These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

<h2>Grade Levels</h2>

<p>Do you know how to express&nbsp;grade levels in English? It depends on where you live! A <strong>grade level</strong> refers to a level of study that has its students grouped or classified into grades by age.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Here are some common ways to describe school grade&nbsp;levels&nbsp;found in English-speaking countries:</p>

<blockquote>
<ul>
	<li>She&#39;s in (the) first grade. (US)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>She&#39;s in (the) 11th grade. (US) <strong>*</strong></li>
	<li>She&#39;s in Grade 4. (Canada)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>She&#39;s in grade 5. (Canada) <strong>**</strong></li>
	<li>She&#39;s in Year 8. (England, Australia, New Zealand)</li>
	<li>She&#39;s in Primary 3. (Northern Ireland, Scotland)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<h3>Note:</h3>

<p>Year 1 and Grade 1 are not equivalent. A <strong>first-grade</strong> student in the US is a Year 2 student in the UK. This student may also be referred to as&nbsp;<strong>a first grader</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Education Stages</h2>

<p>Some English speakers think it sounds odd or even wrong&nbsp;to hear a grade level expressed in a way that&#39;s not common in their own region. The way we describe different types of education stages (types of schools)&nbsp;also differs from region to region and can sound odd if it&#39;s not customary. For example, <strong>primary school&nbsp;</strong>may be referred to as&nbsp;<strong>grade school,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>elementary&nbsp;school</strong>, or even <strong>public school</strong>.<strong>***&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>In my region (Windsor, Ontario), elementary&nbsp;school starts in junior kindergarten (age 4&ndash;5). We also have senior kindergarten (age 5&ndash;6). Many other places in North America&nbsp;only have one year of kindergarten.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In many regions, elementary school goes to the eighth grade (Grade 8).&nbsp;Other regions&nbsp;have&nbsp;<strong>middle school </strong>and/or <strong>junior high school</strong>.&nbsp;Middle school usually ranges from the sixth grade to the eighth grade. Junior high school (&quot;junior high&quot;)&nbsp;is often synonymous with middle school, but it can also mean something different. In some regions, junior high&nbsp;includes the ninth&nbsp;grade.</p>

<p><strong>High school</strong> is also known as <strong>secondary school</strong>. In my region, (public) high school goes from Grade 9 to Grade 12. In the US, the words <em>freshman </em>(9), <em>sophomore </em>(10), <em>junior</em> (11), and <em>senior </em>(12) are sometimes used to describe&nbsp;the high school years instead of grade numbers.</p>

<blockquote>
<ul>
	<li>The word <strong>high school </strong>is always spelled as two words.</li>
	<li>The word <strong>kindergarten</strong> is spelled with a <em>t</em>&nbsp;(not a <em>d</em>&nbsp;as in <em>garden</em>,&nbsp;though it is often pronounced this way).</li>
	<li>The short form&nbsp;<strong>K&ndash;12 </strong>refers to primary and secondary school together.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<p>What about before and after K&ndash;12? <strong>Preschool</strong> is also called <strong>nursery school</strong>,<strong> </strong><strong>playschool</strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>or<strong> pre-K</strong>.&nbsp;Many parents put their young children in preschool for social reasons, though it&#39;s optional.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Post-secondary</strong> school refers to&nbsp;<strong>college </strong>or&nbsp;<strong>university</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Letter Grades</h2>

<p>The word <strong>grade</strong> doesn&#39;t always refer to a school-age group. It can also mean the <strong>score</strong> you get on an assignment or in a class. These types of grades can be expressed in many ways too, such as&nbsp;letter grades&nbsp;(A+), proficiency levels (Level 4), or percentages (100%).</p>

<p><strong>*</strong>In writing, it is recommended to use the numerical form for numbers over ten (11, 11th).&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>**</strong>When used after the word &quot;Grade&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;Year,&quot; most style guides recommend the numerical form for any number (Grade 5). It depends on the style guide whether you capitalize&nbsp;the word &quot;grade&quot; or not.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>***</strong>Types of schools (high school, elementary school) are not capitalized unless it&#39;s part of a school name (Did you go to <em>high school</em> in Windsor? Yes, I went to&nbsp;<em>Walkerville High School.</em>) or at the beginning of a sentence.</p>

<p>Ask your teacher to assign the Functional English lesson called&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1957">Saying &amp; Writing Numbers</a>&nbsp;if you want to learn more about numbers.</p>

<h2>Question of the Month&nbsp;</h2>

<h3>What was your most memorable (school-age) grade, and why?</h3>

<p>Did you attend any type of preschool or post-secondary school? Try to use some vocabulary from this post in your response!</p>


How to Say & Write Grade Levels & Education Stages

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2095/Tara_How-to-Say-and-Write-Grades_Banner.png

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

Teaching with Ellii

<h1>Teachers&#39; Notes</h1>

<p>Our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a> section has 100+ readings based on interesting topics that are relevant today. Some of these topics have been suggested by our members, and we welcome your ideas&nbsp;too! Our goal is to include topics that teens and adults have strong opinions or feelings about. We hope that even your shy students will&nbsp;feel inclined to join in. We add new lessons regularly, so please keep a close eye on this section.</p>

<h2>About This Section</h2>

<p>Some teachers prefer to teach a materials-light class. Rather than using a textbook, they search for short or authentic materials that are related to the interests of their students. The Discussion Starters section may be useful for this type of teacher. These lessons are recommended for tutoring and online teaching as well as general conversation classes. Many of these topics will interest teens and young adults, though a mixed-age class will undoubtedly have very interesting discussions based on topics such as climate change, digital learning, or distracted driving!</p>

<p>You don&rsquo;t have to cover all of the suggested activities in a lesson. Some teachers just play the audio file. Others just use the reading and discussion questions.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Discussion Grouping Options</h2>

<p>Discussions based on these lessons don&rsquo;t have to be limited to pairs or small groups. Encourage your learners to share their opinions in a variety of ways.</p>

<ul>
	<li>in a large group discussion with the whole class</li>
	<li>in small groups of their choice and in groups&nbsp;of your choice</li>
	<li>in pairs of their choice and in pairs of your choice</li>
	<li>in chat room conversations</li>
	<li>with fellow students or friends</li>
	<li>with video chat partners</li>
	<li>on a Facebook group page</li>
	<li>in a Twitter chat with a set #tag</li>
	<li>on the phone with fellow students</li>
	<li>via texting on mobile devices</li>
	<li>with parents and other family members at the dinner table</li>
	<li>in role-play situations</li>
	<li>in blog posts and comment sections</li>
</ul>

