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

Announcements

<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

<p>Great news, teachers!</p>

<p>As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Here&#39;s how it works:</strong></h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

<p>Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!</p>

<p>All the best,<br />
Ben :)</p>

<p>Founder, CEO at Ellii</p>


Introducing Individual Student Assignments

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2724/Ben_Introducing-Individual-Student-Assignments_Banner.png

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

For Students

<p>It&#39;s that time of year again!</p>

<p>People around the world are celebrating a variety of holidays, including <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1853" target="_blank">Christmas</a>, <a href="https://www.ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1857" target="_blank">Chanukah</a>, <a href="https://www.ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1856" target="_blank">Kwanzaa</a>, and even <a href="https://www.ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1913" target="_blank">Festivus</a>.</p>

<p>At this time, you might be thinking about writing<strong> holiday greeting cards</strong> to friends or coworkers. But as an English learner, finding the right words for a holiday card or an <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/writing-in-english/1829-how-to-write-an-email" target="_blank">email</a> can be a challenge.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In this post, we&rsquo;ve compiled a list of our favorite English holiday greetings and some useful writing tips to help you add a personal touch to your holiday messages.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>English holiday greetings for everyone on your list</h2>

<p>Whether you want heart-warming messages for friends and family or more formal messages to share with your team at work, these holiday greetings are the perfect way to spread the joy this holiday season.</p>

<h3>Holiday greetings for family or friends</h3>

<p>The holidays are a great time to reconnect with family and friends.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some ideas for English holiday-inspired messages you can send to friends or loved ones:</p>

<ul>
	<li>&ldquo;So thankful to have a friend like you at Christmas and all year long.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Happy Chanukah! Wishing you love and joy during the Festival of Lights.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Happy holidays to you and your loved&nbsp;ones!&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Knowing people like you makes this wonderful time of year even more&nbsp;meaningful.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Our family is so lucky to have you in our lives. Hope you have a fabulous holiday&nbsp;season!&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Hoping you have a lovely holiday season filled with moments you&rsquo;ll always&nbsp;remember.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;May the magic and the wonder of the holiday season stay with you throughout the coming&nbsp;year.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Holiday greetings for colleagues or clients</h3>

<p>As the year winds down, the holidays are the perfect time to thank your colleagues or clients for making your work a success.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here is a list of festive greetings you could use for your coworkers or customers:</p>

<ul>
	<li>&ldquo;Hoping that 2023&nbsp;brings you many wonderful&nbsp;opportunities!&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a successful new&nbsp;year!&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Best wishes for a new year filled with joy and spectacular&nbsp;success.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Doing business with you is a pleasure! Hope you have a lovely&nbsp;Christmas.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;We truly appreciate your business and wish you the best in the coming&nbsp;year.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Thanks for a great year, and we wish you all the best as you embark on&nbsp;2023.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Thank you for being a part of the [company name] family. Hope you have a joyous holiday and new&nbsp;year!&rdquo;</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/blog_printable/Printable-Holiday-Cards_Ellii.pdf" target="_blank"><img alt="Four holiday greeting cards to print." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2889/content_Printable-Holiday-Cards_Ellii.jpg" /></a></p>

<div class="white-box">
<p>Do you teach young learners? Here are <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/3538/Printable-BW-Holiday-Cards_Ellii.pdf" target="_blank">black-and-white versions</a> you can print out for your students to color! Adults might appreciate adding their own flair to these cards as well.</p>
</div>

<p>Write your holiday-inspired messages in these <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/blog_printable/Printable-Holiday-Cards_Ellii.pdf" target="_blank">printable holiday greeting cards</a>.</p>

<h2>5 tips for writing holiday greeting cards in English</h2>

<p>These five writing tips are all you need to write a memorable holiday message in English.</p>

<h3>1. Find a writing buddy</h3>

<p>Writing holiday greetings is always more enjoyable with a friend. You can bounce ideas off each other and proofread each other&rsquo;s drafts before writing the final message in your card.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>2. Remember to be sensitive to people&#39;s beliefs</h3>

<p>People might be celebrating a variety of holidays during this season. So, if you&rsquo;re not certain if a colleague or acquaintance celebrates Christmas, choose a neutral greeting such as &ldquo;Happy Holidays,&rdquo; &ldquo;Season&rsquo;s Greetings,&rdquo; or &ldquo;Festive Wishes.&rdquo; You can also ask if they have a holiday preference.</p>

<h3>3. Keep it brief</h3>

<p>This is especially true when writing to clients or coworkers. Try to avoid adding personal details, and keep the message short and professional.</p>

<h3>4. Consider adding an adjective</h3>

<p>Even if your message is short, you can make it more personable by choosing an <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjectives" target="_blank">adjective</a> that expresses your friend&rsquo;s taste or style.</p>

<p>For example, if your friend is a lover of food, you could say, &ldquo;Wishing you a <strong>delicious</strong> holiday&nbsp;season!&rdquo;</p>

<h3>5. Choose an appropriate closing</h3>

<p>Ending your message with &ldquo;Love,&rdquo; or &ldquo;With love,&rdquo; should be kept for friends and family. For colleagues and clients, &ldquo;Best wishes,&rdquo; or&nbsp;&ldquo;Warm regards,&rdquo; might be a better alternative.</p>

<h2><a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/blog_printable/Tips-for-Writing-Holiday-Greeting-Cards-in-English_Ellii.pdf" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2888/content_Tips-for-Writing-Holiday-Greeting-Cards-in-English_Ellii.jpg" /></a></h2>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts</h5>

<p>Do you have any ideas you&rsquo;d like to add to this list? Share them with us in the comments. Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!</p>
</div>

<p><em>Editor&#39;s note:&nbsp;This post was originally published in December 2019&nbsp;and has been updated for comprehensiveness.</em></p>


How to Write Holiday Greeting Cards in English

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1711/Sama_How-to-Write-Holiday-Greeting-Cards-in-English_Banner.png

Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

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

Articles

<p>Have you heard about the&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/esl-talk/id1548652844" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>ESL Talk</em>&nbsp;podcast</a>?</p>

<p>As described on their Apple Podcast page,&nbsp;<em>ESL Talk</em>&nbsp;is &ldquo;a podcast for English teachers by English teachers.&rdquo; In each episode, the hosts and their guests discuss various teaching topics, methods, and approaches pertaining to ESL teachers. It&#39;s a fantastic way to&nbsp;hone your English teaching skills&nbsp;and stay current in the field.</p>

<p>Here are three&nbsp;key takeaways from&nbsp;<em>ESL Talk</em>&#39;s episode on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/fostering-independent-learning/id1548652844?i=1000540594466" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">fostering independent learning</a>&nbsp;that you can incorporate into your teaching.</p>

<h2>1. Encourage your students to practice English outside of class time</h2>

<p>If you see your students on a regular basis, ask them at the end of each class what they&rsquo;re going to do over the following week or weekend to practice English. When you ask your students this, you&rsquo;re not just telling them that they need to study the language on their own time. You&rsquo;re taking it one step further and asking them to tell you exactly <em>how</em> they&rsquo;re going to work on improving their skills.</p>

<p>If your English learners aren&rsquo;t sure what activity they want&nbsp;to do, this&nbsp;gives you an opportunity to brainstorm some ideas with them. For example, students&nbsp;can...</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Esl-library/playlists" target="_blank">watch one of our videos on YouTube</a> to increase their fluency</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/improve-your-listening-with-true-stories" target="_blank">listen to a podcast</a> to improve their listening skills</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/what-makes-you-cozy" target="_blank">try an activity from our blog</a> to practice their writing</li>
	<li>read a book to improve their reading skills</li>
</ul>

<p>If your students are interested in doing some extra reading, have them check out our reading recommendations:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-your-low-int-students" target="_blank">Reading Recommendations for Your Low-Intermediate Students</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-high-intermediate-students" target="_blank">Reading Recommendations for Your High-Intermediate Students</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-advanced-students" target="_blank">Reading Recommendations for Your Advanced Students</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Help your students create a practice schedule</h2>

<p>Work with each student individually to craft a schedule that works for them and that gets them into the habit of practicing English on their own time. Outlining the exact days and times your students are expected to devote to additional language learning will give them a clear and focused plan to follow.</p>

<p>To hold them accountable, have them keep a log of what they do during this time. You can also ask them to share the activities they did in&nbsp;class.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Those who took control of their own learning were much more engaged.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Fiona, guest speaker on <em>ESL Talk</em> podcast</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>3. Get your students to keep a reflection journal</h2>

