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

Articles

<p>Are you looking for Mother&#39;s-Day-themed ideas for your YL classroom? This is the perfect week to talk, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdwsKn4Fr9Y" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sing</a>, and learn about animals and their fur babies!</p>

<p>In our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/word-bank" target="_blank">Word Bank</a> section, we have a lesson all about <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2411" target="_blank">Animal Families</a>. After you&#39;ve tried the lesson, here are some questions and related videos to share in class. You&#39;ll notice in some of the videos that animal mothers are the best teachers! It&#39;s no wonder <strong>Teacher Appreciation Week</strong> ends on <strong>Mother&#39;s Day</strong>!</p>

<h1>What are some names of animal babies?</h1>

<div class="video-container"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cJg4YFtvOp8" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h1>What are groups of animals called?</h1>

<p>The speaker goes very quickly! How many names can your students pick up? (This may be a fun activity for older or more advanced students.) You can also talk about why these animal groups have these names.</p>

<div class="video-container"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hvVQwpnZTvM" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>Did you know that a group of baby pugs is called a grumble? What do you call a baby chick that thinks it&#39;s a pug?</p>

<div class="video-container"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6ybOamnmT-w" width="640"></iframe></div>

<h1>How are animal families different from human families?</h1>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/aw-vs-awe/" target="_blank">Aw!</a> You might need some tissues for this one.</p>

<div class="video-container"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yNy9jTeolUk" width="640"></iframe></div>

<h1>What do animal mothers teach their babies?</h1>

<p>How many verbs can your students come up with when you put this starter sentence on the board: Animal mothers teach their babies how to...</p>

<div class="video-container"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DnovRHCFfXY" width="640"></iframe></div>

<h1>What is a surrogate mother?</h1>

<p>This week, you might want to teach about different types of mothers, including birth mother, stepmother, mother-in-law, and even <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1287-surrogacy" target="_blank">surrogate</a> mother.</p>

<div class="video-container"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OgpXZvcpJx4" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>Happy Mother&#39;s Day to all of the great moms out there!<br />
Thanks for caring for your children (and fur babies)!</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2411" target="_blank">Animal Families</a>: Word Bank</li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/14/flashcard_categories/6" target="_blank">Animals</a>: Flashcards</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1869" target="_blank">Mother&#39;s Day</a>&nbsp;(Int &ndash; High Int): Holidays &amp; Events</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2948-mother-s-day">Mother&#39;s Day</a> (Low Int): Holidays &amp; Events</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3296-mother-s-day">Mother&#39;s Day</a> (Beg): Holidays &amp; Events</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3583-mother-s-day" target="_blank">Mother&#39;s Day</a> (Pre Beg): Word Bank</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3610-mother-s-day-gifts">Mother&#39;s Day Gifts</a> (Beg): Word Bank Readers</li>
</ul>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="918" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HpG1_tlvd7A" title="Happy Mother’s Day from the Ellii Team! #shorts #behindthescenes #vocabulary" width="516"></iframe></p>


Mother's Day Videos for Teaching English: Animals & Babies

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

Teaching with Ellii

Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>Will you be talking about Easter in class this week? Hop to it and try our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2394" target="_blank">Easter</a> vocabulary lesson&nbsp;with brand-new illustrations that kids will love! This nine-page <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons" target="_blank">Word Bank</a> lesson&nbsp;includes a colorful picture dictionary with images related to Easter. Activities such as a matchup, word choice, word search, word scramble, and spelling bee help make this lesson engaging and fun. Discussion questions at the end allow your students to use the new vocabulary in context. This lesson also has a listening activity. Our Word Bank lessons all come with a set of printable flashcards at the end. Hang them around your classroom for ready-made Easter decorations, or use them to elicit the vocabulary before the lesson or to quiz your students after the lesson. Find this lesson in the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons" target="_blank">Word Bank</a> section.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/visual-learning/resources/2147-spring-easter-idioms-poster" target="_blank">Spring &amp; Easter Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-skit-for-ells-spring-fever" target="_blank">English Skit for ELLs: Spring Fever</a></li>
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/7/lessons" target="_blank">Spring &amp; Easter Collection</a> (includes Easter lessons for all levels)</li>
</ul>

