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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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<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

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

For Students

<h3>Could I please have a few minutes of your time?</h3>

<p>English language learners often want to practice their speaking skills above all others, and informational interviews are a great&nbsp;way to practice speaking. We usually teach our students how to be the&nbsp;<i>interviewee</i>&nbsp;(at a job interview or for a speaking test, for example), but have you ever taught them how to be the&nbsp;<i>interviewer</i>?</p>

<p>Conducting an informational interview is a great way to get your learners talking in English, but a simple one-on-one speaking&nbsp;activity isn&#39;t the only way interviews can be used! Try assigning an interview as part of an essay or other writing project, as the basis for a presentation, or as a precursor to a group or class discussion or debate the following day.</p>

<p>What makes a good interview? Below are some handy tips that your students should keep in mind as they get ready to interview someone.</p>

<h3>1. Think of a good theme or topic.</h3>

<p>Choose something that interests you, such as talking to someone who has a job you&#39;re interested in or someone who does a sport/activity that you want to learn.&nbsp;Or, if your teacher&nbsp;assigns a topic to you, try to find an interesting angle. For example, if your teacher asks you to interview someone about their family, ask them about their family history from a hundred years ago.</p>

<h3>2. Contact the person.</h3>

<p>Arrange the interview by phone, or approach someone in your school or neighborhood and politely ask if you can ask them a few questions. Some good ways to start an interview are:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Excuse me, may I ask you something?</li>
	<li>Hello, this is Maria. I&#39;d like to interview you about your family.</li>
	<li>Could I please have a few&nbsp;minutes of your time?</li>
	<li>Are you interested in participating in a interview?</li>
	<li>Would you mind answering a few questions?</li>
	<li>Hi! I&#39;m conducting interviews about people&#39;s career choices for my class. Could I ask you a few questions?</li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Be prepared.</h3>

<p>Be sure to write out your questions beforehand. You want your interview to have some structure so that you ask the important content questions within a reasonable amount of time. Try not to have too many questions (10 questions is usually a good number).</p>

<p>Try to have some general questions and some specific ones so that you get a variety of responses. It&#39;s also&nbsp;more interesting to get someone&#39;s personal opinion/experiences, so try to ask a few personal questions (but not <em>too&nbsp;</em>personal).&nbsp;For example, if you were interviewing someone about their career, your questions could include:</p>

<ul>
	<li>What education and background experience did you need for your career? (general)</li>
	<li>What do you like and dislike about&nbsp;your&nbsp;career? (general)</li>
	<li>What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue this career? (specific)</li>
	<li>If you could do anything differently in your career, what would it be? (specific)</li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Take notes.</h3>

<p>Jot down notes so you don&rsquo;t forget what someone said. Your notes can be short&mdash;just enough to jog your memory. You <em>don&#39;t</em> need to write down what someone said word for word (except for those lines you want to quote directly in your report later on, if any).</p>

<p>Or, if it&#39;s too difficult to write and listen at the same time, try&nbsp;recording the interview so you can write things down later when you have lots of time. You could download and use&nbsp;a free recording app on your mobile phone if your school doesn&#39;t have recording devices available.</p>

<h3>5. Report your findings&nbsp;as soon as possible.</h3>

<p>Writing your report right away is the right way of doing things! Whether you&#39;re writing a report, preparing a presentation, or reporting your findings to a group or partner, it&rsquo;s easiest while the interview is fresh in your mind.</p>

<p>Try not to have too much of a delay between the interview and the assignment. If you have to wait a few days, review your interview notes before completing the assignment.</p>

<h3>6. Have fun!</h3>

<p>Most importantly, don&rsquo;t forget to have fun and enjoy this opportunity to practice speaking&nbsp;in English! Don&rsquo;t be nervous&mdash;people are usually very friendly and flattered when an English learner wants to interview them. Ask your questions slowly and clearly.</p>

<p>Also,&nbsp;don&#39;t hesitate to&nbsp;respond to what someone is saying! Most people prefer a conversation-style interview to one that is simply a question-and-answer session. But don&rsquo;t go on and on about your own experiences/opinions&mdash;you don&rsquo;t want to take up&nbsp;<i>too</i>&nbsp;much of someone&rsquo;s time.</p>

6 Steps for Conducting an Informational Interview in English

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

Articles

<h3>Sweet!</h3>

<p>Are you looking for a fun holiday craft idea that combines English learning and vocabulary practice? Why not have your students build a gingerbread door for your classroom?</p>

<p>You will need:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Large brown boxes (or brown craft paper)</li>
	<li>White paper (for snowflake icing)</li>
	<li>Colorful paper or wrapping paper/magazines for decorations</li>
	<li>Tape, glue and/or staplers</li>
	<li>Scissors</li>
	<li>Christmas music to motivate your ESLves</li>
</ul>

<p>1. Show your class a picture of this gingerbread door, or find some other examples online. Ask your class to give you some <strong>adjectives </strong>that describe this door. Then ask your class what <strong>nouns</strong> (materials) they think will be needed to complete this craft? (Have the materials ready to go.)</p>

