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

Articles

<h1>What are you reading?</h1>

<p>In my TESOL presentation on Blending Authentic Materials with Ready-Made ELT Materials, I talked about how teachers can find creative ways to teach or review bits of English using excerpts from books they are reading. Students love to know personal tidbits about teachers, and what better way to let them in than through what we&#39;re&nbsp;reading?</p>

<h1>One Summer&hellip;</h1>

<p>Right now, I&#39;m reading a book of personal essays by Nicholson Baker called <em>The Way the World Works</em>. One of my favorite essays so far is called <em>One Summer</em>. It&#39;s a collection of paragraphs, each beginning with <em>One summer&hellip;</em> and ranging in length from one to ten sentences. Each paragraph is about a summer memory. The paragraphs also range in content from the author&#39;s recent summer memories to his childhood&nbsp;ones.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>One summer my family went on a boat in Georgian Bay with another family. There was a girl who slept on the boat with her eyes&nbsp;open.</p>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
<p>One summer a guy down the street got mad at the fact that people were allowing their dogs to poop every day in the front yard. He took some white forks and put them in the dog poops. They looked like little&nbsp;sailboats.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Immediately after reading Baker&#39;s essay, I was inspired to write my own collection of <em>One summer&hellip;</em>&nbsp;paragraphs:</p>

<blockquote>One summer my friend and I sold my brother&#39;s BMX bike at a neighbor&#39;s garage sale. We had to find a way to buy it back, so we set up a Kool-Aid&nbsp;stand.</blockquote>

<p>It&#39;s fun to see what kinds of memories come back when you use this&nbsp;prompt.</p>

<h1>Writing Prompts</h1>

<p>A collection of <em>One summer&hellip;</em> memories can quickly become a set of past tense <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a>. You can pair this exercise with a ready-made lesson on the past tense (see links below). Here are some activities to try with this writing&nbsp;prompt:</p>

<ol class="spaced-list">
	<li><have a="" anonymously="" each="" student="" write="">One summer&hellip; paragraph and put the stories together in a collection. Work together to guess which story belongs to which student. You may also want to guess how old the student was that&nbsp;summer.</have></li>
	<li>Have each student write 3&ndash;5 <em>One summer&hellip;</em> paragraphs and have a read-aloud session. Choose the best ones to go in a <em>One Summer&hellip;</em> anthology. Encourage the other students to say, <em>Tell me&nbsp;more!</em></li>
	<li>Have students write a series of <em>One summer&hellip;</em> paragraphs with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 or more sentences. Discuss which works best for this type of short&nbsp;story.</li>
	<li>Have students write one factual and one fictional story using the <em>One summer&hellip;</em> prompt. Guess which ones are true and which ones are fiction.</li>
	<li>Have students write one or two sentences using the prompt at the top of a piece of paper, and then have them pass it to another student. The next student will add a related story, starting with &quot;<em>Oh yeah? One summer&nbsp;I&hellip;&quot;</em></li>
</ol>

<p>Repeat any of these activities with other seasons (<em>One winter&hellip;</em>) and create a <em>Year Book</em> using your students&#39; awesome&nbsp;writing.</p>

<h1>Blog Challenge</h1>

<p>Write your own <em>One Summer&hellip;</em> memory in the comments&nbsp;below!</p>

<h1>Pairings</h1>

<p>You can pair this prompt with content from our <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/sensational-summer" target="_blank">Sensational Summer</a> collection or one of the&nbsp;following Ellii lessons:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1594">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Simple Past</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1642">Grammar Stories: Simple Past Stories</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1565">Basic Grammar Sentences: Simple Past &ndash; I used&nbsp;to</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1566">Basic Grammar Sentences: Simple Past &ndash; Past&nbsp;Irregular</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1564">Basic Grammar Sentences: Simple Past &ndash; What did you do last&nbsp;night?</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Way-World-Works-Essays/dp/1416572481/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1500390346&amp;sr=8-1">The Way the World Works</a> By Nicholson&nbsp;Baker</li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://Songs for Summertime " target="_blank">Songs for Summertime</a>&nbsp;Spotify playlist by Ellii</li>
</ul>


One Summer – Collaborative Writing Prompt

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<p>Do your students struggle with reported (indirect) speech? One of our subscribers recently said that reported speech is one of the most difficult targets for language students to learn. We&nbsp;agree! Our editor says that <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reported-speech/" target="_blank">reported speech is tricky to learn</a> (and teach) because of the <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2367-reported-speech" target="_blank">verb tense changes</a> that are sometimes&nbsp;required.</p>

<h1>ESL Library&#39;s Dialogue-Based Sections</h1>

<p>ESL Library has many lessons that are based on dialogues. These are ideal for practicing reported speech because they come with ready-made audio that you can download or&nbsp;stream:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Dialogues</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/85/lessons" target="_blank">English at Work</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/79/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series 1</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series 2</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/77/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 1</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 2</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/102/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 3 </a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice Tasks</h1>

<p>Below are five practice tasks to try with any of the lessons from the sections above. These tasks can also be used with authentic dialogues and&nbsp;transcripts.</p>

<h2>1. Listen &amp; Report</h2>

<p>Have your students listen to the dialogue. Pause the audio after each line (or after a tricky line) and ask this&nbsp;question:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did he/she say?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2188/content_reported-1.png" /></p>

<p>At first, you might want your students to have the transcript handy. As your students become more familiar with this target, use the audio on its&nbsp;own.</p>

<h2>2. Ask Ss for Clarification</h2>

<p>This task can be done with the audio or the transcript. Ask your students to paraphrase what was said about a certain subject in the&nbsp;dialogue.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did Jim say about <strong>the employment&nbsp;papers</strong>?</p>

<p>Did Jim say to drop off the employment papers&nbsp;<strong>now</strong>?</p>

<p>Jim said to drop off the employment papers <strong>in the staff room,&nbsp;right</strong>?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2183/content_reported-2.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Practice a Specific Tense or&nbsp;Form</h2>

<p>Some tenses are trickier than others when it comes to reported speech. Which ones do your students need to work on? Spot examples of it in the dialogues and ask your students to report on what was&nbsp;said.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did the detective say the teacher <strong>was&nbsp;doing</strong>?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2184/content_reported-3.png" /></p>

