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

Articles

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a&nbsp;spark.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Victor Hugo</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Spelling is an important ingredient of literacy. Spelling words accurately means students make a connection between letters and sounds, which can enhance pronunciation. Students who spell accurately also know the English alphabet and recognize word patterns, which helps them develop reading comprehension. Learning how to type letters on a keyboard is an engaging and hands-on way for students to enhance their spelling&nbsp;skills.</p>

<p>The free online typing games below display letters and words for students to locate on a keyboard quickly to accomplish a fun mission! Some of the websites also sound out the letters, which helps students remember the way letters and words&nbsp;sound.</p>

<h2>Preparing Students</h2>

<p>Before engaging in typing practice, students should be familiar with the alphabet and learn proper finger placement on the keyboard. The following are tips and resources to help you pre‑teach&nbsp;both:</p>

<ol class="spaced-list">
	<li>Make sure students review the alphabet and become familiar with the sounds. Check out the post <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/digital-alphabet/" target="_blank">Let&rsquo;s Learn the Alphabet Digitally</a> to find several free websites and apps to help students learn the alphabet and associated letter sounds in fun&nbsp;ways.</li>
	<li>If you assign students a specific game, you can see what letters they will practice typing ahead of time and can introduce example words with these&nbsp;letters.</li>
	<li>This <a href="https://newsandstory.com/tempImage/21072115395120185088.gif" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">visual</a> will help students locate the keyboard letters and know where to place their fingers to type the words more quickly and&nbsp;comfortably.</li>
	<li>Get students to practice this finger placement on a keyboard and practice several times typing the home row keys: <strong>A</strong>, <strong>S</strong>, <strong>D</strong>, <strong>F</strong>, <strong>J</strong>, <strong>K</strong>, <strong>L</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>;</strong>.</li>
	<li>Students can also start learning about finger placement and where letters and symbols are on the keyboard with the Typetastic game, <a href="https://typetastic.com/keyboard-builder.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Keyboard Builder</a>. This game gets students to use the arrow keys and type letters to build sections of the keyboard. The game is made for elementary age&nbsp;students.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Online Games &amp; Typing&nbsp;Practice</h2>

<p>These are recommended websites and descriptions to help you choose the most engaging typing practice for your students. At the top are recommended free websites with little or no advertisements and no registration. However, some of the websites may have advertisements, which is why they are free and do not require any registration. Make sure if you choose a game with advertisements that you let students know so they don&rsquo;t accidentally click on the&nbsp;ads.</p>

<p><a href="https://typetastic.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Typetastic</a> is one of the best websites for elementary age children (11 years old and younger). The website offers free typing games and no registration is required. You can simply share the website url with your learners and they can begin. I recommend the following typing games, which are also advertisement free: <a href="https://typetastic.com/frog-pond-patrol.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Frog Pond</a>, <a href="https://typetastic.com/cupcake-bugs.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cupcake Bugs</a>, <a href="https://typetastic.com/astro-bubbles.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Astro Bubbles</a>, <a href="https://typetastic.com/ducky-trouble.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ducky Trouble</a>, and <a href="https://typetastic.com/letter-trucks.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Letter&nbsp;Trucks</a></p>

<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/z3c6tfr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dance Mat Typing</a> is from the BBC and is advertisement free. The purpose is to help students learn the home row keys and gain accuracy as well as build on their typing speed. The lessons build off each other with four different levels. Students learn to type sentences with animated animals and fun music. The website is geared to learners 12 years old and&nbsp;younger.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.free-training-tutorial.com/typing-games/towncreator/tc-typing.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Typing Town</a> has some advertisements but is free and requires no registration. Students 12 and younger love this game which gets them to type words presented on the screen and rewards them with houses, swimming pools, buildings, cars, and other items to help them build their own towns. There are three levels for beginners to&nbsp;advanced.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.typing.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Typing.com</a> is full of tons of typing drills and <a href="https://www.typing.com/student/games" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">games</a> to help students learn the home row and practice typing words and sentences. Students get to see their typing speed and accuracy as well as receive certificates. The website is appropriate for teens, adolescents, and advanced typers. There are&nbsp;advertisements.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.nitrotype.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nitrotype</a> is a great game for adolescents and teens. Students type complete sentences they read on the screen. Their typing speed and accuracy determines how fast their race car goes. Students compete with other participants worldwide and win virtual prizes like new cars and money. The reading level is much higher, because students type paragraphs. Students can play as guests, but most will want to register for free to keep track of their earnings and compete against their&nbsp;classmates.</p>

<p>What other websites do you recommend to help young learners type and&nbsp;spell?</p>


Fun Web Games & Resources to Help ELLs with Typing and Spelling

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

Teaching with Ellii

<p>Have you seen ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s newest flashcard set: <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/20/flashcard_categories/65">Like &amp; Don&rsquo;t Like</a>? This inclusive set features multiple characters representing a variety of ages, genders, and skin tones, so you can easily find images that your students identify with. Each character card is portrayed with the following&nbsp;feelings:</p>

<ul>
	<li>love</li>
	<li>like</li>
	<li>don&rsquo;t mind</li>
	<li>don&rsquo;t like</li>
	<li>hate</li>
</ul>

<p>If you have low-level learners, we recommend printing a personal set of these flashcards for each student to use regularly in class. Your students can choose their preferred character before you print the class&nbsp;sets.</p>

<p><strong>Tip:</strong> Print one <em>love</em> flashcard of each character and tape these to your board. Then have each student write their name on the character they like (or look like). Print all of the sets you need in the sizes you wish. Print a set for yourself as well. (You can decide if you want to print the words on the front or back or not at all. See video demo&nbsp;below.)</p>

<p>Here are some ways to use our <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/20/flashcard_categories/65">Like &amp; Don&rsquo;t Like</a> flashcard&nbsp;set:</p>

<h1>Level Placement</h1>

<p>Are you looking for new activities to help place low-level students into appropriate class levels? Break the ice with a shy or quiet student by handing her a set of the Like &amp; Don&rsquo;t Like flashcards. Start with a simple theme (e.g., food, colors, animals, seasons, sports) and have the student point to or hold up the flashcard that matches her feeling about the word you say (or picture you&nbsp;show).</p>

<p>As your student becomes more comfortable, have her hold up the feeling card and make a sentence: <em>No, I don&rsquo;t like apples.</em> If the student is able to do that, you might extend the question to <em>Why?</em> Is she able to answer in a full sentence? Does she use any adjectives or conjunctions? If this seems too easy, think of some more difficult themes, such as entertainment genres (e.g., music, movies, famous&nbsp;people).</p>

<h1>Getting to Know You</h1>

<p>You can use a similar type of activity to break the ice with low-level learners in a new class. Choose a theme such as <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/13/flashcard_categories">food</a> and write a food word on the board (or show a flashcard). Have students walk around holding the flashcard that best expresses their feeling about this word or action. Students can then try to find like-minded people from their&nbsp;class.</p>

<p>Encourage them to learn each other&rsquo;s names by inviting them to share a sentence that summarizes their group&rsquo;s&nbsp;feeling.</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Jos&eacute;:</th>
			<td>Alana, Boris, and I don&rsquo;t like&nbsp;mushrooms.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Class Surveys</h1>

<p>Do you need to find out how your students feel or felt about something related to your class or program? Pose a question and ask your students to hold up a card that best describes their response. This will allow you to easily survey your students&rsquo; feelings. Here are some&nbsp;examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Who liked this month&rsquo;s&nbsp;project?</li>
	<li>Who enjoyed yesterday&rsquo;s guest&nbsp;speaker?</li>
	<li>Who likes the topic of&nbsp;tornadoes?</li>
</ul>

<p>For practice, you can then ask classmates to describe each others&rsquo;&nbsp;feelings:</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>How did Alana feel about yesterday&rsquo;s&nbsp;class?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Boris:</th>
			<td>Alana loved it.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>How about Jos&eacute;?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Boris:</th>
			<td>Jos&eacute; didn&rsquo;t mind&nbsp;it.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Majority Rules</h1>

<p>Choose four of the cards from any character set (<em>love</em>, <em>like</em>, <em>dislike</em>, <em>hate</em>) and place a large-sized version of one feeling at each corner of your classroom. When you want students to show you how they feel about something, they can walk over to the appropriate corner. This will easily allow you to determine a majority and make a class decision. Again, have students practice using the&nbsp;language.</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>Who likes playing dodgeball?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<td><em>[Students move to the appropriate corners]</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>How do Boris and Alana feel about&nbsp;dodgeball?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Jos&eacute;:</th>
			<td>They hate playing&nbsp;dodgeball.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>Does Jos&eacute; like playing&nbsp;dodgeball?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Alana:</th>
			<td>No, he hates playing&nbsp;dodgeball.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Listening Response</h1>