<p>2. Next, work together to brainstorm all of the <strong>verbs</strong> your class will use to transform your classroom doorway (or gymnasium doorway if you&#39;re having a Christmas concert) into a gingerbread house. <strong>Examples:</strong> measure, cut, paste, trip, design, decorate, glue, tape, adjust, create, color, etc.</p>

<p>3. Divide your classroom into teams of elves.</p>

<ul>
	<li>architects</li>
	<li>bakers</li>
	<li>snow patrol</li>
	<li>candy makers</li>
</ul>

<p>4. Ask each group to define their role in words and write it on the board. Challenge them to use the adjectives, nouns, and verbs they came up with in the first few steps. <strong>Examples:</strong></p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong>Architects:</strong> Our job is to <strong>measure</strong> the doorway and build the frame of the gingerbread house. We also need to build a roof.</p>

<p><strong>Bakers:</strong> Our job is to make <strong>sweet</strong> treats to place on the house. We need to bake (out of paper) cupcakes, cookies, and gingerbread men.</p>

<p><strong>Snow patrol:</strong> Our job is to <strong>cut out beautiful</strong> snowflakes for the icing. We need to make enough snowflakes to trim the roof. (Why not hang some from the ceiling too?)</p>

<p><strong>Candy makers:</strong> Our job is to <strong>decorate</strong> the house with <strong>tasty</strong> candy. We need to make candy canes and lollipops and other treats.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>5. Put your elves to work! Give them a deadline. If they don&#39;t finish in time, you can invite some elves to help make the house sweeter during breaks or after school hours. As your students are working, play some Christmas music in the background. Ask them what they are working on.&nbsp;If one team finishes their job ahead of another, have the efficient elves join other teams.</p>

<p>6. (<em>Optional)</em> Assign team points on the board when the elves use Christmas vocabulary! Check out our <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/20">Christmas Flashcard Set</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/december-holidays">December Holiday Collection</a>.</p>

<p>7. Invite other classes or teachers to view your door when it&#39;s done! Have the students and teachers ask questions about it to review <strong>superlatives</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>What was the hardest part?</li>
	<li>Which team worked the hardest?</li>
	<li>Whose job was the most fun?</li>
	<li>Which sweet looks the most delicious?</li>
	<li>Which is the prettiest snowflake?</li>
</ul>

<p>8. Take a picture of your gingerbread door and share it with ESL Library at hello@ellii.com We&#39;ll share it on our <a href="http://facebook.com/ESLlibrary">Facebook page</a>!&nbsp;</p>


Make a Sweet Gingerbread Door for Your Classroom

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<h1>Adjectives with a twist&hellip;</h1>

<p>This activity involves using adjectives to describe animals. There&rsquo;s a twist, though: you will later reveal that the students are actually describing themselves! Use this warm‑up activity when you&rsquo;re doing a unit on adjectives or descriptions. It&rsquo;s also a good way for students to teach each other new vocabulary. You could also use it when you have a class of new students to break the ice. Students always end up laughing, so it&rsquo;s a great way to start a&nbsp;class.</p>

<h2>Step #1</h2>

<h4>Get students to think of three animals they&nbsp;like.</h4>

<p>Have them write the animal names on a piece of paper. For example, a student might choose <em>tiger</em>, <em>bear</em>, and&nbsp;<em>rabbit</em>.</p>

<h2>Step #2</h2>

<h4>Have students write three adjectives to describe each&nbsp;animal.</h4>

<p>Give some examples:</p>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Animal</th>
			<th>Adjectives</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>tiger</th>
			<td>aggressive, strong, fast</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>bear</th>
			<td>big, furry, hungry</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>rabbit</th>
			<td>shy, cute, cuddly</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>After writing some examples on the board, I prefer to let students come up with adjectives on their own so that they don&rsquo;t all end up with the same ones. If they&rsquo;re looking a little lost, you could have a brainstorming session as a class before they write their&nbsp;words.</p>

<p>For lower‑level classes, these adjectives can be basic, such as <em>cute</em>, <em>strong</em>, <em>big</em>, <em>little</em>, <em>furry</em>, <em>lovable</em>,&nbsp;etc.</p>

<p>For higher‑level classes, challenge students to find adjectives that their classmates may not know, such as <em>ferocious</em>, <em>majestic</em>, etc. (allow dictionary use if you&rsquo;d&nbsp;like).</p>

<p>Circulate to make sure students are not writing nouns by mistake (this often&nbsp;happens).</p>

<p>Get faster students to help slower students come up with their last few&nbsp;adjectives.</p>

<h2>Step #3</h2>

<h4>Have them read out their adjective&nbsp;lists.</h4>

<p>Put students in groups of four or five and have them read out their adjectives. But instead of saying the animal names, they must use the phrases &ldquo;<em>I think I am</em>&rdquo; + 3 adjectives, &ldquo;<em>My friends think I am</em>&rdquo; + 3 adjectives, &ldquo;<em>I am really</em>&rdquo; + 3 adjectives. Explain that the adjectives represent how you see yourself, how your friends see you, and how you really&nbsp;are.</p>

<p>Use your example to model this before they begin. For&nbsp;example:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I think I am aggressive, strong, and&nbsp;fast.</p>

