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

Articles

<p>Our team was very sad to hear the news of Maya Angelou&#39;s passing this week. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons">Famous People</a> section is full of readings about inspiring activists, writers, speakers, and musicians, and Maya Angelou was one of those amazing figures who was famous for being all of the above. Every year, we feature our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1375">Maya Angelou</a> lesson plan at least once or twice. Sometimes we feature her for Black History Month (She is in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1393">Black History Jigsaw</a> lesson plan), and we&#39;ve also featured her for her birthday.</p>

<p>Did you know that Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, 40 years before the death of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1324">Martin Luther King Jr</a>? After the death of Dr. King, Maya Angelou refused to celebrate her birthday for quite some time.</p>

<blockquote>&quot;I couldn&#39;t believe that this great man, this great dream, this great dreamer, this person who dared to love everybody, could be killed.&quot; <strong>&mdash;</strong>Maya Angelou</blockquote>

<p>In honor of Maya Angelou&#39;s life, we&#39;ll be featuring our redesigned <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1375" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Famous People lesson plan</a> this month. We also encourage you and your students to get to know Maya Angelou better through her poetry and quotes.</p>

<h3>Poetry</h3>

<p>Listen to Maya Angelou recite the poem <em>Still I Rise</em>. Have your students look up five words that they are unfamiliar with. Encourage them to try to write their own poem using these five words.</p>

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<p>If the the language in the poem above is too mature for your learners, use the poem<a href="http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/alone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> &#39;Alone&#39;.</a></p>

<h3>Quotes</h3>

<p>As a poet, author, and speaker, Maya Angelou was known for her powerful use of words. In a recent interview, she said that when her time came to leave this earth she&#39;d probably be busy writing music, or a poem, or an autobiography. In our redesigned lesson plan, we included one of our favorite Maya Angelou quotes:</p>

<blockquote>&quot;If you don&#39;t like something, change it. If you can&#39;t change it, change your attitude.&quot; &mdash;Maya Angelou</blockquote>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


In Memory of Maya Angelou

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead.&rdquo;<strong> </strong>- Yvonne Woon&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As the end of the year approaches, you might find that your students are driving you crazy. Don&rsquo;t worry! You are not alone in this feeling. Students often get restless towards the end of their classes. After completing their necessary tests and completing the majority of their coursework, they tend to listen less and lose their initial motivation and focus. They anticipate their school break and want to get in plenty of quality time with their friends who they might not see during their time off from school. What can you do to regain their interests and ensure the learning continues?</p>

<p>Below, are a few ideas that will get your students to reflect on their learning and goals from the past year. Some ideas will have your students passing on their learning to future students. Other ideas will take your students outside of the classroom to explore new places, countries, and cultures.</p>

<h3>Invite Guest Speakers</h3>

<p>Just like children begin to tune out their parents when asked to clean their rooms or do other chores, they also tune out their teachers. Right now is a good time to get your students learning from others. You can invite parents, community leaders, celebrities, authors, or professionals to run a workshop, demonstration or other lesson with your students. If you can&rsquo;t find someone locally, try finding an expert virtually. Sylvia Tolisano, for example, had her students share a picture of animal skeletal remains found on the school ground with <a href="http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/12/04/csi-twitter-crime-scene-investigation/">forensic pathologists and biologists on Twitter</a>. Find more ideas and resources in my recent presentation recording, <a href="http://americantesol.com/blogger/?p=6856">Inspire Learners by Inviting Guest Speakers</a>.</p>

<h3>Play Games</h3>

<p>Students can play classroom games to get them moving and learning. Classroom games help students review vocabulary, facts, and content in a fun way. Often, the students do not realize they are learning. Your students can even create their own board games with <a href="http://bogglesworldesl.com/esl_games.htm">templates from Bogglesworld</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can also get students to play learning games on their mobile phones or on the web.&nbsp;You can also check out <a href="http://www.kindersite.org/">the Kindersite</a> and <a href="http://eltsandbox.weebly.com/">the ELT Sandbox</a> for more free resources, lessons, and games to get your students learning by playing. Try free web tools and apps like <a href="https://getkahoot.com/">Kahoot trivia maker</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://quizlet.com/">Quizlet</a> to get your students and you creating your own digital games.</p>

<h3>Get Them Moving</h3>

<p>Get your students out of their seats and moving in every class. Find free, quick activities with <a href="https://www.gonoodle.com/">GoNoodle brain breaks</a>. GoNoodle has activities to help students focus, calm down, or get energized. These activities take only a few minutes.</p>

<p>You can also get students moving with icebreakers, warm-ups and fillers. We have hundreds for you to try that take only a few minutes and require very little set-up.</p>

<h3>Take Them on Virtual Field Trips</h3>

<p>What better way to grab your students&rsquo; attention than by taking them outside of the classroom through virtual field trips! Your students can go on historical or cultural tours with <a href="http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home?view=grid&amp;hl=en">Google&rsquo;s Cultural Institute that features World Wonders, Historical Moments and Art Projects</a>. Find many <a href="http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/about/wonders/education/">lesson plans and ideas to get you started here</a>.</p>

<h3>Advice for the Next Class</h3>

<p>Get students to leave tips and advice for the students that will come after them. They can do this through a capsule, letters, or a collaborative video. You could have students leave the advice digitally through <a href="http://voicethread.com/">Voicethread</a>, <a href="http://padlet.com/">Padlet</a>, <a href="http://en.linoit.com/">Linoit</a>, or <a href="http://www.voxopop.com/">Voxopop</a>.</p>

