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

Articles

<p>It&#39;s that time again for many of us worldwide to start the new school year!</p>

<p>This time of year is very exciting, but it also comes with new challenges.</p>

<p>One of the most important challenges of the school year is <strong>how to engage parents</strong>.</p>

<p>Engaged parents make decisions and have a say in what happens in the classroom and with the curriculum. Engaging parents was something I often struggled with for many years.</p>

<p>Here are a few practical ways to get your parents to become partners.</p>

<h3>Begin the conversation</h3>


<p>Instead of having parents sign a syllabus with difficult language, try sending a personalized email.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>I use a blanket email that I copy and paste</strong> but the first two sentences always says something along the lines of, &#39;Dear Mr./Mrs. Doe, I really enjoyed meeting Johnny who is very bright and made me laugh.&#39; I always try to send a positive message for every child. This way, the first communication you have with the parent is positive versus negative.</li>
	<li><strong>Include information and links to your wiki page</strong>, school website, your contact information, where they can find homework, your meeting hours, schools supplies needed, and other important dates or information.</li>
	<li><strong>Use headers</strong> like I am using in this post for easy navigation.</li>
	<li><strong>Try translating with Google </strong>if you know the parents of your English language learners have trouble understanding. I often will begin the email with &#39;I&#39;m sorry if this isn&#39;t translated so well. I used Google.&#39; Parents really get a kick out of this and love me for the effort.</li>
	<li><strong>At the end of the email, ask the parents to respond with answers</strong> to questions like what is the best time to contact them and how they would like to help. If the parents have a question, they are more likely to respond back.</li>
	<li><strong>If the parent doesn&#39;t have email, then send the printed letter home</strong> with the child that asks for the best way to contact them.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Set up an online parent community</h3>

<p>Set up a community for your parents to communicate with you and other parents. You can easily do this with Facebook.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>These communities allow parents to post updates</strong> to calendars, share resources, find homework, and so much more. <span new="" roman="" style="font-family: Georgia, " times="">These social networks can be made private so that only students and parents have access.</span></li>
	<li><strong>Try posting a resource every week</strong> or month that will help parents with their own English.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Keep parents active</h3>

<p>Partnerships work best when we help each other.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Let parents make decisions.&nbsp;</strong>Ask parents what they think would make the curriculum better. Then try to implement the suggestion. In the past, I have had parents add Wiki content such as song lyrics or YouTube videos. I have had parents suggest an activity for a book or a game.</li>
	<li><strong>Invite parents to volunteer and help.&nbsp;</strong>I have had parents decorate the classroom or update the calendar in our online community. I have had parents organize fundraisers to get computers or other needs in the classroom. I have had parents be in charge of the activity of the month or resource of the month. Parents have organized field trips or have been guest speakers. Just like students, parents often need to know how they can help and be assigned roles so they feel like you value them and their ideas. Every parent can help in some way to improve the learning environment.</li>
	<li><strong>Invite parents to a workshop</strong>. Invite parents to a special workshop night and serve food! Food entices people to come.&nbsp;I like to do this after the first few weeks in order to go over what technology we will use in the classroom, games we will play, rules, and more. I talk to parents about their concerns with their children posting online and we come to an agreement on&nbsp;what will be published.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Share your ideas</h3>

<p>I hope these ideas will help you begin the school year right with your language learners and their parents! Whether your students are toddlers or teenagers, these ideas have worked for me! What are your favorite ways to engage parents?</p>

Tips for Engaging Parents this School Year

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<p>Many English language teachers worldwide have upcoming holidays or a summer/winter break. These breaks provide educators the opportunities to engage in fantastic online professional development that is inspiring and motivating! Tweet with some of your favorite ELT authors, attend a webinar with teachers worldwide, or read some great English language teaching blogs. Social media provides us with incredible opportunities to choose the way we want to develop professionally. You can choose the topic, the medium, and who you want to learn from. You can choose the way you like to learn, because social media provides us with several multimedia experiences, such as webinars, LMS, live video, and more. The experience is usually dynamic and motivating because you are learning with others around the world! Additionally, you will be developing your&nbsp;Personal/ Passionate Learning Network (PLN).</p>