<p>Your students may also need to practice other types of indirect speech, such as questions and requests. When you see or hear an example in a dialogue, ask your students to&nbsp;practice.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did he ask first? Then what request did he&nbsp;make?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2185/content_reported-4.png" /></p>

<h2>4. Spot the Reported Speech</h2>

<p>In some cases, reported speech will be used by the characters in the dialogue. Ask your students to spot instances of reported speech used by the&nbsp;speakers.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Where does one of the characters use reported&nbsp;speech?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2186/content_reported-5.png" /></p>

<h2>5. Summarize the Conversation</h2>

<p>When summarizing a conversation, it is natural to use reported speech. After listening to and reading a dialogue, ask students to practice summarizing it. This type of task can be done orally or in&nbsp;writing.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Summarize how Clarissa broke the ice with the&nbsp;detective.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2187/content_reported-6.png" /></p>

<h1>Teaching Reported Speech</h1>

<p>If your students are unfamiliar with reported (indirect) speech, you will need to teach them the rules and do some practice work before you can try the tasks above. Here are some useful materials to&nbsp;use:</p>

<h2>1. Grammar Practice Worksheets: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1618" target="_blank">Direct &amp; Reported Speech</a></h2>

<p>In this lesson, students review the verb tense and punctuation rules used in direct and reported speech. They practice changing sentences from direct to reported speech and vice&nbsp;versa.</p>

<p><img alt="Direct and Reported speech lesson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2189/content_88_Direct-and-Reported-Speech_US-1024x755.png" /></p>

<h2>2. Grammar &amp; Usage: <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2367-reported-speech" target="_blank">Reported&nbsp;Speech</a></h2>

<p>This handy chart and tips will help students remember common verb tense and modal changes in reported speech. We also encourage you to read our editor&#39;s tips for teaching <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reported-speech/" target="_blank">Reported&nbsp;Speech</a>.</p>

<h1>The Most Difficult Target to Learn/Teach</h1>

<p>In your opinion, what is the most difficult language target for English learners? What is the most difficult thing to&nbsp;teach?</p>


5 Tasks for Practicing Reported Speech

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<p>In preparation for a family vacation to Cuba this spring, I began studying a little Spanish. I had heard a lot of good things about <a href="https://www.duolingo.com/">Duolingo</a>, so I decided to give the language learning app a try. Having studied a little Spanish in university, I was pleased that some basic vocabulary came back to me quite quickly while doing my daily language exercise. My kids learned a few useful words too (and they enjoyed watching Mom study).</p>

<p>One lazy evening in our hotel in Cuba, we turned on the TV. The kids wanted to watch something in English, but I reminded them we were in a foreign country and needed to have foreign experiences (including a week with no Wi-Fi). We came across a film in Spanish and I had the kids in stitches as I pretended to translate. The weekend after we returned from our vacation, my son and I stretched out on our couch and searched for a Netflix movie to watch. We stumbled across a film about orcas (my son&#39;s favorite sea creature) but didn&#39;t realize the film was in Spanish until it began. While I was thrilled to continue my language learning, my son was a bit disappointed and thought he wouldn&#39;t be able to follow along. We grabbed his stuffed orca to cuddle with and let the movie play.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Though I don&#39;t know how much Spanish I actually retained by watching <em> El Faro de las Orcas</em>, I felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment. I actually understood a lot of the Spanish words. More importantly, my son, who is a similar age to the boy in the film, spent two hours reading in order to follow along. When the film was over, we had a rich discussion. My son felt he had a better understanding about what life is like for autistic kids and their parents. At school, on the ice, and in our circle of friends and family, he has been exposed to many kids on the spectrum, and this film helped us talk about all of these kids and how they have different coping mechanisms. Having just spent a week by the sea, we also talked about why the ocean might have a calming effect on those that have difficulty in social situations. We also discussed other issues, such as child custody and environmental regulations. And we discussed what might have happened afterward and whether or not the film was too far-fetched to be based on a true story.</p>

<p>The fact that <em>El Faro de las Orcas</em> was in Spanish did not affect my son&#39;s understanding or enjoyment of it. In fact, he has already recommended it to some of his friends. Perhaps I&#39;ve stumbled on a new way to encourage more reading (and foreign language learning) in our house. Which foreign film should we watch next?</p>

<p><strong>idiom</strong> in stitches: <em>laughing uncontrollably</em></p>


Enjoying Foreign Films with English Subtitles

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Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>ESL&nbsp;Library is not just the name of our site. It is literally a library full of readings for English learners. As a subscriber, your license allows you to download and print unlimited graded readings for your students. And there are hundreds of&nbsp;choices! This week I came across an excellent Edutopia article titled <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-choice-student-reading-susan-barber" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Building Choice Into Your Students&#39; Reading</a> about giving students more reading choices to encourage the growth of&nbsp;readers. In the article, one of the recommended activities for creating a &#39;literary-rich environment&#39; at school is <strong>speed&nbsp;dating</strong>.</p>

<blockquote>In the library, all sorts of books are arranged on many different tables. The teacher has a timer and sets it off every two to three minutes as the students browse the books and find titles they are interested in. Students keep a log of books they like. At the end of the activity, they choose one book to begin reading immediately and a few to try later in the&nbsp;year.</blockquote>

<h1>Speed Dating with ESL&nbsp;Library&nbsp;Readings</h1>

<p>Here&#39;s how to adapt this reading activity with ESL&nbsp;Library readings and&nbsp;ELLs:</p>

<p>1. Choose several topics from the <strong>Reading &amp; Discovery</strong> sections. Filter by level in order to find appropriate reading&nbsp;materials.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Places</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Things</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons" target="_blank">Historic Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/83/lessons" target="_blank">Easy Readers</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/97/lessons" target="_blank">Sports &amp; Leisure</a></li>
</ul>

<p>2. Print a double-sided copy of pages 1 and 2 from each topic that you choose. Page 1 includes the lesson image and page 2 includes the reading. Make sure you have selected at least as many topics as you have students in your class, so that someone is always reading&nbsp;something.</p>

<p>3. Spread the readings on several tables or desks around your classroom or library. You can choose to organize the readings by theme or category or just mix them up and place them randomly around the&nbsp;room.</p>

<p>4. Start a timer on your mobile device and tell students to find something to read (just page 2). Since they are reading articles rather than books, give them less time (try 1&ndash;2 minutes). When the buzzer goes, have them find another reading topic. (You may want to ask them to make a list of the readings they picked and&nbsp;liked.)</p>