<p>Invite your new students to write and present short oral presentations about their likes and dislikes. They can also say things that they hate or don&rsquo;t mind. After each presentation, ask some follow-up questions to the other students in the&nbsp;class.</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>How does Alana feel about&nbsp;cars?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<td><em>[Everyone holds up a &ldquo;love&rdquo;&nbsp;card]</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>How does Alana feel about&nbsp;spaghetti?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<td><em>[Everyone holds up a &ldquo;hate&rdquo; card except Jos&eacute;, who holds up&nbsp;&ldquo;like&rdquo;]</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>Jos&eacute;, ask Alana if she likes&nbsp;spaghetti.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Jos&eacute;:</th>
			<td>Alana, do you like&nbsp;spaghetti?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Alana:</th>
			<td>No, I hate spaghetti.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Reading Response</h1>

<p>The above activity can also be done to recap a story. This is especially useful for checking your students&rsquo; understanding about character development. To avoid calling on the same person all of the time, call on a person who has a reaction that is surprising or different from the rest of the&nbsp;class.</p>

<ul>
	<li>How does Charlotte feel about Wilbur at the end of the&nbsp;book?</li>
	<li>How did you feel about the&nbsp;ending?</li>
</ul>

<h1>Gerunds &amp; Infinitives</h1>

<p><em>Love</em>, <em>like</em>, <em>don&rsquo;t like</em>, and <em>hate</em> can be used with gerunds or infinitives with no major change in meaning. Print some flashcard action sets, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/4/flashcard_categories/27">daily routines</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/8/flashcard_categories/63">job actions</a>. Then have students practice making sentences with <em>love</em>, <em>like</em>, <em>don&rsquo;t like</em>, and <em>hate</em> + gerunds and&nbsp;infinitives.</p>

<h1>Question Formation</h1>

<p>These flashcards can also be used for practicing question formation. Invite two students (Students&bsp;A and&nbsp;B) to the front of the class. Hold up a <em>like</em> or <em>love</em> flashcard with an action or noun flashcard (e.g., <em>chocolate</em> or <em>skiing</em>). Have Student&nbsp;A use the cards to make a question. <em>Do you like/love chocolate?</em> The other students will then hold up a feeling card that expresses their own personal answer. Student&nbsp;B will then choose some of the students from the classroom and express their responses: <em>Boris doesn&rsquo;t like chocolate. Alana loves chocolate.</em> Invite two more students to the front and change the question prompts to a new action or noun. <em>Do you like skiing/like to&nbsp;ski?</em></p>

<h1>Find Someone Who&hellip;</h1>

<p>These cards can be easily used to create a quick <em>Find Someone Who&hellip;</em> activity based on a theme you are teaching. If the theme is sports, you can shout out a sport (e.g., skiing). Students then choose a card that expresses their feeling about this sport. After students have chosen their feeling, you can tell them who to find. Here are some&nbsp;ideas:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Find someone who likes/loves/hates/doesn&rsquo;t&nbsp;like&hellip;</li>
	<li>Find someone who feels the same way as you&nbsp;about&hellip;</li>
	<li>Find someone who feels differently/the opposite&nbsp;about&hellip;</li>
</ul>

<table class="horizontal dialogue">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Jos&eacute;:</th>
			<td>Do you like&nbsp;skiing?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Alana:</th>
			<td>No, I don&rsquo;t. You love&nbsp;skiing?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Jos&eacute;:</th>
			<td>Yes!</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Alana:</th>
			<td>Why do you love&nbsp;skiing?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Jos&eacute;:</th>
			<td>I love all winter&nbsp;sports.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Alana:</th>
			<td>I don&rsquo;t like any winter&nbsp;sports!</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Predictions</h1>

<p>Place students in pairs or small groups and see how well they know each other. Ask a question and have students place their flashcard response behind their backs (or flipped over so their classmates can&rsquo;t&nbsp;see).</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Teacher:</th>
			<td>Do you like&nbsp;pizza?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<td><em>[Students choose and hide their response. Then they turn to each other and try to&nbsp;guess.]</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Boris:</th>
			<td><em>[To Alana]</em> You love pizza.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<td><em>[Alana shows Boris her response:&nbsp;&ldquo;hate&rdquo;]</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Boris:</th>
			<td>Really? You hate pizza. I&rsquo;m&nbsp;surprised!</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Alana:</th>
			<td><em>[To Boris]</em> You don&rsquo;t like&nbsp;pizza.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<td><em>[Boris shows Alana &ldquo;don&rsquo;t&nbsp;like&rdquo;]</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Boris:</th>
			<td>You know me too&nbsp;well.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>You might want to put these reactions on the&nbsp;board:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I&rsquo;m surprised.</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m shocked.</li>
	<li>I thought I knew you&nbsp;better.</li>
	<li>I knew it.</li>
	<li>I know you well/too well.</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m not surprised.</li>
	<li>I expected that.</li>
	<li>I was close.</li>
</ul>

<p>We hope you like these flashcards and ideas! Please share your own ideas for using this set (or practicing likes &amp; dislikes) in the comments&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/20/flashcard_categories/65">Like &amp; Don&rsquo;t Like </a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/110/lessons/2778">Do You Like It?</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1555">Infinitives: I Like To&hellip;</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2256/">Gerunds &amp; Infinitive</a></li>
</ul>

<div class="video-container"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_JxoKsi-n6w" width="560"></iframe></div>


10 Ways to Use Flashcards: Likes & Dislikes

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

EdTech

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to&nbsp;play.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Richard Strauss</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Teachers spend hours preparing learning materials. When this material is presented to students, we want to make sure students make a connection to the material and fully evaluate and consume the material. This means all students must have the opportunity to voice their opinions, perspectives, or ideas about the material. Even if class time is limited, the use of collaborative web tools and apps allows every student in class to contribute their thoughts, questions, and ideas extensively. Real-time online conversations that take place while you are teaching are possible through&nbsp;backchanneling.</p>

<p>Below is a list of free web tools your students can use to carry on a class discussion while you lecture, show a video, or present reading material. This allows you to share your ideas and points about the material and make sure your teacher talk time doesn&rsquo;t limit your students&rsquo; opportunities to exchange ideas and opinions with each other about the&nbsp;material.</p>

<h1>Online Class Discussion&nbsp;Tips</h1>

<p>Online discussions with peers can be rich and meaningful, because everyone contributes and peers offer feedback to one another. However, online exchanges can also quickly go awry. Students may go off topic, be reluctant to post their opinions, not know how to disagree respectfully, or not have the vocabulary, grammar, or fluency to express themselves comfortably. The following tips will help ensure your online discussions are&nbsp;successful:</p>

<h2>Tip #1</h2>

<p><strong>As a class establish norms and expectations.</strong> Let students know they will participate in an online discussion that is visible to you and peers. Ask them to come up with at least 10 good expectations for ensuring the discussion is successful. All students should feel that their opinions and values were heard and respected. You can compare their list to the expectations outlined in this <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a3_rhQol_NLHNXdCbB8lYra16QRzmI1Af5vmJUkGagI/edit" rel="noopener" target="_blank">document</a>. Ask students if they would like to change their norms and expectations with ideas from the&nbsp;document.</p>

<h2>Tip #2</h2>

<p><strong>Define consequences.</strong> Outline consequences if students go off topic, fail to participate, bully, disrespect others, or post something offensive. One consequence (with grade schoolers) should be that you will highlight the inappropriate behavior and send this to their parents. Students should be aware that what they post online is recorded and they will have to take responsibility for the consequences. This is also an important digital citizenship&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<h2>Tip #3</h2>

<p><strong>Provide examples of how to contribute to the discussion.</strong> Show students examples of rich online discussions or do a practice round where you highlight meaningful exchanges or sharing. Let students know they should feel free to ask questions, contribute prior knowledge, share experiences related to the topic, express ideas, share links to articles, share why they agree or disagree and the reason behind their&nbsp;opinions.</p>

<h2>Tip #4</h2>

<p><strong>Help students feel confident and safe expressing themselves.</strong> Don&rsquo;t grade for grammar or spelling. Do encourage students to do their best. Allow them to use emojis or stickers when they can&rsquo;t figure out the right word. Also, provide a list of useful phrases and vocabulary words before the chat for students to reference. You might also want to give them a few minutes before the chat to jot down ideas about the topic to share in the discussion. You might also want to provide sentence frames. Here is a <a href="http://staff.esuhsd.org/danielle/English%20Department%20LVillage/SocraticSeminar/DISCUSSION%20STEMS.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank">PDF</a> full of sentence and question starters to help students frame their ideas. You could print this out or create these as a class poster for students to&nbsp;reference.</p>