<h3>Reflect</h3>

<p>The end of the year is the perfect time to encourage students to look back at their experiences and learning throughout the year. Reflection gets them to see what they accomplished and determine how they can improve themselves. The following activities will get students to reflect in meaningful ways:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Collages and Scrapbooks</strong> - Students can post memories, important dates, images, quotes, music, and more in digital scrapbooks and collages. With tools like <a href="http://www.buncee.com/">Buncee</a>, <a href="http://www.biteslide.com/">Biteslides</a>, <a href="https://www.smore.com/">Smore</a>, <a href="http://www.glogster.com/">Glogster</a>, and <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a> these collages can host their images, stickers, music, and so much more! Students can view each other&rsquo;s digital scrapbooks and leave comments.</li>
	<li><strong>Magazines and newspapers</strong> - As a class create a magazine or newspaper highlighting your class or school&rsquo;s memorable events. Students can add polls, survey results, interviews, images and more. Digital tools like <a href="https://flipboard.com/">Flipboard</a>, <a href="http://www.mixbook.com/">Mixbook</a>, and <a href="http://issuu.com/">Issuu</a> help you create digital magazines and newspapers that can be embedded in blogs or websites.</li>
	<li><strong>Revisit goals</strong> - Get students to recall their initial goals at the beginning of the year.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>In what ways do you motivate yourself and your students as your classes come to an end?&nbsp;</p>


7+ Ideas & Resources for Wrapping Up the School Year with a Bang!

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<blockquote>
<p>Can adjective clauses, which can be confusing for students, ever be easily&nbsp;learned?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As if adjective clauses (also called <em>relative clauses</em>) weren&rsquo;t complicated enough already, our students also need to learn when to add punctuation. In my experience, some textbooks deal with the punctuation issue much later on (or not at all) in an adjective clause lesson. I prefer to explain it to my students fairly early on before they start practicing doing the wrong&nbsp;thing.</p>

<p>The following are some teaching tips on the punctuation of restrictive and non-restrictive adjective clauses. (And does anyone else get the terms <em>restrictive</em> and <em>non‑restrictive</em> mixed up? I always had to double-check before&nbsp;class!)</p>

<h1>Restrictive Adjective Clauses</h1>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Restrictive / Defining Adjective Clauses</h5>

<ul>
	<li>Follow a GENERAL noun</li>
	<li>Don&rsquo;t use commas!</li>
</ul>
</div>

<p><strong>Restrictive</strong> adjective clauses (also known as <strong>defining</strong> adjective clauses) contain information that is necessary to define the noun. The noun is a <strong>general</strong> noun such as boy, apple, book, city, etc. A good tip to tell your students is that if the meaning is&nbsp;<em>any</em>, then it&rsquo;s a general noun (<em>book = any book; I don&rsquo;t have a specific book in&nbsp;mind</em>).</p>

<p>Because the noun is general, it needs information to specify/define it so that we know which noun the speaker is talking about. The adjective clause, then, is <strong>important</strong> information that <strong>defines</strong> the noun, and because it is important, <strong>no commas</strong> are needed. (Remind students that commas are often used to offset secondary, less important information in&nbsp;English.)</p>

<p>Point out that even though the noun is general, the adjective clause is going to define the noun, so we usually need the article&nbsp;<em><strong>the</strong></em>, not&nbsp;<em>a</em>, with adjective clauses that are defining a subject noun. For an object noun, either article is&nbsp;possible.</p>

<h4>Examples</h4>

<ul>
	<li>The boy <strong>who is running around the room</strong> is my&nbsp;son.</li>
	<li>I met the boy <strong>who was running around the&nbsp;room</strong>.</li>
	<li>The woman <strong>who is wearing the red dress</strong> told me the&nbsp;time.</li>
	<li>The apple <strong>that I had at lunch</strong> was&nbsp;delicious.</li>
	<li>The book <strong>that I finished reading yesterday</strong> was really&nbsp;interesting.</li>
	<li>I finished reading a book <strong>that was really&nbsp;interesting</strong>.</li>
	<li>The city<strong> that I want to visit the most</strong> is&nbsp;Paris.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Non-Restrictive Adjective Clauses</h1>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Non-Restrictive / Non-Defining Adjective Clauses</h5>

<ul>
	<li>Follow a SPECIFIC&nbsp;noun</li>
	<li>Use commas!</li>
</ul>
</div>

<p><strong>Non-restrictive</strong> adjective clauses (also known as <strong>non-defining</strong>&nbsp;adjective clauses) contain information that is NOT necessary to define the noun (it is simply extra info). The noun is a <strong>specific</strong> noun such as the proper name of a person, place, or thing, or a noun already defined by a pronoun/adjective/attributive noun, etc. A good tip to tell your students is that if it&rsquo;s clear which noun the speaker is talking about, then it&rsquo;s a specific noun (<em>Paris = a specific city</em>; <em>I know which city it&nbsp;is</em>).</p>

<p>Because the noun is specific, it DOESN&rsquo;T need information to specify/define it because we already know which noun the speaker is talking about. The adjective clause, then, is <strong>extra</strong> information that <strong>doesn&rsquo;t define</strong> the noun, so <strong>commas</strong> are needed. (Remind students that commas are often used to offset secondary, less important information in&nbsp;English.)</p>

<h4>Examples</h4>

<ul>
	<li>My son, <strong>who is running around the room</strong>, had too much sugar&nbsp;earlier.</li>
	<li>I scolded my son, <strong>who was misbehaving in front of my&nbsp;guests</strong>.</li>
	<li>Mr. Jones, <strong>who is my teacher</strong>, has been at this school for 25&nbsp;years.</li>
	<li>My lunch, <strong>which I ate in five minutes</strong>, was&nbsp;delicious.</li>
	<li><em>The Hobbit</em>, <strong>which was an excellent book</strong>, was made into a&nbsp;movie.</li>
	<li>I finished reading&nbsp;<em>the Hobbit</em>, <strong>which was made into a&nbsp;movie</strong>.</li>
	<li>Paris, <strong>which I visited last year</strong>, has a lot of interesting&nbsp;architecture.</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Note</h5>

