Find useful resources and tips for teaching English with interactive apps and sites.

EdTech

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you&nbsp;will.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Vernon Howard</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Mobile learning and advances in artificial intelligence mean most of the world has access to virtual voice assistants. Many of our learners know you can ask Siri, Alexa, and Google questions and receive a verbal response. Some of our learners might also have a device at home that helps them turn these virtual assistants into digital butlers. The devices allow people to command Alexa and Google to complete tasks such as ordering groceries, turning on the lights, and playing their favorite music&nbsp;playlists.</p>

<p>Encourage your students to practice English daily with their voice assistants using the tips and resources listed below. Continuous practice with voice activated technology will help your language learners enhance their speaking and listening skills while they are learning English in an engaging way. Remember that with each command you need to start with &ldquo;Hey Google/Siri/Alexa.&rdquo;</p>

<h1>Writing &amp; Editing&nbsp;Assistant</h1>

<p>Voice assistants make the writing and editing process more engaging. When editing their own writing or the writing of their peers, encourage students to use their voice assistants to check the spelling of words by asking Siri, Alexa, or Google, &ldquo;How do you spell ____?&rdquo; Students can also ask for synonyms or antonyms of words by asking, &ldquo;What are synonyms/antonyms for ____?&rdquo; Students can even ask grammar questions and be led to a website with more information and&nbsp;examples.</p>

<h1>Reading &amp; Research&nbsp;Buddy</h1>

<p>Encourage students to use voice assistants to help provide them with context, research, and help when they read. When students come across words they aren&rsquo;t familiar with, they can ask Siri, Alexa, or Google, &ldquo;What is the definition for ____?&rdquo; They can also translate words with the command, &ldquo;Translate ___ into ____&nbsp;(language).&rdquo;</p>

<p>Students can also ask their voice assistants about the author, the setting, or any other research question. The queries could be phrased as, &ldquo;Who is _____? What is ______? Where is ____?&rdquo; When the assistant doesn&rsquo;t know, then the assistant will lead students to websites with the information. Encourage students to click on the links and see what they&nbsp;discover.</p>

<h1>Interactive Fun</h1>

<p>Students can play interactive speaking games with their virtual assistants by downloading the free <a href="https://assistant.google.com/intl/en_us/platforms/phones/">Google Assistant app</a> on Android or iOS devices. On the app try the following interactive&nbsp;activities:</p>

<ul>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, Mad Libs.&rdquo;</em> Use this command to play the famous Mad Libs game with Google. Add nouns, verbs, and adjectives to help Google complete a&nbsp;story.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, talk to everyday heroes.&rdquo;</em> With this command, students conduct interviews with everyday heroes like police detectives or zookeepers. These are pre-recorded responses from real people who describe their jobs and answer other&nbsp;questions.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, let&rsquo;s play a game.&rdquo;</em> This command will prompt you with audio games, such as Mad Libs or Trivia, or chat games, such as Emoji Riddles and Movies. Guess the movie titles or riddles disguised as&nbsp;emojis.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, talk to Akinator.&rdquo;</em> With this command, Google turns into a genie who asks you a series of yes-or-no questions to guess the character you are thinking&nbsp;of.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, talk to Huffpost Headline Quiz.&rdquo;</em> With this command, Google plays a game answering questions about current&nbsp;events.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, I want to talk to Number Genie.&rdquo;</em> With this command, guess the number Google is thinking of by listening to the&nbsp;hints.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, talk to Space Trivia.&rdquo;</em> With this command, answer trivia about&nbsp;space.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, play Sports Illustrated Kids Trivia.&rdquo;</em> With this command, answer trivia about&nbsp;sports.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, are you feeling lucky?&rdquo;</em> Use this command to play a trivia game alone or with your&nbsp;friends.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, talk to Song Pop.&rdquo;</em> With this command, answer trivia about popular&nbsp;songs.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, crystal ball.&rdquo;</em> With this command, Google transforms into your very own fortune teller answering yes-or-no questions.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, call Dustin from Stranger Things.&rdquo;</em> If your students are fans of the TV series <em>Stranger Things</em>, they can have an interactive conversation with him answering trivia from the&nbsp;show.</li>
	<li><em>&ldquo;Okay Google, call Santa.&rdquo;</em> Use this command to talk to Santa and answer some questions for him as his&nbsp;helper.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Google Voice Experiments</h1>

<p>Google is encouraging coders to test the abilities of voice interaction technology with <a href="https://experiments.withgoogle.com/voice">Voice Experiments</a>. Visit the website to find free learning activities using the microphone on your computer. You can also play these games with a Google Home device. Below are a few of my favorite voice experiments for language learners. Make sure to allow access to your microphone. Some experiments require some setup and permissions before you&nbsp;begin.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://mysteryanimal.withgoogle.com/">Mystery Animal</a> The computer pretends to be an animal. Students ask 20 yes-or-no questions aloud in order to guess the animal, and the computer&nbsp;responds.</li>
	<li><a href="https://experiments.withgoogle.com/voice/mixlab">MixLab</a> Students will enjoy creating their own music using voice commands like, &ldquo;Play me a funky bass&rdquo; or &ldquo;Add some jazz&nbsp;drums.&rdquo;</li>
	<li><a href="https://experiments.withgoogle.com/voice/story-speaker">Story Speaker</a> Students can create talking, interactive stories by writing their stories in a Google Doc and then adding the Story Speaker add-on for it to be read aloud. This requires some&nbsp;set-up.</li>
</ul>

<h1>More Ideas</h1>

<p>In addition to these engaging activities, you can ask your virtual assistant to give you homework help, sing you songs, read you a story, or read you a poem. Alexa calls the interactive commands &ldquo;Skills.&rdquo; You can do fun things like play a choose-your-own-adventure game by saying, &ldquo;Alexa, open the magic door&rdquo; or investigate a murder by saying, &ldquo;Alexa, open the Wayne Investigation.&rdquo; Check out the following links for more fun with virtual&nbsp;assistants:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://www.blog.google/products/assistant/family-fun-with-your-assistant-on-google-home-and-phones/">Family Fun with Your Google Assistant on Google Home and&nbsp;Phones</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/feature/digital-home/funny-google-assistant-3659188/">101 Funny Things to Ask Google Home and Google&nbsp;Assistant</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/1070-alexa-skills-games.html">20 Alexa Game Skills to Keep You&nbsp;Entertained</a></li>
</ul>

<p>How do you use technology to encourage students to practice speaking and listening in English outside the&nbsp;classroom?</p>

<p>If you want to receive more of Shelly&rsquo;s tips for online resources for teaching English, then <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell">check out her&nbsp;feed</a>!</p>


25 Engaging Ways to Practice English with Voice Assistants

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Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a&nbsp;memory.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash; Dr. Seuss</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Students love capturing moments and sharing them in different ways via videos, photos, or audio. We can encourage students to revisit this treasure trove of content and share the bigger story of the memories through digital&nbsp;scrapbooking.</p>

<p>Several web tools and apps allow students to upload their photos, videos, and other media to a digital book with blank pages. Just like a physical scrapbook, students can organize the content as they wish and make the memories come alive with different fonts, stickers, frames, clipart, and&nbsp;backgrounds.</p>

<p>Digital scrapbooking inspires creativity, enhances storytelling skills, improves writing, and teaches students how to write using digital media. A digital scrapbook is also a heartwarming gift for family members. Below&nbsp;are tips and web tools to get your students started on a digital scrapbooking project. Always make sure to receive parental permission when students share their own personal photos and&nbsp;media.</p>

<h1>Focus on a Theme</h1>

<p>Digital scrapbooking can turn into a lifelong project and your students have plenty of memories to share. For now, start with a theme to focus the writing and storytelling. Themes might include revisiting a birthday, sporting event, age, celebration, holiday, and so forth. You might even have students create a digital scrapbook with memories of the current school&nbsp;year.</p>