<p>My friends think I am big, furry, and&nbsp;hungry.</p>

<p>I am really shy, cute, and&nbsp;cuddly.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>See what everyone has come up with! Share a few of the funnier answers with the whole&nbsp;class.</p>

<p>Have fun,</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


My Favorite Warm-Up Activity

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<h1>Listen up! Transcripts can add a variety of activities to your repertoire.</h1>

<p>Listening is one of the most challenging skills of learning a second language. No matter how well a student may understand the written word or be able to speak in another language, when he or she hears it spoken naturally (i.e., quickly), it can be daunting. You can make it easier on your students by making use of the listening transcripts (for students who are visual learners, transcripts are a godsend). Whether the listening exercise is written out within the lesson (as is the case with ESL Library&rsquo;s lessons) or at the end of the textbook in transcript form, you can now present the listening exercise in many different ways. Why not mix it up from class to class? Variety is the spice of life, after all!</p>

<h3>Method 1: Listen only first, listen with transcript second</h3>

<ol>
	<li>It&rsquo;s a good idea to go over some vocabulary before you listen. You can pick out some tough words from the transcript to cover with your students.</li>
	<li>Present the listening first (without giving students the transcripts). For longer listening tasks, you may want to allow your students to take notes. You could also play the recording a second time before handing out the transcripts (especially for low level students, or difficult, long passages).</li>
	<li>Now give students the transcripts and play the recording again, letting the students listen and read at the same time. Ask students if they have any additional vocabulary questions. This is a great time to go over any slang or idioms that come up.</li>
	<li>For any related comprehension questions that follow, mix it up! You can have them answer the questions after the listening-with-transcript task, or have them answer questions before you do the final listening with the transcript so that they can catch anything they might have missed. If there aren&rsquo;t any comprehension questions available, ask some yourself. Students are a lot more engaged when they know they will be asked questions afterwards.</li>
</ol>

<h3>Method 2: Listen with transcript first, listen only second</h3>

<ol>
	<li>Start with vocabulary. You can pick out some tough words to teach the students, or have students skim the transcript and ask you words they are unfamiliar with.</li>
	<li>Present the first listening while they are reading the transcript. If the material isn&rsquo;t too difficult, you could have them do different things while they listen and read, such as focus on intonation or pronunciation, or underline words they don&rsquo;t know.</li>
	<li>Have them turn over the transcripts and listen to the recording for a second time. Now that they&rsquo;ve heard and read it once, it should be easier to follow this time around. This method is often less frustrating for students, but there should be occasions when you also try method #1, to challenge them. Whether or not to listen for a third time is up to you. I usually go by what the majority of the students want. It&rsquo;s a fine balance between helping out the slower students and not letting the faster students get bored. You could also make the recording available after school or during lunch for any students who want to practice the listening again. This is also part of the beauty of transcripts...slower students can study the written-out recordings later at home.</li>
	<li>Present the comprehension questions and go over any other difficult vocabulary.</li>
</ol>

<h3>Method 3: Fill in the blanks while listening</h3>

<ol>
	<li>This is a fun, different way to use transcripts and vary the listening exercises you give to your students. First, make one copy of the transcript and white out a word or phrase from each speaker&rsquo;s comment, or from every two sentences or so. The amount of blanks will depend on the level of your students. Just make sure not to have too many back to back, as students may get frustrated if they can&rsquo;t keep up.</li>
	<li>Play the recording and let students try to fill in the blanks as they listen. This method ensures engagement during the listening and really makes them aware of each word.</li>
	<li>Play the recording a second time so that students can fill in any blanks they missed during the first go.</li>
	<li>Check the answers together. Make sure you have them check their spelling.</li>
	<li>Now that the blanks are filled in, play the recording a third time and have students concentrate on the overall meaning of the passage.</li>
	<li>Do any comprehension questions and go over any difficult vocabulary.</li>
</ol>

<h3>Method 4: Cut up and put in order</h3>

<ol>
	<li>This is another way of using transcripts creatively. There are two ways to present this method (I prefer the first way). One way is to listen to the recording first, then give the cut-up transcript pieces and have students put them in order second. The second way is to give the cut-up transcript pieces first and have students put them in order, and listen to the passage second. Try both ways for variety and see what your students respond to best.</li>
	<li>To do this method, cut up the transcript into speakers&rsquo; sections (if it&rsquo;s a dialogue) or paragraphs (if it&rsquo;s one long passage). The idea behind presenting the transcript this way is that it forces the students to really think about the meaning of what they&rsquo;re reading and hearing. You can&rsquo;t put something back in order if you don&rsquo;t understand it well. If the transcripts aren&rsquo;t available in the textbook, I always copy them out for students who want to study the dialogue, vocabulary, etc. later at home. In the interest of saving trees, I usually ask how many students actually want a copy, since undoubtedly some of the students will just throw them out. On average, I would say about half the class wants a copy. If you have another way of using transcripts, I&rsquo;d love to hear it! Drop me a line in the comments section below. I hope these tips help your students become great listeners!</li>
</ol>

<p>&mdash;Tanya</p>

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>
