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

Teaching with Ellii

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

Announcements

<p>We&rsquo;ve launched a new reading section for low-level readers! <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons">True Grammar Stories</a> is a blended-learning section with extra digital-only activities that you can assign for homework and online class work. The first five low-intermediate lessons (15&nbsp;stories) are now available, and some beginner-level lessons are coming soon. Most of these stories are suitable for all ages, but please preview the stories to make sure the content is suitable for the age group and level you&nbsp;teach.</p>

<h2>Printable Lessons</h2>

<p>The printable versions of these lessons&nbsp;include:</p>

<ul>
	<li>3 illustrated theme-based stories (e.g., friendship) per lesson focusing on a simple grammar tense or target (e.g., simple past&nbsp;tense)</li>
	<li>3 downloadable audio recordings of the&nbsp;stories</li>
	<li>3 comprehension question&nbsp;sets</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="Screenshot of 2 pages from Simple Past – Friendship (Dan and Norah)" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/832/content_Tara_Introducing-True-Grammar-Stories_Friendship.png" /></p>

<h2>Digital Lessons</h2>

<p>The digital versions of these lessons (requires Plus plan)&nbsp;include:</p>

<ul>
	<li>warm-up questions that cover the related theme of the&nbsp;stories</li>
	<li>vocabulary preview and review tasks for each story (Vocabulary Preview&nbsp;A goes with Story&nbsp;A,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>grammar preview and/or review tasks for each&nbsp;story</li>
	<li>a read and listen task for each story (free for Standard plan&nbsp;users)</li>
	<li>a comprehension task for each&nbsp;story</li>
	<li>discussion questions that cover the&nbsp;theme</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Note:</h5>

<p>You do not need to assign all of the stories and tasks in a lesson. Only the final Discussion set in each digital lesson requires knowledge of all three stories. The suggested teaching order follows the same order as the digital&nbsp;tasks.</p>
</div>

<p><img alt="Screenshot of a digital task from Simple Past – Friendship" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/824/content_Screen_Shot_2020-07-30_at_3.37.18_PM.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Screenshot of a digital task from Simple Present – Indigenous People" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/825/content_Screen_Shot_2020-07-30_at_3.38.26_PM.png" /></p>

<h2>Grammar Review Videos</h2>

<p>For your convenience, we&rsquo;ve added some grammar videos to this section to help you review or introduce the grammar target. We&rsquo;ll be adding more videos as we add more stories on new&nbsp;targets.</p>

<p><img alt="Screenshot of a grammar video task" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/826/content_Screen_Shot_2020-07-30_at_3.36.25_PM.png" /></p>

<h2>Teaching Tips</h2>

<p>We recognize that every teaching scenario is different, especially during a pandemic! Here are some tips for using True Grammar Stories in different teaching&nbsp;scenarios.</p>