<h1>Start with 3 Memories</h1>

<p>Tell students to think of their digital scrapbooks as a collection of memories and stories revolving around the theme. Students should first jot down at least three memories they want to create pages for in their scrapbooks. They should pick memories they have images and video for and can share. They can always add more memories later. They should put these memories in sequential order and jot down dates, places, people, and any other important facts. Then they should describe the event as best as they can remember with a focus on their emotions and&nbsp;experience.</p>

<h1>Verify the Details</h1>

<p>Outside of class, students will need time to verify the details by reviewing any documents associated with the event, such as flyers, tickets, or other keepsakes. They can also interview their family members or others who took part in the memories. Students will also need time to search for images, video, or other media associated with the memories and upload these files to the digital scrapbooking platform. Some suggested free digital scrapbooking web tools are suggested&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>Layout and Design</h1>

<p>Instruct students to choose one image or video to be the focal point of the memory. Students can set the image apart with frames, stickers, or texts. The image can be placed at the center of the page and made bigger than the rest of the content or can be placed at the top left hand corner, since this is how we tend to read. The rest of the content students choose to include they should think of as highlights illustrating the emotions or activities as they&nbsp;unfolded.</p>

<h1>Integrate Writing</h1>

<p>Students should include details about the event, such as date, time, and a short description on the page. This might be through stickers or cool fonts. Then students can add brief thoughts, commentary, labels, or text speak. For example, students might write &quot;LOL,&quot;&nbsp;&ldquo;Best friends for life!&rdquo; or &ldquo;Poor me!&rdquo; On a following page, students can share the details of the memory through writing, video, or&nbsp;audio.</p>

<h1>Revision and Feedback</h1>

<p>When students finish their digital scrapbooks, get them to peer edit for grammar errors and some feedback on the design. You might want to try the 2 Stars and 1 Wish method, in which, students share two things they love about their peer&rsquo;s digital scrapbook and one suggestion for improvement. This might be to make the font bigger, space photos more, or spread out photos on a separate page. Students don&rsquo;t need to confine their memories to only one page. They can use multiple pages to share the three&nbsp;memories.</p>

<h1>The Finished Product</h1>

<p>When peer edits are finished, then post the revised scrapbooks for all peers to view. You can do this by curating the digital scrapbooks with a tool like <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a>.&nbsp;You can also just share these privately on the class virtual learning environment. Don&rsquo;t forget to share the finished products with parents who will also enjoy the&nbsp;memories.</p>

<p>Give students the opportunity to share their memories aloud and practice their speaking skills. Divide students into small groups to present their digital scrapbooks and share at least one of the&nbsp;memories.</p>

<h1>Suggested Web Tools</h1>

<p>The following free web tools and apps include a library of templates, stickers, fonts, images, banners, and more to inspire student&nbsp;creativity.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/">Buncee</a> is a the perfect web tool and iOS app for a multimedia scrapbook with plenty of layout options, templates, stickers, frames, clip art, and Creative Commons content for students to access safely. Students can upload their own images, video clips, and audio&nbsp;clips.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.canva.com/">Canva</a> is a great web tool and iPad app for a digital scrapbook of student images and also has plenty of templates, stickers, and images students can choose from. Students can&rsquo;t embed video or&nbsp;audio.</p>

<p><a href="https://edu.glogster.com/">EduGlogster</a> is a web tool and app that allows students to combine their own images, graphics, audio, video and text to create a multimedia&nbsp;scrapbook.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.google.com/slides/about/">Google Slides</a> doesn&rsquo;t have a library of stickers, graphics, or templates to choose from, but students can add their own images, videos, and content to create a multimedia scrapbook. Google does have a library of very cool&nbsp;fonts.</p>

<p><a href="https://bookcreator.com/">Book Creator</a> is accessible as an iOS app and on Chromebooks. Students can combine text, images, audio and video to create their digital&nbsp;scrapbooks.</p>

<p><a href="https://spark.adobe.com/">Adobe Spark</a> and <a href="https://sway.com/">Sway</a> are other web tool options for creating multimedia digital scrapbooks. Both allow students to upload images, video, and other content. Adobe Spark is also an iOS&nbsp;app.</p>

<p>How do you encourage students to share their personal stories in your&nbsp;classroom?</p>


Inspire Meaningful Writing Practice through Digital Scrapbooking

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Remember that a person&rsquo;s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any&nbsp;language.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Dale Carnegie</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Teaching new classes and learners is exciting! We get to influence young minds and facilitate them in their learning&nbsp;journeys.</p>

<p>One of the most important rules for starting off on the right foot with your new students is to learn their names. This might seem daunting, especially when you teach language learners who might have names you&rsquo;ve never&nbsp;encountered.</p>

<p>You don&rsquo;t have to go through the semester asking students to repeat their names or help you pronounce their names again and again. Instead, try the activities and resources below to help you and your students learn each other&rsquo;s names and pronounce them correctly. Your learners will appreciate the effort taken to get their names correct. They will also feel more accepted and welcomed into your&nbsp;class.</p>

<h1>Who&rsquo;s In Our Class? Word&nbsp;Games</h1>

<p>On the first day of class, get students to write down their names, the phonetic transcription or pronunciation, and one cool fact about them. Collect these and create a word search, crossword or other word game for classmates to play with all your students&rsquo; names and their cool facts. Make crosswords and word searches with <a href="http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/index.cfm" target="_blank">Discovery Education</a>, <a href="http://www.armoredpenguin.com/" target="_blank">Armored Penguin</a>, <a href="https://wordmint.com/" target="_blank">Word Mint</a>, and Abcya (<a href="http://www.abcya.com/make_a_word_search.htm" target="_blank">word search</a> /&nbsp;<a href="http://www.abcya.com/crossword_puzzle_maker.htm" target="_blank">crossword</a>).</p>

<h1>Class Names Dictionary</h1>

<p>Use a web tool, such as <a href="https://voicethread.com/" target="_blank">VoiceThread</a>, <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" target="_blank">Buncee</a>, <a href="https://bookcreator.com/" target="_blank">Book Creator</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/slides/about/" target="_blank">Google Slides</a> or <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/" target="_blank">Livebinders</a> to create a digital dictionary of the names of the students in your class. Feel free to use this <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kbRgnkwaChpiNOrNsUOo1bh8tw-wYoCeuNHMcw7oH28/copy" target="_blank">Google Slides template</a>, in which students write down the name they&rsquo;d like to be called and include a video pronouncing their name and sharing a fact about&nbsp;themselves.</p>

<h1>Name App</h1>

<p>One of my favorite ways to learn names is with the <a href="http://namesharkapp.com/" target="_blank">Name Shark app</a>. I pass my iPad around with the app opened. Students take a selfie and then enter their preferred first and last names. I can then play a variety of quizzes to guess the names and remember their&nbsp;faces.</p>

<h1>How Do I Pronounce Your&nbsp;Name?</h1>

<p>Put every student&rsquo;s first name on a strip of paper and put all the strips in a bag or jar. Use a smartboard or projector to display the website <a href="http://www.pronouncenames.com/" target="_blank">Pronouncenames.com</a>. Each student draws a name and types in the name on the Pronounce Names website. Make sure the audio is turned up so all hear the name pronounced. Ask the student with the name to stand and correct the pronunciation if needed. If the student agrees with the pronunciation, then the class says in unison, &ldquo;Hi <em>Name</em>! Nice to meet you.&rdquo; Make it more fun for young language learners by getting them to bow after the&nbsp;greeting.</p>

<h1>Name Meanings and&nbsp;Origins</h1>

<p>Students research their name meanings and origins. Then they use a web tool, like <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" target="_blank">Buncee</a>, <a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank">Canva</a> or <a href="https://www.google.com/slides/about/" target="_blank">Google Slides</a> to create a slide displaying their name and its meaning and origin. They should also include the story behind how they got their name. Students present the images and history behind their names to their&nbsp;peers.</p>