<h2>Tip #5</h2>

<p><strong>Show students how to disagree/agree respectfully.</strong> Most students don&rsquo;t understand how to debate or disagree respectfully. They might see an opinion and react emotionally or heatedly. Students aren&rsquo;t often exposed to different ideas and may tell another peer they are wrong or cast judgment. We need to prepare our students to listen to opposing views and teach them how to consider them and come up with healthy responses and reactions that spur the conversation instead of stopping the discussion. Help students understand that they learn more from disagreement versus everyone contributing the same beliefs or&nbsp;ideas.</p>

<h1>Collaborative Discussion Tools</h1>

<p>Now that your students are prepared for their online discussion, introduce them to the web tool they will use. Show them how to register, log on, and create a username. If you are giving a participation grade then you might want to create usernames for your students. Also, introduce students to key features, such as how to specifically reply to someone, use any emojis or stickers, or how to highlight parts of the material and add notes. You might want to direct them to tutorials to learn more about the tool. The following are some web tools your students and you can use for meaningful online class discussions and&nbsp;collaboration.</p>

<h2>Backchannel Chat</h2>

<p><a href="http://backchannelchat.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Backchannel Chat</a> is a very basic backchanneling tool designed with teachers in mind. Teacher scan control all aspects of the online discussion, such as removing messages, preventing posts, or managing the pace of the discussion to allow time for students to respond. You can provide students with a code to join the&nbsp;conversation.</p>

<h2>NowComment</h2>

<p>With <a href="https://nowcomment.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">NowComment</a>, anyone can see comments, but to add to the discussion students must register for a free account. Any sentence, paragraph, image, or video can have multiple conversations. The interface is very easy to use. Check out this <a href="http://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2018/06/how-to-make-interactive-reading.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">detailed description</a> about NowComment with screenshots in the Life Feast&nbsp;blog.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Hypothes.is and Genius</h2>

<p><a href="https://web.hypothes.is/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hypothes.is</a> and <a href="https://genius.com/web-annotator" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Genius</a> are both tools that allow students to annotate any website as well as have a collaborative discussion. Students can highlight parts of the website, respond to peers, and vote up really great responses from peers. Both require registration and signing&nbsp;in.</p>

<h2>LinoIt</h2>

<p>Teachers register for a free <a href="http://en.linoit.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">LinoIt</a> account and create a web wall where they can share pdfs, files, audio, video, images, and more! Teachers share the link to the wall with students who can choose between different colored sticky notes and add video, pdfs, links, and more. Students don&rsquo;t have to register and can access the web wall on any&nbsp;device.</p>

<h2>Padlet</h2>

<p><a href="https://padlet.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Padelt</a> is also accessible on any device and similar to LinoIt with more features, but educators only get 3 padlets free. Teachers can upload videos, images, pdfs, audio clips, and more! Students only need the link to the web wall to contribute via text, sticky notes, chatting, liking, upvoting, and more. Students can share audio, images, files, links, and&nbsp;video.</p>

<h2>Flipgrid</h2>

<p><a href="https://flipgrid.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Flipgrid</a> is a video response tool designed for schools. Students contribute a short video response to the discussion you start with a video. Students will enjoy their selfie videos they can decorate with stickers. Registration is free and students can also contribute with a mobile device. Create a Grid (group), add your question or topic, and students contribute short video responses. You send students a code or link to make the discussion private. You can determine the length of the video, embed the videos, and download the videos. This is an example of children replying to the question, <a href="https://flipgrid.com/7c04aa" rel="noopener" target="_blank">&ldquo;What does a quality education mean to&nbsp;you?&rdquo;</a></p>

<h2>GoBubble</h2>

<p><a href="https://www.bubble.school/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">GoBubble</a> is a social networking tool designed for schools that looks similar to Twitter and other messaging apps so students must sign up. Students can respond with images, stickers, or text. They can also upload videos. They can participate in groups, add friends, and&nbsp;more!</p>

<h2>Active Textbook</h2>

<p>With <a href="https://activetextbook.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Active Textbook</a>, students can respond to each other in comment threads added to any text as well as highlight. Teachers can enrich the discussion by adding videos, songs, and images for students to also engage with. Check out this <a href="https://lifefeast.blogspot.com/2018/06/how-to-make-interactive-reading-activity.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">detailed description</a> about Active Textbook with screenshots in the Life Feast&nbsp;blog.</p>

<h2>Google Docs</h2>

<p>With <a href="https://www.google.com/docs/about/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Google Docs</a> students can sign in with their Google accounts or you can provide them a link where anyone is able to participate with no sign-in required. Students can highlight parts of any text and add comments on the side. Students can reply to specific comments by clicking on the comment box. You can add visuals, charts, links and more. Check out other <a href="https://gsuite.google.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">GSuite</a> tools that offer collaborative discussion and contribution to slide presentations, spreadsheets, and&nbsp;more!</p>

<h2>OneNote</h2>

<p>Similar to Google Docs in that you can provide a link or invite others through email, <a href="https://products.office.com/en-au/onenote/digital-note-taking-app" rel="noopener" target="_blank">OneNote</a> looks more like a digital notebook with sections. You can add images, links, drawings, and more. Check out other Microsoft 360 tools that offer collaborative discussion and feedback to slides, spreadsheets, presentations, and&nbsp;more!</p>

<h2>Voicethread</h2>

<p><a href="https://voicethread.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Voicethread</a> is a multimedia discussion web tool and app that allows teachers to add slides or images to spark a discussion. Around the border of the slide, students contribute ideas through audio, video, text or doodling. Students can use avatars to protect their identities, but need to&nbsp;register.</p>

<p>What other tips or tools do you recommend for facilitating engaging class&nbsp;discussions?</p>

<p>If you want to read more tips for online resources for teaching English, then check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell/">Shelly&rsquo;s blog&nbsp;feed</a>!</p>


12 Tools to Ensure All Students Participate Meaningfully

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

Grammar & Usage

<h1>Inclusive&nbsp;Language</h1>

<p>Inclusive language (i.e., language that includes everyone regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.) is an important subject in the publishing world today. It is also something that everyday speakers are taking into consideration. Many people are careful to make sure terms that exclude or demean certain groups of people (e.g., using <em>mankind</em> instead of <em>humankind</em>) are becoming less common&nbsp;in&nbsp;everyday language. How does inclusive language play out in the classroom for English language learners and&nbsp;teachers?</p>

<h1>To Teach or Not to&nbsp;Teach?</h1>

<p>As language teachers, should we teach students both&nbsp;inclusive and controversial terms and expressions since they&#39;re likely to come across instances of both? Should we teach them when to avoid using certain words or phrases that are now considered&nbsp;hurtful?</p>

<p>In my opinion, the answer to both of these questions is yes. I believe we should teach our students as many words and phrases they will commonly hear and see as often as possible, even if they&rsquo;re controversial. But, since English is not their first language, we also have a responsibility to warn them when a term or saying may be considered offensive and hurtful by&nbsp;some.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Long time no see&rdquo; (also sometimes written with a comma after &ldquo;time&rdquo;) is a fairly common expression used when greeting someone we haven&rsquo;t seen for a while. This past week, a long‑term subscriber wrote in to say she is no longer comfortable teaching this phrase after learning the origin of it. She mentioned that this phrase appears in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1749">Making Small Talk</a> lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons">Functional English</a> section, and she was wondering if we were aware of its potential to offend people of Asian descent. We began our research&nbsp;immediately.</p>

<h1>Origins &amp; Usage</h1>

<p>While most of the sources we looked at agree that the expression &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; comes from pidgin American English, many aren&#39;t sure whether it originated from a Native&nbsp;American&nbsp;or a Chinese expression originally. For example, articles on the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/03/09/288300303/who-first-said-long-time-no-see-and-in-which-language">NPR</a> site and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see">Wikipedia</a> discuss the two conflicting origins. <a href="https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/06/18/9-words-with-offensive-origins/">Oxford Dictionary</a>, on the other hand, says this expression originated as &ldquo;a humorous interpretation of a Native American&nbsp;greeting.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The two main dictionaries I consult on a daily basis list &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; as entries without any usage notes (though <em>Oxford Dictionary</em> discusses it in a blog post&mdash;see&nbsp;below).</p>

<p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/long%20time%20no%20see"><em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary</em></a> lists &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; as an&nbsp;idiom:</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>IDIOM</p>

<p>informal</p>

<p>&mdash;used as a greeting for someone one has not seen for a long&nbsp;time</p>
</div>

<p><a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/long_time_no_see"><em>Oxford Dictionary</em></a> lists it as a&nbsp;phrase:</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>PHRASE</p>