<h2>Pre-Reading</h2>

<h3>A. Warm-Up Questions</h3>

<p>Before you listen to the audio file or read the article, find out if your class is interested in this topic. How much do they already know? Talk about the 4&ndash;5 questions (provided) together as a class, or put students in small groups to discuss. Note that the digital version has a warm-up video with the same questions.</p>

<h3>B. Vocabulary Preview</h3>

<p>Each Discussion Starter lesson includes a pre-reading vocabulary task. The lesson also reviews these 8&ndash;12 words in a few different ways after the reading. Some teachers prefer to assign this task as a pair activity. You can decide whether or not to allow your students to use their dictionaries for this activity (if you allow this, you may want to encourage English&ndash;English dictionary use). Be sure to practice the pronunciation and spelling of the&nbsp;key vocabulary throughout the week. We hope you&#39;ll encourage your learners to use&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2966" target="_blank">Vocabulary Cards</a> to really get to know each word!</p>

<h2>Reading</h2>

<p>The readings are about 200&ndash;300 words in length and most are written at an intermediate&nbsp;level. Other lessons are low-intermediate and some are high-intermediate to advanced. We encourage you to explore many options for reading in class, including silent reading, reading aloud, shared reading, and reading with audio support. You can also assign the reading for homework, or have students record&nbsp;the&nbsp;reading&nbsp;and&nbsp;send it to you!</p>

<h3><b>Note</b></h3>

<p>Even though most of the readings are aimed at a&nbsp;lower- to upper-intermediate level, the&nbsp;lessons can certainly be used for higher levels as well. Advanced students usually don&rsquo;t mind reading a lower-level lesson if it&nbsp;leads to a great discussion or debate.</p>

<h2>Listening</h2>

<p>All of our Discussion Starters lessons have mp3 files (North American&nbsp;or UK) that you can download or stream.&nbsp;In addition to being available with the PDF, the audio is available in the digital version (Listen &amp; Read and Listen&nbsp;&amp; Type tasks). Note that only the US audio is available in the digital version.</p>

<p>A gap-fill activity is included at the end of each lesson. If you want your students to listen to different voices and accents, try sharing the UK audio (note this matches the text in the British English printable version). If you want your students to really focus on listening, you can play the recording for your learners without handing out the reading and have them work through the comprehension questions.</p>

<h2>Comprehension</h2>

<p>Each reading includes a set of comprehension questions. You can use these questions or have your students write their own questions. You can also ask the questions orally and have students take turns offering the answers. Make sure that your students give more than just one-word answers if they are writing them out. (Encourage them to use the digital version to save paper! Suggested answers are provided after they submit their answers. Teachers can see these suggested answers in the digital answer key and when checking answers.)</p>

<h2>Vocabulary Review</h2>

<p>Each Discussion Starter lesson includes one or more vocabulary review tasks. If you don&rsquo;t want to use class time for this, you can assign individual tasks for homework and take the answers up the following class to check if your students have remembered the new words. Example vocabulary review activities include fill-in-the-blanks, matching, true/false, and synonym/antonym.</p>

<h2>Grammar Practice &amp; Review</h2>

<p>Some of the Discussion Starters lessons include a mini-grammar review and practice task. The grammar target is typically used in context in the reading. Note that not all Discussion Starters lessons have grammar tasks. There may be another type of task, such as a Class Survey (print only). We encourage you to explore our related grammar lessons (and videos) from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section if your students need more practice.</p>

<h2>Discussion</h2>

<p>We hope the discussion questions in these lessons will give your students plenty to talk about. You can set students up in small groups or have rotating pairs, or even schedule a chat about this topic with students from another class or country! These questions also make great writing prompts.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Research or Critical Thinking</h2>

<p>Some Discussion Starters lessons feature a research option. Others include a critical thinking task or group activity. You can decide whether these optional tasks are appropriate for your students and if you have enough time to include them.</p>

<h2>Speaking Task</h2>

<p>The digital version of our Discussion Starters lessons includes a speaking task called <strong>Personal Response</strong>. Students have up to two minutes to comment on a quote or question related to the topic. The lesson image is also usually provided for inspiration. For a lite version of this lesson, you can easily just do the warm-up questions with a follow-up speaking task as a homework activity. If you want to create a rubric for the speaking task, you can personalize this <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2129" target="_blank">Speaking Task Assessment Form</a>.</p>

<h2>Answer Key</h2>

<p>The teacher version of the printable lesson has an answer key, which may also include some extra usage notes or teaching ideas. We recommend that you print the teacher version with the answer key. You may not need to photocopy the answer key for all of your students unless they request it. Alternatively, you can print out a few answer keys and have students share them around. Looking for the answer key in the digital version? Find answers to applicable task types by clicking the apple icon next to the digital task title in the Task List menu. Note that the printable answer key is not meant to be used with this digital version.</p>

<p><img alt="digital answer key" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2015/content_Discussion-Starters-Teachers-Notes_Answer-Key.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Printable Vs. Digital&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The printable and digital version of our Discussion Starters lessons have most of the same content, though the task names and order may be slightly different. The digital versions currently go with the US printable versions (with American spelling and usage).</p>

<p>While it is possible to use a hybrid approach for this section, it&#39;s important to preview both versions (print and digital) since they do not match exactly. You will encounter a few small differences and therefore it is not advised to have some students using the printable while the teacher or other students use the digital version. Also, some digital activities are not available in our printable versions. Similarly some group tasks (e.g., Class Survey) from our printable lessons are not currently offered in the digital versions.</p>

<p>Look at the following information to see a few key differences between the printable and digital versions. Why do they differ? Unfortunately, our digital task suite does not allow for an exact transferral to and from our paper-based materials. However, as new digital tasks types are built by our developers, we&#39;re able to mirror the printable and digital lessons more closely!</p>

<h3>1. Warm-Up</h3>

<p>In most digital versions, you will find a warm-up video in addition to warm-up questions. The video is a small teaser of the content and contains a few interesting facts. The warm-up questions from the printable lesson are also provided in this digital task. Some teachers like to assign this digital task for homework before doing the lesson in class to get their students thinking about the topic.</p>

<p><img alt="warm-up video" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2016/content_Discussion-Starters-Teachers-Notes_Warm-Up.jpg" /></p>

<h3>2. Vocabulary Preview&nbsp;</h3>

<p>The pre-reading vocabulary task is generally identical in the printable and digital version;&nbsp;however, matching tasks are split into two tasks (A and B) in the digital version to reduce scrolling. If a pre-reading vocabulary task is not a matching task in the printable lesson, the task may vary in the digital version.</p>