<h1>Acrostic Name Poems</h1>

<p>Students spell out their names vertically on a piece of paper or digital slide. For every letter, they write a few words or a sentence describing something about themselves. At least one word in the sentence should begin with the letter. Learn more about the various forms of acrostic poems <a href="http://www.acrosticpoem.org/" target="_blank">here</a>. Another idea is for learners to type in their names into the <a href="http://www.acrosticpoem.org/" target="_blank">Acrostic Poem Generator</a> and share the results in pairs. They discuss what words describe them and think of better words to replace the ones that&nbsp;don&rsquo;t.</p>

<p>Make sure students are able to present to peers so everyone learns each other&rsquo;s names. You may want to use a curation tool like Pinterest to add all the activities to one location so students can revisit the board to learn the names of their classmates. Another idea is to create a class Voicethread in which all learners pronounce their names and present their&nbsp;creations.</p>

<h1>Clapping Name Mingle</h1>

<p>Form two lines. Students face each other and introduce themselves. The pairs then play a <a href="https://icebreakerideas.com/hand-clapping-games/" target="_blank">hand clapping game</a>, in which, they spell the names aloud and clap hands for every&nbsp;letter.</p>

<h1>Jump Rope Name Chant</h1>

<p>Students line up while two peers hold the jump rope. The first one up says his/her full name then begins jumping and repeats the following chant beginning with the first letter of their name and filling in their own ideas: &ldquo;S my name is Shelly. My dog/cat/sister/brother/parent&rsquo;s name is Rosco, and I like&nbsp;pizza.&rdquo;</p>

<p>After each student jumps and completes the name chant then they go again in a second round. This time each student repeats the chant of the peer they follow in line. If Kim is behind me then she would chant while she jumps, &ldquo;S her name is Shelly. Her pug&rsquo;s name is Rosco and she likes&nbsp;pizza.&rdquo;</p>

<h1>Circle Ball Introductions</h1>

<p>This activity is especially fun for very young learners. This is the way my class of two-year-olds began the class. Sit in a circle. One student holds a ball. The student says, &ldquo;Hi! My name is Shelly.&rdquo; As the student says the name she should hit the ball for each syllable. For Shelly she hits the ball twice. Then the class says in unison, &ldquo;Hi, Shelly! Nice to meet you.&rdquo; Then the student passes the ball to another student and the activity&nbsp;repeats.</p>

<p>For older children try the Jump Rope Name Chant, but instead students repeat the chant and pound on the ball. The next person who takes the ball repeats the previous student&rsquo;s chant and adds their&nbsp;information.</p>

<h1>Name Action Syllables</h1>

<p>This is a great game that uses Total Physical Response (TPR) to remember names. Gather learners in a circle. Students greet the class with their names and associate an action with each syllable of their names for the class to repeat. For example, I might snap for &ldquo;Shel&rdquo; and stomp my foot for &ldquo;ly.&rdquo; The class says,&ldquo;Hi Shel (snaps) ly (stomps),&rdquo; repeating the&nbsp;actions.</p>

<h1>Name Songs and Games</h1>

<p>Children love learning names with fun songs and games. A popular game is, <a href="http://supersimplelearning.com/songs/original-series/two/who-took-the-cookie/" target="_blank">Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?</a>, and the <a href="https://thenamegame-generator.com/the-name-game-rules.html" target="_blank">Name Game (Banana Fana)</a>. Display the lyrics on a smartboard or projector along with a list of the class names on the side of the&nbsp;lyrics.</p>

<p>What tips do you have for remembering the names of your language&nbsp;learners?</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/110/lessons/2269">What&rsquo;s Your Name?</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1211">Your Name</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/classroom-management/resources/2209-class-list">Class List</a></li>
</ul>


Let's Learn Each Other's Names

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Find fun games and activities for teaching English to young learners and middle schoolers. 

Young Learners

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every&nbsp;sky.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Dejan Stojanovic</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Knowing the alphabet is the first step for children to learn English vocabulary and spelling. Learning the alphabet goes beyond memorizing each consonant and vowel. Children need to be able to recognize letters, sound them out, know how vowels and consonants work, and understand the rules associated with each letter. Children also need to be able to understand the relationship between pairing certain letters and how this impacts pronunciation and&nbsp;spelling. The best way to teach young language learners the English alphabet is to make it fun, engaging, and relatable. The websites and apps below make learning the alphabet engaging and interactive. Children are encouraged to learn by reading, listening, practicing, spelling, and&nbsp;pronouncing. &nbsp;</p>

<h1>Fun ABC Websites</h1>

<p><a href="http://alphabetimals.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Alphabetimals</a> is one of the best websites and apps (iOS, Android) for children to have fun learning the alphabet. The <a href="http://alphabetimals.com/en/dictionary.php" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Animal Alphabet Dictionary</a> lets children click on animal-disguised letters to hear the sound. Children spell their names with the <a href="http://alphabetimals.com/en/typer.php" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Name Typer</a> tool, which spells their names with alphabetimals and allows printing for T-shirts and stickers. Children will also enjoy the videos and engaging&nbsp;apps. Check out <a href="https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/d9e37979df1a4d8a84bad1a17d08f957" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">EduBuncee&rsquo;s Alphabet Treasure Hunt</a>. Children match stickers that begin with the letter&nbsp;show. <a href="http://www.abcya.com/alphabet_matching_game.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Monster Mansion Alphabet Match</a> is a game where children match letter sounds to beginning word sounds. Young learners click on the windows of the Monster Mansion to see the friendly monsters and match the letters to the appropriate words. All letters and words are sounded&nbsp;out. Find several ABC games children will enjoy playing on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.turtlediary.com/games/alphabet.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Turtle Diary</a>, <a href="https://www.education.com/games/alphabet/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Education.com</a>, and <a href="http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/alphabet_games.html" target="_blank">Learning Games for&nbsp;Kids</a>. <a href="http://www.starfall.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Starfall</a> has animated games, songs, and stories for children to learn the&nbsp;alphabet.</p>

<h1>Recommended Free Apps</h1>

<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/abc-alphabet-phonics-preschool-game-for-kids/id415071093?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ABC Alphabet Phonics</a> (iOS) &ndash; Children learn the alphabet through sight, sound, and touch. Awesome features include a self-recording tool, a photo-taking tool, realistic photos, and dynamic game&nbsp;play. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kids-picture-dictionary-learn-english-a-z-words/id482972824?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Kids Picture Dictionary: Learn English A&ndash;Z Words</a> (iOS) &ndash; This picture dictionary has over 600 words and sentences for each letter. Parents and children can record themselves repeating the phrases for each&nbsp;letter. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alphabet-picture-dictionary/id670575686?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Alphabet Picture Dictionary</a> (iOS) &ndash; This picture dictionary has over 500 words sounded aloud with realistic&nbsp;pictures. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/my-first-alphabet-for-preschooler/id598113474?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">My First Alphabet for Preschooler</a> (iOS) &ndash; This app is made by the same company as the Alphabet Picture Dictionary. Children learn to read and write the English&nbsp;alphabet. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/feed-the-animals-with-alphabet-tracing-spelling/id500099457?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Feed the Animals with Alphabet, Tracing &amp; Spelling</a> (iOS) &ndash; Children learn the alphabet by playing nine fun animal&nbsp;games. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kids-abc-games-toddler-girls-boys-learning-free/id635603974?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Kids ABC Games: Toddler Girls &amp; Boys Learning Free</a> (iOS/Android) &ndash; Children learn the alphabet with four puzzle games set in an animated&nbsp;aquarium.&nbsp;</p>

<p>How do you make learning the alphabet fun for your young language&nbsp;learners?</p>

<p>Find <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/author/shelly-terrell/">more of Shelly&rsquo;s tips for online resources</a> on this&nbsp;blog!</p>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/23/flashcard_categories" target="_blank">Alphabet Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2152-the-alphabet" target="_blank">Alphabet Chart</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2447-the-phonetic-spelling-alphabet" target="_blank">The Phonetic Spelling Alphabet</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2392" target="_blank">How to Use Capital Letters</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/110/lessons/2269" target="_blank">What&rsquo;s Your Name?</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Young Learners &amp; Literacy</h1>