<p>informal</p>

<p>It is a long time since we last met (used as a&nbsp;greeting).</p>
</div>

<h1>Decisions &amp; Conclusion</h1>

<p>So is it offensive? If you do a search for this phrase, you will find many conflicting opinions. For example, Katrina Leibee, in her post in <a href="https://collegian.com/2018/11/leibee-csu-has-gone-too-far-with-inclusive-language/"><em>The Rocky Mountain Collegian</em></a>, says this: &ldquo;There must be a great deal of projection going on if you find &lsquo;long time no see&rsquo; racist to Asians. It&rsquo;s literally a direct translation of Mandarin syntax (好久不见) and has become a common turn of phrase.&rdquo; However, Oxford Dictionary lists &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; in their post called <a href="https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/06/18/9-words-with-offensive-origins/">9 Words with Offensive&nbsp;Origins</a>.</p>

<p>While the Ellii team strives to use inclusive language as often as possible (and we take customer feedback very seriously), after much discussion and research into this phrase we&rsquo;ve decided not to remove it from the lesson. We feel it is such a common a phrase in many parts of the world that English language learners will undoubtedly come across it in conversation, on TV, in movies, etc., and they will wonder about the ungrammatical syntax of this phrase. By all means, we encourage teachers who feel it is an offensive phrase to teach their students that though they may hear it, they shouldn&rsquo;t use it&nbsp;themselves.</p>

<p>I myself would likely use it as a teaching point. It would be great way to open a discussion on inclusive language with my students and point out words or phrases that are considered highly offensive with ones that are still being debated. I would also ask if any of my students think the phrase &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; is offensive and for what reasons. If any of my students felt it was hurtful or degrading, I would then tell my students that we shouldn&rsquo;t use it in&nbsp;class.</p>

<p>I tend to agree with Stavros Macrakis when he summed up usage of &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; on <a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-it-racist-to-say-long-time-no-see">Quora&rsquo;s</a> site: &ldquo;As for the use of the phrase today, I suspect most people are unaware of its origins, and using it completely innocently. Then again, a lot of people are sensitive, and a lot of rumors go around&hellip;If enough people start believing that &lsquo;long time no see&rsquo; is offensive, it will be best to avoid&nbsp;it.&rdquo;</p>

<p>It&rsquo;s really up to the individual teacher how they wish to proceed in terms of teaching and using inclusive&nbsp;language in their classrooms. I believe that it&rsquo;s important to tell students when a term is considered derogatory (like we do in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1906">National Indigenous Peoples Day</a> lesson). I think it&rsquo;s also worthwhile to point out cases where a term or phrase may become offensive to all one day. To me, &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; is such a case. I would make my students aware that some people might find it offensive, but that it is still common to hear and use in English conversation at this point in&nbsp;time.</p>

<p>What would you do in your&nbsp;classroom?</p>


Is "Long Time No See" Offensive?

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates&nbsp;love.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Lao Tzu</p>
</blockquote>

<p>&#39;Tis the season to give and show kindness and compassion! Technology gives our students the opportunity to help others and learn at the same time. When we tie learning to making a difference, we intrinsically motivate&nbsp;students.</p>

<p>The following ideas and resources will provide you with a variety of ways to motivate students of all ages to practice and develop their English fluency. Some of the ideas require only a little bit of technology and time if you have limited resources. There are also ideas for longer projects that enhance all four skills&mdash;speaking, listening, reading, and&nbsp;writing.</p>

<h2>Feed Others</h2>

<p><a href="http://freerice.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free Rice</a> is an online game where students answer multiple-choice questions in a variety of categories, including English Vocabulary and Grammar, Math, Science, Geography, Chemistry, Languages, SATs, and Humanities. For each correct answer, Free Rice donates grains of rice to the World Food Programme. No registration is&nbsp;required.</p>

<p>I recommend first introducing students to the World Food Programme and letting them know that they actually do feed people. Once my students learned this they spent hours at home answering questions to increase the amount of rice they could&nbsp;donate.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.freekibble.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free Kibble</a> is an online game where students only answer one trivia question a day related to pet care and 10 pieces of kibble are given to animal shelters to feed hungry cats and dogs. Students can actually answer two questions a day, one question to donate for dogs and one to donate for <a href="https://www.freekibble.com/kat/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">cats</a>.</p>

<p>The trivia can be used as a writing or class discussion prompt. You can ask students to write down what they believe is the right choice and to explain their answers to a partner. You could also access several past trivia questions on the website for more&nbsp;learning.</p>

<h2>Uplift with Digital Greetings or&nbsp;Ebooks</h2>

<p>Check with an organization to see if there&#39;s an email address to send digital greetings created by your students. Your students could design digital greetings thanking firemen, policemen, or troops. They could send digital greetings to uplift the spirits of people in nursing homes or children or others in cancer wards or with terminal&nbsp;diseases.</p>

<p>Students can use the following free websites and apps to design their greetings: <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Buncee</a>, <a href="https://www.redstamp.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Red Stamp</a>, <a href="https://sincerely.com/ink" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Ink Cards</a>, <a href="https://www.canva.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer no follow" target="_blank">Canva</a>, <a href="https://www.magisto.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Magisto</a>, <a href="https://pic-collage.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pic-Collage</a>, <a href="http://www.123greetings.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">123Greetings</a>, or <a href="http://www.duckduckmoose.com/educational-iphone-itouch-apps-for-kids/chatterpixkids/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Chatterpix Kids</a>&nbsp;app.</p>

<p>If you have more time and access to computers or Chromebooks, then students can design digital books to teach younger students the alphabet, basic math, grammar or other topics. The best part is to get them to read their books aloud to&nbsp;others.</p>

<p>You could also partner with a nursing home and get students to create a digital book to read and show to an elderly person. This enhances their literacy and also uplifts&nbsp;others.</p>

<p>Students can use the following free websites and apps to design their digital books: <a href="https://storybird.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Storybird</a>, <a href="https://www.mystorybook.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">My Storybook</a>, <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Buncee</a>, <a href="http://storyjumper.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Storyjumper</a>, Google Slides, <a href="http://www.toondoo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ToonDoo</a>,&nbsp;or the <a href="https://bookcreator.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Book Creator&nbsp;app</a>.</p>

<h2>Donate with Photos</h2>

<p>Get your language learners to visualize their learning and build vocabulary by taking&nbsp;photos.</p>

<p>You can provide students with topics or vocabulary each month to focus on. Students can then donate these photos to raise money for charities or help scientists with important&nbsp;research.</p>

<p>The free <a href="https://www.donateaphoto.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Donate a Photo</a> (iOS and Android) app allows you to share photos to raise money for a charity you choose. For every photo shared Johnson &amp; Johnson gives a dollar to a&nbsp;cause.</p>

<p>Older students can download this app for free on their devices and begin taking photos of the vocabulary, phrases or topic you assign them. If you teach young learners, download the app on a specific device and allow a few students each week to take photos around the school or school&nbsp;grounds.</p>

<p>You can also encourage parents to allow students at home to take photos of the vocabulary and topic then email you the photo to add to the&nbsp;collection.</p>

<p>With the free <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">iNaturalist</a> (iOS and Android) app students take a photo of the plants, bugs, and species around them and share what they observe. The questions are simple and students learn so much vocabulary and grammar just by entering the data. These photos and observations are shared with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use it to advance their research and&nbsp;discoveries.</p>

<h2>Citizen Scientists and Archivists</h2>

<p>Researchers and archival organizations need help from people around the world to collect and sort data. Students can volunteer their time to advance all kinds of research&nbsp;projects.</p>

<p>Some projects ask students to investigate photos or maps and write down what they observe or locate specific species or occurrences. Other projects involve recording sounds, taking photos, playing online games, answering surveys, or translating old handwritten&nbsp;documents.</p>

<p><a href="https://scistarter.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Scistarter</a> is a free database to help you find the right project your learners can get excited about. Some projects can be completed online and require no&nbsp;registration.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Citizen Archivist Dashboard</a> does require free registration with an email. Once the account is created, learners can begin joining projects where they get to study important literature, writings, historical documents and logs from the past that are handwritten. The goal is for students to create a digital copy by transcribing what they&nbsp;read.</p>

<h2>Help the Blind</h2>

<p>Students with advanced speaking skills can use their English to help a blind person complete a task with the free <a href="https://www.bemyeyes.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">BeMyEyes app</a>.</p>

<p>I downloaded the app and let my classes know that at anytime a blind person might call us and we need to be great at giving specific directions to help the person. I first showed them the <a href="https://vimeo.com/113872517" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">BeMyEyes video</a> so they would know how the app works. This was a great way to encourage them to learn how to give specific&nbsp;instructions.</p>

<p>You could have them practice by pairing them up, blindfolding one student, and asking the other partner to help that student find a marker you&rsquo;ve placed&nbsp;somewhere.</p>

