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

<p>Do your students struggle with reported (indirect) speech? One of our subscribers recently said that reported speech is one of the most difficult targets for language students to learn. We&nbsp;agree! Our editor says that <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reported-speech/" target="_blank">reported speech is tricky to learn</a> (and teach) because of the <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2367-reported-speech" target="_blank">verb tense changes</a> that are sometimes&nbsp;required.</p>

<h1>ESL Library&#39;s Dialogue-Based Sections</h1>

<p>ESL Library has many lessons that are based on dialogues. These are ideal for practicing reported speech because they come with ready-made audio that you can download or&nbsp;stream:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Dialogues</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/85/lessons" target="_blank">English at Work</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/79/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series 1</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series 2</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/77/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 1</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 2</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/102/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 3 </a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice Tasks</h1>

<p>Below are five practice tasks to try with any of the lessons from the sections above. These tasks can also be used with authentic dialogues and&nbsp;transcripts.</p>

<h2>1. Listen &amp; Report</h2>

<p>Have your students listen to the dialogue. Pause the audio after each line (or after a tricky line) and ask this&nbsp;question:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did he/she say?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2188/content_reported-1.png" /></p>

<p>At first, you might want your students to have the transcript handy. As your students become more familiar with this target, use the audio on its&nbsp;own.</p>

<h2>2. Ask Ss for Clarification</h2>

<p>This task can be done with the audio or the transcript. Ask your students to paraphrase what was said about a certain subject in the&nbsp;dialogue.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did Jim say about <strong>the employment&nbsp;papers</strong>?</p>

<p>Did Jim say to drop off the employment papers&nbsp;<strong>now</strong>?</p>

<p>Jim said to drop off the employment papers <strong>in the staff room,&nbsp;right</strong>?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2183/content_reported-2.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Practice a Specific Tense or&nbsp;Form</h2>

<p>Some tenses are trickier than others when it comes to reported speech. Which ones do your students need to work on? Spot examples of it in the dialogues and ask your students to report on what was&nbsp;said.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did the detective say the teacher <strong>was&nbsp;doing</strong>?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2184/content_reported-3.png" /></p>

<p>Your students may also need to practice other types of indirect speech, such as questions and requests. When you see or hear an example in a dialogue, ask your students to&nbsp;practice.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What did he ask first? Then what request did he&nbsp;make?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2185/content_reported-4.png" /></p>

<h2>4. Spot the Reported Speech</h2>

<p>In some cases, reported speech will be used by the characters in the dialogue. Ask your students to spot instances of reported speech used by the&nbsp;speakers.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Where does one of the characters use reported&nbsp;speech?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2186/content_reported-5.png" /></p>

<h2>5. Summarize the Conversation</h2>

<p>When summarizing a conversation, it is natural to use reported speech. After listening to and reading a dialogue, ask students to practice summarizing it. This type of task can be done orally or in&nbsp;writing.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Summarize how Clarissa broke the ice with the&nbsp;detective.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="reported speech example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2187/content_reported-6.png" /></p>

<h1>Teaching Reported Speech</h1>

<p>If your students are unfamiliar with reported (indirect) speech, you will need to teach them the rules and do some practice work before you can try the tasks above. Here are some useful materials to&nbsp;use:</p>

<h2>1. Grammar Practice Worksheets: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1618" target="_blank">Direct &amp; Reported Speech</a></h2>

<p>In this lesson, students review the verb tense and punctuation rules used in direct and reported speech. They practice changing sentences from direct to reported speech and vice&nbsp;versa.</p>

<p><img alt="Direct and Reported speech lesson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2189/content_88_Direct-and-Reported-Speech_US-1024x755.png" /></p>

<h2>2. Grammar &amp; Usage: <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2367-reported-speech" target="_blank">Reported&nbsp;Speech</a></h2>

<p>This handy chart and tips will help students remember common verb tense and modal changes in reported speech. We also encourage you to read our editor&#39;s tips for teaching <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reported-speech/" target="_blank">Reported&nbsp;Speech</a>.</p>

<h1>The Most Difficult Target to Learn/Teach</h1>

<p>In your opinion, what is the most difficult language target for English learners? What is the most difficult thing to&nbsp;teach?</p>


5 Tasks for Practicing Reported Speech

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

Grammar & Usage

<p>A <em>clause</em> is a stand-alone statement in English that includes a subject and a verb that shows tense and agreement. A <em>phrase</em> is a reduced form where the subject is usually dropped and the verb is shortened to a participle form. Phrases can be tough for English language learners to understand because they&#39;re not so easy to recognize. Let&#39;s take a closer look at a common type:&nbsp;<em>adverb&nbsp;phrases</em>.</p>

<h1>Clause Vs. Phrase</h1>

<p>Students should be aware of the difference between&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverb-clauses/" target="_blank"><em>adverb clauses</em></a> and&nbsp;<em>adverb phrases</em>. Remind learners&nbsp;that a clause is a complete sentence with a subject and verb (and possibly an object), while a phrase isn&#39;t a complete&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<th>Note</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I learned a lot&nbsp;<strong>while&nbsp;I was&nbsp;studying</strong>.</td>
			<td>Adverb clause: subject <em>I</em>, verb <em>was&nbsp;studying</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>I learned a lot&nbsp;<strong>while&nbsp;studying</strong>.</td>
			<td>Adverb phrase: no subject, incomplete verb&nbsp;<em>studying</em></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Phrase Rules</h1>

<p>How do we reduce an adverb clause to a phrase in English? Follow these simple&nbsp;rules:</p>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>#</th>
			<th>Part of Speech</th>
			<th>Rule</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>1</td>
			<td>Subject</td>
			<td>Drop the subject of the adverb clause.</td>
			<td>&mdash;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2</td>
			<td>One-part verb</td>
			<td>Change a simple present or past verb into the present participle (<em>-ing</em>) form.</td>
			<td>leave&nbsp; <strong>leaving</strong>, danced&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>dancing</strong></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3</td>
			<td>Two-part verbs with&nbsp;<em>be</em></td>
			<td>Drop the&nbsp;<em>be</em>&nbsp;auxiliary verb and leave&nbsp;the second&nbsp;form.</td>
			<td>was walking <strong>walking</strong></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4</td>
			<td>Two-part verbs with&nbsp;<em>have</em></td>
			<td>Drop the&nbsp;<em>have</em>&nbsp;auxiliary verb and change the second form into the present&nbsp;participle.</td>
			<td>had graduated <strong>graduating</strong> (or, less commonly, <strong>having&nbsp;graduated</strong>)</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Phrase&nbsp;Examples</h1>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Adverb Clause</th>
			<th>Adverb&nbsp;Phrase</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>I lock all the doors before I leave my&nbsp;house.</li>
				<li>Before I leave my house, I lock all the doors.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>I lock all the doors before <strong>leaving</strong> my&nbsp;house.</li>
				<li>Before <strong>leaving</strong>&nbsp;my house, I lock all the&nbsp;doors.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>He&nbsp;sang while he danced.</li>
				<li>While he danced, he sang.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>He sang while <strong>dancing</strong>.</li>
				<li>While <strong>dancing</strong>, he sang.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>I ate breakfast&nbsp;while I was walking&nbsp;to the bus&nbsp;stop.</li>
				<li>While I was walking&nbsp;to the bus stop, I ate&nbsp;breakfast.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>I ate&nbsp;my breakfast while <strong>walking</strong>&nbsp;to the bus&nbsp;stop.</li>
				<li>While <strong>walking</strong> to the bus stop, I ate&nbsp;my&nbsp;breakfast.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>She got a new job after she had&nbsp;graduated.</li>
				<li>After she had graduated, she got a new&nbsp;job.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0; width: 100%;">
				<li>She got a new job after <strong>graduating</strong> /&nbsp;<strong>having&nbsp;graduated</strong>.</li>
				<li>After <strong>graduating</strong> /&nbsp;<strong>having graduated</strong>, she got a new&nbsp;job.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Phrase&nbsp;Notes</h1>