<p>In life, we learn when we reflect. This is also true when it comes to our students&rsquo; language learning journeys.</p>

<p>When students learn something new, it&rsquo;s incredibly beneficial to have them take some time to reflect on what they&rsquo;ve learned.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;re in a physical classroom, students can keep a physical journal. If you&rsquo;re teaching online, students can use a document in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.ca/docs/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Google Docs</a>. They can also use a regular piece of paper to jot down their thoughts.</p>

<p>At the end of class or at the end of a week, guide your students in a few minutes of reflection time by asking them questions like:</p>

<ul>
	<li>What did you learn?</li>
	<li>How did you feel when you were learning it?</li>
	<li>What were you proud of?</li>
	<li>What worked?</li>
	<li>What didn&rsquo;t work?</li>
	<li>What would you do differently?</li>
</ul>

<p>Here are some ready-made assessment&nbsp;tools&nbsp;you may also find useful:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2370-weekly-reflection" target="_blank">Weekly Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2225-monthly-reflection" target="_blank">Monthly Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2557-3-2-1-reflection" target="_blank">3-2-1 Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/3196-weekly-check-in-literacy" target="_blank">Weekly Check-In (Literacy)</a></li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts</h5>

<p>Teachers, how do you foster independent learning? Let us know in the comments below.</p>
</div>


3 Key Takeaways from ESL Talk Podcast on Fostering Independent Learning

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2280/Melissa_3-Key-Takeaways-ESL-Talk-Podcast-Fostering-Independent-Learning_Banner.png

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

Teaching with Ellii

<div class="white-box">
<p>This article is part of a series of posts highlighting our community of teachers around the world. We hope you find their stories interesting and inspiring!</p>
</div>

<p>Fernando Varaschin has been teaching English on and off since 2012.</p>

<p>Currently, he&rsquo;s a full-time educator at <a href="https://www.philyoung.com/en/" tagret="_blank" target="_blank">Phil Young&rsquo;s English School</a> in Curitiba, Brazil, where he teaches pre-teens at the&nbsp;intermediate level as well as high school students and adults at the&nbsp;advanced level.</p>

<p>Fernando mostly teaches classes in person, but he also has two online classes as well as a private student.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I was never a great student,&rdquo; admitted Fernando. &ldquo;I had learning difficulties, and&nbsp;I had always thought that most of my teachers were not patient enough and that they assumed everyone learned the same way. I wanted to change that.&quot;<br />
<br />
Fernando explained that he&nbsp;wanted to be a teacher who respected students&rsquo; limitations and who taught&nbsp;different subjects using a step-by-step process&mdash;beginning&nbsp;with the simplest concepts before slowly building&nbsp;up to larger ones.</p>

<p>For Fernando, a typical day of teaching can start anywhere from 5:00 am to 7:00 am and can end as late as 10:00 pm.</p>

<p>He begins each day by checking his schedule to make sure he&rsquo;s prepared for each class, and he always arrives 15&ndash;30 minutes early to set up his classroom. In between class time, he plans upcoming lessons, marks tests and assignments, talks to parents, and attends meetings.</p>

<p>His day also involves driving between the four Curitiba branches of Phil Young&rsquo;s English School&nbsp;since he teaches at all of them.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2828/content_Fernando-Varaschin.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Fernando Varaschin is pictured here at the front desk of one of the school branches where he teaches.</p>

<h2>How Fernando uses Ellii with his English learners</h2>

<p>Fernando uses Ellii to complement the school&rsquo;s required material.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Ellii fits in like a glove,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have the lessons printed out for my in-person students. Sometimes, I blow [the lesson] up on the digital board so that we can work hands-free. I try to vary as much as I can so that I have a more dynamic class. But [Ellii]&rsquo;s always there and it works perfectly . . . &nbsp;we need reliable material so that we can provide our students with nothing but the best.&rdquo;</p>

<p>With Fernando&rsquo;s private students, he has them pick the Ellii lessons they&rsquo;re interested in.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I browse through the site mirroring it on Google Meet so that they can choose the topics they&#39;re interested in,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;The only thing I do is&nbsp;pick the grammar topics.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>Overcoming the challenges of teaching</h2>

<p>For Fernando, the most challenging part about teaching a big class&nbsp;is giving each student&nbsp;enough attention.</p>

<p>&ldquo;As a teacher, I try my best to encompass everyone and make sure that everybody gets the same amount of attention,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;Although, that&#39;s a hard thing to do given that sometimes students are not exactly at the level that they&#39;re supposed to be. . . . as a teacher trainer at our school once said, &#39;How can I bring that one student out from the shadows?&#39;&nbsp;In other words, how can I get him or her to participate more?&rdquo;</p>

<p>Despite the challenges, Fernando loves being a teacher.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I love what I do and I intend to continue to do it for as long as I can. I&rsquo;m always looking to get better and better at it.&rdquo;</p>

<p>His advice for aspiring teachers?</p>

<p>&quot;Be patient with your students and keep in mind that different people learn in different ways.&rdquo;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Want the chance to be featured in our Teacher Feature series? Visit our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/20th-anniversary-giveaway" target="_blank">20th Anniversary Giveaway</a>&nbsp;blog post&nbsp;to tell us why you love Ellii and how you use it in your classroom.</p>
</blockquote>


Teacher Feature: Fernando Varaschin

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2278/Melissa_Teacher-Feature_Fernando_Banner.png

<p>We were thrilled to sponsor, attend, and present at&nbsp;TESL Ontario&#39;s 50th annual conference this fall! Like every year, there were a ton of takeaways at this landmark event.</p>

<p>Here&nbsp;are 10 tips Ellii&#39;s Publishing team&nbsp;collected and wanted to share with our ELT community.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>1. Set multi-year goals&nbsp;</h2>

<p>In his keynote, <strong>Make the Impossible Possible: Lessons from an Improbable Olympic Journey</strong>,&nbsp;Canadian rower Jeremiah Brown captivated the audience with his story-telling.</p>

<p>He also&nbsp;shared&nbsp;practical&nbsp;tips about <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2127-my-language-goals" target="_blank">goal-setting</a> that can be modeled or passed on to students.</p>

<p><strong>Jeremiah recommended&nbsp;elongating our goals.</strong> Ask the question:&nbsp;<em>Where do you want to be in 4 years?</em><em> </em>The Olympian recommended setting a multi-year overarching goal first&nbsp;and then breaking it down into <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2224-goal-setting-can-do" target="_blank">milestones</a>.</p>

<p>Jeremiah believes&nbsp;that daily execution is needed to see real progress, even if you can&#39;t see results&nbsp;for a few months. He also reminded goal-setters to always <strong>be flexible</strong> and to <strong>continue making adjustments</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="4-year Olympic rower Jeremiah Brown at TESL Ontario 2022." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2821/content_Jeremiah-Brown.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Canadian rower and Olympic silver medalist&nbsp;Jeremiah Brown at TESL Ontario&nbsp;2022.</p>

<h2>2. Identify the use case or purpose when&nbsp;validating an assessment&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Throughout the conference, we learned lots of great tips about <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools" target="_blank">assessments</a> that we can apply at Ellii.</p>

<p>We thought this practical assessment tip (heard in a session titled: <strong>A Classroom-Based Validation Study of an English Listening Test</strong>) was worth repeating for teachers who create and administer assessments. As Jeanne Sinclair pointed out, teachers&nbsp;should always be able to answer whether an assessment is meant for <strong>admission</strong>, <strong>placement</strong>, <strong>achievement</strong>, or <strong>certification.</strong></p>

<p><img alt="Purpose of language assessments" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2822/content_Purpose-of-language-assessments.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Language assessments presentation slide from Jeanne Sinclair and Karam Noel&#39;s TESL Ontario 2022 session: A Classroom-Based Validation Study of an English Listening Test.</p>

<h2>3. Pause for twice as long as it takes to say a word&nbsp;in a Listen &amp; Repeat task&nbsp;</h2>

<p>This&nbsp;simple but helpful tip, heard at a MOSAIC session titled, <strong>Instructional Design to Engage the Literacy Learner</strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>is useful for publishers&nbsp;like Ellii&nbsp;as well as teachers who regularly model the <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/pronunciation" target="_blank">pronunciation</a> of sounds, words, and expressions and ask students to listen and repeat.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>4. Practice&nbsp;answering the 5 Wh-&nbsp;questions when listening to dialogues&nbsp;</h2>