<h2>Crowdfunding Campaigns</h2>

<p>Websites like <a href="https://www.donorschoose.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Donorschoose</a>, <a href="https://www.pledgecents.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pledgecents</a>, and <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">GoFundMe</a> allow students and teachers to create an online campaign and raise money for a local need or the&nbsp;school.</p>

<p>If you need ideas, you could get students to raise money to provide blankets to a shelter, buy shoes for the homeless, or purchase gifts for the poor. They may also be able to raise money to help those impacted by natural disasters or&nbsp;fires.</p>

<p>Students can design videos or digital posters to spread the news about the campaign and also to enhance their English vocabulary and other&nbsp;skills.</p>

<h2>3D Printing Projects</h2>

<p>If you have access to a 3D printer, get students to design projects they can sell to raise funds that help provide a need or to give as&nbsp;gifts.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.tinkercad.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Tinkercad</a> is a free website with many easy projects for beginner coders. Students follow very simple and brief instructions in quick tutorials to design rings, name tags, and more. Students build their English fluency and learn important design skills and coding. Students and teachers must register for a free account using&nbsp;email.</p>

<p>In what ways do you or your school tie language learning to helping&nbsp;others? If you want to see more of Shelly&rsquo;s tips for online resources for teaching English, check out her <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell" target="_blank">past&nbsp;posts</a>!</p>


10 Uplifting Ways Students Can Use Tech This Season

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<p><strong>Adjectives</strong> are words that are used to describe <strong>nouns</strong>. They are also known as <em>modifiers</em>. These common words follow two basic patterns in English. Students often ask which pattern is better or more common to use, and the answer is that they&rsquo;re equally&nbsp;common!</p>

<h1>Purpose</h1>

<p>Adjectives are used to describe <em>nouns</em> (people, places, or&nbsp;things).</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>green</strong> coat</li>
	<li><strong>beautiful</strong> sunset</li>
	<li><strong>cute</strong> puppies</li>
	<li><strong>interesting</strong> lesson</li>
</ul>

<p>Adjectives are also used to describe how someone is&nbsp;<em>feeling</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>happy</strong></li>
	<li><strong>sad</strong></li>
	<li><strong>hot</strong></li>
	<li><strong>cold</strong></li>
</ul>

<h1>Patterns</h1>

<p>There are two basic adjective patterns in&nbsp;English.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Pattern 1: Adjective + Noun</h2>

<p>An adjective often comes right before a noun. It stays right before the noun even when there are other parts of speech that are part of the pattern, such as an article, an adverb, or a preposition. This pattern is common for adjectives that describe people, places, or&nbsp;things.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Adj + N)</span></li>
	<li>a <strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Art + Adj + N)</span></li>
	<li>a really <strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Art + Adv + Adj + N)</span></li>
	<li>on a really <strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Prep + Art + Adv + Adj + N)</span></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Pattern 2: Be + Adjective</h2>

<p>An adjective can also follow the Be verb. This pattern is common for adjectives that describe feelings as well as people, places, or&nbsp;things.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She is <strong>happy</strong>.</li>
	<li>I am <strong>tired</strong>.</li>
	<li>Your brother is <strong>nice</strong>.</li>
	<li>This pillow is <strong>soft</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>To form an adjective, a suffix is often added to the end of a noun. Some common adjective suffixes in English include <em class="inlineBlock">-able</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-al</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ant</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ent</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ful</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ible</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ic</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ing</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ive</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-less</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ous</em>, and&nbsp;<em class="inlineBlock">-y</em>. For more examples, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-word-endings-suffixes-that-show-the-part-of-speech/">English Word Endings: Suffixes That Show the Part of Speech</a>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>logic<strong>al</strong></li>
	<li>import<strong>ant</strong></li>
	<li>care<strong>ful</strong></li>
	<li>danger<strong>ous</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>Some adjectives don&rsquo;t come from a noun. These adjectives don&rsquo;t have&nbsp;suffixes.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>big</strong></li>
	<li><strong>small</strong></li>
	<li><strong>good</strong></li>
	<li><strong>bad</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>

<h1>Summary</h1>

<p>It&rsquo;s a good idea to give students similar examples of the two patterns so they can see that there is no difference in meaning. Both patterns are common for describing nouns. It&rsquo;s their choice which pattern they want to&nbsp;use!</p>

<ul>
	<li>This is <strong>delicious</strong>&nbsp;pizza.</li>
	<li>This pizza is&nbsp;<strong>delicious</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p>  You may also want to remind students that for feelings, Be + Adjective is the more common&nbsp;pattern.</p>

<ul>
	<li>He is <strong>happy</strong>.</li>
	<li>I am <strong>sick</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<p>For more materials on adjectives as well as more advanced adjective tips, see the related resources&nbsp;below!</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2093" target="_blank">Adjectives</a> &ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2496" target="_blank">Adjectives</a> &ndash; Fun Grammar Lessons</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2414" target="_blank">Feelings</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2812-adjectives" target="_blank">Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2316-suffixes" target="_blank">Suffixes</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjective-order-and-punctuation" target="_blank">Adjective Order and Punctuation</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/when-to-use-hyphens-rules-for-multiple-word-adjectives" target="_blank">When to Use Hyphens: Rules for Multiple-Word Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-teach-ed-ing-adjectives-9-simple-steps" target="_blank">How to Teach -ED/-ING Adjectives: 9 Simple Steps</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/look-appear-feel-adjective-or-adverb" target="_blank">Look, Appear, Feel + Adjective or&nbsp;Adverb?</a></li>
</ul>


Adjectives

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

Conferences

<p>I&rsquo;ve just returned from the <a href="https://wida.wisc.edu/grow/conferences/annual" rel="noopener" target="_blank">2018 WIDA conference</a> in Detroit, Michigan. Despite being one of the few attendees from a non-WIDA state, I had a quick commute across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ontario. In fact, the trusty tunnel bus, which runs under the river, had me at the Cobo Center in less than 30 minutes. Throughout the week, I noticed several attendees looking across at the Canadian flag, wishing they had packed a&nbsp;passport.</p>

<p><img alt="Windsor terminal and tunnel bus" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/207/content_Tara_WIDA-2018_Windsor-Terminal-and-Tunnel-Bus.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">By jodelli - <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Windsor_International_Transit_Terminal_2626311587.jpg" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="File:Windsor International Transit Terminal 2626311587.jpg">File:Windsor International Transit Terminal 2626311587.jpg</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0" rel="noopener" target="_blank" title="Creative Commons Attribution 2.0">CC BY 2.0</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28943103" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Link</a></p>

<p>As head of publishing at <a href="https://ellii.com/">ESL&nbsp;Library</a>, I attended WIDA to immerse myself in academic language for ELLs, our publishing priority for 2019. Many of our new and longterm ESL&nbsp;Library subscribers teach in WIDA states, and we are often asked how our materials align with WIDA&rsquo;s philosophy, standards, and proficiencies. In addition to learning all about WIDA in order to address these concerns and requests, I attended fantastic keynotes and sessions and gained valuable information for our materials&nbsp;writers.</p>

<p>This was my first WIDA conference, and one of the best language teaching conferences I&rsquo;ve ever attended. The conference included delicious meals and well-timed breaks with access to coffee, water, and snacks throughout the day. The app was very handy, and the session rooms were well marked and easy to find. Most importantly, the speakers were excellent, and I was able to get into all of the sessions I had scheduled. Here are some of the highlights and takeaways from this great week of&nbsp;PD:</p>

<h1>WIDA 2018 Keynotes</h1>

<p>In the opening keynote, Ofelia Garcia, an expert in bilingual education, talked about translanguaging: <em>going beyond two or more languages</em>. Garcia reminded us that language is much more than a code. Language is also culture. Garcia spoke passionately about the unfairness of America&rsquo;s current assessment practices of bilingual students, pointing out that many US students learn two language simultaneously. They do not have an L1 or L2. Yet, we evaluate them with only half of their language repertoire. As well as questioning our assessment practices, we should be mindful of how we label our&nbsp;learners.</p>

<p>On day two, Gloria Ladson-Billings [<em>below</em>] spoke about keeping our materials current, saying that culturally relevant teachers search high and low for resources (and often create their own) to ensure that students are engaged with the topics of&nbsp;today.</p>

<p><img alt="Gloria Ladson-Billings at WIDA 2018" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/208/content_Tara_WIDA-2018_Gloria-Ladson-Billings.jpg" /></p>

<p>On the final day, we heard from <a href="http://senate.utah.gov/senators/district11.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Utah Senator Howard Stephenson</a> who asked teachers to embrace digital technology and machine learning. Stephenson believes that teachers should allow digital technology to do the &ldquo;heavy lifting,&rdquo; so that teachers can concentrate on working creatively and collaboratively with their students. Senator Stephenson also shared the success of the dual-language programs in Utah and the importance of bilingual education. I have no doubt that many monolingual teachers in the audience were inspired to go home and sign up for a language learning&nbsp;class.</p>

