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

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Starter courses for each level with a suggested teaching order from the ESL Library publishing team.

Courses

<h1>Learning Objectives</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Review <strong>parts of speech</strong>&nbsp;and <strong>adverbs of frequency</strong>.</li>
	<li>Learn <strong>possessive adjectives &amp; pronouns</strong>.</li>
	<li>Study <strong>the simple past</strong> and <strong>the simple future</strong> tenses.</li>
	<li>Learn <strong>academic vocabulary</strong>&nbsp;and practice using a dictionary.</li>
	<li>Practice common&nbsp;<strong>pronunciation </strong>problems.</li>
	<li>Read short biographies on famous people.</li>
	<li>Write simple sentences and begin building paragraphs.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Teachers&rsquo; Notes</h1>

<p>Log in to Ellii and go to Folders (in the Class Prep drop-down&nbsp;menu).&nbsp;Toggle to Ellii Folders. Near the top of the&nbsp;Ellii Folders section, you will find a&nbsp;starter course&nbsp;of lessons and resources suitable for teaching low-intermediate&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published/68404">middle-school</a>&nbsp;ELs.</p>

<h2>Introductory Resources</h2>

<p>At the beginning of the course, you will find a few introductory resources:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teachers-notes-for-mini-course-1-middle-school">Teachers&#39; Notes</a> (this post)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/106/resources/2209">Class List</a> (printable)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/106/resources/2208">Attendance Sheet</a> (printable)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2557">3-2-1 Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2173">Vocabulary Word Bank</a>&nbsp;(for students to record new vocabulary)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Course Content</h2>

<p>Following the introductory resources, you will find a list of suggested materials. This list is just a guideline for teachers who need help getting started for the first time with students in this age group. You can adapt the order and content based on your students&rsquo; needs and the length of your&nbsp;course. These materials are in a suggested order, but you do not need to follow this order exactly or use all of these lessons.</p>

<p>Be sure to adapt ready-made courses to meet the level and needs of your students. Choose additional or alternative lessons from the suggested sections below (under the More Content heading). When looking for additional materials to teach for this age group, you will likely only use the level filters marked Low Int and Int.&nbsp;Here is an <a href="https://ellii.com/equivalencies">Equivalency Scale</a> that may be useful.</p>

<p>For this age group and level, your students will still benefit from using flashcards from the <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres" target="_blank">Flashcard Library</a>. We&#39;ve included some ready-made sets for you in the folder. You can also create and broadcast your own digital flashcard sets using our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Flashcard Player</a>. Edit the text to increase difficulty.</p>

<p>Some of the suggested lessons have digital tasks so that you can teach your students online or assign digital homework. If you need help using the digital platform, visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools" target="_blank">Help&nbsp;Docs</a>.</p>

<p>If you are only able to teach online at this time and you want to use a lesson that is currently only available as a PDF, you can download the Student PDF and email it to your student(s) or you can open it on a shared screen while you teach an online&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<h2>Assessment</h2>

<p>You will find three digital assessments in this course. These assessments will help you understand which targets and themes your students are grasping and which ones they may need more work on.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4551-middle-school-assessment-a">Assessment A</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4558-middle-school-assessment-b">Assessment B</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4559-middle-school-assessment-c">Assessment C</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>More Content for Middle School</h1>

<p>You can build additional courses for this age and level using the following suggestions:</p>

<p><strong>Language Targets:&nbsp;</strong>basic subject verb agreement, modals of ability, more prepositions, quantifiers, adverbs of frequency, more advanced articles (definite and indefinite), present progressive, simple present vs. present progressive, past progressive, count vs. non-count nouns, possessive nouns, adverbs of manner</p>

<p><strong>Functions: </strong>ask for help, ask for and offer more information, follow instructions, sequencing, describe experiences, use&nbsp;technology</p>

<p><strong>Themes:</strong>&nbsp;holidays and events, famous people, places, and things, science and technology</p>

