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

Grammar & Usage

<h3>A picture is worth a thousand words&hellip;</h3>

<p><img alt="Diagram of the simple past vs. the past progressive" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/27/content_Tanya_Simple-Past-Vs-Past-Progressive_Chart.png" /></p>

<p>Students are introduced to the simple past tense early on in their English learning. It is commonly used and relatively easy to learn (aside from having to memorize irregular verb forms). However, the past progressive (also known as the past continuous) can be confusing since it&rsquo;s not as commonly used in&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>Try using the method outlined below to introduce the past progressive and compare the two tenses. Once you explain the purpose of the past progressive to your students, show them a diagram like the one above, and give them a few hints (see the &ldquo;time marker&rdquo;&nbsp;and &ldquo;trick&rdquo; sections below), they should be able to grasp this tense and retain it a lot more&nbsp;easily.</p>

<h1>Simple Past</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<h4>Base V&nbsp;+ -ed&nbsp;(and various irregular verb&nbsp;forms)</h4>

<p>The ending <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em> is added to the base form of the verb. The good news is that there are no differences in endings like there are with other verbs tenses (except for the BE verb:&nbsp;we use <em>was</em> for the first and third person singular&mdash;<em>I</em>, <em>he</em>, <em>she</em>, <em>it</em>, singular count nouns, non‑count nouns&mdash; and <em>were</em> for the second person singular&mdash;<em>you</em>&mdash;and the first, second, and third person plural&mdash;<em>we</em>, plural <em>you</em>, <em>they</em>, plural count&nbsp;nouns).</p>

<p>Note that there are a lot of exceptions to forming the plural with <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em>. These verbs are called <em>irregular verbs</em>. Hand our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2161">Irregular Verb List</a> out to your students, and see the <em>Fun Activities</em> section below for ideas on how students can practise irregular&nbsp;verbs.</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>The simple past is used for a <strong>completed past action</strong>. It&rsquo;s important to point out to students that with the simple past, we know when the action took place because of the time marker in the sentence. This is important so that students learn when to use the simple past vs. the present perfect (see the second section of my blog post on&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-easy-steps-for-teaching-the-present-perfect-and-the-present-perfect-progressive/">5 Easy Steps for Teaching the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Progressive</a> to see how I explain this difference to&nbsp;students).</p>

<h2>3. Time Markers</h2>

<ul>
	<li>yesterday</li>
	<li>the day before yesterday</li>
	<li>last (last week/month/year/etc.)</li>
	<li>ago (two days ago, three weeks ago,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>when + another past&nbsp;clause</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>My mother <strong>went</strong> grocery shopping&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	<li>We <strong>played</strong> basketball after school last&nbsp;Thursday.</li>
	<li>I <strong>ate</strong> a lot when I <strong>was</strong> a&nbsp;child.</li>
</ul>

<h2>5. Fun Activities</h2>

<p>Have fun practicing irregular verbs with games like <strong>Tic Tac Toe, Hotseat,</strong> and <strong>Concentration</strong> (find basic instructions by googling the game names; substitute base verbs/irregular verbs for numbers or images). Check out <strong>Irregular Verb Bingo</strong> in our Grammar Practice Worksheets lesson on the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1594">Simple&nbsp;Past</a>.</p>

<p>One of my go‑to activities is <strong>Irregular Verb Ball Toss</strong>. Bring in a small ball (or use an eraser or other small, soft object) and call out a base verb. Toss the ball to a student who then has to say the irregular verb form. Repeat by having that student call out another base verb and tossing the ball to another student. Continue until all students have had one or two turns each, with you making corrections as&nbsp;needed.</p>

<h1>Past Progressive &ndash; Main&nbsp;Use</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<h4>was/were + ‑ing&nbsp;V</h4>

<p>The past progressive is formed by taking the <strong>past BE</strong> verb and an <strong>action verb + ‑ING</strong>. Remind students that we use <em>was</em> for the first and third person singular (<em>I</em>, <em>he</em>, <em>she</em>, <em>it</em>, singular count nouns, non-count nouns) and <em>were</em> for the second person singular (<em>you</em>) and the first, second, and third person plural (<em>we</em>, plural <em>you</em>, <em>they</em>, plural count&nbsp;nouns).</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>The main function of the past progressive is to show <strong>a continuing (long) action getting interrupted by a short past action</strong>. Using the words <em>long</em> and <em>short</em> helps students understand this&nbsp;use.</p>

<h2>3. Time Marker</h2>

<p>The time marker <strong>when</strong> is common for this&nbsp;case.</p>

<h2>4. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>was studying</strong> when my friend <strong>called</strong>&nbsp;me.</li>
	<li>We <strong>were playing</strong> soccer when it <strong>started</strong> to&nbsp;rain.</li>
	<li>They<strong> were singing</strong> in the auditorium when the alarm&nbsp;<strong>rang</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p>Don&rsquo;t forget to remind students that you can start the sentence with either the independent clause OR the dependent clause with <strong>no difference in meaning</strong>. Also remind students that a <strong>comma</strong> must be used when a dependent clause begins a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She was reading <strong>when</strong> the doorbell rang. <em>(independent clause starts the&nbsp;sentence)</em></li>
	<li><strong>When</strong> the doorbell rang, she was reading. <em>(dependent clause starts the sentence, comma is used, no difference in meaning between the first and second&nbsp;example)</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>5. Trick</h2>

<p>Have students memorize common &ldquo;short&rdquo; action verbs so they&rsquo;ll easily recognize when the past progressive is needed. Short action verbs include: <strong>started, began, called, arrived, rang, came, landed, hit,</strong> and <strong>went out</strong> (as in <em>the power went out</em> or <em>the lights went&nbsp;out</em>).</p>

<h1>Past Progressive &ndash; Secondary&nbsp;Use</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<h4>was/were + ‑ing&nbsp;V</h4>

<p>(See notes under Main Use &ndash;&nbsp;Form.)</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>A less common function of the past progressive is to <strong>emphasize that an action continued for a long time</strong>. It is less common because the simple past is an acceptable, more common&nbsp;substitute.</p>

<h2>3. Time Marker</h2>

<p>The time marker <strong>while</strong> is common for this&nbsp;case.</p>

<h2>4. Examples</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">The children <strong>were watching</strong> TV while their parents <strong>were&nbsp;talking</strong>.</li>
	<li class="correct">The children <strong>watched</strong> TV while their parents&nbsp;<strong>talked</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">He <strong>was doing</strong> his homework while she <strong>was playing</strong> a video&nbsp;game.</li>
	<li class="correct">He <strong>did</strong> his homework while she <strong>played</strong> a video&nbsp;game.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note: Don&rsquo;t forget to remind students that you can start the sentence with either the independent clause OR the dependent clause with <strong>no difference in meaning</strong>. Also remind students that a <strong>comma</strong> must be used when a dependent clause begins a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She was playing the guitar <strong>while</strong> he was playing the drums. <em>(independent clause starts the&nbsp;sentence)</em></li>
	<li><strong>While</strong> he was playing the drums, she was playing the guitar. <em>(dependent clause starts the sentence, comma is used, no difference in meaning between the first and second&nbsp;example)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons">Basic Grammar Sentences</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a> sections for many&nbsp;lessons on the simple past and the past progressive. This <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1595">Past Progressive</a> lesson has exercises that directly contrast the two verb&nbsp;tenses.</p>