Easter Vocabulary Lesson

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it&rsquo;s the only thing that ever&nbsp;has.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Margaret Mead</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Social media and the Internet has made it easier for people to congregate to advocate over issues or causes. Many of these causes gain support through hashtags on Twitter (#) or by creating Facebook groups. This makes it easier to organize events and share resources. English Language Teachers are passionate about their learners and field; therefore, it should be no surprise that many have gathered to advocate for equality for their learners and colleagues. Below are some of the causes, which are ensuring all English language teachers and their students are treated fairly no matter their gender, culture, economic status, or native&nbsp;language.</p>

<h1>Gender Balance Advocacy</h1>

<p><a href="http://efltalks.com/">EFL Talks</a>, founded by Rob Howard, is hosting an incredible free online event highlighting <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/215123952374408/">Inspiring Women in ELT</a> on March 10 and 11th. Join the online web platform during the time to see 24 women in ELT delivering inspirational messages in 10 minutes with only 10 slides! ESL&nbsp;Library blogger, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell/">Shelly Sanchez Terrell</a>, will be one of the keynotes along with past IATEFL president, <a href="https://twitter.com/marjorierosenbe?lang=en">Marjorie&nbsp;Rosenberg</a>.</p>

<p><a href="http://thefairlist.org/">The Fair List</a> was founded by <a href="https://www.nile-elt.com/ourpeople/profiles/tessawoodward/602">Tessa Woodward</a>. The website describes the Fair List as &ldquo;an annual award that celebrates excellence of gender balance in plenary speakers, presenters and speaker panels at ELT events in the UK.&rdquo; The goal is to promote &ldquo;wider coverage of relevant topics and a more balanced perspective on the issues affecting both women and men&rdquo; in ELT.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1321867864514301/">Women in ELT Facebook group</a> was founded by Nicola Prentis and has over 1,000 members. The description encourages the women who join to &ldquo;network, share resources, discuss anything that relates to being a woman in ELT, disagree, agree, agree to disagree and get stuff done.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/tesolwomen/">Women in TESOL Facebook group</a> is moderated by Joy Fujii and Hershey Wier-Global. Females who join the group exchange ideas and resources related to these themes: institutionalized discrimination in education, the hidden agenda of mainstream media, the unequal hiring of ELT females at universities, harassment, and progress towards a more egalitarian educational&nbsp;system.</p>

<h1>Equal Opportunities to&nbsp;Shine</h1>

<p><a href="https://evecalendar.wordpress.com/">EVE</a>: Equal Voices in ELT is an idea conceived by <a href="https://twitter.com/fionamau">Fiona Mauchline</a> and <a href="http://www.eltteacher2writer.co.uk/sue-leather">Sue Leather</a> that recognizes through badges ELT conferences and events with gender and highly proficient speaker parity. These events are listed in the EVE calendar and awarded one of three badges (purple, green, or platinum). Follow the cause on Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/eve_elt">@EVE_elt</a>.</p>

<p><a href="http://teflequityadvocates.com/">TEFL Equity Advocates and Academy</a> was founded by <a href="https://teflreflections.wordpress.com/">Marek Kiczkowiak</a> in April 2014 to advocate for equal professional opportunities for &lsquo;native&rsquo; and &lsquo;non-native&rsquo; English speaking teachers. TEFL Equity encourages schools and learning institutions to establish egalitarian employment policies and have listed those who do in their Hall of Fame. TEFL Equity also features a job board and the TEFL Equity Academy to train teachers. Follow the cause on Twitter,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/teflequity?lang=en">@TEFLEquity</a>.</p>

<h1>Advocacy for English Language&nbsp;Learners</h1>

<p>Heart ELT is a movement to help provide funding and resources for refugee children in Iraq to have a safe learning place to play and sing. The Heart School began with crowdsourced funds and now the organizers publish books with activities donated by leading international ELT authors and teachers. Support the cause by donating an activity, purchasing one of the books, or offering services as an editor, proofreader, designer, or illustrator. ESL&nbsp;Library blogger, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell/">Shelly Sanchez Terrell</a>, is one of the ELT authors who has donated an&nbsp;activity.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TESOLAdvocacy?src=hash">#TESOLAdvocacy</a> is a Twitter hashtag started by <a href="http://www.tesol.org/">TESOL International</a> to promote their TESOL Advocacy &amp; Policy Summit. However, the hashtag is also used to share news about policies impacting immigrants and refugees. TESOL lists several <a href="http://www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/advocacy-resources">resources and support</a> for teachers who are concerned about policies impacting their English Language&nbsp;Learners.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DisabledAccessFriendly/">Disabled Access Friendly Campaign</a> organized by Katie Quartano and Paul Shaw, was a 2014 ELTons winner. Unfortunately, the movement seems to be on pause, but <a href="https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2011/05/14/blog-challenge-a-disabled-access-friendly-world-lessons-for-the-elt-classroom">Marisa Constantinides</a> has collected blog posts by various ELT teachers, which explore disability issues and develop students&rsquo; social awareness and empathy of these&nbsp;issues.</p>