<p>5. After about 15&ndash;20 minutes, ask your students to go back to the reading that they were most interested in. Give them enough time to read the entire page. You may find that many of the students want to read about the same person, place, thing, or event. Allow students to pair up, or allow groups to form reading&nbsp;circles and take turns reading out loud.</p>

<blockquote>This is a great way to find out what your students are interested in. Look around to see which topics your students liked and find time to do the whole lesson in class. When you go to the lesson page to print the full lesson, see if there are Related Materials to try. For example, our latest Famous People lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2406" target="_blank">Jack Ma</a> has links to related lessons on Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Hedy Lamar. After you discover your students&#39; interests, you may be able to recommend some fictional books,&nbsp;too.</blockquote>

<p>Happy reading!<br />
&mdash;Tara</p>

<p>PS. If you want to encourage your students to read fiction, be sure to read the whole <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-choice-student-reading-susan-barber" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Edutopia</a> article for more great tips. Don&#39;t forget to tell your students what <em>you</em> are reading. They may be inspired to pick up a&nbsp;book. I&#39;m currently reading a book by a local author called <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Men-Walking-Water-Emily-Schultz/dp/0345811011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Men Walking on Water</a>. It takes place on the banks of Detroit during prohibition before the tunnel and bridge were built near my new home. What are you&nbsp;reading?</p>


Get Your ELLs Reading with "Speed Dating"

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Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

<p><img alt="TESOL 2017" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2216/content_IMG_4621-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<p class="caption">From left to right: Tetiana (Yumi Class consultant), Tara (head writer), Ben (CEO), Tanya (chief editor), Liz (communications&nbsp;intern)</p>

<h1>Together at TESOL</h1>

<p>March is always a busy and wonderful month for the ESL&nbsp;Library team, thanks to our annual meet-up at the international TESOL convention. This year our team members were excited to gather in Seattle, Washington, where some of us met face-to-face for the first&nbsp;time!</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL 2017" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2217/content_IMG_5883-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<h1>Sessions &amp; Demos</h1>

<p>Our team presented four sessions at TESOL 17, including live demos of <a href="https://ellii.com">ESL&nbsp;Library</a> and <a href="https://www.yumiclass.com/#/welcome">Yumi&nbsp;Class</a> (our digital platform&mdash;currently in beta mode). Our consultant Tetiana joined us from Edmonton and led hourly demos of our sample <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1245">Consumerism</a> lesson on&nbsp;Yumi.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2218/content_IMG_7373-1-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<p>In another session, Ben and Tanya taught teachers how to use <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres">images</a> to elicit and reinforce language structures and vocabulary (which Ben demonstrated by teaching some very basic Japanese). In my own session, I gave tips on blending authentic content with ELT&nbsp;materials.</p>

<p>Thank you to all of the attendees who joined us for our sessions and demos! And a big shout-out to our designer Robyn who made our booths, slides, and materials look&nbsp;fantastic!</p>

<p>Tanya and I also snuck away from the booth to attend sessions and roundtables about grammar, pronunciation, literacy, and refugees. Watch our blog for upcoming posts about a few of these TESOL&nbsp;sessions.</p>

<h1>Contests &amp; Prizes</h1>

<p>We had some fun giveaways this year, including an iPad Mini (<a href="https://youtu.be/Oo_2NwKDbNQ">won by Cynthia Miller</a>) and an Apple Watch (won by photo contestant Denise Lewis, pictured below). We also gave away screen cleaners and three free lessons to everyone who visited our&nbsp;booth.</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL 17" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2219/content_IMG_5911-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<p>Thank you to our intern Liz for running our social media photo contest and filling up our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ESLlibrary">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ESLlibrary">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/esllibrary/">Instagram</a> feeds with colorful photos of teachers from all over the&nbsp;world.</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL 17" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2220/content_collage-2017-03-28-1-1024x768.jpg" /></p>

<h1>Comfort, Food, &amp; Fun</h1>

<p>Our team had a wonderful stay at the luxurious Grand Hyatt on Pine St., where we had our daily breakfast at Ruth&#39;s Chris Steakhouse (say that three times fast). This year, we were thrilled to have access to so many great restaurants, cafes, clubs, and pubs. There was even plenty of food to choose&nbsp;from in the Convention Center&nbsp;itself.</p>

<p>Throughout the week, we enjoyed dining and touring around together as a team and with other TESOL folks, including Nathan from <em>BC Teal</em>, Ken from <em>Pearson</em>, and Eric of <em>Compelling&nbsp;Conversations</em>.</p>

<h2>Restaurants</h2>

<p>Here are some of the restaurants we enjoyed in Seattle:</p>

<ul>
	<li>The Cheesecake Factory (with its 21-page menu)</li>
	<li>Sansei Seafood Restaurant &amp; Sushi Bar (so good that we went&nbsp;twice!)</li>
	<li>Capitol Cider (100% gluten-free)</li>
	<li>Wild Ginger (delicious&nbsp;tapas)</li>
	<li>Ludi&#39;s (greasy breakfast)</li>
	<li>The Pike Pub (local&nbsp;brewery)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Attractions</h2>

<p>We didn&#39;t get a chance to go up the Space Needle or on the Great Wheel, but here are some of the attractions a few of us checked out during our fantastic week in&nbsp;Seattle:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Pike Place Market</li>
	<li>Comedy Underground</li>
	<li>GameWorks</li>
	<li>Dimitriou&#39;s Jazz Alley</li>
	<li>Chihuly Garden and Glass</li>
	<li>Cherry blossoms at the University of&nbsp;Washington</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="TESOL 17" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2221/content_collage-2017-03-28-2-1024x768.jpg" /></p>

<h1>Take-Aways</h1>

<p>One of our top priorities at this year&#39;s TESOL conference was to do testing on our new digital lessons and platform before our summer launch. We found many teachers who offered to act as beta testers in the next few months. Many attendees also took advantage of our discount conference price and <a href="https://ellii.com/sign_up">signed up for an ESL&nbsp;Library&nbsp;subscription</a>.</p>

<p>We also enjoyed catching up with our long-term, enthusiastic ESL&nbsp;Library subscribers who shared plenty of requests (and&nbsp;hugs).</p>