<p>At an excellent session about CELPIP, Canada&#39;s general English test for <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/living-in-english/2268-canadian-citizenship" target="_blank">citizenship</a>, Brandi Robb encouraged teachers to get their students used to answering the 5 Wh-questions&nbsp;about any conversation they hear. They&nbsp;should also <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/everyday-dialogues" target="_blank">practice listening to dialogues</a> with two or three people to better prepare for listening&nbsp;tests like CELPIP.</p>

<p>Beyond the test, this will&nbsp;help learners&nbsp;comprehend and engage&nbsp;in&nbsp;real-world encounters.</p>

<p><img alt="asking questions about speakers in a dialogue" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2880/content_Screen_Shot_2022-11-18_at_2.48.04_PM.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">Brandi Robb describes how to prepare students for the listening portion of a CELPIP exam.</p>

<h2>5. Create needs assessments that specify real-life situations&nbsp;</h2>

<p>This important reminder was repeated at a few different sessions. Instead of focusing on just the theme of <strong>health</strong> or even <strong>going to the doctor</strong>, a needs assessment worksheet should specify the real-world tasks (<strong>describing an illness or injury</strong>) that students come across in real-life situations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>At their <a href="https://issbc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ISSofBC</a>&nbsp;session,&nbsp;Sandra Carignan and Claire Pinkett gave attendees a chance&nbsp;to workshop improvements to a needs assessment resource.</p>

<p><img alt="Needs Assessment presentation slide from TESL Ontario" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2823/content_Needs-Assessment.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">ISSofBC&#39;s Needs Assessment Workshop at TESL Ontario&nbsp;2022.</p>

<h2>6. Include students when testing the validity of learning content</h2>

<p>At <a href="https://mosaicbc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">MOSAIC BC</a>&#39;s session on <strong>Core Principles for Coherent Online Curriculum,&nbsp;</strong>Dr. Noureddine Elouazizi, who conducted an evaluation of MOSAIC&#39;s curriculum, pointed out the importance of doing student surveys and not just relying on teachers, administrators, or&nbsp;AI&nbsp;to validate a program&#39;s coherence.</p>

<h2>7. Utilize multi-modal tasks&nbsp;for deeper learning</h2>

<p>Later in MOSAIC BC&#39;s session, Matthew Levan and Astrid van der Pol suggested that one simple way to&nbsp;improve a curriculum is to <a href="http://ellii.com/media/videos" target="_blank">bring in more video content</a>. This was just one of their tips about making system-wide improvements.</p>

<p>They&nbsp;highlighted the fact&nbsp;that LINC teachers trained in Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) are used to systems and system-thinking&mdash;checking in and reflecting on what works and doesn&#39;t work. They also recommended this <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/manu_kapur_productive_failure" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TED Talk on Productive Failure</a>.</p>

<p><img alt="Multi-modal learning MOSAIC slide at TESL Ontario 2022" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2824/content_Multi-Modal-Learning.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Multi-Modal Learning presentation slide from MOSAIC BC at TESL Ontario&nbsp;2022.</p>

<h2>8. Select&nbsp;one linguistical error at a time when giving interactional (person-to-person)&nbsp;feedback</h2>

<p>At the <strong>Research Symposium: 50 Years of Reflexivity in TESL</strong>,&nbsp;Hossein Nassaji, Nina Spada, and Ron Thomson shared important research about feedback, including being selective about when and what you correct.&nbsp;On this note, the Ellii team also received lots of requests for an audio feedback tool!</p>

<h2>9. Reduce student anxiety with clarity about the&nbsp;format of a test or task&nbsp;</h2>

<p>As emphasized in Ken Beatty&#39;s session&nbsp;<strong>My Robot Teacher? Digital Futures for Language Learning</strong>, students perform better when there is&nbsp;clarity on how to do tasks, what the expectations are, and how much tasks are worth.</p>

<p>Students often admit&nbsp;to being more anxious about the format and expectations of an assessment than about the content itself.</p>

<h2>10. Don&#39;t be tempted to show or tell everything you know</h2>

<p>This advice, which we noted while&nbsp;attending<strong> </strong>Lisa Hererra&#39;s<strong> </strong>session on digital learning, is useful for&nbsp;teachers, students, and even bloggers!</p>

<p>We took pages of notes and learned&nbsp;so much at the TESL Ontario Conference. That said,&nbsp;we&#39;ve found that&nbsp;working with a small list of actionables based on some of our top takeaways is the best way to get the most out of our professional development.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As Jeremiah reminded us in his keynote,&nbsp;<strong>resilience</strong>&nbsp;can be defined as &quot;taking the smallest step forward when things feel hard.&quot;</p>

<p><img alt="ISSofBC TESL Ontario 2022 session." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2825/content_Strategies-for-ensuring-successful-digital-skill-learning.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Lisa Herrera&#39;s&nbsp;TESL Ontario 2022 session: How to Teach Digital Skills to Newcomers.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Did you attend TESL Ontario 2022?</h5>

<p>Please leave us a comment and share&nbsp;the best tip you learned at the conference. What&#39;s one actionable step you plan&nbsp;on taking to improve your teaching or program?&nbsp;</p>
</div>


10 Tips from TESL Ontario's 50th English Language Teaching Conference

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2279/Tara_10-Tips-from-TESL-Ontarios-50th-English-Language-Teaching-Conference_Banner.png

Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>Language teachers are often looking for ways to integrate <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects/social-emotional-learning" target="_blank">social⁠⁠-⁠⁠emotional learning (SEL)</a>&nbsp;in their lessons to help students develop empathy, build self-esteem, and improve their communication&nbsp;skills.</p>

<p>Teachers also know the value of creating a structured environment aided by daily or weekly&nbsp;rituals.</p>

<p><strong>Rose, Bud, Thorn is a reflective&nbsp;activity</strong> that ticks both boxes while allowing teachers to check in with their students and get to know them&nbsp;better.</p>

<p>This social-emotional learning activity serves as a great warm-up that students benefit most from when it&rsquo;s part of their daily or weekly routine. This class activity is also&nbsp;effective with English&nbsp;learners of all&nbsp;ages.</p>

<h2>How to implement Rose, Bud, Thorn in 4&nbsp;steps</h2>

<h3>Step 1: Explain what each flower part represents</h3>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Rose:</strong> something good that&#39;s happened recently, something that you&#39;re proud of, or a success that you&#39;ve&nbsp;had</li>
	<li><strong>Bud:</strong> something that you&#39;re looking forward to or a new idea that you want to&nbsp;explore</li>
	<li><strong>Thorn:</strong> a challenge that you&#39;re facing or something that you need help&nbsp;with</li>
</ul>

<p>When you first introduce this activity, you may want to provide examples for each of the flower&nbsp;parts.</p>

<p>A rose could be something small and incidental like a nice breeze on a warm afternoon. It could also be a success while speaking English outside of the classroom such as being understood by the cashier at the grocery store when asked about bagging&nbsp;preferences.</p>

<p>A bud could be an upcoming day off from work, a coffee date with a friend after class, or the release of a new season of a favorite TV&nbsp;show.</p>

<p>And, finally, a thorn might be parenting a toddler who doesn&rsquo;t want to nap or having a car that needs expensive&nbsp;repairs.</p>

<p>But perhaps <strong>the best way to illustrate a rose, bud, and thorn is by modeling the activity with your own personal information</strong>. Seeing your willingness to expose your vulnerabilities may <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being" target="_blank">give students the confidence boost they need</a> to be open&nbsp;themselves.</p>

<h3>Step 2: Have students jot down their ideas</h3>

<p>Give students 5&ndash;10 minutes to write down ideas for their rose, bud, and thorn. Students may find it useful to gather their thoughts in a graphic&nbsp;organizer. <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/blog_printable/content_Rose-Bud-Thorn_Ellii.pdf">Click here</a> to print the activity below.</p>

<p><a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/blog_printable/content_Rose-Bud-Thorn_Ellii.pdf"><img alt="Rose, Bud, Thorn graphic organizer" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2813/content_Rose-Bud-Thorn_Ellii.jpg" /></a></p>

<h3>Step 3: Give students the opportunity to share</h3>

<p>Because this activity can be quite personal, some students may be more comfortable talking about their rose, bud, and thorn in&nbsp;pairs.</p>

<p>After students have had time to discuss their ideas with a partner, bring the whole class back together and give volunteers the chance to share with the entire&nbsp;group.</p>

<h3>Step 4: Provide a follow-up activity</h3>

<p>Help students <strong>improve their problem-solving skills</strong> by asking them to write down strategies for turning their thorns into roses. They can use their own ideas or get suggestions from their&nbsp;partner.</p>