<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>An&nbsp;adverb phrase&nbsp;is dependent (meaning it cannot stand alone), and it can come&nbsp;<strong>before</strong> or&nbsp;<strong>after</strong> the independent (main)&nbsp;clause.&nbsp;If it comes&nbsp;<strong>before</strong> the main clause, use a&nbsp;<strong>comma</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>While traveling through Europe,&nbsp;</strong>I met many&nbsp;people.</li>
	<li>I met many people&nbsp;<strong>while traveling through&nbsp;Europe</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>Adverb phrases are only possible with&nbsp;the&nbsp;<strong>same</strong>&nbsp;<strong>subject</strong>. If the subject of the independent clause and the subject of the adverb clause are different,&nbsp;the adverb clause <strong>cannot</strong> be reduced to an adverb phrase. This is a common error called a <em>dangling participle&nbsp;phrase</em>.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct"><strong>While she was soaking in the bath,&nbsp;</strong>she felt very relaxed.&nbsp;(adverb&nbsp;clause)</li>
	<li class="correct"><strong>While soaking in the bath,&nbsp;</strong>she felt very relaxed. (adverb&nbsp;phrase)</li>
	<li class="correct"><strong>While she was soaking in the bath,&nbsp;</strong>her kids made dinner. (adverb&nbsp;clause)</li>
	<li class="incorrect"><strong>While soaking in the bath,&nbsp;</strong>her kids made dinner.&nbsp;(incorrect adverb phrase&mdash;the dropped subject&nbsp;<em>she&nbsp;</em>and the subject&nbsp;<em>her kids</em>&nbsp;are&nbsp;different)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Note #3</h2>

<p><em>While&nbsp;</em>can sometimes be <strong>omitted</strong> from&nbsp;an adverb phrase, but only when the phrase is at the beginning of a sentence and only if the phrase is more than one&nbsp;word.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">While traveling through Europe,&nbsp;I met many&nbsp;people.</li>
	<li class="correct">Traveling through Europe,&nbsp;I met many&nbsp;people.</li>
	<li class="correct">While traveling,&nbsp;I met may&nbsp;people.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">Traveling,&nbsp;I met many people.&nbsp;(incorrect because the adverb phrase only has one&nbsp;word)</li>
	<li class="incorrect">I met many people<strong>&nbsp;traveling through Europe&nbsp;</strong> (incorrect&mdash;this is&nbsp;an adjective phrase reduced from the adjective clause&nbsp;<em>people who were&nbsp;traveling through&nbsp;Europe</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverb-clauses" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1616" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of&nbsp;Time</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1619" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of&nbsp;Contrast</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns" target="_blank">7 Adverb Patterns</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-frequency/" target="_blank">Adverbs of Frequency</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-manner/" target="_blank">Adverbs of Manner</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-with-two-forms/" target="_blank">Adverbs with Two&nbsp;Forms</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/already-yet-still" target="_blank">Already, Yet &amp;&nbsp;Still</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-because-since-as-and-due-to" target="_blank">What&#39;s the Deal with Because, Since, As &amp; Due&nbsp;To?</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-explain-despite-vs-although" target="_blank">How to Explain Despite Vs.&nbsp;Although</a></li>
</ul>

Adverb Phrases

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

Teaching with Ellii

<p>Whether you&rsquo;re just starting out with Ellii wrapping up the school year, or thinking about placement for next semester, ready-made tests are always a handy resource for&nbsp;teachers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Below you will find links to a series of grammar tests that can be used for placement, assessment, or review.&nbsp;This post, and the tests themselves, will help you determine which Ellii level to use with your students as well as which targets to focus on.&nbsp;</p>

<h1>Levels</h1>

<p>We have four new tests in the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools">Assessment Tools</a> category of our <a href="https://ellii.com/resources">Resources</a>&nbsp;section:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2448-grammar-test-1">Grammar Test 1 &ndash; Beginner</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2449-grammar-test-2">Grammar Test 2 &ndash; Low-Intermediate</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2450-grammar-test-3">Grammar Test 3 &ndash; Intermediate</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2451-grammar-test-4">Grammar Test 4 &ndash; High-Intermediate&ndash;Advanced</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Uses</h1>

<p>Though developed as a result of teacher requests for grammar placement tests, these tests can in fact be used for&nbsp;a variety of&nbsp;reasons:</p>

<h2>Placement</h2>

<p>Determine your students&rsquo; levels within your school&rsquo;s program, or discover what level of materials to use within Ellii&nbsp;(specifically in our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/grammar-practice-worksheets">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;section).</p>

<h2>Assessment</h2>

<p>Use these tests as major end-of-level tests to see how well students retained the grammar they learned. You could also select the parts of the tests that you covered in class during a certain period to create your own exit exam or review quiz&nbsp;(by skipping certain sections of the PDF or assigning only certain tasks digitally).</p>

<h2>Review</h2>

<p>Use these tests for review before students take school exams or other major tests like the&nbsp;TOEIC.</p>

<h2>Customization</h2>

<p>These tests can be used to personalize your classes by uncovering which grammar targets your students are struggling with. Center your lessons around these troublesome areas, or at least focus any extra time on these targets. You can find comprehensive lessons on the grammar points from the tests in our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/grammar-practice-worksheets">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;section.</p>

<h1>Scoring</h1>

<p>Each test is out of 100 and includes an optional speaking and writing component. (If you choose not to do the speaking or writing, the total will be between 60 and 80, depending on the test.) Aside from the speaking and writing portions, the tests are meant to be scored quickly and thus contain multiple-choice and one-word answers as much as&nbsp;possible.</p>

<p>Our guidelines for placement are as&nbsp;follows:</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2448-grammar-test-1">Grammar Test 1</a></h2>

<p>A low or mid-range score indicates that students should use our beginner-level materials. A high score indicates that they can use our low-intermediate or intermediate&nbsp;materials.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2449-grammar-test-2">Grammar Test 2</a></h2>

