How to practise short answers with the verb "to be"
Updated: Aug 26, 2022
Today I got inspired to create something to help my kids learn the "to be" short answers. They've never learnt it before in an organised way and I know from experience that it's often problematic for children to understand the rule. So I've created something that might help them 🙂
When I was designing the cards I had one problem. I didn't know which of the two options to choose:
Are you from England?
Yes, I am.
Are you from England?
Yes, you are.
They're both grammatically correct. Do I want to teach an automatic response at this stage or the more natural one. Seeing as I want this to be an organised material, which helps with the mechanism of creating short answers, I decided to go with the second option.
The first aid is a matching activity. You need a printer, laminating machine and velcro (I get my velcro dots online). I used double sided tape to join the question and answer cards together. It's a lot of work, but you end up with a card which is not see-through and one which is more resilient to bending (and God knows my kids will bend anything they're holding 😂). Also, in my humble opinion, the cards look better this way. I also put sticky tape around the small answer cards before putting velcro dots on them. Small laminated cards tend to get destroyed easily when attaching and reattaching. Sticky tape makes them last longer.
Background: Graphics From the Pond http://frompond.blogspot.com
Get the cards here
The other aid is an A/B/C activity. Again you need to print and laminate it. The answers are at the back. I also used double sided tape for that. The kids pick the right answer by putting a peg on it. The pegs I used are teeny-tiny because they're lighter but I'm sure normal sized ones would work as well.
Background: the3amteacher.blogspot.com
DOWNLOAD peg activity
Have fun creating,
Ewa :)