<h3>3. Discussion Questions</h3>

<p>The final question set is usually identical, but sometimes one of the questions has been removed from the digital version and used in the speaking task instead. Encourage your class to come up with a few more related questions of their own.</p>

<h3>4. Listening Vs. Listen &amp; Type (Gap-Fill)</h3>

<p>Though this is the same task type in both the printable and digital versions, the blanked-out words may differ slightly. Since the digital task type only accepts exact answers, we sometimes use different blanks in the digital version. For example, if a word has spelling variations, hyphens, or capitalization that could affect scoring when typed incorrectly, we try to avoid using it in the digital version.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Teaching 1:1</h2>

<p>Do you teach one student at a time? The Discussion Starters section is one of our most popular lesson sections for private teachers! English teachers who teach private or semi-private classes&nbsp;love this section because of the relevant, topical content and ready-made question sets that help students gain confidence in speaking.</p>

<p>If your teen to adult learners want to practice talking about real-world issues, this section will give you exactly what you need. You can assign plenty of tasks digitally (or even email the PDF and MP3 if you prefer) for pre-class and post-class homework, including reading and vocabulary review tasks. During your time together, you can focus more on speaking and pronunciation using the prompts provided. If you assign the reading (or listening) before class, ask your student to jot down any vocabulary or sentence structures they want to go over in class.</p>

<p>Encourage (or even challenge) your students to use the key vocabulary during your discussion time. Ask students to tell you a word from the reading that means <em>X&nbsp;</em>(definition from vocabulary preview task). Can they spell it? Do they know what part of speech this word is in the reading? You can also go over any errors from the digital homework together.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<p>Do you use the Discussion Starters section? Please leave a comment below and share your teaching methods with our teaching community. How do you expand on the lesson tasks? What task order do you use? Do you prefer the printable or digital version? What is your favorite topic or category? How do you use this section in your 1:1 classes? Let&#39;s discuss!</p>


Discussion Starters: Teachers' Notes

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2084/Tara_Discussion-Starters-Teachers-Notes_Banner.png

<h2>Happy New Year!</h2>

<p>Every year, instead of making a New Year&#39;s resolution, I choose a Word of the Year.&nbsp;This year, my word is &quot;<strong>journal</strong>.&quot;</p>

<p>Instead of waking up and immediately <strong>scrolling</strong> through&nbsp;my phone, I plan to reach for my notebook to do three&nbsp;pages of writing (<strong>longhand</strong>) before anything else.</p>

<p>I learned this practice of keeping &quot;morning pages&quot; many years ago from writing coach Julia Cameron (<em>The Artist&#39;s Way</em>). Based on past experience, starting my day off with morning pages almost always results in having a&nbsp;happier, more <strong>productive</strong> day.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Pages clarify our yearnings. They keep an eye on our goals... They will point the way True North. Each morning, as we face the page, we meet ourselves. The pages give us a place to vent and a place to dream. They are intended for no eyes but our own.&quot;</p>

<p>&mdash;Julia Cameron</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>New Year,&nbsp;New Wall</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/word-of-the-year-2021">Last year</a>, I enthusiastically added all of our team members&#39; names to my office wall after choosing the word <strong>zeal</strong> as my Word of the Year. My wall&nbsp;became the <strong>background</strong> for my video calls throughout 2021 and was often the subject of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1749">small talk</a> before a meeting.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This year, I challenged everyone from the publishing team to think of their own Word of the Year. At the beginning of this week, my office wall was <strong>a blank slate</strong>. Today, it&#39;s full of inspirational words to help us keep our hearts, minds, and bodies on important goals throughout the year.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Tara's Word Wall 2022" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2021/content_Image_from_iOS__1_.jpg" /></p>

<p>Note: The Word of the Year challenge is also in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2563">How to Write a Basic Paragraph</a> lesson.</p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li>journal (<em>noun</em>): a personal notebook</li>
	<li>journal (<em>verb</em>): to&nbsp;record thoughts&nbsp;in writing</li>
	<li>longhand (<em>noun</em>): cursive handwriting</li>
	<li>scroll (<em>verb</em>): to browse content (especially on a touch screen) without much thought or care</li>
	<li>productive (<em>adjective</em>): getting a lot accomplished</li>
	<li>zeal (<em>noun</em>): great energy or enthusiasm</li>
	<li>background (<em>noun</em>): the scene&nbsp;behind a person or object</li>
	<li>a blank slate (<em>expression</em>): a fresh start, a new beginning</li>
</ul>

<h2>Question of the Month&nbsp;</h2>

<h3>What&#39;s your word of the year for 2022?</h3>

<p>Please join us in choosing a Word of the Year for 2022! Tell us your word and&nbsp;explain the reason for your choice. Teachers, learners, and ESL Library staff are welcome to join!&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Word of the Year 2022

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2085/Tara_Word-of-the-Year-2022.png

<h2>What Makes You Cozy?</h2>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/1970/What_Makes_You_Cozy.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>I recently finished&nbsp;Isabel Gillies&#39;s book <em>Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World</em>.&nbsp;While I was reading this book, I found myself asking everyone around me the same question: &quot;What makes you cozy?&quot;</p>

<p>What I discovered is that a lot of people had similar answers. Here are the ones that I heard the most. Can you spot a <strong>common denominator</strong>?</p>

<ul>
	<li>a cup of tea</li>
	<li>a fireplace&nbsp;</li>
	<li>a warm blanket</li>
	<li>a snuggly pet&nbsp;</li>
	<li>fuzzy pajamas</li>
	<li>a bubble bath</li>
	<li>thick socks</li>
	<li>wool sweaters</li>
</ul>

<p>It&#39;s plain to see&nbsp;that being&nbsp;<strong>cozy</strong>&nbsp;requires warmth, especially in a cold climate or season, which seems to be when we <strong>crave</strong> coziness&nbsp;the most.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Interestingly, the most common answer I heard to my cozy <strong>query</strong> was&nbsp;&quot;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/3565">tea</a>.&quot; It makes perfect sense that the little sweater you put on a teapot to keep it&nbsp;warm is called a&nbsp;<strong>tea cozy</strong>. Isn&#39;t that&nbsp;the coziest word&nbsp;you&#39;ve&nbsp;ever learned?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;I can&#39;t know what everyone will think is cozy, but, in my late forties, if I&#39;ve learned anything, it&#39;s that we are all pretty much the same.&quot;</p>

