“Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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. 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.

Magic Potions

For this lesson, learners create magic potions they can drink. They imagine what their potions do by completing creative writing tasks.

1. 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)
2. Pair the students. Each pair consults in English for about 5 minutes. They must tell each other what kind of good spell they’d like the other to create. Have them brainstorm options then write these down. Here’s a free hand-out you can copy and adapt.
3. Then have your students create a magic potion following one of the recipes below. They can drink each other’s and imagine the spell has been cast.
4. Recipe for a magic potion with candy that fizzes. Great for when the kids are pretending to cast a spell and they can drink this.
5. Recipe for a magical rainbow colored drink kids can drink. Comes with labels and visual instructions.
6. Magic baking soda potion with visual instructions. (don’t drink)

After drinking the potions, have the students use one of these digital storytelling tools to tell a story or create a comic about drinking the magic potion and what happened next. They can use tools like Storybird, Zooburst, or LittleBirdTales. Your students do not have to register to create comics at WriteComics, Chogger, and MakeBeliefs. 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’t tempted to create mean spells. This is a great way to also teach citizenship.

Magic Tricks

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 making a bill smile or you can choose from one of these easy and cheap tricks. 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. You can have them demonstrate this on Youtube, create a how-to video using Educreations, or demonstrate through a class live presentation. Check out this video of how YL teacher, Barbi Bujtas, teaches her language learners with magic tricks.

Optical Illusions

Optical illusions are a great way to teach students about shape, light, patterns, colors, and vision. Here are some free lesson plans and resources:

• Lesson plan: students create an optical illusion
• Tons of optical illusions to use as discussion starters or to get them thinking at the beginning of class.
• Lesson plans, optical illusions, games and more!

Magical Music, Reads, & Films

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.

Stories

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, animated video
Invisible Alligators by Hayes Roberts
Jack and the Beanstalk
Ali and the Magic Carpet
Harry Potter

Film Ideas (Please review & get permission from parents before showing any film or clip)

Harry Potter
The Never Ending Story
How to Train Your Dragon
The Pagemaster
Aladdin
Jumanji
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Puff the Magic Dragon

Music

Abracadabra by the British Council Learn English
I’ve Got the Magic in Me by B.O.B
Do You Believe in Magic? by Aly and AJ (Kid’s version)
Puff the Magic Dragon song and video story
Captain’s Magic Buttons by The Wiggles

Magical Apps

Magic can be found on mobile devices. Try any of the free apps below with your learners.

• My Magic Songs- songs and music videos where the student’s name is sung and they can even upload an image to star in the music video.
• Max and the Magic Marker- Draw interactive objects.
• The Wizard of Oz Interactive Activity Book for Android and for the iPad
• A Magic Paint Brush- kids color pictures then the characters come to life with the touch of a magic wand. They can even upload their own photos that will also be animated.
• SpellCraft School of Magic- role-playing game where the student goes to school and makes magic potions
• Easy Magic- Video tutorials and reveals for easy magic tricks

More Great Websites and Resources

Find more ideas and safe jokes to share with students using these websites:

• Boggles World Curriculum: Magic Potions- Lots of fantastic ideas, free hand-outs, listening activities, a story and more!
• Boggles World Curriculum: Spell Book- Lots of fantastic ideas, free hand-outs, a story and more!
• Witches Brew Curriculum
• Teach by Magic- A site full of videos and ideas so you can teach with magic year round
• Have students create messages in invisible ink

What other ideas do you have?

Parallel structure 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 paired joining terms such as not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor, and both…and. Listed below are some of the rules, examples, and tricky cases that you can use when teaching your students about these terms.

General Rules of Parallel Structure

There must be a match in form and function when joining words, phrases, clauses, or sentences in English. The form 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.

Examples:

• She cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and dusted the living room. (wrong: N, N, V + N)
• She cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room. (correct: N, N, N)
• I wrote the report, called the client, and the storeroom was organized. (wrong: V + N, V+ N, N + V)
• I wrote the report, called the client, and organized the storeroom. (correct: V + N, V + N, V + N)

The grammatical function 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.

Examples:

• The house was old but a beauty. (wrong: Adj, N)
• The house was old but beautiful. (correct: Adj, Adj)

Specific Cases of Parallel Structure: Paired Joining Terms

The following expressions are mainly used for emphasis. 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’re trying to match. It’s tricky! Native speakers and students alike make mistakes with this. Showing your students the examples below should make it clear.

1. Not only…but also

• We not only ate pizza, but also pasta. (wrong: V + N, N)
• We ate not only pizza, but also pasta. (correct: N, N)

Be careful! When joining two sentences (using not only at the beginning of the sentence), the subject and verb become inverted.

• Not only she will take a test, but she will also give a presentation. (wrong: no inversion)
• Not only will she take a test, but she will also give a presentation. (correct: inversion)

For practice with not only…but also, try the exercise in ESL-Library’s Chris Hadfield lesson.

2. Either…or

• The students can either choose to study or to exercise. (wrong: V + Infinitive, Infinitive)
• The students can choose either to study or to exercise. (correct: Infinitive, Infinitive)

3. Neither…nor

• My roommate neither likes the red dress nor the green dress. (wrong: V + N, N)
• My roommate likes neither the red dress nor the green dress. (correct: N, N)

Point out to students that using not with either…or has the same meaning as neither…nor. Neither…nor is quite formal and not often used in speaking, so understanding how to change it to not with either…or is useful for students.

• They ate neither the apples nor the oranges. (correct, but formal, used in formal writing)
• They didn’t eat either the apples or the oranges. (correct, more common in informal writing and speaking)
• They didn’t eat the apples or the oranges. (correct, the most common in speaking)

4. Both…and

• The child both wanted to ride the roller coaster and ice cream. (wrong: V + Infinitive + N, N)
• The child wanted both to ride the roller coaster and ice cream. (wrong: Infinitive + N, N)
• The child wanted both to ride the roller coaster and to eat ice cream. (correct: Infinitive + N, Infinitive + N)

I hope you found this post useful for both your students and yourself,

Tanya

Source: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, section 5.214.

The Astronaut Who Made Space Travel Cool

Were you and your students following Chris Hadfield’s updates and videos from space? Were you blown away by his Space Oddity video? We hope you’ll try our NEW ready-made lesson plan on Chris Hadfield. This week’s mini-podcast for English learners is an audio preview of ESL-Library’s Famous Things lesson plan on this extraordinary astronaut. The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. Your students will review the commonly confused words “affect” and “effect” and will practise using “not only, but also” to talk about multitalented people like Hadfield.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous People English Lesson Plans.

Browse through our podcast archive here. This is our 164th episode. 

Your students can subscribe via our blog or through iTunes. Introduce your students to ESL podcasts on iTunes today!

Related in the ESL-Library: ESL Materials on Air and Space Travel

ESL-Library’s founder Ben Buckwold was recently in Palm Springs with his family. It had been a long, cold winter in Winnipeg, and the family was very happy to see flowers and grass instead of ice and snow. Imagine Ben’s wife’s surprise when she woke up early one morning and caught the resort staff painting the grass green! According to this article in the Daily Mail, painting the grass green is common practice in China, too.

“In the past fields of crops have been replanted to give a more ‘fertile appearance’ during an inspection tour of the countryside by Chairman Mao, and fake sheep have been positioned on the dried out grasslands of Inner Mongolia to dupe tourists that the animals were still grazing there. ” ~Amanda Williams, Daily Mail

Vocabulary

Here are some expressions and words that you may want to pre-teach before you share this article with your students.

• the grass is always greener on the other side
• an element of truth
• spruced up
• to go to great lengths
• aesthetic
• dupe

Discussion Questions

Does green grass really make people feel more cheerful and positive?
Will lawn painting become a trend in the future?
What is your reaction to the idea of planting fake sheep in the fields?
How is painting the grass different from dying one’s hair?
How would you feel if dye from painted grass turned your expensive shoes green?
Discuss real-life example of when you might use the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side” in a figurative rather than a literal way. Do you have a similar expression in your own native language?

Shades of Green

Take a walk and get your students to point out different shades of green. Have them bring their mobile phones to take pictures of the different colours. If you have younger students, collect an assortment of green crayons and have students practise reading out the colour names. Students might also have fun inventing their own names for different shades of green.

• forest green
• mint green
• turquoise
• army green
• puke green (if your students can stomach it)
• olive green
• teal
• chartreuse
• lime
• Kelly green

Lesson plans on Everyday Idioms

If your students enjoy learning idioms and English sayings check out these ESL-Library sections and materials:
Everyday Idioms 1 – First Love (low-intermediate – intermediate)
Everyday Idioms 2 – First Year (high-intermediate – advanced)
Detective Series – The Case of the Missing Ring (high-intermediate – advanced)
Love Idioms – Infographic
Luck Idioms – Infographic

In, out, up, down, on, off. Everyone knows words like these can be prepositions. But did you know some words like these can also be adverbs? How can you tell the difference? And what about phrasal verbs or expressions like “turn off”? This question recently came up at ESL-Library when a customer mentioned that in the phrase “push the switch down”, “down” is an adverb, not a preposition. Let’s review the basic rules, discuss the trickier cases, and decide if it’s worth teaching this difference to our students.

Prepositions

A preposition takes an object. If there is a noun following the term, it usually indicates the term is a preposition, not an adverb (but see the “Tricky Cases” section below).

Examples:

• He ran down the stairs.
• Maria looked out the window.
• They talked in circles and couldn’t reach a decision.

For practice, try our Prepositions lesson.

Adverbs

An adverb doesn’t take an object (but see the “Tricky Cases” section below). Adverbs such as these usually appear at the end of the clause or sentence.

Examples:

• She sat down.
• We’re going out at 7:00 tonight.
• When you arrive at the hotel, make sure you check in.

For general adverb practice, try our Adverbs of Manner lesson.

Tricky Cases

What happens when a word appears to have an object, and therefore looks like a preposition, but is actually functioning as an adverb? Cases like this include phrasal verbs. In these cases, the adverb is defining or describing the verb, not the object.

Examples:

• He looked up her number. (up = adverb)
• The class president called off the meeting. (off = adverb)
• You should check the schedule out. (out = adverb)

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, a good test for determining whether the term before an object is an adverb is to detach the term + object and see if it makes sense. They give the example “I looked up his biography”. Detaching “up his biography” doesn’t make sense, and therefore “up” is an adverb in this case.

However, what about other verb expressions like “push down” (that our customer asked about)? You can say “push down the switch” or “push the switch down”. Is “down” defining the verb “push”, or is it part of the prepositional phrase “down the switch”? Does Chicago’s test help us here? Is “down the stairs” in the sentence “He ran down the stairs”, which is clearly a preposition, similar to “down the switch” in the sentence “He pushed down the switch”, and therefore also a preposition?

We can turn to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for help with these expressions. Under the adverb entry for “down”, they give the following examples:

• They set the cake down on the table.
• Lay down your book for a minute.

Clearly, Merriam-Webster’s classifies the terms in these types of verb expressions as adverbs, not prepositions. I must admit, I’m still a bit puzzled by cases like this. Can we say that the rule is that if you’re able to move the object, it is always an adverb (as in turn on the light / turn the light on)? Do you agree that the last two bullet examples are adverbs, not prepositions? I’ll accept it, but I’m not 100% convinced. I don’t see a whole lot of difference between go down the stairs (preposition) and lay down your book (adverb).

Should we teach this to our students?

In my experience, most textbooks don’t get into the difference in parts of speech for words like down, on, off, etc. The many textbooks that I’ve seen during my teaching career simply called these terms prepositions. I believe that, in general, students are capable of learning and understanding the sentence positions and meanings while grouping these words under the “preposition” umbrella. My feeling is that this could be a discussion you could have with higher-level students, but for lower-level students, it would only create unnecessary chaos and confusion. What do you think?

I hope everyone is down with this info!

Tanya

Sources:

• The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, section 5.180.
• Collins Cobuild English Grammar, section 6.82–6.87.
• Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, entries such as “down”.

The First Coca Cola

The First Coca Cola Was Sold on May 8th, 1886. Do your students enjoy learning about interesting history? Coca Cola is an interesting topic for your business English class. This week’s mini-podcast for English learners is an audio preview of ESL-Library’s Famous Things lesson plan on Coke. The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous Things English Lesson Plans.

Browse through our podcast archive here. This is our 163rd episode. 

Your students can subscribe via our blog or through iTunes. Introduce your students to ESL podcasts on iTunes today!

English doesn’t just have verb tenses, it also has voices and moods. One of the moods that students struggle with most is the subjunctive. The subjunctive is used only in specific cases that students aren’t often exposed to until they reach a high-intermediate or advanced level. But presenting the subjunctive earlier on isn’t a bad idea—when it’s laid out in certain patterns (see below), it becomes easier to understand and remember. Also, this form is often included in certain tests such as the TOEIC, and students of all levels take these tests. Most students wish the subjunctive were easier to learn—make their wish a reality!

The Subjunctive

In English, the subjunctive is a grammatical mood that is used to express an unreal situation such as a wish, possibility, or action that may or may not happen. The most common occurrences of the subjunctive that students are likely to encounter include sentences reporting suggestions, the second conditional, and sentences with “wish”.

1. Reporting Suggestions

A. The subjunctive form is used for reporting suggestions. Certain verbs (that I like to call verbs of suggestion to help students easily pick them out) in the independent (main) clause will result in the base form of the verb in the dependent “that” clause. Point out this pattern to students:

Verb of suggestion + that + base verb

Some of the more common verbs of suggestion that follow this pattern include: advise, ask, demand, insist, prefer, propose, recommend, request, suggest, and urge.

• His boss demanded that he work overtime.
• Her teacher suggested that she study for three hours last night.
• I prefer that he speak to me directly.

B. The subjunctive form is also used for giving strong suggestions or commands. Certain adjectives (that I call adjectives of importance to help students remember) in the independent clause will result in the base form of the verb in the dependent “that” clause. Point out this pattern to students:

Adjective of importance + that + base verb

Some common adjectives that follow this pattern include: important, necessary, imperative, essential, vital, and urgent.

• It was important that he call me yesterday.
• It is essential that the operator of this machine remain calm during an emergency.
• I think it is necessary that your dog be kept on a leash while in this area.

Note 1: Make sure you don’t give students example sentences where they won’t notice the base verb. If you use the simple present tense and a subject other than the third-person singular, students may think it’s a simple present verb in the dependent clause instead of a base verb. For instance, in the sentence They suggest that we look over the document, “look” could be mistaken for a simple present verb instead of a base verb.

Note 2: The subjunctive often occurs in clauses that begin with “that”. Point out to students that seeing “that” is a good indication that the subjunctive may be required (particularly on a test such as the TOEIC). However, “that” can be dropped in English, so it isn’t always a surefire way to spot the subjunctive. (E.g., I suggested that he study for at least two hours. / I suggested he study for at least two hours.) It’s more important to notice the verb or adjective in the main clause. Is the meaning of the verb “suggestion”? Is the meaning of the adjective “importance”? If so, the subjunctive should be used.

2. The Second Conditional

The second conditional, also known as the unreal conditional, follows this pattern:

If + past, would + base verb

It is used to show an unlikely or impossible outcome that probably wouldn’t happen. The subjunctive mood becomes apparent when we use the be verb. This verb always takes the form of were, no matter what the subject is. It’s a holdover from long ago when we used certain forms to express mood far more often than we do nowadays. It’s important to point out this was/were case to your students because they won’t be expecting it! Give them a few examples (make sure the subject would normally take “was”). You could also print out the lyrics to “If I Were a Boy” by Beyonce and play it in class as a fun way to see the subjunctive in use.

• If I were rich, I’d travel around the world.
• If he weren’t so lazy, he would get good grades.

For more tips on the conditional forms, check out my blog post: An Easy Way to Teach Conditionals. For an example of this form in use, look at the quote in the Grammar Review section of our Mini Debates lesson The Right to Die.

3. Wish

Another case where the subjunctive is used in English is with the verb wish. When wish is used in the independent clause, the be verb always takes the form were in the dependent clause when there is a present or future meaning. This confuses students for two reasons: 1) Why do we use a past verb when our meaning is present or future? 2) Why don’t we use was for the first and third persons singular? Again, we use were to indicate a hypothetical or unreal situation. It’s good to get them to memorize the pattern wish + were.

• I wish I were able to go to Vegas with you next month, but there’s no way I can get the time off work.
• She wishes that she were taller.

Note about wish and hope:

Wish indicates an impossible or unlikely situation (much like the second conditional); use were, a past verb, a past perfect verb, or would + verb.

• I wish you would stop growing so fast.

Hope indicates a possible situation (much like the first conditional); use will + verb.

• I hope you will feel better soon.

If I were filthy rich, I’d still blog about grammar!

Tanya

Sources:

• Collins Cobuild English Grammar, section 7.40.
• My own brain after 10 years of teaching TOEIC.

What voids do video games fill?

Are you or your students addicted to video games? What do game designers do to make sure that gamers become addicted? Our Discussion Starters lesson plan on gaming addiction will get your students talking!  The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. We hope this lesson inspires an interesting discussion about addictions and compulsive behavior. If your students enjoy talking about controversial subjects, check out 70+ topics you may not see in ESL textbooks.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Discussion Starters English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Surveillance.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 162nd episode.

Check out previous podcasts here.