<p>A low or mid-range score indicates that students should use our beginner or low-intermediate materials. A high score indicates that they can use our intermediate&nbsp;materials.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2450-grammar-test-3">Grammar Test 3</a></h2>

<p>A low or mid-range score indicates that students should use our intermediate-level materials. A high score indicates that they may be ready for our high-intermediate or advanced&nbsp;materials.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2451-grammar-test-4">Grammar Test 4</a></h2>

<p>A low or mid-range score indicates that students should use our intermediate or high-intermediate materials. A high score indicates that they can use our advanced materials as well as authentic reading and listening&nbsp;materials.</p>

<h1>Grammar Targets</h1>

<p>The tests cover the following grammar&nbsp;targets:</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2448-grammar-test-1">Grammar Test 1</a></h2>

<ul>
	<li>simple present</li>
	<li>present progressive</li>
	<li>parts of speech</li>
	<li>subject &amp; object pronouns</li>
	<li>articles</li>
	<li>nouns</li>
	<li>adjectives</li>
	<li>adverbs of frequency</li>
	<li>prepositions of time</li>
	<li>prepositions of place</li>
	<li>simple present &amp; present progressive (mixed-tense exercise)</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2449-grammar-test-2">Grammar Test 2</a></h2>

<ul>
	<li>simple past</li>
	<li>simple future</li>
	<li>count &amp; non-count nouns</li>
	<li>pronouns</li>
	<li>adverbs of manner</li>
	<li>adverbs &amp; adjectives</li>
	<li>prepositions of direction</li>
	<li>conjunctions</li>
	<li>modals</li>
	<li>gerunds &amp; infinitives</li>
	<li>simple present, past &amp; future</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2450-grammar-test-3">Grammar Test 3</a></h2>

<ul>
	<li>simple past &amp; past progressive</li>
	<li>simple future &amp; future progressive</li>
	<li>simple past &amp; present perfect</li>
	<li>present perfect &amp; present perfect progressive</li>
	<li>pronouns</li>
	<li>tag questions</li>
	<li>comparative &amp; superlative adjectives &amp; adverbs</li>
	<li>first, second &amp; third conditional&nbsp;</li>
	<li>review of simple tenses</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2451-grammar-test-4">Grammar Test 4</a></h2>

<ul>
	<li>past perfect &amp; past perfect progressive</li>
	<li>future perfect &amp; future perfect progressive</li>
	<li>passive voice</li>
	<li>past modals</li>
	<li>causative &amp; passive causative</li>
	<li>adjectives clauses</li>
	<li>adjective phrases</li>
	<li>adverb clauses &amp; phrases</li>
	<li>direct &amp; reported speech</li>
	<li>embedded questions</li>
	<li>subjunctive</li>
	<li>review of all tenses</li>
</ul>

<h1>Digital Tasks</h1>

<p>These grammar tests are available on our digital platform for users on any plan! Using the digital version of these tests means that some tasks, such as multiple-choice and matching tasks, will automatically generate students&rsquo; scores in real time. That means much less marking for the teacher! Note that tasks where students have to type out sentences will still require correction by the&nbsp;teacher.</p>

<h2>Accessing Digital Tasks</h2>

<p>To access the digital tasks for our grammar tests, click on Task Player on the <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2448">main page</a> of the grammar test of your choice. Click the title of each task under the &quot;Launch&quot; column to being each task. You can also&nbsp;click on the Assign Tasks button to assign the tasks to your students. For a step-by-step guide, see <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">How to Assign Tasks (Digital Homework)</a>. If you haven&rsquo;t set your classes up on our digital platform yet, see our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/253-digital-homework">Help Docs</a> for&nbsp;guidance.</p>

<h2>Assigning Digital Tasks</h2>

<p>Teachers can assign the digital version of these tests in class or as homework by clicking on Assignment Manager. If you assign a test (or portions of a test) for homework, your students can complete it at home on a computer or mobile device and you will see their scores for each task in real&nbsp;time.</p>

<h2>Scoring Digital Tasks</h2>

<p>The scoring is similar to the pdf version and will total 100 points if you assign all the sections of a test. If you choose to forgo the writing and speaking portions, the total will be between 60 and 80, depending on the test. Note that our digital platform currently assigns a score per task, so you will need to calculate the student&rsquo;s final test score based off the task scores. (We&rsquo;re working on making a total available for each student for these&nbsp;tests.)</p>

<h1>Other Ready-Made Tests &amp; Tools</h1>

<p>Aside from our new grammar tests, many of our sections include ready-made quizzes and assessment tasks and tools. Most of our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> lessons include a quiz at the end of the lesson, and many of our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons">Functional English</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons">Everyday Dialogues</a> lessons include review and assessment tasks. You can also find ready-made and customizable assessment tools and forms in our <a href="https://ellii.com/resources">Resources</a>&nbsp;section.</p>

<p>What other types of tests and materials would you like to see on our&nbsp;site?</p>


Ellii's Grammar Tests

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<p>Adverbs have more functions in English than any other part of speech. Aside from the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">seven common&nbsp;sentence positions</a>, there are different types (such as adverbs of <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-frequency/" target="_blank">frequency</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-manner/" target="_blank">manner</a>), adverbs with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-with-two-forms/" target="_blank">two forms</a>, and adverbs that change meaning depending on the tense (such as&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/already-yet-still/" target="_blank"><em>still</em></a>). Finally, once English language learners have practiced all that, they get introduced to adverb clauses and phrases. Let&#39;s look at&nbsp;some teaching tips to make adverb clauses a bit easier to&nbsp;learn!</p>

<h1>Clause Vs. Phrase</h1>

<p>Students should be aware of the difference between&nbsp;<em>adverb clauses</em> and&nbsp;<em>adverb phrases</em>. Point out that a clause is a complete sentence with a subject and verb (and possibly an object), while a phrase isn&#39;t a complete&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<th>Note</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I came across some interesting information&nbsp;<strong>while&nbsp;I was&nbsp;studying</strong>.</td>
			<td>adverb clause: subject <em>I</em>, verb <em>was&nbsp;studying</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>I came across some interesting information <strong>while&nbsp;studying</strong>.</td>
			<td>adverb phrase: no subject, incomplete verb&nbsp;<em>studying</em></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Patterns</h1>

<p>An&nbsp;adverb clause is a dependent clause (meaning it cannot stand alone), and it can come&nbsp;<strong>before</strong> or&nbsp;<strong>after</strong> the independent (main)&nbsp;clause. If it comes&nbsp;<strong>before</strong> the main clause, use a&nbsp;<strong>comma</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>When I was young,&nbsp;</strong>I watched a lot of&nbsp;TV.</li>
	<li>I watched a lot of TV&nbsp;<strong>when I was&nbsp;young</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Types</h1>

<p>There are four common types of adverb clauses in English: <em>time</em>, <em>contrast</em>, <em>cause and effect</em>, and&nbsp;<em>conditional</em>.</p>