<p>Don&#39;t know where to start, well here are a few ideas:</p>

<h3>Free Programs</h3>

<p><a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/30-goals-2011/">The 30 Goals Challenge</a>&nbsp;- Over 5000 educators have participated in the 1st and 2nd editions of this global challenge for educators with the premise of getting you to complete 30 professional development goals by 2012. These are short-term goals, such as guest posting, changing your classroom environment, providing effective feedback, establishing an online presence, and more.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.integrating-technology.org/">Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL)</a>&nbsp;- provides free online workshops on Moodle for Teachers (Orientation, Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced), Professional Electronic Portfolios (PEP), WebQuests, Facilitating Online Classes, Grant Writings, TESOL, Integrating Technology and using Web 2.0 in the classroom.</p>

<h3>Real-Time Events</h3>

<p>You can attend several free conferences, webinars, Twitter chats, and presentations online with your PLN! These usually last one hour, but many conferences also offer free all day live streaming of their keynotes.</p>

<p><a href="http://edupln.ning.com/forum">The Educators&rsquo; PLN Ning Live Chats with Guest Experts</a>&nbsp;- The Educator&rsquo;s PLN is a great place to interact and learn from other educators. Join us for free live chats with various authors. In the past we featured Alfie Kohn, Howard Rheingold, Diane Ravitch, Chris Lehmann, Steve Hargadon, Jim Burke, and others.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.futureofeducation.com/">Future of Education</a>&nbsp;- Join Steve Hargadon live as he interviews some of the greatest minds in education. Past guests included Sir Ken Robinson, Alfie Kohn, Diane Ravitch, and more!</p>

<p><a href="http://live.classroom20.com/index.html">Classroom 2.0 Live Events</a>&nbsp;- 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><a href="https://join.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US">Attend Second Life Live Events</a>&nbsp;- Second Life has several educational groups that meet weekly for free conferences, talks, workshops, and more.<a href="http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/?lang=en-US"> Download the software</a> and register for free.</p>

<p><a href="http://eltchat.pbworks.com/">#ELTchat</a>&nbsp;- Join several language teachers every Wednesday to discuss various topics you get to vote for and suggest.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cybraryman.com/chats.html">Education Chats on Twitter</a>&nbsp;- Find out the dates and times of educational conversations that occur on Twitter.</p>

<p>What are your favorite ways to learn online? Did I miss any other great professional development opportunities?</p>


What Will You Learn? Free Professional Development Opportunities for English Language Teachers

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<p>In many countries, students are taking a break for the summer. Yes, we want our students to enjoy their time away from classes, however, we don&#39;t want them to lose the language they&#39;ve acquired. Learning a language requires continuous practice and the best practice is always outside the classroom within a context. One way to motivate students to practice their English in a fun way is to get them to do it while they play! I can guarantee you that every one of your students will find time to play this summer, online and offline! The trick is getting your students to use English while playing their games. These ideas have helped me motivate my students to play games outside the classroom.</p>

<h3>Find Out Your Students&#39; Gaming Habits</h3>

<p>Use one of your class discussions to explore your students&#39; gaming habits. Have them break up in groups or pairs and discuss how much time a week and month they spend playing games, if these games are offline or online, what devices they play on, if they play online games, and what kind of games they like to play. Some of your students will love word games, others may like war games, and others make like active games. Some of your students will prefer playing outdoors and others will be glued to their PS3s or mobile phones. Take a poll to find out how many play games using technology and how many still play outdoor games or board games. This will be an interesting lesson that sparks a lot of discussion, while revealing how you might be able to integrate language learning into your students&#39; gaming habits. If you collaborate with classes in another country, you can compare results with this class and discuss the cultural and societal differences.</p>

<h3>Engage Parents</h3>

<p>Conduct a parent workshop to teach parents how to help their children play the games and reinforce the language at home. I invite parents to a free workshop where I serve delicious snacks so they will come. Then we talk about their concerns with their children using various technologies and we talk about how I will use technology to encourage their children to practice English.&nbsp;I ask for their ideas of games their children like to play and what games they play with their children offline. We then talk about various ways they can play with the children online and offline and use English.&nbsp;I also tell parents that I would like their children to blog about their game play or post on a social site (if they are teens) to encourage them to continue playing the game. After all, children love to tell their friends what they are up to and what games they are playing.</p>