“Just please, members of Parliament, get going on discussing making the end of people’s lives a lot easier than mine has been.” ~Susan Griffiths

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Vocabulary and expressions from the video and article

Here are some collocations, expressions, and words that you may want to pre-teach before you show the video (also embedded below) and read the article and transcript:

• robbing someone of something
• settle in
• temper the taste
• for heaven’s sake
• of sound mind
• for ages and ages
• pester
• uproot

A Lesson Plan on the Right To Die

If your students are interested in this topic, you can also find a new Right To Die lesson plan in the ESL-Library. This Mini Debates lesson plan on the Right To Die features the story of Susan Griffiths and others who have traveled to Switzerland to die.  Our Mini-Debates include a warm up, vocabulary review exercises, a reading, as well as discussion and debate questions. We also have a Famous People lesson plan on Dr. Kevorkian.

Check out our list of 70+ topics you may not find in textbooks.

Australia’s Gun Reform Vs. US Failed Gun Control Reform

The US Senate was unable to pass basic gun control measures this month. In response to the failed legislation, John Oliver from Jon Stewart’s comedy show The Daily Show interviewed American gun lobbyist Philip Van Cleave. The gun lobbyist opposes everything related to gun control, including background checks and a ban on assault weapons. To show the other side of the debate, Oliver interviewed former Australian prime minister John Howard. Howard introduced strict gun control reform in Australia 17 years ago, and there hasn’t been a single mass shooting in the country since. We hope this video (Part 1) will inspire your students to talk about their feelings on gun control.

“You can’t argue with Philip. Even his logic is bulletproof.” ~John Oliver

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Vocabulary and expressions from the video

Here are some collocations and expressions that you may want to pre-teach before you show the video:

• mandatory waiting period
• hypothetically speaking
• a statistical anomaly
• whoop-dee-doo (So what? Who cares? Big deal.)
• couldn’t agree more

Sarcasm

You can use this video to talk about sarcasm and some of the ways we can identify when speakers are using it. Explain that sarcasm usually involves saying the opposite of what you really mean or believe. Why do people use sarcasm, and what are the results? (e.g. make fun of someone’s intelligence, knowledge or behaviour; make fun of yourself; state that something is obvious or not surprising) Remind students that sarcasm can hurt people’s feelings and talk about when it should NOT be used. Pause the video, or ask your students to raise their hands when they think John Oliver is being sarcastic. How does his intonation change? What about his facial expressions? For example:

• “Obviously gun control doesn’t work.”
• “So, unless we can get rid of drugs, there’s no point in having drug laws at all.”

Note: This video contains Part 1 of Oliver’s special. Here is Part 2.

A Lesson Plan on Gun Control

Check out ESL-Library’s newly updated Mini Debates lesson plan on Gun Control.  This ready-made lesson plan is for high-intermediate to advanced learners. It discusses how Australia was able to eliminate gun massacres with its gun reform. It includes a warm up, vocabulary review exercises, a reading, and discussion and debate questions.

Note: This video contains Part 1 of Oliver’s special. Here is Part 2.

As we were working on the Gerald Ford lesson this week at ESL-Library (coming in May), the topic of intensive pronouns came up because of this sentence: “President Nixon himself resigned a year later due to his involvement in an illegal cover-up related to his re-election campaign.” This got us talking about reflexive pronouns that are specifically used for emphasis, which are known as intensive pronouns. But what are the differences in usage and sentence position between reflexive pronouns in general and intensive pronouns? Here is the breakdown for teaching these pronouns to your students:

Reflexive Pronouns

Usage: Reflexive pronouns reflect the subject of the verb. Use these pronouns when the subject and object of the verb are the same person.

Sentence Position: Reflexive pronouns are most often found in the object position. They can also appear in an indirect object position, meaning they can follow a preposition.

Examples:

• We asked ourselves if the new system would actually work.
• I really hurt myself this morning when I fell down the stairs.
• She looked at herself in the mirror for hours.
• They think of themselves as upstanding members of the community.

Intensive Pronouns

Usage: Intensive pronouns are reflexive pronouns that are used to emphasize the subject or object noun.

Sentence Position: Intensive pronouns are usually appositive, meaning they follow the subject directly. They can also follow an object.

Examples:

• President Nixon himself resigned a year later due to his involvement in an illegal cover-up related to his re-election campaign.
• Even though everyone expected her to know it already, she herself was surprised by the news.
• I am not a very punctual person myself.
• You don’t need help. You can do it yourself.

Summary

Reflexive pronouns are the object or indirect object of the main verb, and therefore will follow the verb. Intensive pronouns will never appear in an object position; they will follow a noun (appositive).

Compare the following sentences to make the distinction crystal clear:

• I cut myself. (Reflexive; myself is the object of the verb cut; I did this action to myself.)
• I cut her hair myself. (Intensive; my hair is the object of the verb cut; myself emphasizes the subject I because it’s surprising that I cut her hair since I’m not a hairdresser.)

Note: A preposition isn’t enough to determine whether a pronoun is reflexive or intensive. The important thing is to look for the object. Remember, if there is another object, the pronoun is probably intensive.

• Why were you staring at yourself in the mirror? (Reflexive; at yourself is the indirect object of the verb were staring.)
• You can do it by yourself (Intensive; it is the object of the verb do.)

I myself hope that you’ve enjoyed this post!

Tanya

Sources:

• Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, section 5.49.
• Collins Cobuild English Grammar, section 1.121.

Did Shakespeare die on the same day he was born?

The exact day of Shakespeare’s birth is not known for sure. The Bard’s birthday is  typically cited as April 23rd (1564), the same day as his death (1616).  In his birthplace, people have been celebrating the Bard during this week of April for over 200 years! Today’s podcast is all about Shakespeare, the most famous writer of all time. This reading is from our Famous People lesson section.  The full lesson plan comes with warm-up questions, vocabulary review tasks, a reading, as well as comprehension and discussion questions.  Share this free podcast with your language learners as a preview to the lesson plan or for extra listening practice.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous People English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Gaming Addiction.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 161st episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s podcast for Earth Day.

As a teacher, I saw students often confuse the terms everyday and every day, mostly because they were unaware of the grammar involved. And as an editor, I see this mistake in native speakers’ writing all too frequently. It’s not only a matter of spelling; the spelling reflects the grammar rules that must be adhered to. But fear not! The grammar rules are easy to remember, and if you read through this post, you and your students will most likely never make this mistake again.

Rule:

If you’re unsure which form to use, look for the noun. Is there a noun that follows? If so, use everyday. If not, use every day.

Everyday

Everyday, spelled as one word, is an adjective that must come before a noun (see the note below concerning this adjective following the be verb).

• Our band has an everyday practice session.
• The everyday uses of this new technology are numerous.
• These are just my everyday clothes. I’ll dress up tonight.

Every day

Every day, spelled as two words, is a time expression that is best defined as an adverbial expression. It takes the same sentence position as many adverbs and adverb clauses do, namely at the beginning or end of the sentence or clause. It is technically an adjective and a noun (but note that some grammar books, unlike most dictionaries, classify every as an article or quantifier), though together these terms take on an adverb function.

• Our band practises every day. (Note: the American spelling of the verb is practices.)
• Every day before school, I review my notes from the previous lesson.
• He calls his girlfriend every day to show her that he cares.

Note: In English, most adjectives can either come before a noun or follow the verb to be (e.g., She is intelligent. The painting was beautiful.) However, the adjective everyday will not occur in this position (e.g., The practice session is everyday at 6:00 pm. = incorrect). When we use the be verb in this case, the meaning is about the time or frequency, so we should write the time expression every day (e.g., The practice session is every day at 6:00 pm. = correct). It’s a good idea to point this out to students so that they won’t make the understandable mistake of using the adjective form after the be verb for this case.

You can see examples of these terms in use right in the titles of these ESL-Library’s sections: Everyday Idioms, Everyday Dialogues, and Every Day Is a Holiday.

I really should (and will!) write a blog post dedicated to the different time expressions in English: adverbs of frequency (e.g., always, sometimes), adverb clauses (e.g., when + SVO), and adjective + noun (e.g., every day, once a week). Coming soon!

Wishing you happiness every day,

Tanya

How did the first Earth Day organize itself?

Will you be talking about Earth Day with your advanced English learners? This week’s podcast is an audio preview of our high level ESL lesson plan on Earth Day. The full lesson plan includes a two-page reading, vocabulary review exercises, comprehension questions, writing practice, and related idiom practice. This MP3 is available for any teacher or student to use. The full transcript of this podcast is available with our Earth Day lesson plan (for subscribers). Not a subscriber? Join here!

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Holiday English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Gaming Addiction.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 160th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here.

The Anne Frank House Guest Book

Over the weekend, Justin Bieber visited The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Before he left, he took a moment to leave a note in the guest book. This is what he wrote:

“… Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.” ~Justin Bieber

Note: Bieber’s message was shared on the official Anne Frank House Facebook page. Justin Bieber calls his fans “beliebers”.

While the Anne Frank House was happy to have Justin Bieber visit, many people were insulted by Bieber’s comment. They accused him of being insensitive and self-obsessed. Do your students think Bieber’s comment was inappropriate? Have a discussion in class, or assign this topic as a writing prompt.

Vocabulary and expressions

Here are some words that you may want to teach as you have this conversation:

• self-centred
• full of oneself
• offensive
• inappropriate
• innocent
• overreact

If you’re looking for more information on this story about Justin Bieber at the Anne Frank House, check out this article on CNN. If your students like Justin Bieber, you may also be interested in this post and the related lesson plan about Justin Bieber wanting tougher Paparazzi laws.

A Lesson Plan on Anne Frank

Check out ESL-Library’s Mini Biography lesson plan on Anne Frank. This lesson plan is for low-level learners. We also have a podcast of our Anne Frank lesson that you can share with your students. Please note, we will be adding a lesson plan about the Holocaust to our library this summer. Thank you for the requests.

The Titanic sank 101 years ago! Will you be talking about this historic event in class this week? We hope you’ll try our ready-made Famous Things lesson plan. The lesson plan comes with a reading, vocabulary review activities, a dialogue activity, and an optional class project. You can also share our FREE Titanic podcast with your students. They can listen to the reading in class or for homework. Alternatively, you could try our related Discussion Starters lesson plan: Is there anything good about cruise ships?

Check out our full collection of Famous Things English Lesson Plans.

I love getting into the nitty-gritty aspects of the English language. At ESL-Library, we have a lesson coming out in May about Gaming Addiction, and we started wondering about the “addict” word family. Are both addictive and addicting adjectives? Which is the better choice? I dug into my reference books to see what I could come up with, but came up a little flat. There was no mention of usage for these two words in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, The Chicago Manual of Style, The Copyeditor’s Handbook, or Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors. Also, both Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English only have an entry for addictive and don’t mention addicting as a possible adjective form. Luckily, I did find a few entries online, namely from Grammar Girl and Grammarist. So what did I conclude and, more importantly, what should you teach your students?

Addictive

This is the “correct” form, and you can never go wrong using addictive in an adjective position. According to Merriam-Webster, addictive is defined as “causing or characterized by addiction”. Here are a few examples:

• Most addictive substances, such as drugs and alcohol, are not good for your health.
• The Walking Dead is really addictive; I’ve been recommending it to all my friends.

Addicting

Who is guilty of using addicting as an adjective? I’m pretty sure I’ve used it and have heard it being used a time or two. Because of the lack of an entry for addicting, my reference books seem to suggest that addicting should not be used as an adjective. But the online sources mentioned above said that addicting is becoming more commonplace; however, they both warn that it’s a contentious issue among grammarians and that you’re better off sticking with addictive.

Conclusion for teachers:

My advice is to teach your students that addictive is the correct adjective form. For more advanced students, you could get a discussion going about how language changes over time, and give addicting as an example. It might be a fun project to get your students to go online or read through newspapers or magazines and see if they can find the words addictive and addicting in use.

Hope you enjoyed this post, my fellow grammar addicts!

Tanya

Happy Golfer’s Day!

April 10th is Golfer’s Day! Do your students have a favourite golfer, such as Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson? The Masters will be on this weekend, and the best of the best will be battling to win the green jacket. This week’s mini-podcast for English learners is an audio preview of ESL-Library’s Famous Things lesson plan on Golf. The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous Things English Lesson Plans.

Did you Know? We have a page full of Sports-themed resources for English language teachers on our blog. This index includes ready-made lesson plans, flashcards, and podcasts all about sports.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s podcast about Jesse James. Coming soon to our podcast…Gaming Addiction.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 159th episode.

Fortunately, IATEFL always does a fantastic job of keeping non-attendees in the loop. The online coverage gets better every year, featuring live interviews as well as recorded plenaries and sessions on a wide variety of ELT topics. I was so wrapped up in the recording of @CeciElT‘s session on Oral Correction yesterday that I almost forgot I was not in the room with my #ELTChat pals. There are also a number of registered bloggers writing summaries of the sessions. Thank you, IATEFL Online team!

Here are a few #ELT pals who deserve an extra special thank you!

Chia Suan Chong has been writing excellent summaries of many of the sessions and plenaries. Thanks, Chia!

David Read started a Google + Group and has been providing interesting updates in his video diary. (While you’re there, add +ESL-Library to your circles.) Thanks, David!

@carlaarena has been microblogging the conference tweet by tweet. Thanks, Carla!

Andi White has been interviewing many of the #ELT speakers. Thanks, Andi!

IATEFL Discount Code

The ESL-Library team had a fantastic experience at the TESOL convention in Dallas last month, and we hope to make it across the pond to IATEFL in the near future. Though we aren’t physically in the exhibition hall, we’re offering a special deal to English language teachers who are using this week for professional development. Whether you’re in Liverpool or enjoying IATEFL online, use the promo code iatefl50 to sign up for 50% off a one-year subscription to ESL-Library. This promotion will run until Friday, April 12th. Thanks again!

Check out our full collection of Famous People English Lesson Plans.

Do you have any entries on the website, or any suggestions, about having the students use journals to practice their writing and become more at ease in English?

This is a topic that is close to my heart. When I worked in a traditional classroom teaching English, I always encouraged my English learners to keep journals. Some of my most enthusiastic language learners kept journals and saw great results because of it. When they looked back at what they wrote months earlier, they were shocked at their own progress. Now that I teach English online, journaling is how I communicate with English learners from all over the world. I highly recommend journaling with your English learners. When I say “with” I mean  teachers should be journaling too!

Don’t Call It A Diary

The word “diary” may seem too personal and turn your students off. Call it something else like a “writer’s notebook,” and explain to your students that journaling is simply an informal type of writing practice that can be used in many different disciplines including science, art, and yes, language learning. Informal writing helps build a writing voice, and gives students a safe place to experiment with the language. Your students should not be expected to write about their personal lives unless they want to. On the other hand, if your students are learning English abroad, a “diary type” notebook may be exactly what they need. Like the pictures they snap, the thoughts they record in their “travel notebooks” will likely end up being their most lasting memories.

Provide Optional Journal Topics

Some students will have no idea what to write in their journals. Other students will never have trouble thinking of something to write about. This is probably true in their own native language as well. Give students optional topics to journal about, but don’t expect them to use these topics if they don’t want to.  Asking a question is one of the easiest ways to create a journal topic. Why not have your students take turns creating journal topics/questions? You can also use topics from the news. Be sure to take note of the topics your students write about. Are they interested in sports, music, or reality TV? Incorporate these interests in your lesson plans and worksheets to keep them engaged. Here are a few online sources where you can find writing prompts:

1. writingprompts.tumblr.com
2. creativewritingprompts.com
3. www.theteacherscorner.net/daily-writing-prompts

Be Clear About How You Will Provide Feedback

When your English learners start journaling, they will probably expect you to correct every word. Before you start journaling with your students, explain that you will NOT be “marking” the journals. You don’t mark “home reading” (or silent reading) and you won’t mark “home writing” (or free writing practice). What you can do is offer to read your students’ journals once a week (or even every other week). Don’t  be tempted to make detailed corrections. Circle one or two places where your students could attempt to make their own corrections. If you don’t have time to read every word, don’t feel guilty. The most important thing is that you are encouraging your learners to practice using the language. When I worked in a traditional classroom setting I had an editing key that I used with my students. I handed it out on the first day of class.  (They can use it for peer editing when working on other classroom work.) Your editing key should have symbols or abbreviations for  common writing errors. Here is an example:

Students may not be motivated to keep a journal unless there is some sort of mark attached to it. You can assign a small percentage mark for completion to give students incentive to practice regularly. Alternatively, you could offer some sort of reward.

Look for Common Errors

Journals are extremely useful for finding common errors in your students’ writing. They can help you choose grammar and usage points to review in class. If you notice an error that a specific student is making over and over, be sure to point it out in the journal. Consider enclosing an extra worksheet for your student to practice.

Schedule Journal Writing

Decide how often you want your students to write, and how often you plan on collecting the journals. If you have time in your schedule for five to ten minutes a day of in-class free-writing, nobody will have an excuse not to keep a journal, including you! Don’t be tempted to spend the time marking or planning your next lesson. Keep a journal yourself, and show your students that language learning is a lifelong journey, even for teachers. If necessary, assign a minimum number of sentences. (To prevent all students from writing the minimum,  do this privately with certain students who need the extra push.)