<h3>Blended Learning Classes (requires Plus subscription)</h3>

<ol>
	<li>Choose a target or theme that you want to cover with your class (e.g., Simple Past). Introduce the target by broadcasting or assigning&nbsp;a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons">grammar review video</a> to your students. You can also use a lesson from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons">Fun Grammar Lessons</a> to introduce and practice the target. If you prefer to introduce the target by having your students read it in context, you can also teach or review the target later with a related grammar video or&nbsp;lesson.</li>
	<li>Choose the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons">True Grammar Stories</a> lesson you want to try. You can begin your live (online or traditional) class with the <strong>Warm-Up</strong> questions from the digital&nbsp;task.</li>
	<li>Next, have your students preview the vocabulary from the reading. You can do the&nbsp;digital <strong>Vocabulary Preview</strong> task together as a live class or you can assign it for&nbsp;homework.</li>
	<li>Some lessons also have a <strong>Grammar Preview</strong> task. Your students can demonstrate their knowledge of the target at this&nbsp;point.</li>
	<li>Many students will enjoy having a paper version of the actual stories. You can print the story and comprehension set and hand it out (or email it if you&rsquo;re teaching online and your students want to print it out). You can also download or stream the audio. After you read the story out loud (or play the recording), have your students take turns reading it. Challenge them to spot the target in the reading. You may want to assign <strong>Story A</strong>, <strong>B</strong>, and <strong>C</strong> for homework so that your students have a digital reference&nbsp;too.</li>
	<li>You can assign the <strong>Comprehension</strong> questions for homework. Some students will prefer to do these questions on paper. You can also put students in groups for this task or do it orally if your students need more spoken practice than written practice. You can type digital feedback and ratings or ask students to submit their paper versions for marking. Take note of common errors your students are making so that you can go over them in your live class. You can also take these questions up in a live class together to give your students more practice using the&nbsp;target.</li>
	<li>The digital <strong>Grammar Practice</strong> tasks can also be assigned for homework or individual class work. You may want to use these follow-up tasks for assessment&nbsp;purposes.</li>
	<li>After reading all three stories and doing all of the tasks, have a class discussion using the digital <strong>Discussion</strong> task. Alternatively, use this task for additional written practice. This task can be used for assessment as&nbsp;well.</li>
</ol>

<h3>One-to-One Classes</h3>

<p>If you&rsquo;re teaching one-to-one, you can teach in a similar way as you would for a blended-learning class. The one-on-one attention will help your student master the target and learn a lot of new&nbsp;words.</p>

<ol>
	<li>When you see your student face-to-face, give your student a chance to read the stories out loud. Focus on any pronunciation problems your student&nbsp;has.</li>
	<li>If your student shows an interest in one of the themes, look for other readings and lessons that you can work on together using the same&nbsp;topic.</li>
	<li>You may want to assign the <strong>Vocabulary Preview</strong> and <strong>Grammar Preview/Practice</strong> tasks for homework. Encourage your student to keep a <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2173">word bank</a> of new&nbsp;words.</li>
	<li>The <strong>Comprehension</strong> sets can be worked on orally and/or in written form together using the digital or printable versions. Help your student find his/her written errors, but focus mainly on the grammar target from the&nbsp;story.</li>
	<li>Challenge your student to make and share personal connections with the&nbsp;stories.</li>
	<li>Search for related ESL Library lessons on the same grammar target if your student needs more practice. Consult our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2565">Teaching Order</a> reference to find out which targets to focus on&nbsp;next.</li>
</ol>

<h3>Traditional Paper-Based Classes</h3>

<p>The meat of our True Grammar Stories lessons is available in the print-only&nbsp;versions.</p>

<ol>
	<li>Read the stories together one by one and make sure your students understand the key (<strong>bold</strong>) vocabulary from each story. Students can also take turns reading the stories out loud in small groups or as a&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>While reading, have your students circle the grammar target every time they see it in&nbsp;context.</li>
	<li>For grammar review, your students can use the target orally and in written form by answering the comprehension&nbsp;questions.</li>
	<li>If you want to practice listening comprehension, play the audio (download or stream in class) and give your students the question sets only. You can also wait a few days after doing the reading and then play the audio and hand out the&nbsp;questions.</li>
	<li>If you want to extend the learning without the digital tasks, you can create your own vocabulary review, warm-up, and review tasks to do with your class (preview our digital tasks for inspiration). You can also challenge your students to write their own stories using the same theme and&nbsp;target.</li>
</ol>


True Grammar Stories: Designed for Blended Learning

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<p>Are you planning ahead for August? Here are a few things the publishing team is working on this&nbsp;month.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/3354"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/76_Renting-a-Car.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/3354">Renting a Car</a></h2>

<p>In this new lesson (Low Int &ndash; Int) from <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/">Everyday Dialogues</a>, students will practice asking and answering questions related to car&nbsp;rentals.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/86/lessons/3357"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/86_Negotiating.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/86/lessons/3357">Negotiating</a></h2>