<p>&mdash;<em>Isabel Gillies, Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>One of the most unique answers I heard was from a&nbsp;little boy from Winnipeg who said that his facemask makes him cozy!&nbsp;Even after a long day at&nbsp;school, he&#39;s not in a rush to take it off when he gets&nbsp;home.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/home-vs-house"><em>Home</em></a> is another cozy word. Did you know that <a href="https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/52072939431288277/">an old&nbsp;teapot makes a cozy home for a bird</a>? You can also turn a teacup and saucer into a bird feeder. What comes to mind when you think of home?&nbsp;For me, it&#39;s all about <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/13/flashcard_categories/458">baking</a> in a cozy kitchen!&nbsp;Isabel Gillies prides herself in having <strong>comfort foods</strong> available when her family gets home. She shares several recipes for foods like applesauce and muffin <strong>batter</strong>. What are your <strong>go-to</strong> comfort foods?</p>

<p><img alt="cozy " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1969/content_christmas-muffins-with-holiday-mug-and-teapot-SBI-300754682.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li>common denominator: <em>a shared feature</em></li>
	<li>cozy: <em>feeling comfortable, warm, and relaxed</em></li>
	<li>crave<em>: to have a strong need or desire for</em></li>
	<li>query: <em>a question</em></li>
	<li>tea cozy: <em>a little sweater for a teapot that keeps the tea warm</em></li>
	<li>comfort foods: <em>foods that make you feel good or at home</em></li>
	<li>batter: <em>a mixture of flour and liquids for baking</em></li>
	<li>go-to:<em>&nbsp;the ones you return to again and again</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>Question of the Month</h2>

<h3>What makes you cozy?</h3>

<p>Share your own list in the comments below! You can include things&nbsp;(<em>pencils</em>), words (<em>tea cozy</em>), activities (making <em>Christmas&nbsp;crafts</em>), and of course comfort foods and hot drinks (<em>banana bread, peppermint tea</em>).&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


What Makes You Cozy?

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2076/Tara_What-Makes-You-Cozy_Banner.png

<p>October 14 was World Sight Day. <strong>Coincidentally</strong>, I went in for an eye exam that day. You can probably guess my <strong>optometrist&#39;s</strong> first question.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>On average, how many hours do you spend looking at a screen?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As someone who has worked from home for about 20 years, you can probably guess what my answer was.</p>

<p>&quot;Too long!&quot;</p>

<p>With so many students and&nbsp;teachers&nbsp;participating in&nbsp;online or <strong>hybrid</strong> learning, screen time is really <strong>taking its toll </strong>on our eyes.</p>

<p>My eye doctor shared a useful tip for anyone who works or studies in front of a screen for several hours a day. She called it the 20-20-20 rule.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What is the 20-20-20 rule?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Unlike so many other health tips and tricks, this one is so simple.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Every 20 minutes, look about 20 feet away from your screen for 20 seconds.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That&#39;s it! Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest difference. If you spend a lot of time staring at screens, I hope you&#39;ll give this trick a try.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Eye Break Activity</h2>

<p>After your 20-second break, come back together and describe what you saw. You can do this orally or in writing.&nbsp;Try looking a different way each time you take a break.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I looked out the window. I saw a lonely basketball hoop standing firm while the trees around it were blowing in the wind.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You could also tell each other what you did NOT&nbsp;see.&nbsp;Or you could describe what colors, shapes, or movements you noticed.&nbsp;Alternatively, since you are giving your eyes a break, you&nbsp;could also focus on the sounds you heard in that 20-second break.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li>coincidentally: <em>by chance, not planned</em></li>
	<li>optometrist<em>: eye doctor</em></li>
	<li>hybrid<em>: a mix of two elements</em></li>
	<li>take its toll:<em>&nbsp;to cause damage or suffering over time</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<p>What is one small change you have made recently to improve your health?&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2148">Eye Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/1844">Eye Health</a></li>
</ul>


Eye Break for Online Learning 

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2033/Tara_Eye-Break-for-Online-Learning_Banner.png

<p>Do you ever have&nbsp;<strong>negative</strong> thoughts?</p>

<ul>
	<li>I will never learn this language.</li>
	<li>Nobody understands me.</li>
	<li>I don&#39;t belong here.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Affirmations</strong>&nbsp;are the opposite of negative thoughts. They&nbsp;are statements of truth&nbsp;that are <strong>positive</strong> in nature.<em>&nbsp;</em></p>

<ul>
	<li>I believe in myself.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I have friends and family who love me.</li>
	<li>I am a hard worker.</li>
</ul>

<p>Daily affirmations are a form of mental exercise that can&nbsp;<strong>transform</strong> your mind just like physical exercise transforms your body.</p>

<h2>What Can Affirmations Do?</h2>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>Change your mood</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Relieve stress</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Improve&nbsp;your sense of self-worth</p>
	</li>
	<li>Boost your confidence</li>
</ul>

<h2>20 Affirmations for English Learners</h2>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/1797/20-affirmations.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>Listen and repeat these affirmations.</p>

<ol>
	<li>I learn a little bit every day.</li>
	<li>I am doing my best.</li>
	<li>I know more today than I knew yesterday.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I am ready to learn something new today.</li>
	<li>I can ask for help.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I can help others who need me.</li>
	<li>I can achieve my goals.</li>
	<li>I can do difficult things.</li>
	<li>I can learn from my mistakes.</li>
	<li>I can use more than one language to communicate.</li>
	<li>I play an important role in my&nbsp;community.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I accept all of my emotions.</li>
	<li>I am ready for a new challenge.</li>
	<li>I am different&nbsp;and unique.</li>
	<li>I treat others with kindness and respect.</li>
	<li>I am grateful for my friends and family.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I am thankful for my teacher.</li>
	<li>I take care of my body and mind.</li>
	<li>I focus on things that matter to me.</li>
	<li>I feel wonderful.</li>
</ol>

<h2>5 Ways to Use Affirmations</h2>

<p>Here are five things to try:</p>

<ol>
	<li>
	<p>Write down one affirmation before bed every evening.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Write down one affirmation whenever you&#39;re experiencing a negative emotion (sadness, depression, fear).</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Say (or sing) a daily&nbsp;affirmation in the shower!</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Recite an affirmation silently before a test, exam, or other challenge.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Focus on your&nbsp;affirmations whenever you notice&nbsp;negative thoughts running through your mind.</p>
	</li>
</ol>