<p>Be aware that some textbooks don&rsquo;t use the hyphen (they use <em>nonrestrictive</em>)&mdash;stick with the word/spelling used in your students&rsquo; main&nbsp;textbook.</p>
</div>

<h1>Related Practice</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1612">Adjective Clauses</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1611">Adjective Phrases</a> &ndash;&nbsp;Grammar Practice Worksheets</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1552">Relative Clauses &ndash;&nbsp;He&rsquo;s a person who&hellip;</a> &ndash; Basic Grammar Sentences</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1551">Relative Clauses &ndash;&nbsp;Who&rsquo;s the person who&hellip;</a> &ndash; Basic Grammar Sentences</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1647">Adjective Clause &amp; Phrase Stories</a> &ndash; Grammar Stories</li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/relative-pronouns-formality-scales/">Relative Pronouns &ndash; Formality Scales</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Final Note</h1>

<p>I plan on writing another blog post or two about which pronouns to use with restrictive/non-restrictive adjective clauses, but I&rsquo;ll mention one case here because it involves punctuation. Many people follow this&nbsp;rule:</p>

<p>Use <em>that</em> for restrictive adjective clauses and <em>which</em> for non-restrictive adjective&nbsp;clauses. (I.e., use <em>that</em> when there&rsquo;s no comma and <em>which</em> following a&nbsp;comma.)</p>

<h4>Examples</h4>

<ul>
	<li>The book <strong>that</strong> I finished reading was&nbsp;great.</li>
	<li>My science textbook, <strong>which</strong> was boring, took me a long time to&nbsp;read.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note that these rules are very common in American and Canadian English. In the UK, &ldquo;<em>which</em>&rdquo; is still accepted in both types of clauses, according to the <em>New Oxford Style Manual</em>. What about other English-speaking countries? My colleague from New Zealand said that they use &ldquo;<em>that</em>&rdquo; in restrictive clauses, not &ldquo;<em>which</em>.&rdquo; I&rsquo;d love to hear from other people in the comments section&nbsp;below!</p>


Restrictive & Non-Restrictive Adjective Clauses

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<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Hollywood has the Oscars. Broadway has the Tonys. Now Twittter has&hellip;the Shorty Awards.&rdquo;</p><p class="attribution">&mdash;The New York Times</p></blockquote>

<p>Ah, grammar! Even in the midst of our excitement over our <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shorty Award nomination</a>, we had to stop and deal with some grammar and usage questions related to social media. But that&rsquo;s nothing new&mdash;English is a complex language, and we don&rsquo;t always agree on all the rules!</p>

<p>These questions came about when ESL Library was nominated for a <a href="http://shortyawards.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shorty Award</a> last week. These awards honor those who produce content in short form for social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc. In short (pun intended), they recognize the best of social media. We are so excited that the nominating board has chosen ESL Library as one of seven finalists in the Education category! The voting is happening now, and it&rsquo;s really quick and easy to show your support. We love our fans, and we&rsquo;d appreciate <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">your vote</a>!</p>

<p>I have to give a shout-out to our site&rsquo;s media director, Tara Benwell, for all her amazing work with social media for ESL Library! Tara, also our head writer, produces amazing content on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/esllibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnFRJ3mNt6nL9vMHduwCCyg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/tarabenwell/english/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pinterest</a>, and <a href="http://instagram.com/esllibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a> sites. She provides daily resources and tips on ELT and education, and interacts with teachers and other ELT professionals from around the world. While some of the content is a team effort (president Ben Buckwold, designer Robyn Shesterniak, and editor Tanya Trusler), the majority of the credit definitely goes to her. Great job, Tara! :)</p>

<p>Now onto the grammar questions! Let&rsquo;s tackle these topics:</p>

<h3>Should the Shorty Awards take a singular or plural verb?</h3>

<p>This is a tough question, similar to the one we dealt with in <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/olympics-singular-or-plural/" target="_blank">Olympics: Singular or Plural?</a> Should we look at the Shorty Awards as a singular event (and thus use a singular verb) or a group of awards (and use a plural verb)? I couldn&rsquo;t find any reference to this in my style guides, so I went straight to the source: the <a href="http://shortyawards.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shorty Awards website</a>. They use a plural verb, like in the following sentence: &ldquo;The Shorty Awards <strong>honor</strong> the best of social media.&rdquo;</p>

<p>This actually sits well with me because it is similar to the Olympics (singular verb) versus the Olympic Games (plural verb). Since the plural word &ldquo;awards&rdquo; is part of the phrase &quot;the Shorty Awards,&quot; it would sound a little strange to say &ldquo;The Shorty Awards honors&hellip;&rdquo;</p>

<p>However, you can see both singular and plural verbs following various award ceremonies all over the internet. Google &ldquo;awards is&rdquo; and &ldquo;awards are&rdquo; and you&rsquo;ll see what I mean&mdash;plenty of examples for both. Basically, you can&rsquo;t go wrong. Either way is acceptable. The main thing is to choose one way of doing it and try to be consistent.</p>

<p>But remember to consider the sentence each time, too! For example, we have chosen to use a plural verb, so we would say, &ldquo;The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media.&rdquo; On the other hand, when Tara asked me if the sentence &ldquo;The Shorty Awards is Twitter&rsquo;s version of the Oscars!&rdquo; was correct, I said &ldquo;yes.&rdquo;&nbsp;I think it would sound strange to say &ldquo;The Shorty Awards are Twitter&rsquo;s version&hellip;&rdquo; because <em>are</em> and <em>version</em> don&rsquo;t agree. Another example where I would use a singular verb would be, &quot;The Shorty Awards is a ceremony that takes place annually.&quot;</p>

<p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> We are going with a plural verb (unless a singular noun such as <em>ceremony&nbsp;</em>is mentioned as the object). What do you think? Join the debate in the comments section below!</p>