<p>You can also ask students to come up with a reasonable time frame in which to turn their strategies into&nbsp;action.</p>

<h2>Take&nbsp;this activity one step further</h2>

<p>Encourage students to <strong>start a Rose, Bud, Thorn journal</strong>.</p>

<p>By keeping a written record of the&nbsp;good things that have happened&nbsp;in their lives as well as the challenges they&#39;ve faced, students will reap the rewards of practicing gratitude, learning to set goals, realizing when they need support, and reflecting on instances when they&#39;ve&nbsp;found solutions to their&nbsp;problems.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Now it&#39;s your turn!</h5>

<p>Share a recent rose, bud, and thorn of your own in the comments section. What strategies did you use to turn your thorn into a rose?</p>
</div>


Rose, Bud, Thorn: A Warm-Up Activity That Promotes Social-Emotional Learning

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2277/Ann_Rose-Bud-Thorn-A-Warm-Up-Activity-That-Promotes-Social-Emotional-Learning_Banner.png

<p><strong>Attention Deficit Hyperactivity&nbsp;Disorder (ADHD)</strong> is a neurodiversity that affects people&rsquo;s ability to concentrate.</p>

<p>Students with ADHD may have <strong>difficulty focusing</strong> when there are many things happening at once. For example, background noises or movements while completing an assignment or quiz&nbsp;may be overwhelming and distracting.</p>

<p>Alternatively, students with ADHD may have difficulty focusing when there is&nbsp;too much silence. In this case, <a href="https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/white-noise-for-staying-on-task/#:~:text=For%20adults%20with%20ADHD%2C%20those,from%20an%20overhead%20air%20vent." target="_blank">white noise can be helpful for them</a>. For example, having a fan on, playing quiet music, or providing the student with headphones that play white noise.</p>

<p>Some learners with ADHD may also <strong>appear hyperactive</strong>. They might have lots of energy, be very talkative,&nbsp;or act impulsively.</p>

<p>Whether you&#39;re teaching English to children, teenagers, or adults, students with&nbsp;ADHD often find it more difficult to do well in school. So how can we&nbsp;as teachers&nbsp;better support them&nbsp;in their language learning journey?</p>

<p>From understanding your student&#39;s&nbsp;daily challenges to implementing accessible classroom strategies, here&#39;s what you need&nbsp;to know about supporting students with&nbsp;ADHD.</p>

<h2>Understand what students with ADHD struggle with</h2>

<p>Students with ADHD may have difficulty with...</p>

<ul>
	<li>timekeeping</li>
	<li>organization</li>
	<li>listening to and following instructions</li>
	<li>sitting still for long periods of time</li>
	<li>task completion</li>
	<li>focus</li>
	<li>stress management</li>
	<li>assessing risky situations</li>
	<li>forgetfulness and misplacing items</li>
</ul>

<h2>8 strategies&nbsp;for teaching learners with ADHD</h2>

<p>Use these eight accessible classroom strategies to help you overcome common challenges and help your students with ADHD reach language learning success.</p>

<h3>1. Teach the individual</h3>

<p>Every learner is different, so it&rsquo;s important to talk to them (and their parents) to find out what works for them. Learn what they find challenging and how you can help.</p>

<h3>2. Give clear instructions</h3>

<p>Try to keep instructions as short as possible. Breaking large tasks into <strong>smaller tasks</strong> and&nbsp;then <strong>giving each instruction one at a time</strong>&nbsp;can make learning more accessible to all learners.</p>

<p>You may wish to give your instructions in a variety of ways:&nbsp;orally, written, as a diagram, or with a drawing. You could also ask students to repeat or rephrase the instruction to check they have understood.</p>

<h3>3. Build confidence</h3>

<p>As with many learners, students with ADHD can often have low confidence or self-esteem. <strong>Praise their achievements</strong> and support them to look back on&nbsp;their learning journey. Reward them as they develop new skills.</p>

<h3>4. Minimize distractions</h3>

<p>Students with ADHD may find noises such as phone notifications, background chatter, or music distracting. They may be able to focus better in quiet places. <strong>Allow them to choose a seat somewhere that has fewer distractions</strong> or let them wear noise-canceling headphones for tasks that require concentration. For added focus, you can set the noise-canceling headphones to play white noise or soft&nbsp;instrumental music.</p>

<p>Visual distractions such as what&rsquo;s happening in the corridor, out the window, on a screen, or even in other group discussions may also reduce focus. Discuss with them the best place to sit in these situations.</p>

<h3>5. Allow movement and fidgets</h3>

<p>Sitting for long periods of time can be challenging and demotivating. Getting students up and moving around the class is a good way to energize the whole class.</p>

<p>Activities such as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-fun-ways-to-warm-up-a-new-class" target="_blank">Find Someone Who&hellip;</a>, running dictations, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/role-plays" target="_blank">role-plays</a>, Pictionary, or Charades are great ways to do this.</p>

<p>You may also wish to let students <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-facilitation-101" target="_blank">make sketchnotes</a> as they listen or play with a fidget toy. These can reduce anxiety and aid focus.</p>

<h3>6. Train students to take their time</h3>

<p>Students with ADHD may complete tasks quickly and need support to check their work for errors.</p>

<p>Encourage learners to read instructions carefully or multiple times. Proofread their work and <strong>aim for quality over speed</strong>.</p>

<h3>7. Practice mindfulness</h3>

<p>Some learners may also benefit from <a href="https://chadd.org/attention-article/from-my-classroom-to-yours-supporting-adhd-with-mindfulness-techniques/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">practicing mindfulness</a>. This has been found to help people with ADHD focus on the present task and identify their emotions. However, it can be challenging for some to do this for extended periods of time, so short meditations or impromptu breathing&nbsp;exercises may be a good starting point.</p>

<h3>8. Use study planners</h3>

<p>To support students to develop their timekeeping and organization skills, try creating study timetables together and practice writing &quot;to-do&quot;&nbsp;lists.</p>

<p>You could also support them by helping them identify which daily tasks to prioritize and how to minimize distractions from their study schedules.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts</h5>

<p>What experience do you have with ADHD?&nbsp;What has worked for you or your learners? Every situation is different so we&rsquo;d really love to know. Share your thoughts in the comments!</p>
</div>

<h2>Related resources</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/accessibility-supporting-english-learners-with-dyslexia" target="_blank">Accessibility: Supporting English Learners with Dyslexia</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/accessibility-supporting-blind-low-vision-learners" target="_blank">Accessibility: Supporting Blind &amp; Low-Vision Learners</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being" target="_blank">A Quick Activity to Boost Confidence &amp; Well-Being: Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-students-feel-comfortable-in-your-class" target="_blank">5 Ways to Make Students Feel Comfortable in Your Class</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/practicing-mindfulness-in-the-classroom" target="_blank">Practicing Mindfulness in the Classroom</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/functional-english/2119-following-instructions" target="_blank">Following Instructions</a></li>
</ul>


Accessibility: Supporting Students with ADHD

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2276/Emily_Accessibility-Supporting-Students-with-ADHD_Banner.png

<p>I stumbled upon a treasure trove of inspiration while writing my last blog post on <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-videos-in-class">using video in class</a>.</p>

<p>I hadn&rsquo;t realized&nbsp;that Ellii has more than&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/silent-clips" target="_blank">60 silent video clips</a>&nbsp;spanning across categories like <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/silent-clips/body-language" target="_blank">Body Language</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/silent-clips/holidays-celebrations" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Celebrations</a>.&nbsp;Each clip is about 10 seconds long and shows different&nbsp;gestures and&nbsp;facial expressions as well as&nbsp;holiday-themed&nbsp;traditions, like blowing out birthday candles, attending a wedding reception, and more!</p>

<p>I was immediately bursting with teaching ideas.</p>

<p>Here are four creative and beneficial ways you can use&nbsp;silent video clips with your students to help improve their English fluency.</p>

<h2>1. Activate schemata</h2>

<p>Whenever I hear the term &quot;activate schemata,&quot; it takes me back to my <a href="https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/celta/" rel="noopner noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)</a> course.&nbsp;Only teachers would use such an odd-sounding technical term for such a simple&nbsp;concept!</p>

<p>To make things simple, people learn better when they <strong>connect prior knowledge to new information</strong>.</p>

<p>The process of schema activation is a key element of the English language&nbsp;classroom. It&rsquo;s an opportunity to <strong>make the lesson relatable</strong> and <strong>get students thinking</strong> about what they already know about a&nbsp;topic.</p>