<h3>Encourage Game Play for Young Learners</h3>

<p>Parents are very important in motivating very young children to play games. I suggest to parents various board games, card games, jump rope games, clapping games, travel games, and more ways to play and use English. The parents also let me know what games they already play with their children and we talk about ways to introduce some English into these games. If your students have access to the Internet, students are able to play online games you suggest in a wiki, blog or website. Moreover, in a wiki or blog, the parents can automatically receive updates to their email accounts.</p>

<h3>Encourage Game Play for Teens</h3>

<p>If your students have access to the Internet, students are able to practice English in a fun way through online games. They can play the games you suggest in a wiki, blog, website, or social forum. I prefer social forums such as Edmodo, Facebook, or Twitter. The trick is finding what social networks your students are already active on and creating a private, safe group. If you work with teenagers, then you can have them create a private Facebook group where they update their status, post their scores, write notes about tricks they learned for certain levels, and overall what games they recommend others play. You can easily and quickly add your gaming suggestions, interesting articles about the games, tips you find, or walkthroughs that will encourage your students to read in English and apply the language to their game playing. Also, you can list links to polls and encourage them to post pics of levels they reach and so forth. You can have them chat with each other when they need help from another student about the various levels they are playing and how to pass them. Language is social and helps in getting your students interested in speaking English through their game playing.</p>

<h3>Encourage Game Play for Adults</h3>

<p>Adults also play games. They often love games such as Scrabble, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, or Bingo. Encourage the adults to host a weekly game night where they try playing English games such as charades, Apples to Apples, Clue, Taboo, Family Feud, Twister, Monopoly, or other English language games with the family. In this way, you also support family time or time with friends and many of the adults will thank you for this. Many will also play games on their mobile devices.</p>

Tips for Getting Students to Play Games and Learn This Summer

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<p>In this fun&nbsp;class activity, Halloween costume&nbsp;vocabulary is mixed up and students try to piece it back together by asking,&nbsp;&ldquo;What am I?&rdquo;</p>


<p><strong>Learner Level: </strong>Any<br />
<strong>Language focus: </strong>Halloween vocabulary<br />
<strong>Skills</strong>: Speaking, listening, presenting<br />
<strong>Time: </strong>10-20 minutes<br />
<strong>Materials: </strong>Paper, pens<br />
<strong>Grouping: </strong>Whole class<br />
<strong>Preparation: </strong>Cut up 4 strips of paper for each student.</p>

<h2>Teacher Instructions</h2>


<p>1. Tell each student to think of a Halloween costume. Write these words on the board. (1 per student. No duplicates!)</p>

<p>2. Give each student four slips of paper.</p>

<p>3. Tell each student to write down parts of their costume. One word or phrase goes on each piece of paper. Each student&#39;s costume should have four parts. (2 minutes)<br />
<br />
Example:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Witch costume</p>

<ul>
	<li>pointy black hat</li>
	<li>black dress</li>
	<li>broomstick</li>
	<li>green make-up</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<p>4. Tell students to hand you back all of their slips of paper. Quickly help any students who don&#39;t have four words.</p>

<p>5. Mix up the slips of paper and hand out four pieces to each student. Students take turns calling out the words in their costume. Play &ldquo;What am I?&rdquo; Could these items make a costume? Probably not! The costume items are all mixed up.</p>

<p>6. Next, write a student&#39;s name beside each costume on the board. Make sure not to assign a student the same costume as they&nbsp;wrote about in Step 4.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Have students walk around the room trying to put their assigned costume back together by exchanging papers with classmates. Students should never have more than four slips of paper in their hands.<br />
<br />
Example:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Student A is looking for &ldquo;Cat&rdquo; items; Student B is looking for &ldquo;Doctor&rdquo; items<br />
<br />
Student A: Do you need a pointy black hat?<br />
Student B: No, I need a white jacket.<br />
Student A: Oh I have one (gives B paper). Do you have a black tail?<br />
Student B: No sorry. I think Jackie has whiskers. Go ask her. She&#39;s looking for a broomstick too. (gives A a slip of paper he doesn&#39;t need)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>7. Students continue exchanging papers until they have a full costume. Students who finish first can help others &ldquo;get dressed&rdquo;. In the meantime, erase the board so that the assigned costume names are gone.</p>