<h2>Sentence Starters for Affirmations...</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I am&nbsp;+<em> positive adjective </em>|<em>&nbsp;</em><strong>I am strong.</strong></li>
	<li>I am a(n)&nbsp;+<em> noun </em>| <strong>I am a survivor.</strong></li>
	<li>I&nbsp;+<em>&nbsp;simple present verb</em>&nbsp;| <strong>I work hard.</strong></li>
	<li>I can / will&nbsp;+ <em>base verb </em>|&nbsp;<strong>I can get a job. I will succeed.</strong></li>
	<li>I am thankful&nbsp;for&nbsp;+<em> noun&nbsp;</em>| <strong>I am thankful for my family.&nbsp;</strong></li>
	<li>I am proud of myself for&nbsp;+&nbsp;<em>-ing verb</em>&nbsp;| <strong>I am proud of myself for participating in class.&nbsp;</strong></li>
</ul>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<p>Write your own affirmation in the Comments section below. Your affirmation should be a positive, true statement about yourself.</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources/3842">Affirmations (Slideshows)</a></li>
</ul>


20 Affirmations for English Learners

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2030/Tara_20-Affirmations-for-English-Learners_Banner.png

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

Conferences

<p>Our first-ever ESL&nbsp;Library Virtual Conference took place September 17&ndash;18 with 800+ attendees from more than 81 countries. The theme for our inaugural event was <strong>Empowering Teachers in the Digital Age</strong>.</p>

<p>As per tradition, I always try to make time for a post-conference reflection with a few highlights and takeaways. I love having a summary to look back on as well as something to share with those who were unable to attend.</p>

<h2>3 Highlights</h2>

<h3>1. Social Networking</h3>

<p>Improving communication around the world has always been ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s core mission. Based on the feedback we&#39;ve received about the conference, it&#39;s safe to say that attendees, speakers, and ESL&nbsp;Library staff all appreciated the opportunity to connect in this welcoming space at this challenging&nbsp;time.</p>

<p>We used the chat, the Q&amp;A, raised hands, direct messages, speed networking, and virtual theme-based tables to check in and learn from each other. There was an overwhelming feeling of positivity and optimism that I think we&#39;ve all been craving. Did you feel&nbsp;it?</p>

<h3>2. Speakers</h3>

<p>Our invited speakers and ESL&nbsp;Library staff covered a wide range of topics including publishing trends, blended learning, the flipped classroom, social-emotional health, assessment, and the rise of EdTech.</p>

<p>We were grateful to learn from&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-russell-stannard"><strong>Russell Stanndard</strong></a> (Teacher Training Videos),&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-fely"><strong>Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez</strong></a> (Flipgrid), <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-dr-katie">Dr. Katie Welch</a> </strong>(Welch Education), <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-robyn"><strong>Robyn Lockwood</strong></a> (Stanford University), and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-dr-margaret-e-malone"><strong>Dr.&nbsp;Meg Malone</strong></a> (ACTFL).</p>

<p>Our CEO, <strong>Ben Buckwold</strong>, also shared behind-the-scenes stories and industry insight while our conference host,&nbsp;<strong>Tammy Wik</strong>, led demonstrations of our own platform and features, including an interactive <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres">flashcard</a> workshop that left us all bursting with ideas. Representatives from our Publishing team (Ann, Tanya, and Tara) also enjoyed leading our two morning Coffee Talks, where we chatted with attendees about the evolution of grammar materials and the importance of <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects/social-emotional-learning">social-emotional health</a> for teachers and learners.</p>

<h3>3. Storytime</h3>

<p>Our CEO, Ben&mdash;a natural storyteller&mdash;finally got the&nbsp;chance to share ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s origin story. If you weren&#39;t able to hear it live, be sure to grab a coffee and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgeVgruJ6OA&amp;list=PL0MvnNQjMzmaFPrxnBSMRLuLGL8l6GpWZ&amp;index=11">watch the recording</a>. While we listened to Ben, we admired the new art on his wall, courtesy of our talented&nbsp;in-house illustrators, featuring topics from our popular <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a> section.</p>

<p><img alt="ben-buckwold-esl-library-conference" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1755/content__ben-welcome-conference.png" /></p>

<h2>10 Takeaways</h2>

<p>This was a single-strand conference, and it soon became clear&nbsp;that&nbsp;I couldn&#39;t&nbsp;miss a minute of it! After coffee breaks and social hours, attendees and speakers automatically bounced back into the next session, so it always felt inclusive and we got to know each other.&nbsp;Here are some of my top takeaways from the speaker sessions.</p>

<ol>
	<li>Don&rsquo;t feel you need to start class by taking up the homework. A&nbsp;<strong>pre-class task </strong>should be&nbsp;a springboard for the class activity. (Russell&nbsp;Stannard)</li>
	<li>According to language learners themselves, 85% of what they learn is from independent learning. <strong>Extramural learning</strong> is learning that&nbsp;takes place <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/ESLlibrary">outside the walls</a> (or screens) of a classroom and is not necessarily related to the class content. Let&#39;s encourage our learners to be active learners. (Russell Stanndard)</li>
	<li>The pandemic has inspired us to use tech differently, even now that some of us are back in a traditional classroom. We use tech for announcements,&nbsp;for sharing examples, for leaving <strong>live-time feedback</strong>, and for real-world speaking and writing practice. (Dr.&nbsp; Meg&nbsp;Malone)</li>
	<li>When it comes to <strong>assessment</strong>, it helps to find out what students&#39; expectations are of themselves. Compare these to your expectations and consider meeting them in the middle. (Dr. Meg Malone)</li>
	<li>When creating your own Flipgrid prompt, try to incorporate the four domains (listening, writing, reading, and speaking). Don&#39;t forget to include&nbsp;<strong>lingustic supports</strong>.&nbsp;(Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez)</li>
	<li>Flipgrid&#39;s <a href="https://admin.flipgrid.com/discovery/partners">Discovery Partners</a> make it easy to find useful content fast. They can also inspire you to get involved and create your own prompts.&nbsp;(Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez)</li>
	<li><strong>Design Thinking</strong> (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test ), a trend teachers are grativating to,&nbsp;has a background in business. It&nbsp;shares a lot of elements of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/111/lessons">project-based learning</a>, which focuses on a central question that the teacher chooses. (Robyn Lockwood)</li>
	<li>It&#39;s important for teachers to stay active in the industry in order to help publishers develop the materials students and teachers want and need. Teachers can raise their voices by joining local (e.g., TESL London)&nbsp;and international <strong>organizations</strong> (e.g., TESOL or ACTFL). Join a SIG and get active on a social channel, such as LinkedIn. (Robyn&nbsp;Lockwood)</li>
	<li><strong>Social-emotional learning</strong> is not just about the skills we teach. It&#39;s also about the educational culture and setting. (Dr. Katie Welch)</li>
	<li>Provide students with alternative <strong>sentence stems</strong>&nbsp;to &quot;I don&#39;t know,&quot; such as &quot;May I have more time to think?, May I ask a friend for&nbsp;help?, I&#39;m not sure about that, but I can tell you...&quot;. (Dr. Katie Welch)</li>
</ol>

