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

For Students

Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<h3>Could I please have a few minutes of your time?</h3>

<p>English language learners often want to practice their speaking skills above all others, and informational interviews are a great&nbsp;way to practice speaking. We usually teach our students how to be the&nbsp;<i>interviewee</i>&nbsp;(at a job interview or for a speaking test, for example), but have you ever taught them how to be the&nbsp;<i>interviewer</i>?</p>

<p>Conducting an informational interview is a great way to get your learners talking in English, but a simple one-on-one speaking&nbsp;activity isn&#39;t the only way interviews can be used! Try assigning an interview as part of an essay or other writing project, as the basis for a presentation, or as a precursor to a group or class discussion or debate the following day.</p>

<p>What makes a good interview? Below are some handy tips that your students should keep in mind as they get ready to interview someone.</p>

<h3>1. Think of a good theme or topic.</h3>

<p>Choose something that interests you, such as talking to someone who has a job you&#39;re interested in or someone who does a sport/activity that you want to learn.&nbsp;Or, if your teacher&nbsp;assigns a topic to you, try to find an interesting angle. For example, if your teacher asks you to interview someone about their family, ask them about their family history from a hundred years ago.</p>

<h3>2. Contact the person.</h3>

<p>Arrange the interview by phone, or approach someone in your school or neighborhood and politely ask if you can ask them a few questions. Some good ways to start an interview are:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Excuse me, may I ask you something?</li>
	<li>Hello, this is Maria. I&#39;d like to interview you about your family.</li>
	<li>Could I please have a few&nbsp;minutes of your time?</li>
	<li>Are you interested in participating in a interview?</li>
	<li>Would you mind answering a few questions?</li>
	<li>Hi! I&#39;m conducting interviews about people&#39;s career choices for my class. Could I ask you a few questions?</li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Be prepared.</h3>

<p>Be sure to write out your questions beforehand. You want your interview to have some structure so that you ask the important content questions within a reasonable amount of time. Try not to have too many questions (10 questions is usually a good number).</p>

<p>Try to have some general questions and some specific ones so that you get a variety of responses. It&#39;s also&nbsp;more interesting to get someone&#39;s personal opinion/experiences, so try to ask a few personal questions (but not <em>too&nbsp;</em>personal).&nbsp;For example, if you were interviewing someone about their career, your questions could include:</p>

<ul>
	<li>What education and background experience did you need for your career? (general)</li>
	<li>What do you like and dislike about&nbsp;your&nbsp;career? (general)</li>
	<li>What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue this career? (specific)</li>
	<li>If you could do anything differently in your career, what would it be? (specific)</li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Take notes.</h3>

<p>Jot down notes so you don&rsquo;t forget what someone said. Your notes can be short&mdash;just enough to jog your memory. You <em>don&#39;t</em> need to write down what someone said word for word (except for those lines you want to quote directly in your report later on, if any).</p>

<p>Or, if it&#39;s too difficult to write and listen at the same time, try&nbsp;recording the interview so you can write things down later when you have lots of time. You could download and use&nbsp;a free recording app on your mobile phone if your school doesn&#39;t have recording devices available.</p>

<h3>5. Report your findings&nbsp;as soon as possible.</h3>

<p>Writing your report right away is the right way of doing things! Whether you&#39;re writing a report, preparing a presentation, or reporting your findings to a group or partner, it&rsquo;s easiest while the interview is fresh in your mind.</p>

<p>Try not to have too much of a delay between the interview and the assignment. If you have to wait a few days, review your interview notes before completing the assignment.</p>

<h3>6. Have fun!</h3>

<p>Most importantly, don&rsquo;t forget to have fun and enjoy this opportunity to practice speaking&nbsp;in English! Don&rsquo;t be nervous&mdash;people are usually very friendly and flattered when an English learner wants to interview them. Ask your questions slowly and clearly.</p>

<p>Also,&nbsp;don&#39;t hesitate to&nbsp;respond to what someone is saying! Most people prefer a conversation-style interview to one that is simply a question-and-answer session. But don&rsquo;t go on and on about your own experiences/opinions&mdash;you don&rsquo;t want to take up&nbsp;<i>too</i>&nbsp;much of someone&rsquo;s time.</p>

6 Steps for Conducting an Informational Interview in English

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

Grammar & Usage

<h1>We just might learn something!</h1>

<p>There are many modals in English modals of ability, possibility, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/suggestions-with-modals-of-advice-and-necessity-2/">necessity/obligation</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/suggestions-with-modals-of-advice-and-necessity-2/">advice</a>, to name the most common&mdash;and students can get confused by all the different functions and meanings. Some modals can be used for more than one purpose (such as <em>could</em> for past ability or present/future possibility), so it&rsquo;s no wonder they sometimes struggle! Presenting modals by function can help English language learners keep them all straight. Today, let&rsquo;s focus on <strong>modals of&nbsp;possibility</strong>.</p>

<h1>May, Might &amp;&nbsp;Could</h1>

<p>In English, there are three main modals of possibility: <em>may</em>, <em>might</em>, and&nbsp;<em>could</em>.</p>

<h2>1. Pattern</h2>

<h4>Modal + Base Verb</h4>

<p>Remind lower-level students that a base verb is one with <strong>no endings</strong> (no <em class="inlineBlock">-ing</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-s</em>, etc.). The modal always comes before the base&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>We <strong>might go</strong> to the party tomorrow&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>She <strong>could decide</strong> to join&nbsp;us.</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Function</h2>

<p>We use these modals to describe a possible action. Because of the uncertainty, these modals are often used to talk about the future, though sometimes we want to express possibility in the&nbsp;present.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I<strong> may go</strong> traveling next year. <em>(future&nbsp;possibility)</em></li>
	<li>My keys <strong>might be</strong> in the car. <em>(present&nbsp;possibility)</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>They <strong>might attend</strong> the awards ceremony tomorrow&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>He <strong>could call</strong> you back&nbsp;tonight.</li>
	<li>We<strong> could choose</strong> a new color of paint for the&nbsp;bedroom.</li>
	<li>I <strong>might join</strong> you if I finish&nbsp;early.</li>
	<li>The results of the study <strong>may shed</strong> some light on this&nbsp;condition.</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Differences in Meaning</h2>

<p>When it comes to the meaning of <em>may</em>, <em>might</em>, and <em>could</em> for possibility, I would argue that, at least in North American English, there is no difference in meaning except formality. Whatever you do, please remind students that <em>may</em> is quite formal! Textbooks always present the three modals together, and students might use <em>may</em> in everyday speech unless we point out that it&rsquo;s not common to do so. Emphasize that they might see and use <em>may</em> in formal writing, but in speaking and informal writing, they should stick to <em>might</em> and <em>could</em>. (Note that this is the preference in North America, but I believe that <em>may</em> is quite common in speaking and writing in British&nbsp;English.)</p>