<p>8. When all students have a complete (or almost complete) costume, stop the game. Have each student&nbsp;call out their new words. Play &ldquo;What am I?&rdquo; a second time. Are all of the costumes back together?</p>


<blockquote>
<p>Tip: For lower level classes, do Step 3 as a group. Help each student write four words for their costume.</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

Hilarious Halloween

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<p>After doing some research for our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1904">Boxing Day lesson</a>, I was deeply saddened. Boxing Day isn&#39;t what it used to be, at least not here in Canada where <a href="https://ellii.com" target="_blank">ESL Library</a> celebrates the holiday season. While there are conflicting opinions about exactly how the December 26&nbsp;tradition began, one thing is for certain. Boxing Day was not intended as a day to punch out a guy in a line up at an electronics store. It also wasn&#39;t meant as a day to make good on I.O.Us handed out to loved ones on Christmas Day.</p>

<p>How many of you hold off giving a gift to a special someone on Christmas Day so that he or she can wake up at the crack of dawn and get a better deal the following day? Cash gifts and gift cards are easy and people get to buy what they want instead of what you&#39;d like to give them.</p>

<p>On the other hand, our need to save a buck and get one more gadget for our collection means that thousands of workers around the world have to go back to work before digesting their turkey. And what about all of those who didn&#39;t even get a turkey or a gift card? Surely, they are in more need of a gift on December 26&nbsp;than our kids are for another pony or video game.</p>

<p>This Christmas season I would like to invite you to try&nbsp;ESL Library&#39;s Boxing Day lesson in class. In the lesson, you will find a charity challenge to help bring back the true tradition of Boxing Day in your small corner of the world.</p>

<p>Here&#39;s how you can take part:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Try&nbsp;ESL Library&#39;s Boxing Day lesson with your class.</li>
	<li>Take the charity challenge.</li>
	<li>Share your story with ESL-Library&nbsp;(hello@ellii.com). Please include a picture of your Christmas Box and tell us where it&#39;s going and what your students have put in it.</li>
	<li>Watch for your story to be published on our blog. (Or publish your story and photo on your own class blog and share a link so we can help promote it. If you don&#39;t have a class blog, maybe this&nbsp;is the year to start one!)</li>
</ol>

The Christmas Box

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<p>Do you always use the same Halloween lessons, crafts, and warm ups in your English class?</p>

<p>Why not try something new this year?</p>

<p>Here are seven ideas that you can adapt and make your own depending on the level, age, and needs of your English monsters.</p>

<ol>
	<li>Check out&nbsp;<a href="http://journalbuddies.com/teacher-parent-resources/elementary-writing-78-ideas-for-halloween/" target="_blank">78 Halloween Journal Prompts</a>. If your students are blogging for Halloween, this list might come in handy. Please let us know if you need comments for your kids! &nbsp;The staff at ESL-Library would be happy to visit your Halloween blogs. (We don&#39;t bite.)</li>
	<li>Have a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/your_comments/newsid_2370000/2370015.stm" target="_blank">Trick-or-Treating debate</a>. Is it right or wrong for kids to go door to door asking strangers for candy? Assign each half of the class a position (<em>for</em> or <em>against</em>).</li>
	<li>Make a list of <a href="http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/lessons/index.pl?read=1380" target="_blank">Halloween Safety Tips</a>, or watch this <a href="http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/2009/10/halloween-safety-educational-film.html" target="_blank">film</a> together and discuss what went wrong with the little witch&#39;s costume.</li>
	<li>Introduce your students to <a href="http://busyteacher.org/2716-michael-jackson-thriller.html" target="_blank">Michael Jackson&#39;s, <em>Thriller</em></a>.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.elyrics.net/read/m/michael-jackson-lyrics/thriller-lyrics.html" target="_blank"> Lyrics here.</a></li>
	<li>Read and discuss some short&nbsp;scary stories! Put the students in groups and have each one retell a story in their own words.</li>
	<li>Try the&nbsp;<a href="https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/fill-in-smashing-pumpkins/">Smashing Pumpkins Fill-In-the-Blank</a> from The New York Times.</li>
	<li>Tell your class to email you photos of themselves. <a href=" http://makemezombie.com/" target="_blank">Zombify</a> your students and have the kids guess which zombie is which!</li>
</ol>