<h2>1. Time</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of time indicate&nbsp;<em>when&nbsp;</em>something took place. They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>when</em>, <em>until</em>, <em>as soon as</em>, <em>after</em>, <em>before</em>, <em>since</em>, and&nbsp;<em>while</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Before she got the job,</strong> she had already&nbsp;graduated.</li>
	<li>She had already graduated <strong>before she got the&nbsp;job</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Contrast</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of contrast&nbsp;show&nbsp;the opposite of what is expected. They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>though</em>, <em>even though</em>, <em>although</em>, <em>whereas</em>,&nbsp;and <em>while</em>. See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-explain-despite-vs-although" target="_blank">How to Explain Despite Vs. Although</a> for more examples of adverb clauses of&nbsp;contrast.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Although it was raining,</strong> we went to the&nbsp;beach.</li>
	<li>We went to the beach <strong>although it was&nbsp;raining</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Cause &amp; Effect</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of cause and effect indicate <em>why</em> something happens. They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>because</em>, <em>since</em>, <em>as</em>, and <em>so&nbsp;(that)</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Because he asked me first,</strong> he got the extra&nbsp;ticket.</li>
	<li>He got the extra ticket <strong>because he asked me&nbsp;first</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Conditional</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of time show a hypothetical situation (where something might take&nbsp;place only if a certain thing happens). They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>if</em>, <em>only if</em>, <em>even if</em>, <em>unless</em>,&nbsp;and <em>whether or not</em>. See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/an-easy-way-to-teach-conditionals" target="_blank">An Easy Way to Teach Conditionals</a> for more examples of clauses with&nbsp;<em>if</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>If I were rich,</strong> I would donate a million dollars to&nbsp;charity.</li>
	<li>I would donate a million dollars to charity <strong>if I were&nbsp;rich</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Tricky Adverb Clauses</h1>

<h2>1. Adverbs Clauses with Two Meanings</h2>

<p>Watch out for adverbs like&nbsp;<em>since</em> and&nbsp;<em>while</em>.&nbsp;Point out that the verb tense of a sentence often indicates&nbsp;what the meaning&nbsp;is.</p>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<th>Note</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I have been studying English <strong>since</strong> I was 11 years&nbsp;old.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of time / since = past starting point / present progressive, present perfect progressive&nbsp;tenses</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They remain on strike <strong>since</strong> they haven&#39;t reached a&nbsp;deal.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of cause &amp; effect / since = because / any&nbsp;tense</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>The fire alarm went off <strong>while</strong> he was&nbsp;sleeping.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of time / while&nbsp;= during&nbsp;/ past progressive, future&nbsp;progressive</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She is a city girl&nbsp;<strong>while</strong> he&nbsp;prefers the country.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of contrast / while = in contrast / any&nbsp;tense</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>2. Since, Because, As, Due To</h2>

<p>Can we begin a sentence with&nbsp;<em>because</em>? Can we replace <em>because</em> with&nbsp;<em>as&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>since</em>? Can we use&nbsp;<em>due to&nbsp;</em>instead of <em>because of</em>? Should we avoid&nbsp;<em>due to the fact that</em> and&nbsp;<em>because of the fact that</em> Get up to speed on the latest in language decisions with this post:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-because-since-as-and-due-to" target="_blank">What&#39;s the Deal with Since, Because, As, and Due&nbsp;To?</a></p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>For more practice with adverb clauses, try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> lessons.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1616" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of&nbsp;Time</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1619" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of&nbsp;Contrast</a></li>
</ul>


Adverb Clauses

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<p>There are many benefits to using <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres" target="_blank">flashcards</a> in class. Use them to elicit, practice, or review vocabulary or grammar structures. Use them as a warm-up, filler, or review for a related lesson. You can even use them as a vocabulary or grammar lesson unto themselves. But <em>how</em> can we use flashcards in class? Get creative with the activities suggested&nbsp;below!</p>

<h1>1. Memory (also called&nbsp;<em>Concentration)</em></h1>

<p>Print out one set of flashcard images and one set of flashcard words per group of four or more students. Lay out cards facedown in a grid. Students take turns flipping over two cards. If the word and image match, they can keep the pair and go again. If not, they flip them back over and another student takes a turn. At the end, the student with the most pairs&nbsp;wins.</p>

<h1>2. Go Fish</h1>

<p>Print out one set of flashcard images and one set of words per group of four to six students. Deal out five cards to each student. One student asks&nbsp;<em>Do you have a ______?</em> to one person in the group and tries to match the word or image of a card they have in their hand. If the student has the card, he or she must hand it over and it&rsquo;s still the first student&rsquo;s turn. If the student doesn&rsquo;t have that card, he or she says <em>Go fish</em>. The first student must then take a card from the deck, and it&rsquo;s the next student&rsquo;s turn. The object is to collect word/image pairs and get rid of all the cards. At the end, the student with the most pairs&nbsp;wins.</p>

<h1>3. Matching Game</h1>

<p>Half of the students get an image flashcard, and half get a corresponding word flashcard. Students must find their match by giving clues that describe the image or word. (Example clues with animal cards: <em>I have fur</em>, <em>I can swim</em>, <em>I live in the forest</em>,&nbsp;etc.)</p>

<h1>4. Pictionary</h1>

<p>Divide the class into two teams. One student from team A comes to the board, picks a word flashcard, and draws the image on the board. The team has 30 seconds to guess&mdash;if they can name it, they get a point. At the end, the team with the most points&nbsp;wins.</p>

<h1>5. Bingo</h1>

<p>You can make your own Bingo cards by cutting out 25 images and pasting them in random order into <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/warm-ups-fillers/resources/2172-bingo" target="_blank">this Bingo template</a>. Or, to save yourself a lot of prep time, choose the maximum flashcard print-per-page option of 16 images (see this&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/50-how-to-print-flashcards" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Help Doc</a> for instructions on using flashcards on our site). Switch the order every time you print, and print out enough so that each student has one. Hand out one Bingo card to each student. Call out the image names. Students should cross off the corresponding images on their cards. The first student to get a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line yells <em>Bingo!</em> and is the winner. To make the game last longer, students must have two (or three, or four) lines before yelling&nbsp;<em>Bingo!</em></p>

<h1>6. Spelling Bee</h1>

<p>Divide the class into two teams. Show a flashcard to one student from team&nbsp;A. If he or she can spell the word correctly, that team gets a point. At the end, the team with the most points&nbsp;wins!</p>

<h1>7. Pronunciation Bee</h1>

<p>Same as the spelling bee, but show a flashcard and have a student from one team try to pronounce it&nbsp;correctly.</p>

<h1>8. Categories</h1>

<p>Divide students into two teams. Print out flashcards from various categories and spread them out on a table or the floor (have 50 or 100 if possible). When you yell <em>Go!</em> all students must run to the area and find flashcards that fit into that category (e.g., clothes you wear in winter, things you can eat or drink, etc.). The team with the most correct flashcards wins. Play as many times as you&rsquo;d like with different categories. You can reset the scores after each round, or have a cumulative total to determine the ultimate winning&nbsp;team.</p>