<p>Did you notice that ESL&nbsp;Library is gradually adding materials for teaching young learners and absolute beginners? Check out the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons" target="_blank">Word Bank</a> section and watch for more YL lesson sections coming&nbsp;soon!</p>


Let’s Learn the Alphabet Digitally! 15 Fun Websites & Apps

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener&nbsp;receives.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Lilly Walters</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Chances are you might be attending or presenting at a conference this year. Conferences are a great way to make connections and share your experience with other&nbsp;educators.</p>

<p>ESL&nbsp;Library team members often present at and attend TESOL and other ELT conferences. Below are some tips we hope will help you deliver an incredible presentation. Feel free to connect with us at a conference. We would love to see you&nbsp;present!</p>

<h1>Focus on a Few Points</h1>

<p>Top presenters advise that an audience will remember up to three ideas. Choose the main takeaways of your presentation and remind your audience of these points at the end of the presentation. For those who want to know more, provide a handout or a link to your presentation&nbsp;resources.</p>

<h1>Share Your Reflections</h1>

<p>Many presenters make the mistake of sharing too much research or too many quotes or ideas from others. Your audience is interested in <em>your</em> thoughts, reflections, and experiences on the topic. Briefly mention the pedagogy and research, and for those who are interested, offer to provide a list of references or an emailed copy of your research. Keep in mind that the audience came to listen to you; therefore, the majority of the presentation needs to be about your insights, struggles, and&nbsp;solutions.</p>

<h1>Design a Compelling Presentation</h1>

<p>Like our language learners, we learn best with visuals and multimedia. Make sure your presentation is designed well and includes visuals, multimedia, video, or audio. Limit the amount of text you have on your slides. For more tips on designing a compelling presentation, check out this post:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/20-tips-and-resources-to-help-learners-with-their-presentation-skills/" target="_blank">20+ Tips and Resources to Help Learners with Their Presentation&nbsp;Skills</a>.</p>

<h1>Include a Warmer or&nbsp;Icebreaker</h1>

<p>Chances are your audience members have been sitting through several other presentations and their brains are already filled with information. Wake them up with a quick icebreaker, warmer, or filler. Even if you are not giving a workshop, movement stimulates the brain. We share some icebreakers in this post:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/a-beautiful-beginning-10-tips-resources-for-creating-a-safe-classroom-environment/" target="_blank">A Beautiful Beginning: 10+ Tips &amp; Resources for Creating a Safe Classroom&nbsp;Environment</a>.</p>

<h1>Allow Audience Input Toward the&nbsp;End</h1>

<p>Too many times I have seen a member of the audience hijack a presentation when allowed to share. Some audience members speak for too long or begin debates that can last for most of the presentation. You spent a lot of time preparing your presentation, so to maximize this time, invite your audience to share and ask their questions at the end of your presentation&nbsp;only.</p>

<h1>Include a Backchannel</h1>

<p>You can have your audience share throughout the presentation with a backchannel. If your audience is on Twitter, provide them with a hashtag to include their questions and thoughts. Other options are having the audience share online with these suggested web tools:&nbsp;<a href="https://padlet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Padlet</a>, <a href="http://en.linoit.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Lino</a>, or <a href="https://todaysmeet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Today&rsquo;s&nbsp;Meet</a>.</p>

<h1>Have a Plan B, C, D&hellip;</h1>

<p>The technology may fail you. Do not waste too much time apologizing or trying to fix the technology. Instead, continue with the learning and have a backup plan. If a video or audio clip doesn&rsquo;t play, move on. Prepare a presentation that does not require an Internet connection along with the one that does. One time, when my projector didn&rsquo;t work and I couldn&rsquo;t show my slides, I had the audience participate in activities with their mobile devices. (Good thing the topic was about language learning with mobile&nbsp;devices!)</p>

<h1>Provide a Copy of Your&nbsp;Presentation</h1>

<p>Make sure to let your audience know how they can get a copy of your presentation slides and resources. There are several web tools and websites where you can publish your presentation online. You can create a <a href="https://docs.google.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Google Doc</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pbworks.com/wikis.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Wiki</a>, or <a href="https://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Weebly</a> with your resources. If you don&rsquo;t feel comfortable publishing your work online, offer to email your audience a&nbsp;copy.</p>

<h1>Invite the Audience to&nbsp;Connect</h1>

<p>If your audience loved your presentation, they might want to invite you to present at their schools or at another conference. Make sure to let people know how they can connect with you through email or on social media. You can provide a QR code with your contact information. People still exchange business cards at conferences, so have some on hand just in&nbsp;case.</p>

<h1>Connect on Social&nbsp;Media</h1>

<p>You can connect with your audience before and after your presentation through <a href="http://twitter.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ESLlibrary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Facebook</a>. Most conferences have a hashtag where you can discover other conference attendees, presenters, and bloggers. The conference hashtag is a great place to invite people to attend your presentation and to post your presentation resources for those who could not attend.</p>

<p><a class="button" href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-ultimate-hashtag-guide-for-english-language-teachers/" target="_blank">Shelly&rsquo;s Ultimate Hashtag Guide for ELT</a></p>

<p>Sometimes I schedule tweets with images and ideas <a href="https://twitter.com/shellterrell" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">on my Twitter account</a> to coincide with my presentation. Invite your audience to tweet during your presentation using the conference hashtag. Invite them to post pictures or their feedback. Often this will attract more people to your presentation or future presentations.</p>

<p>What tips do you have for those&nbsp;presenting?</p>


Top Tips for Presenting at ELT Conferences

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;We do have a lot in common. The same air, the same Earth, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what&#39;s the same instead of always looking at what&#39;s different&hellip;well, who&nbsp;knows?&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Meowth</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Have you heard about the latest craze of people&nbsp;playing <a href="http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-go/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pok&eacute;mon GO</a>&nbsp;on their <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pokemon-go/id1094591345?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticlabs.pokemongo&amp;hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Android</a> devices? Gamers pretend to be&nbsp;trainers who try to capture the Pok&eacute;mon that surround them. The game uses augmented reality to show Pok&eacute;mon at various locations around the physical world. The famous game is based on the popular Pok&eacute;mon game and animated series from the 1990s. The app is currently limited to only a few countries, but will be available soon in more countries. During the summer, your language learners can&nbsp;enjoy playing the game and practicing their English with the ideas and activities shared&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>The Basics</h1>

<p>The app allows&nbsp;users&nbsp;to practice basic tasks in English. Learners&nbsp;can sign up with a Google account or join the Pok&eacute;mon Trainer Club for free. When they&nbsp;sign up as a trainer, they&nbsp;are asked to enter their&nbsp;date of birth, country, a username, password, and email address. When they&nbsp;verify their&nbsp;email, they&nbsp;receive tokens. If playing with young learners who don&#39;t have email accounts, adults can add children to their trainer account. Once a trainer account is verified, learners can edit their profiles, add a motto, and log on to the game via a mobile&nbsp;device.</p>

<h3>Related Lesson</h3>

<p>Try ESL Library&#39;s ready-made Discussion Starters lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2252" target="_blank">The &quot;Pokemon GO&quot;&nbsp;Phenomenon</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<h1>Introducing the Game</h1>

<p>Some of your learners have played Pok&eacute;mon before and can help other language learners in your class understand the basics. Below are a list of resources to help you introduce the basic vocabulary, characters, and premise of the&nbsp;game:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.imore.com/pokemon-go" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Beginner&rsquo;s Guide: How to Play Pok&eacute;mon GO</a>&nbsp;explains everything you need to know about the&nbsp;game</li>
	<li><a href="http://comicsalliance.com/pokemon-infographic/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Infographic</a> that explains the 17 different categories of Pok&eacute;mon and some interesting&nbsp;facts</li>
	<li>A <a href="http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">list of the Pok&eacute;mon</a> with an image and information about each&nbsp;character</li>
	<li><a href="http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/History_of_Pok%C3%A9mon" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The History of&nbsp;Pok&eacute;mon</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Game Introduction as a&nbsp;Reading</h1>