<p>Have you tried our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/86/lessons">Business Matters</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/86/lessons/3353">Preparing for a Negotiation</a>? In this follow-up lesson (High&nbsp;Int), students get a chance to practice their negotiating&nbsp;skills.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/3356"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/73_Tearing-Down-Statues.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/3356">Tearing Down Statues</a></h2>

<p>Are we erasing history or carrying out social justice? Get ready to moderate an important discussion with this upcoming high-intermediate <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/">Mini-Debates</a>&nbsp;lesson.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/3355"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/118_u.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/3355">/u/</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;re working on lessons for all of the vowel sounds! Watch for an upcoming lesson about the /u/ and <span class="inlineBlock">/ʌ/</span> sounds in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons">Phonics &amp; Pronunciation</a>&nbsp;section.</p>
</div>

<h1>Lesson Section</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons/3358"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/129_Friendship.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons/3358">True Grammar Stories</a></h2>

<p>We have a new blended-learning reading section coming out for low-level readers. Each <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons">True Grammar Stories</a> lesson will focus on a grammar target and theme. In the first lesson in this section, students will read true stories about untraditional friendships. These stories focus on the simple past tense. The printable lessons in this section will contain simple readings and question sets. Extra digital tasks will be available to assign or to broadcast in an online&nbsp;class.</p>
</div>

<h1>Picture Dictionary</h1>

<p>Digitized flashcards? Yes, please! By August, we plan on having the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/picture-dictionary">Picture Dictionary</a> task available in all of our digital <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons">Word Bank</a> lessons. This summer, we&rsquo;ll also be adding this assignable task to our Simple Sentences, Super Simple Grammar, and Phonics &amp; Pronunciation sections. But don&rsquo;t wait for us! You can create your own classtime slideshows with our popular <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Flashcard&nbsp;Player</a>.</p>


Coming in August 2020

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

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

EdTech

<p><strong>Update 09/2023: Please note that our company name and platform has changed a lot since 2020. You will find all our video content in Ellii&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos">Media Gallery</a>.</strong><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p>ESL Library now has video content! Videos provide English language learners with many benefits, and they are a great way to increase student engagement and comprehension.</p>

<p>You can watch our Simple Present video here on the blog. Read on to learn more about the videos we currently offer and the ways they can enhance your&nbsp;class!</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/429774530" width="640"></iframe></div>

<h1>Grammar Videos</h1>

<p>Our Simple Present video is available to watch above, but you will also find it in the Video Intro task for the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2403">Simple Present</a> lesson in our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section.</p>

<p>Take a look at the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published/69792">ESL Library Videos Folder</a> for a complete list of the grammar videos we currently have available. We&#39;re adding more every&nbsp;month!</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">Plus</a> members&nbsp;can play our videos in a live class or an online class using a shared screen. Our videos are also&nbsp;assignable as homework tasks.</p>

<p>To play a video in a live or online class, click on the Task Player on the grammar lesson landing page. Within the Task Player,&nbsp;start the Video Intro task. For more info, see <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/200-how-to-broadcast-tasks">How to Broadcast Tasks</a>.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1045/content_Screen_Shot_2020-10-28_at_10.55.02_AM.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1046/content_Screen_Shot_2020-10-28_at_10.57.01_AM.png" /></p>

<p>To assign a video as homework or to send it to students&rsquo; own devices in class, click on the Assignment Manager&nbsp;on the grammar lesson landing page and choose who to assign it to. For more info, see <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">How to Assign Digital Homework</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks&nbsp;Online</a>.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1047/content_Screen_Shot_2020-10-28_at_10.58.13_AM.png" /></p>

<h1>Benefits of Grammar Videos</h1>

<p>Our grammar videos:</p>

<ul>
	<li>make learning grammar fun (which is often a&nbsp;challenge!)</li>
	<li>offer a condensed version of our comprehensive grammar&nbsp;notes</li>
	<li>can be used for multiple levels and&nbsp;ages</li>
	<li>appeal to all types of learners (especially visual and auditory&nbsp;learners)</li>
	<li>provide the opportunity for students to strengthen multiple skill sets (grammar, listening, reading, and pronunciation in some cases)</li>
	<li>offer a more engaging way to present the grammar notes/explanation of a&nbsp;target</li>
	<li>show grammatical forms, functions, and patterns visually to aid&nbsp;comprehension</li>
	<li>show animated images of examples to really drive a target&nbsp;home</li>
	<li>help learners comprehend and retain info better than a text-only presentation</li>
</ul>