Consider Online Journals/Blogging

Have you ever thought about blogging with your English learners? Even kids as young as kindergarten are blogging these days. The teacher can have a blog that acts as “the hub”. Post your weekly writing prompt or challenge on your blog, and have your students respond on their own blogs.  I encourage you to provide a “model” by responding to your own prompt or question on the hub (teacher) blog. When your students write their own response, they can share the link to their blog post in the comments of your blog. I’ve been doing with with English learners from all over the world for years in the form of a monthly “Writing Challenge”. With an online journal, students can share images, links, and videos that go with their writing. Some of my students take blogging one step further, by adding recordings of their voices. We call it Voice Blogging.

Platforms for blogging with English learners:

kidblog
MyEC
WordPress
Tumblr

Try Different Types of Journals

Dialogue Journal – Write back and forth with your student, or assign your students dialogue partners.
Dream Journal – Have students record their dreams.
Goal or Progress Journal – Have students write down a weekly goal at the beginning of the week. At the end of the week they can comment on their achievements.
Gratitude Journal – Students write down things they are thankful for. Beginners can write journals in list form.
Fictional Journal – Have students take on the persona of a famous person or a fictional person. This can be useful for students who don’t want to write about themselves.
Reading Journal – Have students write about what they are reading.
Vocabulary Journal - Students choose one new word per day and try to use it as many times as they can in a journal entry.
Photo Journal – Students choose a photo and write about it. Useful for online blogs. (Try Fotobabble)

The Benefits of Journaling: Summary

Journaling helps language learners:
✓experiment with and review the language
✓build a writing voice
✓gain confidence
✓express frustrations and struggles
✓relieve stress
✓communicate with the teacher
✓create lasting memories of their language journey
✓monitor their own progress

Journaling helps teachers:
✓discover student interests
✓isolate common errors
✓build relationships with students
✓develop their own writing voices
✓reflect on teaching practices

I hope you find joy in journaling with your English learners. If you have any suggestions, examples, or questions, we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share links to your students’ online journals in the comments below.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
~Ernest Hemingway

ESL-Library recently received a request from one of our subscribers to explain what the concepts macro and micro lesson planning meant. To be honest, it was the first time I’d come across these terms. After a bit of research, I realized both methods of lesson planning were indeed familiar to me because I’d put them into practice many times during my teaching career. Let’s look at macro and micro lesson planning in more detail.

1. Macro lesson planning

The term macro comes from Greek makros meaning “long, large”. For teachers, macro lesson planning means coming up with the curriculum for the semester/month/year/etc. Not all teachers feel they are responsible for this as many schools have set curriculums and/or textbooks determined by the academic coordinator. However, even in these cases, teachers may be called upon to devise a curriculum for a new class, modify an older curriculum, or map out themes to match the target lessons within the curriculum.

At my old school, for instance, I had the chance to develop the curriculum for a TOEIC Intermediate and a TOEFL Advanced class when they were first introduced at our school. I’ve also modified older curricula (or curriculums, if you prefer–both are acceptable) for various levels because of students’ changing needs. And finally, my old school kindly granted the teachers one day a month of paid prep time/new student intake, where we’d decide on the themes that we’d be using for our class to ensure there wasn’t too much overlap with other classes. We did have a set curriculum in terms of grammar points, but themes and supplementary materials were up to us. Doing a bit of planning before the semester started ensured that we stayed organized and kept the students’ interest throughout the semester.

Another benefit of macro lesson planning is that teachers can share the overall goals of the course with their students on the first day, and they can reiterate those goals as the semester progresses. Students often lose sight of the big picture and get discouraged with their English level, and having clear goals that they see themselves reaching helps prevent this.

2. Micro lesson planning

The term micro comes from the Greek mikros meaning “small, little”. In the ELT industry, micro lesson planning refers to planning one specific lesson based on one target (e.g., the simple past). It involves choosing a topic or grammar point and building a full lesson to complement it. A typical lesson plan involves a warm-up activity, which introduces the topic or elicits the grammar naturally, followed by an explanation/lesson of the point to be covered. Next, teachers devise a few activities that allow students to practice the target point, preferably through a mix of skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing). Finally, teachers should plan a brief wrap-up activity that brings the lesson to a close. This could be as simple as planning to ask students to share their answers from the final activity as a class.

Some benefits of micro lesson planning include classes that runs smoothly and students who don’t get bored. Lesson planning ensures that you’ll be prepared for every class and that you’ll have a variety of activities on hand for whatever situation may arise (well, the majority of situations…I’m sure we’ve all had those classes where an activity we thought would rock ends up as an epic fail).

For more information on micro lesson planning, check out How to Make a Lesson Plan, a blog post I wrote last year, where I emphasized the importance of planning fun, interesting fillers so that students stay engaged. I also provided links in that post to many examples of activities you can use for warm-ups, main activities, fillers, homework, etc. There is also a good template for a typical lesson plan at .docstoc.

Can anyone think of other benefits of macro or micro lesson planning? Does anyone have a different definition of these terms? Let us know below.

Happy planning!

Tanya

Jesse James Died on April 3, 1882

Today’s podcast is all about the infamous Jesse James. This reading is from our Famous People lesson section.  The full lesson plan comes with warm-up questions, vocabulary review tasks, a reading, as well as comprehension and discussion questions.  Share this free podcast with your language learners as a preview to the lesson plan or for extra listening practice. How does Jesse James compare to today’s criminals?

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous People English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Gaming Addiction.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 158th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s grammar stories featuring the simple past and past progressive tense.

If you want to try something different, check out our warm-up activity, “You’re Pulling My Leg”. You may also want to check out Tanya’s grammar tips about the proper punctuation and capitalization of April Fools’ Day. And Shelly Terrell has some wonderful tips and ideas in her popular blog post: Let’s Laugh! 10 + Resources and Activities for Inspiring Laughter in your Class

I found my job on Dave’s ESL Café, a website that posts teaching jobs in countries all over the world. The position was teaching all ages at a language school, and it required a TEFL certificate, a college degree in any subject, and some previous experience teaching abroad. The salary was about 1,200 USD per month, and though accommodations were not included in the contract, the employer would help me find an apartment.  I sent my resume, was asked to set up a Skype interview with the school director, and before I knew it, I had the job.

Arriving in Morocco was surreal, especially after travelling for 20 hours from the States. As the director drove me home from the airport, I remember looking out the car window and asking him about the people exercising in the grass on the side of the road. I was pretty embarrassed when he explained with a smile that they weren’t exercising, but kneeling in prayer, as they did five times a day.  I definitely had a lot to learn.

Even with the giant learning curve I faced adjusting to life in Morocco, it was an amazing place and actually a lot like you probably picture it. I drank mint tea in sidewalk cafes, shopped for spices in the winding chaos of the souks, and ate couscous on Fridays with my students.  I quickly got used to hearing the city-wide call to prayer five times a day, stopping people in their tracks to drop and pray (not exercise!) or sending them streaming silently into the many mosques. Though I felt like an outsider with my light hair and “strange” American ways, I found the culture unlike anything I had experienced before, and fascinating to observe.

I will never forget my year-long adventure teaching English in Morocco.  Though it was not the three-year fiesta that Costa Rica was, I learned a lot living there, and I would encourage anyone looking to leave their comfort zone and get a taste of something totally different, to go ahead and make the leap. With any luck, you will never be the same.

April 1st is fast approaching, and that means it’s time to watch out for pranksters in many countries. Though the origin of April Fools’ Day isn’t entirely known, ESL-Library’s April Fools’ Day lesson covers many of the possibilities with a reading, vocab, and fun activities. But whether you do an entire lesson with your class, discuss it momentarily, or just need to answer students’ questions, it’s a good idea to brush up on the correct capitalization and punctuation rules about this day of jokes and hoaxes.

1. April Fools’ Day

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), the correct spelling of this holiday includes using the plural form “Fools” and capitalizing each word. This dictionary has the apostrophe after the “s” to show the possessive form of the plural noun. If you are teaching students in the US, this is the form you should use.

Interestingly, the Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English spells it “April Fool’s Day”. This dictionary uses the singular form of the noun and thus puts the apostrophe before the “s”. So if you are teaching students in Canada, you should use “April Fool’s Day”. I would assume that the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and other English-speaking countries also use “April Fool’s Day”. If you can confirm this, please leave a comment below!

2. April fool

What do you shout out after you’ve pulled a prank on someone? The correct answer, according to Merriam-Webster’s, is “April fool!” (The Oxford Canadian dictionary didn’t have an entry for this case.) This was a surprise to me, because I grew up shouting “April fool’s!” and always assumed it was just the shortened version of the holiday name. Now I know that the correct version is “April fool”, and that’s what I suggest teaching your students.

Note that “fool” is not capitalized–it is just a common noun in this case.

If you are teaching students about this holiday in more detail, note that the alternative name for this holiday is “All Fools’ Day”. Also, people sometimes shout out “April fish” in certain countries (“poisson d’Avril” in French).

Don’t be fooled by all these rules,
Tanya

What do people do to celebrate Easter?

Do you want to introduce the holiday of Easter to your beginner English learners? This week’s podcast is an audio preview of our NEW beginner level ESL lesson plan on Easter. The full lesson plan includes vocabulary review exercises, comprehension questions, writing practice, and a fun mad lib activity. We also have a low and high-intermediate lesson plan on Easter. This MP3 is available for any teacher or student to use. The lesson plan is available for subscribers. Not a subscriber? Join here!

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Holiday English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Elderly Drivers.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 157th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here.

“You had me at ready-made lesson plans.” ~New ESL-Library subscriber

ESL-Library Attends the TESOL Convention in Dallas

We received hugs at the ESL-Library booth at the TESOL convention in Dallas this week. Vee Govan (left) even subscribed to our site before I could show it to her. What does this tell me? Teachers are overworked! And yet, they still take time out of their hectic schedules for professional development. I always come home from teacher conferences feeling inspired and excited to get back to work. TESOL 13 was a fantastic experience, and ESL-Library will be a better resource site for teachers because of it.

Our Goal at TESOL

Our goal this year was to discover new trends in ELT publishing and introduce ESL-Library to busy teachers and administrators. Having three members of the team (from Winnipeg, Toronto, and Vancouver) at the convention instead of two allowed us to attend more sessions, have longer chats with teachers, and even take coffee breaks from time to time. Tanya and I taught English together in Vancouver over ten years ago, and it is a pleasure to be working with her again.

[Photo: Ben Buckwold (president and founder), Tara Benwell (head writer and social media marketer), Tanya Trusler (editor and blogger)]

Highlights from TESOL 13

We attended great sessions on grammar, pronunciation, authentic materials, vocabulary, and publishing. We also chatted with fascinating people who have great ideas about modernizing the ELT industry and making language learning more engaging. Here were some of the most memorable people, places, and things we stumbled upon during our trip to Dallas.

The Incredible Slapping Head Lady - On the plane from Toronto to Dallas, the man sitting beside told me his whole life story. (You can learn a lot about raising chameleons in 3 hours.) I was so busy practising my listening skills that I didn’t notice David Deubelbeiss sitting right behind me. I caught up with David during a shuttle ride from the Dallas airport. As we drove to the convention center we both noticed a female driver (in the fast lane) who was slapping her head repeatedly with one hand while she used the other to hold her cell phone. She went on like this for several minutes, and it wasn’t until our shuttle driver passed her that we all realized she was driving with her knees!  When you’re at a teaching conference every experience and observation inspires a classroom activity. Why is the crazy lady slapping her head? We all made our predictions, and David taught our taxi driver some new vocabulary (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

Language Cloud – This learner management system just might take over the ELT world. The platform is still in progress, but we think it’s worth waiting for! Co-founders John and Billy put together an excellent demo for TESOL, and we wish them the best of luck. (Read about the magic behind Language Cloud in the Japan Times.)

David Harrington’s textbooks – We know what it’s like to be a small publisher in ELT, and we always love catching up with David at the conferences. This year he had some really fun titles to show us.

Nick Robinson’s “Balancing Act” session for materials writers – So it wasn’t Nick’s session per se, but as “the only ELT agent in the world,” he was a key player on the panel and had some excellent advice for materials writers and publishers. We wish Nick the best of luck with his launch of “Small Epic” at IATEFL next week. If you have ever thought about publishing your own materials, be sure to keep @nmkrobinson on your radar.

Cosmic Café – We discovered this great vegetarian restaurant. It had excellent food, service, and atmosphere.

Uptown Dallas – If you’ve ever been to downtown Dallas, you might wonder where all the people are! Thank goodness for chatty cab drivers who helped us find our way around. Uptown Dallas is the place to go if you’re looking for life after 10pm.

What our subscribers told us about ESL-Library

One of my favourite things to do at the TESOL convention is chat with current subscribers. I take notes madly after they tell me what they love, what they need, and what we can do to improve their user experience. Here are a few things they told us about ESL-Library this year.

• It’s easy to navigate.
• They use it to supplement their core textbooks.
• Their teenagers love the content.
• They love the layout of the lesson plans.
• They no longer have to make their own lesson plans.
• They appreciate how integrated the site is.
• They set their accounts to auto renewal.
• They appreciate our customer service.
• They want more academic English materials.
• They want the ability to customize our materials.
• They hope we add more materials for pre and post-assessment.

Thank you!

I’m going to use this space to say a quick thank you to all of the new subscribers (like Nance from Kuwait, left) who signed up excitedly at our booth. Your enthusiasm made us feel like we are on the right track. Thank you to our long-term subscribers who took the time to stop by to offer us praise and feedback. Thank you also to TESOL for the iPhone app that made it so easy to keep track of the sessions we wanted to attend! And finally, thank you to Ben for the great trip, and for giving us the opportunity to learn and grow.

See you in Portland at TESOL 14!

Who invented the first skateboard?

No single inventor is credited with building the first skateboard. Skateboarding evolved out of surfing. Californian surfers made homemade skateboards and enjoyed the sport as a hobby. This week’s mini-podcast for English learners is an audio preview of our NEW Famous Things lesson plan on Skateboarding. The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. The lesson reviews the rules of adjective order, a grammar topic that our editor Tanya recently covered. Please review Tanya’s grammar guide about adjective order and punctuation, and try this lesson plan with your language learners.

Did you Know? We covered this topic as a special request from one of our subscribers. If you have a topic that you need a lesson plan for, we would love to hear from you!

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous Things English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…9 Facts About Alcohol.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 156th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s podcast about Debt!

“Laughter is more than just a pleasurable activity…When people laugh together, they tend to talk and touch more and to make eye contact more frequently.”

~Gretchen Rubin

April Fool’s day is around the corner and it’s a great time to get your students laughing while learning. Laughter is healthy and gets us to relieve the stress of language learning. Many of these lessons deal with studying the language in jokes. Jokes are cultural. They play on words, take critical thinking skills to decipher, and enhance the classroom atmosphere. Many will make your students roll their eyes but they will still smile. Try a few of these ideas and let us know how much your students enjoyed them!

Joke Mingle

You can have students bring in jokes for any topic, grammar, or vocabulary you teach. Have them bring in jokes about food, with a phrasal verb, that play on a word, that include a gesture, are their favorites. Remember to have a discussion beforehand to keep it clean!

• Students memorize at least one of the jokes.
• Put students in pairs facing each other.
• Give them 30 seconds to a minute to tell their jokes.
• Blow the whistle. They must tell their jokes to different students.
• Create a checklist for them to carry around and check off every time they hear a joke:
• ✓Was it funny? ✓Did you get it? ✓Have you heard this joke before?

My Favorite Joke

Have students present their favorite jokes to the class then discuss where they first heard the joke, who told them the joke, and why they think the joke is so funny.

Corniest Joke Contest

One of the ways to get your students laughing is to have them tell corny jokes. Have them bring in at least 5 and host a contest for the one that gets the most eye rolls.

Jokes Across Cultures

Have a discussion with your students about various types of jokes.

Brainstorm on a cognitive map the different types of jokes they come up with such as knock, knock jokes, the chicken crossed the road joke, how many (profession) does it take to screw a lightbulb, etc. You can use a tool like Popplet to create a collaborative mindmap. Pair or group them and have them search for an example of each to include in the mindmap.

Poll your students to see if their countries share similar joke styles. My students in Germany had never heard of knock-knock jokes but they had heard of the how many does it take to screw a lightbulb joke.

Have students create a comic that illustrates the meaning behind the jokes they found. Your students do not have to register to create comics at WriteComics, Chogger, and MakeBeliefs.

Research a Joke

With a mindmapping tool like Popplet, students include the origins, history, vocabulary, grammar, of a joke. They present their joke research to the class.

Mobile Joke Telling: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Put students in a circle. Tell them a few of the chicken crossed the road jokes. Then ask them to think of reasons why the chicken crossed the road. Using the audio recording feature of a cell phone, record the first student asking, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Student B gives a clever answer, then repeats, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Student C gives a clever answer and continues the cycle.

Jigsaw Jokes

Cut jokes and their punchlines into strips. Distribute each slip to different students. You can have them grab the paper strips from a bag. The students with the joke search for the student with the matching punchline. Instruct them to read their jokes aloud each time they approach someone. When a pair finds each other have them work together to figure out the meaning. After everyone finds their partners, have them read the joke aloud to the class. Then have a class vote on the funniest joke, the corniest joke, and the most difficult joke to understand (and why).

Some Digital Tools and Ideas

Your student will love having their jokes told by colorful characters using the Voki speaking tool.

• With Babblerize your students can take a picture of an animal, pet, or object to tell their joke. It looks funny because a fake mouth is created.
• Your students can illustrate their jokes with 2 characters at GoAnimate. They can also create reactions to the joke, like the character laughing a lot or saying something like, “Argggghhhh!”
• If you’re using mobile devices, check out apps like Sock Puppets, Puppet Pals, and Toontastic.