<p>Gamers&nbsp;begin by reading a short introduction of the game&rsquo;s purpose. Take a screenshot of the introduction and make it a class reading where you have a list of vocabulary or phrases to&nbsp;learn.</p>

<h1>Create and Share Your Trainer&nbsp;Avatar</h1>

<p>Learners create the trainer&rsquo;s avatar. Have learners list or discuss with their peers the trainer&rsquo;s face shape, hair style and color, eye color, cap, top, bottoms, shoes, and backpack. They will practice vocabulary associated with parts of the body, clothing, and&nbsp;characteristics.</p>

<h1>Characteristics of a Good Pok&eacute;mon&nbsp;Trainer</h1>

<p>The game involves role-playing. Learners act as trainers who capture and train the Pok&eacute;mon to battle each other. Get learners to create a digital <a href="http://www.shellyterrell.com/poster.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">poster</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/14-free-web-tools-and-apps-for-students-to-present-their-knowledge/" target="_blank">presentation</a>. You should do this after they have played the game a few&nbsp;times.</p>

<h1>Share Your Favorite&nbsp;Pok&eacute;mon</h1>

<p>Give learners&nbsp;time to research the <a href="http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pok&eacute;mon list</a>. Your&nbsp;students can then create presentations or digital posters&nbsp;about their top three&nbsp;favorite Pok&eacute;mon. The learners&nbsp;don&rsquo;t have to include everything they discover but should include an image, the type, some data, a few statistics, the types of defenses and the evolution of the Pok&eacute;mon. They want to include information that will help them be better players for the Pok&eacute;mon Go&nbsp;game.</p>

<h1>Guess the Pok&eacute;mon</h1>

<p>Once your learners share their favorite three Pok&eacute;mon, get them to play a guessing game in small groups where each guesses the Pok&eacute;mon based on a list of physical characteristics, traits, and facts. Learners write down on an index card the name of the Pok&eacute;mon with a list of five&nbsp;facts and a drawing. These index cards go in a stack. One learner draws a card and describes the Pok&eacute;mon based on appearance and also can share the five&nbsp;facts on the card. Allow learners to use the &#39;sounds like&#39; option if it is too difficult. The other group members try to guess the Pok&eacute;mon. Another option is to use a timer and divide the groups into two&nbsp;teams playing against each&nbsp;other.</p>

<h1>Pok&eacute;mon GO Player Good&nbsp;Practices</h1>

<p>The game starts with warnings for players to be alert and aware of their surroundings. Complaints have already been made about trainers playing at funerals or historical sites where playing a game is considered insensitive. Gamers have also been acting dangerously in the streets. Ask your&nbsp;learners to work in pairs or small groups and come up with a list of five&nbsp;to ten&nbsp;safety tips and good practices for players. Some ideas include having an non-playing adult present, not playing in the streets, practicing good judgment, and exhibiting&nbsp;good manners. Groups can create <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/14-free-web-tools-and-apps-for-students-to-present-their-knowledge/" target="_blank">presentations</a> featuring these&nbsp;tips.</p>

<h1>Digital Storytelling</h1>

<p>Once your learners play the game, have them write a digital story of their experiences battling or capturing a Pok&eacute;mon. Learners can describe the location, the obstacles, and other details. Have them read their stories aloud in pairs to add a speaking component. Recommended digital storytelling tools include <a href="https://www.littlebirdtales.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Little Bird Tales</a> (web/iOS app), <a href="http://www.toondoo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Toondoo</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puppet-pals-2-school-edition/id557616416?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Puppet Pals HD</a> (iOS app), <a href="http://www.redjumper.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Book Creator</a> (iOS/Android app), and <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">EduBuncee</a> (web/iOS&nbsp;app).</p>

<p>What other games do your language learners enjoy playing on their mobile&nbsp;devices?</p>


9 Fun Ways to Practice English with Pokémon GO!

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t explain it simply, you don&rsquo;t understand it well enough.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1328" target="_blank">Albert Einstein</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>This year, get your language learners to present their learning in a multimedia slideshow. If this is one of their first presentations, keep it simple by providing your students with a general topic to explore, such as careers. Then give your learners the freedom to narrow their topic for their presentations (e.g., <em>engineer</em> or&nbsp;<em>teacher</em>).</p>

<p>Make sure students choose two or three areas to explore to ensure no topic is repeated. Provide students with a checklist of information to gather about the topic. For careers, students would need to find out <em>salaries, duties, top hiring companies, needed skills, </em>and required certifications. When your students complete their research, students should deliver an oral presentation alongside their multimedia&nbsp;slideshow.</p>

<p>Try one of ESL Library&#39;s new ready-made project-based learning modules. Your students will do a presentation as part of their group research&nbsp;project.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/group-projects/resources/2198-public-health-project">Public Health Project</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/group-projects/resources/2214-earth-summit-project">Earth Summit Project</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/group-projects/resources/2233-canada-project">Canada Project</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>3 Presentation Forms for Language Learners</h1>

<p>Here are three recommended multimedia slideshows tools and apps that you can introduce to your language learners as they prepare their presentations. For more ideas on how to help students develop public speaking and presentation skills, check out this post, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/20-tips-and-resources-to-help-learners-with-their-presentation-skills/" target="_blank">20+ Tips and Resources to Help Learners with Their Presentation&nbsp;Skills</a>.</p>

<p>For language learners, shorter presentations are less intimidating. Have your learners deliver a <a href="http://ed.ted.com/clubs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TED Talk</a>, <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-presentation-skills-with-ignite-andrew-miller" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ignite</a>, or <a href="http://www.pechakucha.org/faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pecha Kucha</a> style&nbsp;presentation.</p>

<p><a href="http://ed.ted.com/clubs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TED Talks</a> are anywhere from 3 to 23 minutes and are about innovation, passions, inventions, or incredible ideas. Get language learners to study TED Talks by presenters their age and analyze the content and delivery. After analyzing a few TED Talks, have students provide you a topic for their own TED Talk they will deliver in front of their peers. The following are links with tips, rubrics, and lesson plans to get your students&nbsp;started:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://blog.ted.com/10-inspiring-talks-from-tedyouth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">10 Inspiring Talks From TED&nbsp;Youth</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://tedxproject.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The TEDx Classroom Project</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://www.educationworld.com/blog/ted-talk-unit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Engaging Assignment: Have Students Create Their Own TED&nbsp;Talks</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://www.englishisapieceofcake.com/presentation-lesson-plan.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">How to Give a Good Presentation Lesson&nbsp;Plan</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://www.thetechclassroom.com/home/usingtedtodeveloppresentationskills" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Using TED to Develop Presentation&nbsp;Skills</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/11/25/what-students-can-learn-from-giving-tedx-talks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">What Students Can Learn from Giving TEDx&nbsp;Talks</a></li>
</ul>

<p>An <a href="http://igniteshow.com/howto" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ignite</a> is a 5 minute presentation style in which students design 20 slides that auto advance every 15 seconds. The idea is for students to create well designed presentations with little text. Find a lesson plan and tips here, <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-presentation-skills-with-ignite-andrew-miller" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Teaching Presentation Skills with&nbsp;Ignite</a>.</p>

<p>A <a href="http://www.pechakucha.org/faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pecha Kucha</a> is a presentation style invented by architects Klein and Dytham in Japan. The presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Students design 20 slides with mostly visuals and very little text. Each slide auto advances every 20 seconds. Find lesson ideas here, <a href="https://remixhumanities.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/pecha-kucha-in-the-classroom-tips-and-strategies-for-better-presentations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pecha Kucha in the Classroom: Tips and Strategies for Better&nbsp;Presentations</a>.</p>

<h1>Presentation Tools and Apps</h1>

<p>Create multimedia slideshows with templates, transitions, and animations with free web tools, such as <a href="https://flowvella.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Flowvella</a>, <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">EduBuncee</a> (iOS app), <a href="https://sway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Sway</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/slides/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Google Slides</a> (iOS/Android apps), <a href="https://www.emaze.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Emaze</a>, and <a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Canva</a> (iOS app). Recently, Google Slides integrated a <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/05/how-to-use-new-q-and-laser-pointer.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">question and answer feature</a> to engage&nbsp;learners.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Slideshare</a>, <a href="https://www.haikudeck.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Haiku Deck</a> (iOS app), and <a href="http://slide.ly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Slide.ly</a> are general slide creation tools with templates and resorces to help students create visually stunning&nbsp;presentations.</p>

