Very Young Learners

Using puppets in your phonics class

Puppets are often used to help with error correction in very young learner classes, because they can help correct errors in a way that doesn’t make the student feel self-conscious, or wrong. The above video shows a powerful application of that technique in a...

A grammar resource for young learners

by David | Starter, Tips, Tools

In researching grammar for various levels of young learners, I discovered an interesting resource I’d been previously unaware of. These are websites which list all of the grammar points for each level of young learner. Generally speaking, this style of website...

How to make a mini book out of a single sheet of paper

by David | Crafts, Tips

There are many ways to create mini-books for your students. I had been cutting massive amounts of paper using a guillotine, however, this method looks quite...

Supporting VYLs in the classroom

by David | Kindergarten, Tips, Training, Video

I’m currently in the process of conducting some research on YouTube, and stumbled upon this video that includes lots of useful tips about supporting VYLs in the classroom. In particular, I like the discussion around the kinds of language used to communicate with...

My favourite quote on competition

by David | Classroom Management, Games, Learning

Yesterday, I shared why I don’t use overt competition in my VYL classrooms. Today, I want to share my favourite quote on competition, it comes from an Amazon.com reviewer of Alfie Kohn’s book ‘No Contest: The Case Against Competition’. “I...

Why I don’t use competition in the classroom

by David | Classroom Management, Kindergarten, Lessons

There’s a fairly common view held by teachers of very young learners that competition doesn’t work well in the classroom. Generally they say this is because young children find competition stressful. My sense is that very young children can’t relate...