<p>Some gaps we need to fill in our library include (CLIL) lessons on social studies, science, pronunciation, academic vocabulary, and English for Special Purposes. We also had a unique request for a lesson about Potato Chip Day (March&nbsp;14). We hope to fill some of these requests before it&#39;s time to meet again for TESOL&nbsp;18.</p>

<p>See you in Chicago!</p>


Our Seattle Team at TESOL 17

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<p>Authentic materials are materials that are not created or adapted specifically for language learners. The language is real and raw just as it is in everyday&nbsp;life.</p>

<p>When used cleverly and blended with graded materials (ELT textbooks and mats), authentic materials can keep learners interested and engaged in language&nbsp;learning.</p>

<p>Many teachers think that it&#39;s too difficult to use authentic materials with low-level learners. The truth is, you simply need to choose items that allow you to work on a specific task or target (grade the task). In fact, you can even use materials that have very little text (cartoons, quotes, captions) with your high-level&nbsp;learners.</p>

<h1>An Example</h1>

<p>Let&#39;s have a look at how a charming video of a pre-schooler saying goodbye to random folks on an escalator can be used to practice English with all levels (and arguably all ages) of language learners.</p>

<p>Although there is very little language in this video, it can be used to exploit language in a variety of ways.</p>

<p>Like many videos that go viral on social media sites, this video is also highly engaging and can provide a nice break from textbook lessons (just two of many important reasons for incorporating authentic materials into your&nbsp;lessons).</p>

<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vUJIgkPoiBg?ecver=1" width="560"></iframe></p>

<h1>For the Absolute Beginner</h1>

<p>Play the video. The little girl can act as the model. Your students can practice saying bye and waving and smiling just as the people in this video do. This top-down approach (context before language) can inspire and motivate your learners. You could show this video before you introduce a ready-made lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1736" target="_blank">Saying Goodbye</a> that extends the language (<em>see you, later, bye for&nbsp;now</em>).</p>

<h1>For the Beginner &ndash;&nbsp;Low-Intermediate Learner</h1>

<p>Play the video to review a target vocabulary item you&#39;ve been working on such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons/1818" target="_blank">clothing</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1722" target="_blank">hairstyles</a>. Point to the people and pause the video as you go. Alternatively, you could show this video as an introduction to a unit on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1711" target="_blank">Going&nbsp;Shopping</a>.</p>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>What is the little girl&nbsp;wearing?</li>
	<li>What is he wearing? (point to people going&nbsp;down)</li>
	<li>What color hair does she&nbsp;have?</li>
	<li>What style of hair does she&nbsp;have?</li>
	<li>Whose outfit do you like best, and&nbsp;why?</li>
	<li>Which shoppers look fashionable/outdated?</li>
</ul>

<h1>For the Intermediate Learner</h1>

<p>You could use this lesson to introduce a unit on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2375" target="_blank">emotions and feelings</a>. You could also use it to follow-up on a lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/2257" target="_blank">making&nbsp;predictions</a>.</p>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>How does the little girl make people&nbsp;feel?</li>
	<li>How might the parent&nbsp;feel?</li>
	<li>How does the little girl make the other people&nbsp;feel?</li>
	<li>What body language do the people use to express their&nbsp;feelings?</li>
	<li>How does the video make you&nbsp;feel?</li>
	<li>Where do you think this scene takes&nbsp;place?</li>
	<li>Why is the girl&#39;s family standing&nbsp;there?</li>
</ul>

<h1>For the High-Intermediate to Advanced&nbsp;Learner</h1>

<p>You could use this video with high-level learners to inspire a critical thinking discussion or group activity. Have a group discussion using the questions below, and ask students to respond to their favorite question in a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/selfie-videos-ell/">selfie video</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2383-personal-opinion-assessment-tools">personal response</a>. You might even get students to create their own social experiment by having one student stand at the exit and say bye to students after school. Have another person record a video of the students&#39;&nbsp;reactions.</p>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>Who does the little girl NOT say goodbye to? Why do you think she avoids this&nbsp;person?</li>
	<li>What do you think the people said to each other when they got to the bottom of the&nbsp;escalator?</li>
	<li>What effect do you think the little girl had on the people who waved&nbsp;back?</li>
	<li>How do you think the person who was filming this video was feeling? Would all parents allow or even encourage their kids to do something like&nbsp;this?</li>
	<li>Why do we find pleasure in a simple video like&nbsp;this?</li>
</ul>

<h1>Further Reading</h1>

<p>As is often the case with language learning methodologies, many ELT experts now believe that &quot;grading the task&quot;&nbsp;is not as simple as we were taught in teacher training courses. Here is some further reading to do on this&nbsp;topic:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-authentic-materials" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Using Authentic Materials</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://www.richmondshare.com.br/revisiting-elt-mantras-5-grade-the-task-not-the-text/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Revisiting ELT Mantras #5: grade the task, not the text</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://elt-resourceful.com/2014/02/27/authentic-or-graded-is-there-a-middle-way/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Authentic or Graded? Is there a middle way?</a></li>
</ul>


Authentic Materials: Grading the Task

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<p>We have a NEW <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/17/flashcard_categories/99">flashcard set of toys</a> just in time for Christmas! While you might think of toys as a subject only young learners would be interested in, adults enjoy the nostalgia of this theme too. Some of your students may even be parents who have a very practical need for this vocabulary this&nbsp;month.</p>

<h1>Ideas for Using Flashcards: Toys</h1>

<p>ESL Library&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/17/flashcard_categories/99">Toys</a>&nbsp;flashcard set features a wide variety of play things, including traditional toys like tricyles and blocks&nbsp;and more modern toys like handheld video game.&nbsp;Below you will find some ideas for using this updated flashcard set during the holiday season. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page for related lesson&nbsp;content.</p>

<h2>What would you like for Christmas?</h2>

<p>Choose one student to be Santa Claus. Put Santa on a chair at the front of the room beside another chair. Hand out toy flashcards to all of your students. Have each student take a turn talking to Santa. Students must describe what they want (the image on their card) without saying the name of the toy. Santa guesses. (Give more than one student a turn to be&nbsp;Santa.)</p>

<h2>Under the Tree</h2>

<p>Draw a tree on the board. Give each student a toy flashcard. Put a piece of tape on the back of the flashcards. Have students take turns putting their flashcard under the tree. They have to say who they would give this toy to and why. You can have them choose other students from their class or real people from their&nbsp;lives.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I am giving this tricycle to my nephew. He loves&nbsp;bikes!</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Toy Store Field Trip</h2>