<p>To close out the conference, WIDA family engagement specialist Lorena Mancilla shared a personal story about growing up in Chicago as an American with Mexican roots. After moving away from the comforts of her community of relatives in a Latino neighborhood and enrolling at a predominantly white school at the age of 8, Mancilla internalized the idea that she was &ldquo;different&rdquo; and that her family&rsquo;s culture was &ldquo;not appropriate.&rdquo; Through story, Mancilla challenged teachers to find new ways to enhance home, school, and community engagement in order to empower our future&nbsp;leaders.</p>

<h1>WIDA 2018 Sessions</h1>

<p>In my favorite WIDA session of the 2018 conference, <a href="https://twitter.com/RhondaBondie1">Rhonda Bondie</a> shared the value of noting two takeaways every time you learn something new. Here are just a few things I learned at three of the most useful WIDA sessions I&nbsp;attended.</p>

<h2 class="mb2">1. Student Discussions: Increasing Equity, Engagement, Access and&nbsp;Rigor</h2>

<h4>Rhonda Bondie</h4>

<p>Rhonda Bondie taught workshop participants several classroom <a href="http://www.alled.org/"> learning routines</a> (e.g., Domino, Rumors, QAPS, <span class="inlineBlock">2 X 2 X 2</span>) that can add rigor and engagement to a lesson. One common theme in the routines was allowing for increased thinking time for both students and&nbsp;teachers.</p>

<p>Bondie recommended looking at every classroom task as one of the following four&nbsp;structures:</p>

<ol>
	<li><strong>Explicit Instruction:</strong> pencils down, listen, teachers only say what students can remember without taking&nbsp;notes</li>
	<li><strong>Free Discussion:</strong> students turn and talk informally, teachers can move around and&nbsp;participate</li>
	<li><strong>Individual Task:</strong> students spend time thinking and testing themselves before they have to talk, help resources are available, all students should be able to start on their&nbsp;own</li>
	<li><strong>Group Task:</strong> structured task, has rules (e.g., only one has a pencil), has roles (e.g., reporter, recorder), teacher observes, uses appropriate seating (e.g., one strong reader per&nbsp;grouping)</li>
</ol>

<p>Note: After returning from WIDA, I tried one of the routines to get my son tying his own hockey skates, and it&nbsp;worked!</p>

<h2>2. Newcomer ELs: How Experiences Shape Self‑Identity</h2>

<h4>Jennifer Santiago</h4>

<p>In this session, graduate student <a href="https://twitter.com/DR_ESOL/status/1055575497915199488" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Jennifer Santiago</a> shared her findings on the subject of student identity. Santiago compiled research on self-identity from a group of Central American newcomers at her school. Santiago learned that many teachers made assumptions about newcomers that were not true, especially regarding newcomers&rsquo; educational background. She also discovered that many high school newcomers were not getting the career and academic counseling that they needed and&nbsp;deserved.</p>

<p>Negative experiences with teachers had a strong impact on newcomers&rsquo; self-identity. Many believed that they were &ldquo;bad&rdquo; because they struggled with English. In contrast, positive experiences with helpers around the school (e.g., a police officer) had a positive impact on their self-identity. Santiago concluded that teacher-ed programs were not focusing enough on the importance of teachers&rsquo; interpersonal skills (e.g., disposition) when working with&nbsp;newcomers.</p>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today was an amazing day @WIDA2018! I met the iconic Gloria Ladson-Billings, presented two presentations with great colleagues, and one presentation by myself where I shared my dissertation findings. I&rsquo;m proud of all the work! Plus so much networking! ❤️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WIDA2018?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WIDA2018</a> <a href="https://t.co/4NRQlcg1el">pic.twitter.com/4NRQlcg1el</a></p>
&mdash; Jennifer Santiago, PhD (@DR_ESOL) <a href="https://twitter.com/DR_ESOL/status/1055575497915199488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src='https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js' charset='utf-8'></script>

<h2>3. Building the Academic Identity of SIFE Through Oral Language&nbsp;Activities</h2>

<h4>Syndey Snyder</h4>

<p>By the final day, many of the attendees had tired of being active participants but Sydney Snyder&rsquo;s SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Education) <a href="https://getsupported.net/wp-content/uploads/SLIFE-Oral-Language-Activities-Handouts-PDF.pdf">activities</a> were engaging and useful, and we all found the energy to turn and talk one more time. In addition to going over the typical weaknesses SIFEs have (not always understanding the point of tasks, at risk of dropping out, struggling to work independently), Snyder pointed out some of their common strengths (resilience, problem solving, comfortable working in&nbsp;groups).</p>

<p>The presenter also showed an excellent video of an experienced SIFE teacher modeling good classroom practices, such as handing out <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2228-exit-slips">exit tickets</a> with sentence stems for written and oral practice. Students were encouraged to write and then vocalize their challenges and achievements to help them gain confidence and identify as academic&nbsp;learners.</p>

<h1>A Conference Near You</h1>

<p>On my way back to Windsor, I was pleased to meet up with two brave teachers from Alabama taking the tunnel bus to Canada! I offered them a few tips, and we made plans to meet up at a conference in their neck of the woods: TESOL 2019 in&nbsp;Atlanta.</p>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">When you&rsquo;re this close, you visit Canada! <a href="https://t.co/xKJwOEn81m">pic.twitter.com/xKJwOEn81m</a></p>
&mdash; Anna Suthoff (@TeachEB_Suthoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/TeachEB_Suthoff/status/1055913769128415234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src='https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js' charset='utf-8'></script>

<p>Before TESOL in March, members of our team will be attending other smaller conferences, including TESL Ontario (Toronto) and CoTESOL (Colorado) this week. We hope to see some of you this conference season or in Rhode Island for WIDA&nbsp;2019!</p>

<p><img height="100" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/209/content_Tara_WIDA-2018_Tara.jpg" width="100" /></p>

<p>&mdash;Tara</p>


WIDA Conference 2018: Highlights & Takeaways

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<p>Collocations are words that <em>naturally go together</em> in a language. While native English speakers instinctively know that &ldquo;fast food&rdquo;&nbsp;sounds right but &ldquo;quick food&rdquo;&nbsp;does not, English learners may not be able to recognize why some words work well together while others with a similar meaning do&nbsp;not.</p>

<p>Learning common collocations is similar to learning phrasal verbs. The more exposure, the better! So how do we teach collocations? We don&rsquo;t want students to simply have to memorize huge lists of them. It may help to break down collocations into manageable, related sets of 10, as we did below. Also, be sure to provide plenty of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">practice and&nbsp;review</a>.</p>

<p>Let&rsquo;s start by looking at&nbsp;lists and examples of <strong>verb collocations</strong> for these common verbs: <em>have</em>, <em>get</em>, <em>take</em>, <em>come</em>, and&nbsp;<em>go</em>.</p>

<h1>Collocations with Have</h1>

<ul>
	<li>have breakfast/lunch/dinner/a&nbsp;snack</li>
	<li>have a cup of coffee/tea</li>
	<li>have an idea</li>
	<li>have a party</li>
	<li>have a good time</li>
	<li>have a baby</li>
	<li>have a headache</li>
	<li>have a fight/argument</li>
	<li>have a problem</li>
	<li>have an accident</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Get</h1>

<ul>
	<li>get a job</li>
	<li>get married</li>
	<li>get divorced</li>
	<li>get together</li>
	<li>get drunk</li>
	<li>get home</li>
	<li>get in trouble</li>
	<li>get dressed</li>
	<li>get lost</li>
	<li>get ready</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Take</h1>

<ul>
	<li>take a seat</li>
	<li>take a while</li>
	<li>take a photo</li>
	<li>take a rain check</li>
	<li>take a taxi</li>
	<li>take a shower/bath</li>
	<li>take a chance</li>
	<li>take a break</li>
	<li>take a look</li>
	<li>take care</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Come</h1>

<ul>
	<li>come close</li>
	<li>come first</li>
	<li>come on time</li>
	<li>come prepared</li>
	<li>come to a conclusion</li>
	<li>come to a decision</li>
	<li>come to an agreement</li>
	<li>come to an end</li>
	<li>come up with something</li>
	<li>come back</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Go</h1>

<ul>
	<li>go home</li>
	<li>go downtown</li>
	<li>go to bed</li>
	<li>go to school</li>
	<li>go to work</li>
	<li>go to a meeting</li>
	<li>go on a trip</li>
	<li>go for a run</li>
	<li>go for a coffee</li>
	<li>go back</li>
</ul>