<p>Which causes are you passionate about in ELT? What organizations or resources help you&nbsp;advocate?</p>

<p>If you want to receive more of Shelly&rsquo;s tips for online resources for teaching English, then check out her <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell">ESL&nbsp;Library&nbsp;feed</a>!</p>


Congregate for Change! 9 Advocacy Groups & Events Enhancing ELT

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<p>Many countries will celebrate Valentine&#39;s Day on February 14. In some schools, it&#39;s common to participate in Valentine&#39;s Day activities like giving out cards and candy in class. Your students will also love our colorful&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2616" target="_blank">Valentine&#39;s Day</a></strong> vocabulary lesson! This lesson is suitable for young learners and literacy students. Our nine-page <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons" target="_blank">Word Bank</a> lesson includes a colorful picture dictionary with 12 Valentine&#39;s Day words. Activities such as a matchup, word choice, word search, word scramble, spelling bee, and listening activity help make this lesson engaging and fun. Finish up with the discussion questions so that your students can try using the new vocabulary in context!</p>

<p>Check out our <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/107" target="_blank">Valentine&#39;s Day Flashcards</a> for even more theme-based vocabulary.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/4/lessons" target="_blank">Love &amp; Relationships Lesson Collection</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1959" target="_blank">Valentine&#39;s Day &ndash; Beg </a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1863" target="_blank">Valentine&#39;s Day &ndash; Low Int </a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1862" target="_blank">Valentine&#39;s Day &ndash; High Int </a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2145" target="_blank">Love Idioms Poster</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/valentines-day-interview-a-love-story" target="_blank">Valentine&#39;s Day Interview: A Love Story</a></li>
</ul>


Valentine's Day Vocabulary Lesson & Flashcards

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<p>Australia Day is on January 26. Take a trip down under with our Word Bank lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2430" target="_blank"><strong>Australian Animals</strong></a>!</p>

<p>In this fun&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons" target="_blank">Word Bank</a> lesson, students will learn the spelling and pronunciation of common animals from Australia. This lesson includes plenty of illustrated activities for vocabulary review. Learners can also practice using the vocab in context with our discussion questions exercise.</p>

<p>The Australian animal images are also available as flashcards at the end of the PDF version of the lesson. Check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-ways-to-use-flashcards-in-class" target="_blank">10 Ways to Use Cards &amp; Flashcards in Class</a>&nbsp;for ideas on using animal flashcards!</p>

<h3>Activities include:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Picture dictionary</li>
	<li>Matchup</li>
	<li>Word Choice</li>
	<li>Word Search</li>
	<li>Word Scramble</li>
	<li>Spelling Bee</li>
	<li>Discussion Questions</li>
	<li>Listening</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1889" target="_blank">Australia Day</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/117/lessons/2601" target="_blank">Kangaroos</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2429" target="_blank">African Animals</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2427" target="_blank">Zoo Animals</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2411" target="_blank">Animal Families</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/14/flashcard_categories/6" target="_blank">Animal Flashcards</a></li>
</ul>


Australian Animals Vocabulary Lesson

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

Grammar & Usage

<blockquote>
<p>What are you gonna do in&nbsp;2018?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Though speaking quickly in another language can seem overwhelming at first, learning common language reductions (such as whacha, wanna, or gonna) can give students confidence in their speaking and listening&nbsp;abilities.</p>

<p>My students always enjoyed practicing reduced pronunciation&mdash;we&rsquo;d have a lot of laughs together even when they&rsquo;d get tongue‑tied. Two things help learners feel more confident when practicing reduced pronunciation: guided practice with lots of modeling and handy tips to help them, and plenty of encouragement along the&nbsp;way.</p>

<p>Remind students that even though reductions may sound like a whole other language at first, practicing reduced pronunciation means they&rsquo;ll be able to better decipher quick, natural speaking when listening to native speakers, and they&rsquo;ll sound more natural when speaking,&nbsp;too.</p>