Simple Past Vs. Past Progressive

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<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by&nbsp;education&hellip;&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Charlotte Bront&euml;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The idea for this post came to me when I was editing some materials on likes and dislikes. In those lessons, sentences such as <em>I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes, and I don&rsquo;t like celery, either</em> were used. In this case, <em>and</em> is used, but I remembered how <em>or</em> must often be used in negative sentences such as <em>I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes or&nbsp;celery</em>.</p>

<p>This used to confuse my students so much! They&rsquo;d naturally want to write <em>I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes and celery</em>, because they didn&rsquo;t like <em>both</em> things. This kind of question always appears in tests like the TOEIC as well. So how do we explain it to&nbsp;students?</p>

<h1>Or = not joining independent clauses</h1>

<p>In English, <em>or</em> is used in negative sentences to join two or more nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, dependent clauses, etc. To recognize a negative sentence in English, look for adverbs such as <em>not</em> or&nbsp;<em>never</em>.</p>

<h2>Trick #1</h2>

<p>Tell students that if <em>not</em> is used <strong>once</strong>, they will most likely need <em>or</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>don&rsquo;t</strong> like apples <strong>or</strong>&nbsp;oranges.</li>
	<li>English <strong>isn&rsquo;t</strong> quick <strong>or</strong> easy to&nbsp;learn.</li>
	<li>My friend <strong>doesn&rsquo;t</strong> want pork, beef, <strong>or</strong> fish for&nbsp;dinner.</li>
	<li>He <strong>never</strong> reads books <strong>or</strong> watches TV after&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>I <strong>didn&rsquo;t</strong> say that you could eat my food <strong>or</strong> that your friends could come&nbsp;over.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Trick #2</h2>

<p>It might help to tell students to think of the full conjunction pairs of <em>both&hellip;and</em> and <em>either&hellip;or</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She likes<strong> (both)</strong> apples <strong>and</strong>&nbsp;oranges.</li>
	<li>She doesn&rsquo;t like<strong> (either)</strong> apples <strong>or</strong> oranges. (We would never say <em>She doesn&rsquo;t like either apples <strong>and</strong>&nbsp;oranges.</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>And = joining independent clauses</h1>

<p>In English, <em>and</em> is used in negative sentences to join two independent&nbsp;clauses.</p>

<h2>Trick #3</h2>

<p>Tell students that if <em>not</em> is used <strong>twice</strong>, they will most likely need&nbsp;<em>and</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>don&rsquo;t</strong> like basketball, <strong>and</strong> I <strong>don&rsquo;t</strong> like volleyball,&nbsp;either.</li>
	<li>Mr.&nbsp;Lutz <strong>doesn&rsquo;t</strong> want to meet today <strong>and</strong> he <strong>doesn&rsquo;t</strong> want to meet tomorrow,&nbsp;either.</li>
</ul>

<p>Point out to your students that while these constructions are possible, they&rsquo;re quite long and cumbersome, and native speakers often prefer the shorter versions with <em>or</em> (<em>I don&rsquo;t like basketball or volleyball</em>; <em>Mr. Lutz doesn&rsquo;t want to meet today or&nbsp;tomorrow.</em>)</p>

<h1>Exceptions</h1>

<h2>Exception #1</h2>

<p>We can use <em>and</em> when it&rsquo;s not joining independent clauses to show that the items are joined (act as one unit&mdash;e.g., <em>peanut butter and jelly</em>). To avoid confusion, I recommend only pointing this out to higher-level students. Compare the&nbsp;difference:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter <strong>or</strong> jelly. (<em>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter. I don&rsquo;t like&nbsp;jelly.</em>)</li>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter <strong>and</strong> jelly. (<em>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter and jelly together, but I might like them&nbsp;separately.)</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>Exception #2</h2>

<p>Don&rsquo;t forget that even though words such as <em>hate</em> or <em>dislike</em> have a negative meaning, <em>not</em> isn&rsquo;t used, so <em>and</em> is used to join two or more parts of&nbsp;speech.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I dislike apples <strong>and</strong> oranges. (<em>I dislike apples or oranges</em> is&nbsp;incorrect.)</li>
	<li>She hates rain <strong>and</strong> snow. (<em>She hates rain or snow</em> is&nbsp;incorrect.)</li>
</ul>

<p>I hope your students aren&rsquo;t confused <strong>or</strong> defeated by these conjunctions&nbsp;anymore!</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Or or And in Negative Sentences?

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<p><em>Updated February 2017</em></p>

<p>There are two present verb tenses in English: the <strong>simple present</strong> and the <strong>present progressive</strong> (also known as the <strong>present continuous</strong>). Students sometimes have trouble figuring out when to use each tense, but I&rsquo;ve found that using a chart such as the one below is a great&nbsp;way to clearly explain the differences between the two&nbsp;tenses.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2372"><img alt="Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive Chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/213/content_Tanya_Simple-Present-Vs-Present-Progressive_Chart.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2372">Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h1>Simple Present</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<blockquote>
<p>Base V (+ <em>-s</em> with third person singular subject)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The simple present looks like the <strong>base form of the verb</strong>. With a <strong>third person singular subject</strong>, add the ending <em>-s</em>. Remind students that subjects that need <em>-s</em> include <em>he</em>, <em>she</em>, <em>it</em>, singular count nouns, or non‑count&nbsp;nouns.</p>

<h2>Time Markers</h2>

<h3>A. Repeated Actions</h3>

<ul>
	<li>every (every day, every week, every month, every year,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>once, twice, three times, etc. (once a week, twice a month, three times a year,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>adverbs of frequency (always, almost always, often, usually, sometimes, almost never, never,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
</ul>

<h3>B. Non-Action Verbs</h3>

<ul>
	<li>be</li>
	<li>have</li>
	<li>feelings (love, like, hate,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>thinking verbs (think, know, believe,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>five senses (see, hear, taste, touch,&nbsp;smell)</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Note:</em> There are some exceptions to these rules. For example, some of the verbs above use the present progressive when taking on an &ldquo;action&rdquo; role, such as<em> I&rsquo;m thinking of last night</em> (&ldquo;remembering&rdquo;) vs. <em>I think that global warming is a serious problem</em> (&ldquo;opinion&rdquo;). Point this out to students, but remind them that these verbs don&rsquo;t usually use the <em>-ing</em>&nbsp;form.</p>