<p><a href="https://present.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Present.me</a>, <a href="http://prezi.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Prezi</a> (iOS app), and <a href="http://voicethread.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Voicethread</a> (iOS app) allow students to add voice and video narration to their&nbsp;slides.</p>

<p><a href="http://photopeach.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Photopeach</a>, students create a slide presentation with quizzes, images and add&nbsp;music.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.livebinders.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Livebinders</a> is an online web tool and free mobile app that looks like a digital school binder. Students can choose presentation mode when delivering their oral presentations. It has various tabs, so students can embed websites, pdfs, images, video, and more. Students can also edit each tab&rsquo;s html to design the look of the tab. Livebinders works on multiple platforms and has an extension for students to easily collect their research from the&nbsp;web.</p>

<p>Who are your favorite presenters to motivate your language&nbsp;learners?</p>

14 Free Web Tools and Apps for Students to Present Their Knowledge

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s an entire universe in every single&nbsp;tweet&hellip;&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Jack Dorsey</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Twitter is a great place to discover articles and resources for teaching English as well as an engaging way to get your students to improve their reading and writing skills. Twitter also chunks language to 140 characters, which makes communicating and reading in English more manageable. Additionally, students learn to scan text for understanding and bookmark resources&nbsp;quickly.</p>

<p>The list of activities below will help you get started integrating Twitter for language learning. Public Twitter streams do not require an account to view them. Your students do not need a Twitter account for many of the activities suggested. However, you may want to create a free Twitter class or teacher&nbsp;account.</p>

<h1>Learn Vocabulary</h1>

<p>Your learners can follow many accounts to learn new vocabulary or phrases each day. Here are some Twitter accounts for learning English vocabulary and phrases:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/rollofftongue" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@RolloffTongue</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/grammargirl" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@GrammarGirl</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/wordswithlarry?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@WordsWithLarry</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/OED" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@OED</a>.</p>

<h1>Teach Them How To&nbsp;Tweet</h1>

<p>Try the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank">How to Tweet</a> lesson from ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s Writing in English&nbsp;section.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank"><img alt="Screenshot of ESL Library's How to Tweet lesson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/206/content_74_Tweet_US.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank">How to Tweet</a> &ndash; Writing in&nbsp;English</p>

<h1>Learn Grammar</h1>

<p>Students can follow accounts like <a href="https://twitter.com/grammarly" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@Grammarly</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EnglishClub" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@EnglishClub</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/grammarmonkeys" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@GrammarMonkeys</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/The_YUNiversity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@The_YUNiversity</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/english247" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@English247</a> to discover quizzes, exercises, images and tips to improve their grammar. They can click the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/grammar" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#grammar</a> to discover more free grammar&nbsp;resources.</p>

<h1>Correct Grammar</h1>

<p>Get your language learners to correct the grammar in celebrity tweets. Click <a href="http://go.sadlier.com/school/celebrity-tweets-editing-worksheets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> to find a pdf of tweets to correct by famous people like Kanye&nbsp;West.</p>

<h1>Follow an Important Event</h1>

<p>Have your language learners follow hashtags about an important event, like a natural disaster, civil war, or election. Students scan the hashtag full of accounts from primary sources then write about their impressions or act as journalists and create an article quoting some of the sources. Students can use <a href="http://tweet2cite.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Tweet to Cite</a> to quickly cite the resource in MLA and APA&nbsp;style.</p>

<h1>Conduct a Twitter Interview</h1>

<p>Many experts, celebrities, authors, leaders, athletes, and professionals have Twitter accounts. Invite one to interview on Twitter. Decide on a unique hashtag for the event that isn&rsquo;t already used on Twitter. Get students to craft questions ahead of time and peer review and correct these questions ahead of time. Use one account to tweet the question with the student&rsquo;s handle or initials. Include the hashtag in the tweet. Create an archive of the Twitter conversation for free with&nbsp;<a href="https://storify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Storify</a>.</p>

<h1>Connect with Another School</h1>

<p>Find other schools to connect with on Twitter and host discussions, debates, or share resources. Follow the tips above for conducting a Twitter interview. Find schools to connect with by connecting with other teachers online. Check out our previous article, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-ultimate-hashtag-guide-for-english-language-teachers/" target="_blank">The Ultimate Hashtag Guide for English Language Teachers</a>, for ways to connect with other English language&nbsp;teachers.</p>

<h1>Share a Gif</h1>

<p>Recently, Twitter added the feature to <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2016/introducing-gif-search-on-twitter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">share a gif</a> with your status update. Your students can accompany tweets with a gif and students can even search for a gif to share, which is a similar feature in Facebook. Gifs are a great way for students to visualize vocabulary and&nbsp;phrases.</p>

<h1>Backchannel</h1>

<p>If your students have Twitter accounts, create a class hashtag for them to use when you want them to share their thoughts, responses, and resources. When scheduling homework like viewing the Oscars, a presidential debate, a famous speech, or following another event, your students can share their impressions and read the impressions of other peers with the hashtag. Students can also use the hashtag to share their thoughts about a video they are watching in&nbsp;class.</p>

<h1>Share Resources</h1>

<p>Students can use the class hashtag to continually share links, videos, articles, podcasts, experiences, and examples of each unit. Before beginning a new topic, have students conduct research and share two to three resources for you to collect and add to a <a href="https://storify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Storify</a>, <a href="http://www.scoop.it/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Scoop.It</a>, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pinterest board</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">PearlTrees</a>.</p>

<h1>Collaborative Debate &amp; Discussion</h1>

<p>Post a discussion or debate question for your students to post responses to with the class&nbsp;hashtag.</p>

<h1>Twitter Polls</h1>

<p>Twitter has a <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2015/introducing-twitter-polls" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">polling feature</a> to quickly create polls on a class Twitter account. Post a question for your students to vote on with the class hashtag or on a Twitter class account. You can post a new interesting poll for each unit you cover to peak their interests. Poll them about favorites or preferences. Post a poll asking information about the new unit to get an idea on their knowledge of the topic. Discuss the results in&nbsp;class.</p>

<h1>For Self Study</h1>

<p>For self study, your adult language learners will find the following hashtags&nbsp;useful: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/twinglish" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#Twinglish</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/engpls" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#EngPls</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnalanguage" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#LearnALanguage</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/studyenglish" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#StudyEnglish</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnenglish?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#LearnEnglish</a>.</p>

<p>What Twitter accounts do you feel are useful for language&nbsp;learners?</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-ultimate-hashtag-guide-for-english-language-teachers/" target="_blank">The Ultimate Hashtag Guide for English Language Teachers</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/shorty-awards-singular-or-plural-and-should-twitter-be-capitalized/" target="_blank">Should Twitter Be Capitalized</a></li>
</ul>


12 Ways to Use Twitter with Language Learners

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<p><em>Editor&rsquo;s note: This post has been updated to include the 2017 conference&nbsp;hashtags.</em></p>

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Thanks to Twitter, the hashtag has become an important linguistic&nbsp;shortcut.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<a href="http://pitchfork.com/features/ordinary-machines/9351-hashtags/" target="_blank">Lindsay Zoladz</a> (Pitchfork,&nbsp;2014)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>On the web, millions of teachers worldwide connect to share support and resources. If you are in search of activities, resources, or support for a lesson, then you&rsquo;ll want to know where these teachers share ideas&nbsp;online.</p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag" target="_blank">Hashtags</a>, the words you see around the web with number (#) signs in front of them, are the key to finding and sharing resources online. You don&rsquo;t have to belong to social networks to benefit from hashtags. You can do a search for a hashtag on Google and find public streams of information on Twitter and other&nbsp;sites.</p>

<p>Below are a list of fantastic hashtags for English language teachers. Click and begin exploring and connecting&nbsp;today!</p>