<p><img alt="3 signature SEL practices" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1748/content_Tara_ESL-Library-Virtual-Conference-2021-Highlights-Takeaways_Speaker.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Related Resources</h2>

<p>Looking for recordings of our sessions?&nbsp; The&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021">recorded sessions from the ESL Library Virtual Conference</a> are now available!</p>

<h2>Summary</h2>

<p>At a conference follow-up meeting with the organizers and staff, we all came away with a similar feeling. Our first-ever ESL Library Virtual Conference turned out to be much&nbsp;more than any of us expected. With virtually no&nbsp;technical glitches to worry about, our organizers and moderators were able to ensure that everything ran smoothly. The speakers were all well prepared and&nbsp;the attendees were extremely engaged. In fact, so&nbsp;many ideas were shared, we don&#39;t know where to start!</p>

<p>Thank you to Airmeet for a great platform, and thank you to all of the speakers, organizers, staff, and attendees for helping make this event such an enriching and uplifting experience. We hope you feel empowered to go out and do your best work and also to take care of yourself and your students! And yes, we will do this again!</p>

<p><img alt="You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1749/content_Tara_ESL-Library-Virtual-Conference-2021-Highlights-Takeaways_Quote.png" /></p>

<h2>Comments</h2>

<p>Did you attend our first-ever ESL Library Virtual Conference? If yes, you&#39;re part of the history books! Please share a highlight or takeaway in the comments.</p>


ESL Library Virtual Conference 2021: Highlights & Takeaways

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2025/Tara_ESL-Library-Virtual-Conference-2021-Highlights-Takeaways_Banner.png

Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;ESL Library (now Ellii) was founded in 2002 as a resource site for English teachers. The materials are designed to enhance, complement, or supplement curriculum. New materials are added every month. The lessons include relevant, thought-provoking materials that focus on real-world issues, historical events, and natural dialogues geared toward teens and adults. There are also kid-friendly lessons for young learners and middle schoolers as well as lessons for literacy classrooms.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/2448/ESLLibrary__1__2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WIDA PRIME Correlator</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Does your school follow the <a href="https://wida.wisc.edu/">WIDA Standards Framework</a>? If yes, you may be wondering if Ellii (formerly ESL Library) is a good fit for your school.</p>

<p>WIDA uses a special correlation process called PRIME, which stands for Protocol for Review of Instructional Materials for ELLs. The main purpose of PRIME is to help educators in the K&ndash;12 space understand the relevance of materials that are available for their language programs.</p>

<p>In early 2021, a WIDA&nbsp;PRIME&nbsp;V2 correlator spent a week reviewing Ellii&#39;s (formerly ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s) offerings. They looked at our&nbsp;correlation to WIDA&#39;s Standard Framework as well as connections to the ELD Standards.</p>

<p>You can view the full <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/2448/ESLLibrary__1__2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WIDA Correlation for ESL&nbsp;Library</a> on WIDA&#39;s PRIME inventory page (with referenced examples taken from a variety of materials and sections on&nbsp;our site).* Here is an abridged&nbsp;summary:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">Materials are asset-based.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials feature academic language.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials address language features appropriately and consistently at the discourse dimension for all proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials address language features appropriately and consistently at the sentence dimension for all proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials address language features appropriately and consistently at the word/phrase dimension for all proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Differentiation of language is addressed throughout the materials and is developmentally and linguistically appropriate for the proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">The four language domains are targeted and integrated throughout the&nbsp;materials.</li>
	<li class="correct">Social and instructional language are&nbsp;included in the&nbsp;materials.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials encourage language learners to engage in higher-thinking skills at all&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials cover a range of language functions that are incorporated into a communicative&nbsp;goal.</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="WIDA PRIME V2 Correlation Seal" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1731/content_WIDA-PRIME-v2-seal-TM.png" /></p>

<p>As you review the official <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/2448/ESLLibrary__1__2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WIDA Correlation</a>, please note that Ellii (formerly ESL&nbsp;Library) is not currently licensing WIDA terminology, which means we cannot explicitly reference WIDA standards and descriptors in our materials. In addition, Ellii, which services teachers all over the world, does not yet assign specific grade bands to materials. We do hope to add WIDA proficiency levels to our <a href="https://ellii.com/equivalencies">Equivalency Scale</a> later this&nbsp;year.</p>

<h2>2021&nbsp;Updates</h2>

<p>We&#39;re always striving to make improvements! A new Young Learner filter has been added to the site since WIDA&#39;s correlation. Other <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/feature-updates-2021">recent developments</a> include teacher discretion labels, digital speaking tasks, and <a href="https://ellii.com/collections">collections</a>. Ellii&#39;s (formerly ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s) new collections make it easier for teachers to sort and filter relevant content by theme, function, and academic subject&nbsp;as well as by age-appropriateness and proficiency level. Finally, our new <a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published">Ellii Folders</a>, curated by the publishing team, support the progression of language development and have been popular with our K⁠&ndash;⁠12&nbsp;teachers.</p>

<p>A special thank you to the folks at WIDA for your careful consideration of our materials and&nbsp;site!</p>

<p>*If the link does not open a PDF, please visit <a href="https://www.widaprime.org/correlated-instructional-materials">WIDA&#39;s PRIME inventory</a> and type ESL Library as a search term.</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects">Academic Subjects Collection</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/wida-conference-2018">WIDA Conference 2018: Highlights &amp; Takeaways</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.casas.org/qs/Publisher/Show/805" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CASAS Quick Search</a> (New CASAS Collections coming soon!)</li>
</ul>


WIDA Correlation: A Seal for Ellii (formerly ESL Library)

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2022/Tara_WIDA-Prime-V2-Correlation_Banner.png

<h2>Do You Use Flipgrid?&nbsp;</h2>

<p><a href="https://info.flipgrid.com/">Flipgrid</a> is a popular EdTech tool that encourages students to speak out&nbsp;on all sorts of topics they&#39;re learning about at school. With Flipgrid, teachers and students become their own content creators. The best part about Flipgrid is that everyone gets to use their creativity to the fullest including curators, teachers, and students.&nbsp;It&#39;s no wonder the language teaching community loves Flipgrid!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>ESL Library Is a Flipgrid&nbsp;Partner</h2>