A Laughing Diary

• Have students keep a small notebook with them.
• Instruct them to write down the details of every time they laugh.
• After a week have them share the details and have a discussion about what makes us laugh. The class can see if any similar incidences make them laugh.
• Do this with a class from another country and compare to see if upbringing or culture might influence the outcomes.

More Great Websites and Resources

Find more ideas and safe jokes to share with students using these websites:

• My Webinar and presentation: Teaching English with Jokes
• My bookmarks of Joke sites and lesson ideas
• Many Things- Jokes for English Language Learners
• Dumb Jokes That are Funny
• Lesson plan: Chicken Crossing by Lesson Stream
• Lesson plan: The Train Tunnel Joke by Lesson Stream

Let’s talk about conditionals. I find that the usual textbook method of presenting one conditional pattern in isolation means that students will only remember and be able to use that one type. When another pattern is introduced weeks or months later, they often won’t remember the previous pattern well enough to keep them both straight, and confusion is the result. I started laying out all four patterns at once in my TOEIC classes, where students needed to be able to distinguish between all types of conditional sentences in the grammar section of the test. After a lot of positive feedback from students, I started using this method in all my classes whenever one conditional pattern came up in the textbook (or just came up in conversation). I really found that all my students, even the low-intermediate ones, understood conditionals so much better when all four patterns were clearly laid out for them. The following list is exactly how I present conditionals in my classes. Just write the patterns and the examples on the whiteboard, and read out the explanations as you go!

1. IF + PRESENT, PRESENT

• Example: If he takes vitamins every day, he doesn’t get sick. / He doesn’t get sick if he takes vitamins every day.
• Use this conditional to show an outcome that happens if a specific repeated condition is met.
• The verbs in the if clause and in the main clause will both be simple present verbs (remind students that third person singular verbs end in -s).
• Make sure that students realize that the if clause and the main clause order doesn’t matter–the meaning is the same. I like to write out both versions of my example, as I’ve done above, so that this point hits home.

2. IF + PRESENT, WILL + VERB

• Example: If she studies for the test, she will get a good grade. / She will get a good grade if she studies for the test.
• Also called the first conditional or the real conditional.
• Use this conditional to show a likely or possible outcome that will probably happen if a specific condition is met.
• The verb in the if clause is a simple present verb, and the verb in the main clause is will + base form of the verb.
• Make sure to point out that the verb in the if clause will end in -s if the subject is third person singular.

3. IF + PAST, WOULD + VERB

• Example (of an unlikely situation): If he won the lottery, he would quit his job. / He would quit his job if he won the lottery.
• Example (of an impossible situation): If I had wings, I would fly to Antarctica. / I would fly to Antarctica if I had wings.
• Also called the second conditional or the unreal conditional.
• Use this conditional to show an unlikely or impossible outcome that probably wouldn’t happen (unless a specific condition were met).
• The verb in the if clause is a simple past verb, and the verb in the main clause is would + base form of the verb.
• Make sure to point out that this is one case where it’s correct to use a past tense verb for a future situation.
• Note: The verb to be is always were with this conditional, even in the first and third person singular. I usually give an example to ensure that students understand this strange exception: If I were rich, I would buy you a car. / I would buy you a car if I were rich.

4. IF + HAD + P.P., WOULD + HAVE + P.P.

• Example: If I had remembered to call my friend last night, she wouldn’t have sent me an angry text message. / My friend wouldn’t have sent me an angry text message if I had remembered to call her last night.
• Also called the third conditional.
• Use this conditional to show a past regret or different outcome that would have happened if a specific condition had been met.
• The verb in the if clause is a past perfect verb (had + past participle form of the verb), and the verb in the main clause is a past modal pattern (would + have + past participle form of the verb).
• Make sure to tell students that this conditional isn’t very common. We don’t often speculate about what might have happened in the past, because we already know what actually happened.

As a review the next day, write this chart on the board to reiterate the four conditional patterns:

1. Present: If + Present, Present
2. Future (Likely/Possible/Real): If + Present, Will + Verb
3. Future (Unlikely/Impossible/Unreal): If + Past, Would + Verb
4. Past: If + Had + P.P., Would + Have + P.P.

For more practice, check out ESL-Library’s 8 lesson plans and flashcards on conditionals!

If you try this method in your class, I will be very happy!
Tanya

Whose job is it to take out the trash in your family?

Is there such a thing as “pink jobs” and “blue jobs”? Are traditional gender roles a thing of the past? In many countries, dual-income households are now the norm. Many men and women share jobs that used to belong to one or the other. Our Discussion Starters lesson plan on gender roles will get your students talking!  The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. We hope this lesson inspires a discussion about stereotypes and how they develop and evolve.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Discussion Starters English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Skateboarding.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 155th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here.

Setting an Example

The European Union has officially banned the sale of all new cosmetics that have been tested on animals. This ban is a bit different than the ban that has already been in effect in the EU since 2009. The new 2013 ban includes testing for toxicity that could lead to serious health effects such as cancer (previously allowed). The ban also extends to imported cosmetics. Cosmetic companies worldwide that want to sell products in the EU will have to prove that their products are safe to humans without using animal testing. Old cosmetic products tested on animals that are already on the shelves in the EU will not be pulled, however. More in this BBC article…

Some people in the cosmetic industry say that this new ban will mean that the cosmetic industry will no longer remain innovative.  

“…by implementing the ban at this time, the European Union is jeopardizing the industry’s ability to innovate” ~Bertil Heerink, Cosmetics Europe chief

Do your students agree or disagree with this quote? 

The Loophole

Do your students know the word “loophole”? Here is a good example of one. Like many laws and bans, this new ban leaves a loophole. New cosmetics made outside the EU may still contain ingredients that have been tested on animals if the ingredients are used in pharmaceuticals or other chemicals. The tricky part is that the companies will have to prove that their finished products are safe without data based on animal testing. More in this New York Times article…

Collocations in English

Here are some common collocations that are found in the Huffington Post article. Whether you choose to paraphrase the article or share it with your students (advanced), these commonly used expressions will be useful when discussing this topic.

• to take effect immediately
• to set a good example
• to believe firmly
• to generate (X amount of $) in revenue
• to cheer a decision

The Beauty of a Digital Library

One great thing about using a digital library for your supplementary materials is that you can find materials that are up to date. We updated our Mini-Debates lesson plan on Animal Testing today. The new lesson plan mentions the 2009 EU ban and the 2013 ban. It includes a warmup, a reading, comprehension questions, vocabulary review activities, and debate topics. We hope you’ll give this lesson plan a try in your classroom! Check out our Teacher’s Guide for ideas on using our Mini-Debates lesson plans in class.

If you want to try something different, check out our Discussion Starters lesson plan on “Luck”. You could also check out this “Four-Leaf Clover” warmup activity. And last but not least, we have a few flashcards that subscribers can use.  Make some cartoons or create your own quiz or worksheet with these adorable leprechauns!

NEW - We have just released a St. Patrick’s Day Infographic. Teach your students some idioms about luck! This poster is free to print.

No native English speaker would say “the red, big house” because we all know that “the big, red house” sounds better. Students, on the other hand, need to be taught the correct order of multiple adjectives because they can’t rely on what sounds right. Luckily, rules about adjective order do exist and can be followed easily to avoid awkward errors. And what about using commas with multiple adjectives? Read on for the solutions to all your adjective teaching woes!

I. Punctuation of Multiple Adjectives

If the adjectives are all being used to describe the noun (aka coordinate adjectives), commas should separate them. Using “and” is a good test to determine if the multiple adjectives you’re using should follow this rule. (For an example of when a comma should not be used, see #8, Purpose, below.)

Examples of Punctuation with Multiple Adjectives:

• She has long, dark hair. (She has long and dark hair; both long and dark are adjectives that describe the noun hair.)
• I live in the big, red house down the street. (I live in the big and red house; both big and red describe the noun house.)
• I admired the expensive, new, German cars at the car show. (I admired the expensive and new and German cars; expensive and new and German all describe the noun cars.)

Note: Using “and” is necessary when there is no noun that follows the adjectives: The cars were expensive, new, and German. Her hair is long and dark.)

II. Order of Multiple Adjectives

The natural order for multiple adjectives is based on what type of adjectives are used. Adjectives should appear in this order:

1. OPINION (what you think about something) –  e.g., beautiful, expensive, easy, delicious

2. SIZE – e.g., big, small

3. AGE – e.g., young, old

4. SHAPE – e.g., round, rectangular

5. COLOUR – e.g., red, white

6. ORIGIN (where something came from) – e.g., European, Japanese

7. MATERIAL (what something is made from) – e.g., metal, silk

Adjectives of purpose are also included in this list, but please be careful about punctuation with these adjectives:

8. PURPOSE (what something is used for) – e.g., sleeping (as in sleeping bag), English (as in English teacher)
Note: Purpose adjectives are a bit different in that they end up specifying what the noun is rather than just describing it. For example, sleeping bag is now a specific type of bag, whereas red bag could be any type of bag that is red. Be careful about punctuation with purpose adjectives: You will NOT need a comma between another type of adjective and a purpose adjective. For example:

• I have a red sleeping bag. (colour, no comma, purpose)
• I have a comfortable, red sleeping bag. (opinion, comma, colour, no comma, purpose)

Examples of Order with Multiple Adjectives:

• My friend is a talented, young musician. (opinion, age)
• That car is a beautiful, older, Italian model. (opinion, age, origin)
• I bought a shiny, small, square, metal vase. (opinion, size, shape, material)
• We browsed through the many antique, colourful, silk dresses in the boutique. (age, colour, material)

Note: If the multiple adjectives are of the same type, then you can use any order you want. For example:

• She has a funny, kind coworker. (opinion, opinion)
• She has a kind, funny coworker. (opinion, opinion)

I hope that these confusing, stress-inducing rules are now clear in your mind so that you can easily teach them to your students! If anything is still unclear, please let me know in the comment section below.

For a ready-made lesson that includes practice with adjective order, try our new Skateboarding (Famous Things) lesson.

Tanya

Sources:

• Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, sections 5.90 and 6.33.
• University of Victoria English Language Centre, http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adjord.htm.

Can you afford your own life?

Individuals aren’t the only ones in debt. Businesses and countries are deep in debt too! How do we end up in the red and how can we get out of it? Our new Discussion Starters Lesson Plan on Debt is now available in the Lesson Plan Library. The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. This current topic will get your students talking! It may even inspire them to tackle their own debts.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Discussion Starters English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast… Skateboarding. 

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 154th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here.

NEW: The Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of ESL-Library’s mini-podcasts

Women’s Day Collection of Resources

We also have a NEW collection of ESL lesson plans and resources for International Women’s Day. This page features 14 lesson plans on amazing women from around the world!

In last week’s blog post, we saw a method for teaching gerunds and infinitives to students in a clear, organized way. We learned that, following a main verb, there is a lot of memorization and practice required on the students’ part in order to keep which verbs take gerunds and which take infinitives straight. As if that wasn’t difficult enough, there are certain verbs in English that change their meaning according to the gerund or infinitive that follows! These verbs are best left for high-intermediate or advanced learners to muddle through, but when they’re ready, here is a handy list of some of the most common verbs of this type.

1. Try

Try + Gerund means that you started doing something, then stopped for some reason (usually because it was too difficult).

• She tried learning French, but she gave up after a few months. (She found French too difficult.)

Try + Infinitive means that you attempted something but couldn’t do it for some reason.

• She tried to get into the club, but she got ID’d. (She attempted to enter the club even though she was underage, but she didn’t get in.)

Be careful! Sometimes you can hear “try” with both a gerund and an infinitive where the meaning is essentially the same. The reason this is possible is because the focus is slightly different. For example:

• I tried calling you last night. (I attempted to call you once [or many times], but I eventually gave up.)
• I tried to call you last night. (You never picked up the phone, so I couldn’t talk to you.)

2. Stop

Stop + Gerund means you quit doing something.

• He stopped smoking last week. (He quit smoking.)

Stop + Infinitive means you were doing something and then took a break, or stopped on your way somewhere.

• Even though he was behind in his work, he stopped to smoke a cigarette. (He stopped working to have a smoke break.)
• I stopped to buy milk on my way home. (I went to the store before going home.)

3. Forget

Forget + Gerund means that you have already done something, but can’t remember doing it.

• She didn’t recognize him at all. She forgot meeting him last summer. (She forgot that she had met him before.)

Forget + Infinitive means that you had the intention of doing something, but didn’t remember to do it.

• She forgot to meet her client for lunch, so she got an angry phone call from him later. (She had plans to meet her client, but she didn’t remember to do it.)

4. Remember

Remember + Gerund means that you did something in the past, and you can remember doing it. (This is usually used when you’re surprised that you that recall that far back. It’s also used when you’re reminiscing with friends.)

• I remember falling down the stairs when I was four years old.

Remember + Infinitive means that you had the intention of doing something, and you remembered to do it.

• My husband was happy that I remembered to pay the bills on time last month.

5. Regret

Regret + Gerund means that you did something that you wish you hadn’t.

• I regretted telling him my secret because he told everyone at my school. (I wish I hadn’t told him my secret.)

Regret + Infinitive means that you’re sorry (usually used in formal cases only).

• We regret to tell you that your application was not accepted. (We’re sorry to have to tell you this.)

Don’t stop to worry about these difficult verbs, just stop worrying!

Tanya

Grammar in Context

Today’s mini-podcast is an audio preview of our Grammar Stories lesson plan on the Past Perfect tense. The full lesson plan comes with three readings, three question sets, a page of grammar review activities, and a writing assignment. You may also be interested in our Grammar Practice worksheets on the past perfect tense. We hope you’ll share this podcast with your language learners. Check out previous podcasts here, including grammar stories featuring the simple past, past progressive, and past perfect progressive tense.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Grammar Stories English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Discussion Starter: Debt – Can you afford your own life?

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 153rd episode.

Did you or your students watch the Oscars last night? Have you seen the Oscar winning movie Argo? Our NEW lesson plan on Jimmy Carter features a page about the true life “Canadian Caper,” the top-secret mission that allowed six Americans to exit safely from Iran.  Listen to Jimmy Carter talk about Ben Affleck’s version.

“…90% of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian.” ~Jimmy Carter

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Fictionalizing History

Ask your students how they feel about Hollywood movies that fictionalize history? Is it necessary to introduce elements such as high speed chases that did not take place? Is it fair to leave out important characters who are crucial to the story? Our Jimmy Carter lesson plan will give you some more ideas for talking about Argo and the true Iranian hostage crisis in class. We hope it inspires you to watch the award-winning film with your students in order to compare the true version to the fictionalized version. Here is a documentary about the escape that you may also be interested in watching with your students.

Daniel Day-Lewis wins best actor for Lincoln

We also have an American Presidents lesson plan on Abraham Lincoln. Your students may be interested in learning about this historic figure now that Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Oscar for best actor!

Are you or your students looking for extra FREE listening practice? ESL-Library has over 150 short podcasts designed specifically for English learners. The transcripts, tasks, and activities that go with the audio files are available for ESL-Library subscribers on ESL-Library.com.

Who?

ESL-Library podcasts are recorded by our head writer, Tara Benwell. Tara has been recording online materials for English learners since 2006. In the ESL-Library podcasts, Tara speaks at a natural speed with a clear voice. Tara is a Canadian whose accent is similar to Americans from the mid and western regions of the United States.

What?

ESL-Library podcasts are shorter than most podcasts that you will find online. They are usually 2-5 minutes in length. The content varies widely, much like the content in a library. For example, sometimes the podcasts are Grammar Stories that review a certain grammar point. Other times the podcasts are about famous people, places, or things. Our entire collection of Discussion Starters is available on our podcast. We also have podcasts for special holidays. Occasionally we share a sneak peak of the dialogues that have been professionally recorded for a lesson plan series by our partners in New York.

Where?

The mini-podcasts for English learners are added to our blog under the section Podcasts. They are also uploaded to iTunes (be sure to use this link to find the podcast with over 150 episodes). Teachers and students can subscribe through the blog or through iTunes. The transcripts/readings that go with the podcasts can be downloaded them from the ESL-Library site (subscribers only).

When?

A new podcast is added every Wednesday! You can also use any of the 150+ podcasts from our archives. Wednesday’s podcast is usually available by 5 pm EST (or sooner). If you want to use it in class each week, Thursday or Friday may be the best day to do that. This will give you time to print and review the lesson plan and teachers’ notes that go with the audio. Alternatively, you can pick and choose any previous podcast from the archives that goes with your curriculum or a certain theme you’re teaching. You can use the Search field on our blog to find archived podcasts on holidays and other special events that come up each year.

How? (for learners)

English learners should set a goal of listening to English every day. Listening to anything in English is a great way to soak up the language! Everyone has at least 2-5 minutes to spare in a day. ESL-Library podcasts can become part of your daily routine. Listen to a podcast as you brush your teeth, walk to school, or drive to work. Tara recommends listening to podcasts as you exercise. In the cold winter, when she can’t jog outside, Tara listens to podcasts about writing as she climbs up and down the stairs in her own home. In English we call this killing two birds with one stone. You will learn lots of idioms and everyday expressions in our podcasts.