<p>Take your students to the local toy store. Put your students in small groups or pairs. Give each group <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/17/flashcard_categories/99">a set of toy flashcards</a>. Have students search the store to find each toy. Which section or aisle did they find the toy in? They must make a list of where they found the toy and what other types of toys were in the same section. Which toy could they not find? Tell them to find one toy they have never seen before. Back at the school they can describe the toy. You can also ask them to find the most expensive toy,&nbsp;the least expensive toy, the prettiest toy,&nbsp;the funniest toy,&nbsp;etc.</p>

<h2>When I Was Young</h2>

<p>This is a game you can play with adults. Set out all of the flashcards on a table. Have students take turns picking up a flashcard and describing their favorite toy as a&nbsp;child.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>When I was a child, my favorite toy was a&nbsp;doll.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The other students have to ask at least five questions about the&nbsp;toy.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What was your doll&#39;s name? Who gave you the doll? What did the doll look like? What happened to the&nbsp;doll?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If a student cannot find his favorite toy in the flashcards, he can draw it on the&nbsp;board.</p>

<h2>Reality Flashcards</h2>

<p>You&#39;ve heard about reality TV, but what about reality flashcards? Invite your students to bring the cards to life by telling true stories related to the cards. Hold up a card and ask the class this&nbsp;question:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Who has a real life story about this&nbsp;toy?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>True stories will help your students remember the words. After the story time, ask the students which story was the most memorable and why. Encourage the other students to ask the storyteller at least three&nbsp;questions.</p>

<p><em>The teacher pulls out the &quot;stickers&#39;&nbsp;fashcard.</em></p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong>Student A:</strong> I have a story! My sister and I collected stickers when we were&nbsp;kids.</p>

<p><strong>Student B:</strong> What kind of stickers?</p>

<p><strong>Student A:</strong> Hello Kitty and fairy stickers.</p>

<p><strong>Student C:</strong> Did you have a sticker book?</p>

<p><strong>Student A:</strong> No, we had a sticker box.</p>

<p><strong>Student D:</strong> What happened to all of your&nbsp;stickers?</p>

<p><strong>Student A:</strong> I put them on letters to my&nbsp;relatives.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If no student volunteers to tell a story, try a different card or tell a real life story of your own and have the students ask you&nbsp;questions.</p>

<h2>Elves&#39; Workshop</h2>

<p>Tell your students to pretend they are elves. They have to make all of the toys (flashcards). What will they need to build each toy? Hold out the flashcards one at a&nbsp;time.</p>

<p><em>The teacher pulls out the &quot;doll house&quot; flashcard.</em></p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong>Teacher:</strong> Molly wants a doll house. What do we need to make&nbsp;it?</p>

<p><strong>Elf 1:</strong> Wood.</p>

<p><strong>Teacher:</strong> Yes, what else do we&nbsp;need?</p>

<p><strong>Elf 2:</strong> Fabric to make curtains and sheets for the&nbsp;beds.</p>

<p><strong>Elf 3:</strong> And we need a drill to cut out the windows and&nbsp;doors.</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Dear Santa</h2>

<p>Give students a flashcard and tell them to write a letter to Santa asking for this toy for Christmas. Have students peer correct and respond to the&nbsp;letters.</p>

<h2>Kids Christmas Party</h2>

<p>Your classroom is an office and the workers are organizing the work Christmas party. Review all of the flashcards and make notes about each toy. Discuss these things as a class. Allow students to disagree about age, gender,&nbsp;etc.</p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong>Age appropriateness:</strong> preschool, primary school, junior, high school (or by&nbsp;age)</p>

<p><strong>Gender:</strong> Male, Female,&nbsp;Unisex</p>

<p><strong>Interest:</strong> educational, adventure, outdoor, fantasy, building,&nbsp;creative</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Toy Combo</h2>

<p>Put your students in pairs or small groups. Hand out two flashcard to each group. Students have to design a toy that uses parts from both flashcards. Students present the toy combo. They have to answer the&nbsp;following:</p>

<ul>
	<li>What is the name of the&nbsp;toy?</li>
	<li>What does the toy&nbsp;do?</li>
	<li>What age group would have this&nbsp;toy?</li>
	<li>How much would this toy sell&nbsp;for?</li>
</ul>

<h2>Toy of the Year</h2>

<p>This is a fun activity if your students are learning to compare and contrast. Give each student one flashcard from the set. Then, have your students research the <strong>Toy of the Year</strong>. (Your students may come up with different results for &#39;Toy of the&nbsp;Year&#39;.)</p>

<blockquote>
<p>How does the toy of the year compare to the toy on the&nbsp;flashcard?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Have students write a paragraph or prepare a presentation comparing the two&nbsp;toys.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson">Holidays &amp; Events: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1946">Christmas (Beg)</a></li>
	<li class="lesson">Holidays &amp; Events: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1854">Christmas (Low Int)</a></li>
	<li class="lesson">Holidays &amp; Events: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1853">Christmas (High Int)</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards">Flashcards: <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/20">Christmas</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Please share your own ideas, lessons, and activities related to <strong>Toys and Flashcards</strong> in the comments&nbsp;below.</p>


Toys Flashcards: Games & Activities for the ESL Classroom

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<p>I&#39;ve been thinking a lot about one of the sessions that I attended at the TESL Ontario conference a few weeks ago. It was a session about authentic speech by Marijke Wertheim, a TESOL instructor at the University of&nbsp;Toronto. Since many of our subscribers were unable to attend the conference, I thought I&#39;d summarize what I learned and hopefully inspire you to catch this speaker next time she&#39;s presenting at a conference near&nbsp;you. Here are three of the main points Marijke made in her session about authentic&nbsp;speech:</p>

<h1>1. Encourage ELLs to take ownership of the&nbsp;language</h1>

<p>Marijke spoke a lot about getting students to feel like English is theirs to learn and play with rather than feeling like they are borrowers of the language from native speakers and teachers. She suggested that students explore which English voices they like and what they like about them so that they can find a realistic model to study and replicate. In Marijke&#39;s opinion, finding a model whose native language is the same as their own, but who speaks English fluently, would be&nbsp;ideal.</p>