<h1>General Hashtags</h1>

<p>According to <a href="http://hashtagify.me/hashtag/learning" target="_blank">Hashtagify</a>, the following are some of the most used hashtags among English language teachers. Discover free resources, bloggers, apps, activities and news about teaching your language learners. The hashtags to follow are <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/esl" target="_blank">#ESL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TESOL" target="_blank">#TESOL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tefl" target="_blank">#TEFL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/efl" target="_blank">#EFL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/elt" target="_blank">#ELT</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/duallang" target="_blank">#duallang</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ells" target="_blank">#ELLs</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ell" target="_blank">#ELL</a>. Other great hashtags with useful resources include <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/clil" target="_blank">#CLIL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/grammar" target="_blank">#Grammar</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/idioms" target="_blank">#Idioms</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/twinglish" target="_blank">#Twinglish</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/engpls" target="_blank">#EngPls</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnalanguage">#LearnALanguage</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/studyenglish" target="_blank">#StudyEnglish</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnenglish?lang=en" target="_blank">#LearnEnglish</a> are hashtags used by English language learners around the world. Sometimes you will find tweets in other&nbsp;languages.</p>

<h2>Hashtags for Specific Areas of English Language&nbsp;Teaching</h2>

<p>Try any of the following hashtags for resources specific to a test or age&nbsp;group.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Use the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/businessenglish" target="_blank">#BusinessEnglish</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/besig" target="_blank">#BESIG</a> to discover resources related to teaching Business&nbsp;English.</li>
	<li>Use the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/younglearners" target="_blank">#YoungLearners</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/yltsig" target="_blank">#YLTSig</a> to discover resources related to teaching young&nbsp;learners.</li>
	<li>Use the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/eap?lang=en">#EAP</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23tleap" target="_blank">#TLEAP</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/baleap" target="_blank">#BALEAP</a> to find resources related to teaching English for academic&nbsp;purposes.</li>
	<li>Supporting learners in their different tests or taking a test? Try <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ielts">#IELTS</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/toefl" target="_blank">#TOEFL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/toeic" target="_blank">#TOEIC</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/celta" target="_blank">#CELTA</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Hashtag Chats</h2>

<p>If you&rsquo;re looking to connect with other English language teachers and bloggers, then try joining a Twitter chat. We recommend these great Twitter&nbsp;chats:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.eltchat.org/" target="_blank">#ELTChat</a> takes place every Wednesday at 12&nbsp;pm and 9&nbsp;pm&nbsp;GMT.</li>
	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ellchat" target="_blank">#ELLChat</a> takes place on Mondays at 9&nbsp;pm&nbsp;ET.</li>
	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/duallangchat" target="_blank">#Duallangchat</a> takes place the first Sunday of each month at 6&nbsp;pm&nbsp;PST / 8&nbsp;pm&nbsp;CST.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Conference Hashtags</h2>

<p>Get to know the teachers, authors, vendors, and events at the conferences you attend. Following the conference hashtag is a great way to keep up with what is happening at conferences, including any freebies or tips about navigating the city. You can also share your presentation time and materials to a much wider audience. If you are looking for tweet-ups (face-to-face meetings of Twitter users), then knowing the hashtag is a&nbsp;must!</p>

<p>Two of the most followed conference hashtags are for the <a href="http://www.tesol.org/convention2017" target="_blank">TESOL International Conference</a> and <a href="http://www.iatefl.org/" target="_blank">IATEFL</a>. The <a href="https://twitter.com/TESOL_Assn" target="_blank">TESOL International conference</a> takes place March 21&ndash;24 in Seattle, Washington. Attendees and the organization share information with the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tesol2016" target="_blank">#TESOL2017</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tesol16" target="_blank">#TESOL17</a>. (The ESL&nbsp;Library team will be there, so be sure to visit the&nbsp;booth.)</p>

<p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/iatefl" target="_blank">IATEFL conference</a> takes place April 4&ndash;7 in Glasgow, Scotland. Use the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/iatefl" target="_blank">#IATEFL</a> to keep up with the latest news and&nbsp;events.</p>

<p>There are many other conferences with hashtags. To discover conferences and events in different countries try <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/asiaelt" target="_blank">#ASIAELT</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auselt" target="_blank">#AUSELT</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23keltchat" target="_blank">#KELTChat</a> (Korean&nbsp;ELT), <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/jalt" target="_blank">#JALT</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/jaltcall">#JALTCALL</a>.</p>

<p>Canada has a few hashtags for English language teachers, which include <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23teslcanada" target="_blank">#TESLCanada</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tesltoronto" target="_blank">#TESLToronto</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bcteal" target="_blank">#BCTEAL</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lincchat">#LINCChat</a>.</p>

<p>What are your favorite hashtags?</p>


The Ultimate Hashtag Guide for English Language Teachers

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<blockquote>
<p>Love the giver more than the&nbsp;gift.</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Brigham Young</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Often, the holiday seasons are the most stressful times for teachers. Before our term ends, we scramble to finish up our courses, get grades in, and meet with parents who are worried about their child&rsquo;s progress. Classroom management is difficult because learners are excited about the upcoming break and spending time with their family and&nbsp;friends.</p>

<p>During the holiday season, language teachers often struggle with motivating learners to practice their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. We hope the following activities and resources give you more peace of mind. The ideas are meant to motivate your learners to practice English in fun and engaging&nbsp;ways!</p>

<h1>Reading &amp; Writing Activities</h1>

<p><strong>Motivate learners to practice reading and writing with these&nbsp;ideas:</strong></p>

<p>Learners can read holiday stories by other students on Storybird. Students can then create their own digital stories with <a href="http://littlebirdtales.com/">LittleBirdTales</a>.</p>

<p>Get students writing with holiday writing prompts. Find visual <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=december+writing+prompts&amp;term_meta%5B%5D=prompts%7Ctyped">writing prompts on Pinterest</a>, and Justin McLachlan has created a list of<a href="http://www.justinmclachlan.com/1027/holiday-writing-prompts/"> 25 Scifi and Holiday Writing&nbsp;Prompts</a>.</p>

<p>Get students to write Santa letters with at <a href="http://emailsanta.com/">EmailSanta.com</a>. Santa responds with a&nbsp;video.</p>

<p>Students can also practice their writing skills by creating wish lists for characters they are reading about, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons">famous people</a>, or&nbsp;pets.</p>

<p>Adolescents and teens might enjoy creating social media profiles (Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram) for the elves, reindeer or snowmen. <a href="http://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page">Fakebook</a> is a safe tool for creating a profile for this&nbsp;activity.</p>

<p>Students can pair up and role-play two characters (Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Rudolph and another reindeer, Santa and an elf, Santa and Rudolph, The Grinch and a Who, etc.) who message back and forth. You can give students a scenario and vocabulary list to focus the learning. Try <a href="http://www.classtools.net/SMS/">ClassTool&rsquo;s SMS generator</a> for this&nbsp;activity.</p>

<h1>Speaking &amp; Listening Activities</h1>

<p><strong>Motivate learners to develop their speaking and listening skills with these&nbsp;ideas:</strong></p>

<p>Students can work in pairs to modernize the lyrics to a holiday song, such as the 12 Days of Christmas and record a music video of the new version with <a href="http://www.magisto.com/">Magisto</a>, <a href="http://www.powtoon.com/">Powtoons</a> or&nbsp;<a href="http://wideo.co/">Wideo</a>.</p>

<p>Children can call Santa using the Call Santa (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/a-call-from-santa!/id933921849?mt=8">iOS</a>/<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.retropixel.CallSanta&amp;hl=en">Android</a>)&nbsp;apps. Get the children to first write down useful phrases they would like to say to Santa to show them how much English they have learned this&nbsp;year!</p>