<h3>C. True Facts</h3>

<ul>
	<li>scientific facts</li>
	<li>historical facts</li>
	<li>unchanging truths</li>
	<li>etc.</li>
</ul>

<h3>D. Schedules</h3>

<ul>
	<li>TV schedules</li>
	<li>transportation timetables</li>
	<li>etc.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>talk</strong> to my best friend every day. (<em>repeated&nbsp;action</em>)</li>
	<li>She never <strong>eats</strong> meat. (<em>repeated action with adverb of&nbsp;frequency</em>)</li>
	<li>He <strong>thinks</strong> that you shouldn&rsquo;t go out tonight. (<em>non-action&nbsp;verb</em>)</li>
	<li>Water <strong>boils</strong> at 100 degrees Celsius. (<em>true&nbsp;fact</em>)</li>
	<li>Our favourite show <strong>starts</strong> at 8:00&nbsp;pm. (<em>schedule</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Present Progressive</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<blockquote>
<p>Be + <em>-ing</em>&nbsp;V</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The present progressive is formed by taking the <strong>Be</strong>&nbsp;verb and an <strong>action verb + <em>-ing</em></strong>. Remind students that forms of the Be verb include <em>am</em>, <em>are</em>, <em>is</em>, and <em>are</em>, depending on the&nbsp;subject.</p>

<h2>Time Markers</h2>

<ul>
	<li>now</li>
	<li>right now</li>
	<li>currently</li>
	<li>nowadays</li>
	<li>these days</li>
	<li>at the moment</li>
	<li>at this time</li>
	<li>presently</li>
</ul>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>am studying</strong> English&nbsp;nowadays.</li>
	<li>At the moment, Jim <strong>is taking</strong> a&nbsp;nap.</li>
	<li>He<strong> is shopping</strong> right now, so he can&rsquo;t meet up with&nbsp;us.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Non-Action Verbs</h2>

<p>Even with the time markers above, non-action verbs almost never take <em>-ing</em>. For&nbsp;example:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">She <strong>is</strong> happy&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">She<strong> is being</strong> happy&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li class="correct">My friend <strong>has</strong> a boyfriend at the&nbsp;moment.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">My friend <strong>is having</strong> a boyfriend at the&nbsp;moment.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p><strong>Time Markers</strong> provide the best clues for students to figure out what verb tense to use. I always suggest that students memorize the time markers that correspond to certain verb&nbsp;tenses.</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Try our <a href="http://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons">Basic Grammar Sentences</a> sections for many lessons on the simple present and the present progressive. The <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1593">Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive</a> lesson has exercises that directly contrast the two verb tenses. We&rsquo;ve also got a new Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive resource <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2372-simple-present-vs-present-progressive">chart</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2372-simple-present-vs-present-progressive">worksheet</a>.</p>


Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive

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

Articles

<blockquote>&ldquo;Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.&rdquo; ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson</blockquote>

<p>Today&rsquo;s post celebrates the innovative ways teachers are motivating their English language learners. We are describing different ways to teach English that will astound your students. We offer you a peek at what other teachers are doing with their language learners and the results. We hope these ideas inspire you to be creative with a lesson or two even if you don&rsquo;t choose to use these methods throughout the year.</p>

<h3>Teaching English through Rap</h3>

<p>Jason Levine, <a href="https://twitter.com/FluencyMC">also known as Fluency MC</a>, uses rap songs to teach learners collocations and vocabulary. He raps about grammar and structures and provides the pdfs with lyrics. He has <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/collolearn?feature=watch">several videos</a> created that you can use with your learners in case you aren&rsquo;t the type of teacher who raps. Here is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/collolearn?feature=watch">a recorded presentation</a> in which he explains his method, how he started, and the results.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Teaching English through Lip Dubs</h3>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/chucksandy">Chuck Sandy</a> has his university students in Japan create Lip Dub videos of famous songs. You can <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEZniP5I-vo">check out one of these videos here</a>. In a lip dub, students learn the lyrics to a song then record a video in which they mouth the words to the lyrics as the music plays. The students lip sync in the video. The students seem to be having a lot of fun and it helps with team building.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Teaching English through Karaoke</h3>

<p><a href="http://gret.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/divingintoaskypingadventure/">Greta Sandler</a> had her 5th graders in Argentina karaoke on Singing Fridays. They use this time to sing English songs they have created, teach others English songs through Skype, and sing famous English songs they have prepared and memorized throughout the week.&nbsp;One of our favorite tools for language learners is <a href="http://lyricstraining.com/">Lyrics Training</a>.</p>

<h3>Teaching English through a Geolocation Game</h3>

<p>Paul Driver has invented <a href="http://digitaldebris.info/spywalk">SpyWalk</a>, a location-based urban game. Language learners play in teams with mobile devices and live GPS tracking to complete missions. The project was recently nominated for an ELTon.</p>

<h3>Teaching English through Memes</h3>

<p>Nina Jeroncic, who is based in Slovenia, recommends teaching with Internet language or memes. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme">wikipedia</a>, memes are ideas, behavior, or language spread throughout a culture. Here is a <a href="https://lancelot.adobeconnect.com/_a875817169/p4nco5930jt/">recorded presentation in which Nina explains various tools and lesson ideas</a>. She uses examples like YOLO, the Grumpy Cat, and more. Her ideas would be great to motivate teens and university students.</p>

<h3>Teaching English by Creating Apps</h3>

<p>Ozge Karaoglu, a young learner teacher in Turkey, has her 5 to 7 year-old students create the content for mobile apps. They have created a children&rsquo;s dictionary, games, and stories that integrate their voice, imagination, and drawings. Find the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Terakki+Vakf%C4%B1+Okullar%C4%B1&amp;hl=en">free Android apps here</a> and the <a href="http://ozgekaraoglu.edublogs.org/">IOS apps listed on her blog</a>. Ozge&rsquo;s kids&rsquo; apps were recently nominated for an ELTon and have won various awards.</p>

<h3>Teaching English in Virtual Worlds</h3>

<p>Language learners of all ages are immersing themselves in virtual worlds to learn English. They create an avatar that travels through a virtual world like <a href="http://secondlife.com">Second Life</a> and they can interact with others and objects. Language Labs is one of the more well-known virtual schools that teach English to adults.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Teaching English through Magic</h3>

<p>Get your students to learn English by teaching them magic tricks, having them create magic potions, and getting them to write in invisible ink.</p>

<h3>Do you have more innovative ideas to add to this list?</h3>

<p>Comment below!</p>


Not Your Ordinary English! 8 Creative Ideas for Teaching Language Learners

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<blockquote>
<p>There&rsquo;s a whole lot of difference between they&rsquo;re, their, and&nbsp;there.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently. <em>They&rsquo;re</em>, <em>their</em>, and <em>there</em> are some of the most troublesome homophones around. If L1 English speakers have trouble remembering when to use these terms, imagine how our students must feel!</p>

