Shapes Unit for Elementary ELA

Here´s the link to the shapes resources:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shape-Unit-for-Preschool-and-Elementary-ESL-3813551

Use the adjectives of shapes flashcards for chorus work. Have the students say the shape word in a different voice.

Teacher: Circle! Say Circle in an angry voice.

Students: CIRCLE!!!

Flashcards 1. Cards on the desk. Give a group of students a set of shapes flashcards to spread on a desk. The student on the turn pick a flashcard to name it. If the group says it is correct, that student can take the card, if not, the student has to return it.

 Flashcards 2. Sort the cards by color.

Flashcards 3. Sort the shapes by number of sides.

Flashcards 4. Name a beginning letter and the students have to say the shape.

Teacher: S!

Students: star and shape.

Flashcards 5. Play Bingo. Have the students draw 10 shapes and color each shape in the 11 playing colors. Start calling the shapes using the flashcards.

Teacher: gray triangle.

Flashcards 6. Charades. Have a student come to the front and pick a card and draw it in the air and have the class guess the shape. The one the guesses comes to the front to continue.

I made the set of shape hats. One set is with the shape included and another set is with the space for the shape that the students cut and paste on each hat.

Play games with the hats.

Option 1. Have the students stand up when you call a shape, the rest of the class sits.

Option 2. At your signal students stand up and run to find a matching partner and stand together. It can be the exact same shape in color or just the shape.

Option 3. Collect all the hats and without the students seeing put a hat on each one. At your signal have them walk around finding a partner by asking questions.

Students: Am I a square ?

Shape book. An easy traceable book to review colors, numbers and shapes and to learn sight words such as I , see. I made a puppet and placed a paper clip on the back so it can stand and be a reading companion.

Watch the video:

Shape pockets. I found a similar idea on Pinterest. I made pockets out of each shape by printing them double and gluing the shapes leaving a space to insert the craft sticks.

Give the students the crafts sticks and the shapes separately and have them insert the craft stick into the corresponding shape by reading each one.

Or, hand in the craft sticks to one group of the students and the shapes to another, have them ask people in the other group if they have the match to their piece. 

Watch the video:

I have more resources for this theme at my other blog:

http://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2016/08/shape-worksheets-for-preschool-ell.html

They will be included in this same product.

Teacher's comments on the resource:

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Circus Unit for the Elementary ELL

This resource, Circus Theme ESL Activities for Elementary ELL Students, is available here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Circus-Unit-for-Elementary-ELL-3759017

Teaching English through thematic units helps students connect vocabulary, grammar, and communication skills in a meaningful way. A circus theme is especially engaging for elementary English language learners because it introduces colorful characters, animals, and actions.

This Circus ESL Unit includes flashcards, worksheets, vocabulary activities, and games that help students practice nouns, verbs, and basic sentence structures while exploring circus vocabulary.

Flashcards are a powerful visual tool for introducing new vocabulary. In this circus unit, students learn words related to circus animals, performers, and objects.

Students can identify each card and say sentences such as:

“It’s the acrobat.”

“It’s the elephant.”

Distribute a Circus flashcard to each student. Have the students name each Circus animal ,Circus character or food. Say the category. Student:  It´s the acrobat.  Person.

Student:  It´s the elephant.  Animal

Sorting Circus Vocabulary

Sorting activities help students understand how vocabulary is organized.

Students can also categorize the cards into animals, people, or objects, which helps reinforce vocabulary and noun classification. 

Have the students  sort the Circus Flashcards as in Person, place or things and introduce the concept of noun in English.

Students can do their own sorting using the printables. Print as many as you need for Person, place or thing. The templates can be used as cards. Have the students sort them into person, place or thing.

Circus Action Verbs Activities

 I had these lovely clown clip art and thought of Flashcards to play some games. Action verbs help students describe what circus performers can do.

Printable Circus Book Activity

This unit also includes a Circus Book activity where students match pictures with sentences. After completing the activity, the pages can be assembled into a small class book that students take home to read with their families.

This encourages reading practice while reinforcing vocabulary learned in class.

 There are 28 pictures of the clown and the sentence, it can be used as a game, but the students can have fun matching and pasting the sentences to the pictures. Put them together and make a class book to take home by turns and read to the parents.

Circus Worksheets for ESL Students

 I did this one for preschoolers but I like to do labeling with the worksheets, it is a way to extend the activity a little bit more.

This Circus Prepositions resource is also included in the complete Circus pack. Here is the blog post:    https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2026/02/this-resource-is-also-included-here.html

I've gathered interactive games, worksheets, and creative ideas to teach English Language Learners!