<p>The beginning of a new year is a great time to focus on be going to. This future phrase is commonly used at this time of year when people are making and discussing New Year&rsquo;s resolutions and goals. Teach your learners how to pronounce <strong>going to</strong> as <strong>gonna</strong>, and encourage them to use it whenever they&rsquo;re discussing future&nbsp;plans.</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>In English, it is common to use be going to + verb instead of will + verb for expressing the simple future. (See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/simple-future-teaching-the-three-forms/" target="_blank">Simple Future: Teaching the Three Forms</a> for more teaching tips and information.) When English speakers are speaking at a normal rate of speech, it is common to reduce&nbsp;going to to gonna. The main reason for this is that be going to isn&rsquo;t conveying much important information&mdash;the main verb that follows is the important information in the&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<p>Model the following sentences for your students (or play the audio clip below) and have students repeat them using the same stress patterns and speed. I often used the expression &ldquo;<strong>Race to the Verb!</strong>&rdquo; with my students to help them remember to say everything before the main verb quite quickly, and then to slow down and stress the main&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>&nbsp;I&rsquo;m gonna <strong>practice</strong> English every day. (Remind students that they will see it written as &ldquo;I&rsquo;m <strong>going to</strong> practice&hellip;&rdquo; because gonna is only used in spoken&nbsp;English.)</li>
	<li>Are you gonna <strong>go out</strong>&nbsp;tonight?</li>
	<li>He&rsquo;s gonna <strong>do</strong> his&nbsp;homework.</li>
	<li>She&rsquo;s gonna <strong>buy</strong> a new&nbsp;dress.</li>
	<li>We&rsquo;re gonna <strong>play&nbsp;</strong>our new video&nbsp;game.</li>
	<li>Are they gonna <strong>go</strong> to Disneyland next&nbsp;year?</li>
</ul>

<p><iframe frameborder="1" height="154" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://audioboom.com/boos/2764121-reduced-pronunciation-gonna/embed/v3?eid=AQAAAOkyo1RZLSoA&amp;player_theme=light&amp;link_color=%2358d1eb&amp;image_option=none&amp;show_title=true" width="480"></iframe></p>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>Remember that&nbsp;gonna is only used in&nbsp;<strong>speaking</strong>. We should <strong>never write gonna</strong> (with the possible exception of texting between&nbsp;friends).</p>

<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>Point out that not all instances of going to can be reduced to&nbsp;gonna! It is only possible when the future phrase be going to is followed by a verb. The present progressive of go followed by the preposition of direction to can look similar to the future phrase be going to, but it is not the same and can&rsquo;t be reduced. Tell students that <strong>no verb = no gonna</strong> (we can&rsquo;t say&nbsp;gonna if it isn&rsquo;t followed by a verb). Note the following&nbsp;examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I&rsquo;m going to <strong>call</strong> my friend later. (gonna = correct / followed by a verb / we can say I&rsquo;m gonna&nbsp;call)</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m going to <strong>the store</strong> later. (gonna = incorrect / not followed by a verb / we can&rsquo;t say I&rsquo;m gonna the&nbsp;store)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2502" target="_blank">Simple Future</a>&nbsp;(Fun Grammar Lessons &ndash; YL)</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1596" target="_blank">Simple Future</a> (Grammar Practice Worksheets)</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1568" target="_blank">Future &ndash; What Are You Going to Do Tonight?</a> (Basic Grammar Sentences)</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1638" target="_blank">Simple Future Stories</a> (Grammar Stories)</li>
</ul>


Reduced Pronunciation – Gonna

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


Inspire Meaningful Writing Practice through Digital Scrapbooking

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<h3>Christmas is coming!</h3>

<p>Our&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2438" target="_blank">Christmas Word Bank Lesson</a>&nbsp;</strong>is a fun, educational way to learn about this holiday. This nine-page lesson starts off with a fun, colorful picture dictionary and is followed by a variety of activities that will help your young learners stay engaged while they review the new words. This lesson also includes discussion questions so that your students can try using the new vocabulary in&nbsp;context!</p>

<h3>Activities include:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Picture dictionary</li>
	<li>Matchup</li>
	<li>Word Choice</li>
	<li>Word Search</li>
	<li>Word Scramble</li>
	<li>Spelling Bee</li>
	<li>Discussion Questions</li>
	<li>Listening</li>
</ul>