<h1>More Video Content</h1>

<p>Videos can do a lot more than clarify&nbsp;a grammar target! Videos can bring a dialogue to life or shed light on difficult concepts and vocabulary. They also make tasks more engaging and can facilitate conversation. Our video development team is busy creating videos for&nbsp;the following sections:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons">Everyday Dialogues</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/131/lessons">Phonics Stories</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a></li>
</ul>

<p>For a complete list of the videos we currenly have on our site, see the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published/69792">ESL Library Videos Folder</a>.</p>

<h1>Feedback &amp; Requests</h1>

<p>We have so many ideas for future videos, but we&rsquo;d also love to hear yours! Teacher feedback and requests have always guided what we do at ESL&nbsp;Library, and our videos will be no&nbsp;exception.</p>

<p>What would you like to see in terms of video content on our site? Drop us a line or leave a comment below. We&rsquo;d love to hear from&nbsp;you!</p>

<p><em>PS. Did you know that we have many teacher-training videos already available? Check out our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/collection/1-how-to-videos">Help Docs video section</a> for demos and guidance on the content and features of our&nbsp;site.</em></p>


Introducing Videos on ESL Library

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Are there plans to update the &lsquo;Conjunctions&rsquo; lesson from the old 2012 format? It&rsquo;s an ugly incongruity, being the only sheet in the Grammar Worksheets not to have been updated.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Jason Bond</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>ESL Library 1.0&ndash;4.0</h1>

<p>Today, we are celebrating a major milestone at ESL&nbsp;Library, and we wanted to share it with all of you! Back in 2013, when Robyn (creative director) joined our team, the publishing team began a major reconstruction project that involved rewriting, redesigning, and reediting our full content library. Tara (head writer) and Tanya (head editor) knew it was going to be a massive undertaking to revisit every lesson, resource, and flashcard in our library in addition to adding new materials every month. What we didn&rsquo;t realize is that it would take 7+ years to achieve our&nbsp;goal!</p>

<p>This week, we uploaded that final ugly, incongruent <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1615">lesson</a>. And now, it&#39;s time to celebrate this milestone and share a bit about the journey.</p>

<p><img alt="The Lingos" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/558/content_Basic-Grammar-Sentences_2017.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">Del Lingos, 2002</p>

<h2>Rewriting &amp; Editing 1,000+&nbsp;Lessons</h2>

<p>Before sending our existing ESL&nbsp;Library lessons (1.0) to design, our writers and editors worked through each lesson that needed a makeover to ensure that the content was in good shape. This&nbsp;included:</p>

<ul>
	<li>rewriting or updating the lesson content for accuracy, validity, and&nbsp;relevance</li>
	<li>adding assessment tasks, quizzes, grammar notes, and more speaking and listening tasks</li>
	<li>rewriting answer keys and teachers&rsquo;&nbsp;notes</li>
	<li>editing with our very own style&nbsp;guide</li>
	<li>creating versions with Canadian spelling and usage (and editor&rsquo;s notes for US&nbsp;versions)</li>
	<li>aligning our content with common standards&nbsp;such as CLB, WIDA, and CEFR</li>
	<li>merging our Young Learner&nbsp;site with ESL Library and adapting the content</li>
	<li>updating publication dates and version&nbsp;numbers</li>
	<li>rerecording audio to match the new&nbsp;content</li>
</ul>

<h2>Redesigning 1,000+ Lessons</h2>

<p><img alt="Comparing some old lessons to new lessons" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/595/content_ESL-Library_Creating-an-ESL-Library-Milestone_Lessons.gif" /></p>