<h1>More Sections</h1>

<p>Here are some suggested Ellii&nbsp;sections for teaching middle school. We ask that you always preview the content for age appropriateness.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons" target="_blank">Fun Grammar Lessons</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons" target="_blank">Basic Grammar Sentences</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons" target="_blank">True Grammar Stories</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Stories</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/83/lessons" target="_blank">Easy Readers</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/117/lessons" target="_blank">Discovery</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a>&nbsp;(use Low Int &amp; please check age-appropriateness)</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Events</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;(use Low Int &amp; please check age-appropriateness)</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons" target="_blank">Functional English</a>&nbsp;(please check age-appropriateness)</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons">Pronunciation</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres" target="_blank">Flashcards</a></li>
</ul>


Teachers' Notes for Academic 4-Skills Course 3: High Beg – Low Int (Middle School)

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<h1>Learning Objectives</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Review&nbsp;the <strong>simple</strong>&nbsp;tenses.</li>
	<li>Learn&nbsp;<strong>present perfect </strong>and<strong> present perfect progressive</strong>.</li>
	<li>Learn and review&nbsp;<strong>academic vocabulary</strong>.<strong> </strong>Themes<strong> </strong>include<strong> </strong><em>sports</em>, <em>athletes</em>, and <em>modern health issues</em>.*</li>
	<li>Practice common&nbsp;<strong>pronunciation </strong>problems.</li>
	<li>Begin reading longer,&nbsp;intermediate-level content.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Begin writing&nbsp;compound sentences and basic paragraphs.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Review the proper use of&nbsp;<strong>commas</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Teachers&rsquo; Notes</h1>

<p>Log in to Ellii and go to Folders (in the Class Prep drop-down&nbsp;menu). Toggle to Ellii Folders. Near the top of the&nbsp;Ellii Folders section, you will find a&nbsp;starter course&nbsp;of lessons and resources suitable for teaching intermediate-level&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published/68410">high school</a>&nbsp;ELs.</p>

<h2>Introductory Resources</h2>

<p>At the beginning of the course, you will find a few introductory resources:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teachers-notes-for-mini-course-1-high-school">Teachers&#39; Notes</a> (this post)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/106/resources/2209">Class List</a> (printable)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/106/resources/2208">Attendance Sheet</a> (printable)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2966">Vocabulary Cards</a> (for students to record new vocabulary)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Course Content</h2>

<p>Following the introductory resources, you will find a list of suggested materials. This list is just a guideline for teachers who need help getting started for the first time with students in this age group. You can adapt the order and content based on your students&rsquo; needs and the length of your&nbsp;course. These materials are in a suggested order, but you do not need to follow this order exactly or use all of these lessons.</p>

<p>Be sure to adapt ready-made courses to meet the level and needs of your students. Choose additional or alternative lessons from the suggested sections below (under the More Content heading). When looking for additional materials to teach for this age group, you will likely only use the level filters marked Int and High Int.&nbsp;Here is an <a href="https://ellii.com/equivalencies">Equivalency Scale</a> that may be useful.</p>

<p>Some of the suggested lessons have digital tasks so that you can teach your students online or assign digital homework. If you need help using the digital platform, visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools" target="_blank">Help&nbsp;Docs</a>.</p>

<p>If you are only able to teach online at this time and you want to use a lesson that is currently only available as a PDF, you can download the Student PDF and email it to your student(s) or you can open it on a shared screen while you teach an online&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<h2>Assessment</h2>

<p>You will find three digital assessments in this course. These assessments will help you understand which targets and themes your students are grasping and which ones they may need more work on.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4562-high-school-assessment-a">Assessment A</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4563-high-school-assessment-b">Assessment B</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4577-high-school-assessment-c">Assessment C</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>More Content for High School</h1>

<p>*Note that the theme of this course may not be suitable for what&nbsp;you need for your own students. You can build additional courses using the following suggestions:</p>