<p>Flipgrid recognizes the importance of designing activities that target both academic and language needs. We&nbsp;were thrilled when Flipgrid invited ESL Library to become an official <strong>Discovery Library Partner</strong>.&nbsp;Each quarter, our publishing team&nbsp;adds several prompts for&nbsp;Flipgrid teachers to use with their students. ESL Library&#39;s Flipgrid prompts&nbsp;includes photos, videos, quotes, discussion questions, and more! These prompts integrate with full lesson plans and activities on ESL Library.<br />
<br />
Find&nbsp;<a href="https://admin.flipgrid.com/discovery/partners/ellii">ESL Library</a> in Flipgrid&#39;s <a href="https://admin.flipgrid.com/manage/discovery">Discovery Library</a>, and be sure to check out all of the other great educational partners too. You can filter by <strong>Language Learning</strong> to find the best prompts for your students.</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/NtnFYKZOYpg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<h2>Learn All about Flipgrid at the ESL Library Virtual Conference</h2>

<p>This September, ESL Library is hosting its first-ever conference for English language teachers! On Friday, September 17, 2021, from 11:30 am to 12:15 pm (CDT),&nbsp;Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez&nbsp;will show teachers&nbsp;how to get started with Flipgrid and how to create discussion topics that incorporate best practices for second language acquisition. Learn more and register&nbsp;for <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021">ESL Library&#39;s Virtual Conference</a> today. It&#39;s free!</p>

<h2>Share the Love&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The first thing we discovered when partnering with Flipgrid is that this company truly cares about learners and the learning journey. They are helpful and welcoming, and you can tell right away that the staff at Flipgrid love what they do. If you love Flipgrid as much as we do,&nbsp;please leave a comment telling teachers why&nbsp;you love it and how you use it with your language learners.&nbsp;</p>


ESL Library Partners with Flipgrid

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2017/Tara_ESL-Library-Partners-with-Flipgrid_Banner.png

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/1676/participating.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<h2>7 Reasons to Participate in Language Class</h2>

<p>You already know that class participation is important. But do you know why it&#39;s important? Here are 7 reasons to participate!&nbsp;</p>

<h3>1. Boost Your Energy</h3>

<p>Participating in a language class&nbsp;may seem like a scary thing to do. Your heart starts beating&nbsp;faster and you start&nbsp;to sweat. But&nbsp;after&nbsp;you&nbsp;ask&nbsp;or answer&nbsp;a question, you will feel a rush of energy. If you get tired or bored in class, participating will help&nbsp;you stay <strong>alert</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>2. Set the Focus</h3>

<p>When you are an active participant, your teacher <strong>can&#39;t help but</strong> get to know you. The more you participate, the better your teacher will understand your needs. This means your teacher can help you&nbsp;focus on language targets&nbsp;and content that you want and need to learn.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;The future belongs to you, but it can only belong to you if you participate and take charge.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Kofi Annan</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>3. Increase Your Confidence</h3>

<p>The first time you answer a question, you may worry you&#39;ll get it wrong. The next time, you may still feel a bit nervous, but you&#39;ll gain confidence each time you <strong>give it a whirl</strong>. Before long, you&#39;ll be comfortable speaking up in class, and your&nbsp;bravery will start to&nbsp;<strong>carry over</strong> into the real world.</p>

<h3>4. Make&nbsp;Your Teacher&#39;s Day</h3>

<p>Nobody wants&nbsp;to talk to an empty room.&nbsp;If you feel uncomfortable asking a question, imagine how your teacher&nbsp;feels when nobody responds (or if the same student responds every time).&nbsp;<strong>Make</strong> <strong>your teacher&#39;s</strong> <strong>day</strong> by being an&nbsp;active participant.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>5. Learn Faster</h3>

<p>The&nbsp;purpose of learning a language is to communicate, not to observe. The more you practice using the language, the quicker you&#39;ll <strong>pick it up</strong>. Your active participation will&nbsp;<strong>rub off on</strong> others in your class too. This will make your language class a setting that is more like the real world.</p>

<h3>6. Get Better Grades &amp; Results</h3>

<p>Participation improves memory retention. When you remember what you learn, you score better on assignments and tests. Some teachers also give participation marks.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>7. Use Your Time Wisely &amp; Get Your Money&#39;s Worth&nbsp;</h3>

<p>Are you paying for language classes? Money can be a big motivator. Don&#39;t waste your time and money by zoning out or coming to class late or tired. Raise your hand and voice and <strong>get your money&#39;s worth</strong>!</p>

<h2>How to Participate in an Online Class</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Turn on your microphone.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Turn on your webcam.</li>
	<li>Ask questions in the chat room.</li>
	<li>Answer questions in the chat room.</li>
	<li>Share feedback/gratitude.</li>
	<li>Offer to help your teacher.</li>
	<li>Offer to help a classmate.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Sentence Starters&nbsp;</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I have a question about...</li>
	<li>I might know the answer to that.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I think I can help you with...</li>
	<li>I&#39;m confused about...&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I really liked that activity.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Thanks for helping me understand...</li>
	<li>I need to learn more about...</li>
</ul>

<h2>Vocabulary &amp; Expressions</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>alert</strong>: awake</li>
	<li><strong>can&#39;t help but</strong>: to be unable to avoid</li>
	<li><strong>give</strong> something <strong>a whirl</strong>: to try</li>
	<li><strong>carry over</strong>: to continue to exist or apply in a new situation</li>
	<li><strong>make</strong> someone&#39;s <strong>day</strong>: to cause a person to have a good day</li>
	<li><strong>pick</strong> something <strong>up</strong>: to learn&nbsp;</li>
	<li><b>rub off on</b>: to transfer to other people</li>
	<li><strong>get one&#39;s money&#39;s worth</strong>: to receive the value of what you paid</li>
</ul>

<h2>Time to Participate&nbsp;(Leave a Comment)</h2>

<p>Should participation be an important part of a student&#39;s overall score in a language class? Why or why not? What participation mark (%) would you give yourself for your last language class?</p>


Participating in Language Class

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1975/Tara_The-Importance-of-Participating_Banner.png

<p>What do you do when you see or hear a new word in English?&nbsp;Your English teacher probably<b>&nbsp;</b>encourages&nbsp;you to write the new word down or use it in a sentence. I urge you to go a few steps further.</p>