<p>Try presenting <em>they&rsquo;re</em>, <em>their</em>, and <em>there</em> to your students using the method outlined below. Consider reviewing this list often so that students are less likely to mix up these&nbsp;terms.</p>

<h1>1. They&rsquo;re</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p>Short for &ldquo;they are,&rdquo;&nbsp;it&rsquo;s the third person plural pronoun and the corresponding form of the Be&nbsp;verb.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>They&rsquo;re</em> is found at the <strong>beginning of a sentence or&nbsp;clause</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Say <em>they are</em> out loud or to yourself as you&rsquo;re writing. If it makes sense, use <em>they&rsquo;re</em>. If not, you&rsquo;ll need <em>there</em> instead, or <em>their</em> if followed by a&nbsp;noun.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>They&rsquo;re</strong> coming to the party tonight. (<em>They&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>I like those shoes. I wonder if <strong>they&rsquo;re</strong> for sale. (<em>they are)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Their</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p>This is the third person plural possessive adjective. It means &ldquo;belonging to&nbsp;them.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Their</em> always appears<strong> before a&nbsp;noun</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Look for a noun that follows. Also, saying<em> they are</em> out loud shouldn&rsquo;t make&nbsp;sense.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Is that <strong>their</strong> dog? (<em>their</em> + the noun <em>dog</em>; not <em>they are&nbsp;dog</em>)</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m sure they have <strong>their</strong> reasons. (<em>their</em> + the noun <em>reasons</em>; not <em>they are&nbsp;reasons</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>3. There</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>There</em> has many functions in English. Two of the most common are an indefinite pronoun subject and a&nbsp;location.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>There</em> comes at the <strong>beginning or end of a sentence or clause</strong>. It appears at the <strong>beginning</strong> when it&rsquo;s acting as an indefinite pronoun, and at the <strong>end</strong> when describing a&nbsp;location.</p>

<h2>Tricks</h2>

<p>At the end of a sentence, it will always be <em>there</em>. At the beginning, say <em>they are</em> out loud or to yourself as you&rsquo;re writing. If it works, use <em>they are</em>. If it doesn&rsquo;t, use <em>there</em>. Don&rsquo;t forget that if it&rsquo;s at the beginning or end of a sentence but followed by a noun, you&rsquo;ll need to use&nbsp;<em>their</em>.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>There</strong> are two versions of this story. (<em>indefinite pronoun</em>; not <em>they&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>You can get your ticket at the table over <strong>there</strong>.&nbsp;(<em>location</em>)</li>
</ul>

<p>There, that wasn&rsquo;t so&nbsp;hard!</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Teaching Tips: They're, Their & There

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<blockquote>
<p>How do you explain &ldquo;you&rsquo;re&rdquo; and &ldquo;your&rdquo; to your students?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Both L1 speakers and English language learners&nbsp;get these homophones confused. This is probably the most common mistake I see in newspapers, in signs, on social media, etc. Students of all levels could likely use a reminder of when to use <em>you&rsquo;re</em> and <em>your</em>. Try my tricks for remembering which is&nbsp;which!</p>

<h1>1. You&rsquo;re</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>You&rsquo;re</em> is a combination of the second person singular or plural pronoun and the Be verb. It&nbsp;stands for &quot;you are.&quot; It can be used as the subject of a sentence or&nbsp;clause.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>You&rsquo;re</em> comes at the <strong>beginning of a sentence or&nbsp;clause</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Say <em>you are</em> to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s <strong>possible</strong> to say <em>you are</em>, write <em>you&rsquo;re</em>, not&nbsp;<em>your</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>You&rsquo;re</strong> great students. (<em>You&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>If <strong>you&rsquo;re</strong> not going to the party, I&rsquo;m not going, either. (<em>you&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>You should pay attention in class so that <strong>you&rsquo;re</strong> not missing anything important. (<em>you&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Your</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>Your</em> is a second person singular or plural possessive adjective. It indicates possession,&nbsp;ownership, and belonging.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Your</em> comes <strong>before a&nbsp;noun</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Say <em>you are</em> to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s <strong>not possible</strong> to say <em>you are</em>, write <em>your</em>, not&nbsp;<em>you&rsquo;re</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Can I borrow <strong>your</strong> pencil? (not <em>you are&nbsp;pencil</em>)</li>
	<li><strong>Your</strong> brother is really cute. (not<em> you are&nbsp;brother</em>)</li>
	<li>I wasn&rsquo;t sure if <strong>your</strong> friend was coming with us or not. (not <em>you are&nbsp;friend</em>)</li>
</ul>

<p>Another trick is to notice if there is <strong>another</strong> <strong>verb</strong> in the sentence. <em>You&rsquo;re</em> already has a verb, so there won&rsquo;t be another main verb in the clause. <em>Your</em> needs a verb, so there will be a main verb in the&nbsp;clause.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>You&rsquo;re</strong> the best soccer player on our team. (<em>no other&nbsp;verb</em>)</li>
	<li>I really like <strong>your</strong> new car. (<em><strong>like</strong> is the&nbsp;verb</em>)</li>
</ul>

<p>Now you&rsquo;re sure your students get it,&nbsp;right?</p>


Teaching Tips: You're & Your

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live&nbsp;forever.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Mahatma Gandhi</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Students have trouble figuring out when to use the &uuml;ber-common words <em>to</em>, <em>too</em>, and <em>two</em>. Even native speakers confuse these tricky homophones! Every level of English learner could use a review of these terms. Listing them on the board and providing some examples will go a long way to clearing things&nbsp;up!</p>

<h1>1. To</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>To</em> is a preposition that is used for many reasons in English. Some of the more common reasons include <em>movement</em>,&nbsp;<em>direction</em>, <em>purpose</em>, and as part of the <em>infinitive</em> verb&nbsp;structure.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p>You&rsquo;ll see <em>to</em> <strong>before a noun</strong> or <strong>before a base&nbsp;verb</strong>.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>He&rsquo;s going <strong>to</strong> the mall after class.&nbsp;(<em>movement</em>)</li>
	<li>A compass points&nbsp;<strong>to</strong> the north.&nbsp;(<em>direction</em>)</li>
	<li>They came <strong>to</strong> our aid.&nbsp;(<em>purpose</em>)</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m taking this class <strong>to</strong> improve my English. (<em>infinitive of&nbsp;purpose</em>)</li>
	<li>Do you want me <strong>to</strong> call you later?&nbsp;(<em>infinitive</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Too</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>Too</em> is an adverb that means <em>also</em> or&nbsp;<em>very</em>.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Too</em> is usually found at the <strong>end of a sentence after a comma</strong> (<em>also</em> meaning) or <strong>before an adjective or adverb</strong> (<em>very</em>&nbsp;meaning).</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I want to go to Paris, <strong>too</strong>.&nbsp;(<em>also</em>)</li>
	<li>Me, <strong>too</strong>. (<em>also</em>)</li>
	<li>The teacher spoke <strong>too</strong> quickly, so the students were confused.&nbsp;(<em>very</em>)</li>
	<li>That desk is <strong>too</strong> large to move by myself.&nbsp;(<em>very</em>)</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>*Note</h5>