<p><strong>Language Targets:&nbsp;</strong>gerunds and infinitives, advanced pronouns (reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, demonstrative adjectives, demonstrative pronouns, and relative pronouns), advanced adjectives and&nbsp;adverbs, modals (advice,&nbsp;possibility, and necessity), first and&nbsp;second conditionals, tag questions, future progressive</p>

<p><strong>Functions: </strong>express an opinion, make a complaint, state preferences, make excuses, write compound sentences, write simple pagraphs, learn parts of an essay</p>

<p><strong>Themes:</strong>&nbsp;holidays and&nbsp;events, sports, history, music, science and technology, ethics, literature</p>

<h2>Sections</h2>

<p>Here are some suggested&nbsp;Ellii sections for teaching high school.&nbsp;</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons">Reading in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons">Writing in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People </a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons">Famous Places</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons">Famous Things</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons">American Presidents</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/97/lessons">Sports &amp; Leisure</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons">Historic Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Events (Low Int)</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons" target="_blank">Functional English</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons">Everyday Dialogues</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/96/lessons">Role-Plays</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons">Health Matters</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons">Mini-Debates</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons">Pronunciation</a></li>
</ul>


Teachers' Notes for Academic 4-Skills Course 4: Int (High School)

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<p>This month we&rsquo;ve spent some time doing a bit of rearranging! You&rsquo;ll notice that our Young Learners &amp; Adult Literacy content has moved closer to the top of our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons">main index</a> to make it easier to find. We&rsquo;ve also separated our Phonics &amp; Pronunciation section into three parts: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons">Phonics</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons">Pronunciation</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/131/lessons">Phonics Stories</a>. Finally, we&#39;ve opened a new section called <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/132/lessons">Picture Stories</a>&nbsp;and moved some&nbsp;older worksheets to a resource section called&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/126/resources">Young Learner Activities</a> (100&nbsp;resources).</p>

<p>In addition to all of this housekeeping, we&rsquo;ve been digitizing content, preparing British English printable and audio versions, and developing new content, including this mid-month release about <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/117/lessons/3391">Fall Foliage</a>. Here are some more upcoming materials to watch&nbsp;for.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3393"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/127_Distinguishing-Fact-from-Opinion.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3393">Distinguishing Fact from Opinion</a></h2>

<p>In this new lesson from our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons">Reading in English</a>&nbsp;section, students will learn to identify facts and opinions while reading many different types of&nbsp;reviews.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3392"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/93_Black-Friday.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3392">Black Friday</a></h2>

<p>We&#39;re adding a low-intermediate version of our popular <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a> lesson about this American Thanksgiving tradition. Black Friday might be a little less crazy this year!</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/3394"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/123_Prepositions.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/3394">Prepositions of Place</a></h2>

<p>Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons">Super Simple Grammar</a> section continues to grow and has been fully digitized. This upcoming lesson will help your beginners practice using common prepositions.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons/3395"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/130_o.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons/3395">/o/</a></h2>

<p>Our new&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons">Pronunciation</a> section will soon have another new lesson: the long O&nbsp;sound! Leave us a comment to let us know what&nbsp;other pronunciation lessons you would like to&nbsp;see.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label revisedLabel hangingLabel">Revised</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/2237"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/81_White-House.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/2237">The White House</a></h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3381">Election Day</a> is almost here. Who will be living in the White House next year? We&rsquo;re fixing up the vocabulary review exercise&nbsp;in this&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons">Famous Places</a> lesson based on a student&nbsp;request!</p>
</div>

<h1>Videos</h1>

<p>Our video department is putting the finishing touches on a new Halloween-themed video lesson. Watch for <em>The Scaredy Cat</em> popping up in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a> section any day&nbsp;now.</p>