How? (for teachers)

You can think of ESL-Library podcasts in two ways. First, use the podcast to preview a lesson plan. Subscribers can listen to the weekly podcast to see if the level and content of the reading is suitable for their students. The podcast preview includes a direct link to the lesson plan for subscribers who wants to print it out and use it. If you want to play the audio in the classroom, you can download it to your MP3 player, or play it directly from your computer (if you have Internet access in the classroom). Some teachers prefer to use iTunes, and others use the blog feed.

Why?

At ESL-Library, we know that English learners are always looking for extra listening practice. Listening to English is one thing that English learners can and must do on their own outside of the classroom. Our lesson plan library is full of hundreds of readings that have been written specifically for English learners, and our podcast now offers an audio library of interesting content for English learners to listen to when they are on the go. We hope English learners will get hooked on listening to English in their spare time! Once they are in the habit, they can move on to other podcasts and even audiobooks. Our podcast also allows teachers to preview our content before subscribing. We hope teachers discover that the topics we cover are relevant and will get their students talking!

Gerunds (the -ing form of a verb) and infinitives (to + the base form of a verb) are strange little creatures. They combine the action meaning of the verb with the grammatical function of a noun. They are useful because they allow us to use verbs as subjects and objects. But in the object position, the choice of gerund or infinitive can seem quite arbitrary. Also, because they have so many positions in a sentence, they can be confusing for students to learn. Fear not! There are some sentence patterns that ensure the correct choice of a gerund or an infinitive.

GERUNDS

1. as the subject of a sentence (S = Ger)

This position commonly calls for a gerund. While an infinitive is also possible, it is very formal and not common.

• Shopping is my favourite hobby.
• Working out has really improved my health.

2. following a preposition (Prep + Ger)

Here is another common gerund position. This rule applies to all prepositions, including ones that are part of phrasal verbs.

• She thought about calling him, but decided she wouldn’t.
• They are planning on going to the party tonight.

3. as the object of a verb (V + Ger)

This is the one position where both gerunds and infinitives are commonly used. The choice of which to use all depends on the verb. Some common ones are: advise, avoid, enjoy, finish, practise, quit, and suggest.

• He enjoyed learning about gerunds.
• My teacher suggested studying for the upcoming quiz.

*Don’t forget that some verbs take either a gerund or an infinitive with no change in meaning. While students don’t have to worry about these verbs, they should still be pointed out. Some common verbs are: like, love, and hate.

• I love eating pasta.
• I love to eat pasta.

INFINITIVES

1. following an adjective (Adj + Inf)

Though it is possible in some cases to use a gerund after an adjective, it is more common to use an infinitive, making it the better choice for students.

• It is nice to meet you.
• She mentioned that it was dangerous to stand near that machine.

2. following a noun or pronoun (N + Inf)

If the verb has an object that is a noun or a pronoun, it is almost always followed by an infinitive. This makes it easy for students to choose the correct form.

• You asked me to call you.
• The doctor advised Mark to eat more vegetables. (Note that the verb “advise” normally takes a gerund, as in “The doctor advised eating more vegetables.” But because there is a noun object in this sentence, we must use the infinitive. The noun rule supersedes the verb rule, which is great news for students.)

3. as the object of a verb (V + Inf)

This is the one position where both gerunds and infinitives are commonly used. It all depends on the verb. Some common ones are: ask, choose, decide, get, need, plan, promise, and want.

• They want to get their tests back as soon as possible.
• The students are planning to have a party this Friday.

*ESL-Library’s new and improved gerund and infinitive lessons are coming soon. In those lessons, we put verbs into categories to help students figure out whether to use a gerund or an infinitive. Also, googling “gerunds and infinitives verb list” brings up several lists that students can use for reference.

One final teaching point:

Because both gerunds and infinitives retain their verb meanings (even though they function as nouns), they too can have objects. That means it’s not uncommon to see a sentence with two or more objects when gerunds or infinitives are in play. For example:

• I enjoy studying English. (“studying” is the direct object of “enjoy,” and “English” is the direct object of “studying”)
• My boss asked me to help her. (“me” is the direct object of “asked,” “to help” is also the direct object of “asked,” and “her” is the direct object of “to help”)

I hope you liked learning/to learn about this grammar point,
Tanya

Should Corporations Profit from Crime?

Private prisons are becoming more and more common in the US. They are also becoming more and more profitable. Is it wrong for corporations to profit from crime? Do illegal immigrants deserve to be put behind bars? Our new Discussion Starters lesson plan on private prisons is now available in the Lesson Plan Library. The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. We think this topic will get your students talking!

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Discussion Starters English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…more Grammar Stories.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 152nd episode.

Check out previous podcasts here.

What is this silly little punctuation mark good for anyway? Is it just some antiquated notion? Should we even bother teaching it to our students? My view is that if it’s in the English language, it should be brought to students’ attention because they’re bound to come across it at some point. But it’s also our job as teachers to point out which conventions are no longer commonly used, which is indeed the case with the semicolon.

1. What is the semicolon used for?

The semicolon is used to join two sentences together, so it is useful for connecting ideas and making sentences more complex. It can take the place of a period or a conjunction such as “and.” The semicolon should connect two sentences with similar or related ideas. Let’s look at some examples:

• He was tired. He was up all night studying.
• He was tired; he was up all night studying.
• BUT NOT He was tired; it was raining. (unrelated ideas)

• She was a great student, and she got a prestigious scholarship.
• She was a great student; she got a prestigious scholarship.

Don’t forget to point out the punctuation of transition words to your higher-level students. With transition words, a period or a semicolon must be used. Here are some examples:

• I forgot to study for the test. In addition, I forgot to bring a pencil.
• I forgot to study for the test; in addition, I forgot to bring a pencil.

• The professor didn’t make us write the test. However, he gave us a lot of homework.
• The professor didn’t make us write the test; however, he gave us a lot of homework.

2. Should we teach and/or use the semicolon?

In formal writing (academic, scientific, etc.), the semicolon may be used. If you have formal essay writing in class, you could get your students to try using the semicolon. If your students are in university or taking a university prep class, it’s a good idea to teach and use it, especially if they’re using transition words in their writing. But make sure you also tell students when NOT to use it: in emails, text messages, instant messaging, etc. I think it would even look out of place in business letters or job applications. So bring it up, yes, but remind students that the semicolon is very formal, and a little out of fashion.

One of these days, I’ll write a blog post about my favourite punctuation mark, the interrobang. Now THAT’S useful?!
Tanya

Grammar in Context

Today’s mini-podcast is an audio preview of our Grammar Stories lesson plan on the Past Perfect Continuous tense. The full lesson plan comes with three readings, three question sets, a page of grammar review activities, and a writing assignment. We hope you’ll share this podcast with your language learners. Check out previous podcasts here, including grammar stories featuring the simple past and past progressive tense.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Grammar Stories English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Private Prisons.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 151st episode.

Champagne, roses, and…a discussion of capitalization and punctuation rules? Maybe it’s not the most romantic of topics, but you’ll soon be discussing this holiday in class, and you’ll want to have the rules straight!

1. Capitalization:

When we write the holiday, we have to use capital letters.

• My favourite holiday is Valentine’s Day.

This could be shortened in casual speech, when it’s clear we’re referring to the day.

• What are you doing for Valentine’s (Day)?

When we’re referring to a gift, greeting, or person, we don’t use capital letters.

• I bought her a valentine present; I hope she’ll like it.
• I got a valentine card from him today.
• Be my valentine.

Note: It is common to hear “valentine’s” used in place of “valentine” (e.g., I got a valentine’s card from him today). I think this is because people are using the holiday name, either on purpose or by accident. If you’re using the holiday name, write it as “Valentine’s,” with or without the word “Day” (e.g., I got a Valentine’s [Day] card from him today). Personally, I would stick to “valentine card.”

2. Punctuation:

When we write the holiday, we must use “apostrophe s.”

• Happy Valentine’s Day!

Is there a case where there is an “s” with no apostrophe? Yes, but only if we’re referring to a plural noun, usually  “cards.”

• How many valentines did you get? (refers to valentine cards)
• Never use “Happy Valentines Day” or “valentines cards.”

Now you’re ready for all the fun Valentine’s Day activities that you can do with your students! ESL-Library has got some amazing resources, including this new Valentine’s Day poster of love idioms. You should also check out ESL Lesson Plans and Resources on Love, Dating, Marriage, and Relationships, our Valentine’s Day lessons, and guest blogger Shelly Terrell’s 14+ Activities & Resources for Celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all,
Tanya

Sources: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., and Oxford Canadian dictionary of Current English.

Happy Birthday Bob Marley!

Today is Bob Marley’s birthday, and we published our NEW Famous People lesson plan just in time. If you’re looking for an audio recording of the reading, please use today’s mini-podcast. The full lesson plan comes with warm-up questions, vocabulary review tasks, a reading, as well as comprehension and discussion questions.  We hope you’ll share this podcast with your language learners.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous People English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Past Perfect.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 150th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s grammar stories featuring the simple past and past progressive tense.

“Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.” ~ Victor Hugo

Valentine’s Day is celebrated worldwide. The holiday is named after the martyr, St. Valentinus, who often performed secret weddings for soldiers for which he was imprisoned. Lovers worldwide celebrate the holiday by giving each other gifts to show how much they care about each other. It is a time when children eat candy hearts and send heartfelt messages to each other. It is the holiday of romance, but in the classroom we can teach various themes including relationships, kindness and various kinds of love, such as love of a pet, family, one’s self, or hobby.

ESL-Library has collected all of their resources on the theme of love and relationships in this NEW collection.

Below are a few more activities with these themes in mind.

Explore Heart, Love, or Romance Idioms

Valentine’s Day is a perfect excuse to teach idioms. Your students will enjoy learning about various idioms related to love, such as, “falling in love,” or “head over heals.” ESL-Library has three lesson plan sections that combine the theme of love with idioms, including First Love, First Year, and The Case of the Missing Ring (a Detective Series). Here are some more ideas.

• Use this infographic with visuals to teach various idioms like, “Pop the question,” or “Get back together.”

• After learning some idioms, have students choose a few to explain in a comic, with tools like ToonDoo, Make Beliefs Comix, and Creaza. Be sure to check out this post, Create Your Own Cartoons for Teaching Languages.

Heart Candy Activities

Ever receive a box of candy hearts with their short but lovely messages? Try any of these activities.

• Try playing charades where each student picks a candy heart and has to act out the message for their classmates. When someone guesses the message the actor gets to eat the candy heart. This could help motivate shy students to play.
• Play guess the drawing where each student picks a candy heart and has to draw  out the message for their classmates to guess.
• Have students pick out 3 to 5 of the messages and create written or digital stories using these messages. They can use tools like Storybird, Zooburst, or Animoto.
• Students pick out 4 to 6 of the messages and create a video dialogue between 2 or more fictitious characters using digital storytelling tools like GoAnimate, Xtranormal, Dvolver, and ZimmerTwins. If you want them to use their mobile devices, then try these free dialogue apps- Sockpuppets, PuppetPals, or Talking Ben and Tom News Reporter.
• Students pick out 4 to 6 of the messages and create a digital comic of the conversation.

Explore Love in Art

Take a famous piece of art like Marc Chagall’s Dream Village. This painting represents Chagall courting his wife. Break students into pairs and have them write down at least 3 scenes/visual symbols they observe in the painting. Have them guess what each of these scenes/visual symbols represent. Regroup as a class and have them share their ideas with the class.

Check out ESL-Library’s NEW Valentine’s Flashcards. Katelin did a fantastic job drawing this new set! Here are a bunch of ideas for how you can use these Valentine’s images in the classroom.

Explore Love in Poetry

Valentine’s Day is a perfect time for students to explore the language of love in sonnets, haikus, limericks, etc. Try these ideas:

• Break students into pairs and give them a few poems to explore then have them create a comic or multimedia presentation where they recite the poem and add visuals that highlight the meaning. Use tools like Animoto, Photopeach, or UTellStory.
• With Photopeach they can create a multimedia, interactive quiz about the poem that their classmates have to answer.
• Have students create their own love poetry with this cool online magnetic poetry tool. The words are there. They just put them together to create a poem, then can take a screenshot and post in a blog or wiki.
• Students can learn to write haikus, sonnets, limericks, or any other type of poetry with the Poetry Idea Machine. This incredible site walks students through each step in creating various forms of poetry. They can send these poems to their family, relatives, or friends.

Analyze Love Quotes

Collect a list of love quotes like Einstein’s, “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love,” and cut them into strips. Have the quote in one strip and on another strip list the author and a few clues. Give each student a strip. Instruct students to walk  around the room to find their partners. Then give them 5 minutes to discuss the meaning of the quotes, whether they agree with the author, and name an example to support their stance. They will present their quotes and ideas to the rest of their peers when you regroup as a class.

Analyze Pick Up Lines

Take famous pick up lines and have students create dialogues in which they have to create clever comebacks like in this funny post. They can use the previously named dialogue tools and comic strip tools.

Create Valentine’s Day Messages & Send to Friends & Family

Have your students create handmade crafts, cards, or origami where they insert kind messages for their family members or classmates. When sending these creations to their classmates, make sure they send nice messages to everyone so no one is singled out. You may want to check the messages for any grammar errors before they send these out.

• Find out how to make origami hearts, boxes, and more
• Create a Valentine- A Starfall game that teaches kids phonics and vocabulary
• Use mobile apps such as Red Stamp, Fotobabble, or Animoto to send Valentine’s Day messages. These are free and have templates related to the holiday.

More Great Websites and Resources

Find more ideas for teaching about Valentine’s Day by visiting the resources below:

• Valentine’s Day Sites and Activities by Cybraryman
• Best Sites to Learn About Valentine’s Day by Larry Ferlazzo
• Reasons for Buying Flowers- Great Lesson Plan by Jamie Keddie
• Valentine’s Day videos, quizzes, and more by ESOLCourses

What other ideas do you have?

If you want to receive more of Shelly’s tips for online resources for teaching English, then subscribe!

Love Is In The Air

Will you be teaching vocabulary and expressions related to “love” in February? Are you looking for alternatives to traditional holiday lesson plans? This month’s teaching theme is all about ♥L-O-V-E♥. ESL-Library has everything you need, including flashcards, flashcard ideas, Valentine’s Day lessons, discussion starters, lessons with idioms, podcasts, blog posts, and more… Check out our NEW collection of materials on love, dating, marriage, and relationships. We know you’re going to love it!

NEW Flashcards

In the last few months our artist Katelin has been busy updating some of our most popular flashcard sets. You will be happy to know that our “School-Themed” flashcards are ready to go! These include images of school subjects, school supplies, furniture, staff, and classroom actions. You can print them with or without text or show them on your computer screens and IWBs. Check out our ideas for using these school-themed flashcards in your classroom.

New Lesson Plans this Month

Did you know that the majority of our NEW lesson plan topics are suggested by teachers who subscribe to ESL-Library? Thank you for your requests and suggestions. Keep them coming. You can also send requests via twitter @ESLLibrary or Facebook.

• Discussion Starters: Private Prisons
• Famous Things: Nazca Lines
• American Presidents: George H.W. Bush
• Famous People: Hugo Chavez
• Grammar Practice Worksheets: Singular and Plural Nouns
• Guided Discovery: Black History Jigsaw
• Guided Discovery: Royalty Jigsaw
• Simple Sentences: School
• Mini-Debates: Gun Control (updated)

Will you be at TESOL in Dallas?

The ESL-Library team is gearing up for a trip to Dallas this March for the annual TESOL convention. Will you be there? Be sure to stop by our booth and say hello! Come and tell us about your favourite warm-up activity. We will be attending plenty of sessions this year. Let us know if you have one to recommend. This year’s theme is “Harmonizing Language, Heritage, and Cultures”.

February Features

Every Day is a Holiday – Groundhog Day : The groundhog did NOT see his shadow this year. That’s good news! Learn about the origin of this fun tradition, and compare it with similar superstitions around the world. (Feb 2)

Holidays – Chinese New Year : This is the biggest and most important holiday of the year for Chinese people around the world. Students study the Chinese Zodiac and learn “red” idioms. (Feb 10-24)

ESL Collection – Black History Month: February is Black History Month. We have a large collection of lesson plans to choose from. Take your pick, or invite your students to choose.

ESL Collection – Valentine’s Day : We have beginner and intermediate lesson plans to teach your students about this fun holiday. Our collection on Love, Dating, Marriage and Relationships features many alternatives. (Feb. 14)

Famous People – Darwin : Charles Darwin is a fascinating figure to learn about. Try our Famous People lesson plan on Darwin’s birthday, and talk about Darwin’s theory of evolution. (Feb. 12)

Have you had a chance to preview our Lesson Plan Calendar for February? We have many more suggested lesson plans that you can use this month. For example, did you know that March 16th is Freedom of Information Day?

Have a fabulous February. Since the groundhog did NOT see his shadow, maybe next month we’ll be able to report that spring is in the air! 

Happy Teaching!
Sincerely,

The Staff at ESL-Library

As the gun debate heats up in the US, a Tennessee senator has stated that he thinks video games are a bigger problem in the US than guns. President Obama and Vice President Biden have been addressing the ties between video games and gun violence over the past few weeks. Biden and Obama believe that research money needs to be spent on finding out once and for all whether or not there is a connection between video game use and aggression. Do your students think new studies will show a link between gun violence and video game violence? 