<p>Some people have argued for slight differences in meaning, and this might be an interesting discussion for higher‑level students. But for most students, the difference is irrelevant and these words are&nbsp;interchangeable.</p>

<p>Remind students that&nbsp;<em>could</em> is also used for past ability. There is usually a reference to the past in the sentence or context, which helps learners recognize when <em>could</em> is referring to ability. Note the&nbsp;differences:</p>

<ul>
	<li>He <strong>could finish</strong> his project tonight. <em>(possibility)</em></li>
	<li>He <strong>could swim</strong> when he was a child. <em>(past&nbsp;ability)</em></li>
</ul>


Modals of Possibility: May, Might, Could

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<h1>What&rsquo;s the best way to teach superlative&nbsp;adjectives?</h1>

<p>We use <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjectives" target="_blank">adjectives</a> in English when we want to describe a person, place, or thing. When we need to compare two nouns, we use <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/comparative-adjectives/" target="_blank">comparative adjectives</a>. And when we need to compare more than two nouns, we use <strong>superlative adjectives</strong>. The rules for using the superlative ending <em class="inlineBlock">-est</em> vs. <em>the most</em> can sometimes trip students up, but presenting the rules in a chart like the one below can&nbsp;help!</p>

<h1>Use</h1>

<p>Use superlative adjectives to compare more than two people, places, or&nbsp;things.</p>

<h1>Form</h1>

<h2>1. Chart</h2>

<p><img alt="Superlative Adjectives chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/29/content_103_Superlative-Adjectives_Chart.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">Grammar &amp; Usage &ndash; <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2163" target="_blank">Superlative Adjectives</a></p>

<h2>2. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>John is <strong>the tallest</strong> boy in the&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>Out of all my classmates, Christina is <strong>the happiest</strong>. She&rsquo;s always&nbsp;smiling!</li>
	<li>I think he is <strong>the most famous</strong> actor in&nbsp;Hollywood.</li>
	<li>Her last painting is <strong>the most beautiful</strong> one she&rsquo;s ever&nbsp;done.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Exceptions</h1>

<p>Some two-syllable adjectives don&rsquo;t have to follow the rules above. For example, we can say <em>the friendliest</em> OR <em> the most friendly</em>, and <em>the simplest</em> OR <em>the most simple</em>. Other such adjectives include <em>angry</em>, <em>cruel</em>, <em>handsome</em>, <em>gentle</em>, and&nbsp;<em>quiet</em>.</p>

<h1>Out of all of&nbsp;the&hellip;</h1>

<p>In English, we can use <strong><em>out of all of the + plural noun</em></strong> to indicate the group we&rsquo;re comparing someone or something to. The word <em>out</em>, the second <em>of</em>, and/or the word <em>all</em> are often dropped in casual speech. Sometimes we even leave out the whole expression if it is&nbsp;implied.</p>

<p>For example, all of the following sentences are correct and have the same&nbsp;meaning:</p>

<ul>
	<li>John is the oldest <strong>out of all of the students</strong> in the&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>John is the oldest <strong>out of all the students</strong> in the&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>John is the oldest <strong>of all of the students</strong> in the&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>John is the oldest <strong>of all the students</strong> in the&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>John is the oldest <strong>of the students</strong> in the&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>John is the oldest in the class.</li>
</ul>

<h1>What about &ldquo;the least&rdquo;?</h1>

<p>We can also make comparisons in English where one thing is <em>the least</em> of a group of things. We use the following pattern in this case: <strong><em>the least</em> +&nbsp;Adj</strong>.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Michelle is <strong>the least tall</strong> of all my classmates. (Note that <em>the least</em> sounds a bit strange with one‑syllable adjectives. It&rsquo;s better to use a different superlative adjective with the same meaning, such as <em>the shortest</em> in this&nbsp;example.)</li>
	<li>Out of all my classmates, Juan is <strong>the least happy</strong>. He never&nbsp;smiles.</li>
	<li>The new guy on that TV show must be <strong>the least famous</strong> actor in&nbsp;Hollywood.</li>
	<li>Her first painting is <strong>the least beautiful</strong> one she&rsquo;s ever&nbsp;done.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/comparative-adjectives/" target="_blank">Comparative Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1607" target="_blank">Comparative Adjectives &ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1600" target="_blank">Comparative &amp; Superlatives&nbsp;&ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1556" target="_blank">Comparatives &ndash; Who Is Taller? &ndash; Basic Grammar Sentences&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjectives" target="_blank">Adjective Sentence Patterns &amp;&nbsp;Suffixes</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjective-order-and-punctuation/" target="_blank">Adjective Order &amp;&nbsp;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&nbsp;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&nbsp;Steps</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/look-appear-feel-adjective-or-adverb/" target="_blank">Look, Appear &amp; Feel + Adjective or&nbsp;Adverb?</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/restrictive-non-restrictive-adjective-clauses/" target="_blank">Restrictive &amp; Non-Restrictive Adjective&nbsp;Clauses</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>If you teach young&nbsp;learners</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2531" target="_blank">Comparative Adjectives Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2532" target="_blank">Superlative Adjectives Lesson</a></li>
</ul>


Superlative Adjectives

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<h1>There must be a better way&hellip;</h1>

<p>After your English language learners are familiar with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjectives" target="_blank">adjectives</a> in general, introduce them to comparative and superlative adjectives. When we want to compare two people, places, or things in English, we can use <strong>comparative&nbsp;adjectives</strong>.</p>

<p>The tricky thing for students is learning when to apply the comparative ending <em class="inlineBlock">-er</em>. I&rsquo;ve found that presenting the rules in a chart like the one below helps students clearly see when to use <em class="inlineBlock">-er</em> or&nbsp;<em>more</em>.</p>

<h1>Use</h1>

<p>Use comparative adjectives to compare two people, places, or&nbsp;things.</p>

<h1>Form</h1>

<h2>1. Chart</h2>

<p><img alt="Comparative Adjectives chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/28/content_103_Comparative-Adjectives_Chart.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">Grammar &amp; Usage &ndash; <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2162" target="_blank">Comparative Adjectives</a></p>

<h2>2. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Maria is <strong>taller than</strong>&nbsp;Jack.</li>
	<li>I feel <strong>happier</strong> today <strong>than</strong> I did&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	<li>The lead actor on that show is <strong>more famous than</strong> the lead&nbsp;actress.</li>
	<li>Sunsets at the beach are <strong>more beautiful than</strong> sunsets in the&nbsp;city.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Exceptions</h1>

<p>Some two‑syllable adjectives don&rsquo;t have to follow the rules above. For example, we can say <em>friendlier</em> OR <em>more friendly</em>, and <em>simpler</em> OR <em>more simple</em>. Other such adjectives include <em>angry</em>, <em>cruel</em>, <em>handsome</em>, <em>gentle</em>, and&nbsp;<em>quiet</em>.</p>

