3 ENGLISH BOOKS

At first I was going to recommend books such as The Gruffalo, The very hungry caterpillar, Room in the Groom, etc. But I realized that those are the books everyone knows about and we all know how good those books are. So I decided I was going to look for other books that could be use in class and are less known.

The books I chose are good to work with them in class for this main reasons:

They get used to another language, so it is not strange for them and they learn a new language faster because of the inputs that they are receiving from listening to the teacher reading a book in English.

By reading to them in English they learn faster structures, such as how to announce questions, answers, how to describe, etc. It also makes them learn a lot of vocabulary that can be really useful for them and in a way that isn´t boring for them.

By listening to this books they also learn how some words are written and this will help them in a future when they start writing in English because while you are reading to them, in an indirect way they are learning how those words are written, not all of them but some.

Another important fact to keep in mind is the fact that while you are reading and they are listening to what you are saying, they learn how words are pronounce and this will be useful for them when they communicate in English. Because being able to communicate in a second language is not easy, and working with them by reading to them will help them gain confidence and will make easier for them to talk in English without being afraid of embarrassing themselves.  

Without knowing it they are going to learn a new language in a fun way, in a motivating way because everyone loves a good story. The books I chose definitely have enough elements in their pages to motivate children and to make them have a good time.

The books I chose are also simple, easy to understand and with beautiful illustrations so that children will pay attention to them.

The books I chose are:

Ø  The pigeon needs a bath! By Mo Willems.

I fell in love with this book since the moment I saw it. It is about a pigeon that doesn´t want to take a bath because she doesn´t think she smells; but when she ends up getting inside the tub… I´ll let you know what happens with this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymxNlpgcxU .

It has beautiful illustrations and is not difficult at all. I will use it with kids with ages three and four. It also talks about a topic that probably happens to children in the class, that they hate taking a bath or a shower.

We have already talk about how important is for children lo be able to relate with the main character of the book. They will definitely relate with this one.

With this book I will work vocabulary, negative and affirmative phrases, communication skills will be required because children will need to talk about their own experience and knowing to distinguish talking with exclamations from talking with interrogations.

Although with this story we can do some fun activities and even games using water.

Ø  Pete the cat Rocking in my school shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean.

Here is the link so that you can see what´s the book about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHHbAdcO0Y&t=190s . Basically it’s a cat that tells us what he does at school: go to the library, playground, etc. It’s a great book for kids learning a second language because it makes them take part on the story by asking questions, it´s easy to understand and talks about school which is something with what children can relate because it is where they are while you are reading them the story.

I will recommend this book for children from ages four and five, even maybe with three year olds depending on the main purpose you have by reading them this book.

One of the things that I loved the most about this book is that the cat sings a short song and is repeated changing just one or two words through the hole book. Children like singing and this will make them pay more attention to what is going on.

With this book we can teach kids a lot of school vocabulary which is really helpful for the context we are in and taking this as an advantage we could do some fun activities like a tour around the school with clues and games like a gymkhana or getting to know each part of the school with some main aim for each room. We could also learn the song and create a dance or imagine that Pete the cat goes somewhere else that doesn’t appear in the book.

Ø  Go away, big green monster by Ed Emberley.

It is an amazing book for 3-4 year old children because it is about a monster that appears and disappears. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK6aDPItjGk.

With this book you can teach colours and parts of the face. We also can talk about feelings like fear and the feeling of relief.

We can do really cool activities like creating our own monsters, activities and games related to colours and face parts, etc.

There are lots of books that I will recommend to use to teach English in infant education but the important thing is that you have to make sure that children will love it as much as you do, that they understand it and that they are motivated to learn.