<p>Silent video clips are perfect for this.</p>

<blockquote>
<p class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/746917435" width="640"></iframe></p>

<p class="caption">Video not playing? Your school might be blocking Vimeo, our video hosting platform. Please ask your administrator to whitelist <a href="https://vimeo.com/" nofollow="" noreferrer="" rel="&quot;noopener" target="&quot;_blank&quot;">vimeo.com</a>.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Many of Ellii&#39;s silent video clips are related to body language and emotions, including some of their holiday-themed videos.&nbsp;An easy way to <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teach-body-language" target="_blank">start teaching about body language</a> is to choose a clip and ask students to consider how that person feels and a&nbsp;possible reason for&nbsp;this.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Example</h5>

<p>You could play the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/pleased" target="_blank">Pleased clip</a>&nbsp;as a lead-in to the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/everyday-idioms-1/1769-9-amy-passes-her-test" target="_blank">Amy Passes Her Test lesson</a>, and then&nbsp;ask students to consider other gestures or responses to someone telling you good news. This could then lead to a role-play activity.</p>
</div>

<h2>2. Teach emotions</h2>

<p>Silent clips are the perfect way to have a bit of fun teaching&nbsp;emotions.</p>

<p>Here are three simple steps on how to teach emotions&nbsp;using silent&nbsp;videos:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Open a selection of videos in different tabs, being careful not to show the text at the bottom of the video.</li>
	<li>Play each clip and ask students to think of different emotions it may portray. Encourage students to think of synonyms (e.g., the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/happy" target="_blank">Happy&nbsp;clip</a>&nbsp;could mean&nbsp;&quot;delighted,&quot; &quot;cheerful,&quot; &quot;good,&quot; or &quot;content&quot;).</li>
	<li>Take it&nbsp;one step further by facilitating&nbsp;discussions around what makes your students have certain emotions (e.g.,&nbsp;&quot;I feel <em>happy</em> when I listen to music&quot; or &quot;I&rsquo;m <em>delighted</em> when I see my cousins.&quot;)</li>
</ol>

<h2>3. Improve intercultural communication</h2>

<p>Ellii&#39;s silent&nbsp;video clips show various gestures and ways of expressing emotions. Their usage may vary in different cultures and parts of the world. For instance, what may be an innocent thumbs up to mean &quot;good&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;happy&quot;&nbsp;may be insulting in certain countries.</p>

<p>This can be a particularly interesting discussion in a multicultural class. Show students silent&nbsp;video clips and ask them to discuss what each gesture means in countries they know well. In a monocultural class, ask them to search online for information.</p>

<p>You could then ask students to also consider how they may respond to someone from another culture making a seemingly inappropriate gesture. This is a great way to <strong>raise awareness of global communication differences</strong> and <strong>encourage understanding</strong>. You could&nbsp;also practice friendly ways of explaining these differences to others.</p>

<p>Example:</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Teacher:</td>
			<td>&quot;What does this gesture mean to you?&quot;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Student:</td>
			<td>&quot;It is rude where I&rsquo;m from, but maybe it means something different here?&quot;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>4. Have fun!</h2>

<p>When I first saw these silent video clips, I was amused at just how fun they are. You could have a few clips open and ready to play at different points throughout the class.</p>

<p>Here are a few examples of how to do just that:</p>

<ul>
	<li>When a student does something well, play the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/celebrating-happy-dance" target="_blank">Happy Dance clip</a>. You could ask other students to add their own sounds to accompany it!</li>
	<li>You could add a bit of humor to encourage&nbsp;students to do something you really need them to do by using the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/pleading" target="_blank">Pleading clip</a>.</li>
	<li>If you&rsquo;d like students to be quiet or you need them to keep certain information secret for an activity, you could show the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/secretive-child" target="_blank">Secretive clip</a>.</li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Now it&#39;s your turn!</h5>

<p>These are just a few of my ideas. I&rsquo;d really love to know yours. How do you use slient video clips in your English class? Share your ideas in the comments below!</p>
</div>


4 Creative Ways to Use Silent Video Clips in English Class

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2274/Emily_4-Creative-Ways-to-Use-Silent-Video-Clips-in-English-Class_Banner.png

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

Grammar & Usage

<p><em>In</em>, <em>out</em>, <em>up</em>, <em>down</em>, <em>on</em>, <em>off</em>. Everyone knows words like these can be prepositions. But did you know these words can sometimes function as adverbs instead? How can you tell the difference? And what about phrasal verbs like &ldquo;turn off&rdquo; or expressions like &ldquo;push down&rdquo;?&nbsp;</p>

<p>This last question came up at Ellii when a customer mentioned that in the phrase &ldquo;push the switch down,&rdquo; &ldquo;down&rdquo; is an adverb, not a preposition.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Let&rsquo;s review the basic rules, discuss the trickier cases, and decide if it&rsquo;s worth teaching the difference between prepositions and adverbs to our students.</p>

<h2>What is a preposition?</h2>

<p><strong>A preposition takes an object</strong>. If there&rsquo;s a noun following the term, it usually indicates the term is a preposition, not an adverb.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Of course, not all prepositions are so straightforward, which is why it&rsquo;s also important to <a href="#tricky">learn about the trickier cases</a> before teaching them to your students (should you so choose).</p>

<h3>Examples of prepositions</h3>

<ul>
	<li>He ran <strong>down</strong> the&nbsp;stairs.</li>
	<li>Maria looked <strong>out</strong> the&nbsp;window.</li>
	<li>They talked <strong>in</strong> circles and couldn&rsquo;t reach a&nbsp;decision.</li>
</ul>

<p>Try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1617" target="_blank">Prepositions lesson</a>&nbsp;for practice.</p>

<h2>What is an adverb?</h2>

<p><strong>An adverb doesn&rsquo;t take an object</strong>. Adverbs such as these usually appear at the end of the clause or sentence.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Keep in mind that not all adverbs are created equal and that there are a few <a href="#tricky">exceptions to be aware of</a>.</p>

<h3>Examples of adverbs</h3>

<ul>
	<li>She sat <strong>down</strong>.</li>
	<li>We&rsquo;re going <strong>out</strong> at 7:00 pm tonight.</li>
	<li>When you arrive at the hotel, make sure you <strong>check&nbsp;in</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p>For general adverb practice, try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1626" target="_blank">Adverbs of Manner&nbsp;lesson</a>.</p>

<p><img alt="Example of a preposition and adverb: A girl climbing up the wall and another girl sitting down." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2798/content_Preposition-vs-Adverb.png" /></p>

<h2><a id="tricky"></a>Tricky cases: Is it a preposition or an adverb?</h2>

<p>When it comes to teaching about prepositions and adverbs, it&#39;s also important to be aware of the trickier cases.</p>

<p>What happens when a word appears to have an object, and therefore looks like a preposition, but is actually functioning as an adverb?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tricky cases like this include <strong>phrasal verbs</strong>.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-do-you-teach-phrasal-verbs" target="_blank">Phrasal verbs</a> are two or more words (usually a verb and a preposition) that work together to create a new word with a completely different meaning from the original words.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<p><strong>call </strong>(verb) = to dial someone&rsquo;s phone number</p>

<p><strong>off </strong>(preposition) = from a place or position</p>

<p><strong>call off </strong>(phrasal verb) = to cancel</p>
</div>

<p>When it comes to phrasal verbs, the adverb is defining or describing the <strong>verb</strong>, not the object.</p>

<h3>Examples of phrasal verbs</h3>

<ul>
	<li>He <strong>looked up</strong> her number. (<em>up</em>&nbsp;=&nbsp;adverb)</li>
	<li>The class president <strong>called off</strong> the meeting. (<em>off</em>&nbsp;=&nbsp;adverb)</li>
	<li>You should <strong>check</strong> the schedule <strong>out</strong>. (<em>out</em>&nbsp;=&nbsp;adverb)</li>
</ul>

<h3>How to determine if the term before an object is an adverb</h3>

<p>According to the <a href="https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch05/ch05_sec180.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Chicago Manual of Style</em></a>, a good test for determining whether the term before an object is an adverb is to detach the term + object and see if it makes sense.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They give this example: &ldquo;I looked up his biography.&rdquo; Detaching &ldquo;up his biography&rdquo; doesn&rsquo;t make sense, and therefore &ldquo;up&rdquo; is an <strong>adverb</strong> in this case.</p>