<h1>What about &ldquo;less&rdquo;?</h1>

<p>Another way to compare nouns in English is to mention when something is <em>less</em> than another thing instead of <em>more</em>. There are two ways to do&nbsp;this:</p>

<ol>
	<li><em>not as</em> + Adj + <em>as</em></li>
	<li><em>less</em> + Adj + <em>than</em></li>
</ol>

<p>Note that we can&rsquo;t use <em class="inlineBlock">-er</em> to mean <em>less</em>; <em class="inlineBlock">-er</em> only means <em>more</em>. A good rule of thumb is to use <em>not as&hellip;as</em> for adjectives with one and two syllables, and <em>less</em> for adjectives with three or more syllables. This will always result in natural sounding comparisons, though it is possible to use <em>not as&hellip;as</em> for any adjectives. (Note: <em>not as&hellip;as</em> adjectives, along with <em>as&hellip;as</em> adjectives, are known as <em>equative&nbsp;adjectives</em>.)</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Jack is <strong>not as tall as</strong>&nbsp;Maria.</li>
	<li>I did<strong>n&rsquo;t</strong> feel <strong>as happy</strong> yesterday <strong>as</strong> I do&nbsp;today.</li>
	<li>Last week&rsquo;s test was<strong>n&rsquo;t as simple as</strong> this week&rsquo;s&nbsp;test.</li>
	<li>Sunsets in the city are <strong>less beautiful than</strong> at the&nbsp;beach.</li>
</ul>

<p>You may want to point out to students that there is more than one way to make a comparison in English. For example, <em>Sunsets at the beach are more beautiful than in the city</em> has the same meaning as <em>Sunsets in the city are less beautiful than at the&nbsp;beach</em>.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/superlative-adjectives/" target="_blank">Superlative Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1607" target="_blank">Comparative Adjectives &ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1600" target="_blank">Comparative &amp; Superlatives&nbsp;&ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1556" target="_blank">Comparatives &ndash; Who Is Taller? Basic Grammar Sentences&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjectives" target="_blank">Adjective Sentence Patterns &amp;&nbsp;Suffixes</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjective-order-and-punctuation/" target="_blank">Adjective Order &amp; 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&nbsp;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&nbsp;Steps</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/look-appear-feel-adjective-or-adverb/" target="_blank">Look, Appear &amp; Feel + Adjective or&nbsp;Adverb?</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/restrictive-non-restrictive-adjective-clauses/" target="_blank">Restrictive &amp; Non-Restrictive Adjective&nbsp;Clauses</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>If you teach young&nbsp;learners</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2531" target="_blank">Comparative Adjectives Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2532" target="_blank">Superlative Adjectives Lesson</a></li>
</ul>


Comparative Adjectives

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<h1>We&#39;re all still learning&hellip;</h1>

<p>We recently had a subscriber ask us&nbsp;about&nbsp;tips on teaching the adverbs <em>still, no longer,&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>not anymore</em>. When we want to express a continuing action in the present, we use the present progressive (present continuous) for action verbs and the simple present for non-action verbs.</p>

<p>The adverb <em>still&nbsp;</em>is the natural choice for emphasizing an ongoing action. When we want to explain that we used to do something, but we&#39;ve since stopped that ongoing action, the adverbs&nbsp;<em>no longer</em> and&nbsp;<em>not anymore</em> do the job nicely.</p>

<p>So why do students sometimes struggle with these adverbs? The sentence positions are all different! Listing the various positions for them often&nbsp;helps.</p>


<h1>Still</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Simple Present:</th>
			<td>Still + Verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Simple Present (Be):</th>
			<td>Be + Still</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Present Progressive:</th>
			<td>Be + Still + -ing&nbsp;Verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I <strong>still want</strong> to go to Europe even though I can&#39;t afford&nbsp;it.</li>
				<li>She <strong>is still</strong> tired from&nbsp;hiking last&nbsp;weekend.</li>
				<li>He <strong>is still trying</strong> to find the&nbsp;answer.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>No Longer</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Simple Present:</th>
			<td>No longer + Verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Simple Present (Be):</th>
			<td>Be +&nbsp;No longer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Present Progressive:</th>
			<td>Be&nbsp;+ No longer&nbsp;+ -ing&nbsp;Verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>They <strong>no longer think</strong> it is the best&nbsp;solution.</li>
				<li>We <strong>are no longer</strong> worried about our&nbsp;bills.</li>
				<li>I<strong> am no longer waiting</strong> to hear back from that&nbsp;company.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Not Anymore</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Simple Present:</th>
			<td>Do + Not&nbsp;+ Verb (+ O) +&nbsp;Anymore</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Simple Present (Be):</th>
			<td>Be&nbsp;+&nbsp;Not (+ O) +&nbsp;Anymore</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Present Progressive:</th>
			<td>Be&nbsp;+ Not&nbsp;+ -ing Verb (+ O) +&nbsp;Anymore</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>She <strong>doesn&#39;t need</strong> that book&nbsp;<strong>anymore</strong>.</li>
				<li>I <strong>am not</strong> a student&nbsp;<strong>anymore</strong>.</li>
				<li>My friend <strong>isn&#39;t dating</strong> that guy&nbsp;<strong>anymore</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>Note:&nbsp;<em>Not anymore</em> is pretty common as a short&nbsp;answer.</p>

<p>A: Are you still going to the party&nbsp;tonight?<br />
B: Not anymore</p>

<h1>Still, Already, Yet</h1>

<p>Students are often confused by&nbsp;<em>still&nbsp;</em>because it has two different uses. When&nbsp;<em>still </em>and&nbsp;<em>yet </em>are&nbsp;used with the present perfect, they signal&nbsp;the intention to do something, and they are always used with a negative verb. <i>Already&nbsp;</i>emphasizes that an action is completed, and it follows the normal adverb&nbsp;pattern.</p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Still:</th>
			<td>Still + Have + Not +&nbsp;Past&nbsp;Participle</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Yet:</th>
			<td>Have&nbsp;+ Not&nbsp;+ Past Participle&nbsp;(+ O) +&nbsp;Yet</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Already:</th>
			<td>Have + Already&nbsp;+&nbsp;Past&nbsp;Participle</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I <strong>still haven&#39;t finished</strong> my&nbsp;homework.</li>
				<li>She <strong>hasn&#39;t taken</strong> her final exam&nbsp;<strong>yet</strong>.</li>
				<li>He <strong>has already given</strong> his&nbsp;presentation.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Have your students discuss (or write about) their&nbsp;habits, both good and bad. What do they still do? What do they no longer do/what don&#39;t they do anymore? They could also discuss their hobbies, jobs/studies, food,&nbsp;etc.</p>