<p>After the rewrites and edits were done, our lessons went off to our designers for more TLC. This&nbsp;included:</p>

<ul>
	<li>improving the layout</li>
	<li>improving or redrawing the&nbsp;illustrations</li>
	<li>updating the font</li>
	<li>ensuring consistency within each&nbsp;section</li>
	<li>adding student versions</li>
</ul>

<h2>Redrawing 2,000+ Flashcards</h2>

<p><img alt="Comparison of old flashcards to new ones" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/594/content_ESL-Library_Creating-an-ESL-Library-Milestone_Flashcards.gif" /></p>

<p>Along with revamping&nbsp;all of our existing lessons, we redrew and added to the&nbsp;3,000+ images in our Flashcard Library&nbsp;during this timeframe. This&nbsp;included:</p>

<ul>
	<li>developing a new, simple flashcard style suitable for language&nbsp;learning</li>
	<li>ensuring consistency across all genres and&nbsp;categories</li>
	<li>filling gaps in many flashcard&nbsp;sets</li>
	<li>making our images much more inclusive</li>
</ul>

<h2>Then Came Digital&hellip;</h2>

<p>In addition to remastering our entire print library (and merging our young learner site with ESL&nbsp;Library), we&#39;ve been digitizing our content for the past three&nbsp;years. This meant that as updates continued with our printable versions, we&#39;ve had to add or update the digital versions as well.</p>

<p>We currently have 1,000+ digital lessons and resources as well as&nbsp;a digital Flashcard Player, and we look forward to celebrating another milestone when our full library has been digitized.</p>

<h1>Next Steps</h1>

<p>Since 2013, many of our lessons have gone through several minor and major updates, with version numbers now sitting at 4.0 or higher! In addition to expanding our library with new printable and digital content every week, here are some other things the publishing team is working on behind the&nbsp;scenes:</p>

<ul>
	<li>digitizing remaining lessons and&nbsp;resources</li>
	<li>adding UK versions for our most popular&nbsp;lessons</li>
	<li>adding video content</li>
	<li>adding more assessments</li>
	<li>developing teacher-requested content</li>
	<li>tagging content with additional standards and&nbsp;competencies</li>
	<li>making plans for US/CAN/UK digital&nbsp;versions</li>
	<li>developing ready-made courses</li>
</ul>

<p>Though our small but mighty publishing team can&rsquo;t all get together for the real celebration that this milestone deserves, this post will forever remind us that everything is possible when you have a hardworking team working together on a project they&nbsp;love. A big shout-out&nbsp;to everyone who helped out on various parts of this restoration project over the years. And to our&nbsp;heavy lifters (Tanya, Robyn, Saori, Jessica, Ann, and Tara), we did it!&nbsp;</p>

<p>This post is dedicated to all of the teachers who encouraged us to stay the course. Thank&nbsp;you!</p>


Celebrating an ESL Library Milestone

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<p>Though many schools are winding down for a few months in North America, language learning continues through July and August in many parts of the world. Some teachers also like to keep their students busy even when they aren&rsquo;t in the classroom. You can assign digital lessons to your students to help them avoid the summer slide. To help you plan ahead, here are some lessons that will be ready&nbsp;soon!</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3310"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/93_Eid-Al-Adha.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3310">Eid al-Adha</a></h2>

<p>In this new lesson from <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a>, students will learn about the &ldquo;Festival of the Sacrifice&rdquo; (July&nbsp;30&ndash;Aug&nbsp;3), an important holiday for Muslims.&nbsp;</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3311"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/72_Social-Distancing.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3311">Social Distancing</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;ve had many requests for a low-intermediate version of our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a> lesson on Social Distancing. You&rsquo;ll be happy to know that we have one in the&nbsp;works!</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3312"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/113_Gardening.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3312">Gardening</a></h2>