<p>Students can create videos thanking family and relatives using these free apps&mdash;<a href="http://www.magisto.com/">Magisto</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yakit-kids/id794546203?mt=8">YakIt for Kids</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chatterpix-kids-by-duck-duck/id734046126?mt=8">Chatterpix Kids</a>, and <a href="http://www.fotobabble.com/">Fotobabble</a>. Try <a href="http://www.powtoon.com/">Powtoons</a> or <a href="http://wideo.co/">Wideo</a> to create videos on the&nbsp;web.</p>

<p><strong>What are your favorite holiday activities for language&nbsp;learners?</strong></p>


'Tis the Season to Speak, Listen, Read, and Write! 9 Ideas & 20 Tools for Holiday Learning

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<blockquote>&ldquo;Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club&mdash;the community of speakers of that language.&rdquo;<br />
&mdash;Frank Smith</blockquote>

<p>Learning a language takes practice, practice, practice! Our students become more fluent the more they speak, listen, read and write in English outside our classes.</p>

<p>Below, you&#39;ll find&nbsp;a list of web tools and apps that are useful for helping students to improve their English.</p>

<p>Feel free to share these resources with your learners so they are encouraged to practice English continuously throughout the day.</p>

<h2>Web Tools and Apps</h2>

<h3>1. Games</h3>

<p>Learners can play various games to improve their English. <a href="http://www.kindersite.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kindersite</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is full of games for learning English. One of my favorite apps and sites with language games is </span><a href="http://www.tinytap.it/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tiny Tap</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Adults can learn vocabulary with the popular vocabulary app,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://zynga.com/games/words-friends"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Words With Friends</span></a>.</p>

<h3>2. Podcasts</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Students can listen<span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span>to almost any English podcast&nbsp;and learn grammar and vocabulary about various topics. Your learners might enjoy&nbsp;</span><a href="http://elllo.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ELLO</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;and </span><a href="http://www.poetry4kids.com/modules.php?name=Podcast"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Poetry 4 Kids</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.&nbsp;</span></p>

<h3>3. Videos</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your students can learn English by watching videos. </span><a href="https://www.englishcentral.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">English Central</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has various videos to help students practice their pronunciation. </span><a href="https://www.blubbr.tv/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">BlubbrTV</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="http://www.eslvideo.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ESL Video</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are full of quizzes. Steve Ford, of </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UA8eOwj0WQild7-asffqw"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Peppy English</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, has various videos teaching idioms, phrases, and more. He will even answer questions from the audience in upcoming videos. </span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For younger learners, videos become an even more essential tool, and one that their parents can continue to use to reinforce learning at home. Kids love <a alt="" href="https://youtube.com/channel/UCcOj1rEHLhu3QDHP_gGgVkg" title="">singing along to videos</a>, and it can be a great reward for the end of the lesson, or used at the beginning to get rid of some of their bouncy energy.</span></p>

<h3>4. Apps</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Encourage your students to learn language with their mobile devices! </span><a href="https://quizlet.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quizlet</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is an app with vocabulary flashcards and games. </span><a href="http://www.hellotalk.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">HelloTalk</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> allows you to chat with other language learners. </span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/apps"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dictionary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> app works offline to help you define and pronounce thousands of words. </span><a href="https://www.duolingo.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duolingo</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.busuu.com/enc/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Busuu</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> have vocabulary quizzes and learning games for language learners.</span></p>

<h3>5. Music</h3>

<p><a href="http://lyricstraining.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lyrics Training</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is a site for learning English through song lyrics. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/collolearn"><span style="font-weight: 400;">FluencyMC</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has created many rap songs to help you learn grammar and more! </span><a href="http://eslhiphop.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ESL Hip Hop</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has videos, grammar exercises and more featuring famous musicians.&nbsp;</span></p>

<h3>6. Social Networks&nbsp;</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your students can join sites like </span><a href="http://www.myenglishclub.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">My English Club</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="http://www.voxopop.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Voxopop</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to learn English with language learners around the world.</span></p>

<h3>7. Comics</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Students can have fun learning English with these free comic sites:</span></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.comicsenglish.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Comics English</span></a></li>
	<li><a href="http://ntic.educacion.es/w3/eos/MaterialesEducativos/mem2009/playcomic/english/accesible/instrucciones_a.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">PlayComic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</span></li>
	<li><a href="http://zenpencils.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zen Pencils</span></a></li>
	<li><a href="http://learnwithcomics.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Learn English with Comic Strips</span></a></li>
	<li><a href="http://teachingenglishthroughcomics.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Teach English with Comics</span></a></li>
</ul>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you inspire students to learn English at home? </span></p>


7 Ways Learners Can Improve Their English with Technology

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Joseph Pulitzer</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Writing is a personal experience and shows conversations we have with our brains about a subject. Students struggle with organizing and presenting these brain conversations through their writing to an audience. Writing for an audience takes skill. Students need to learn how to engage their audience, organize their thoughts, give their writing flow, provide well supported research and cite their sources accurately.</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>Check out our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons" target="_blank">Writing section</a> for ready-made lessons.</p>
</div>

<p>The Internet offers many free digital tools and apps to help students develop their writing skills in engaging ways. Below are tips and resources to help you develop your students&rsquo; writing skills with the help of technology. Find an accompanying <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/teach-writing-with-digital-tools" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">slide presentation here</a>.</p>

<h3>Teach the Process</h3>

<p>Our students become skilled writers by undergoing the process, which involves brainstorming, research, organizing, prewriting, drafting, peer editing, and publishing. You can find lessons on these topics in Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;Writing section. Your students can practice what they&#39;ve learned with sites, such as <a href="http://creately.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Creately</a> and <a href="https://www.lucidchart.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LucidChart</a>. These sites have several diagrams and flowcharts to help students organize their ideas for different types of reports, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1968" target="_blank">comparison/contrast essays</a>, problem-solution essays, and persuasive essays. <a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ReadWriteThink</a> has many interactives that walk students through the writing process.</p>

<h3>Develop Their Research Skills</h3>

<p>Our students need to learn how and where to find accurate and valid resources to give them a richer understanding of the topic and to support their writing. We can help our students research routinely by introducing them to social bookmarking tools and apps like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.diigo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Diigo</a>, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>, <a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">PearlTrees</a>, <a href="https://flipboard.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Flipboard</a>, and <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Livebinders</a>. Find more resources in this slide presentation, <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/digital-research-for-todays-learners" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Research in the Digital Age</a>.</p>

<h3>Get Them to Cite Accurately</h3>

<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Google Docs</a> has incredible apps and features to help students write better essays.&nbsp; A sidebar pops up that allows students to search for scholarly resources and creative common images. Students can also cite the source by choosing APA, MLA, or Chicago style and the citation will appear at the bottom of the essay. Here are a few more apps to help with citation:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.citethisforme.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Cite This for Me</a> is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that helps students quickly get the appropriate citation while navigating the web.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.easybib.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">EasyBib</a> has a free app for iOS and Android devices that allows students to get the appropriate citation by scanning a book&rsquo;s barcode.</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>Here&#39;s a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/creating-our-in-house-style-guide" target="_blank">fun post about our style guide</a>.</p>
</div>

<h3>Create a Safe Environment</h3>

<p>When our students write they share their ideas, opinions, thoughts, and experiences about the topic. Therefore, feedback can be one of the scariest parts of the writing process. Students fear how their teachers will grade their writing and they fear what mistakes their peers will point out. We need to make sure we create a safe environment for our students to feel comfortable sharing their writing. Instead of marking their papers, try providing audio feedback with <a href="https://kaizena.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Kaizena</a>. Russell Stannard explains how to provide video feedback with screen capture tools in <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/207117.article" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">this article</a>.</p>

<h3>More Resources</h3>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://evernote.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Evernote</a> is a great research and note-taking app that syncs to any device.</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.grammarly.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Grammarly</a> helps students catch the errors in their emails, essays, and blog posts.</li>
	<li><a href="https://owl.english.purdue.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)</a> provides many resources, templates, and examples for research writing and projects.</li>
</ul>

<p>What are your favorite writing tools and apps?</p>
<div class="whiteBox">
<p>Check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell" target="_blank">all of Shelly&rsquo;s tips</a> for teaching English with technology.</p></div>


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Shelly Terrell