“The single best thing we can do is have a national dialogue about this.” ~Vice President Joe Biden

Watch The Video

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Try 2 Mini-Debates Lesson Plans

We recently updated two of our Mini-Debates lesson plans: Video Game Violence and Gun Control. Have you tried these lesson plans in the past? Please print out the updated versions to use this month. Discuss these current topics with your students, and decide whether or not video game violence and gun control are separate issues, or whether they belong in the same debate.

Another Related Debate Topic

A week after the Sandy Hook massacre, the executive vice president of the NRA said: “There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people, through vicious, violent video games.” A few weeks later, the NRA released a gun shooting game in the App Store called “NRA: Practice Range”. The game is rated as appropriate for children 12+. According to CNN, at least 250,000 people have joined the NRA since the Sandy Hook shooting.

This activity involves using adjectives to describe animals. There’s a twist, though: you will later reveal that the students are actually describing themselves! Use this warm-up activity when you’re doing a unit on adjectives or descriptions. It’s also a good way for students to teach each other new vocabulary. You could also use it when you have a class of new students, to break the ice. Students always end up laughing, so it’s a great way to start a class.

1. Tell students to think of three animals they like.

• Have them write the animal names on a piece of paper. For example, a student might choose tiger, bear, and rabbit.

2. Have students write three adjectives to describe each animal.

• Give an example: tiger – aggressive, strong, fast; bear – big, furry, hungry; rabbit – shy, cute, cuddly.
• After writing an example on the board, I usually prefer to let students come up with adjectives on their own so that they don’t all end up with the same ones. But you could have a brainstorming session as a class before they write their words, if they’re looking a little lost.
• For lower-level classes, these adjectives can be basic, such as cute, strong, big, little, furry, lovable, etc.
• For higher-level classes, challenge students to find adjectives that their classmates may not know, such as ferocious, majestic, etc. (You might want to allow dictionary use.)
• Circulate to make sure students are not writing nouns by mistake (this happens often).
• Get faster students to help slower students come up with their last few adjectives.

3. Tell students they must now read their adjectives with the following phrases: I think I am…, My friends think I am…, I am really…

• Put students in groups of 4 or 5, and have them read out their adjectives. But instead of saying the animal names, they must use the phrases “I think I am” + 3 adjectives, “My friends think I am” + 3 adjectives, “I am really” + 3 adjectives. Explain that the adjectives represent how you see yourself, how your friends see you, and how you really are.
• Use your example to model this before they begin. Example: “I think I am aggressive, strong, and fast. My friends think I am big, furry, and hungry. I am really shy, cute, and cuddly.”
• See what everyone has come up with! Share a few of the funnier answers with the whole class.

Have fun,
Tanya

Grammar In Context

Are you teaching your students how to use the simple past and past progressive tenses?  Today’s podcast offers an audio preview of our ready-made Grammar Stories lesson that focuses on the “Simple Past and Past Progressive”. The printable worksheets include two readings, two question sets, and two pages of grammar review activities. We hope you’ll share this podcast with your language learners when they’re ready to start using or reviewing  past tenses in English.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Grammar Stories English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Past Perfect.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 149th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s stories featuring the simple present tense.

Our artist Katelin has been very busy updating many of ESL-Library’s flashcard sections. You (subscribers) can display our flashcards on your IWBs and computer screens or print them  in color or black and white. You can choose how many images you want on one page, and whether you want them printed with or without the vocabulary under the image. If you’re teaching vocabulary related to school, you are going to love these new sets for “In and At School”. Thanks, Katelin!

Index of School-Themed Flashcards

At School : Indoor and outdoor areas of the school
Classroom Actions: Common action verbs used by students and teachers
In the Class : School supplies and furniture you find in the classroom
People at School: Teachers, administrators, and support staff
School Subjects: Not just math and English! We have images of geometry, drama, and home ec!

Suggested Activities for using School-Themed Flashcards

What’s my job?
Stick a “People in the School” card on the back of each student. Have students go around the room trying to figure out what their job is. They can only ask yes/no questions. When they get the answer right, they switch their card to the front. They can then start acting like their character as the other students figure out who they are.

Hot Seat
Put your class in two groups. Choose two captains. Place captains in chairs facing away from the board. Paste a large sized flashcard  on the board. (You can choose the size when you print the cards out.) The rest of the class has to get their team captain to guess the word by talking about it. You can decide whether or not gestures are allowed. The first captain to guess correctly gets out of the hot seat and gets a point. A new captain is chosen. Warning: It will get loud in your classroom!

Spelling Bee
Pull out a card and have students try to spell the word. Each time students spell the word correctly they get a point. Make this spelling bee more active by requiring students to stand up and do jumping jacks while they spell!

Pronunciation Bee
Just like a spelling bee, but students have to pronounce the words properly.

Better than
Gather all of the school subject cards. Take out two at a time and ask students which subject like better. Have lower-level students say a complete sentence: “I like geography better than math.” Encourage higher-level students to explain why they like one subject better than the other.

Pointer
Use the  “In the Class” cards (school supplies and furniture) for this game. As you show a card, ask students if you have this item in their classroom: Do we have a chair in the classroom? (Students point at a chair.) Do we have an eraser in the classroom? You can make it fun by having a “no voices allowed” rule. After you have reviewed some of the objects, have students take turns being the teacher. If one of the new “teachers” draws a card but can’t remember the name of the object, they have to give up their role to another student.

School Days
Use all of the flashcards from the In and At School set except “Classroom Actions”. Hold up one card. Invite students to share any memory they have about the object, subject, action or person. Encourage them to start with the phrase: “I remember when…” or “That reminds me of …”

Shout the Verb
Use the Classroom Actions set. Invite a student to pick a card from the set and show the other students. The card chooser will say: What is the person/are the people doing? The first person to shout the correct verb gets to pull the next card.

Create your own School-Themed Quizzes and Materials

Subscribers can make their own quizzes and materials using our flashcards. All you need to do is log in and drag the images you want onto a document that you are writing. Please use your materials for personal classroom use only. Check out this post for a demonstration (scroll down to the video demo).

Coming in February 2013

If you teach low-level learners, please try our NEW Simple Sentences lesson plan on School. Simple Sentences is a theme-based vocabulary building section for beginner English learners. In addition to learning and reviewing basic vocabulary, students practice simple English sentences using visual cues. This lesson features vocabulary review exercises, useful expressions, and a picture dictionary that your students can complete.

It’s not only a difference between countries. Sometimes, in the same country, grammarians choose different terms to represent the same grammatical function. It could be a matter of preference, or maybe it’s what they learned when they were studying grammar. As a teacher, it can be quite frustrating to see a grammatical term referred to in two different ways (e.g., “progressive” in one textbook and “continuous” in another). Our poor students, who already have so much to take in, now have to remember more than one term for the same function! Let’s look at the list below to get some of the more common mix-ups straightened out:

Progressive Vs. Continuous

These words are used for many tenses to refer to a continuing action (the -ing form), such as the present progressive or the present continuous, the past progressive or the past continuous, etc. The choice of words for this case seems almost random–I have seen many textbooks that use progressive and many that use continuous. I learned it, in Canada, as progressive, but I have had many Canadian co-workers also call it continuous. Telling students right off the bat that there are two terms for this grammatical function may help them avoid confusion down the road.

Word Forms Vs. Parts of Speech

This was the one that inspired this blog post. A teacher wrote us to say that she wasn’t sure what we meant by word form. Both terms refer to the grammatical function of a word in a sentence, such as noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.

Subject-Predicate Vs. S-V-O

Both cases refer to the subject and the verb, verb + object, or verb + other type of clause or phrase. Both are ways to describe the basic sentence patterns of English. I always teach using S-V-O. Which do you prefer?

Restrictive/Non-Restrictive Vs. Identifying/Non-Identifying Adjective Clauses

Restrictive, or identifying, adjective clauses don’t use commas because the adjective clause is necessary to identify the noun. (Example: The man who sat next to me on the bus was friendly. There is no way to identify this man from any other man unless we include the info that he sat next to me. Now it is one specific man that I’m referring to.)

Non-restrictive, or non-identifying, adjective clauses need commas because the adjective clause is simply extra information that is not required in order to identify the noun. (Example: Mr. Green, who was wearing a funny hat today, seemed tired when he was teaching us about grammar. The teacher, Mr. Green, is already one specific man, and there’s no need to identify him further. The fact that he was wearing a funny hat is just extra information.)

Both terms make sense: restrictive means that the clause cannot be omitted from the sentence without affecting the meaning, and identifying means that the clause is necessary in order to identify the noun.

Reported Vs. Indirect Speech

Both terms refer to saying what someone else said. (Example: He told me he was coming to the party tonight.) The term indirect is used in contrast to direct speech. (Example: He told me, “I’m coming to the party tonight.”) But it’s easy to guess where the term reported came from, because that is the purpose it serves, to report someone else’s speech.

Non-Count Vs. Uncountable Nouns

Referring to nouns that are too small or too shapeless to count, such as sand or milk, these terms both use a negative prefix with the word count. You won’t find non-count in the dictionary (whereas uncountable is listed), but in grammar terms, non-count seems to be used much more often.
If you have any other commonly confused grammatical terms to add to the list, please let us know in the comments section below.

Here’s to progress(ive)!

Tanya

5 Stories Using Simple Present Tense

Are your students ready to learn about the simple present tense?  Our podcast today is an audio preview of our ready-made Grammar Stories lesson that focuses on the “Simple Present Tense”. The printable worksheets include five readings, five question sets, and a page of grammar review activities. We hope you’ll share these Grammar Stories with your language learners when they’re ready to start using simple tenses in English.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Grammar Stories English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Past Progressive.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 148th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s podcast about Adjectives Clauses and Phrases.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” ~ Albert Einstein

There are those lessons in which our learners come out feeling empowered, as if they have the ability and skills to make a positive impact in the world. These are the lessons in which you leave with an extra jump in your step and it feels great to be a teacher. These are the kind of lessons I live for, the ones in which I feel my students have left with more than knowledge. They have left my class feeling passionate and excited about learning. They have left wanting to create with their knowledge. This semester try one of the lesson ideas below to get your students feeling innovative – creating and exploring while they are learning. Then revisit us and let us know how your students responded and reacted.

Idea #1 Advertising this Tool

Break students into pairs or small groups. Begin this lesson by giving the groups an everyday object like a pen, water bottle, or paperclip. Tell the groups that each object does so much more than what we see. For example, the pen might write secret messages that self destruct. The students can imagine all kinds of possibilities. Then the groups have to create short advertisements to market these new inventions. Here’s a lesson plan for this project by a language teacher in India. Here are the commercials her students came up with that also showcase their inventions. I liked this one where they invented a new kind of chalkduster.

Idea #2 An Innovation Day

Have a day in which students are able to create an invention with the help of a mentor. Then give students a chance to showcase their inventions for the community. This idea was inspired by this article, Why Every School Needs an Innovation Day.

Have families, businesses, and the community donate recycled machine parts from cell phones, computers, appliances, and so forth. Spread out these parts on a table, and supply students with glue guns, duct tape, and other supplies to help them create robots or inventions with the recycled materials. Then have students take a photo of their invention and use apps like Voicethread, Fotobabble or Skqueak to describe their invention. When I worked at a museum this was an ongoing free project for kids and they loved working with their hands to build with the recycled machinery. They were very creative and loved describing their invention.

Various online tools make it easy for students to create free apps on Google Play. Have students work in pairs or small groups to design an app or you can have your class work with an app developer to create an app like these kids did who invented a geography app. You can try any of these following free app developers: WebMobi, AppShed, or Conduit.

Idea #5 Solve a Real World Problem

Have students brainstorm problems within their community or facing the world. Then students can work in small groups to come up with ideas to solve that problem. You can find a list of problem based lesson plans here and discover kids that are coming up with solutions to fix problems worldwide in this post and in this presentation. RandomKid is a database dedicated to getting kids to solve world problems.

Idea #6 Life Would be Easier if …..

Have a roundtable discussion in which each student talks about what they wish someone would invent to make life easier.

• Before  the discussion, have students brainstorm problems they deal with daily or what irks them. They can work in pairs and create a mindmap of these problems or jot them in a chart. Try Popplet, Twiddla, and LucidChart to get your students brainstorming with graphic organizers.
• After they come up with problems, it’ll be easier for them to jot down possible solutions.
• After they come up with solutions, they will be ready to come up with inventions that will solve these problems. Have them draw a model of this invention and describe it either with Fotobabble or Skqueak.

Idea #7 Interview an Inventor

Students  enjoy learning from creative types. Try finding an inventor in your community who will visit your students live. Have your learners prepare questions for this inventor. You might try Skyping or having a Google HangOut with an inventor you see online. Here is a great lesson idea for using Skype to get your students inventing.

Idea #8 Develop a Game

Free online tools like Scratch allow students to create their own interactive games and stories that others can play. Have your students develop a game then have others play the game. You can give them a checklist of requirements for the game and assess them with a rubric. Your students can also create video games with Sharendipity, map and image games with Purpose Games, and various arcade games and QR games with ClassTools.

Many sites and apps inspire kids to describe a creature from their imagination. Below are a list of great webtools and apps to get your students creating their own animals, monsters, bugs, and more.

• Night Zookeeper- Students listen to stories from the Night Zookeeper, play creative games, then create animals for the Zookeeper to take care of. You can find several lesson plans for teachers on the website. There is a free app for the iPad where the students can draw their animal and describe it.
• MoshiMonsters- This is a game where students invent a monster, create it’s home then take care of the monster.
• EcoBugs- This is a free app for IOS devices that uses augmented reality. Students work in teams to discover new bugs and their habitats. Find various lesson plans for teachers on the website.
• Make a Monster- Students create a monster with various physical feature options. Then the monster comes to life, dances, and sings a funny song. I have used this activity for students to create a monster then they have to describe the planet their monster comes from. We usually end the lesson making Oobleck in different colors and the students pretending the Oobleck is their planet. You can also have students use Playdoh instead to create their planets. The students also write stories featuring their monsters and the planets they live on. You might try Little Bird Tales or Zooburst to create these stories online.
• Make a dangerous animal- Students create a dangerous animal by choosing from various body part options. Have them create a story featuring their dangerous animals. You might try Little Bird Tales or Zooburst to create these stories online.

More Great Websites and Resources

Find more ideas of how to effectively teach about innovation by visiting the resources below:

• Inventive Kids- Great way to discover the latest inventions by kids and find tips to inspire kids to be inventors.
• Inventor Spot- Resources for inventors including a database of recent inventions.
• Kid Inventors Lesson Plan Ideas
• Kid Inventors: Video Interviews by Ellen Degeneres
• Kid Inventors in History

What other ideas do you have?

If you want to receive more of Shelly’s tips for online resources for teaching English, then subscribe!

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Will you be talking about this historic figure in your classes this week? Why not try our popular Famous People lesson plan? Not a member yet? Check out the audio preview of this lesson plan on our  podcast for English learners .

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous People English Lesson Plans.

Don’t miss our collection of ESL Lesson Plans for Black History Month (February)

Listening is one of the most challenging skills of learning a second language. No matter how well a student may understand the written word or be able to speak in another language, when he or she hears it spoken naturally (i.e., quickly), it can be daunting. You can make it easier on your students by making use of the listening transcripts (for students who are visual learners, transcripts are a godsend). Whether the listening exercise is written out within the lesson (as is the case with ESL-Library’s lessons) or at the end of the textbook in transcript form, you can now present the listening exercise in many different ways. Why not mix it up from class to class? Variety is the spice of life, after all!

Method 1: Listen only first, listen with transcript second

1. It’s a good idea to go over some vocabulary before you listen. You can pick out some tough words from the transcript to cover with your students.

2. Present the listening first (without giving students the transcripts). For longer listening tasks, you may want to allow your students to take notes. You could also play the recording a second time before handing out the transcripts (especially for low level students, or difficult, long passages).

3. Now give students the transcripts and play the recording again, letting the students listen and read at the same time. Ask students if they have any additional vocabulary questions. This is a great time to go over any slang or idioms that come up.

4. For any related comprehension questions that follow, mix it up! You can have them answer the questions after the listening-with-transcript task, or have them answer questions before you do the final listening with the transcript so that they can catch anything they might have missed. If there aren’t any comprehension questions available, ask some yourself. Students are a lot more engaged when they know they will be asked questions afterwards.

Method 2: Listen with transcript first, listen only second

1. Start with vocabulary. You can pick out some tough words to teach the students, or have students skim the transcript and ask you words they are unfamiliar with.

2. Present the first listening while they are reading the transcript. If the material isn’t too difficult, you could have them do different things while they listen and read, such as focus on intonation or pronunciation, or underline words they don’t know.

3. Have them turn over the transcripts and listen to the recording for a second time. Now that they’ve heard and read it once, it should be easier to follow this time around. This method is often less frustrating for students, but there should be occasions when you also try method #1, to challenge them. Whether or not to listen for a third time is up to you. I usually go by what the majority of the students want. It’s a fine balance between helping out the slower students and not letting the faster students get bored. You could also make the recording available after school or during lunch for any students who want to practice the listening again. This is also part of the beauty of transcripts…slower students can study the written-out recordings later at home.

4. Present the comprehension questions and go over any other difficult vocabulary.

Method 3: Fill in the blanks while listening

1. This is a fun, different way to use transcripts and vary the listening exercises you give to your students. First, make one copy of the transcript and white out a word or phrase from each speaker’s comment, or from every two sentences or so. The amount of blanks will depend on the level of your students. Just make sure not to have too many back to back, as students may get frustrated if they can’t keep up.