<h3>Should we capitalize social media sites like Facebook and Twitter?</h3>

<p>What do we do for names and titles that use an initial lowercase letter in their logo, such as &ldquo;facebook&rdquo; and &ldquo;twitter&rdquo;? If there are no entries in dictionaries or style guides to follow, I usually do two things: first, see how the site itself treats the name, and second, google it to see what the majority of people do. Both Facebook and Twitter, while using a lowercase letter in their logos, use a capital letter everywhere else on their site. So when they&rsquo;re writing out their names, they spell them as Facebook and Twitter. For example, Facebook lists their copyright as &ldquo;Facebook &copy; 2014,&rdquo;&nbsp;and Twitter says this on their site, &ldquo;Promote your account and get discovered by more people on Twitter.&rdquo;</p>

<p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Write out &ldquo;Facebook&rdquo; and &ldquo;Twitter&rdquo; with an initial capital letter.</p>

<p>Voting is on for 5 more days! Check out our video and interview on our <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">profile page</a>, and please take a moment to <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nominate @ESLlibrary for a Shorty Award in #education</a>&mdash;we could use your support! :)</p>


Shorty Awards: Singular or Plural? And Should "Twitter" Be Capitalized?

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<h1>Let the Grammar Games&nbsp;begin!</h1>

<p>With the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics starting tomorrow, many teachers will be discussing the Olympic Games in class over the next two weeks. (For Olympics lesson and activity ideas, check out <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/the-olympics" target="_blank">this collection</a>.) But what about the grammar? Does the Olympics take a singular or a plural verb? When do we capitalize words associated with the Games? What&rsquo;s the best adjective form? When do we hyphenate words? Think of this article as your one-stop resource to all things grammatical when it comes to the Olympics, and let the Games&nbsp;begin!</p>

<h1>Is the Olympics Singular or&nbsp;Plural?</h1>

<blockquote>the Olympics + singular verb</blockquote>

<blockquote>the Olympic Games + plural verb</blockquote>

<p>I tackled <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/olympics-singular-or-plural/" target="_blank">this thorny topic</a> two years ago during the 2012 Summer Olympics. The short answer is that the slight majority of people and publications refer to <strong>the Olympics</strong> as <strong>singular</strong>&nbsp;and <strong>the Olympic Games</strong> as <strong>plural</strong>. The idea is that the Olympics is <em>one event</em> or <em>one thing</em> (as another example, think of one huge, week-long concert like Woodstock where multiple bands are playing). However, the Games refer to the <em>many separate sporting&nbsp;events</em>. Point out to your students that they may see the Olympics taking both a singular and a plural verb. Challenge your students to find examples of each, and ask them what they think. Be sure to check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/olympics-singular-or-plural/" target="_blank">the complete post</a> and join the&nbsp;debate!</p>

<h1>Capitalization of Olympic Words</h1>

<blockquote>Always capitalize: Winter Olympics, Olympics, Olympic, Olympic Games, Games</blockquote>

<h2>1. The Olympics</h2>

<p>The Olympics, being an event name, is always capitalized. Words associated with the actual name of the Olympics are also capitalized (Winter, Sochi, Games), but other related words are not (medal, podium,&nbsp;torch).</p>

<ul>
	<li>Winter Olympics</li>
	<li>Sochi&nbsp;2014 Winter Olympic Games</li>
	<li>Summer Olympics</li>
	<li>the 2014 Winter Games</li>
	<li>the Olympics</li>
	<li>Olympic podium</li>
	<li>Olympic torch</li>
	<li>Olympic flag</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Country Names, Nationalities &amp;&nbsp;Languages</h2>

<p>Country names, nationalities, and languages are always&nbsp;capitalized.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Canada, the USA, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, Kenya,&nbsp;etc.</li>
	<li>Russian, Norwegian, Chinese, Jamaican, South African, British, Venezuelan,&nbsp;etc.</li>
	<li>English, French, Hindi, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, German,&nbsp;etc.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Sports &amp; Sporting Event&nbsp;Names</h2>

<p>Sports/sporting event names are not usually capitalized. One exception is&nbsp;<em>Nordic combined</em> (because <em>Nordic</em> refers to the country/area).</p>

<ul>
	<li>hockey</li>
	<li>biathlon</li>
	<li>cross-country skiing (American spelling&mdash;other countries use <em>cross country&nbsp;skiing</em>)</li>
	<li>bobsleigh</li>
	<li>luge</li>
	<li>figure skating</li>
	<li>short track speed skating</li>
	<li>Nordic combined</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. The</h2>

<p>Note that &ldquo;the&rdquo; is never capitalized in running text, according to <em>the Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th ed. Only capitalize &ldquo;the&rdquo; when it is the first word in a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I&rsquo;m going to watch the Olympics every&nbsp;day.</li>
	<li>He knows someone who will be competing in the 2014 Winter&nbsp;Games.</li>
	<li>The Winter Olympics takes place in Sochi this&nbsp;year.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Adjective Forms: Capitalization and&nbsp;Hyphenation</h1>

<blockquote>1. Adjective form = Olympic 2. Use a hyphen for multiple-word adjectives (e.g., a gold-medal&nbsp;winner)</blockquote>

<p>The adjective form of the Olympics is <strong>Olympic</strong>. It is always capitalized. Adjective forms almost never take an <em>-s</em> ending in English. Also, when a multiple-word adjective precedes a noun, it usually takes a&nbsp;<strong>hyphen</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>the Olympic Games</li>
	<li>Olympic events</li>
	<li>a gold-medal winner</li>
	<li>an expert-level slope</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Note:</em> You may notice that we use <em>Olympics</em> before a noun in some places on our site. Why? When referring to a lesson, it is common to use the <strong>noun</strong> form instead of the adjective form. So we use <em>Winter Olympics lesson</em> and <em>Olympics lesson plan</em>. Another example is <em>sports</em>. You would naturally say <em>our Sports lesson plan</em>, not<em> our Sport</em> or <em>Sporting lesson plan</em>. Note that we would normally capitalize any word in this position, since it is the title of the lesson. If this is confusing, you could always reword it like this: <em>a lesson plan on the Olympics</em> or <em>a lesson plan on sports</em>, where you would clearly need the noun form and wouldn&rsquo;t need to capitalize the topic for a regular word since it&rsquo;s not the&nbsp;title. Be sure to visit <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/the-olympics" target="_blank">our Olympics collection</a>. Go team!</p>