<p>Find this lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2438" target="_blank">Word Bank</a>&nbsp;section.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/16/lessons" target="_blank">December Holidays Collection</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/20" target="_blank">Christmas Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/visual-learning/resources/2185-holiday-idioms-expressions" target="_blank">Holiday Idioms &amp; Expressions</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/warm-ups-fillers/resources/2221-how-to-make-a-paper-snowflake" target="_blank">How to Make a Paper&nbsp;Snowflake</a></li>
</ul>


Christmas Vocabulary Lesson

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<p>It&#39;s that spooky time of year again! Kids in many countries are getting excited for Halloween on October&nbsp;31. To get your class into the eerie spirit, try our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2439" target="_blank">Halloween vocabulary&nbsp;lesson</a>!</p>

<p>This nine-page <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons" target="_blank">Word Bank</a> lesson&nbsp;includes a colorful picture dictionary with Halloween images including pumpkin, jack-o&#39;-lantern, ghost, skeleton, witch, etc.</p>

<p>Activities such as a matchup, word choice, word search, word scramble, spelling bee, and listening help make this lesson engaging and fun.</p>

<p>Finish up with the discussion questions so that your students can try using the new vocabulary in&nbsp;context!</p>

<p>Be sure to check out our <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/24/lessons" target="_blank">Halloween Lesson Collection</a> for related lessons and resources for teens and&nbsp;adults. Happy Halloween!</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/46" target="_blank">Halloween Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/scaredy-cat" target="_blank">The Scaredy-Cat: ESL Halloween Listening Activity</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/117/lessons/2510" target="_blank">Spiders: Discovery Lesson</a></li>
</ul>


Halloween Vocabulary Lesson for Young Learners

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<p>Frankenstein Day takes place on the last Friday of October. Do your students know the story of Frankenstein? Do they know the story behind the story?</p>

<h2>Listen or Read: The Story Behind Frankenstein&nbsp;</h2>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/1518/mary-shelley-contest.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<blockquote>
<p>The Story Behind Frankenstein</p>

<p>Mary Shelley was in a writing group. The writers challenged each other to think of a ghost story. They talked about scary things that were happening in the world to help inspire each other.</p>

<p>Mary Shelley tried to think of an idea, but she couldn&#39;t come up with anything. The other writers were busy at work!</p>

<p>Finally, Mary Shelley had a bad dream about a scientist who created a monster that ended up coming to life. According to legend, Mary Shelley had the dream while she was awake!</p>

<p>She was afraid of her own dream, and she decided to write it down. Her idea turned into a novel and a film.</p>

<p>Many people think the monster&#39;s name in the story is Frankenstein. It&#39;s not! In Mary Shelley&#39;s novel, Frankenstein is actually the last name of the scientist who created the monster. Over the years, it&#39;s almost like the monster claimed the name for itself. Creepy!</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Activity Idea</h2>

<p>Here is a fun activity that you can do with your students this month.</p>

<ol>
	<li>Share&nbsp;the background about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein with your students. You can play the listening above, read it out loud yourself, or paraphrase it.&nbsp;You can also try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/83/lessons/1495" target="_blank">Frankenstein</a> lesson from our Easy Readers section.</li>
	<li>Put your students into small groups just like Mary Shelley and her writing friends. Ask the students to tell each other about some dreams that they have had recently. They can share funny, scary, or strange dreams. They can also talk about things that scare them.</li>
	<li>Have students brainstorm a list of at least five scary words. Allow them to use a dictionary or thesaurus. Encourage them to use at least three nouns and at least two adjectives. If they can come up with ten words, that&#39;s even better! Check out Tanya&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/morbid-words-to-learn-for-halloween/" target="_blank">Morbid Words to Learn for Halloween</a>.</li>
	<li>Challenge each student to go home (or back to their desks) and write a spooky ghost story for Frankenstein Day or Halloween. They should try to use all of the scary words their group thought of.</li>
	<li>On Frankenstein Day or Halloween, ask your students to hand in their stories. Give them the option of being part of the contest. Read the stories first, to make sure that they are appropriate for class.&nbsp;Ask students to hold a secret vote for the scariest story! Give the winning writer this&nbsp;<strong>Mary Shelley Award for Spooky Fiction</strong>. Ask for permission from your student, then copy and paste the winning story in the comments below.</li>
</ol>

<p><a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2157/content_ESL-Library_Mary-Shelley-Certificate.pdf" target="_blank"><img alt="Mary Shelley Certificate preview" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2158/content_Tara_Writing-Contest-Frankenstein-Day_Certificate_Preview.png" /></a></p>