📌 Follow my Pinterest board here:
https://www.pinterest.com/ei98srl

Save time!

Town and Community Helpers, plus transportation themes for the ESL learner.

Link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Town-and-Community-Helpers-plus-transportation-themes-for-the-ESL-learner-3735921

                                           

In this blog post we will relate the community helpers to where they work and add their transportation.

Introduce the buildings using the flashcards. Ask the students who works in each building.

Match the building flashcard (school) to the community helpers (teachers) and people (students) flashcards. In this example more than person goes to the same building.

Now, make sentences.

Teacher: What is this?

Students: It´s the Hospital.

Teacher: Who works in a hospital?

Students: The nurse and the doctor.

More questions.

Teacher: Who is he ?

Students: He is the pilot.

Teacher: Where is the pilot?

Students: He is at the airport.

Place all the people flashcards on one side and the buildings on the other.

Say the name of a community member and the students have to answer with the work place and then the opposite.

Teacher: farmer!

Students: Farm!

Teacher: theater!

Students: ballerina!

Let´s pretend. Have the students pick a community helper and the corresponding work place and stand in front of the class holding a flashcard in each hand.

Teacher: Who are you ?

Student: I am a firefighter.

Teacher: Where are you ?

Student: I am at the fire station.

Where are you going to? Give several students a community member necklace and give the building flashcards to the other group. They stand in front of each other in random order.

Teacher: Who are you ?

Student: I am a clown.

Teacher: Where are you going to?

Student: I am going to the circus. (and walks to the corresponding flashcard)

I made small cards for the same matching exercise. Give  several groups the same set of cards and ask the children to match the cards in the shortest period of time. The first group to finish is the winner.

Place the building flashcards and the transportation cutouts for each one on a desk. Give instructions.

Teacher: There is an ambulance in front of the hospital. There are two fire trucks, one is next to the fire station and the other is in front of the fire station.

And I made people and transportation cutouts. I glued them onto toilet paper rolls and I used longer rolls for the flashcards.

Teacher: There is an ambulance in front of the Hospital.

Teacher: There are two ambulances in front of the Hospital.

More examples to say to the students and have them locate the ambulances.

Teacher: There is an ambulance in front of the Hospital. There is an ambulance next to the Hospital. There is ambulance behind the Hospital.

Teacher: The doctor and the nurse are in front of the Hospital.

And here is the whole scene for the Hospital.

You can do more locations using the cutouts set.

There is more on this resource:

 https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2020/04/town-community-helper-and.html

              Go to the Transportation Unit BUNDLE for ESL/ELL in Kinder and Elementary! CLICK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Transportation-Unit-BUNDLE-for-ESL-Kindergarten-and-Elementary-7677380

Where do you buy things in town?

Link to the resource: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Town-Theme-Where-do-I-buy--3724084. There is a bundle for the Town Unit.

Teaching places in town and shopping vocabulary helps elementary English language learners talk about everyday situations. Students learn the names of stores and the items they can buy there, which supports real-life communication.

This ESL Town Vocabulary resource includes flashcards, small cards, and activities 

In my last post there were many activities on how to use the Town Theme flashcards, in this one is where to shop or buy things.

Flashcard Questions

Flashcards 1. Place several items flashcards and ask questions.

Teacher: Where do you buy a hamster ?

Student: At the pet shop.

Number Identification Game

Place several flashcards on the board and write a number on each. Ask the questions.

Teacher: What number is the pet shop ?

Student: 93

Teacher: What can you buy at the pet shop?

Students: hamster, dog, fish.

Sentence Building with Flashcards

Place a person, a store and an item flashcard on the board. Have the students make the sentence using the flashcards. They can make more sentences using these flashcards or magazine cutouts.

Matching Items to Stores

Give the students the small set of cards and have them match the item to the shop.

Put all the shops in ABC order.

Sorting stores to shops activity 

Or glue the stores on several toilet paper rolls. Glue items cards on craft sticks. Have the students sort where to buy things. I particularly like the mall one because there are many things to buy there and they can discuss between partners that there several places to buy the same things.

printable writing book.

 Students complete what they can buy in each store.

Here is a closer look of all the pages of the book.

When the book is read at home with the parents, have them bring it back along with some magazines. First have them cut the book in two parts and make another matching game. Second, cut the store and it on paper and have the students find pictures of things that can be bought at the stores and then glue where they belong so they can be shared with the class.

There will be another part for the town theme. Remember, there is a bundle for the Town Unit at the store.Right here:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Town-Theme-Bundle-for-Elementary-and-Kindergarten-ESL-5906470