2. Play the recording and let students try to fill in the blanks as they listen. This method ensures engagement during the listening and really makes them aware of each word.

3. Play the recording a second time so that students can fill in any blanks they missed during the first go.

4. Check the answers together. Make sure you have them check their spelling.

5. Now that the blanks are filled in, play the recording a third time and have students concentrate on the overall meaning of the passage.

6. Do any comprehension questions and go over any difficult vocabulary.

Method 4: Cut up and put in order

1. This is another way of using transcripts creatively. There are two ways to present this method (I prefer the first way). One way is to listen to the recording first, then give the cut-up transcript pieces and have students put them in order second. The second way is to give the cut-up transcript pieces first and have students put them in order, and listen to the passage second. Try both ways for variety and see what your students respond to best.

2. To do this method, cut up the transcript into speakers’ sections (if it’s a dialogue) or paragraphs (if it’s one long passage). The idea behind presenting the transcript this way is that it forces the students to really think about the meaning of what they’re reading and hearing. You can’t put something back in order if you don’t understand it well.

If the transcripts aren’t available in the textbook, I always copy them out for students who want to study the dialogue, vocabulary, etc. later at home. In the interest of saving trees, I usually ask how many students actually want a copy, since undoubtedly some of the students will just throw them out. On average, I would say about half the class wants a copy.

If you have another way of using transcripts, I’d love to hear it! Drop me a line in the comments section below.

I hope these tips help your students become great listeners!

Tanya

Coming Soon: How to Use ESL-Library’s Podcasts

Adele’s Family Tree

Are your students ready to learn about adjective clauses and phrases? Reading and listening to grammar in context is a great way to reinforce a new grammar point. After all, this is how native English speakers absorb grammar without realizing it. Our podcast today is an audio preview of our ready-made Grammar Stories lesson plan on “Adjective Clauses and Phrases”. The full lesson plan includes 3 readings (blog posts written by Adele), 3 question sets, and a page of grammar review activities. Please try this lesson plan with your language learners when they’re ready to try using adjective clauses and phrases.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Grammar Stories English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Past Perfect Progressive

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 147th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s podcast about Eye Care.

Armstrong told the Associated Press: “I’m calm, I’m at ease and ready to speak candidly.”

Lesson Plan on Steroids in Sports

Lance Armstrong isn’t the only athlete people are talking about this week. Three top baseball players were denied entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame last week due to steroid scandals. If your students are interested in this topic, we hope you’ll try our Lesson of the week: Steroids in Sports (Discussion Starters). This lesson plan includes a warm-up, a reading, vocabulary review, and discussion questions. Your students want to talk about real issues that matter today! Not a member yet? Join today!

Related in the ESL-Library

Lay Vs. Lie: An analysis of a grammatical error in Lance Armstrong’s recent tweet 
Steroids in Sports: Podcast
Famous People: Oprah Winfrey (lesson plan)
Oprah Vs. Lady Gaga (blog post)
Oprah’s Interview with Lady Gaga: Something to Talk About
Famous Things Lesson Plan: Baseball

Check out all of our sports-themed lesson plans and materials on our NEW theme-based resources page.

Hyphens. Such a tiny punctuation mark, yet hyphens can confound ESL students and native speakers alike. Don’t let these little dashes scare you–the rules for their use within multiple-word adjectives are actually quite simple. It’s just a matter of placement within a sentence. Follow the rules below to achieve hyphenated-adjective perfection!

1. Use hyphens before nouns.

If the multiple-word adjective comes before a noun, use hyphens.

Examples:

• She gave me an up-to-date report.
• We used computer-generated images in our presentation.
• After the reading exercise, answer these follow-up questions.

This rule is especially common with TIME, MONEY, and DISTANCE. Note that adjectives never take an “s.”

Examples:

• We have a five-minute break in our morning class. (NOT five-minutes break)
• The clerk handed me a 100-dollar bill.
• I went for a 20-kilometre run this morning.

What about using adverbs and adjectives? Be careful here. Most adverb/adjective combinations will NOT be hyphenated. One common exception is with the adverb well.

Examples:

• Lady Gaga is a very famous singer. (NOT very-famous singer)
• The second presenter was a less interesting speaker. (NOT less-interesting)
• J.R.R. Tolkien is a well-known author. (This is the exception.)

2. Don’t use hyphens after verbs.

When the multiple-word adjective (or phrase involving a quantifier or adjective + noun) comes after the main verb (or is the main verb), do NOT use hyphens. Let’s take a look at the previous examples:

• Her report was up to date.
• The images in our presentation were computer generated.
• We followed up the reading exercise with comprehension questions .
• Our morning class break is five minutes. (Note: Now that we don’t need a hyphen, we must follow the normal rules for forming the plural, so we need to use an “s.”)
• The clerk handed me 100 dollars.
• I ran for 20 kilometres this morning.
• J.R.R. Tolkien is well known.

Conclusion:

Use hyphens if the multiple-word adjective comes before a noun, otherwise don’t use hyphens.

Are there exceptions? Unfortunately, there are always exceptions. For example, the adjective good-looking is always hyphenated, no matter the position in the sentence. (A good-looking guy waved at me this morning. / He is good-looking.) However, I’d say that this rule works over 90% of the time.

I hope this blog post helped clarify this well-known problem,

Tanya

9 Tips for Better Eye Health

January is “Eye Health Awareness Month”. Our podcast today is an audio preview of our ready-made lesson plan on “Eye Health”. The full lesson plan includes warm up activities, a reading (in list form), vocabulary review exercises, a role-play activity, discussion questions, and a listening activity that requires learners to get up and move around. Please try this lesson plan with your language learners this month.

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Health Matters English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Private Prisons.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 146th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s related podcast about Braille.

If you want to preview this lesson plan before you use it, check out our podcast preview. You can assign the free listening task to your English learners before you try the lesson. (Also available on iTunes.)

Check out our full list of Sports-Themed Materials in the ESL-Library.

Last month we published a NEW lesson plan about the “Paparazzi”. We were inspired to do this lesson plan after hearing about Duchess Kate’s pregnancy. Despite the tragedy involving Princess Diana and the paparazzi, Britain’s Royal Family continues to be stalked by photographers. During our research we learned about a court case involving Justin Bieber and a celebrity photographer in a high speed chase in Los Angeles. This week, Justin Bieber and the paparazzi are in the news again. A paparazzo was hit by an oncoming car after stopping on the highway while trying to take a picture of Bieber’s Ferrari.

Did you already try our Paparazzi lesson plan in class? Are you interested in having a follow-up discussion? Share Bieber’s statement with your students and talk about what needs to be done to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again.

“Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders and the photographers themselves.” Justin Bieber

Watch The Video

Here is a short video clip about this recent paparazzi tragedy that you can share with your students. You may want to teach the following key vocabulary.

• paparazzo (singular form of paparazzi)
• a statement
• legislation
• innocent bystanders
• reignited the debate
• susceptible
• wake-up call
• contentious

Debate

You could also try having a mini-debate about this issue. Divide your class into two groups to debate this topic.:

Freelance celebrity photographers known as “paparazzi” should have the same rights and freedoms as other members of the press. No new legislation is required.

If you haven’t tried our Discussion Starters lesson plan on the Paparazzi, check out our podcast preview here.

Almost all English grammar rules have exceptions that can cause our students endless confusion. That’s why, whenever an exception pops up during class, I like to point it out to refresh my students’ memories. A common source of confusion is subject-verb agreement, particularly when it pertains to non-count nouns that end in “s.” Some of these nouns are common in speaking and writing, and you can bet they often appear on tests such as the TOEIC. Here are some of the worst offenders:

1. News

I often remind my students that news is non-count…we can’t say “one new, two news.” Think of news as information or a collection of stories. News always takes a singular verb, like any non-count noun would.

Examples:

• The news was really interesting last night.
• No news is good news.

2. Customs

The non-count noun customs is defined as the agency that collects duties or tolls on imports or exports. (Going through customs at the airport is a common example.) Customs always takes a singular verb in this case. Note that this word is not to be confused with the count noun custom, which is defined as a tradition or common practice. (Taking off your shoes when you enter someone’s house is a good example of a Canadian custom.) In this case, custom takes a singular verb, while customs takes a plural verb.

Examples:

• Meaning 1 (non-count noun): Customs is intimidating. I always get nervous when I have to talk to the customs agent at the airport.
• Meaning 2 (count noun): Japanese customs fascinate me. For example, their tea ceremony custom is intricate and beautiful.

3. School Subjects

School subjects are also non-count nouns since they represent a collective field of study. They take a singular verb. Some subjects don’t end in “s” (and therefore aren’t confusing), such as psychology, chemistry, or English. But some end in “s” even though they take a singular verb, such as physics, mathematics, etc.

Examples:

• Physics is difficult for me. I’m failing that class.
• Statistics was a fun course. I enjoyed learning how to analyze survey results.

Can you think of any more examples of nouns like these? If so, please share them with us in the comments section below.

Happy 2013,
Tanya

Who was Louis Braille?

ESL-Library’s teaching theme for January is “Innovation”. We have plenty of lesson plans about innovators and inventions in the ESL-Library. Our ready-made lesson plan on “Braille” is a great choice for this week, as Louis Braille’s birthday is on January 4th! You can preview this lesson plan in today’s podcast.  The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. Please try this lesson plan with your language learners. What new invention will innovators create in 2013?

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous Things English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…9 Tips for Better Eye Health.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 145th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here, including last week’s podcast about the Paparazzi!

What will be the new big thing in 2013? Who will be this year’s great inventor? This month’s teaching theme is all about inventors and inventions! In 2013, we hope you and your students take the time to build, create, and share something that you made with your own brains and hands. We hope you’ll also enjoy using all of our ideas and materials in the New Year!

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it. ” ~Alan Kay

Are you looking for a fun theme to use for teaching English in January? In the ESL-Library you will find a wide variety of materials on inventors and inventions. Check out our NEW collection of materials on innovation.

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook

If you and your students would like to show your support for the Sandy Hook community, there is a simple way you can do this. Please review our recent blog post “Snowflakes for Sandy Hook” and help make a Winter Wonderland for this grieving community.

New Lesson Plans this Month

• Discussion Starters: Paparazzi
• How To: How To Make a Snowflake
• American Presidents: John F. Kennedy
• Famous People: Norman Bethune
• Role Play: School
• Grammar Practice Worksheets: Past Tense Modals

Apps for Learning English

Did you know that Red River Press has numerous apps for learning English on the go? Find the English App on iTunes and discover why  Apple recently featured our latest app in New and Noteworthy!

January Features

Holidays – New Year’s : Your first week back at school is the perfect time to teach about how people celebrate New Year’s around the world. Low and high-intermediate lesson plans are available. (Dec. 31) You could also check out our Warmups for some fun New Year’s activities. In “Old Me, New Me” students practice using “used to” and “going to”. In “Unfinished Business” students talk about things they started but never finished. (Free for non-subscribers)

Health Matters – Eye Care Month: Students learn and discuss 9 Tips for Better Eye Health. They also debate the importance of seeing vs. hearing. Are there certain foods that can improve your eye health? (January)

Famous Things – Braille: Try our interesting lesson plan on Braille on Louis Braille’s birthday. (World Braille Day, Jan. 4)

Famous People – Elvis Presley It’s almost the King of Rock and Roll’s birthday. Try our popular Famous People lesson plan. (Jan. 8)

Famous People – Martin Luther King : Martin Luther King Day is the perfect day to learn about this famous historic figure. Try our lesson plan and listen to the related podcast. (Jan. 21)

Be sure to check out January’s Lesson Plan Calendar for more featured lessons. If your new year’s resolution is to plan your lessons ahead of time, check out our suggestions for February, too!

Wishing you a Happy New Year full of inspiration and experiences that you can use to light up your classroom.

Happy Teaching!
Sincerely,

The Staff at ESL-Library

When I was editing ESL-Library’s New Year’s beginner and intermediate lesson plans recently, I started to question the use of New Year’s and New Year. When do we use the possessive form? Also, there are instances where the words “new” and “year” shouldn’t be capitalized. Confusing, right? I did a bit of research to find out what the style guides and dictionaries suggest, and I thought I’d share the results with you. With the holiday around the corner, your students might be asking you about this very soon!

“New Year” Vs. “new year”

First of all, let’s sort out “New Year” vs. “new year.” This distinction depends on whether you’re referring to the holiday or the year itself. If you’re referring to the holiday, you should capitalize it.

For example:

• Happy New Year!

When you’re referring to the year itself, you shouldn’t capitalize it.

For example:

• It’s the first day of the new year, so let’s celebrate!
• He’s decided to quit smoking since it’s a new year.

Here’s an easy way to remember this: If you use an article (a or the), you shouldn’t use capitals.

“New Year” Vs. “New Year’s”

Now it gets tricky, since both ways seem to be commonly used. I think the problem started when we occasionally dropped the words “eve” and “day” from the full holiday names “New Year’s Eve” and “New Year’s Day.” When the words “eve” and “day” are present, we clearly need the possessive form “New Year’s” (The Chicago Manual of Style, section 8.88). But what about when those words aren’t present? People sometimes forget to include the ’s, but I think it should be included. For example, I recently wrote a blog post called “7 Christmas and New Year’s Classroom Activities” and I chose to write “New Year’s.” Why? Because I’m thinking of the holiday “New Year’s Day,” and I’m simply dropping the word “day.” I reasoned this out after editing ESL-Library’s New Year’s (beginner) lesson and New Year’s (intermediate) lesson plans. The writer had chosen to use “New Year’s” over “New Year,” and I agreed with this choice.

What do the dictionaries have to say? Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., has an entry for “New Year,” but states that usually “New Year’s” is used. Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English does not have an entry for “New Year” and does have an entry for “New Year’s,” so clearly they advise using “New Year’s.”

For example:

• Try these Christmas and New Year’s classroom activities.
• It was a fantastic New Year’s celebration.

Conclusions:

I would use “new year” when following an article (a or the), and I would use “New Year’s” in all other cases, aside from the expression “Happy New Year.” (Note: “Happy New Year’s” is also possible, but not as common, in my opinion.)

What do you guys think? What do you normally use? Leave your comments in the section below.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Tanya

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook

At Red River Press we were deeply saddened to hear about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. Like all parents and teachers, we held our children close, and wished there was something we could do to show our support for the grieving community. This tragedy struck closer to home than we first realized. Six-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene was one of the victims. Her family had been living right here in Winnipeg where our office is based until just six months ago when they returned to their home state of Connecticut. Ana’s father taught music at the University of Manitoba. Her mother was a family therapist at the University of Winnipeg. Ana’s brother Isaiah also attended Sandy Hook Elementary. He is in Grade 3.

People around the world want to do something to help families like Ana’s. A teacher on ESL-Library’s Facebook page shared a link to a snowflake project organized by the PTA in Connecticut. We invite you to view this link and help create a Winter Wonderland for students like Isaiah who will be attending Sandy Hook Elementary in a new building in the new year. You can do this at home with your own families over the holidays, or at school with your students.

If you need ideas for combining this craft with learning English, we have created an activity that you can use in your class. How to Make a Paper Snowflake is free and available to any teacher who wants to try it. Your students will get a chance to make a paper snowflake based on a set of procedures (see video below for a demo in case you need it). They will discuss the difficulties associated with following the procedure, and compare the snowflakes they created. As a follow up task, students will write their own procedure and challenge their classmates to another design. This lesson plan does not mention the Sandy Hook tragedy in any way, however, it will remain in our library in memory of Ana and the other victims.

If you can’t send your snowflakes to Sandy Hook in the next few weeks, consider decorating your own classroom with snowflakes this January to show your support for the survivors and the victims. Let’s help Ana’s mother show the world that “love wins”.

Here is the address to send snowflakes to Sandy Hook (by January 12th)
Connecticut PTSA
60 Connolly Parkway
Building 12, Suite 103
Hamden, CT 06514

Demo for creating the Snowflake in our Lesson Plan

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In the last few weeks leading up to the holidays, students usually get restless. Even if they don’t celebrate Christmas in their own cultures, most are looking forward to having some time off. Throwing in some fun-filled activities that are different from your normal class routine will be well received! Also, students will appreciate learning about the holiday traditions of different cultures. These tried-and-tested Christmas and New Year’s activities will make this time of year special for everyone.

1. Secret Santa

This can be done within one class or as a school-wide event. Find out who wants to participate (as students may have to spend their own money, it should be voluntary) and have them write their names on a slip of paper. Mix the slips up and pass them out to the students. Tell your students that they are responsible for purchasing or making a gift for the person whose name is on the slip. Set a dollar limit ($5.00 for example) and remind students not to tell each other who they are buying for. On the last day of school before Christmas break, students can present their wrapped gifts to each other. As a fun variation, the gifts can be hidden around the school or classroom and students can hunt for their presents. Who doesn’t love presents?

2. Holiday Lessons

Turn the holiday season into an opportunity to learn! At ESL-Library.com, we’ve got lower level and intermediate lessons on Chanukah, Christmas, New Year’s, and Kwanzaa. The lessons each contain reading, vocabulary, speaking, and writing exercises, as well as other fun activities like songs and “find someone who.” There’s lots of fascinating information about the history and culture of these holidays for you and your students to discover.