<p>The first and last examples are good for demonstrating <em>to</em> and <em>too</em>&nbsp;together!</p>
</div>

<h1>3. Two</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>Two</em> (2) is a number that means <em>one plus one</em>. As for the part of speech, most dictionaries call it an <em>adjective</em>, while most grammar books differ in what to call it: <em>adjective</em>, <em>article</em>, <em>determiner</em>, or&nbsp;<em>quantifier</em>.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Two</em> is found <strong>before a noun</strong>, or on its own in a <strong>subject or object</strong> <strong>position</strong> if the noun is&nbsp;understood.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I bought <strong>two</strong> bags of chips at the&nbsp;supermarket.</li>
	<li>My roommate wanted to watch <strong>two</strong> movies last&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>A: How many books did you buy?<br />
	B: I bought <strong>two</strong>.<br />
	(<em>books</em> is&nbsp;understood)</li>
	<li>A: How many copies do you need?<br />
	B: <strong>Two</strong> should do it.<br />
	(<em>copies</em> is&nbsp;understood)</li>
</ul>

<p>Here&rsquo;s to success with these&nbsp;terms!</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Teaching Tips: To, Too & Two

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<blockquote>
<p>As teachers, we need to help each other&nbsp;out.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Last week&rsquo;s blog post was about teaching students when to use <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tips-for-teaching-other-another-and-the-other"><em>other</em>, <em>another</em>, and <em>the other</em></a>. But confusion over these terms might not stop there. How do we form the possessive&mdash;is it <em>each other&rsquo;s</em> or <em>each others&rsquo;</em>? And should a singular or plural noun follow the possessive form? Should we use <em>each other</em> or <em>one another</em>? Get prepared for all these potential student questions by brushing up on the rules&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>Each Other&rsquo;s or Each&nbsp;Others&rsquo;?</h1>

<p>This can be confusing for students, because the rule for possessives is usually <strong>&rsquo;s</strong> for singular count and non-count nouns and <strong>s&rsquo;</strong> for plural count nouns (e.g., one teacher&rsquo;s desk, two teachers&rsquo; desks). However, you should point out to students that <em>each other</em> is treated as a singular pronoun and emphasizes two or more <strong>separate</strong> people. <strong><em>Each other&rsquo;s</em> is always correct, and <em>each others&rsquo;</em> is never correct.</strong> Think of it this way: You would say&nbsp;<em>We talked to each other for hours.</em> You would never say <em>We talked to each others for&nbsp;hours.</em></p>

<ul>
	<li>The students marked <strong>each other&rsquo;s</strong>&nbsp;papers.</li>
	<li>They went to <strong>each other&rsquo;s</strong> houses last&nbsp;weekend.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Singular or Plural&nbsp;Noun?</h1>

<p>Since <em>each other</em> implies that two or more people are involved, the noun that follows is usually a <strong>plural</strong> noun (if it&rsquo;s countable). Think of it this way: <em>Let&rsquo;s review each other&rsquo;s essays</em> means <em>my essay</em> and <em>your essay</em>; i.e., <em>two&nbsp;essays</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>My roommate and I always borrow each other&rsquo;s <strong>jackets</strong> because we&rsquo;re the same&nbsp;size.</li>
	<li>We meet in each other&rsquo;s <strong>offices</strong> when we need to discuss important&nbsp;issues.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note that not all grammarians or style guides agree on this point. As a general rule of thumb, a plural noun is considered more common, while a singular noun is considered more logical. This would be great to discuss with higher-level students, but I wouldn&rsquo;t recommend confusing lower-level students with it (stick with the rule above for lower&nbsp;levels).</p>

<ul>
	<li>We borrowed each other&rsquo;s <strong>jackets</strong>. (correct&mdash;more common&mdash;the two jackets were&nbsp;switched)</li>
	<li>We borrowed each other&rsquo;s <strong>jacket</strong>. (correct&mdash;more logical&mdash;we each have one&nbsp;jacket)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Each Other or One Another?</h1>

<p>The rule that grammar traditionalists follow is to use <em>each other</em> when there are only two people involved and <em>one another</em> for more than two. However, in my opinion, <em>one another</em> is quite formal, so <em>each other</em> can be used casually for more than two people. Also, I&rsquo;ve heard people use&nbsp;<em>one another</em> for two people in formal situations, not just for more than two people. That&rsquo;s why I teach my students to use&nbsp;<em>each other</em> no matter how many people are involved, but I do point out that they might see&nbsp;<em>one another</em> in formal writing or&nbsp;speaking.</p>

<ul>
	<li>My best friend and I tell <strong>each other</strong> everything. (two people, casual, 100%&nbsp;correct)</li>
	<li>My best friend and I tell everything to <strong>one another</strong>. (two people, formal, generally&nbsp;accepted)</li>
	<li>As teachers, we need to help <strong>each other</strong> out. (many people, casual, generally&nbsp;accepted)</li>
	<li>As teachers, we need to help <strong>one another</strong> out. (many people, formal, 100%&nbsp;correct)</li>
</ul>

<p>Source: <em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th ed. section&nbsp;5.220.</p>


Each Other's or Each Others'? Each Other or One Another?

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<h1>Yet another confusing grammar point&hellip;</h1>

<p><em>Other</em>, <em>another</em>, and <em>the other</em> are terms that students should be familiar with at a fairly low level. They appear in most beginner and intermediate‑level textbooks as well as on tests such as the TOEIC. Yet a lot of students seem to have trouble grasping when to use these adjectives. (I&rsquo;m using <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s</em> categorization of &ldquo;adjectives&rdquo; for these terms, but personally, I usually refer to them as <em>articles</em> or <em>determiners</em> since I think that&rsquo;s closer to the role they fill&mdash;but that&rsquo;s a discussion for another blog post!) Once I started explaining these terms&nbsp;with the following chart, my students had an easier time keeping them straight. I hope your students will find this chart useful,&nbsp;too!</p>

