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 & Move” is the perfect active song to review numbers and get some wiggles out!), or… Read more »
How’s the Weather?
Ah…winter. As the seasons change, it’s a great time to discuss the weather. In some places, like here in Tokyo for example, the weather during the winter can vary dramatically from week to week and even day to day. When your students come to class, asking them “How’s the weather?” will help them become familiar… Read more »
Christmas Topics – Prepositions of Place
Prepositions of place can be a little hard to conceptualize with just words. In, on, under, next to, in front of and behind can be confusing. Using props and demonstrating location through gestures and manipulatives can help young learners understand this concept. But kids really grasp the idea when they are looking for something…or someone…. Read more »
My English Passport
As teachers, we are always looking for ways to engage with our students. When teaching children in groups, it’s often difficult to find ways to interact with students individually using natural dialog. One tool that we’ve found particularly helpful is a student “passport”. Students of all ages, from the very young to our older kids,… Read more »
Everybody Up!
This past year, Troy and Devon from Super Simple Learning had the pleasure of creating 40 original songs for the new Oxford University Press primary series, Everybody Up. It was a great opportunity to work with some amazing people. Patrick Jackson, author of one of our favorite series for young learners, Potato Pals, is one… Read more »
Five Little Pumpkins – Classroom Tips
“Five Little Pumpkins” is fun little song. While it’s a nice fit for the Halloween season, it can be sung any time of the year and is one of our autumn favorites. Five Little Pumpkins Lesson Plan Need a quick and easy autumn lesson plan? Use the “Five Little Pumpkins” song to teach about counting,… Read more »
Row Row Row Your Boat
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” is a much loved nursery rhyme and kids song. We wanted to make a video that would introduce the song at an appropriate pace for young learners, feature very clear singing, foster deeper thinking/discussion, and be compelling to all ages. It’s a lot of fun to sing in a round…. Read more »
5 Years of “Uh-huh!”
Today marks the 5th anniversary of the YouTube video for the song “Uh-huh!” off of Super Simple Songs 2. 5 years. 5,800,000 views. That’s a lot of head nodding. We made the song because we wanted to help our young English students in Tokyo move beyond formulaic yes/no responses to more natural, kid-like responses. If… Read more »
5 ways to make Halloween parties less scary for young kids
We always try to stress the playfulness of Halloween. It’s a time for dressing up, playing games, singing songs, carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, etc. However, even if you don’t have a haunted house or spooky music at your Halloween party, it can still be a scary time for many young children. People are wearing masks, some… Read more »
The ABC Song in the Gutenberg Museum
We’re really happy to share that our “ABC Song” video is now a part of a new exhibition at the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany. From the organizers: “Moving Types” shows a retrospective from of the beginnings of the film to the 21st century, using filmlets, film excerpts, advertising films, video clips and a media facade… Read more »