7 Ideas for Teaching Halloween English

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<p>Why is teaching one of the most stressful jobs? If you look at the main causes of stress, the answer is plain to&nbsp;see.</p>

<p>Stress is generally attributed&nbsp;to:</p>

<ul>
	<li>a feeling of not having enough&nbsp;time</li>
	<li>a feeling of uncertainty</li>
	<li>a combination of the&nbsp;above</li>
</ul>

<p>Next time you are feeling burnt out or overwhelmed at work, ask yourself these&nbsp;questions:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Am I worried there isn&rsquo;t enough&nbsp;time?</li>
	<li>Am I worried because I don&rsquo;t know what is going to happen in the&nbsp;future?</li>
	<li>Am I worried because I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s enough time AND I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen in the&nbsp;future?</li>
</ul>

<p>It&rsquo;s no wonder why <em>moving</em>, <em>getting married</em>, and <em>having a baby</em> are listed as the most stressful periods of a person&#39;s life (and why it is not recommended to do more than one of these things at a time). Sometimes just knowing the source of your stress can make you feel better. If you do nothing else to relieve your stress, isolate the root cause of&nbsp;it.</p>

<p>When I&rsquo;m feeling stressed out, I like to think about one of my favorite quotes from a creative writing&nbsp;guru.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important, just lie&nbsp;down.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Natalie Goldberg</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Okay, so you may not be able to lie down on your desk when you are supposed to be teaching about the present perfect, but you can remind yourself that stress only gets worse if you take life too seriously. Here are <em>7 Stress Busters</em> you probably already know. Please accept this refresher&nbsp;course.</p>

<h1>Tip #1</h1>

<h4>Give Yourself a Time Out</h4>

<p>The times when we are the busiest in life are the times when we need a break the most. Go for a walk or run at lunchtime instead of marking report cards. You know the reports will get done by the deadline. They always do. Figure out what a break feels like to you. If you&rsquo;re like me, you may need a KitKat or an hour at the library or a date with your journal. If you&rsquo;re like other people, you may need an hour at the gym or the golf range or the sushi&nbsp;counter.</p>

<h1>Tip #2</h1>

<h4>Raise Your Hand</h4>

<p>Don&rsquo;t keep your stress to yourself. Share your concerns with someone who may be able to relieve some of your stress. Again, isolate the cause of the stress. Do you need to talk to someone who can help you find extra time or someone who can offer advice about presenting at a conference for the first&nbsp;time?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep&nbsp;breaths.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Etty Hillesum</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>Tip #3</h1>

<h4>Check If You&rsquo;re Breathing</h4>

<p>Breathe in your monkey troubles (through your nose) and breathe out a September-you (even if it&rsquo;s not September). Repeat for at least two minutes. Don&rsquo;t be afraid to share your feelings with your class. Your students will likely enjoy a mini-break from the lesson to help you breathe. After the breathing exercise, ask your students to discuss what they do to&nbsp;relax.</p>

<h1>Tip #4</h1>

<h4>Make a High-Five List</h4>

<p>Every weekday morning (or the night before) write out 5 things that have to be done by the end of the next day. Make sure to tackle the thing that is causing you the most stress first. If you think you won&rsquo;t have enough time to mark the tests, do that task first. Give yourself a high five if you complete the first thing on your list. Sometimes just the act of writing things down will help you tackle life&rsquo;s laundry.</p>

<h1>Tip #5</h1>

<h4>Look for a Human Who Needs Your Shoulder More Than You&nbsp;Do</h4>

<p>Keep your eyes and ears open for someone else who may be feeling stressed out. Your body will benefit physically and mentally from the act of helping someone else in need. And, as a reward, the universe will probably give you back the time and energy you need to complete your own high‑five&nbsp;list.</p>

<h1>Tip #6</h1>

<h4>Laugh at (or Dance with) your&nbsp;Emergency</h4>

<p>Ask your students to share their favorite jokes or most embarrassing moment stories. Challenge the students to make you laugh. Teach (and demo) all of the different types of laughter (belly laugh, giggle, snicker, howl, snort). Never underestimate the power of laughter. If laughter doesn&rsquo;t work, try&nbsp;music.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;If I have the presence of mind to flick on some music, the day is saved nine times out of&nbsp;ten.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;a wise friend</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>Tip #7</h1>