<h1>Examples</h1>

<p>Here are a few examples from the list above. For more examples, meanings, and practice with all of the previous collocations, see our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">Verb&nbsp;Collocations</a>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>It&rsquo;s been a long day. I can&rsquo;t wait to <strong>go home</strong>, <strong>take a shower</strong>, and <strong>go to&nbsp;bed</strong>.</li>
	<li>We&rsquo;ve just <strong>come to a decision</strong> about our next trip. Both of us are <strong>having a good time</strong> here in Mexico, so we&rsquo;ll <strong>come back</strong> to this resort again next&nbsp;year.</li>
	<li>I <strong>have a problem</strong> with my computer. Can you <strong>take a look</strong> at it&nbsp;today?</li>
	<li>They <strong>had another big fight</strong>. I&rsquo;m worried they&rsquo;ll <strong>get divorced</strong>. I&rsquo;d hate to see their marriage <strong>come to an&nbsp;end</strong>.</li>
	<li>I <strong>had a cup of coffee</strong> with an old friend yesterday. Since I last saw her, she <strong>got married</strong>, <strong>got a new job</strong>, and <strong>had a baby</strong>, so we had a lot to catch up&nbsp;on!</li>
</ul>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>The following sets are common collocations that are often&nbsp;interchangeable:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>have a shower/bath</strong> and <strong>take a shower/bath</strong></li>
	<li><strong>have a look</strong> and <strong>take a&nbsp;look</strong></li>
	<li><strong>have a break</strong> and <strong>take a&nbsp;break</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>There is a difference in usage between <em>come back</em> and <em>go back</em>. We use <em>come back</em> when we&rsquo;re <strong>at the place</strong> we&rsquo;re talking about. We use <em>go back</em> when we&rsquo;re <strong>not at the place</strong> we&rsquo;re talking&nbsp;about.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I can&rsquo;t believe it&rsquo;s your last day here in Toronto! I hope you can <strong>come back</strong>&nbsp;soon.</li>
	<li>We loved our trip to Hawaii last month. We plan to <strong>go back</strong> next&nbsp;spring.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">Verb Collocations</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2310-make-vs-do" target="_blank">Make Vs. Do</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/make-vs-do/" target="_blank">Make Vs. Do</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2742" target="_blank">Phrasal Verbs</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2740-phrasal-verb-list" target="_blank">Phrasal Verb List</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-do-you-teach-phrasal-verbs/" target="_blank">How Do You Teach Phrasal Verbs?</a></li>
</ul>


Verb Collocations

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;The noblest pleasure is the joy of&nbsp;understanding.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Leonardo da Vinci</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Students around the globe enjoy using the Internet to communicate and learn. Many already use websites with reading or listening comprehension quizzes. The Internet has evolved and offers even more powerful ways for our English learners to increase fluency. Our students now have the opportunity to learn more interactively and enhance all four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and&nbsp;writing).</p>

<p>Below is a list of some incredible free websites and web tools that will engage your English learners and help them build fluency and comprehension. Some of these web tools are powered by machine learning. This means the more your English learners use these web tools, the better the web tools become at helping them with specific needs. Many of the websites also will let your learners know how much they&rsquo;ve learned and improved. Additionally, some of the websites allow your English learners to speak or write and receive immediate feedback to help them correct their English grammar or&nbsp;pronunciation.</p>

<h1>Microsoft Learning Tools</h1>

<p>No registration is required to test out <a href="https://www.onenote.com/learningtools" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Microsoft&rsquo;s Immersive Reader and Learning Tools</a>. Students can scroll to the bottom of the <a href="https://www.onenote.com/learningtools" rel="noopener" target="_blank">website</a> and copy and paste any text from a website, pdf, or document. Click Try It Out to access the text in the Immersive Reader. Students can then use the following features to engage with the&nbsp;text:</p>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>Listen to the text read aloud and choose the speed and type of&nbsp;voice</li>
	<li>Change the font type, font size, background, letter spacing, and line&nbsp;spacing</li>
	<li>Click on any word to hear it&nbsp;pronounced</li>
	<li>Some words when clicked show an image to help students understand the meaning of the&nbsp;word</li>
	<li>Enable Parts of Speech to see nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs color-coded and&nbsp;labeled</li>
</ul>

<p>When used with a Microsoft account, Onenote, Word or app, teachers and students have access to many more features, including writing&nbsp;help.</p>

<h1>Quizlet</h1>

<p><a href="https://quizlet.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Quizlet</a>, which is available as an app (iOS/Android) and on the web, is a great interactive study tool for building vocabulary. Students create digital flashcards with a list of vocabulary. Features include the ability to add images, have words pronounced in 18 different languages, and play engaging games. Students can also learn vocabulary through interactive diagrams. Teachers can build quizzes for students and present them live in&nbsp;class.</p>

<h1>English Central</h1>

<p><a href="http://www.englishcentral.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">English Central</a> is a website where students can practice their pronunciation by repeating phrases from popular videos into the computer&rsquo;s microphone. Learners receive immediate feedback on their pronunciation. Students can also choose a level and learn new words by filling in the blanks created from the video&rsquo;s&nbsp;dialogue.</p>

<h1>Quill</h1>

<p><a href="https://www.quill.org/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Quill</a> is a website with free interactive writing and grammar activities for elementary, middle, and high school students. The new English learner diagnostic includes translations in six different languages and generates a personalized learning plan for each&nbsp;student.</p>

<h1>En News</h1>

<p>With <a href="https://en.news/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">en.news</a> students enhance their English fluency by reading CNN articles. The website and app (iOS/Android) uses machine learning to automatically repurpose CNN&rsquo;s latest articles, videos, and podcasts into interactive lessons. Learners can access transcripts, click on any word for the definition and pronunciation, complete activities, and earn points and&nbsp;badges.</p>

<h1>Wordsmyth</h1>

<p><a href="https://www.wordsmyth.net/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Wordsmyth</a> is a free online dictionary with several features and tools, which are especially helpful for young English learners. Students build vocabulary with anagrams, crosswords, various types of quizzes, and a glossary maker. My favorite tool is <a href="https://kids.wordsmyth.net/wild/#/home" rel="noopener" target="_blank">WILD</a>, a free illustrated dictionary for children that sounds out words and illustrates them with colorful animated images. WILD is also available in Spanish and&nbsp;Chinese.</p>

<h1>G Suite Tools</h1>

<p><a href="https://gsuite.google.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Google Suite apps</a> (e.g., Docs, Slides, Forms, and Sheets) and the Chrome Browser have several features and <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">add-ons</a> to help English learners enhance their reading and writing skills. Learners can translate, check their spelling and grammar, look up words in a dictionary, conduct research, and much more. One of the newest features is <a href="https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/accessibility/whats-you-say-present-captions-google-slides/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">captioning for Google Slides</a>, which uses a computer&rsquo;s built-in microphone to transcribe the presenter&rsquo;s words and display them in real-time to the&nbsp;audience.</p>

<p>What websites or tools do your English learners use to enhance their comprehension and&nbsp;fluency?</p>

<p>If you want to receive more of Shelly&rsquo;s tips for online resources for teaching English, check out her other <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell/">ESL&nbsp;Library posts</a>!</p>


7 Incredible Websites & Tools to Enhance English Comprehension & Fluency

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<p>In many countries, the legalization of marijuana has been a hot topic for quite some time. The legalization comes into effect today in Canada (Oct 17, 2018). You can read all about it in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons" target="_blank">Mini‑Debates</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1313" target="_blank">Legalizing Marijuana</a>. This lesson presents the issues from both sides, and it should make for some interesting discussions and debates among your&nbsp;students.</p>

<p>Two terms that keep coming up with this subject are <strong>medical</strong> and <strong>medicinal</strong>. It is common to hear both <em>medical marijuana</em> and <em>medicinal marijuana</em>. Are these two terms interchangeable? Is there a difference in meaning? Since your students are bound to ask about these terms if you&rsquo;re discussing or debating this issue in class, we decided to focus on this timely topic&nbsp;today.</p>

<h1>Medical</h1>

<p>The term <em>medical</em> is used when something has to do with medicine or the field of medicine. <em>Medical</em> can often be heard when discussing locations, drugs, or practices involving hospitals, doctors, and&nbsp;pharmacies.</p>

<p>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary defines <em>medical</em>&nbsp;as:</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>1 : of, relating to, or concerned with physicians or the practice of medicine (e.g., a medical&nbsp;journal)</p>

<p>2 : requiring or devoted to medical treatment (e.g., a medical&nbsp;problem)</p>
</div>

<p>When discussing cannabis, <em>medical marijuana</em> is commonly heard because many countries permit its use for medical purposes (e.g., as a pain reliever). In Canada, the regulation on access to cannabis for medical purposes was established by Health Canada in July 2001. As of October&nbsp;17,&nbsp;2018, the Cannabis Act makes marijuana legal for recreational as well as medical&nbsp;use.</p>