Still, No Longer & Not Anymore

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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>&quot;What&#39;s the value of a present perfect perfectly learnt if you have no planet to live on?&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;@Marisa_C</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I was so pleased to discover that the topic for #ELTchat this Wednesday was related to Earth Day: <em>Going Paper-Light</em>. Such clever mods we have! One thing that surprised me from the chat was that many teachers still seemed to have a soft spot for paper-based lessons and learning. This contradicted what we heard at the TESOL convention in Toronto, where many teachers told us they wanted to be able to share our materials with their&nbsp;students on a digital platform to avoid so much photocopying. With more and more teachers (like #ELTchatter <strong>@juliacphang</strong>) teaching online and more and more students bringing mobile devices to class, we know that it is possible to teach English in an entirely paperless environment. But since this week&#39;s chat was about teaching in a &quot;paper-light&quot;&nbsp;classroom rather than a &quot;paperless&quot;&nbsp;environment, let&#39;s review some of the ideas and concerns related to reducing paper in the classroom.</p>

<h3>Ideas for Reducing Paper in the Classroom</h3>

<p>Here are some of the best ideas and resources #ELTchatters shared for reducing paper in the classroom.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>@tattoodaisy</strong> encourages her students to take pics of her whiteboard.</li>
	<li>A number of chatters recommend file sharing and note-taking tools, such as <em>Evernote</em>, <em>Google Docs</em>, <em>Doceri</em>, <em>WhatsApp</em>, and <em>Quizlet</em>.</li>
	<li><strong>@bealer81 </strong>recommends using a social network with your class. Use it for blogging, discussion forums, chatting, etc. <strong>@Marisa_C</strong> recommends Facebook groups.</li>
	<li><strong>@MarjorieRosenbe</strong> says she always laminates stuff that she reuses, which cuts down on photocopying.</li>
	<li><strong>@HadaLitim</strong> recommends taking the class outside.</li>
	<li><strong>@muranava</strong> says he has cut down on photocopying by dictating.</li>
	<li><strong>@tattoodaisy</strong> reminds chatters that it is possible to do a whole lesson based on one reading.</li>
	<li><strong>@SueAnnan</strong> says she gives students notebooks to <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2165/content_Tara_Vocabulary-Worksheet.pdf" target="_blank">record vocab</a> in, which cuts down on excess word lists and handouts.</li>
	<li>A number of chatters recommend making and keeping reusable flashcards.</li>
	<li><strong>@IsmarAlabedi</strong> makes lessons in Powerpoint and shares.</li>
	<li><strong>@kaurgibbons</strong> challenges the teachers at her school to not photocopy for one lesson per week.</li>
	<li><strong>@tattoodaisy</strong> reminds chatters that using listening as a text cuts down on paper. <strong>@HadaLitim</strong> added that flipping the classroom also helps.&nbsp;</li>
	<li><strong>@muranava</strong> points out that teachers should take time to photocopy on both sides of the paper.</li>
	<li><strong>@kaurgibbons</strong> suggests bringing in authentic texts that already exist (newspapers, brochures, etc.).</li>
	<li><strong>@angelos_bollas</strong> recommends using audio feedback (e.g., Voicethread).</li>
	<li><strong>@joannacre</strong> says some schools cut down on paper waste by giving teachers a photocopy card.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Problems with Going Paper-Light</h3>

<p>A few #ELTChatters pointed out some concerns about going paper-light.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>@theteacherjames</strong> reminded us that not all classrooms are equipped with tech: &quot;A&nbsp;<em>paperless classroom is only possible if you&rsquo;ve got a realistic alternative, and not everyone has.&quot;</em></li>
	<li><strong>@MarjorieRosenbe</strong> said her students are used to recording vocab in written form: &quot;<em>Most feel they learn better that way.&quot;</em></li>
	<li><strong>@SueAnnan</strong> agreed with Marjorie: <em>&quot;I think I learn better when I write things down too.&quot;&nbsp;</em>(Ditto for me.)</li>
	<li><strong>@joannacre</strong> said that getting rid of paper doesn&#39;t always work as hoped: &quot;<em>I marked online but my sts ended up printing their essays with my comments.&quot;</em></li>
	<li><strong>@taw_sig</strong> has had a similar experience: &quot;<em>My students print my PowerPoints.&quot;</em></li>
	<li><strong>@FelicityParry</strong> noted that students learn best when they take their own notes: <em>&#39;&quot;I find students can lay out their notes in exactly the way they want to if it&#39;s on paper, which will inevitably help with recall.&quot;</em></li>
	<li><strong>@fielsted</strong> shared this research about <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Reading Brain in the Digital Age</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>Links to Paper-Light Ideas</h3>

<p>These handy links were shared on #ELTchat tonight: <a href="https://textploitationtefl.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Using Texts to Their Full Potential</a> <a href="http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2010/10/the-wandrous-whiteboard-challenge.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Wandrous Whiteboard Challenge</a> <a href="https://kaurgibbonsandteaching.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/writing-using-six-word-stories-and-fifty-word-stories-no-preparation-or-paper/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Using 6 Word Stories (no paper, no prep)</a></p>

<h3>In Summary</h3>

<p><strong>@theteacherjames</strong> had the last word&nbsp;and summed things up nicely:</p>

<blockquote>&quot;For me the best way to go &quot;paper[light]&quot;&nbsp;is to reduce pointless handouts, increase note-taking, and [use] sensible digital alternatives.&quot;</blockquote>

<p>There&#39;s an Earth Day challenge for you, teachers! If you want to read more, check out <a href="http://eltchat.pbworks.com/w/page/95456591/Going%20Paper-light">the full transcript</a>. See you next Wednesday, Tara (<strong>@tarabenwell</strong> / <strong>@ESLlibrary</strong>)</p>

<h3>About #ELTChat</h3>

<p>#ELTChat is a weekly Twitter chat about issues related to English language teaching. It is held every Wednesday on Twitter at 12 GMT and 9pm GMT. To join in, simply watch and use the hashtag #ELTchat. Here are a few more <a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2009/09/01/edchat-update-using-tweetdeck-for-hashtag-discussions/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">tips on participating in educational chats on Twitter</a>. And, if it&#39;s your first #ELTchat, like it was today for <a href="http://twitter.com/stella_maris05" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@stella_maris05</a>, be sure to mention it to the mods so that they can help you get some like-minded followers.</p>

<h3>Earth Day Materials on ESL Library</h3>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2142" target="_blank">Earth Day Idioms Poster</a></li>
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/1/lessons" target="_blank">Every Day is Earth Day: Lesson Collection about Environmental Issues</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/2199" target="_blank">Earth Day: Lesson Plan</a></li>
</ul>


#ELTChat Summary: Going Paper-Light in the Classroom

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<p>One of our subscribers recently wrote in to ask us for help. Her students had asked her why we say g<em>o home&nbsp;</em>and not&nbsp;<em>go to home</em>, and she wasn&#39;t sure what to tell them. Various students of mine have also asked me this question over the years. What should we tell our students for cases like&nbsp;this?</p>


