when necessary. In many cases it often beings with a song where we pick up a few words when we are listing to it and slowly try to build up our vocabulary and potentially develop an interest in learning that new language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nagashree C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Songs are a way of not only learning something new, but it is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a new language is not an easy task, regardless of the age it is learned at, and with the globalization of the English language, there are more and more people faced with the challenge of learning English to better their lives. English is known as one of the most difficult languages to learn due to its irregularities, and therefore requires a variety of different techniques to be applied in the classroom to help students learn the language better. Even though adult and young learners are both learning the same things, the learning process for both groups can be quite different. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Melanie D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Barbara Harrison Teaching Ideas Celebrate the universal language of music with your students. With music, students at all levels work on the basic skills of learning and improving their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while having fun! Music improves attitudes toward content and learning, as well as classroom participation. It’s also been shown to decrease anxiety and tension on scary topics and increase memory of grammar concepts. The benefits are many, including improved concentration and memory, help to absorb material, inspire creativity, and encourage learning. Music makes learning fun! A student’s previous class or activity can determine the best song choice. Ask yourself: Is your student coming to class from...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Many tools can be utilized effectively when teaching English as a foreign or second to students of all ages and varied cultural backgrounds. Music is most certainly one of them. Song, in particular, is a valuable tool for teaching English to foreign students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ruth F. Songs can be found that describe everyday concepts such as numbers, colors, alphabetical letters, body parts, clothing, weekdays, seasons and months. The use of songs to teach these concepts can make lessons interesting and exciting to students. Information and concepts learned through songs can be expected to remain with a student throughout his or her life. Nothing is as memorable as songs....  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Songs, what are songs? Merriam-Webster define a song as a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung OR a single (and often standalone) work of music that is typically intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. I will like to emphasize on some major factors that makes songs in the classroom very important in learning a new language and the general upbringing of children. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Banda J. The terms “repetition” and “rhythm” are vital in the classroom, according to psychologists; they claim that “songs...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Kinesthetic learners are learners that learn through objects that they can touch and explore. They also learn best by discovering and experiencing and particularly enjoy physical activities that involve getting out of their seat and moving around. Unlike visual and auditory learners, kinesthetic learners can be tough to accommodate in the classroom because of their need to be physically active. Since they need to be active in their learning, they may get bored very quickly if you allow them to simply listen and look at your visual aids or video presentation. As teachers, we must always be versatile and understand how to incorporate different types of learners. Luckily, there are...  [Read more]

  In this episode of Chantelle’s TEFL diary she takes us through her experiences with the second unit of her online TEFL course. Unit 2 of ITTT’s 120-hour TEFL course focuses on parts of speech; nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. As Chantelle points out in her video, having a basic understanding of the rules behind parts of speech is an important part of being an English teacher and is something that many native speakers of English take for granted. Although, as native speakers, we may instinctively know when and where to use the different parts of speech; understanding how to explain the rules to an English learner is a very different matter. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Teaching vocabulary is an integral part of every ESL class. There are many ways teachers can introduce new vocabulary to their students that aren’t dull and boring and actually peak the students’ interest and get them excited to learn. Here are 7 great and easy ways to introduce new vocabulary to your ESL students. Using real-life objects to introduce new vocabulary to your students will greatly help them associating a mental image to the word. Kinesthetic learners will especially enjoy this way of learning as it gives them a physical connection with a lexical concept. You can use toys, clothing articles, plastic (or real) fruits and vegetables, animal figures, and more. Show the object to your class, introduce...  [Read more]

Anna Domiczek TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Preschool curriculum or lesson plan designed for English language learners should incorporate several basic and common themes. Those popular themes created for young learners will introduce students to new, interesting vocabulary words and phrases. Learning about animals, clothing, food, family, shapes, colors, numbers, or daily activities makes students deeply engaged in learning. They are discovering the world around them versus memorizing/repeating abstract words and phrases. Thanks to such theme-based lessons, English language students genuinely engage with the content being taught and make real-life connections while developing new...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Online English teachers are divided into two groups. The first group is online ESL teachers that work for an education company. The second group is online ESL teachers who freelance. I will explain the two types of teaching materials, authentic and created materials, and how materials are incorporated in teaching English online to students. The focus of this article will be young learners as that is my personal career goal. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dora E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first group of teaching materials is authentic materials. Authentic materials are defined as “anything a native speaker would...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The classroom embodies a space where students learn. That space is usually a mixture of varying personalities, learning styles, and student levels. A teacher’s role in ensuring that students learn is of great importance seeing that the teacher serves as a facilitator for all, counselor to some, mentor to some, and disciplinarian to others. Teachers must possess or learn certain skills to be effective in the ESL/EFL classroom. While many factors are influencing the actual outcome of an EFL/ESL lesson, teachers of young learners must be patient, adaptable, and possess good classroom management skills. These skills are crucial for young learners because, on the one hand, they have shorter attention spans, they have...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Who doesn’t love a story? Stories are universal. Stories connect us all. Stories also transcend caste, creed, color, and age. From the beginning of time, to-date the medium may have changed but stories engage us with others because it is easy to see ourselves reflected in them and understand the message conveyed easily. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shaimuna C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching English using stories can be very effective in class. As an English teacher, I have used stories for classroom activities from Year 1 to 6 at the primary school level. The different age groups need diverse styles. Below are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Imagine you are a teacher of English, working in Russia. Your students are a small group of preschoolers starting their educational journey for the first time. It's September and the first day of school. All the children are dressed like little dolls. Parents quietly placed flowers on your desk in the morning, a traditional act of respect. Autumn is in the air, days are getting shorter, and the native birch trees are itching to turn golden yellow. Many Russians know this is the calling, the calling of long nights and snow-filled landscapes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lauren A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Your direct...  [Read more]