Coming in November

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<p>Do your students enjoy studying English while also learning and talking about current events? Are you looking for content that you can use in your multi-level classes? Would your advanced learners benefit from using authentic materials to expand their&nbsp;vocabulary and speaking skills?</p>

<p>Try ESL Library&#39;s new pilot section,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons">English with the Washington Post</a>.</p>

<h2>English with The Washington Post&nbsp;</h2>

<p>This pilot section currently houses three&nbsp;digital-only reading lessons and one&nbsp;video lesson. The&nbsp;reading lessons&nbsp;(low-intermediate, intermediate, and advanced) focus on the issue of the digital divide, a problem that has been highlighted by&nbsp;the closure of traditional schools during the coronavirus pandemic.</p>

<p>While the advanced version of <strong>The Digital Divide</strong> centers around an&nbsp;authentic article from The Washington Post, the low-intermediate and intermediate lessons feature graded versions of the reading&nbsp;(modified with permission). We also have a video lesson featuring a Washington Post documentary&nbsp;about a coronavirus experiment at a concert venue in Germany.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Lessons</h2>

<ol>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons/3388">The Digital Divide (Low Int)</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons/3387">The Digital Divide (Int)</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons/3386">The Digital Divide (Adv)</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons/3389">Video: A Coronavirus Experiment</a></li>
</ol>

<h2>Task Types</h2>

<p>Each lesson contains the following five&nbsp;digital tasks:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Vocabulary Preview A&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Vocabulary Preview B&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Reading or Video</li>
	<li>Comprehension&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Discussion or Writing&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Assign and/or Broadcast</h2>

<p>You can <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">assign</a>* these digital lessons to your students for homework and/or <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/200-how-to-broadcast-tasks">broadcast</a> the content in an online or traditional class. You could also try a blended-learning approach:&nbsp;Assign the pre-tasks&nbsp;for homework, read/watch the articles/video in class, and use the follow-up tasks for review or assessment.&nbsp;We hope these relevant topics and interactive task types keep your students engaged at all levels.</p>

<p>*Note that the readings and video are currently assignable for both Standard and Plus subscribers. Additional tasks are assignable for Plus subscribers only. All subscribers have access to the Task Player to broadcast all lessons and tasks. Not a member?&nbsp;Learn more about our <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">Pricing</a>&nbsp;plans.</p>

<h2>Survey</h2>

<p>After you try a lesson from this pilot section, please take our <a href="https://esllibrarysurvey.typeform.com/to/wLbsIXYf">mini-survey</a>. Your feedback will help us understand the level of interest ESL Library teachers and students have&nbsp;in weekly current events lessons like these.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Please note:</strong>&nbsp;As this is a pilot section, the lesson content in <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons">English with The Washington Post</a> may be removed on short notice.&nbsp;</p>


English with The Washington Post 

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

Articles

<p>As the United States celebrates <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3390">National Hispanic Heritage Month</a> (September 15&ndash;October 15), we here at ESL Library thought it would be a good time to reflect on the term &quot;Hispanic.&quot; Approximately&nbsp;60 million Hispanic people live in the US, making them the&nbsp;largest minority group in the country, yet many people are unsure&nbsp;who falls into this category.</p>

<p>Since first appearing on the US Census in 1970, the term &quot;Hispanic&quot;&nbsp;has been in common usage in the United States.&nbsp;The word &quot;Hispanic&quot; derives from the Latin &quot;Hispanicus.&quot; &quot;Hispanicus&quot; was used during the Roman Empire to refer to people living in Hispania, which is now known as the Iberian Peninsula and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.</p>

<p>Nowadays, &quot;Hispanic&quot; is generally used to describe native Spanish speakers or descendants of Spanish speakers who live in the United States. (Rarely are people outside of the US referred to as Hispanic even though they may live in a Spanish-speaking country and be a native Spanish speaker.) The term is often thought to denote race, but the people who make up the Hispanic population can belong to any racial group, including white, Black, Indigenous, and Asian. As such, the term &quot;Hispanic&quot; should perhaps be considered an <em>ethnonym</em>, meaning that it applies to an ethnic group;&nbsp;however, this terminology&nbsp;is also problematic since it only pertains to one element of ethnicity&mdash;language.</p>