<h1>9. Story Time</h1>

<p>Play as a class or in small groups. Put students in a circle. Have one student draw a flashcard from a deck (prepare flashcards from one category that you&rsquo;ve been practicing, or from various categories for fun). The student must make a sentence using the image on the card. Then next student must draw a card and continue the story. If you want to score this, allow students who use the image correctly in a sentence to keep the card. If they don&rsquo;t know the word or use it incorrectly, they must put the card back into the deck. The student with the most cards at the end is the&nbsp;winner.</p>

<h1>10. Guess Who?</h1>

<p>Tape one flashcard to the back of each student. Students then move about the class asking their classmates Yes/No questions until they can guess who or what they are. This activity works with many categories such as jobs, animals, food, tools, furniture, clothes, etc. (Example questions with animal cards: <em>Do I have fur? Can I swim? Do I live in the forest?</em>&nbsp;etc.)</p>

<h1>Flashcard Library</h1>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres" target="_blank">ESL Library has more than 2,000 flashcards</a> in 18 broad categories and many common subcategories. There are also many printing and customizing options so that you can generate exactly what you need for your learners.</p>

<p>For more activities, especially with specific sets of flashcards, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-fun-shelly-terrell" target="_blank">Flashcard Ideas</a> on our&nbsp;blog.</p>

<p>If there&rsquo;s a flashcard set we don&rsquo;t have that you&rsquo;d like to see, drop us a line! We&rsquo;re always developing new sets and love teacher&nbsp;requests.</p>


10 Ways to Use Flashcards in Class

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<p>In preparation for a family vacation to Cuba this spring, I began studying a little Spanish. I had heard a lot of good things about <a href="https://www.duolingo.com/">Duolingo</a>, so I decided to give the language learning app a try. Having studied a little Spanish in university, I was pleased that some basic vocabulary came back to me quite quickly while doing my daily language exercise. My kids learned a few useful words too (and they enjoyed watching Mom study).</p>

<p>One lazy evening in our hotel in Cuba, we turned on the TV. The kids wanted to watch something in English, but I reminded them we were in a foreign country and needed to have foreign experiences (including a week with no Wi-Fi). We came across a film in Spanish and I had the kids in stitches as I pretended to translate. The weekend after we returned from our vacation, my son and I stretched out on our couch and searched for a Netflix movie to watch. We stumbled across a film about orcas (my son&#39;s favorite sea creature) but didn&#39;t realize the film was in Spanish until it began. While I was thrilled to continue my language learning, my son was a bit disappointed and thought he wouldn&#39;t be able to follow along. We grabbed his stuffed orca to cuddle with and let the movie play.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Though I don&#39;t know how much Spanish I actually retained by watching <em> El Faro de las Orcas</em>, I felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment. I actually understood a lot of the Spanish words. More importantly, my son, who is a similar age to the boy in the film, spent two hours reading in order to follow along. When the film was over, we had a rich discussion. My son felt he had a better understanding about what life is like for autistic kids and their parents. At school, on the ice, and in our circle of friends and family, he has been exposed to many kids on the spectrum, and this film helped us talk about all of these kids and how they have different coping mechanisms. Having just spent a week by the sea, we also talked about why the ocean might have a calming effect on those that have difficulty in social situations. We also discussed other issues, such as child custody and environmental regulations. And we discussed what might have happened afterward and whether or not the film was too far-fetched to be based on a true story.</p>

<p>The fact that <em>El Faro de las Orcas</em> was in Spanish did not affect my son&#39;s understanding or enjoyment of it. In fact, he has already recommended it to some of his friends. Perhaps I&#39;ve stumbled on a new way to encourage more reading (and foreign language learning) in our house. Which foreign film should we watch next?</p>

<p><strong>idiom</strong> in stitches: <em>laughing uncontrollably</em></p>


Enjoying Foreign Films with English Subtitles

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<h1>This could take a while&hellip;</h1>

<p>English language learners struggle when commonly confused words pop up in reading and writing. Much like&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/any-time-vs-anytime" target="_blank"><em>any time</em> and <em>anytime</em></a>, <em>a while</em> and <em>awhile</em> have similar meanings and sound the same, but have different parts of speech. So when exactly do we use these&nbsp;terms?</p>

<h1>A While</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>a period of time</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;ˈwɑyl/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>article + noun</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Sentence Positions:</th>
			<td>
			<ol style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>the object of a verb (V&nbsp;+&nbsp;O)</li>
				<li>after a preposition (Prep&nbsp;+&nbsp;N)</li>
			</ol>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>It has been <strong>a while</strong> since I saw&nbsp;that&nbsp;movie.</li>
				<li>Bread&nbsp;will go stale after <strong>a&nbsp;while</strong>.</li>
				<li>We will leave&nbsp;in&nbsp;<strong>a&nbsp;while</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Awhile</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>for a short time; for a while</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;ˈwɑyl/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>adverb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Sentence Positions:</th>
			<td>
			<ol style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>after a verb (V&nbsp;+&nbsp;Adv)</li>
				<li>at the end of a sentence (SVO&nbsp;+&nbsp;Adv)</li>
			</ol>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>I need to rest&nbsp;<strong>awhile</strong>.</li>
				<li>We waited <strong>awhile</strong>, but she never showed&nbsp;up.</li>
				<li>I&#39;m just going to stand here&nbsp;<strong>awhile</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Tips &amp; Tricks</h1>

<p><strong>If you can replace it&nbsp;with &quot;for a while,&quot;&nbsp;use <em>awhile</em>.</strong> For example,&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Usage/faq0016.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Chicago Manual of Style</a></em>&#39;s FAQ had a great answer to a debate about&nbsp;<em>take a while</em> vs.&nbsp;<em>take awhile&nbsp;</em>(correct answer:&nbsp;<em>take a&nbsp;while</em>).</p>

<blockquote>
<p>It is true that either an adverb or an object can follow a verb. But the adverb <em>awhile&nbsp;</em>means <em>for a while,</em> which clearly should not follow <em>take</em> (compare <em>stay awhile</em>, which survives expansion to <em>stay for a&nbsp;while</em>).</p>
</blockquote>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="incorrect">It took awhile. = It took for a&nbsp;while.</li>
	<li class="correct">We stayed awhile. = We stayed for a&nbsp;while.</li>
</ul>

<p>I also found a great tip on Grammar Girl&#39;s <em><a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/while-versus-awhile" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Quick and Dirty Tips</a></em> blog. If you can replace it&nbsp;with a noun about time, use <em>a while</em>. If you can replace it with an adverb of manner, use&nbsp;<em>awhile</em>.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">It&#39;s been an hour. = It&#39;s been <strong>a&nbsp;while</strong>.</li>
	<li class="correct">Go play quietly. = Go play <strong>awhile</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/awhile" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Oxford Dictionaries</em></a> has a good usage summary to share with your learners if they&#39;re still&nbsp;confused:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>The single word <em>awhile</em> is an adverb meaning &quot;for a short time,&quot;&nbsp;and should not be confused with the noun use of <em>a while</em>, &quot;a period of time&quot;: <em>stand here awhile</em>, but <em>we stood there for a&nbsp;while</em></p>
</blockquote>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">We stood there awhile.</li>
	<li class="correct">We stood there for a&nbsp;while.</li>
</ul>