<p>Gardening is a popular topic for pre-beginners! We&rsquo;re working on a new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/">Word Bank</a> lesson on this summer topic. This lesson will feature our new <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/picture-dictionary">Picture Dictionary</a>&nbsp;task.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label revisedLabel hangingLabel">Revised</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1615"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/88_Parts-of-Speech-and-Conjunctions.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1615">Conjunctions</a></h2>

<p>For several years, our publishing team has been rewriting and reformatting our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section. This is the last lesson to complete before we tackle some brand-new grammar targets. Watch for an upcoming celebration post on our blog!</p>
</div>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3313"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/128_Job-Ads.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3313">Job Ads</a></h2>

<p>In this upcoming resource from <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/">Real-World Reading</a>, low-level learners will practice reading very simple job&nbsp;ads.</p>
</div>

<h1>Flashcards</h1>

<p>Every family is unique! We&rsquo;ve heard your requests, and we&rsquo;re extending our flashcard set so that teachers will have lots of options for teaching vocabulary related to the&nbsp;family.</p>


Coming in July 2020

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<p>In addition to our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Flashcard Player</a>, which is useful for teaching online or in the classroom, we now have an assignable <strong>Picture Dictionary</strong> task, which is suitable for asynchronous teaching and homework. Here is a demo of how this new task works:</p>

<h1>Picture Dictionary: Demo</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZyTR1BMhUXA" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>We&#39;ll be adding this task to our digital lessons throughout the summer of 2020. With your <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">Plus</a> subscription, you can assign digital Picture Dictionary tasks to your students for homework. Your students can do these task types on any mobile device or&nbsp;computer. Here are the main sections where you will be able to find this task type popping up in the coming weeks:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Word Bank</li>
	<li>Simple Sentences</li>
	<li>Super Simple Grammar</li>
	<li>Visual Learning</li>
</ol>

<p>&nbsp;Here are a few lessons to try where this task type is already available:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3249">Word Bank: COVID-19 </a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons/1819">Simple Sentences: Feelings </a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3298">Visual Learning: Healthy Eating Guide</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Flashcard Player Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/open-ended-questions">Open-Ended Questions Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/product-feature-update-matching-vocabulary-preview">Matching: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/image-match-interactive-vocabulary-building-for-beginner-english-learners">Image Match: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/see-and-spell">See &amp; Spell: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/blended-learning-listening">Listen &amp; Type: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/180-video-true-or-false-task-demo">True or False: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/181-video-read-listen-task-demo">Read &amp; Listen: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/184-video-dialogue-task-demo">Dialogue: Demo</a></li>
</ul>


Picture Dictionary 

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<p><em>Last updated August&nbsp;26,&nbsp;2020</em></p>

<p>On March 11, 2020, as the vast majority of schools around the world were closing their physical locations, we made the very easy decision to upgrade all of our Standard plan users to our Plus plan at no charge. We committed to doing this until at least June&nbsp;30 in order to help schools access digital tools for teaching online without an additional financial&nbsp;burden.</p>

<p>At the time, we did not know how long this would last, but we could safely assume that schools would not resume for several&nbsp;months.</p>

<h2>Free Upgrade to Plus Plan Extended Through September&nbsp;30,&nbsp;2020</h2>

<p>In the spring we extend the upgrade until August&nbsp;30th. However, today, we are announcing a further extension of the free upgrade. All existing Standard plan users who bought subscriptions prior to June&nbsp;30,&nbsp;2020 will continue to enjoy a free upgrade to our Plus plan until September&nbsp;30,&nbsp;2020.</p>

<h3>What happens to my account after September&nbsp;30?</h3>

<p>On September&nbsp;30, your subscription will be set back to a Standard plan. With a Standard plan you maintain access to the following&nbsp;features:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Broadcast Tool:</strong> Broadcast all digital task types while sharing your screen online or using your overhead projector in&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li><strong>Flashcard Maker and Flashcard Player:</strong> Make flashcard/image sets to export as PDFs. Present image sets in the Flashcard Player while screensharing or using your overhead&nbsp;projector.</li>
	<li><strong>PDF Content:</strong> Access all of our PDFs from the Lessons and Resources&nbsp;sections.</li>
	<li><strong>Digital Reading Assignments:</strong> Assign digital reading tasks to your students as homework. (Reading assignments include articles and dialogues, and most contain an accompanying audio&nbsp;file.)</li>
</ul>