<p>Hispanics come from&nbsp;a large number of countries and diverse cultural backgrounds.&nbsp;Thus, it is not surprising that members of this population do not always see themselves as fitting into this broad category. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2011, only 24% of the Hispanic population identified with this term. On the other hand, 51% preferred to be identified with their country of origin. This is perhaps to be expected, given that the term &quot;Hispanic&quot; is generally used only in the US&nbsp;and not in immigrants&#39; native countries.</p>

<p>The term &quot;Hispanic&quot; is often used interchangeably with &quot;Latino.&quot; In fact, since 2010, they have appeared in tandem on the US Census. While there is some overlap between the two, &quot;Latino&quot; is mainly a geographic term that refers to anyone from a Latin American country colonized by Spain, Portugal, or France.</p>

<p>Admittedly, all of this can get a bit confusing. After all, someone from Spain is Hispanic, but not Latino; someone from Brazil is Latino, but not Hispanic; and someone from Venezuela is both Hispanic and Latino.</p>

<p>Are you or is someone you know from a Spanish-speaking country? Does the term &quot;Hispanic&quot; resonate with you? We would welcome your comments.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Defining "Hispanic"

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<p>School is in session for most of our subscribers now, and we&rsquo;re back to filling requests and making adjustments to our materials based on teacher feedback. We&rsquo;re so grateful to everyone who takes the time to write or call in. In addition to lots of new video content, we&rsquo;re working on some materials that will help our American subscribers teach their students about election season. Here are a few items that are currently in&nbsp;progress.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3381"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/93_Election-Day-US.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3381">Election Day (US)</a></h2>

<p>In this upcoming lesson from <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a>, students will learn about the tricky concept of the Electoral College and the two main parties in the US. Students will also discuss opinions about mail‑in&nbsp;voting.</p>
</div>

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<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/3380"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/118_uh.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/3380">/ʊ/</a></h2>

<p>In this new lesson from <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/118/lessons">Phonics &amp; Pronunciation</a>, students will learn a fourth sound related to the letter&nbsp;u. For related lessons, visit our pronunciation&nbsp;section.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label revisedLabel hangingLabel">Revised</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1886"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/93_Black-History-Month.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1886">Black History Month</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;re making some important updates to our Black History Month lesson from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a> section. The new version will also have an updated audio&nbsp;recording.</p>
</div>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3382"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/128_Reading-School-Letters.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3382">Reading School Letters</a></h2>

<p>We&#39;re working on a new resource for parents of school-aged kids in our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories">Real-World Reading</a>&nbsp;section.&nbsp;Parents&nbsp;will practice reading letters that their students bring home from&nbsp;school.</p>
</div>

<h1>Videos &amp; Flashcards</h1>

<p>In addition to printable and digital lessons, we&rsquo;re also working on new video content to go with our Mozart lesson and our upcoming Election Day&nbsp;(US) lesson. We&rsquo;re also adding a Picture Dictionary task (digital flashcards) to all of our pronunciation lessons. Stay&nbsp;tuned!</p>


Coming in October 2020

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

Teaching with Ellii

<p>This quick intro offers a comprehensive overview of the main features you get with your ESL&nbsp;Library subscription. This tour is for new ESL&nbsp;Library members as well as teachers and administrators who are interested in learning more about what we&nbsp;offer.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GlrA1efMOnQ" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>For short videos on individual features of the site, please choose from our&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/">Help Docs</a>. If your school or organization is interested in a live demo (in‑house or as a webinar), please <a href="https://ellii.com/contact">contact us</a> for details. To view our different subscription plans, please visit our <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">pricing</a>&nbsp;page.</p>