<h1>Go + to + article + noun</h1>

<p>The typical pattern with the verb&nbsp;<em>go&nbsp;</em>includes the preposition of direction (<em>to</em>), an article, and noun. We don&#39;t use an article for proper&nbsp;nouns.</p>

<ul>
	<li>go to the store</li>
	<li>go to a movie</li>
	<li>go to my house</li>
	<li>go to Paris</li>
</ul>

<h1>Go + noun</h1>

<p>In the expression <em>go home</em>, the preposition and article are omitted.&nbsp;<em>Go home&nbsp;</em>is&nbsp;a <strong>verb +&nbsp;adverb</strong> pattern. In this&nbsp;expression, <em>home</em>&nbsp;functions as an adverb that gives the location or direction of a verb. It might seem strange to students to consider <em>home</em> as an adverb since it usually acts as a common noun, but point out that most&nbsp;dictionaries include an adverb entry for <em>home</em>, and remind them of&nbsp;similar, more common adverbs with <i>go,</i> such as&nbsp;<em>go here, go there, go anywhere,</em> and <em>go&nbsp;everywhere</em>.</p>

<p><em>Home</em> can act as an adverb with certain verbs, such as <em>go, stay, drive, fly, return, arrive, come, leave,</em> and <em>move</em> <em>+ home</em>. But remind students that <em>home</em> can&#39;t be an adverb with every verb; for example, we <strong>can&#39;t</strong> say <em>paint home</em>, <em>buy home</em>, <em>sell home</em>, <em>decorate home</em>,&nbsp;etc.</p>

<p>We can also think of <em>go home</em> as&nbsp;a reduced way of saying&nbsp;<em>go to my home</em>, and it&#39;s by far the more accepted expression. Consider&nbsp;<em>go to my house</em>, which is not as common, and therefore we can&#39;t drop the preposition or article (in this case, the possessive adjective&nbsp;<em>my</em>).&nbsp;Note that <em>house</em> would also never function as an&nbsp;adverb.</p>

<p>Luckily for students, the list of reduced phrases with <em>go + adverb</em>&nbsp;is fairly short.&nbsp;Here are the Fab Four (to borrow the Beatles&#39; moniker) that your students should&nbsp;memorize:</p>

<ul>
	<li>go home</li>
	<li>go downtown</li>
	<li>go here</li>
	<li>go there</li>
</ul>

<h1>Does this happen with any other English expressions?</h1>

<p>Yes, it does! Other verbs, such as <em>stay</em>,&nbsp;<em>drive</em>, <em>fly</em>, <em>return</em>, <em>arrive</em>, <em>come</em>, <em>leave</em>,&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>move</em> can follow this pattern. For practice with&nbsp;<em>stay home</em> in context, try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1238">Staycations</a>&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<ul>
	<li>stay home</li>
	<li>stay downtown</li>
	<li>stay here</li>
	<li>stay there</li>
</ul>

<p>For&nbsp;another common reduction example that doesn&#39;t involve an adverb, think about&nbsp;<em>watch TV</em>. It&#39;s so common that, over time, we&#39;ve dropped the article&nbsp;<em>the</em>. Radio, on the other hand, isn&#39;t as common, so we must keep the preposition and&nbsp;article.</p>

<ul>
	<li>watch TV</li>
	<li>listen to the radio</li>
</ul>

<p>Reductions like this also happen&nbsp;a lot with&nbsp;<em>of</em>. Consider the following&nbsp;expressions:</p>

<ul>
	<li>all my friends <em>(all of my&nbsp;friends)</em></li>
	<li>look out the window <em>(look out of the&nbsp;window)</em></li>
</ul>

<p>Can you think of any other cases of reductions in English? I invite everyone to add to the list. Please leave a comment below if you can think of another instance where the preposition and/or article get&nbsp;dropped.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1238">Staycations</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons/1781">Home for the Holidays</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources/2183">Home Sweet Home</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/home-vs-house">Home Vs. House</a></li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

"Go Home" – Why Do We Drop Prepositions and Articles in Certain English Expressions?

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<p>Tara, our head writer, recently asked me what she should use as a heading in her <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/vocabulary-tips-eli-hinkel/" target="_blank">blog post on vocabulary tips</a>: <em>Do you know?</em> or <em>Did you know?&nbsp;</em>I automatically responded that either is correct, but then I started thinking more about this common ELT heading. Are both correct in all situations? What&#39;s the difference, if&nbsp;any?</p>

<h1>Prior Knowledge</h1>

<p>They both make sense when asking about previous&nbsp;knowledge, grammatically speaking. Let&#39;s use the tip from Lesson 1 of our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series 2: False Alarm</a> as an example. This tip describes what a false alarm is. If we use the heading <em>did you know</em>&nbsp;then we&#39;re asking &quot;Did you already learn&nbsp;what a false alarm is at some point in the past?&quot;&nbsp;If we use <em>do you know</em> then we&#39;re asking &quot;Do you know, at this present moment, what a false alarm&nbsp;is?&quot;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons" target="_blank"><img alt="A snippet of a lesson with a Did You Know information box" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2159/content_Tanya_Do-You-Know-Vs-Did-You-Know_Detective-Series.png" /></a></p>

<p>Although both make sense, we went with <em>did you know </em>because it sounds slightly more natural and common to our ears. Specifically, we used &quot;Did You Know?&quot; as the heading for our vocabulary and grammar tip box in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/79/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series 1</a> lessons. In our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series 2</a> lessons, we updated that to the slightly more modern &quot;Did you&nbsp;know&hellip;&quot;.</p>

<h1>Full Sentences</h1>

<p>What about &quot;Do you know these words?&quot;&nbsp;With a full sentence like this, I think&nbsp;<em>do you know</em>&nbsp;sounds a lot more natural than&nbsp;<em>did you know</em>. I&#39;ve never seen &quot;Did you know these words?&quot; in any textbook, but &quot;Do you know these words?&quot;&nbsp;is fairly&nbsp;common.</p>

<h1>Different Tenses</h1>

<p>What happens when we&#39;re asking about present or past facts/events? For present facts, both&nbsp;<em>do you know</em> and&nbsp;<em>did you know</em> work, as stated above. For example, we could ask, <em>Do you know&nbsp;that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius?</em> or&nbsp;<em>Did you know that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius?</em> Again,&nbsp;<em>did you know</em> sounds slightly better to my&nbsp;ears.</p>

<p>What about the tense of the second verb when using&nbsp;<em>did you know&nbsp;</em>with true facts? Should we say&nbsp;<em>Did you know that the earth <strong>is</strong> round?</em>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<em>Did you know that the earth <strong>was</strong> round?</em> This is the same issue that often causes confusion for students who are learning reported speech (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>She asked if I like him</em> vs.&nbsp;<em>She asked if I liked him</em>). The answer is that both are correct and acceptable. To me, using two past verbs&nbsp;in the same sentence sounds a little more natural and is what I&#39;d be more likely to&nbsp;say.</p>