<h1>2. Reconsider what fluency really&nbsp;is</h1>

<p>Marijke spent a lot of time helping us rethink the definition of fluency. While most English learners insist that they want to become fluent in English, they don&#39;t realize what this really means. Teachers can take some of the blame for this, since many of us have unrealistic expectations of our students when it comes to speaking. As Marijke pointed out, if a student has perfect grammar, but there is no flow to the conversation, this is not fluency. A speaker will sound more fluent if there is flow and meaning even with some inaccuracy in the&nbsp;language. Marijke suggested that as teachers we often use &quot;an ineffective yardstick&quot;&nbsp;to judge our learners&#39; speaking abilities. We want them to use the grammar we&#39;ve taught them in a perfect way (as we&#39;d like it presented in written English), even though native speakers don&#39;t talk this way. As she pointed out, we don&#39;t go around correcting native speakers for accuracy, so we shouldn&#39;t spend so much time pointing out the imperfect English of our students. Rather than focusing on structural errors, we should be emphasizing the importance of &quot;chunks of meaning&quot; as well as &quot;turn-taking&quot;&nbsp;and&nbsp;flow.</p>

<h1>3. Spend time looking at the messiness of spoken&nbsp;language</h1>

<p>As Marijke demonstrated with several real-life scripts, spoken English is messy. We pause and hesitate, we use fillers (<em>uh, um, well, yeah, hmm</em>), and we make up lots of words (<em>kinda, sorta, geesh</em>) or even choose the wrong ones. Without this messiness, we wouldn&#39;t sound like ourselves. In fact, we&#39;d all sound like speech-to-text robots, wouldn&#39;t we? This brings us back to point #1; it&#39;s time to start encouraging students to make this language their&nbsp;own.</p>

<h1>Summary &amp;&nbsp;Tips</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Tell your students to eavesdrop on real conversations and get them to report back what they&nbsp;hear.</li>
	<li>Spend time reading and practicing scripts with real language (with all of its&nbsp;messiness).</li>
	<li>Challenge learners to turn spoken scripts into written work and written pieces into authentic scripts. Review the&nbsp;differences.</li>
	<li>Analyze the length of natural pauses and the speed of real conversations (when they speed up, you speed&nbsp;up).</li>
	<li>Teach them vague language (<em>sort of, kinda, greenish</em>).</li>
	<li>Study collocations and practice using&nbsp;them.</li>
	<li>When teaching manners and etiquette, also talk about the importance of tone. (&quot;How you order a coffee reflects who you&nbsp;are.&quot;)</li>
	<li>Practice small talk&nbsp;scripts.</li>
	<li>Encourage students to find a model English speaker that they can&nbsp;study.</li>
</ul>

<p>While most of the attendees at this session were teachers, there were plenty of takeaways for materials writers too. After all, if the scripts we write don&#39;t sound authentic, what is the point of using them as&nbsp;exemplars? In a recent <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/110/lessons">Super Simple Questions</a> lesson, one of the original dialogues included the expression &quot;too bad&quot;&nbsp;(i.e., <em>too bad for you / take it or leave it</em>). This was a low-level lesson, and we ended up softening the language to make it sound a bit less rude. Did we do a disservice to learners by adjusting the script? Finding new ways to bring authentic speech (small talk, fillers, sarcasm, teasing, etc.) into our materials is something we&#39;ll be exploring in 2017 thanks to this thought-provoking session.<br />
<br />
Thank you,&nbsp;Marijke!</p>


Helping ELLs Find Their Authentic Voice

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<h1>Meanwhile in Canada&hellip;</h1>

<p><em>Canadian Geographic</em> announced this week that after a year of polling and consulting and debating, the &#39;gray jay&#39; is their top choice for <a href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-our-national-bird-gray-jay" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Bird of&nbsp;Canada</a>. News got around quickly on Twitter as #CanadaBird began to trend.</p>

<p>While many Canadians wondered why a more well-known bird such as the loon or Canada goose weren&#39;t chosen, other language geeks (including our very own illustrator Robyn), wondered why Canadian journalists were calling it a &quot;gray jay&quot;&nbsp;instead of a &quot;grey jay.&quot;&nbsp;In fact, some Canadians were so angry with the choice (and spelling) that they began using the hashtag&nbsp;#NotMyNationalBird.</p>

<p>When we asked <em>Canadian Geographic</em> to comment on the spelling, they responded that &quot;gray jay&quot;&nbsp;was the &quot;scientific&quot;&nbsp;name. (And here we thought that was <em>Perisoreus canadensis</em>.) From what our editor Tanya gathered from <em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English</em>, this bird is also known as the &quot;grey jay&quot;&nbsp;or more commonly the &quot;whisky jack&quot;&nbsp;(though many spell it &quot;whiskey jack&quot;&nbsp;due to its origins in&nbsp;the <a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/gray-jay-canadians-ruffled-over-national-bird-they-ve-never-heard-of-1.3164852" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cree &amp; Algonquin</a> languages) or &quot;Canada&nbsp;jay.&quot;</p>

<p>Some eagle-eyed subscribers may have already noticed that we quickly added the &quot;gray jay&quot;&nbsp;to our recently completed <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/14/flashcard_categories/16" target="_blank">Birds flashcard set</a>. Unlike our ready-made lessons, which are offered in Canadian and/or US spelling, our flashcards default to US usage, which is why we&#39;ve used the American spelling &quot;gray jay&quot; for our latest&nbsp;addition.</p>

<p>If you teach in Canada and are using this flashcard to share this fascinating Canadian news with your students, we welcome you to adjust the spelling by editing the image before you hit print (as you can do with any of the 2,000+ vocabulary images in our&nbsp;library).</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/14/flashcard_categories/16" target="_blank"><img alt="Our gray jay flashcard with an editable text field" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2155/content_Tara_Gray-Jay-Edit-Flashcard-Title.png" width="186" height="293" /></a></p>

<p>So what&#39;s the word, Canada? Tweet <a href="http://twitter.com/ESLlibrary" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@ESLlibrary</a> and share your own thoughts about the new #CanadaBird and its American&nbsp;name.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2226-american-vs-canadian-spelling" target="_blank">American Vs. Canadian Spelling</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/110/lessons/2337" target="_blank">What Color/Colour Is It?</a></li>
</ul>


Canada's NEW National Bird – Gray Jay or Grey Jay?