<h3>How to decipher other tricky verb expressions</h3>

<p>What about other <strong>verb expressions</strong> (also called <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/verb-collocations" target="_blank">collocations</a>) like &ldquo;push down&rdquo; (that our customer asked about earlier)?&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can say &ldquo;push down the switch&rdquo; or &ldquo;push the switch down.&rdquo; Is &ldquo;down&rdquo; defining the verb &ldquo;push,&rdquo; or is it part of the prepositional phrase &ldquo;down the switch&rdquo;?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Does <em>Chicago&rsquo;s</em> test help us here?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Is &ldquo;down the stairs&rdquo; in the sentence &ldquo;He ran down the stairs,&rdquo; which is clearly a preposition, similar to &ldquo;down the switch&rdquo; in the sentence &ldquo;He pushed down the switch,&rdquo; and therefore also a preposition?</p>

<p>We can turn to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/down" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary</em></a> for help with these expressions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Under the <strong>adverb</strong> entry for &ldquo;down,&rdquo; they give the following examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>They set the cake <strong>down</strong> on the&nbsp;table.</li>
	<li>Lay <strong>down</strong> your book for a&nbsp;minute.</li>
</ul>

<p>Clearly, <em>Merriam-Webster</em> classifies the terms in these types of verb expressions as <strong>adverbs</strong>, not prepositions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I must admit, I&rsquo;m still a bit puzzled by cases like this.&nbsp;Can we say&nbsp;the rule is that if you&rsquo;re able to move the object, it&rsquo;s always an adverb (as in <em>turn on the light </em>/ <em>turn the light on</em>)? Do you agree that the previous&nbsp;two bullet examples are adverbs, not prepositions?&nbsp;</p>

<p>I&rsquo;ll accept it, but I&rsquo;m not 100% convinced. I don&rsquo;t see a whole lot of difference between &ldquo;go down the stairs&rdquo; (preposition) and &ldquo;lay down your book&rdquo; (adverb).</p>

<h3>Should we teach this to our&nbsp;students?</h3>

<p>In my experience, most textbooks don&rsquo;t get into the difference in parts of speech for words like &quot;down,&quot; &quot;on,&quot; &quot;off,&quot;&nbsp;etc. The many textbooks that I&rsquo;ve seen during my teaching career simply call these terms <strong>prepositions</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I believe that, in general, students are capable of learning and understanding the sentence positions and meanings while grouping these words under the &ldquo;preposition&rdquo; umbrella.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This could be a discussion you could have with higher-level students, but for lower-level students, it would only create unnecessary chaos and confusion.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>What do you think?</h5>

<p>Should we be teaching the difference between prepositions and adverbs to our English language learners? Why or why not? I&rsquo;d love to hear your thoughts on this!</p>
</div>

<h2>Sources</h2>

<ul>
	<li><em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th edition, section&nbsp;5.180.</li>
	<li><em>Collins Cobuild English Grammar</em>, section&nbsp;6.82&ndash;6.87.</li>
	<li><em>Merriam‑Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary</em>, 11th edition, entries such as&nbsp;&ldquo;down.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Editor&#39;s note:&nbsp;This post was originally published in May 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.</em></p>


Preposition or Adverb? How to Tell the Difference

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1417/Tanya_Grammar_Banner.png

<p>Idioms are everywhere in English, from books and movies to conversations and texts.</p>

<p>They can be tricky to learn because these expressions don&rsquo;t literally mean what they say, so it&rsquo;s a good thing that students usually enjoy learning them!</p>

<p>Make it more interesting by teaching idioms related to a certain theme, such as <strong>Halloween</strong>.</p>

<p>Here&#39;s a list of 14 frightfully fun Halloween idioms and expressions to teach your English language learners this spooky season!</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>List of Halloween Idioms &amp; Expressions</h5>

<ol>
	<li><a href="#spill">Spill one&#39;s guts</a></li>
	<li><a href="#scared">Scared stiff</a></li>
	<li><a href="#death">Death trap</a></li>
	<li><a href="#haunt">Come back to haunt someone</a></li>
	<li><a href="#skeleton">Skeleton(s) in one&#39;s closet / skeleton(s) in the cupboard</a></li>
	<li><a href="#blood">Make one&#39;s blood boil</a></li>
	<li><a href="#witch">Witching hour</a></li>
	<li><a href="#ghost">Ghost town</a></li>
	<li><a href="#night">Night owl</a></li>
	<li><a href="#bag">The cat&#39;s out of the bag / let the cat out of the bag</a></li>
	<li><a href="#grave">Dig one&#39;s own grave</a></li>
	<li><a href="#cat">Scaredy-cat</a></li>
	<li><a href="#body">Over one&#39;s&nbsp;dead body</a></li>
	<li><a href="#stab">To stab someone in the back</a></li>
</ol>
</div>

<div>
<h2><a id="spill"></a><img alt="Halloween idioms: skeleton(s) in one's closet, come back to haunt someone, and witching hour." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2790/content_Ellii_Halloween-idioms.png" /></h2>

<h2>1. Spill one&#39;s guts</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> to tell all</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> Okay, <em>spill your guts</em>&mdash;I want to hear whatever it is you&rsquo;ve been hiding from me.</p>

<h2><a id="scared"></a>2. Scared stiff</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> very frightened (so scared that a person can&#39;t move)</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> When I saw the giant spider in my shower this morning, I was <em>scared stiff</em>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a id="death"></a>3. Death trap</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong>&nbsp;a building or other structure that is dangerous</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> That old roller coaster is a <em>death trap</em>. It will collapse one day if they don&#39;t fix it.</p>

<h2><a id="haunt"></a>4. Come back to haunt someone</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> to make a mistake that will affect a person later on</p>

<p><strong>Example: </strong>I skipped school a month ago, and now it&rsquo;s <em>come back to haunt me</em><strong> </strong>because my parents just found out.</p>

<h2><a id="skeleton"></a>5. Skeleton(s) in one&#39;s closet / skeleton(s) in the cupboard</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> an embarrassing secret (or secrets)</p>

<p><strong>Example: </strong>If you decide to become a politician, be aware that reporters will look for <em>skeletons in your closet</em>.</p>

<h2><a id="blood"></a>6. Make one&#39;s blood boil</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> to cause a person to be very angry</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> When my boss ignores me during a meeting, it really <em>makes my blood boil</em>.</p>

<h2><a id="witch"></a>7. Witching hour</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> midnight</p>

<p><strong>Example: </strong>Last Halloween, we stayed up till the <em>witching hour </em>listening to &ldquo;Thriller,&rdquo; the famous song by Michael Jackson.</p>

<h2><a id="ghost"></a>8. Ghost town</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> an area that&rsquo;s empty and devoid of life or activity</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> My hometown becomes a <em>ghost town</em> after 9:00 pm every night. There&rsquo;s nothing to do!</p>

<h2><a id="night"></a>9. Night owl</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> a person who loves staying up late</p>

<p><strong>Example: </strong>My brother is an early bird who likes to study in the morning, but I&rsquo;m a <em>night owl </em>so I always study at night.</p>

<h2><a id="bag"></a>10. The cat&#39;s out of the bag / let the cat out of the bag</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> revealing a surprise that was supposed to stay hidden</p>

<p><strong>Example: </strong>We weren&rsquo;t going to tell anyone we were expecting a baby for three months, but my mom posted it on Facebook, so <em>the cat&rsquo;s out of the bag</em>.</p>

<h2><a id="grave"></a>11. Dig one&#39;s own grave</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> doing something foolish that will cause problems in the future</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> My sister <em>dug her own grave</em> when she decided to cheat on her exams.</p>

<h2><a id="cat"></a>12. Scaredy-cat</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> someone who is easily frightened</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> My friend is a <em>scaredy-cat</em><strong> </strong>when it comes to heights.</p>

<h2><a id="body"></a>13. Over one&#39;s dead body</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> when someone will do everything they can to prevent something from happening</p>

<p><strong>Example:</strong> My husband told me that he wanted us to go cage diving with sharks in Hawaii. I replied, &ldquo;<em>Over my dead body!</em> I&rsquo;m way too scared of sharks!&rdquo;</p>

<h2><a id="stab"></a>14. To stab someone in the back</h2>

<p><strong>Meaning:</strong> to betray someone</p>

<p><strong>Example: </strong>I haven&rsquo;t spoken to him since he <em>stabbed me in the back</em> when he told my secret to the whole class.</p>

<p>Click the image below to <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/blog_printable/Ellii_14-Halloween-Idioms-and-Expressions.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">print</a> our Halloween idioms and expressions cheat sheet!&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/blog_printable/Ellii_14-Halloween-Idioms-and-Expressions.pdf"><img alt="Halloween idioms cheat sheet with 14 Halloween expressions." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2792/content_Ellii_14-Halloween-Idioms-and-Expressions.png" /></a></p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Now it&#39;s your turn!</h5>