Intro to ESL Library

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<p>Our back-to-school to-do list is all about getting as much digital content up as we can as many students and teachers head back to online (or hybrid) school. We&rsquo;ve also been filling requests for new content and making improvements based on teacher feedback. Here are some items the publishing team is working on right&nbsp;now!</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/3367"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/123_Yes-No-Questions-with-Be.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/3367">Yes/No Questions with&nbsp;Be</a></h2>

<p>In this new lesson from <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons">Super Simple Grammar</a>, students will practice forming yes/no questions in the simple present tense with the Be verb using subject pronouns and&nbsp;nouns.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3368"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/72_School-Uniforms.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3368">School Uniforms</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;re continuing to add low-level versions of our most popular <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a> topics. Watch for a new low-intermediate lesson where students learn about and discuss the pros and cons of wearing uniforms to&nbsp;school.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label revisedLabel hangingLabel">Revised</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/1466"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/98_September-11.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/1466">September 11</a></h2>

<p>This important lesson from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons">Historic Events</a> section will have a new look and feel in time for the 9/11&nbsp;anniversary.</p>
</div>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3369"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/128_Menus.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3369">Menus</a></h2>

<p>In this new resource from <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources">Real-World Reading</a>, students will practice reading a variety of&nbsp;food menus. We have a related flashcard set coming soon&nbsp;too.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label revisedLabel hangingLabel">Revised</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3313"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/128_Job-Ads.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3313">Job Ads</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;re working on a few updates to our Job Ads resource from <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources">Real-World&nbsp;Reading</a>.</p>
</div>

<h1>Videos &amp; Quizzes</h1>

<p>Are you enjoying our new <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-videos-on-esl-library">grammar videos</a>? We&rsquo;re putting the finishing touches on our video about the simple future tense. You&rsquo;ll soon find it in the Grammar Practice Workhseets lesson on the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1596">Simple Future</a>. We&rsquo;re also working on some new paper-based quizzes and digital assessment tasks to go with our throwback series <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/77/lessons"><em>Everyday Idioms&nbsp;1</em></a>.</p>


Coming in September 2020

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


True Grammar Stories: Designed for Blended Learning

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<p>Hello students,&nbsp;</p>

<p>Some teachers have asked us for a cheat sheet on how to use Ellii as a student. Here are a few instructions to help you get set up, and help you make the best of your account.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>How to create a new account from a QR code:</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Your teacher will show you a QR code.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Pull out your phone and open your camera. Scan the QR code and then click to the web page.</li>
	<li>Choose a language from the flag icons.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click &lsquo;I&rsquo;m new&rsquo;. Option A: Click &lsquo;sign up with Google&rsquo; if you want to use your Google account to log in. Or, Option B: Click &lsquo;Create account&rsquo; to use a a different email address.</li>
	<li>Continue filling out the form to complete your profile.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Instrucciones para crear una nueva cuenta desde un c&oacute;digo QR:</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Tu profesor te mostrar&aacute; un c&oacute;digo QR.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Saca tu tel&eacute;fono y abre la c&aacute;mara. Escanea el c&oacute;digo QR y luego haz clic en la p&aacute;gina web.</li>
	<li>Elige un idioma de los iconos de banderas.</li>
	<li>Haz clic en &lsquo;Soy nuevo&rsquo;. Opci&oacute;n A: Haz clic en &lsquo;Registrarse con Google&rsquo; si quieres usar tu cuenta de Google para iniciar sesi&oacute;n. O, Opci&oacute;n B: Haz clic en &lsquo;Crear cuenta&rsquo; para usar una direcci&oacute;n de correo electr&oacute;nico diferente.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Contin&uacute;a completando el formulario para finalizar tu perfil.</li>
</ol>