Grammar Rules for the Olympics

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<p>The Winter Olympics is coming up and ESL Library has a ready-made flashcard set to help you teach and review related vocabulary with your language learners. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/114" target="_blank">Winter Olympics Flashcard</a> set features all of the sports from this year&#39;s Olympic Games. You will also find flashcards for medal ceremonies. Check out our entire <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories" target="_blank">Sports &amp; Athletes</a> section, where you will find vocabulary images for <strong>equipment</strong>, <strong>clothing</strong>, <strong>athletes</strong>, <strong>actions</strong>, and the <strong>Summer Olympics</strong>!</p>

<h1>Vocabulary Review Ideas</h1>

<p>Here are some ideas for using our Winter Olympics flashcards in the classroom. Add your own ideas in the comments below!</p>

<h2>Drawing</h2>

<p>Print out a few sets of the Winter Olympics flashcards. Put students in groups or pairs and have them take turns drawing and guessing the images on the cards. Make this activity more fun and competitive by having students draw with their eyes closed! Or make it active by having students race to the board to draw. There is also a fun guessing activity (&quot;Go for Gold&quot;) in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1890" target="_blank">Winter Olympics</a> lesson.</p>

<h2>Cold Seat - Brrr</h2>

<p>Put your class in two groups. Place two captains in chairs facing away from the board. Paste a large-sized flashcard (Did you know you could choose the size when you print the cards out?) on the board. The rest of the class has to get their team captain to guess the word by talking about it. You can decide whether or not gestures are allowed. The first captain to guess correctly gets out of &quot;the cold seat&quot;&nbsp;and gets a point. A new captain is chosen. For fun, play this game outside with students all bundled up!</p>

<h2>Spelling Bee</h2>

<p>Pull out a card and have students try to spell the word. Each time students spell the word correctly, they get a point. Make it active by requiring students to stand up and do jumping jacks while they spell!</p>

<h2>Pronunciation Bee</h2>

<p>Just like a spelling bee, but students have to pronounce the words properly as you hold up a card.</p>

<h2>Experts</h2>

<p>Gather all of the sports cards from the Winter Olympics set. Have students choose a card out of a box. During the Olympics, ask your students to become experts or reporters on the sport they chose. They can share news related to their sport&nbsp;and tell the class who wins gold, silver, and bronze. The expert can also share any rules related to this sport. This activity can also be done in pairs. Choose a time each day during the Winter Olympics to have students report on their sport.</p>

<h2>Yes, Coach!</h2>

<p>Use the <strong>Olympics</strong> and <strong>Sports Actions</strong> cards to play charades. Have students take turns coming to the front or center of the space to choose cards and model the action (be the &quot;coach&quot;). The other students have to copy the movement of the coach with the card AND try to guess the action word. Whoever guesses first gets to be the next &quot;coach.&quot;</p>

<h2>Olympic Memories</h2>

<p>Use all of the flashcards from both the Summer and Winter Olympic sets. Hold up one card. Invite students to share any memory they have about the sport or a related athlete. Encourage them to start with the phrase: &quot;I remember when...&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;That reminds me of ...&quot;</p>

<h2>Shout the Verb</h2>

<p>Use the <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/88" target="_blank">Sports Equipment</a> set. The student who picks the card must complete the question: What can you do with a&hellip;? The other students shout actions. (See <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/87" target="_blank">Sports Actions</a> set here.)</p>

<ul>
	<li>hockey puck (shoot it)</li>
	<li>helmet (wear it)</li>
	<li>target (hit it)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Predictions</h2>

<p>Use the cards to practice making predictions about the Olympics. Which country will get the most gold, silver, and bronze medals? Which country will win the relay? Who will carry the Olympic flag? Simply pull out a random card from the set and ask your students to make a prediction about it. Or get your students to practice asking the questions.</p>

<h2>Preferences</h2>

<p>Use the cards to practice stating preferences. Which sports do your students prefer playing? Which sports do they prefer watching? Why do they prefer one sport over another? Pull out two flashcards at a time and have students practice stating which one they prefer and why. You could add the Summer Olympics flashcards in for this game.</p>

<h2>Olympic Village</h2>

<p>Tape a sport/athlete card to the forehead or back of each student. Have students walk around the Olympic Village trying to guess who they are. They have to ask each other questions, such as &quot;Do I compete on a hill?&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;Do I race indoors?&quot;&nbsp;The first to guess correctly gets gold, the second gets silver, the third gets bronze. Use boxes or baskets to make podiums for the winners to stand on as they watch the rest of the class play.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2532" target="_blank">Superlative Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2612" target="_blank">Winter Olympics</a> (Word Bank)</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1890" target="_blank">Winter Olympics</a> (Holidays &amp; Events)</li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/7/flashcard_categories/114" target="_blank">Winter Olympic Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/olympics-singular-or-plural/" target="_blank">Olympics: Singular or Plural?</a></li>
</ul>


Ideas for Using Winter Olympics Flashcards

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<blockquote><p>&quot;I don&rsquo;t have any time today. We can meet anytime next week.&quot;</p></blockquote>

<p>When a two-word phrase has a one-word variant, it can cause confusion for both English speakers and&nbsp;ELLs. One such example is <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/everyday-vs-every-day/" target="_blank">every day vs. everyday</a>: <em>every day</em> is a time expression that usually appears at the beginning of end of a sentence, while <em>everyday</em> is an adjective that appears before a noun. Another slightly more complicated example is <em>any time</em> vs. <em>anytime</em>. Is there a meaning difference? What are the usage rules for these two expressions?</p>