<h1>Medicinal</h1>

<p>The term <em>medicinal</em> is mainly used to describe the beneficial effects or a drug or herb. For example, the peppermint plant has well‑known medicinal properties that may help relieve nausea and muscle&nbsp;spasms.</p>

<p>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary defines <em>medicinal</em> as:</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>1 : tending or used to cure disease or relieve pain (e.g., the plant&#39;s medicinal&nbsp;properties)</p>
</div>

<p>The term <em>medicinal</em> is heard when discussing cannabis mainly when people are describing how it beneficially affects people&rsquo;s health. For example, the medicinal properties of the THC compound in marijuana include relieving nausea, decreasing pain, and increasing the appetite. (For some people, though, the medicinal properties of marijuana do not outweigh the health risks, and thus the debate continues in many&nbsp;countries.)</p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>The best term to use when discussing marijuana use is <em>medical</em>, not <em>medicinal</em>. However, there is some overlap. For example, there might be a discussion of the <em>medicinal</em> properties of the marijuana plant (i.e., the health benefits of cannabis). When referring to how it&rsquo;s used by people, though, it&rsquo;s best to stick to the term <em>medical marijuana</em> (i.e., medical vs. recreational&nbsp;use).</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1313" target="_blank">Legalizing Marijuana</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1311" target="_blank">Mini-Debates Teachers&#39; Notes</a></li>
</ul>


Medical Vs. Medicinal

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<p>There are many words in English with multiple uses, but one of the more common ones is the word &ldquo;actually.&ldquo; This adverb can occupy several sentence positions and can be used to emphasize a fact, express surprise, correct someone politely, or change topics in a&nbsp;conversation.</p>

<h1>Pronunciation</h1>

<ol>
	<li>
	<p>When speaking slowly, we pronounce <em>actually</em> with four&nbsp;syllables:</p>

	<p><span class="ipa inlineBlock">/ˈ&aelig;k tʃu ə ˌli/</span> <span class="inlineBlock">(<strong>ack</strong> choo uh lee)</span>.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>When speaking quickly and naturally, however, we only use three syllables and drop the <span style="display:inline-block;">/u/</span>&nbsp;sound:</p>

	<p><span class="ipa inlineBlock">/ˈ&aelig;k tʃə ˌli/</span> <span class="inlineBlock">(<strong>ack</strong> chuh lee)</span>.</p>
	</li>
</ol>

<h1>Usage</h1>

<h2>1. To emphasize a fact or something that&nbsp;happened</h2>

<ul>
	<li>The interest on a credit card is <strong>actually</strong> higher than on a line of&nbsp;credit.</li>
	<li>Stop listening to gossip. I&rsquo;ll tell you what he <strong>actually</strong>&nbsp;said.</li>
	<li>I was so tired that I <strong>actually</strong> fell asleep in&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>Did you <strong>actually</strong> see the&nbsp;accident?</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. To show surprise at something&nbsp;unexpected</h2>

<ul>
	<li>She <strong>actually</strong> apologized. She&rsquo;s never apologized to me&nbsp;before!</li>
	<li>I was putting off booking our trip, but the flights were way cheaper than I expected,&nbsp;<strong>actually</strong>!</li>
	<li>I was going to cancel our hike, but he told me that he <strong>actually</strong> doesn&rsquo;t mind the&nbsp;rain.</li>
	<li>They <strong>actually</strong> sold their house? It&rsquo;s been on the market for&nbsp;ages!</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. To correct someone&nbsp;politely</h2>

<ul>
	<li>A: The meeting starts at 2:00. B: <strong>Actually</strong>, I think the meeting starts at 3:00, not 2:00.</li>
	<li>A: You can get tickets online. B: The tickets are sold out,&nbsp;<strong>actually</strong>.</li>
	<li>A: How long have you been married? B: <strong>Actually</strong>, I&rsquo;m divorced&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li>A: Turn left at the light. B: I&rsquo;m pretty sure we need to turn right,&nbsp;<strong>actually</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. To introduce a new topic or add&nbsp;information</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>actually</strong> need to ask you something before you&nbsp;go.</li>
	<li><strong>Actually</strong>, before class is dismissed, I want to go over the new&nbsp;schedule.</li>
	<li>There&rsquo;s a lot of research to support this,&nbsp;<strong>actually</strong>.</li>
	<li><strong>Actually</strong>, I&rsquo;ve been meaning to talk to you about&nbsp;that.</li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note</h2>

<p>While <em>actually</em> can mean &ldquo;currently&rdquo;&nbsp;in some languages, this usage is not common in North American&nbsp;English.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">They currently live in&nbsp;Florida.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">They actually live in&nbsp;Florida.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<h1>Actually Vs. Actual</h1>

<p><em>Actually</em> is an <strong>adverb</strong> and <em>actual</em> is an <strong>adjective</strong>. While their meanings are similar (<em>actual</em> means <em>real</em> or <em>factual</em> and it can be used for emphasis), they take different positions in a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<p>The adjective <em>actual</em> is usually found before a&nbsp;noun.</p>

<ul>
	<li>The movie was inspired by <strong>actual</strong>&nbsp;events.</li>
	<li>This is the <strong>actual</strong> spot where he&nbsp;proposed.</li>
</ul>

<p>The adverb <em>actually</em> is usually at the beginning or end of a sentence or before a&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Actually</strong>, I can&rsquo;t make it tonight after&nbsp;all.</li>
	<li>I can&rsquo;t make it tonight,&nbsp;<strong>actually</strong>.</li>
	<li>I can&rsquo;t believe she <strong>actually</strong> said&nbsp;that.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns" target="_blank">7 Adverb Patterns</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1626" target="_blank">Adverbs of Manner</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2241" target="_blank">Adverbs of Frequency</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1616" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of Time</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1619" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of Contrast</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2158-adverbs-with-two-forms" target="_blank">Adverbs with Two Forms</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/however-7-sentence-positions-2-uses/" target="_blank">However: 7 Sentence Positions &amp; 2 Uses</a></li>
</ul>


How to Use "Actually" in English

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<p>I don&rsquo;t know about you, but when I hear the word &ldquo;condiment&rdquo; I immediately envision an outdoor scene with burgers on the grill and ketchup, mustard, and mayo on the table. When our illustrator recently asked me where to put our new salt and pepper flashcards, I confess I was stumped for a minute! We have a <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/13/flashcard_categories/127">Condiments</a> flashcard category, but are salt and pepper truly&nbsp;condiments?</p>

<p>The only condiments we had in that flashcard section thus far were the ones we came up with for our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2457">Word Bank &ndash; Condiments</a> vocabulary lesson, which included a mouth‑watering array of global&nbsp;condiments:</p>

<ul>
	<li>ketchup</li>
	<li>mustard</li>
	<li>mayonnaise</li>
	<li>vinegar</li>
	<li>oil salad dressing</li>
	<li>soy sauce</li>
	<li>fish sauce</li>
	<li>hot sauce</li>
	<li>barbecue sauce</li>
	<li>plum sauce</li>
	<li>salsa</li>
</ul>

<p>So are salt, pepper, and other spices truly condiments? What about other flavor‑enhancers for food, such as pickles and olives? These delicious questions prompted today&#39;s blog post. Let&rsquo;s take a closer look at the origin and dictionary definitions of the word&nbsp;&ldquo;condiment.&rdquo;</p>

<h1>Etymology</h1>

<p>The word <em>condiment</em> comes from the Latin <em>condimentum</em>, meaning &ldquo;spice,&rdquo; from <em>condire</em>, meaning &ldquo;to season&rdquo; or &ldquo;to&nbsp;pickle.&rdquo;</p>

<h1>Meaning</h1>

<p>What do the dictionaries have to say? The definition for the noun &ldquo;condiment&rdquo; is pretty similar across the&nbsp;board.</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/condiment">Merriam-Webster</a></h5>

<p>something used to enhance the flavor of&nbsp;food</p>

<p style="margin-top:0;">especially : a pungent seasoning</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5><a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/condiment">Oxford</a></h5>

<p>a substance such as salt, mustard, or pickle that is used to add flavour to&nbsp;food</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5><a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/condiment">Dictionary.com</a></h5>

<p>something used to give a special flavor to food, as mustard, ketchup, salt, or&nbsp;spices</p>
</div>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>According to the definitions above, it&rsquo;s pretty clear that most things that can add flavor to food can be classified in the <em>condiments</em> category. This would include sauces (such as ketchup and salad dressing), spices (such as salt, pepper, dill, cumin, etc.), pickles (such as olives and capers), and other seasonings (such as lemon rind or toasted sesame seeds). Anyone else&nbsp;hungry?</p>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2457">Condiments</a>&nbsp;(lesson)</li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/13/flashcard_categories/127">Condiments</a>&nbsp;(flashcards)</li>
</ul>


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