<table class="hasBorder">
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>General (a, an, X)</th>
<th>Specific (the)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Singular (one)</th>
<td><h5>Another</h5><p>e.g., I'm still hungry. I want <strong>another</strong> <em>sandwich</em>.</p>
<td><h5>The Other</h5><p>e.g., No, not that pen. I want <strong>the other</strong> <em>sandwich</em>.</p>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Plural (more than one)</th>
<td><h5>Other</h5><p>e.g., Do you have any <strong>other</strong> <em>books</em> I can borrow?</p>
<td><h5>The Other</h5><p>e.g., No, not those songs. Let's listen to <strong>the other</strong> <em>songs</em> / <strong>the others</strong>.</p>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<h3>Notes for teachers on General vs. Specific:</h3>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>Explain that GENERAL refers to an object that there are many of (<em>one of many</em>). Usually we <em>can&rsquo;t see</em> this&nbsp;object.</li>
	<li>Explain that we use &quot;a&quot; or &quot;an&quot;&nbsp;for a singular, general count noun, and that &quot;another&quot;&nbsp;is &quot;an&quot; + &quot;other.&quot;</li>
	<li>Explain that we don&#39;t use an article for plural, general count nouns, so &quot;other&quot;&nbsp;stands on its&nbsp;own.</li>
	<li>Explain that SPECIFIC&nbsp;refers to an object that there is <em>only one</em> of. Often we <em>can see</em> this object, and/or both speaker and listener <em>know</em> of this&nbsp;object.</li>
	<li>Explain that we use &quot;the&quot;&nbsp;with singular and plural specific nouns, so we use &quot;the&quot;&nbsp;+ &quot;other.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Notes for teachers on Other, Another, and The Other:</h3>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>For ANOTHER and OTHER, point out that there are no other sandwiches or books around (we would normally say these sentences when we <em>can&rsquo;t see</em> a sandwich or other&nbsp;books).</li>
	<li>For ANOTHER, point out that the noun that follows is a <em>singular count noun</em>&nbsp;(<strong>doesn&rsquo;t end in ‑s</strong>).</li>
	<li>For OTHER, point out that the noun that follows is a <em>plural count noun</em> (<strong>ends in -s</strong>) OR&nbsp;a&nbsp;<em>non‑count noun&nbsp;</em>(<strong>doesn&#39;t end in&nbsp;‑s</strong>).</li>
	<li>For THE OTHER (singular), demonstrate with two pens (preferably different colours) on the table in front of you. Say &ldquo;No, not that pen&rdquo; (and point to the red pen). Say &ldquo;Pass me the other pen&rdquo; (and point to the blue pen). Point out that we <em>can see</em> the other&nbsp;pen.</li>
	<li>For THE OTHER (plural), draw two quick pretend playlists on the board. Say &ldquo;No, not those songs&rdquo; (and point to the first playlist). Say &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s listen to the other songs&rdquo; (and point to the second playlist). Point out that we <em>can see</em> the other songs, or both speaker and listener <em>know</em> which songs are being referred&nbsp;to.</li>
	<li>For THE OTHER (plural), point out that if the noun is already mentioned, we can drop the plural noun after &rdquo;other&rdquo; and make it &ldquo;others.&rdquo;&nbsp;Demonstrate again with the previous example, but say &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s listen to the others&rdquo; when pointing to the second&nbsp;playlist.</li>
	<li>Point out that THE OTHER is used for both&nbsp;<em>count&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>non‑count&nbsp;nouns</em>.</li>
</ul>

<p>I hope your students now have no <em>other</em> questions about these&nbsp;terms! Here is a <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2941" target="_blank">ready-made resource</a>&nbsp;with a practice task.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Teaching Tips: Other, Another & The Other

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<h3>I will resume writing my resume...</h3>

<p dir="ltr">With all the different regions of the world that use English, and all the words borrowed from other languages, English spelling sure is problematic! There is often more than one acceptable spelling for a word. The team at ESL Library was recently confronted with some controversy over the spelling of &ldquo;resume.&rdquo;&nbsp;This word, which comes from&nbsp;the French noun &quot;r&eacute;sum&eacute;,&quot;&nbsp;appears many times in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/85/lessons">English at Work</a>&nbsp;lessons, as well as in a few lessons within the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons">Everyday Idioms (Part 2)</a> section and&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/75/lessons/1653">Employment</a>&nbsp;lesson&nbsp;in our Living in English section . We had been spelling &ldquo;resume&rdquo; without any accents, but had to make a decision as to whether we wanted to continue to spell it that way. We&rsquo;ll share our thought process below, and we&rsquo;d love to know what other teachers think.</p>

<h3>What do the dictionaries say?</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">In the US: <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary</em> lists this entry as <strong>r&eacute;sum&eacute; or resume, also resum&eacute;</strong>, which means that all forms are correct and acceptable. However, they consider &ldquo;r&eacute;sum&eacute;&rdquo; and &ldquo;resume&rdquo; to be equal variants, whereas &ldquo;resum&eacute;&rdquo; is a secondary variant and not as common as the first two options.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">In Canada: The <em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English</em> lists this entry as <strong>resum&eacute;</strong>, and doesn&rsquo;t list any variants. However, the Government of Canada&#39;s website uses both&nbsp;<strong>r&eacute;sum&eacute; </strong>and<strong>&nbsp;resume </strong>often. As a Canadian myself, I tend to use&nbsp;<strong>resume&nbsp;</strong>when typing online in order to avoid code problems.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">In the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa: In these countries, &ldquo;Curriculum Vitae&rdquo; or &ldquo;CV&rdquo; is preferred. However, the <em>Oxford Dictionary Online</em> lists this entry as <strong>resume: a variant spelling of r&eacute;sum&eacute; (North American)</strong>, which means that they consider &ldquo;r&eacute;sum&eacute;&rdquo; to be the more acceptable form.</li>
</ul>

<h3>What about confusion with the verb &ldquo;resume&rdquo;?</h3>

<p dir="ltr">Our consensus was that <strong>context</strong> is sufficient to determine whether &ldquo;resume&rdquo; is referring to the noun (CV) or the verb (to begin again). The noun is used primarily in business English contexts when discussing job hunting, applying for jobs, interviewing, etc. Students need to learn how to use context to help figure out word meanings; it&rsquo;s an essential skill. Words such as wind (noun) / wind (verb) and present (noun) / present (verb) don&rsquo;t normally pose a problem because the context usually clarifies which meaning/part of speech is being used.</p>

<h3>What is best for the students?</h3>

<p dir="ltr">My personal opinion is that students will most often see and write (i.e., type) &ldquo;resume&rdquo; without accents because that is the most common way it is spelled on computers and mobile devices. Most people don&rsquo;t bother using their &ldquo;special characters&rdquo; feature to find accented letters, especially in English where accents are rare. Also, many students are native speakers of languages where accents have specific functions that are not always related to pronunciation (some accents are used to indicate syllable stress, for example), and some students may never have seen accents at all. Using &ldquo;r&eacute;sum&eacute;&rdquo; or &ldquo;resum&eacute;,&rdquo;&nbsp;with accents, might result in confusion, if only at first.</p>

<p dir="ltr">However, after seeing &ldquo;resume&rdquo; in the lesson, I would advise that teachers talk to students about the other two spellings. I believe it&rsquo;s always a good idea to present the other variations of a word to students in case they come across them at some point.</p>

<h3>Conclusion:</h3>

<p>We are sticking with &ldquo;resume&rdquo; for now, but plan to include a note in the answer key to remind teachers to introduce the other spelling variations if they wish (especially if they are in countries outside the US). What do you think?</p>

<p dir="ltr">Tanya</p>

<h3>Related</h3>

<p>Try ESL Library&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2099">How to Write a Resume</a>&nbsp;lesson from our Writing in English section.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Resume, Résumé, or Resumé?