<h4>Make Friends with a Pirate</h4>

<p>Have you ever noticed how quickly kids make friends at a park? &ldquo;My friend is going home,&rdquo; my son often cries after five minutes of playing pirates with a stranger from the shark-infested puddle. What can you do to make a new friend and widen your support network during your time of stress? (The parent of that other pirate, or the clerk selling the KitKat may be all you need in the moment.) Gretchen Rubin of <a href="http://www.happiness-project.com/" target="_blank">The Happiness Project</a> recommends setting yourself a goal of making three new friends in each new situation (e.g., at a new job or in a new neighborhood). If you&rsquo;re worried about a new teaching post, or presenting at a conference, concentrate on making three new friends instead of worrying about time or&nbsp;uncertainty.</p>

<h1>Related ESL Lessons</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/1836">Stress: 6 Ways to Reduce Workplace Stress</a> &ndash; Health Matters</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/1956">Busy Disease: 10 Signs That You Are Too Busy</a> &ndash; Health Matters</li>
</ul>


7 Stress Busters for Teachers

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<p>Phrasal verbs&hellip;groan. Idioms&hellip;yum! When it comes to idioms, English learners are &ldquo;all ears&rdquo;. Here are 7 reasons why English learners give idioms two thumbs&nbsp;up.</p>

<h1>Reason #1</h1>

<h4>Learners can often visualize idioms</h4>

<p>While idioms aren&rsquo;t always literal, learners can often picture an idiom or think of an experience related to one. Who can&rsquo;t picture an &ldquo;old flame&rdquo; singing &ldquo;at the top of his voice&rdquo;?</p>

<h1>Reason #2</h1>

<h4>Learners have idioms in their own languages</h4>

<p>Students often experience an &ldquo;aha moment&rdquo; after hearing or reading a new idiom or slang expression. This is because the learners have a similar way of saying the same thing in their own language. In a way, idioms show that we all speak one&nbsp;language.</p>

<h1>Reason #3</h1>

<h4>Learners long for connection with the proverbial &ldquo;native speaker&rdquo;</h4>

<p>No matter how many times we tell learners that they cannot (and should not want to) become &ldquo;native speakers&rdquo; they still use this expression when they voice their language learning dreams. Being able to use and understand the language of a &ldquo;native&rdquo; brings learners closer to their&nbsp;goal.</p>

<h1>Reason #4</h1>

<h4>Lessons with idioms are often more relevant</h4>

<p>Resources that use plenty of everyday idioms are typically more modern and communicative in comparison to theme or grammar based lessons from outdated&nbsp;textbooks.</p>

<h1>Reason #5</h1>

<h4>Idioms are typically taught in context</h4>

<p>While phrasal verbs are often taught in isolation with rules about when and how to use them properly, idioms typically come up in context. Idioms can and should be treated and reviewed just as any other vocabulary. You don&rsquo;t teach your two year old which words are phrasal verbs, do you? If you&rsquo;re going to teach an idiom in isolation, consider making it a daily ritual with time for review and&nbsp;practice.</p>

<h1>Reason #6</h1>

<h4>Teachers have fun explaining idioms</h4>

<p>Most English teachers have a love of words. Students can feel the sense of enjoyment teachers have when explaining interesting words and expressions, especially when real life examples are used. Learners who take a risk and use the new idioms enjoy the praise of getting it&nbsp;right.</p>

<h1>Reason #7</h1>

<h4>Idioms are often humorous</h4>

<p>Idioms such as <strong>&ldquo;by the skin of your teeth,&rdquo; &ldquo;birthday suit,&rdquo; or &ldquo;loose cannon&rdquo; </strong> make everyone laugh. A good giggle is often enough to seal a new word or expression firmly into the&nbsp;brain.</p>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/77/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 1: First Love</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 2: First Year</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/102/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 3: Moving to New York</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="http://www.idiomconnection.com/mostfrequent.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">100 Most Frequently Used English&nbsp;Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="http://www.englishclub.com/ref/idiom-of-the-day.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Idiom of the Day</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="http://esl.culips.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ESL Culips (Podcast)</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:yrrkFJyKlf4J:scholar.google.com/&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=2000" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Without Slang and Idioms Students are in the Dark</a> by David&nbsp;Burke</li>
</ul>