<h3>What features will I not have access&nbsp;to?</h3>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Homework Suite:</strong> Your Standard plan does not include the ability to assign any digital homework tasks other than the readings mentioned above. You will not be able to assign digital homework tasks such as Multiple-Choice, True or False, Put in Order, Type in the Blanks,&nbsp;etc.</li>
	<li><strong>Comprehensive Reporting:</strong> The Standard plan does not allow you to see the completion results of student&nbsp;assignments.</li>
	<li><strong>Comments and Feedback:</strong> The Standard plan does not give you the ability to leave feedback, ratings, or&nbsp;comments.</li>
</ul>

<h3>What will happen to current&nbsp;assignments?</h3>

<p>Your students will continue to have access to anything you previously assigned until October&nbsp;7 (one week after the plan change). For all assignments that were completed before that date, you will maintain full access to the scores and results of those&nbsp;tasks.</p>

<h3>How do I upgrade back to&nbsp;Plus?</h3>

<p>Upgrading back to Plus is easy. Once your plan changes back to Standard, you will see an Upgrade button on your account page, as well as below or next to most areas that offer Plus features. Upgrading is instant and can be charged to the card on&nbsp;file.</p>

<h3>What does the upgrade&nbsp;cost?</h3>

<p>For reference, <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">our pricing page</a> shows the cost if you were purchasing a new plan. However, pricing will be prorated based on the time remaining on your current plan when you upgrade. This price will display on the checkout page for you to view before committing to any upgrade&nbsp;purchase.</p>

<h3>How can I learn more about the differences in&nbsp;plans?</h3>

<p><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/208-video-standard-vs-plus-plan">This seven-minute video</a> shows you all the differences between the Standard plan and the Plus&nbsp;plan.</p>

<p>If you need any assistance, please reach out to us anytime. We&rsquo;re happy to&nbsp;help.</p>


Our Continued Commitment During the COVID Pandemic

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<p>At ESL Library, we&#39;re all about making teachers lives a little easier! Here&#39;s a handy&nbsp;shortcut for anyone with a Google account.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fBe4Xa1zNa8" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>Note: You can also connect your Google account from your <strong>My Account </strong>settings.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/555/content_Screen_Shot_2020-06-10_at_4.19.02_PM.png" /></p>

<p>Looking for Clever single sign-on? This is in the works!</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/google-classroom-assignments">How to Post ESL Library Assignments on Google Classroom</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/students-sign-up-log-in">Sign Up or Log In (For Students)</a></li>
</ul>


How to Sign In/Sign Up with Google Single Sign-On (SSO)

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<p>You may have already noticed a new look and feel when you click on the&nbsp;Digital tab on a lesson page.&nbsp;In this demo, Tammy walks you through our updated digital Answer Key area.</p>

<h2>Demo</h2>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pNVT49AKa3I" width="560"></iframe></div>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">Broadcast or Preview Digital Tasks</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-leave-comments-on-student-homework">How to Leave Comments on Student Homework</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/open-ended-questions">Open-Ended Questions (leaving feedback and ratings)</a></li>
</ul>


How to Find & Use the (Updated) Digital Answer Key

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<p>Are you looking for the <strong>Results</strong> page? You can now manage your classes, students, and assignments/results in one convenient location called <strong>My Classes</strong>. Here are some simple instructions for finding results and other related features:</p>

<h2>1.&nbsp;Go&nbsp;to My Classes</h2>

<p>Find&nbsp;<strong>Class Prep</strong> in the main navigation bar from any page on ESL Library. Choose <strong>My Classes</strong>.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/393/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.05.40_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>2. Choose a Class</h2>

<p>Choose a class that you want to manage or view results for.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/397/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.05.58_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Toggle to the Assignments Tab</h2>