<p>For past facts/events, I would say that&nbsp;<em>did you know&nbsp;</em>is the better choice. For example,&nbsp;<em>Did you know that the </em>Titanic<em> sank on April&nbsp;15, 1912? </em>makes sense, but&nbsp;<em>Do you know that the </em>Titanic<em> sank on April 15, 1912?</em> doesn&#39;t sound as good, at least to my ears. Note that both are technically correct, though. (Did you already learn this fact about the past? Do you know, at this present moment, about this past&nbsp;fact?)</p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>We&#39;re sticking with&nbsp;<em>Did you know</em> as our heading of choice. For full sentences, though, we&#39;ll use&nbsp;<em>Do you&nbsp;know (these words)?</em> Do you agree with our decision? Let us know in the comments section&nbsp;below!</p>


Do You Know Vs. Did You Know

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<blockquote>&quot;Learning words is easy. The difficult part is retention.&quot;&nbsp;&mdash;Eli Hinkel</blockquote>

<p>At the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/highlights-from-tesol-2015-in-toronto-canada" target="_blank">TESOL convention in Toronto</a> last month, I attended a packed session about vocabulary acquisition by <a href="http://www.elihinkel.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Eli Hinkel</a>. <em>Effective and Efficient Vocabulary Teaching for Academic Writing</em> was such a popular topic that the fire marshals came in to inform us that the room was over capacity. Fortunately, I had a front-row seat (on the floor with some other sardines) as this was a talk that I did not want to miss! The ESL Library publishing team is working diligently on a new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons" target="_blank">Writing in English</a> section. We&#39;re also planning a new course focused on Academic English Vocabulary. Here are <em>5 Ways to Support Vocabulary Learning</em> based on Eli Hinkel&#39;s tips.</p>

<h3>1. Demand high</h3>

<p>When it comes to learning vocabulary, Eli Hinkel says she expects more from her students than most teachers: &#39;You have to be pushy!&#39; She admits that her students don&#39;t always like her at the beginning of a term, but says they often come back and thank her when they realize how many words they&#39;ve learned. Eli Hinkel suggests the following:</p>

<ul>
	<li>800 words per term</li>
	<li>16 words per day</li>
	<li>10 words per lesson</li>
	<li>10-12 exposures of each word</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2173" target="_blank">Vocabulary Bank PDF</a></p>

<p>While doing further research about academic vocabulary recently, I stumbled upon <a href="http://itdi.pro/blog/2013/09/19/presenting-vocabulary-chuck-sandy/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">this fantastic post by Chuck Sandy</a> on how he reluctantly challenged his students to learn 500 words from the Academic Word List, and how his students became &#39;Vocabulary Masters.&#39;</p>

<h3>2. Increase the number of exposures</h3>

<p>According to Eli Hinkel, students need 10&ndash;12 exposures before a word enters their &#39;productive&#39; vocabulary. Hinkel says teachers can support students by &#39;chasing&#39; these exposures. Do whatever you can to expose students to the vocabulary repeatedly, including using <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/" target="_blank">flashcards</a>.</p>

<h3>3. Use shame motivation</h3>

<p>I cringed when Eli Hinkel used the term &quot;shame motivation,&quot;&nbsp;but it turns out this is just her cheeky way of describing a peer marking system that works well. Hinkel assigns daily quizzes or short writing assignments based on the vocabulary lists her students are working with. Instead of marking the papers, she has students hand their quizzes to each other. Eli insists that peer evaluation motivates student learning (not to mention saving marking time) because students don&#39;t want to look inferior in front of their peers. Hinkel also does a random check once in a while and asks students to hand in their quizzes. Eli Hinkel suggests the following:</p>

<ul>
	<li>5-minute vocabulary quizzes every other day (for new words, she prefers &#39;write the definitions&#39; rather than &#39;write an example sentence&#39;)</li>
	<li>5-minute writing assignments every other day (one paragraph on a specific topic, not &#39;free writing&#39;)</li>
	<li>peer review (not marked by a teacher)</li>
	<li>random spot checks (hand in to teacher for a mark)</li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Teach them how to use the dictionary efficiently</h3>

<p>According to Eli Hinkel, &#39;Teaching vocabulary is a waste of time. Learning vocabulary is the essence.&#39; While it&#39;s the teacher&#39;s job to demand that students learn a certain amount of vocabulary, the students ultimately have to take the responsibility of doing it. Hinkel asks teachers to teach students how to &#39;mine the dictionary.&#39; She says that too many students get intimated by long dictionary entries. Teachers should expect students to learn the first entry or the main use (usually in its noun or verb form), but not all of the additional entries. Personally, I recommend <em><a href="http://ninjawords.com/">ninja words, A really fast dictionary...fast like a ninja</a></em> to my students. There is a lot of blank space on the entry page, which makes it less intimidating. For very simple definitions, I like the <a href="http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Oxford Learner&#39;s Dictionary</em></a>.</p>

<h3>5. Use an escalated learning system</h3>

<p>Eli Hinkel suggests that you gradually increase your expectations when it comes to vocabulary learning. First, require that students just spell the word: <em>&#39;People have to spell, because, if they don&#39;t, it looks like mud on their face.&#39;</em> Then they have to know the meaning. Next, they need to be able to write a sentence with the word that at least has a verb in it. After that, the sentence has to have a verb and a subject. Finally, the sentence has to be written in proper English with the vocabulary used in the proper context. If you ever get the chance to hear Eli Hinkel speak, be sure to grab a front-row seat! She&#39;s witty, wise, and full of teaching tips.</p>

<h3>Did you Know?</h3>

<p>Most of the reading-based lessons on ESL Library now have a vocabulary list for teachers to preview and review. The vocabulary lists, which appear on the information page when you click on an individual lesson (you&#39;ll also find <em>lesson description, level, estimated time required, # of pages, lesson tasks, level, grammar points</em>), can also be used to make your own 5-minute quizzes and writing assignments.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Related</h3>

<ul class="resources">
	
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/highlights-from-tesol-2015-in-toronto-canada" target="_blank">Highlights from TESOL 15 in Toronto</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-activities-for-reviewing-vocabulary/" target="_blank">4 Activities for Reviewing Vocabulary</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-ways-to-teach-new-vocabulary/" target="_blank">4 Ways to Teach New Vocabulary</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teach-english-with-quotes" target="_blank">5 Ways to Teach English with Quotes</a></li>
</ul>


5 Ways to Support Vocabulary Learning

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

Conferences

<h3>Building Bridges Without Crossing Borders</h3>

<p>Every March, the ESL Library team attends the annual TESOL convention. In recent years, the convention has taken us to many American cities, including Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Portland. This year the convention was in Toronto, Canada. This was convenient for our little publishing team. We didn&#39;t have to cross any borders (funny, since &#39;Crossing Borders, Building Bridges&#39; was the TESOL theme this year), and we were able to meet local subscribers and publishers to learn more about what Canadian teachers want and need. TESOL 15 was also an opportunity for us to welcome new and old publishing and teaching friends to our home and native land. As always it was a fun, educational, and productive week at TESOL. Here are a few highlights from this year&#39;s trip.</p>