<p>Are there any other fun Halloween idioms or expressions that we missed? Let us know in the comments below. Happy Halloween!</p>
</div>

<h2>Related materials</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/visual-learning/3131-halloween-idioms" target="_blank">Halloween Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/46" target="_blank">Halloween Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1861" target="_blank">Halloween Lesson: Low Int</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1860" target="_blank">Halloween Lesson: Int &ndash; High Int</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2142" target="_blank">Earth Day Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2146/" target="_blank">Lucky Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2147" target="_blank">Spring &amp; Easter Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2145" target="_blank">Love Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2148" target="_blank">Eye Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3122" target="_blank">Family Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/8-ways-to-practice-idioms-in-class/" target="_blank">8 Ways to Practice&nbsp;Idioms in&nbsp;Class</a></li>
</ul>

<p><em>Editor&#39;s note: This post was updated on October 19, 2022, to include even more spooky idioms and expressions.</em></p>
</div>


14 Halloween Idioms & Expressions

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1524/Tanya_10-Halloween-Idioms-and-Expressions_Banner.png

<p>As well as an English language teacher and author, I am also a graphic facilitator.</p>

<p>In this post, I&rsquo;d like to share with you the basics of graphic facilitation and why it&rsquo;s such a fabulous teaching technique.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="#graphic">What is graphic facilitation?</a></li>
	<li><a href="#benefits">The benefits of graphic facilitation in the language classroom</a></li>
	<li><a href="#start">How to get started in graphic facilitation</a></li>
	<li><a href="#tools">Use graphic facilitation tools to create fun activities</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><a id="graphic"></a>What is graphic facilitation?</h2>

<p><strong>Graphic facilitation</strong>&nbsp;or visual facilitation is the use of simple, hand-drawn&nbsp;visuals to support groups and individuals toward a shared goal. The drawings are based around international iconography and are considered a form of visual communication rather than art.</p>

<p>The process is guided by a <strong>graphic facilitator</strong>&nbsp;who will create <strong>visual templates</strong> and tools to inspire and focus thinking. They may also add information and support the participants by drawing simple graphics throughout the session.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Visual templates</h5>

<p>The visual template is the mother of all graphic facilitation tools. It&rsquo;s most similar to a graphic organizer&nbsp;in that it provides a visual&nbsp;with space to add thoughts and ideas. Visual templates are often based on metaphors. For example, a road map can convey a journey or movement toward a goal.</p>
</div>

<p>In a business context, graphic facilitation&nbsp;is widely used in meetings, idea-generation sessions, and strategic planning. It has its roots in design industries, such as engineering and architecture.</p>

<h2><a id="benefits"></a>The benefits of graphic facilitation in the language classroom</h2>

<p>Graphic facilitation is a visual methodology which benefits English language learners in many ways. I&rsquo;ve been using it for a number of years now and can confidently say it&rsquo;s my teaching superpower.</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-bf984f9f-7fff-fe6d-3315-98c5ea172abf"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2773/content_Emily-Bryson-ELT-benefits-of-graphic-facilitation.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s ELT benefits of graphic facilitation sketchnote.</p>

<p>Here are a few ways that&nbsp;graphic facilitation benefits language learners and teachers:</p>

<h3>Develops many different skills</h3>

<p>Images and diagrams have been used for centuries when it comes to communication and language learning. A simple visual can <strong>convey meaning</strong>, <strong>start a discussion</strong>, and <strong>spark ideas</strong>. The ability to draw these visuals quickly can add a hint of magic to the classroom. It also helps learners (and teachers) <strong>get creative</strong>, <strong>develop critical thinking skills</strong>, and <strong>relax</strong>.</p>

<h3>Supports students&#39; memory and vocabulary recall</h3>

<p>Moreover, pictures support memory. Learners are more likely to remember new vocabulary and concepts if they have a visual marker, and even more so if they draw it too.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://hsredesign.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Impact-of-drawing-on-memory.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">A study by Wammes and Meade</a> found that <strong>drawing a list of vocabulary was more effective</strong> as a mnemonic strategy than simply writing it.</p>

<h3>Better for neurodiverse learners</h3>

<p>Using visual facilitation strategies is beneficial to neurodiverse learners.</p>

<p>Learners with ADHD may appreciate the opportunity to interact with content in a multisensory way&nbsp;and to take visual notes during class. Likewise, learners with dyslexia may benefit from the <strong>reduction in processing load</strong> that a visual template or sketchnote provides.</p>

<h1><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2778/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_sketchnote.jpg" /></h1>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s sketchnote from CEO Ben Buckwold&#39;s Welcome Session at #ElliiCon2022: Simplicity in ELT.</p>

<h3>Saves teachers prep time</h3>

<p>From a teacher&rsquo;s perspective, learning a selection of graphic facilitation activities can <strong>reduce preparation time</strong> and save the day if technology fails. Creating your own visuals removes the need to trawl the internet for copyright-free images and allows each template to be tailored exactly to learners&rsquo; needs.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;re feeling a slump in your teaching spark, graphic facilitation can put the spring back in your step. It certainly did for mine!</p>

<h2><a id="start"></a>How to get started with graphic facilitation</h2>

<p>Graphic facilitation is versatile. There are many ways you can use it in class or online.</p>

<h3>Whiteboards</h3>

<p>The mighty whiteboard wins the teaching resource prize again! Use it to draw a visual template (e.g., <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-end-of-term-activities-for-students" target="_blank">a road map</a>) and ask students to add their ideas with whiteboard markers or sticky notes. You could ask students to copy the visual into their notebooks and add their ideas there&nbsp;too.</p>

<h3>Flipcharts</h3>

<p>You can use a flipchart in a similar way to a whiteboard. The bonus is that you can keep and reuse any visuals that you create. You can also hang them up around the room&nbsp;or pass them around different groups or tables.</p>

<h3>Visualizers</h3>

<p>A visualizer is a document camera which can be used both face-to-face and online. You can connect it to your computer and use it to project your notebook or a piece of paper onto the wall or via video conferencing software.</p>

<h3>Scanning apps</h3>

<p>Scanning apps are great if you want to prepare your visuals before class. You can draw your visual template or icons and&nbsp;then scan them using your phone.</p>

<p>Use interactive whiteboard software such as <a href="https://support.google.com/jamboard/answer/7424836?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jamboard</a>, <a href="https://miro.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Miro</a>, or <a href="https://www.mural.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Mural</a> to display the images during an online session. Students can add their own text, icons, or virtual sticky notes.</p>

<h3>Drawing tablet</h3>

<p>If you have a tablet or laptop with drawing software (e.g., <a href="https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/fresco.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Adobe Fresco</a> or <a href="https://procreate.art/ipad" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Procreate</a>), you can have a lot of fun. Connect it to your&nbsp;computer to share the visuals. You can draw live and use it as a whiteboard in an online class.</p>

<h2><a id="tools"></a>Use these graphic facilitation tools to create fun activities</h2>

<p>These graphic facilitation tools are a great way to create engaging activities that will help&nbsp;learners improve their vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking skills.</p>

<h3>Visual templates</h3>

<p>The visual template is one of the most popular&nbsp;graphic facilitation tools out there. It&rsquo;s most similar to a graphic organizer, in that it provides a visual&nbsp;with space to add thoughts and ideas.</p>

<p>Visual templates&nbsp;can&nbsp;offer structure, framework, and support in leading language learners toward&nbsp;a specific goal. They&#39;re&nbsp;also&nbsp;often based on metaphors (e.g.,&nbsp;a road map can convey a journey or movement toward a goal).</p>

<p>Here are&nbsp;two activity examples to try:</p>

<h4>1. <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being" target="_blank">Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel&nbsp;</a></h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-b6ad6561-7fff-8506-aefc-c6380c30ff07"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2774/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_inner-troll-vs-inner-angel.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel graphic facilitation activity.</p>

<h4>2. <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/3-end-of-term-activities-for-students" target="_blank">Road Map Reflection</a>&nbsp;</h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-890f0f3d-7fff-b569-2966-6e17462a0d9d"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2775/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_roadmap.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s visual template for her Road Map Reflection activity.</p>

<h3>Visual prompts and&nbsp;support</h3>

<p>Graphic facilitation is based around drawing simple icons. Ellii has loads of digital versions of these all over their website.</p>