<h1><em>Awhile</em> or <em>A While</em> After a&nbsp;Preposition?</h1>

<p>Can <em>awhile</em> be used as the object of a preposition? This is something I would only discuss with my higher-level learners.&nbsp;<em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/awhile" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary</a></em> says that&nbsp;<em>awhile</em> is often seen and heard in this position, but warns that grammar sticklers consider it to be&nbsp;incorrect.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">We sat around and talked for <strong>a while</strong>. <em>(correct)</em></li>
	<li class="correct">We sat around and talked for <strong>awhile</strong>. <em>(okay, but considered wrong by&nbsp;some)</em></li>
</ul>

<p>Your higher-level learners should also be aware that if the preposition is part of a phrasal verb or verb + preposition expression, then we need to use the adverb&nbsp;<em>awhile</em>. (This also follows the handy tip about using&nbsp;<em>awhile</em> when we can replace it with&nbsp;<em>for a while</em> mentioned&nbsp;above.)</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">Will you stick around <strong>awhile</strong>? <em>(correct;&nbsp;</em>around<em> is part of the verb expression&nbsp;</em>stick around<em>)</em></li>
	<li class="incorrect">Will you stick around <strong>a while</strong>? <em>(incorrect)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/any-time-vs-anytime" target="_blank">Any Time Vs. Anytime</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-commonly-confused-word-pairs" target="_blank">Commonly Confused Word Pairs</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/commonly-confused-prepositions-above-over-below-under" target="_blank">Commonly Confused Prepositions</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/2401" target="_blank">Great Barrier Reef</a> (see example of&nbsp;<em>a while</em>&nbsp;on page 4)</li>
</ul>


A While Vs. Awhile

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Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>ESL&nbsp;Library is not just the name of our site. It is literally a library full of readings for English learners. As a subscriber, your license allows you to download and print unlimited graded readings for your students. And there are hundreds of&nbsp;choices! This week I came across an excellent Edutopia article titled <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-choice-student-reading-susan-barber" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Building Choice Into Your Students&#39; Reading</a> about giving students more reading choices to encourage the growth of&nbsp;readers. In the article, one of the recommended activities for creating a &#39;literary-rich environment&#39; at school is <strong>speed&nbsp;dating</strong>.</p>

<blockquote>In the library, all sorts of books are arranged on many different tables. The teacher has a timer and sets it off every two to three minutes as the students browse the books and find titles they are interested in. Students keep a log of books they like. At the end of the activity, they choose one book to begin reading immediately and a few to try later in the&nbsp;year.</blockquote>

<h1>Speed Dating with ESL&nbsp;Library&nbsp;Readings</h1>

<p>Here&#39;s how to adapt this reading activity with ESL&nbsp;Library readings and&nbsp;ELLs:</p>

<p>1. Choose several topics from the <strong>Reading &amp; Discovery</strong> sections. Filter by level in order to find appropriate reading&nbsp;materials.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Places</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Things</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons" target="_blank">Historic Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/83/lessons" target="_blank">Easy Readers</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/97/lessons" target="_blank">Sports &amp; Leisure</a></li>
</ul>

<p>2. Print a double-sided copy of pages 1 and 2 from each topic that you choose. Page 1 includes the lesson image and page 2 includes the reading. Make sure you have selected at least as many topics as you have students in your class, so that someone is always reading&nbsp;something.</p>

<p>3. Spread the readings on several tables or desks around your classroom or library. You can choose to organize the readings by theme or category or just mix them up and place them randomly around the&nbsp;room.</p>

<p>4. Start a timer on your mobile device and tell students to find something to read (just page 2). Since they are reading articles rather than books, give them less time (try 1&ndash;2 minutes). When the buzzer goes, have them find another reading topic. (You may want to ask them to make a list of the readings they picked and&nbsp;liked.)</p>

<p>5. After about 15&ndash;20 minutes, ask your students to go back to the reading that they were most interested in. Give them enough time to read the entire page. You may find that many of the students want to read about the same person, place, thing, or event. Allow students to pair up, or allow groups to form reading&nbsp;circles and take turns reading out loud.</p>

<blockquote>This is a great way to find out what your students are interested in. Look around to see which topics your students liked and find time to do the whole lesson in class. When you go to the lesson page to print the full lesson, see if there are Related Materials to try. For example, our latest Famous People lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2406" target="_blank">Jack Ma</a> has links to related lessons on Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Hedy Lamar. After you discover your students&#39; interests, you may be able to recommend some fictional books,&nbsp;too.</blockquote>

<p>Happy reading!<br />
&mdash;Tara</p>

<p>PS. If you want to encourage your students to read fiction, be sure to read the whole <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-choice-student-reading-susan-barber" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Edutopia</a> article for more great tips. Don&#39;t forget to tell your students what <em>you</em> are reading. They may be inspired to pick up a&nbsp;book. I&#39;m currently reading a book by a local author called <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Men-Walking-Water-Emily-Schultz/dp/0345811011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Men Walking on Water</a>. It takes place on the banks of Detroit during prohibition before the tunnel and bridge were built near my new home. What are you&nbsp;reading?</p>


Get Your ELLs Reading with "Speed Dating"

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<h1>Is the argument that we can&#39;t use&nbsp;<em>over</em> to mean&nbsp;<em>more than</em> finally over and done&nbsp;with?</h1>

<p>There are some so-called &quot;rules&quot; in the English language that confuse everyone from native speakers to English language learners. Sometimes there isn&#39;t even any grammatical basis for the rules&mdash;some &quot;expert&quot; long ago decided it didn&#39;t sound like proper English, and it stuck. <em>Don&#39;t use &quot;over&quot; in place of &quot;more than&quot;&nbsp;</em>is just such a rule. When even grammarians are arguing over a language rule, what are English language learners and teachers supposed to&nbsp;do?</p>

<h1>The Argument</h1>

<p>In 1877 William Cullen Bryant, the editor of the&nbsp;<em>New York Evening Post,&nbsp;</em>decided that&nbsp;<em>over</em> should never be used in place of&nbsp;<em>more than</em> (and supposedly he never gave a reason for this). Just to put it in context, he also forbade the word&nbsp;<em>pants&nbsp;</em>in place of&nbsp;<em>pantaloons</em>. But for some reason, this <em>over</em> ban stuck. So <em>over</em> with a countable numeral (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>Over 100 people signed up</em>) was considered incorrect;&nbsp;<em>more than</em> was the only acceptable choice, according to many grammarians of the day (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>More than 100 people signed&nbsp;up</em>). Of course, you could always use <em>over</em> as a preposition of place (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>The dog jumped over the fence</em>), but the adverbial sense of&nbsp;<em>over</em> was a big no-no in many circles, especially among journalists. (For more on&nbsp;<em>over</em> as a preposition, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/commonly-confused-prepositions-above-over-below-under/" target="_blank">Commonly Confused Prepositions: Above, Over, Below &amp; Under</a>.) On the other hand, many have argued that there is no basis for this rule and have demonstrated that&nbsp;<em>over</em> (meaning <em>more than</em>) has been in use since the 14th&nbsp;century.</p>