A Writing Contest for Frankenstein Day

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<p>Have you tried ESL Library&#39;s Halloween-themed <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3396"><strong>The Scaredy-Cat</strong></a> lesson with your young learners? In this lesson, your young learners will learn some Halloween vocabulary in a fun way. We also have a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2439"><strong>Word Bank</strong></a> lesson&nbsp;and a&nbsp;fun lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2515"><strong>Prepositions of Place</strong></a> in our Fun Grammar Lessons section. Try both of these lessons before you try this follow-up Halloween listening&nbsp;activity.</p>

<h1>Listening Activity</h1>

<p>This activity works best if you have already introduced your students to Halloween vocabulary (see this&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/46">Halloween Flashcards</a></strong> set) and prepositions of place. Play the recording and have your students listen to find out where the witch&#39;s black cat is hiding. Listen a few more times and ask your students to listen for the prepositions of place. They can also draw a scene from the&nbsp;story. Why not share this story on <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/pets/national-black-cat-day/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>National Black Cat Day</strong></a> (Oct 27)? You can talk about why black cats are often left in animal shelters with no&nbsp;homes.</p>

<h1>The Scaredy-Cat</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HhtOelNRyRc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p><em>(Transcript)</em></p>

<blockquote>
<p>One Halloween night, a young witch lost her black cat. &quot;Here, kitty kitty,&quot; the witch called, but the cat did not come&nbsp;out. The witch walked down her street and called again. &quot;Here, kitty kitty,&quot;&nbsp;the witch called, but again the cat did not come&nbsp;out.</p>

<p>The young witch walked across the street and up the hill. At the top of the hill, there was a big house with Halloween decorations. It looked like a haunted house. There was a zombie in front of the fence. Behind the fence, there was a tree. A ghost hung on a tree branch. Below the tree, there was a&nbsp;graveyard. The little witch stood in the graveyard and called her cat, but it did not come out. It was time to ask for&nbsp;help. The witch walked up the steps and knocked on the door of the house. A young boy in a pirate costume opened the door.</p>

<p>&quot;You didn&#39;t say trick or treat,&quot; he&nbsp;said.</p>

<p>The witch laughed. &quot;I am not looking for candy. I am looking for my black cat. Can you help me find her? She is afraid of&nbsp;Halloween.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;That&#39;s funny,&quot; the boy said. &quot;You have a black cat that is afraid of&nbsp;Halloween!&quot;</p>

<p>He stepped out of his house and helped the witch. They looked behind the pumpkins and under the welcome mat. They looked in the garden and in between the&nbsp;cars. Just then, they heard a lady scream across the street. The boy and the witch ran to help the lady. She had a candle in her hands.</p>

<p>&quot;I took the lid off my jack-o&#39;-lantern and a black cat jumped out,&quot;&nbsp;the lady said. &quot;It scared&nbsp;me!&quot;&nbsp;This time the witch laughed.</p>

<p>&quot;Don&#39;t be scared. That was my cat. She&#39;s afraid of&nbsp;Halloween.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;Here, kitty kitty,&quot;&nbsp;the witch called, and the black cat ran out of the bushes and into her&nbsp;arms.</p>

<p>&quot;That&#39;s one scaredy-cat,&quot;&nbsp;the boy said, and they all&nbsp;laughed.</p>

<p>The lady put the candle inside the jack-o&#39;-lantern. &quot;I like your costumes,&quot; she said, and she gave the boy and the witch some candy. &quot;Happy&nbsp;Halloween!&quot;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h1>Vocabulary</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Halloween</li>
	<li>skeleton</li>
	<li>pirate</li>
	<li>witch</li>
	<li>black cat</li>
	<li>pumpkin</li>
	<li>zombie</li>
	<li>jack-o&#39;-lantern</li>
	<li>ghost</li>
	<li>haunted house</li>
	<li>graveyard</li>
	<li>costume</li>
	<li>candle</li>
	<li>candy</li>
	<li>scaredy-cat</li>
</ul>

<h1>Questions</h1>

<ol>
	<li>Why is the cat&nbsp;hiding?</li>
	<li>What decorations does the big house&nbsp;have?</li>
	<li>Who helps the witch find the&nbsp;cat?</li>
	<li>Why does the lady across the street&nbsp;scream?</li>
	<li>What does the pirate call the cat at the end of the&nbsp;story?</li>
</ol>

