It's Christmas time. Today I had my last lessons before Christmas break. I've prepared a surprise for my younger learners. I've made a large picture sudoku board (60 cm x 60 cm) to teach them Christmas vocabulary (Santa, reindeer, present, sledge).

At first we did the puzzle together, so they could get an idea what sudoku is. Then I devided them into small groups of three and they solved more advanced puzzles with the same pictures.

Here's a printable that you can use with your students.

Revision, revision, revision...

Young learners need variety of games and exercises to revise and consolidate vocabulary. Last week I played Spot it! with my 6- and 7-year-olds. At first I had some doubts about using this game in the classroom with very young learners. Fortunately, it worked perfectly!

I've prepared 4 sets of cards. Each set consisted of 13 cards with 4 different pictures.

I divided class into groups, 5-6 students per group. Each group was given one set of cards. Each student in a group took one card, the rest were placed face-down in a pile. Then one player took the first card from the pile and place it with their card on the floor. As soon as they found the match, they had to call it out in English. If the answer was correct they took both cards. If not, the card was placed under the pile. The winner was the player with the most cards.

How to engage students in speaking activities? Let them do a class survey.

The task was meaningful, as the students had to find out how often their friends do different activities. We use it to practice Present Simple, adverbs of frequency and indoor activities vocabulary. My students worked in pairs. Each pair got a chart and a question they had to fill in accoring to the picture. Then each pair had to ask other students the question and to mark the answer on the chart.

Here's the chart template:

Last Tuesday my 5th-graders went to a pizza restaurant. Of course, it was an imaginary restaurant in our classroom. They acted out small scenes to practice ordering food. Some of them were waiters and waitresses and the others were customers. Everyone was involved and even shy students could shine.