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<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Johann Wolfgang von Goethe</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Many teachers deal with a learner motivation problem. Sometimes, we have tried doing our best to inspire our learners to explore the topic and be excited about learning. If you feel you are running out options in your bag of tricks, then this post is for you.</p>

<p>Below are a list of 10 ideas to motivate your learners by using magic. Many of our learners enjoy the supernatural and are wowed by spells, optical illusions, and tricks. Try one of these ideas to bring a bit of magic and motivation to your class of language learners.</p>

<h2>Magic Potions</h2>

<p>For this lesson, learners create magic potions they can drink. They imagine what their potions do by completing creative writing tasks.</p>

<ol>
	<li>Tell your students they are good wizards or witches and will be creating their own spells to help their peers. You might want to introduce by drinking a fizzy drink and telling them what spell it has cast on you. Make sure it is a positive effect like smiling non-stop for an hour or laughing straight for 5 minutes, etc. (You are practicing verbs)</li>
	<li>Pair the students. Each pair consults in English for about 5 minutes. They must tell each other what kind of good spell they&rsquo;d like the other to create. Have them brainstorm options then write these down. Here&rsquo;s a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dPpTwNW-AN1LrFZdEsihjv9GZnJpCoBwlUhFQZ5tyno/edit?usp=sharing">free hand-out you can copy and adapt</a>.</li>
	<li>Then have your students create a magic potion following one of the recipes below. They can drink each other&rsquo;s and imagine the spell has been cast.<br />
	- Recipe for a <a href="http://www.thegunnysack.com/2011/07/magic-potion-rainbow-drink-tutorial.html">magical rainbow colored drink kids can drink</a>. Comes with labels and visual instructions.<br />
	- Magic <a href="http://notjustcute.com/2011/06/06/magic-potions-and-fizzing-formulas-getting-kids-attention-with-chemistry-3/">baking soda potion</a> with visual instructions. (don&rsquo;t drink)</li>
</ol>

<p>After drinking the potions, have the students use a digital storytelling tool&nbsp;to tell a story or create a comic about drinking the magic potion and what happened next. They can use tools like <a href="http://storybird.com/">Storybird</a>&nbsp;or <a href="http://littlebirdtales.com">LittleBirdTales</a>. Your students do not have to register to create comics at <a href="http://writecomics.com/">WriteComics</a>, <a href="http://chogger.com/creator">Chogger</a>, and <a href="http://makebeliefscomix.com/">MakeBeliefs</a>.</p>

<p>Alternatively, your students could use one of the digital storytelling tools to create a magic potion book where they include a picture of the potion, list the ingredients (can be made up) and list what the spell does. Stress positive spells so students aren&rsquo;t tempted to create mean spells. This is a great way to also teach citizenship.</p>

<h2>Magic Tricks</h2>

<p>Teach your learners a magic trick as a class. You will need to get each of them the supplies. There are simple magic tricks like <a href="http://magic.about.com/od/Easy-Magic-Tricks-for-Kids/ss/Easy-Magic-Trick-Money-Bill-Smile.htm">making a bill smile</a> or you can <a href="http://magic.about.com/od/Easy-Magic-Tricks-for-Kids/tp/Magic-Tricks-For-Kids.htm">choose from one of these easy and cheap tricks</a>.</p>

<p>Another option is to have your kids choose a magic trick to teach the class to do. You can put in a list of tricks with the website url printed on a paper strip. Put these strips in a bag and the student pulls out the trick they must demonstrate.</p>

<p>You can have them demonstrate this on Youtube, create a how-to video using <a href="http://www.educreations.com/">Educreations</a>, or demonstrate through a class live presentation. Check out this video of how <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbdOt_e4o3Q&amp;list=LLCC3RDxws3dOmIWWoMS9lrA">YL teacher, Barbi Bujtas, teaches her language learners with magic tricks</a>.</p>

<h2>Optical Illusions</h2>

<p>Optical illusions are a great way to teach students about shape, light, patterns, colors, and vision. Here are some free resources:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://designpress.com/inspiration/optical-illusions-for-kids/">25 Brilliant Optical Illusions For Kids</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/riddles/illusions/index.htm">Tons of optical illusions</a> to use as discussion starters or to get them thinking at the beginning of class.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Magical Music, Reads, &amp; Films</h2>

<p>These are some of my favorite books and films with magic. You can throw a party where the students dress up like a magical creature, witch, or wizard; make magic potions; teach others magic tricks; dance or karaoke to their favorite magical tunes: and watch a film or listen to you read a story to them.</p>

<h3>Stories</h3>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://roomonthebroom.com/activities/">Room on the Broom</a> by Julia Donaldson</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.magickeys.com/books/invis-allig/index.html#pictop">Invisible Alligators</a> by Hayes Roberts</li>
	<li><a href="http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories/ali-and-the-magic-carpet">Ali and the Magic Carpet</a>&nbsp;by Sue Clarke</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/unit/harry-potter-everything-you-need">Harry Potter</a>&nbsp;by J.K. Rowling</li>
	<li><a href="http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/short-stories/jack-and-the-beanstalk">Jack and the Beanstalk</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Film Ideas</h3>

<p><em>(Please review &amp; get permission from parents before showing any film or clip)</em></p>

<ul>
	<li>Harry Potter (2001-2011)</li>
	<li>The Never Ending Story (1984)</li>
	<li>How to Train Your Dragon (2010)</li>
	<li>The Pagemaster (1994)</li>
	<li>Aladdin (1992)</li>
	<li>Jumanji (1995)</li>
	<li>Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)</li>
	<li>Casper the Friendly Ghost (1995)</li>
	<li>Puff the Magic Dragon (1978)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Music</h3>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/songs/abracadabra">Abracadabra</a> by the British Council Learn English</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBS4bMIAu20">I&rsquo;ve Got the Magic in Me</a> by B.O.B</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5-5a9VrDWs">Do You Believe in Magic?</a> by Aly and AJ&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZONGRYmGjg">Captain&rsquo;s Magic Buttons</a> by The Wiggles</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0PI2djoA10">Puff the Magic Dragon</a>&nbsp;(song and video story)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Magical Apps</h3>