<h3>Quick Tricks</h3>

<p>If you use <strong>British English</strong>, the answer is easy! Always use <strong><em>any time</em></strong> (because&nbsp;<em>anytime</em> is not widely accepted).</p>

<p>If you use <strong>American English</strong>, it&rsquo;s a bit more complicated. Basically, if preceded by a preposition, a negative word, or a question word, use <strong><em>any time</em></strong>. In all other cases, use <strong><em>anytime</em></strong>.</p>

<h3>Any Time</h3>

<p>Think of <em>any time</em> as a quantity of time. This determiner + noun can follow a preposition (usually <em>at</em>) or be used in a question or negative sentence (<em>any</em> almost always takes the place of <em>some</em> in these cases).</p>

<ul>
	<li>Go ahead and start the project at <strong>any time</strong>.</li>
	<li>Do you have <strong>any time</strong> to meet with me today?</li>
	<li>She won&rsquo;t have <strong>any time</strong> to prepare for the presentation.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Anytime</h3>

<p>Think of&nbsp;<em>anytime</em> as <em>whenever</em>. <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary</em> defines the adverb <em>anytime</em> as &ldquo;at any time whatever.&rdquo;&nbsp;<em>Anytime</em> is most often used at the beginning or end of a sentence, but it can also follow a verb. <em>Anytime</em> is sometimes described as a simply a &ldquo;casualism&rdquo; of <em>any time</em>, but note that in American English, <em>anytime</em> is the more common form.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Go ahead and start the project <strong>anytime</strong>.</li>
	<li>She will arrive <strong>anytime</strong> between 7:00 and 8:00&nbsp;pm.</li>
	<li><strong>Anytime</strong> you need a friend, I&rsquo;ll be there.</li>
</ul>

<p>*Note that the first example of both sets have the same meaning&mdash;you can almost always use <em>at</em> <em>any time</em> or <em>anytime</em> with no difference in meaning.</p>

<p>If you have any other questions, ask me anytime!</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Any Time Vs. Anytime

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<blockquote><p>&ldquo;A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. Sail out to sea and do new things.&rdquo;</p><p class="attribution">&mdash;Grace Hopper</p></blockquote>

<p>January is when we are most motivated to accomplish goals, and motivation is the key to accomplishing any goal and improving ourselves. Unfortunately, staying motivated throughout the year is tough. Four years ago, I found my answer by developing a Personal/Passionate Learning Network (PLN). What&rsquo;s a PLN? A PLN consists of the people we choose to interact with and derive knowledge from in our various social networks and online learning spaces. Every day, millions share the narratives of their lives through written words, images, music, audio, and video they post on various social networks. These exchanges make us reflect on our beliefs, philosophies, and self-image and often influence our behavior and decisions. Below are events, courses, webinars, conferences, and online projects where you can learn with other language teachers and learners online. Try at least one and see how the experience helps you grow as a teacher. Then revisit us in a few months and let us know how it helped enhance your teaching year.</p>

<h3>Free Online Learning! Courses, Webinars, Sessions, and Conferences</h3>

<p><a href="http://eltchat.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">#ELTchat</a>&mdash;Join several language teachers worldwide on Twitter to discuss various topics you get to vote for and suggest. You can also just lurk or look at past archives for great lesson ideas and resources. This ELTON-nominated chat takes place every Wednesday. The times alternate each week at 12:00 p.m. GMT and the following week at 21:00 GMT.</p>

<p><a href="http://evosessions.pbworks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EVO Sessions</a>&mdash;For five weeks in January and February, English language teaching experts and teachers in over 100 countries engage in collaborative online discussions or hands-on virtual workshops. Find this year&rsquo;s list of over 15 to choose from with topics such as teaching young learners, with drama, with mobile devices and creating your own digital textbook.</p>

<p><a href="http://30goals.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The 30 Goals Challenge</a>&mdash;We are a community of teachers who suggest 1 to 30 goals related to education to accomplish in a year. You choose to accomplish 1 to 30 of your choice and post a reflection on your blog or at our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/30Goals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook community</a>. These are short-term goals that can be accomplished in one day, such as thank a student, share a lesson idea, or dare your students. Our theme this year is, Make a Difference. Over 10,000 teachers have joined the challenge since 2010.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TeachingEnglish.BritishCouncil" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Teach English Facebook Community</a> hosts regular Facebook discussions with some incredible language teachers, bloggers, and speakers worldwide.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Eltmooc&amp;src=typd" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">#ELTMOOC</a>&mdash;Throughout the year, the incredible <a href="http://twitter.com/fluencymc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jason Levine (Fluency MC)</a>, organizes free online courses for teachers. Over 24 instructors provide instruction on listening and pronunciation. Follow the hashtag to see when the next event takes place.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/292127?present=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Free Friday Webinars</a>&mdash;Every Friday attend a free 30 minute online webinar with Shelly Sanchez Terrell about an ELT topic at 3:00 p.m. CT, 4:00 p.m. ET, 9:00 p.m. GMT, 10:00 p.m. CET, Sat. 8:00 a.m. Sydney, and Sat. 6 a.m. Tokyo. Check your <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=1&amp;iso=20140221T16&amp;p1=179&amp;am=30" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">time zone here</a>!&nbsp;</p>