<h3>What we loved about Toronto</h3>

<p>Our team came from as close as Waterloo and as far as away as Vancouver. It was much easier to find our way around this year, and we had no trouble using our cell phones.</p>

<ul>
	<li>The food. There was no shortage of delicious food this year. Our favorite restaurant was a Thai place called <a href="http://www.khaosanroad.ca/" target="_blank">Khao San Road</a>.</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="TESOL 15" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2208/content_IMG_0002.jpg" /></p>

<ul>
	<li>The convenience. It was a cold week in Toronto, and the indoor PATH came in very handy. We didn&#39;t even need coats!</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="Toronto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2209/content_IMG_5647.jpg" /></p>

<ul>
	<li>The view. We stayed next to The Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The view from the 39th floor at the Delta was spectacular.</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="Toronto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2210/content_IMG_6684.jpg" /></p>

<h3>What we loved about the TESOL 15 Convention</h3>

<ul>
	<li>The sessions. We attended useful sessions on teaching vocabulary, learning the <a href="http://www.language.ca/">Canadian Benchmarks</a> system, keeping young learners moving, and more. We also gave our own presentations about ESL Library and <a href="http://www.sproutenglish.com/">Sprout English</a>.</li>
	<li>The TESOL app. We didn&#39;t open the heavy book we received at the registration desk this year. Maybe it&#39;s time to go paperless?</li>
	<li>Free ice cream.</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="TESOL 15" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2211/content_IMG_0003.jpg" /></p>

<h3>What teachers loved about ESL Library</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Our booth. We matched our booth to our website design this year, and our creative efforts paid off. Even the TESOL organizers came by to offer compliments.</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="ESL Library Booth TESOL 2015" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2212/content_IMG_4057.jpg" /></p>

<ul>
	<li>The T-shirts. We wore colorful ESL Library tees to promote the cheerful and approachable nature of our team. This was a big hit!</li>
	<li>Our <a href="https://ellii.com/">new site</a>. The feedback was very positive, and it was a pleasure to showcase the redesigned lessons and features.</li>
	<li>The convenience. A number of enthusiastic teachers came by to tell us that ESL Library had saved their lives. Nicoya from the Applied Language Institute in KC, pictured below with our designer Robyn, told us she used ESL Library exclusively when her textbooks didn&#39;t arrive for six weeks.</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="TESOL 2015" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2213/content_IMG_4080.jpg" /></p>

<ul>
	<li>Our new filter system.</li>
	<li>The <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheet</a>s. Teachers love the new format and wide variety.</li>
	<li>The <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons">Writing Section</a>. &#39;Yes, we have Academic English materials!&#39;</li>
	<li>The new <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/">Flashcard Library</a>. It was so easy to demo this section this year.</li>
	<li>The price. Teachers and administrators love that <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">ESL Library is only $55</a> per year. &#39;And that&#39;s for everything?&#39;</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="TESOL 2015" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2214/content_IMG_0008.jpg" /></p>

<h3>What teachers want to see on ESL Library</h3>

<p>One of the most important reasons to attend the TESOL convention is to talk with teachers face-to-face. Here are some of the requests and suggestions we received this year.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.language.ca/">Canadian Benchmark</a> materials</li>
	<li>Materials on punctuation</li>
	<li>More beginner-level materials like our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Barack Obama (beginner)</a></li>
	<li>Academic Word List lessons</li>
	<li>The option to print with Canadian/American spelling</li>
	<li>Better options for using ESL Library with online students</li>
	<li>More <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/75/lessons">Living in English</a> lessons (update older ones)</li>
	<li>Interactive lessons with student access</li>
	<li>The ability to comment on our blog as a signed-in ESL Library member</li>
</ul>

<p>I looked back at last year&#39;s post and was happy to see that we made many things happen after <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-portland">TESOL 2014</a>! In fact, 2014 was probably our most productive year. Share your own requests in the comments below, and help us build the site that teachers need.</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL 2015" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2215/content_IMG_0004.jpg" /></p>

<p>Our team from left to right: writer Tara Benwell, designer Robyn Shesterniak, editor Tanya Trusler, and CEO Ben Buckwold</p>

<p><strong>See you next year in Baltimore!</strong></p>


Highlights from TESOL 2015 in Toronto, Canada

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Joseph Pulitzer</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Writing is a personal experience and shows conversations we have with our brains about a subject. Students struggle with organizing and presenting these brain conversations through their writing to an audience. Writing for an audience takes skill. Students need to learn how to engage their audience, organize their thoughts, give their writing flow, provide well supported research and cite their sources accurately.</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>Check out our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons" target="_blank">Writing section</a> for ready-made lessons.</p>
</div>

<p>The Internet offers many free digital tools and apps to help students develop their writing skills in engaging ways. Below are tips and resources to help you develop your students&rsquo; writing skills with the help of technology. Find an accompanying <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/teach-writing-with-digital-tools" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">slide presentation here</a>.</p>

<h3>Teach the Process</h3>

<p>Our students become skilled writers by undergoing the process, which involves brainstorming, research, organizing, prewriting, drafting, peer editing, and publishing. You can find lessons on these topics in Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;Writing section. Your students can practice what they&#39;ve learned with sites, such as <a href="http://creately.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Creately</a> and <a href="https://www.lucidchart.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LucidChart</a>. These sites have several diagrams and flowcharts to help students organize their ideas for different types of reports, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1968" target="_blank">comparison/contrast essays</a>, problem-solution essays, and persuasive essays. <a href="http://www.readwritethink.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ReadWriteThink</a> has many interactives that walk students through the writing process.</p>

<h3>Develop Their Research Skills</h3>

<p>Our students need to learn how and where to find accurate and valid resources to give them a richer understanding of the topic and to support their writing. We can help our students research routinely by introducing them to social bookmarking tools and apps like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.diigo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Diigo</a>, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>, <a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">PearlTrees</a>, <a href="https://flipboard.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Flipboard</a>, and <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Livebinders</a>. Find more resources in this slide presentation, <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/digital-research-for-todays-learners" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Research in the Digital Age</a>.</p>

<h3>Get Them to Cite Accurately</h3>

<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Google Docs</a> has incredible apps and features to help students write better essays.&nbsp; A sidebar pops up that allows students to search for scholarly resources and creative common images. Students can also cite the source by choosing APA, MLA, or Chicago style and the citation will appear at the bottom of the essay. Here are a few more apps to help with citation:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.citethisforme.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Cite This for Me</a> is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that helps students quickly get the appropriate citation while navigating the web.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.easybib.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">EasyBib</a> has a free app for iOS and Android devices that allows students to get the appropriate citation by scanning a book&rsquo;s barcode.</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>Here&#39;s a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/creating-our-in-house-style-guide" target="_blank">fun post about our style guide</a>.</p>
</div>