<h1>The Good News</h1>

<p>Most of the major style guides now list <em>over</em> as an acceptable alternative to&nbsp;<em>more than</em>.&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, for instance, has had this entry since 2010: &quot;<strong><em>over</em></strong><em>. </em>As an equivalent of&nbsp;<em>more than</em>, this word is perfectly good idiomatic English.&quot;&nbsp;(5.220) <em>AP Style</em>&nbsp;came around in 2014. Since then they have said that <em>over</em> and <em>more than</em> can be used interchangeably to indicate greater numerical value. Though there are still dissenters out there, it seems as if, finally, the backlash over keeping this pedantic rule is more prevalent than the backlash over getting rid of&nbsp;it.</p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>Feel free to use <em>over</em> instead of&nbsp;<em>more than</em> whenever you wish. As&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary of English Usage</em> states, &quot;There is no reason why you need to avoid this usage.&quot; The major style guides also point out that you can use&nbsp;<em>under</em> instead of&nbsp;<em>less than/fewer than</em>. But what should we teach our students? I tell my students that both <em>over</em> and&nbsp;<em>more than</em> are acceptable to use. I do warn them that they might have teachers or bosses in the future who feel strongly one way or the other, and remind them that&nbsp;<em>more than</em> is the &quot;safe&quot; choice. But I also tell them they will see and hear both&nbsp;<em>over</em> and <em>more than</em>, so they shouldn&#39;t be afraid to use either one. I think this makes a great discussion topic as well. I mention the controversy and ask my students if they have such controversies in their own languages. What do you think? Over to&nbsp;you.</p>


Over Vs. More Than

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<p>There are several <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-commonly-confused-word-pairs/" target="_blank">commonly confused word pairs</a> in English that cause a great deal of angst in everyone from English language learners to native speakers, and the terms <em>affect</em> and <em>effect</em> surely top the list. Time and again, I&#39;ve seen my students&nbsp;struggling to recall when to use these terms. I&#39;ve found that teaching a mini-lesson on the pair, such as the one below, goes a long way to helping students remember which is which.</p>

<h1>Quick Tip</h1>

<p><strong>A is for Action!</strong> The verb <em>affect</em> starts with an A, and a verb is an&nbsp;<em>action</em>, which also starts with an&nbsp;A.</p>

<h1>Comparison</h1>

<p><em>Affect</em> and <em>effect</em> are confusing because they have similar meanings and pronunciation (when speaking quickly and naturally). The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at sentence patterns. Does the word follow a subject and act as the action in the sentence? If yes, use the verb&nbsp;<em>affect</em>. Does the word take a subject or object position before or after a verb&nbsp;(action) in the sentence? If yes, use the noun&nbsp;<em>effect</em>. The following chart shows the similarities and differences between these two terms.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2404-affect-effect" target="_blank"><img alt="Chart comparing affect and effect" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2161/content_Tanya_Affect-Vs-Effect_Chart.png" /></a></p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons" target="_blank">Historic Events</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2395" target="_blank">The Great Depression</a> has a page of practice on&nbsp;<em>affect</em> and <em>effect</em> (page&nbsp;4). You could also have students find these words in context in the reading on page 2. <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/2401" target="_blank">The Great Barrier Reef</a> (a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Places</a> lesson) also has <em>affect</em> in context in the reading on page&nbsp;2 (coming soon).</p>

<h1>Other Commonly Confused Words</h1>

<p>This blog post, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-commonly-confused-word-pairs/" target="_blank">6 Commonly Confused Word Pairs</a>, has more word pairs that English learners (and native speakers) often confuse. It includes tips on advice/advise, accept/except, especially/specially, emigrate/immigrate, and custom/customs.</p>


Affect Vs. Effect

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

Conferences

<p>The ESL&nbsp;Library team had a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-17" target="_blank">fantastic time at the TESOL 2017 conference in Seattle</a> last week! We appreciate this yearly opportunity to find out what teachers want and need from our site. We love chatting with the teachers who come to our booth, and we also enjoy attending as many sessions as we can. Last week I had the chance to attend a great grammar discussion led by Charl Norloff from the University of Colorado&nbsp;Boulder. Charl&#39;s started her session (<em>Grammar: Taught Separately or Integrated into Skills Classes?</em>) by asking participants to think about how they usually teach grammar. Do we prefer teaching grammar explicitly (presenting and explaining the grammar point separately before any practice) or implicitly (eliciting the grammar through another lesson, such as a reading passage, with no separate grammar&nbsp;instruction)?</p>

<h1>Explicit Vs. Implicit Grammar&nbsp;Instruction</h1>

<p>When Charl asked participants what their preference was, explicit or implicit grammar instruction, the response was 50/50. Some teachers felt strongly that one method was better than the other, while many others stated that a combination of both styles worked best for their students. (A combination with slightly more emphasis on explicit instruction is my personal preference for teaching&nbsp;grammar.)</p>

<h2>Learning Styles</h2>

<p>Learning styles were brought up several times. Not all students learn the same way, and while explicit instruction may work for some, implicit may work better for others. Some teachers mentioned they have tried both methods in class to see what a particular class responds to best. Other teachers were limited to the curriculum/methods set by the&nbsp;school.</p>

<h2>Difficulty of the Grammar&nbsp;Target</h2>

<p>Some teachers said they choose to teach explicitly or implicitly depending on the difficulty of the grammar point. For example, the simple past is easy enough to teach implicitly by having students find examples in a reading passage, whereas the subjunctive may not be as easy to&nbsp;spot.</p>

<h2>Difficulty Finding Materials for Teaching&nbsp;Implicitly</h2>

<p>Other teachers noted that with implicit teaching, it isn&#39;t always easy to find a passage that has multiple examples or that lists all the exceptions to a rule. Several teachers said they were forced to write passages themselves because they couldn&#39;t readily find a real-life passage with multiple examples of a grammar target, and this is very time-consuming for&nbsp;them.</p>

<h2>Meaningful Input</h2>

<p>Charl also mentioned that regardless of explicit or implicit grammar instruction, teachers need to provide a rich set of opportunities to use the grammar (i.e., meaningful input). No matter how our learners acquire the grammatical knowledge, we must follow up with plenty of speaking and writing exercise to ensure they truly grasp the grammar&nbsp;target.</p>

<h1>Putting Explicit &amp; Implicit Grammar Instruction into Action in Our&nbsp;Materials</h1>

<p>What else could the writers and editors for ESL&nbsp;Library take away from this session in terms of how we can benefit our subscribers through our grammar&nbsp;materials?</p>