<p><strong>Answers</strong></p>

<ol>
	<li>The cat is hiding because it is afraid of&nbsp;Halloween.</li>
	<li>The house has a graveyard beside it with a zombie and a ghost. It also has&nbsp;pumpkins.</li>
	<li>A boy in a pirate costume helps the witch look for the&nbsp;cat.</li>
	<li>The lady across the street screams because the witch&#39;s cat jumped out of the jack-o&#39;-lantern.</li>
	<li>The pirate calls the cat a &quot;scaredy-cat.&quot;</li>
</ol>

<h1>Draw a Scene from the Story</h1>

<p>Invite your students to draw a scene from the story. They can write a sentence underneath their picture. You can put these examples on the board to review some prepositions of&nbsp;place.</p>

<ul>
	<li>The witch is on the&nbsp;street.</li>
	<li>The zombie is in front of the&nbsp;fence.</li>
	<li>The ghost is on the&nbsp;branch.</li>
	<li>The pirate is behind the&nbsp;door.</li>
	<li>The cat is in the jack-o&#39;-lantern.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related Materials</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3396">The Scaredy-Cat</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2439">Halloween: Word Bank Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2515">Prepositions of Place: Fun Grammar Lessons</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/46">Halloween: Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/24/lessons">Halloween: Lesson Collection</a></li>
</ul>


The Scaredy-Cat: A Halloween Listening Activity (YL)

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<p>Have you tried our Word Bank lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2399"> <strong>Fruit</strong></a>? In this lesson, your new or young learners will review and practice the English words for some of the most common types of fruit. Our flashcard set of <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/13/flashcard_categories/42">Fruit</a>&nbsp;features many more words and&nbsp;pictures. Do you teach young learners who love and need to run around? Try reviewing these words with an active vocabulary game that is often played in preschool classrooms. This game works best outside or in a&nbsp;gymnasium.</p>

<h1>How to Play &quot;Fruit Salad&quot;</h1>

<ol class="spaced-list">
	<li>Tell students to sit in a circle. This is the fruit&nbsp;bowl.</li>
	<li>Choose one person to sit in the middle and close their eyes. This is the&nbsp;spoon!</li>
	<li>Ask students to call out three fruits that they know. Choose the first three you hear (e.g., apples, bananas,&nbsp;strawberries).</li>
	<li>Walk around the circle and assign each student one of these three fruits. Tap your students&#39; shoulders as you assign each one a&nbsp;fruit.</li>
	<li>Now, tell the person in the middle (the spoon) to open their eyes. The spoon will shout one of the fruits (apple, banana, or strawberry) and stand&nbsp;up.<strong>*</strong></li>
	<li>Anyone who was assigned the fruit that was called out must also stand up. Now all of the standing students must run <strong>clockwise</strong> around the circle and try to find an empty spot in the fruit bowl. (The spoon will run to the outside of the circle and also try to find a vacant spot.) The last person standing goes in the middle and becomes the&nbsp;spoon.</li>
	<li>Begin again with three different fruits (or repeat the same ones if your students need more&nbsp;practice).</li>
</ol>

<p><strong>*</strong>When your students are ready, add a spin-off rule. The teacher (or spoon) can sometimes shout out &quot;Fruit Salad!&quot; Then everyone in the bowl has to get up and switch places, and the spoon has to find a spot too. Remind students that everyone must move clockwise in order to avoid collisions! If you&#39;re worried about kids running into each other, make a different action, such as everyone stands up and does three jumping jacks when &quot;fruit salad&quot;&nbsp;is&nbsp;called.</p>

<h1>How to Adapt This Game</h1>

<p>You can adapt this game for many different word sets. If you&#39;re reviewing types of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2389">birds</a>, play &quot;Treetops.&quot; If you&#39;re reviewing types of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2427">zoo animals</a>, play &quot;Zoo.&quot;&nbsp;If you&#39;re reviewing types of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2432">toys</a>, play &quot;Toy&nbsp;Box.&quot;</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2399">Word Bank &ndash; Fruit</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/13/flashcard_categories/42">Flashcards &ndash; Fruit </a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/110/lessons/2337">Super Simple Questions &ndash; What Color Is It?</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2389">Word Bank &ndash; Birds</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2427">Word Bank &ndash; Zoo Animals</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2432">Word Bank &ndash; Toys</a></li>
</ul>