<p>Magic can be found on mobile devices. Try any of the free apps below with your learners.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/max-the-magic-marker-remastered/id1256928610">Max and the Magic Marker</a>- Draw interactive objects.</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.minilabstudios.com/apps/arties-magic-pencil/">Artie&#39;s Magic Pencil</a>- kids learn the fundamentals of drawing</li>
	<li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spellcraft-school-of-magic/id471396267?mt=8">SpellCraft School of Magic</a>- role-playing game where the student goes to school and makes magic potions</li>
	<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=upworksolutions.themagictricks&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US">Learn Magic Tricks</a> - Video tutorials and reveals for easy magic tricks</li>
</ul>

<h3>More Great Websites and Resources</h3>

<p>Find more ideas and safe jokes to share with students using these websites:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://bogglesworldesl.com/potionbook.htm">Boggles World Curriculum: Magic Potions</a>- Lots of fantastic ideas, free hand-outs, listening activities, a story and more!</li>
	<li><a href="http://bogglesworldesl.com/spellbook.htm">Boggles World Curriculum: Spell Book</a>- Lots of fantastic ideas, free hand-outs, a story and more!</li>
	<li><a href="http://whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-party-time-and-witches-brew.html">Witches Brew Curriculum</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.teachbymagic.com/">Teach by Magic</a>- A site full of videos and ideas so you can teach with magic year round</li>
	<li>Have students <a href="http://www.alexslemonade.org/files/schools/k8/Invisible%20Ink%20Lemon%20Juice%20(K-6).pdf">create messages in invisible ink</a></li>
</ul>

<p>What other ideas do you have?</p>


Magic Mayhem! 10+ Ideas & Resources to Motivate Using Magic

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<h3>Students learn <strong>not only</strong> what the rules of parallel structure are,<strong> but also</strong>&nbsp;how to use paired joining terms.</h3>

<p dir="ltr"><strong>Parallel structure</strong> is important in English, but it is all too often used incorrectly. From simple words to complex phrases, the basic rule of parallel structure is that all the elements must be equal (i.e., they must match) on either side of the comma or conjunction. Parallel structure is especially important when it comes to <strong>paired joining terms</strong> such as <em>not only...but also, either...or, neither...nor,</em> and <em>both...and</em>. Listed below are some of the rules, examples, and tricky cases that you can use when teaching your students about these terms.</p>

<h3>General Rules of Parallel Structure</h3>

<p dir="ltr">There must be a match in <strong>form</strong> and <strong>function</strong> when joining words, phrases, clauses, or sentences in English. The <strong>form</strong> must be the same; i.e., nouns must be joined to other nouns, verb + object phrases must be joined to other verb + object phrases, SVO clauses must be joined to other SVO clauses, etc.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">She cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and dusted the living room. (<em>wrong</em>: N, N, V + N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">She cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room. (<em>correct</em>: N, N, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">I wrote the report, called the client, and the storeroom was organized. (<em>wrong</em>: V + N, V+ N, N + V)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">I wrote the report, called the client, and organized the storeroom. (<em>correct</em>: V + N, V + N, V + N)</li>
</ul>

<p dir="ltr">The grammatical <strong>function</strong> must also be the same; i.e., adjectives must be joined to other adjectives, past verbs should be joined to other past verbs, gerunds must be joined to other gerunds, etc.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">The house was old but a beauty. (<em>wrong</em>: Adj, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">The house was old but beautiful. (<em>correct</em>: Adj, Adj)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Specific Cases of Parallel Structure: Paired Joining Terms</h3>

<p dir="ltr">The following expressions are mainly used for <strong>emphasis</strong>. They are especially common in writing. The most important thing to remember about these expressions is that the first joining term must be placed before the part of the sentence that has the same form and function as the second part of the sentence that you&rsquo;re trying to match. It&rsquo;s tricky! Native speakers and students alike make mistakes with this. Showing your students the examples below should make it clear.</p>

<h3>1. Not only...but also</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">We<strong> not only</strong> ate pizza,<strong> but also</strong> pasta. (<em>wrong</em>: V + N, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">We ate<strong> not only</strong> pizza, but <strong>also pasta</strong>. (<em>correct</em>: N, N)</li>
</ul>

<p dir="ltr">Be careful! When joining two sentences (using <em>not only</em> at the beginning of the sentence), the subject and verb become <strong>inverted</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr"><strong>Not only <em>she will</em></strong> take a test, <strong>but</strong> she will <strong>also</strong> give a presentation. (<em>wrong</em>: no inversion)</li>
	<li dir="ltr"><strong>Not only <em>will she</em></strong> take a test, <strong>but</strong> she will <strong>also</strong> give a presentation. (<em>correct</em>: inversion)</li>
</ul>

<p>For practice with <em>not only...but also</em>, try the exercise in Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1396" title="esl-library-chris-hadfield">Chris Hadfield lesson</a>.</p>

<h3>2. Either...or</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">The students can <strong>either</strong> choose to study <strong>or</strong> to exercise. (<em>wrong</em>: V + Infinitive, Infinitive)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">The students can choose <strong>either</strong> to study <strong>or</strong> to exercise. (<em>correct</em>: Infinitive, Infinitive)</li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Neither...nor</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">My roommate <strong>neither</strong> likes the red dress <strong>nor</strong> the green dress. (<em>wrong</em>: V + N, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">My roommate likes <strong>neither</strong> the red dress <strong>nor</strong> the green dress. (<em>correct</em>: N, N)</li>
</ul>

<p>Point out to students that using <em>not</em> with <em>either...or</em> has the same meaning as <em>neither...nor</em>. <em>Neither...nor</em> is quite formal and not often used in speaking, so understanding how to change it to <em>not</em> with <em>either...or</em> is useful for students.</p>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">They ate <strong>neither</strong> the apples <strong>nor</strong> the oranges. (<em>correct</em>, but formal, used in formal writing)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">They did<strong>n&rsquo;t</strong> eat <strong>either</strong> the apples <strong>or</strong> the oranges. (<em>correct</em>, more common in informal writing and speaking)</li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Both...and</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">The child <strong>both</strong> wanted to ride the roller coaster <strong>and</strong>&nbsp;to eat ice cream. (<em>wrong</em>: V + Infinitive + N, Infinitive&nbsp;+ N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">The child wanted <strong>both</strong> to ride the roller coaster <strong>and</strong>&nbsp;to eat ice cream. (<em>correct</em>: Infinitive + N, Infinitive + N)</li>
</ul>

<p dir="ltr">I hope you found this post useful for&nbsp;<strong>both</strong>&nbsp;your students <strong>and</strong>&nbsp;yourself,</p>

<p dir="ltr">Tanya</p>

<p dir="ltr">Source: <em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th edition, section 5.214.</p>


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