<p>Here are two&nbsp;examples of ways you can add a graphic facilitation spin to Ellii content:</p>

<h4>1. <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/3-tips-for-using-flashcards-no-prep-required" target="_blank">3 Tips for Using Flashcards with Zero Prep Work</a></h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-7244210e-7fff-d0b8-66ac-d8d090d99d09"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2776/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_Using-Flashcards-No-Prep-Required.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson shows how simple drawings and icons can help build student vocabulary.</p>

<h4>2.&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-pictures-as-grammar-prompts" target="_blank">How to Use Pictures as Grammar Prompts</a></h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-77e00e67-7fff-f0a6-8443-fa41d8db5bad"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2777/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_picture-prompt.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">How Emily Bryson uses simple drawings as grammar prompts.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;d like to know more about Graphic Facilitation for ELT professionals, make sure to check out my&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PMwYXdlx_s" target="_blank">Elliicon2022 conference session recording</a>.</p>

<p>You can also find more ideas, online courses, and a free e-book on my&nbsp;<a href="http://www.emilybrysonelt.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts!</h5>

<p>Have you ever experienced or used graphic facilitation before? What are some graphic facilitation tools or visual communication techniques you&#39;d like to learn more about? We&rsquo;d love to hear your thoughts.</p>
</div>


Graphic Facilitation 101: Teaching English through Visual Communication

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2270/Emily_Graphic-facilitation-101_Banner.png

<p>At Ellii, our mission is to connect the world through language. We strive to meet our mission through our vision: by building a teaching platform that&rsquo;s used and loved in every language classroom around the world.</p>

<p>That&rsquo;s why we publish content with all types of teachers, students, and classes in mind.</p>

<p><strong>Ellii is a library of resources for everyone</strong>. We take pride in creating a wide variety of lessons that are engaging and that boost reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills for learners of all ages, levels, and needs.</p>

<p>Some teachers prefer to keep topics light in the classroom. From <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/1231-extreme-sports" target="_blank">Extreme Sports</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/1228-fashion-trends" target="_blank">Fashion Trends</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/4303-culture-shock" target="_blank">Culture Shock</a>, and more, we have plenty of lessons on fun and practical topics that you can choose from.</p>

<p>Some students, however, are really interested in social and political issues, and their instructors want to teach lessons on those topics to engage them. That&rsquo;s why we also create lessons that textbooks and other publications tend to avoid or may not want to produce educational content about.</p>

<p>For 20 years, Ellii has been a leader in the language teaching industry, publishing timely lessons based on current events that foster discussion and spark meaningful conversations while simultaneously meeting language targets. From lessons on <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/social-justice" target="_blank">Social Justice</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/the-environment" target="_blank">The Environment</a> to <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/politics-government" target="_blank">Politics &amp; Government</a> and more, our thought-provoking teaching materials reflect real-world issues, get your students talking, and most importantly, teach learners how to express their own opinions in English.</p>

<p>As a content and language learning company, we value the power of words and believe it&rsquo;s important to empower our language learners to develop the skills to be able to have discussions and express their opinions. That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ll continue to create lessons on sensitive topics.</p>

<p>Our library of teaching materials constantly gets updated with brand-new content every day. There are <a href="https://ellii.com/tour/lessons" target="_blank">more than 2,000 ready-made lessons</a> currently available on our platform. <strong>We encourage you to choose whatever content is right for your students and your classroom.</strong></p>

<p>Whatever lessons you decide to teach, we thank you for choosing Ellii and are thrilled that you&rsquo;re a part of our global community of educators.</p>


Ellii Lesson Topics: There’s Something for Everyone

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2273/Ben_Lessons_Banner.png

<p>Watching movies or TV is one of the most popular hobbies in the world. It&rsquo;s no surprise that students love to learn this way too.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Video is&nbsp;an excellent teaching tool and benefits English learners in many ways.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For starters, <strong>video is instantly engaging</strong>.</p>

<p>No matter your learners&rsquo; age or ability, using videos in class is a great way to <strong>keep their attention</strong> and <strong>make them more receptive to upcoming lesson activities</strong>.</p>

<p>Another big advantage of using videos in class&nbsp;is that they <strong>provide additional visual context </strong>your students wouldn&#39;t otherwise get through reading or listening.</p>

<p>Ready to start incorporating videos into your lessons? Here are four simple ways you can use videos to teach English more effectively in class.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>1. Play the video silently</h2>

<p>Playing the video silently is&nbsp;a fun way to introduce students to the topic, activate schemata, and get them thinking critically about the content.</p>

<p>As they watch, ask them to consider a question.</p>

<h3>For example:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>What happens?</li>
	<li>Who is in the video?</li>
	<li>Where is it?</li>
	<li>What are the people saying?</li>
	<li>What are they wearing?</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Read aloud</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/dialogues" target="_blank">Ellii dialogue videos</a> are a great way to support learners with all four skills. The visuals support their understanding, while the audio and closed captions provide listening and reading practice. Students can listen and repeat after a paused video or read the text aloud as they watch.</p>

<p class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/551974787" width="640"></iframe></p>

<p class="caption">Video not playing? Your school might be blocking Vimeo, our video hosting platform. Please ask your administrator to whitelist <a href="https://vimeo.com/" nofollow="" noreferrer="" rel="&quot;noopener" target="&quot;_blank&quot;">vimeo.com</a>.</p>

<p>Once students have gained confidence, they can role-play the dialogues in pairs or small groups.</p>

<p>Additional practice and support can be found in the lesson PDF&nbsp;and interactive digital tasks.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3124/content_Screen_Shot_2023-04-06_at_3.19.24_PM.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Pause the video</h2>

<p>Pausing the video is a&nbsp;technique that can be used in a number of ways:</p>

<h3>Before watching</h3>

<p>Watch the video silently and pause it at key scenes or show the same sections as screenshots. Ask students to describe what they see.</p>

<p>This is a good way to <strong>pre-teach vocabulary</strong> or <strong>generate discussion</strong> on predicted content.</p>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label hangingLabel">Related video</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/video/going-shopping-beg"><img alt="a person shopping" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2769/content_76_Going-Shopping.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/video/going-shopping-beg" target="_blank">Going Shopping</a></h2>

<p>In this video, students learn how to ask to try on clothing in a store. They also learn to describe how something fits and how to ask for a different size.</p>
</div>

<h3>During watching</h3>

<p>Pause the video at selected points and ask questions. This ensures that students have <strong>understood</strong> the video so far. It also offers additional<strong> speaking practice</strong>.</p>

<p>You could also ask students what they think might happen next&nbsp;before they resume watching.</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-3611de2c-7fff-827c-9027-87fcb0e24f9a"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2772/content_video.jpg" /></b></p>

<h3>After watching</h3>

<p>Pause the video at key scenes and ask students to <strong>summarize</strong> what the voiceover said. They could do this orally or by taking notes.</p>

<p>This gives students an opportunity to <strong>share their understanding</strong>.</p>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label hangingLabel">Related video</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/video/climate-change-int-high-int"><img alt="a polar bear" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2770/content_72_Climate-Change.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/video/climate-change-int-high-int" target="_blank">Climate Change</a></h2>

<p>Students watch a video&nbsp;about how global warming is affecting the world.&nbsp;</p>
</div>

<h2>4. Rewrite the video</h2>

<p>Rewriting the video can generate a lot of laughter!&nbsp;Students watch the video with the sound off and create their own voiceovers or dialogues.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You could give each student, pair, or group a different video to watch and ask them to present the new version of the video live. This is an engaging&nbsp;way for students to <strong>practice their English writing and speaking skills</strong>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>You can now find all our videos (130+) in our new <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos" target="_blank">Media Gallery</a>.</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Related materials</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/selfie-videos-ell" target="_blank">Teaching English with Selfie Videos</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-american-dream" target="_blank">The American Dream: Video Challenge</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s YouTube Channels</h2>

<p>You may want to tell your students about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ellii">Ellii&#39;s YouTube channel for students</a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ellii">youtube.com/@ellii</a>) and encourage them to subscribe if they want self-study videos on grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, reading, dialogues, etc. (that you could also share in class).</p>

<p>Ellii also has a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers">YouTube channel just for teachers</a> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers">youtube.com/@elliiteachers</a>) with demo videos of <a href="https://ellii.com/discover">ellii.com</a>&#39;s features.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4I3tmCtS4qA" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts!</h5>

<p>Have you tried any of these ideas? How do you use videos in class? We&rsquo;d love to hear from you!</p>
</div>


Recent Posts