<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 64.90384615384616%; height: 0;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://www.loom.com/embed/e60ff23aac464584892c782d86143409?sid=690dd24f-2609-44a4-8e3a-af1f200da72d" style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" webkitallowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<h2>How to log in:&nbsp;</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Go to <a href="http://www.ellii.com">www.ellii.com</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click &#39;login&#39; from the menu bar.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Select &#39;Students&#39;.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Enter your email address (or your username), and enter your password.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Instrucciones para iniciar sesi&oacute;n:</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Ve a <a href="http://www.ellii.com/">www.ellii.com</a></li>
	<li>Haz clic en &#39;iniciar sesi&oacute;n&#39; en la barra de men&uacute;.</li>
	<li>Selecciona &lsquo;Students&#39;.</li>
	<li>Ingresa tu direcci&oacute;n de correo electr&oacute;nico (o tu nombre de usuario) y tu contrase&ntilde;a.</li>
</ol>

<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 64.90384615384616%; height: 0;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://www.loom.com/embed/2d33ff24edd0477c8347acb53749b71b?sid=db72a061-cdb1-49f1-be37-18615dd9adff" style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" webkitallowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<h2>How to join a new class if you already have an account:</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Log into your existing Ellii account. (Do not create a new account.) See the instructions above on &#39;How to log in&#39;.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click your name in the top right corner of the screen. Or if you&#39;re on your phone, click the menu icon on the top right corner.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Select &#39;My teachers&#39;.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click &#39;Join a class&#39;.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Enter your teacher&#39;s &#39;class code&#39;. If you don&#39;t know the code, ask your teacher.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Instrucciones para unirte a una nueva clase si ya tienes una cuenta:</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Inicia sesi&oacute;n en tu cuenta de Ellii existente. (No crees una nueva cuenta.) Consulta las instrucciones anteriores sobre &#39;C&oacute;mo iniciar sesi&oacute;n&#39;.</li>
	<li>Haz clic en tu nombre en la esquina superior derecha de la pantalla. O si est&aacute;s en tu tel&eacute;fono, haz clic en el icono del men&uacute; en la esquina superior derecha.</li>
	<li>Selecciona &#39;Mis profesores&#39;.</li>
	<li>Haz clic en &#39;Unirse a una clase&#39;.</li>
	<li>Ingresa el &#39;c&oacute;digo de clase&#39; de tu profesor. Si no conoces el c&oacute;digo, preg&uacute;ntale a tu profesor.</li>
</ol>

<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 64.90384615384616%; height: 0;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://www.loom.com/embed/d21d5e5bab3b48a2b7cfd4819e5d6b57?sid=8f58b836-64d4-4bba-93f8-faec19b22c75" style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" webkitallowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<h2>How to find and complete assignments from your teacher:</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Log into your account at Ellii.com/students&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click on &#39;Classes&#39;.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Select your class.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Under the tab &#39;Current&#39; you will see any current assignments.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click on an assignment to start.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>To review older assignments, click the &#39;past&#39; tab</li>
</ol>

<h2>Instrucciones para encontrar y completar tareas de tu profesor:</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Inicia sesi&oacute;n en tu cuenta en <a href="http://ellii.com/students">ellii.com/students</a></li>
	<li>Haz clic en &lsquo;Clases&#39;.</li>
	<li>Selecciona tu clase.</li>
	<li>En la pesta&ntilde;a &#39;Actual&#39; ver&aacute;s cualquier tarea actual.</li>
	<li>Haz clic en una tarea para comenzar.</li>
	<li>Para revisar tareas anteriores, haz clic en la pesta&ntilde;a &#39;Pasado&#39;.</li>
</ol>

<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 64.90384615384616%; height: 0;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://www.loom.com/embed/f756fbfeedde43c483ef0316efe21797?sid=b3cd824f-308e-4602-a744-20313fb5ad75" style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" webkitallowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>


Student Onboarding Tips

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


Coming in August 2020

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1874/Tara_Upcoming-Content_08-August_Banner.png

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

Grammar & Usage

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

EdTech

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


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