<p>Here you can view all of the assignments for this class. Click on the down arrow to open the table and view results for individual tasks and students.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/395/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.06.51_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>4. Manage Students</h2>

<p>On the Students tab, you can also easily <strong>Edit Class</strong> description or <strong>Add Students</strong>. The&nbsp;More menu&nbsp;(...) allows you to&nbsp;reset a password or delete a student from your class.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/396/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.07.01_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>5. Manage Individual Students</h2>

<p>You can also quickly preview results and profile information about&nbsp;individual students by scrolling down to <strong>My Students</strong>&nbsp;(located below My Classes on the main My Classes page).</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/398/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.32.11_AM.png" /></p>

<p>We hope you like this new, simpler design for managing your digital classes and results. Let us know if you need help navigating the new <strong>My Classes</strong> tables and features!</p>

<H1>Demo</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9i2qIJuNAek" width="560"></iframe></div>


My Classes & Results Now Merged

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<p>Thinking about June so soon? In addition to uploading digital versions of our lessons, we&rsquo;re hard at work on filling your requests for new content. Here&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re working on.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3297"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/72_Cruise-Ships.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3297">Cruise Ships</a></h2>

<p>In this upcoming low‑intermediate <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a> lesson, students will learn about and discuss some of the negative aspects of cruising. We are also working on updates to our high‑intermediate Cruise Ships&nbsp;lesson.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/3299"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/118_e.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/3299">/e/</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;re getting a lot of requests for pronunciation lessons on the vowel sounds. In this upcoming lesson from <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons">Phonics &amp; Pronunciation</a>, students will compare <span class="inlineBlock">/e/</span> <span class="inlineBlock">and /ɛ/.</span></p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3300"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/127_Following-a-Recipe.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3300">Following a Recipe</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;re all cooking and baking more at home these days. Watch for a new low‑intermediate lesson coming up in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons">Reading in English</a>&nbsp;section.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label revisedLabel hangingLabel">Revised</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1221"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/72_New-Moon-Race.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1221">New Moon Race</a></h2>

<p>Did you hear that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have been granted contracts to build a new spacecraft capable of landing humans on the moon? We&rsquo;re working on updates for this popular <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a>&nbsp;lesson.</p>
</div>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3298"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/107_Canada-Food-Guide.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3298">Canada Food Guide</a></h2>

<p>Are your students interested in learning about healthy food choices? We&rsquo;re working on a new flashcard set and visual learning resource about the updated Canada Food Guide. Keep an eye on our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources">Visual Learning</a>&nbsp;section.</p>
</div>

<h1>Flashcards</h1>

<p>We&rsquo;re so happy that you&rsquo;re loving our new <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Flashcard Player</a>. This month our illustrator is busy working on a new flashcard set to go with our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons">Super Simple Grammar</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/2858">Singular &amp; Plural&nbsp;Nouns</a>!</p>


Coming in June 2020

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<p>Do your students like to keep practicing their digital tasks until they get the correct answers? At the end of a&nbsp;digital task, students have the option to Try Again.*</p>

<p>Until recently, this was just a practice mode for your students. With our new feature, teachers can view detailed&nbsp;results of students&#39;&nbsp;multiple attempts, including the score, time spent, completion day/time, and full answers. Your students can also see the detailed results for each of their own attempts, which will help them track their own progress.</p>

<p>Here is a quick demo for you:</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6aevTsW7iI0" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>*Note that our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/open-ended-questions">Open-Ended Questions</a>&nbsp;task type now allows for multiple attempts. After students submit their written answers, they&nbsp;can view their results and ESL Library&#39;s Suggested Answers (if applicable). They see a message that tells them to&nbsp;wait for teacher feedback (however they can retry at any time as a new attempt). After you assess their first attempt, they receive a notification to view your feedback. We&#39;re working on a new feature that will allow students&nbsp;to edit their first attempt after receiving feedback and resubmit. At this time, you are only able to assess their first attempt.</p>