<p>The word&nbsp;<strong>URGE</strong> can be used as a <strong>mnemonic</strong>&nbsp;device (memory trick). Each letter in this word&nbsp;can help you remember new vocabulary.</p>

<h2><strong>U</strong> Is for Understand</h2>

<p>The more you understand about a word, the more likely you are to remember it.&nbsp;To really get to know a word, you need to study it and record your findings. Here are some good things to learn about a word:</p>

<ul>
	<li>spelling</li>
	<li>part(s) of speech</li>
	<li>pronunciation&nbsp;</li>
	<li>collocations (words that often go together)</li>
	<li>synonyms / antonyms</li>
	<li>formality</li>
	<li>prefix / root / suffix</li>
	<li>meaning(s)</li>
	<li>origin</li>
</ul>

<p>I urge you to create your own <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2966">vocabulary cards</a> to help you really get to know new words.&nbsp;Ask your teacher for a copy of the <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2151/print">Basic IPA Chart</a>&nbsp;to help you add&nbsp;the pronunciation note. Here is an example of a vocabulary record for a new word.</p>

<blockquote>
<h2><strong>urge</strong>&nbsp;\&#39;ərdʒ\</h2>

<p>The word &quot;urge&quot; can be a <em>noun</em> (n.) or a <em>verb</em> (v.).&nbsp;</p>

<p>As a <strong>verb</strong>, it means <em>to strongly persuade someone</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I urge you to try this method for learning new vocabulary.</li>
</ul>

<p>As a <strong>noun</strong>,&nbsp;it means <em>a strong&nbsp;need or desire</em>.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>My student from France has an urge to move to Canada.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>Synonyms of the <em>verb</em>&nbsp;are <strong>persuade</strong> or <strong>encourage</strong>. Antonyms are <strong>deter</strong> or <strong>discourage</strong>.</p>

<p>Synonyms of the <em>noun</em> are <strong>need</strong>, <strong>longing</strong>, or <strong>craving</strong>.</p>

<p>Some related words are <strong>urgent</strong>&nbsp;(<em>adj</em>.) and <strong>urgency </strong>(<em>n</em>.). These words relate to things that require immediate attention.</p>
</blockquote>

<h2><strong>R</strong>&nbsp;Is for Relearn</h2>

<p>According to science,&nbsp;it is very easy to forget&nbsp;new words! You need to relearn a word&nbsp;soon after you first learn it if you don&#39;t want to forget it. Relearning information in a slightly different way each&nbsp;time also helps you remember it. Here are some ideas:</p>

<ul>
	<li>review new vocabulary cards daily (then&nbsp;weekly/monthly after you think you know the&nbsp;words&nbsp;well)</li>
	<li>write&nbsp;an additional example sentence&nbsp;or synonym&nbsp;each time you review a word</li>
	<li>look up your new word in a different dictionary each time you review it</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label hangingLabel">Related Resource</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3675"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/128_Study-Skills.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3675">Study Skills</a></h2>

<p>Learn about <strong>The Forgetting Curve</strong> in this&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3675">Real-World Reading </a>resource. Ask your teacher to assign this lesson!</p>
</div>

<h2><strong>G</strong>&nbsp;Is for Google</h2>

<p>Google your new word and&nbsp;look at the results in different filters (Images, News, Videos).&nbsp;Try to&nbsp;find the word in news headlines.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1606/content_Screen_Shot_2021-07-02_at_2.12.12_PM.png" /></p>

<p>Warning: You may find adult content. I urge you NOT to filter to Google images with kids nearby.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>E</strong>&nbsp;Is for Everywhere (and Everyone)</h2>

<p>If appropriate, use&nbsp;your new word everywhere you can.&nbsp;Tell everyone you learned a new word and teach it to anyone who is unfamiliar with it. Don&#39;t be surprised if you start to see and hear your new word everywhere you go.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Leave a Comment</h3>

<p>I urge you to invent a&nbsp;mnemonic device every time you&#39;re trying to remember something.&nbsp;In fact, you can even&nbsp;use the <strong>URGE</strong> method to&nbsp;learn and remember the word <em>mnemonic</em>. Please use the comments to share a word you recently learned. What tricks did you use to remember it?&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


How to Remember Vocabulary

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1971/Tara_How-to-Remember-Vocabulary_Banner.png

<p>The word <em>miss</em>,<em>&nbsp;</em>meaning<em>&nbsp;&quot;</em>to feel sadness about the absence or loss of something or someone,&quot;&nbsp;has been commonly used during the pandemic. Most of us miss our pre-pandemic lifestyle. We all missed a lot of people, things, and events in order to have a better future.&nbsp;Many of us feel like we (or the people we loved) <em>missed out on</em>&nbsp;something important.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The verb <em>miss</em>&nbsp;can be used before a noun:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>miss</strong> concerts.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I <strong>miss</strong> my grandparents.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I <strong>miss</strong> restaurant food.</li>
</ul>

<p>The verb <em>miss</em>&nbsp;can also be used before an <em>-ing</em> verb (gerund).&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>miss</strong> seeing my friends.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I <strong>miss</strong> going to the movies.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I <strong>miss</strong> swimming.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>In some areas, life is starting to get back to normal (or at least&nbsp;<em>a new normal</em>). For the rest of our lives, we will use the verb <em>miss</em>&nbsp;to reflect on this historic&nbsp;period using the past form.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>missed</strong> ninth grade.</li>
	<li>I <strong>missed</strong> going to hockey.</li>
	<li>I <strong>missed</strong> traveling.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>Many people feel they <em>missed&nbsp;out on</em> something important during the pandemic. <em>To miss out </em>on something means &quot;to not have the experience one expected or deserved.&quot; This multiword verb can be interchanged with <em>missed</em>,&nbsp;but it has a stronger meaning. The experience may never come along again.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>My son <strong>missed out on</strong> eighth grade graduation.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Her parents <strong>missed out on</strong> the birth of their grandchild.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>She <strong>missed out on</strong> her first year of college.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note: The acronymn <em>FOMO</em> stands for &quot;fear of missing out&quot; and is commonly used in social media posts.</p>

<p>We can also use <em>miss</em> in a negative form:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>don&#39;t miss </strong>crowds.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I <strong>don&#39;t miss</strong> in-person meetings.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I <strong>don&#39;t miss</strong> commuting.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<ul>
	<li>What do you <strong>miss</strong> about pre-pandemic life?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What did you <strong>miss out on </strong>during the pandemic?</li>
	<li>What do you <strong>NOT miss</strong> about pre-pandemic life?</li>
</ul>


VIEWING POSTS BY

Tara Benwell