<h3>Create a Safe Environment</h3>

<p>When our students write they share their ideas, opinions, thoughts, and experiences about the topic. Therefore, feedback can be one of the scariest parts of the writing process. Students fear how their teachers will grade their writing and they fear what mistakes their peers will point out. We need to make sure we create a safe environment for our students to feel comfortable sharing their writing. Instead of marking their papers, try providing audio feedback with <a href="https://kaizena.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Kaizena</a>. Russell Stannard explains how to provide video feedback with screen capture tools in <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/207117.article" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">this article</a>.</p>

<h3>More Resources</h3>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://evernote.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Evernote</a> is a great research and note-taking app that syncs to any device.</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.grammarly.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Grammarly</a> helps students catch the errors in their emails, essays, and blog posts.</li>
	<li><a href="https://owl.english.purdue.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)</a> provides many resources, templates, and examples for research writing and projects.</li>
</ul>

<p>What are your favorite writing tools and apps?</p>
<div class="whiteBox">
<p>Check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell" target="_blank">all of Shelly&rsquo;s tips</a> for teaching English with technology.</p></div>


Research Writing with Digital Tools

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

Teaching with Ellii

<blockquote><p>&quot;Good quotes are timeless. It&rsquo;s as if someone just ahead of you on the path of life is turning back to give you a helping hand&hellip;&quot;</p>
<p class="attribution">&mdash;Rolf Gates</p></blockquote>

<p>We&#39;ve been doing a lot of spring cleaning at ESL Library. This includes redesigning, updating, and editing many of our older lessons plans. In the warm-up section of most of our newly designed topic-based lessons, you will find a quote. Quotes contain memorable bites of English that your students can explore in detail. Here are five ways to use quotes while teaching English.</p>

<h3>1. Practice pronunciation</h3>

<p>Choose a student to read the quote out loud to the class. Correct any <strong>pronunciation</strong> or <strong>intonation</strong> errors. Explore&nbsp;<strong>word stress</strong> and <strong>sentence stress</strong>. Have your students practice saying the quote with emphasis. You could also practice saying the quote in a variety of ways. Try speaking quickly, slowly, or in unison. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/1469" target="_blank">Maple Syrup</a> lesson includes the following quote from Buddy the Elf. In the Christmas movie, <em>Elf,</em>&nbsp;Will Farrell speaks very quickly when he says the following:</p>

<blockquote><p>&quot;We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.&quot;</p><p class="attribution">&mdash;Buddy the Elf</p></blockquote>

<p>If you come across a quote from a speech, movie, or TED Talk, why not try to find an audio clip? Here is a great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS8MegEiKLk" target="_blank">clip</a> of this famous Will Farrell scene. In addition to helping with pronunciation, a&nbsp;quote may inspire your students to watch a full movie or listen to a full speech or song.</p>

<h3>2. Deconstruct sentences</h3>

<p>Deconstructing sentences can be a dull task when you use <em>See-Spot-run</em> sentences. Why not use interesting quotes to practice sentence dissection? Challenge your students to deconstruct the quotes that you come across in your ESL Library lessons. Here&#39;s a quote from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1401" target="_blank">Robin Williams</a> lesson:</p>

<blockquote><p>&quot;You&#39;re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn&#39;t lose it.&quot;</p>
<p class="attribution">&mdash;Robin Williams</p></blockquote>

<p>Can your students identify each part of speech? What else can your students find in this sentence (e.g., a contraction, a modal in the negative form, the passive voice)? Can they rewrite this sentence in the active voice? First they&#39;ll have to discover who or what <em>gives</em> a person this &#39;madness.&#39; That should spark some discussion, too.</p>

<h3>3. Review grammar and usage</h3>

<p>Before you begin an ESL Library&nbsp;lesson, look at the quote to see if there is a mini lesson that you can teach inside it. &nbsp;Can you spot any common errors? When my students use &#39;one of the&#39; in a sentence, they often incorrectly follow it with a singular noun. In our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/1430" target="_blank">Niagara Falls</a> lesson, you will find this quote by Nik Wallenda:</p>

<blockquote><p>&quot;It is one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world. Who wouldn&#39;t want to walk across it?&quot;</p>
<p class="attribution">&mdash;Nik Wallenda</p></blockquote>

<p>Check for tips on&nbsp;common errors in the Teachers&#39; Notes at the end of our lessons. For example, in our revised <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/97/lessons/1477" target="_blank">Hockey</a> lesson, we included Mario Lemieux&#39;s famous quote:</p>

<blockquote><p>&quot;Every day is a great day for hockey.&quot;&nbsp;</p>
<p class="attribution">&mdash;Mario Lemieux</p></blockquote>

<p>This quote gives you the opportunity to review the common error <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/everyday-vs-every-day" target="_blank">every day vs. everyday</a>.</p>

<h3>4. Explore informal language (idioms, phrasal verbs, slang)</h3>

<p>Explore the literal and idiomatic meaning of words and expressions that you find in quotes. For example, in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1944" target="_blank">Gender Inequality</a> lesson you will find the following quote by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg:</p>

<blockquote><p>&quot;We must raise both the floor and the ceiling.&quot;</p>
<p class="attribution">&mdash;Sheryl Sandberg</p></blockquote>

<p>Use this opportunity to teach the expression &#39;glass ceiling&#39; (<em>an invisible barrier</em>). What did Sheryl Sandberg mean by &#39;raising the floor&#39;? Don&#39;t just rely on dictionaries to provide definitions and explanations. Challenge your students to look up words and expressions from quotes in context by searching for the word online. For example, according to this <a href="http://www.eryceyl.com/blog/2013/06/17/dont-just-raise-the-bar-raise-the-floor-too/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">article</a>, raising the floor means &#39;to increase the knowledge, skills, abilities, and capacities of the folks doing the work.&#39;</p>

<h3>5. Assign a follow-up writing task</h3>

<p>If your students write journal entries for homework, invite them to comment on the quote from a lesson you used.&nbsp;You could also challenge your students to find a related quote on the same topic (maybe they can find a better one). They could also research the person who was quoted and find out more about the context. For example, in&nbsp;our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1253" target="_blank">Bullying</a> lesson we include a quote from Taylor Swift. Challenge your students to&nbsp;find out how Taylor Swift has been bullied by her peers.</p>

<blockquote><p>&quot;If they don&#39;t like you for being yourself, be yourself even more.&quot;&nbsp;</p>
<p class="attribution">&mdash;Taylor Swift</p></blockquote>

<p>Please share your <a href="http://thewritequote.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">favorite quotes</a> in the comments below!</p>


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