<p>Receive a certificate, find resources, and watch recordings to over 150+ sessions here: <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/292127?present=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://bit.ly/ELTLINKs</a>.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/webinars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Teach English Webinars</a>&mdash;Each month the British Council offers free webinars from various ELT authors, teachers, and trainers. Topics have included online teaching, designing a lesson, and emotional approaches to teaching with technology.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.beltabelgium.com/p/webinars.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BELTA Sunday Webinars</a>&mdash;Each month attend a free webinar on Sundays, which is sponsored by the Belgium English Language Teachers Association. You can attend free. Topics have included games to mobile learning.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.virtual-round-table.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Virtual Round Table Language and Technology Free E-Conference</a>&mdash;Each year Heike Philp and others host this ELTON-nominated conference during March, April, or May. In the past keynotes included ELT allstars like Jeremy Harmer, Lindsay Clandfield, Chuck Sandy, Luke Meddings, Gavin Dudeney, Nik Peachey and Nicky Hockly.</p>

<p><a href="http://theedublogger.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Edublogs Live Events</a>&mdash;Every week, attend a free webinar on various topics. Usually, Jo and Phil Hart host these free webinars that cover effective use of web 2.0 tools or instructional methodologies.</p>

<p><a href="http://live.classroom20.com/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Classroom 2.0 Live Events</a>&mdash;Every week, attend a free webinar with an expert in a field or listen to some great authors speak live and ask them questions.</p>

<p>What are your favorite ways to learn online? Did I miss any other great professional development opportunities?</p>

Your Best Year Yet as an ELT Teacher! 20+ Free PD Events & Resources

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<h3>&quot;All you need is love.&quot;&nbsp;&mdash;the Beatles</h3>

<p style="text-align: left;">One of the most popular bands of all time undoubtedly deserves its own holiday. In 2001, UNESCO declared January 16th to be &quot;Beatles Day.&quot; And as with most holidays in English, it&#39;s tough to figure out the&nbsp;correct capitalization and punctuation of the holiday name!</p>

<h3>Capitalization</h3>

<p>For all major holidays in English, we capitalize the word &quot;Day.&quot;&nbsp;Examples include Valentine&#39;s Day, Christmas Day, Canada Day, and Independence Day. It follows that the word &quot;day&quot; in <strong>Beatles Day</strong> should also be capitalized. What about the word &quot;month&quot;? I was just discussing this with our head writer, Tara Benwell, as we were preparing our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2148" title="eye idioms">Eye Idioms</a> poster for Eye Care Awareness Month. I believe that &quot;month&quot; should follow the same rules as &quot;day&quot; for holidays, and therefore be capitalized.</p>

<h3>Punctuation</h3>

<p>Should it be Beatles Day or Beatles&#39; Day? Is it possessive (the day that belongs to the Beatles, so Beatles&#39; Day) or not (a day about the Beatles, so Beatles Day)? Technically, both are correct. And unfortunately, if we look at other common holidays, we get a mix of possessive and non-possessive (think of Valentine&#39;s Day and St. Patrick&#39;s Day, but Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Day). First, I check the dictionary (I use <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com">http://www.merriam-webster.com</a>&nbsp;for American English and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com">http://www.oxforddictionaries.com</a>&nbsp;for British English). If the holiday isn&#39;t listed, as in this case, then I&nbsp;go by what the organization or government body that formed the holiday has chosen (a Google search should show you that, or at least show you which way is more common).&nbsp;<strong>Beatles Day</strong> it is!</p>

<h3>Activity</h3>

<p>This holiday is a great chance for teachers to incorporate some music into the classroom! Turning a song into a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloze_test" title="cloze">cloze exercise</a> is an activity that always goes over well. Google the lyrics to your favorite Beatles&nbsp;song, white out some of the lyrics, and voil&agrave;! You have a listening activity that your students will love.</p>

<h3>Lessons</h3>

<p>Now is a great time to check out our Famous People lessons on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1388">the Beatles</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1336">John Lennon</a>! These lessons each include a reading, vocabulary exercises, and discussion questions about &quot;the Fab Four.&quot;</p>


Happy Beatles Day! (Or Is It Beatles' Day?)

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

Grammar & Usage

<p dir="ltr">I&#39;ve been the editor for <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons">ESL Library</a> for over two years now, and I absolutely love my job (being the grammar nerd that I am)! The director of ESL Library, Tara Benwell, asked me to share some of my experiences as an editor, and we decided to make our style guide available to everyone, too! I&#39;ll start by posting a link to our style guide (which you can also print out), then discuss what editing is all about.</p>

<h3>Our In-House Style Guide</h3>

<p dir="ltr">Why make our style guide available to everyone? We thought it would be helpful for teachers and students! There are a lot of English rules that don&rsquo;t get explained in traditional textbooks, such as when to use an en dash (&ndash;) and em dash (&mdash;), or how to write song titles (they should be enclosed in double quotation marks). We&rsquo;ve made it printable, so you can keep a copy for easy reference if you wish.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2162/content_ESL-Library-Style-Guide-Public-PDF.pdf" target="_blank">Download ESL Library&#39;s Style Guide PDF</a></p>

<h3>An Editor&#39;s Roles</h3>

<p dir="ltr">Ever wonder what editors do? Most people can guess that they check documents for mechanical errors such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. But editing involves so much more!</p>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr"><strong>Substantive Editing</strong> (also called Developmental Editing) - Reorganizing content and structure, including possible additions and deletions</li>
	<li dir="ltr"><strong>Stylistic Editing</strong> (also called Line Editing) - Checking for clarity of meaning and effectiveness of language used; rewriting sentences if necessary</li>
	<li dir="ltr"><strong>Copyediting</strong> - Correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mechanical errors</li>
	<li dir="ltr"><strong>Proofreading</strong> - Checking the final version of an edited document</li>
</ul>

<p dir="ltr">It&#39;s also helpful, but not necessary, if an editor can bring an area of expertise to the table. In my case, having been an ESL teacher for over ten years is very helpful when I edit lessons. I&#39;m able to offer suggestions such as additions or changes because I&#39;m familiar with what will and won&#39;t work within a lesson.</p>