<h2>Explicit Grammar&nbsp;Materials</h2>

<p>With the many teaching and learning styles out there, explicit grammar instruction will always have a place in the ELT&nbsp;realm. During this session, I realized that we are on the right track with our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;(comprehensive grammar lessons) section. For the past two years, we&#39;ve been adding speaking and writing components to all of our new grammar lessons (and many of our older ones). As Charl mentioned, these types of exercises are valuable for knowing if our students can produce the grammar target outside of simple grammatical drill-type exercises. Our newer&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Resources</a> (grammar charts, tips, and lists) are also handy for explicit grammar instruction (or to hand out later to&nbsp;those students who aren&#39;t quite getting the implicit&nbsp;instruction).</p>

<h2>Implicit Grammar Materials</h2>

<p>While explicit instruction is still valued, there is also an increasing demand for the implicit, communicative approach to grammar teaching and&nbsp;learning. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Stories</a> section is a great place to find ready-made&nbsp;implicit grammar lessons that present the grammar target in the context of a reading passage.&nbsp;I also realized that we should be adding a grammar component to our other four-skills lessons (such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Dialogues</a>, etc.) more often. At times, we have a short grammar exercise that focuses on something mentioned in the reading or listening passage, such as adjective clauses, tag questions, etc. We could work this type of exercise into these lessons more often so that students learn how to recognize grammar targets independently (or with less guidance, at least) and in context. During the session, many teachers suggested a reading passage followed by an exercise that asks students to find the grammar target in context (by underlining all instances of it, for example), and this is something we can easily add to our&nbsp;materials. Which&nbsp;method works best in your&nbsp;classroom?&nbsp;</p>

TESOL 2017 Session: Should Grammar Be Taught Separately or Integrated into Skills Classes?

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<p><img alt="TESOL 2017" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2216/content_IMG_4621-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<p class="caption">From left to right: Tetiana (Yumi Class consultant), Tara (head writer), Ben (CEO), Tanya (chief editor), Liz (communications&nbsp;intern)</p>

<h1>Together at TESOL</h1>

<p>March is always a busy and wonderful month for the ESL&nbsp;Library team, thanks to our annual meet-up at the international TESOL convention. This year our team members were excited to gather in Seattle, Washington, where some of us met face-to-face for the first&nbsp;time!</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL 2017" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2217/content_IMG_5883-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<h1>Sessions &amp; Demos</h1>

<p>Our team presented four sessions at TESOL 17, including live demos of <a href="https://ellii.com">ESL&nbsp;Library</a> and <a href="https://www.yumiclass.com/#/welcome">Yumi&nbsp;Class</a> (our digital platform&mdash;currently in beta mode). Our consultant Tetiana joined us from Edmonton and led hourly demos of our sample <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1245">Consumerism</a> lesson on&nbsp;Yumi.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2218/content_IMG_7373-1-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<p>In another session, Ben and Tanya taught teachers how to use <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres">images</a> to elicit and reinforce language structures and vocabulary (which Ben demonstrated by teaching some very basic Japanese). In my own session, I gave tips on blending authentic content with ELT&nbsp;materials.</p>

<p>Thank you to all of the attendees who joined us for our sessions and demos! And a big shout-out to our designer Robyn who made our booths, slides, and materials look&nbsp;fantastic!</p>

<p>Tanya and I also snuck away from the booth to attend sessions and roundtables about grammar, pronunciation, literacy, and refugees. Watch our blog for upcoming posts about a few of these TESOL&nbsp;sessions.</p>

<h1>Contests &amp; Prizes</h1>

<p>We had some fun giveaways this year, including an iPad Mini (<a href="https://youtu.be/Oo_2NwKDbNQ">won by Cynthia Miller</a>) and an Apple Watch (won by photo contestant Denise Lewis, pictured below). We also gave away screen cleaners and three free lessons to everyone who visited our&nbsp;booth.</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL 17" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2219/content_IMG_5911-1024x768.jpeg" /></p>

<p>Thank you to our intern Liz for running our social media photo contest and filling up our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ESLlibrary">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ESLlibrary">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/esllibrary/">Instagram</a> feeds with colorful photos of teachers from all over the&nbsp;world.</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL 17" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2220/content_collage-2017-03-28-1-1024x768.jpg" /></p>

<h1>Comfort, Food, &amp; Fun</h1>

<p>Our team had a wonderful stay at the luxurious Grand Hyatt on Pine St., where we had our daily breakfast at Ruth&#39;s Chris Steakhouse (say that three times fast). This year, we were thrilled to have access to so many great restaurants, cafes, clubs, and pubs. There was even plenty of food to choose&nbsp;from in the Convention Center&nbsp;itself.</p>

<p>Throughout the week, we enjoyed dining and touring around together as a team and with other TESOL folks, including Nathan from <em>BC Teal</em>, Ken from <em>Pearson</em>, and Eric of <em>Compelling&nbsp;Conversations</em>.</p>

<h2>Restaurants</h2>

<p>Here are some of the restaurants we enjoyed in Seattle:</p>

<ul>
	<li>The Cheesecake Factory (with its 21-page menu)</li>
	<li>Sansei Seafood Restaurant &amp; Sushi Bar (so good that we went&nbsp;twice!)</li>
	<li>Capitol Cider (100% gluten-free)</li>
	<li>Wild Ginger (delicious&nbsp;tapas)</li>
	<li>Ludi&#39;s (greasy breakfast)</li>
	<li>The Pike Pub (local&nbsp;brewery)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Attractions</h2>

<p>We didn&#39;t get a chance to go up the Space Needle or on the Great Wheel, but here are some of the attractions a few of us checked out during our fantastic week in&nbsp;Seattle:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Pike Place Market</li>
	<li>Comedy Underground</li>
	<li>GameWorks</li>
	<li>Dimitriou&#39;s Jazz Alley</li>
	<li>Chihuly Garden and Glass</li>
	<li>Cherry blossoms at the University of&nbsp;Washington</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="TESOL 17" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2221/content_collage-2017-03-28-2-1024x768.jpg" /></p>

<h1>Take-Aways</h1>

<p>One of our top priorities at this year&#39;s TESOL conference was to do testing on our new digital lessons and platform before our summer launch. We found many teachers who offered to act as beta testers in the next few months. Many attendees also took advantage of our discount conference price and <a href="https://ellii.com/sign_up">signed up for an ESL&nbsp;Library&nbsp;subscription</a>.</p>

<p>We also enjoyed catching up with our long-term, enthusiastic ESL&nbsp;Library subscribers who shared plenty of requests (and&nbsp;hugs).</p>

<p>Some gaps we need to fill in our library include (CLIL) lessons on social studies, science, pronunciation, academic vocabulary, and English for Special Purposes. We also had a unique request for a lesson about Potato Chip Day (March&nbsp;14). We hope to fill some of these requests before it&#39;s time to meet again for TESOL&nbsp;18.</p>

<p>See you in Chicago!</p>


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