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<p>ESL&nbsp;Library has an updated vocabulary image set of <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/90">Summer Olympics&nbsp;flashcards</a>.</p>

<p>Subscribers can choose from several printing options (color or black &amp; white, full-page or multiple images per page, with or without text,&nbsp;etc.). The images can be used with or without our ready-made Holidays &amp; Events lessons about the Summer Olympics (<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/2245">Low-intermediate</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/2248">Intermediate</a>).</p>

<p>Our <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/90">Summer Olympics</a> flashcard section is just one set from our large section of <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories">Sports Flashcards</a> where you will find vocabulary images for Sports Equipment, Sports Actions, Winter Olympics, and&nbsp;more.</p>

<h1>10 Ways to Use Summer Olympics&nbsp;Flashcards</h1>

<p>Here are a few fun ways to use ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/90">Summer Olympics flashcards</a> during or after the Games. We hope teachers will also share their own ideas in the comments&nbsp;below.</p>

<h2>Drawing</h2>

<p>Choose one student to be the artist. Tell the rest of the class to stand up and close their eyes. Show the artist a flashcard. Tell the class to open their&nbsp;eyes.</p>

<p>As the artist starts drawing the flashcard, the other students try to guess the word. Students who want to take a guess have to start doing something active, such as doing jumping jacks (rather than raising a hand). If they guess incorrectly when the teacher calls on them, they have to sit&nbsp;down.</p>

<p>The student who guesses correctly gets to become the new artist who will draw a new word. If they can&#39;t get the answer in a minute or so, show the flashcard to the class. The first person to shout the word becomes the new artist.&nbsp;Repeat.</p>

<h2>Hot Seat</h2>

<p>Put your class in two groups and assign two students to be captains. Place the captains in chairs facing away from the board. Paste a large-sized flashcard (choose in settings) on the board. The rest of the class has to get their team captain to guess the word by talking about it. You can decide whether or not gestures are allowed. The first captain to guess correctly gets out of the hot seat and gets a team point. A new captain is chosen for the next&nbsp;word.</p>

<h2>Spelling Bee or Pronunciation Bee</h2>

<p>Pull out a card and have students try to spell the word. Each time students spell the word correctly, they get a point. Make it an active game by requiring students to stand up and do jumping jacks while they spell. A pronunciation bee is just like a spelling bee, but students have to pronounce the words&nbsp;properly.</p>

<h2>Sport and Tell</h2>

<p>Gather all of the sports cards from the Olympic set. Have students choose a card out of a box. During the Olympics, ask your students to become experts in the sport they chose. They can share news related to their sport and tell the class who won the gold, silver, and bronze. The expert can also share any rules related to this sport. This activity can also be done in pairs. Choose a time each day during the Olympics to have one student or pair report on their&nbsp;sport.</p>

<h2>Yes, Coach!</h2>

<p>Use the <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/90">Olympics</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/87">Sports Actions</a> cards to play charades (go outside if possible). Have students take turns coming to the front or center of the space to choose cards and model the action (be the &quot;coach&quot;). The other students have to copy the movement of the coach with the card AND try to guess the action word. Whoever guesses first gets to be the next &quot;coach.&quot;</p>

<h2>Olympic Memories</h2>

<p>Use all of the <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/90">Summer Olympics flashcards</a>. Hold up one card. Invite students to share any memory they have about the sport or a related athlete. Encourage them to start with the phrase, &quot;I remember when...&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;That reminds me&nbsp;of...&quot;</p>

<h2>Shout the Verb</h2>

<p>Use the <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/88">Sports Equipment </a>set. The student who picks the card must complete the question: What can you do with a....? The other students shout&nbsp;actions.</p>

<ul>
	<li>football (kick it, throw it,)</li>
	<li>helmet (wear it)</li>
	<li>racket (hit it)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Predictions</h2>

<p>Use the cards to practice making predictions about the Olympics. Which countries will get the most gold, silver, and bronze medals? Which country will win the relay? Who will carry the Olympic flag? Simply pull out a random card from the set and ask your students to make a prediction about it. Or, get your students to practice asking the&nbsp;questions.</p>

<h2>Preferences</h2>

<p>Use the cards to practice stating preferences. <em>Which sports do your students prefer playing? Which sports do they prefer watching? Why do they prefer one sport over another?</em> Pull out two flashcards at a time and have students practice stating which one they prefer and&nbsp;why.</p>

<h2>Create your own Olympic Themed Quizzes and&nbsp;Materials</h2>

<p>As a subscriber, you can also make your own Summer Olympics quizzes and materials using our flashcards. All you need to do is drag the images you want onto a document that you are preparing. Please use your materials for personal classroom use&nbsp;only.</p>

<h2>Share Your Ideas</h2>

<p>Don&#39;t forget to share your own ideas in the comments&nbsp;below.</p>


10 Ways to Use Summer Olympics Flashcards

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<p>Have you tried our intermediate-level <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2231" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a> lesson about The American Dream?&nbsp;In this ready-made lesson, students explore different viewpoints about the dream and discuss whether it&rsquo;s dead and gone or alive and well. This lesson also includes punctuation practice (using apostrophes with words ending in -s) and an optional video challenge.</p>

<p>In this lesson, your students will get a chance to complete this sentence:</p>

<h1>My definition of the American dream is&hellip;</h1>

<p>Here is the video shared in&nbsp;our ready-made lesson. This video could also inspire your students to write and record their own <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/selfie-videos-ell" target="_blank">selfie video</a> about what the American dream means to them.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C48aGtPIuZo" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<h3>The American Dream</h3>

<p>In this video, New Yorkers&nbsp;were interviewed about their own definition of the American dream. After you show the video, ask your students to decide which of the following align the closest with their own definition of the American dream.</p>

<ul>
	<li>to live in a nice house with a nice family and to be happy</li>
	<li>to be a millionaire</li>
	<li>to be able to work hard and to be able to really achieve greatness</li>
	<li>to have the chance to make a better life than what I had growing up</li>
	<li>to be able to pursue the job that I want to pursue</li>
	<li>to be able to live where I want to live</li>
	<li>to really prosper the way I want to</li>
	<li>to be able to go to school</li>
	<li>to have freedom to pursue my dreams</li>
</ul>