<h3>Consistency</h3>

<p dir="ltr">When you&rsquo;re editing more than one document for the same company, it&rsquo;s very important to be consistent. As ESL Library&rsquo;s editor, I need to make sure that the style choices I make (e.g., using a serial comma) are reflected in all of our material, including our blog, lessons, and website.</p>

<p dir="ltr">In order to be consistent, editors need to follow a style guide (also known as a style manual or style sheet). If the company you work for doesn&rsquo;t already have one, it&rsquo;s up to you to create your own so you remember all your choices.</p>

<h3>What We Use</h3>

<p dir="ltr">At ESL Library, we follow our in-house style guide, which is based on the <em>Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th ed., for style rules, and both&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary</em>, 11th ed., and <a href="http://merriam-webster.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">merriam-webster.com</a> for spelling. When we need to indicate the American vs. British spelling differences in our lessons&rsquo; answer keys, we refer to&nbsp;<a href="http://oxforddictionaries.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">oxforddictionaries.com</a>.</p>

<h3>Our Choices</h3>

<p>Sometimes there is more than one acceptable way to do something, so the editor must make a decision. For example, some of the in-house style choices I&rsquo;ve made are to use the serial comma, one space after a colon, and headline-style capitalization. Sometimes I&#39;ve even decided to deviate from <em>Chicago&#39;s</em> recommendations if it better suits our purposes. For example, we use caps for both parts of hyphenated words in a title so that it stands out more (e.g., In-House) instead of just capitalizing the first word (e.g., In-house).</p>

<h3>Questions?</h3>

<p dir="ltr">If you have a question that&rsquo;s not addressed in the style guide, please leave a comment below. I&rsquo;d be happy to look it up for you!</p>


Creating Our In-House Style Guide

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Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<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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<p>It&rsquo;s almost time for the spookiest holiday of the year, Halloween! On&nbsp;October 31, many children will dress up in costumes and go out trick-or-treating for candy. People of all ages love this holiday, and teachers can maximize on the fun by doing fun Halloween activities in class all week long.</p>

<h2>Lessons</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Intermediate&nbsp;&ndash;</strong> Try <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1861" target="_blank">Halloween</a>&nbsp;(Int&ndash;High Int) in the Holidays &amp; Events section. This lesson includes a reading on Halloween, comprehension questions, vocabulary exercises, idioms, instructions on how to carve a jack-o&rsquo;-lantern, a pair work activity, and a speaking activity.</li>
	<li><strong>Beginner &ndash;</strong> For beginner-level students, try <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1861" target="_blank">Halloween</a> (Low Int), also in our Holidays &amp; Events section. This lesson includes vocabulary, a reading on Halloween, comprehension questions, a word jumble, a word search, a speaking activity, and a writing activity.</li>
	<li><strong>Kids&nbsp;&ndash;</strong> If you teach kids, you should try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2439" target="_blank">Halloween</a> lesson in the Word Bank section.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Activities</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Pumpkin Carving</strong> &ndash; This was always a popular activity at my old school. Many English learners don&rsquo;t celebrate Halloween in their countries, and students of all ages enjoy carving a pumpkin for the first time! Get your whole school involved and have a contest to see which team&rsquo;s pumpkin gets the most votes. Pass around the Halloween candy, with extra going to the winners!</li>
	<li><strong>Costume Contest</strong> &ndash; Like the pumpkin carving, many students from other cultures haven&rsquo;t ever experienced dressing up for Halloween. When everyone comes to school dressed up on the 31<sup>st</sup>, just try and stop the cameras from snapping shot after shot! (My old school took great pictures every Halloween to use in our promotional materials.) Give your learners ideas for costumes they can make themselves, such as using an old sheet for a ghost or using black construction paper to make &nbsp;a witch&rsquo;s hat or cat ears. At my old school, we assigned a number to all the people in costume. The teachers voted on the top 10 or 20 best-dressed students. Then those students performed a fashion show on a &ldquo;runway&rdquo; in front of the school, and their classmates voted on their favorite costume. Our costume fashion show was always a big hit with students!</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/46" target="_blank"><strong>Flashcards</strong></a> &ndash; We&rsquo;ve got a good collection of Halloween flashcards. There are so many ways to use flashcards: for vocabulary practice, for games, etc. Tara Benwell has outlined six creative ideas in her blog post <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcards-for-halloween-activities-and-games" target="_blank">Flashcards for Halloween Activities and Games</a>.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tricky-halloween-vocab-to-teach-your-students/" target="_blank"><strong>Halloween Spelling</strong></a> &ndash; Use this holiday as a chance to review some tricky vocabulary with your students. Words include <em>witch/which, costume/custom, jack-o&rsquo;-lantern, etc.</em></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/esl-magic" title="Magic Mayhem! 10+ Ideas &amp; Resources to Motivate Using Magic"><strong>Magic Mayhem! 10+ Ideas &amp; Resources to Motivate Using Magic</strong></a> &ndash; In this blog post, Shelly Terrell lists many magical activities to make learning exciting.</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-wicked-web-2-0-activities-for-halloween"><strong>10+ Wicked Web 2.0 Activities for Halloween</strong></a> &ndash; Using tech in the classroom has never been more fun! Shelly Terrell has four great ideas for Halloween activities using the Web.</li>
	<li><strong>Frankenstein Day &ndash; Last Friday in October</strong>&nbsp;&ndash; Use our&nbsp;lesson plan on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/83/lessons/1495">Frankenstein</a>, the world&#39;s most famous monster! Make it&nbsp;more meaningful by first checking out Tara Benwell&rsquo;s post <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/writing-contest-frankenstein-day" target="_blank" title="A Writing Contest for Frankenstein Day">A Writing Contest for Frankenstein Day</a>. You can easily change it to a writing contest for Halloween. Tara includes an audio clip that students can listen to on the history of Mary Shelley&rsquo;s Frankenstein. Then students can write their own ghost stories, and you can print out a premade certificate for the winner right from the blog post!</li>
</ul>