The American Dream: Video Challenge

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/360/Tara_The-American-Dream-Video_Banner.png

<p>This year at the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/baltimore-charms-the-esl-library-team-for-tesol-16" target="_blank">TESOL convention in Baltimore</a>, the ESL Library team had two booths to manage and three presentations of our own to give. There wasn&#39;t enough time to attend all of the sessions we wanted to, so we had to be very picky with our&nbsp;selections!</p>

<p>Here is a brief overview of a fantastic TESOL session that I attended in Baltimore about using selfie videos in the language classroom. Be sure to view the <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ofXsgJCwOfORvx366YJPayPSLsYdp2cZUit7iiUTl8I/edit#slide=id.p" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slides</a> from this session if you are interested in learning&nbsp;more.</p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Session Title:</th>
			<td><a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ofXsgJCwOfORvx366YJPayPSLsYdp2cZUit7iiUTl8I/edit#slide=id.p" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Utilizing Selfies (Videos) to Promote Language&nbsp;Learning</a></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Speakers:</th>
			<td>Christine Discoe, Kyla Masciarelli, and Loni Thorson from Colorado State&nbsp;University</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ofXsgJCwOfORvx366YJPayPSLsYdp2cZUit7iiUTl8I/edit#slide=id.p" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img alt="Presentation slideshow title screen" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2152/content_Tara_TESOL-16-Teaching-English-with-Selfie-Videos.jpg" /></a></p>

<h2>Rationale for assigning selfie videos to English learners</h2>

<p>Here are the top three reasons the speakers provided for assigning selfie videos to language&nbsp;learners.</p>

<h3>1. Comfort</h3>

<p>Students feel more comfortable when they have their mobile devices in their hands. Selfie videos allow students to become more comfortable with their teachers and their peers. Young adults rate selfie video assignments as &#39;highly&nbsp;effective.&#39;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Smart phones are leading the mobile&nbsp;charge.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>2. Awareness</h3>

<p>With selfie videos, students can see themselves using the language. They want to look and sound better, so they work hard to improve their language and correct their own errors. They learn to self-correct.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;They have an innate desire to self-correct and to make themselves look and sound&nbsp;good.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>3. Creativity</h3>

<p>There are many different types of selfie assignments that teachers can give. Students play with the language and try it out in many ways. Students love experimenting with different backgrounds, locations, and video apps. They learn to speak &#39;on the&nbsp;fly.&#39;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Students really have to <em>try on</em> different&nbsp;structures.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Examples of selfie video&nbsp;assignments</h2>

<p>The speakers regularly assign up to three selfie videos per student each week. Here are some of the examples of selfie video assignments that they&nbsp;shared.</p>

<ul>
	<li>tell two truths and a lie and get other students to guess which is a&nbsp;lie</li>
	<li>practice telling jokes or using&nbsp;sarcasm</li>
	<li>summarize what you read, saw, or&nbsp;heard</li>
	<li>paraphrase someone else&#39;s&nbsp;thoughts</li>
	<li>practice minimal pairs</li>
	<li>use target grammar or&nbsp;vocabulary</li>
	<li>share your opinion about a topic discussed in&nbsp;class</li>
	<li>describe one&#39;s surroundings</li>
	<li>walk and talk in&nbsp;English</li>
</ul>

<h2>Ideas for submitting and sharing selfie videos</h2>

<p>Christine and co. offered several suggestions for submitting selfie videos to the teacher and/or class. They recommend setting a two- to three-minute maximum for&nbsp;submissions.</p>

<ul>
	<li>pass mobile devices around the classroom (set to Airplane Mode to avoid any embarrassing&nbsp;notifications)</li>
	<li>upload videos to Google Drive and&nbsp;share</li>
	<li>display videos on a &#39;document camera&#39; for the class to&nbsp;view</li>
	<li>watch in a 1&ndash;1 selfie conference with the&nbsp;teacher</li>
	<li>upload to a Learning Management System (LMS) and share with the class or&nbsp;teacher</li>
</ul>

<h2>Assessment and feedback with selfie videos</h2>

<p>The speakers explained that selfie videos can be used for diagnostic testing as well as formal <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2129-speaking-task-assessment-form" target="_blank">assessment</a>. Selfie videos can help teachers identify certain sounds and structures that individual students need to work on. The students should know ahead of time who the audience will be (e.g., just the teacher, classmates,&nbsp;public).</p>

<p>Teachers can respond with a selfie video to provide suggestions and model corrections. Check out TESOL slide #28 from this session for a useful <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ofXsgJCwOfORvx366YJPayPSLsYdp2cZUit7iiUTl8I/edit#slide=id.p" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">selfie video&nbsp;rubric</a>.</p>

<h2>How to integrate selfie video assignments into ESL&nbsp;Library lessons</h2>

<p>We love the idea of using selfie videos in the ELL classroom, and we&#39;ll be adding some video tasks into some of our new and revised lesson plans. You can also add your own selfie video assignments to existing lessons. Here are some ideas you can use now if you are an ESL&nbsp;Library&nbsp;subscriber.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Assign the <strong>Warm-Up</strong> questions from a lesson the night before starting a lesson, and watch a few selfie videos in class before starting the&nbsp;lesson.</li>
	<li>Assign a <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a></strong> question as a selfie video response after doing a&nbsp;lesson.</li>
	<li>Assign a <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons" target="_blank">Mini-Debates</a></strong> question as a selfie video response (could have two students in the selfie debating an issue) before doing the classroom&nbsp;debate.</li>
	<li>Ask students to summarize what they learned in a reading or podcast from an ESL Library lesson (e.g., summarize a biography from the <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a></strong>&nbsp;section).</li>
	<li>Ask students to make a &#39;two truths and a lie&#39; selfie video after learning about a subject from an ESL Library lesson.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Tara&#39;s 30-second post-TESOL selfie video</h2>

<p>If we&#39;re going to assign selfie videos to our students, we&#39;ll have to work on becoming comfortable in front of the camera, too. The speakers challenged us to give it a whirl. This selfie took three takes! It&#39;s harder than it&nbsp;looks.</p>

<div class="video-container"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0sOAQLRjgIs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

<p>Learn all about how <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/baltimore-charms-the-esl-library-team-for-tesol-16/" target="_blank">Baltimore charmed the ESL&nbsp;Library team</a>.</p>


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Tara Benwell