3. Christmas Party

Let’s face it, on the last day before the Christmas break, your students won’t be in the mood for any heavy learning. Make this day fun and special by having a class party. Students can decorate by cutting out snowflakes out of paper to put up on the windows or the walls of their classroom. A pot-luck lunch usually works well, with each student bringing in food to share. Encourage students to prepare a dish from their native country, if they can. Have the students briefly explain their dish before everyone digs in. Students usually love this opportunity to learn about the food in other cultures, especially when they get to experience it firsthand! In addition to (or instead of) the food, you can prepare fun Christmas activities, songs, or even a movie about Christmas (there are tons of choices out there). See the rest of this blog post for ideas!

4. Holiday Flashcards

ESL-Library.com has a bunch of holiday flashcards you can use. Check out our Christmas Flashcards and ideas on how to use them. There are lots of fun activities you can do with your class, such as memory games, hot seat (or cold seat, depending where you live), making your own cartoons, and more. We’ve even got some specific pre-made holiday ideas—check out Ideas for Using Christmas Flashcards and Flashcards for New Year’s.

5. Christmas Field Trip

Most cities usually have lots of places with Christmas displays. For example, there is a hotel in Vancouver, BC, Canada that has a huge Christmas tree display. You might also check out a local event such as a choir performing Christmas carols outdoors. You can incorporate an activity into the outing, such as learning the carols beforehand, marking off a checklist, or writing a paragraph about what they saw. It’s a good way to get into the Christmas spirit!

6. Christmas Discussions

Use this opportunity to get some lively conversations going. You can write discussion questions on the board and have students discuss in pairs, groups, or as a class. Beginner students can talk about simple things such as what kinds of presents they buy and like to receive, or what they want for Christmas this year. They could also discuss the different Christmas traditions they follow within their family or culture, including food and activities. If you have students who don’t celebrate Christmas, have them discuss another holiday that takes place in December or January. More advanced students can discuss topics such as the commercialism of Christmas and their cultural traditions in depth. Students usually love finding out about other cultures! If your class contains students who are all from the same country, have them tell you about their traditions and tell them about yours, or focus on variations between families.

7. New Year’s Resolutions

Find out which students usually make New Year’s resolutions and have them explain the concept to the rest of the class. Brainstorm some examples together, and then have students make their own lists. You could assign a limit such as five or ten resolutions. Afterwards, have the students share their lists with their partners or in small groups. This also makes a great homework activity. Have students write their lists for homework, and discuss them the next day.

Happy holidays to all!
Tanya

The downside of celebrity life

Privacy is not one of the perks of being a celebrity! Where does this word come from? Who will be the next big star to sue a celebrity photographer? Our new Discussion Starters lesson plan on the Paparazzi is now available in the Lesson Plan Library. The full lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. Please try this lesson plan with your language learners. We can’t wait to hear what they think about the anti-paparazzi law in California. Should Justin Beiber have won the latest case?

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Discussion Starters English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Reality TV.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 144th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here. You will find some holiday ones that you can use  in December.

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” ~ Virginia Woolf

One of the best topics to teach as a language teacher is food. Language learners will use vocabulary and phrases related to food during their travels or while hosting guests from other countries. Moreover, teachers can teach math, instructions, health, poverty, culture, etiquette, and more while teaching about food. The activity ideas and resources below will help you have a successful food unit.

Activities and Ideas

Food Vocabulary

• Group students and have them design a restaurant menu using a multimedia tool like Glogster. They will pick the restaurant theme and design the menu with images of the food and prices. Show them a variety of menus collected from restaurants or have them look at online examples.
• Read, Write, Web has created this free tool for students to learn about restaurants and design menus.
• Check out these cooking and food prep and fast food and sandwiches flashcards.
• Tons of creative common images of food from around the world at ELTPICs.

Food and Culture
Students can learn about various cultures and traditions by studying various cuisines and the food within an area. Here are a few lesson ideas:

• Have students teach the class a food tradition or custom. This can be one they are familiar with like making tea or it can be one they research.
• Pair or group students and have them research the food manners or etiquette in a country. The students then role play in front of the class what they learned. A digital option is to get students to use a multimedia tool like Voicethread to share these etiquette rules through images, audio, and doodling.
• Pair or group students and have them plan a trip to a different country. They must come up with a list of restaurants they would like to visit and detail what they would order. Students then role play being at the restaurant and ordering the menu items.

Recipes
Recipes offer students a way to learn vocabulary in chunks through performing tasks and following instructions. Students learn about portion sizes, cooking tasks, ingredients, and cookware. Moreover, students are rewarded for their efforts by being able to taste what they cooked. Here are a few lesson ideas:

• Skype a local or famous chef, a student from a cooking school, a cookbook writer, or other food expert and have them teach the class how to prepare something simple
• Assign a project where students work in pairs or groups to teach the class how to cook a chosen recipe
• Have students create a short how-to video in which they teach others how to cook a meal or perform a cooking task like boiling an egg or chopping onions. They can upload these to Youtube. You can find several examples of these videos to show your students by doing a search on Youtube.
• Have students use a multimedia scrapbooking tool like Mixbook to share a few of their favorite recipes accompanied by pictures and memories.
• Create a class recipe ebook on Google Docs or BoomWriter in which each student submits a recipe and shows step by step instructions through pictures.

Digital Dialogues About Food

• Students can create a video dialogue between 2 or more fictitious characters using digital storytelling tools like GoAnimate, Xtranormal, Dvolver, and ZimmerTwins.
• Students can create a digital comic of a conversation involving food with tools like
  ToonDoo, Make Beliefs Comix, and Creaza. Be sure to check out this post,
  Create Your Own Cartoons for Teaching Languages.
• Here are a few ideas of dialogues students can create: a conversation between a waiter and customer, a customer complaining about the food, a conversation between a couple on a date at a restaurant, parents with noisy children, students ordering food in a school cafeteria, a conversation between two food critics who disagree, a food fight, people critiquing the food at a party or event, friends ordering at a food court, a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian ordering food, friends shopping at the grocery store, friends shopping at a farmer’s market

More Great Websites and Resources

Find more ideas of how to effectively teach food by visiting the resources below:

• Games, lesson ideas, and resources for teaching children about food
  by Teaching English
• Food Curriculum for Teens and Adults
  by Johns Hopkins
• Food History Lesson Plans
• 100s of Food Lesson Plans for K-12
• My American Farm- Food Lesson Plan and Online Game for Language Learners

Check out ESL-Library’s list of materials for Teaching About Food.

What other ideas do you have?

If you want to receive more of Shelly’s tips for online resources for teaching English, then subscribe!

Quick Links to Christmas-Themed Materials in the ESL-Library

Holidays: Christmas Lesson (beginner)
Holidays: Christmas Lesson (high intermediate)
Podcast: Christmas
Flashcards: Christmas
12 Ways to Wish Someone a Happy Holiday
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? Let’s debate!
Flashcards Ideas: Toys and Games
Mini Holidays: Festivus
Ideas for Using Christmas Flashcards
Mini Holidays: Boxing Day
Warm Up: Holiday Guest (FREE on our blog)

Do you enjoy using cartoons in the classroom? Have you tried making your own cartoons? Students appreciate personalized worksheets and images, and ESL-Library offers the perfect solution. If you subscribe to ESL-Library, you have access to thousands of images that can be used for making your own classroom materials. As a subscriber, you are licensed to use our images to create your own worksheets and quizzes for your own personal use in your classroom. That means, you can create your own cartoons, too!

Here are the basic instructions:

1. Sign in to ESL-Library. Not a member yet? Join here!

2. Choose the Flashcard Library.

3. Search for an image(s) that you want to use. If you’re covering a specific theme, such as a holiday or a sport, you’ll be able to find many useful images. You may want to combine more than one, as I did with the image above. To create the image above I searched for the word “draw”.

4. Open a blank word document. On a Mac, Pages works best. You could also use Word.

5. In the Flashcard Library, click on the image you want. This will make it the full size you need to work with. (If you’re not logged in, you will be prompted here.) Drag the large version of the image onto your open blank document. Use your mouse to make the image as large or as small as you want. Make sure not to distort the image when you change the size.

6. Add a quote bubble(s). In Pages choose Insert | Shape | Quote Bubble. Change the colour, shape, and direction of your quote bubble and drag it where you need it. You may need to send the image to the back so that the quote bubble can overlap it nicely. In Word choose Insert | Picture | Auto shape (choose the icon that looks like a bubble. Then choose the style you want.)

7. Type the text you want into your quote bubble. (In Pages, I do this in a text box.) You may also want to leave the quote bubble blank for your students to fill in. For example, choose an image and ask your students to write an “if clause” (see below)

8. Print your cartoon or save it to your computer. You could also add it to a worksheet or quiz that you have written.

You can also check out this screencast demo on how to create your own quizzes using ESL-Library flashcards.

Copyright

Please review the copyright rules here.  Scroll down to Use of the Flashcard Library. Your membership does not give you permission to post ESL-Library images on any public or private server, including your own blog or website. As an ESL-Library subscriber, you may only use ESL-Library images in your own classroom.

Check out some of our other Flashcard Ideas here, including Ideas for Using Christmas Flashcards.

Most ESL teachers know what it’s like to spend hours writing extensive lesson plans that map out every minute of the class. The reality is that things never go exactly according to schedule, and who has that kind of time, anyways? It’s not so difficult to come up with a more basic lesson plan that you can adapt to many different classes. I’m talking about a useful lesson plan that doesn’t take more than a few minutes to come up with. It’s true that some teachers are quite comfortable winging it—not using a lesson plan and thinking up ideas on the spot that go along with the textbook—but this surely leads to some days where no ideas readily come to mind and you’re stuck doing dry textbook material for the entire class. On the other hand, some teachers like to be prepared, and the idea of walking into class without a lesson plan is akin to that dream where you’re in high school with no clothes on! Lesson planning also helps when you have lower level students, or students who aren’t very talkative. Having a good lesson plan to fall back on helps your class run smoothly with fewer awkward pauses or bored faces.

To write or not to write?

Should you write out your lesson plan? I usually did, but you don’t have to. I kept a notebook with a few notes about which activities or textbook pages I’d be doing, and in what order. It usually only took me about five minutes to plan out (unless I had to search for a certain activity). I know plenty of teachers who didn’t actually write out their lesson plans, but instead kept their photocopies in the order they would be used, and a post-it to mark where they left off in the textbook.

Lesson Plan Structure

1. Warm-up:

I always try to have something that’s related to the main lesson of the day to get the students talking and/or having fun. It’s nice to ease students into the class instead of abruptly launching into the day’s lesson. After about a year of teaching, I had a drawer full of file folders organized by topic or grammar point with short activities to use as warm-ups, such as discussion questions, pictures to describe, vocabulary to match up, etc. I strongly advise you to save the warm-ups you like and reuse them with different classes—it saves time in the long run. If you’re just starting out as a teacher, or you have a topic you’ve never come across before, you can simply come up with five discussion questions to write on the board for students to discuss in pairs, small groups, or as a class. Or, better yet, have students write their own discussion questions about the topic, mix them up, hand them out, and discuss (see My Favourite Fun, Student-Generated Speaking Activity for more information). You could also check out Flashcard Ideas and Warm-Ups and Fillers for more warm-up activities.

2. Main lesson:

This is where you teach the meat of your lesson, whether it’s through a textbook or something you’ve created yourself. Introduce the grammar point or teach the vocabulary, then get into the practice exercises, reading, etc. Depending on how long your class is, don’t let this part go on for too long. If you have a three-hour class, for example, I always try to have something “fun” planned in between long exercises that’s still related to the lesson, such as a grammar game, speaking activity, vocabulary activity, etc. (see 4 Activities for Reviewing Vocabulary for more suggestions). The goal is to prevent students from getting bored, tired, or burned out. Anything that gets the students talking, or even up and moving around, is great in between challenging textbook exercises. Check out Tips and Ideas for more suggestions.

3. Wrap-up:

I try to do a short wrap-up at the end of each exercise, or especially at the end of the class. Often, it’s just a matter of having a few students share their thoughts or opinions with the class, especially if it was a pair or group activity that you’ve just completed. Correcting the exercise as a class, or asking the students if they have any questions, could also serve as a wrap-up. You could also do a quick review or summary on the points you just taught. The goal here is to avoid dismissing students after a long period of working silently, which gives a “Class is over, now get out!” impression (even if that is what you’re thinking at times!).

4. Extra activity:

Students never work at the same pace. There are always students who are faster or slower than the rest, or sometimes you have a multi-level class. This can be a big problem, as the faster students get bored and feel like they’re wasting their time waiting around, and the slower students get frustrated if they don’t have enough time to finish an activity. I found that having an extra activity or two prepared helped to eliminate this problem. If the class exercise is individual, have something that fast students can work on silently, such as a writing task. If the class exercise involves pairs or groups who are speaking, have an extra speaking task ready for those faster pairs/groups, such as a few extra related speaking questions. You could also allow free conversation practice (just make sure they’re not sitting there silently—some students love the chance to practice natural conversation, but some shyer students may find it awkward).

This may seem like a lot of extra planning, but actually, I found I didn’t often need the extra activity and could carry it over to the next class or two. Another way to avoid planning an extra activity is to allow fast students to start their homework during class. Finally, don’t worry if some of your extra activities aren’t related to the main lesson. I often had a stack of unrelated activities ready to use, such as word searches, grammar quizzes, or discussion topics ready in case some students were finished early (or, heaven forbid, all the students finished more quickly than I’d expected!). Check out Tips and Ideas and Warm-Ups and Fillers for activity ideas.

5. Homework:

Most students appreciate having the chance to practice and reinforce what they’ve learned in class (especially with adult learners). Also, many schools insist on having daily or weekly homework practice. Textbooks often have workbooks that are perfect to use as homework. Also, our Lesson Plan Library has many lessons that could be used as reading, writing, or grammar homework. For example, check out Grammar Practice Worksheets, which has many pages that can be used as grammar homework.

Ready-made lesson plans

I remember when I started editing lessons at ESL-Library almost a year ago, I told Tara, the head writer, how well laid out the lessons were and how much I wished I had heard about ESL-Library when I was a full-time teacher. If you’ve checked out our website, you’ll notice that ESL-Library’s lessons are already in a “lesson plan” type of format. Most of our lessons include discussion questions as a warm-up (that you can do as a class or in pairs), a reading, comprehension questions, a vocabulary review, and more discussion questions or other types of activities (see this lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr., for example). You don’t really have to plan anything else…you have complete lessons at your fingertips. I can see, after working here for a while, that one of ESL-Library’s main goals is to reduce the teacher’s workload. Sounds good to me!

Happy planning!

Tanya

A Leader Who Continues To Inspire

After hearing news that Nelson Mandela had been taken to hospital due to a serious lung infection, we decided to feature our Famous People lesson plan on this great leader. We’ve updated our lesson plan slightly, and are featuring it in today’s podcast. The full Famous People lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review exercises, as well as comprehension and discussion questions. Please try this lesson plan with your language learners. It is also available in Spanish and French.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” ~Nelson Mandela

Check out our full collection of Ready-to-Print Famous People English Lesson Plans.

Coming soon to our podcast…Paparazzi.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 143rd episode.

Check out previous podcasts here. You will find some holiday ones that you can use  in December.

Will you be talking about ways to stay fit in the new year? If you enjoy using authentic materials in the classroom, The Huffington Post recently published an article called New Exercises for Fitness. Check out the reading level to see if it is suitable for your English learners. In this article, your students can learn about 7 new ways people are staying fit. Put your students in pairs or small groups and assign one type of fitness to each grouping. Challenge your students to learn a bit more about the sport you assigned them. Then invite your students to teach each other about the sport they researched. Which sport sounds the most interesting, the most challenging, the most fun…? Why do people become interested in fitness at the beginning of a new year? How important is it to enjoy what you do for exercise? 

Fun and useful expressions and vocabulary from the article:

• You’re in luck.
• a host of new…
• heart-pumping
• spice up
• wind up with
• decipher
• sneak in
• to up your heart rate
• for good measure
• entered the mainstream
• a happy medium
• popping up everywhere
• ubiquitous (this is a fun word for pronunciation practice)

Related in the ESL-Library

Famous Things: Soccer, Hockey, Football, Golf, Cricket, Basketball, Baseball, The Olympics
Discussion Starters: Extreme Sports, Athlete Salaries, Steroids
Health Matters: The Heart
Flashcards: Sports and Equipment

This year Chanukah takes place from December 9-16th. We hope you’ll try our ready-made lesson plan on the Jewish Festival of Lights. This intermediate lesson plan comes with a reading, vocabulary review activities, comprehension questions, a Find Someone Who activity, a pair reading activity, and a section on “light” idioms. We also have a podcast on Chanukah that features a reading from this lesson plan. Share the podcast with your English learners as a preview to your lesson, or as extra listening practice. Find out why the eight-day festival features nine candles! You may also be interested in our “Hanukkah or Chanukah?” blog post about the proper spelling and pronunciation of this holiday.

Check out some of our other suggested lesson plans in December’s Lesson Plan Calendar.

Happy Chanukah!

In English, we have many words to express quantity, including many, much, few, less, a lot, lots, a little, etc. Today we’ll look at some of the ways to express amounts by using the quantifiers many and much. You can remind your students of a few basic rules for using these quantifiers. You can also review using many and much in positive statements, negative statements, and questions. And since there are always exceptions to every rule of English, I’ve listed some exceptions for many and much that you can pass on to your students.

Many

A) Rule: Many is used with plural count nouns. These words almost always end in “s,” so they are easy for students to spot.

B) Positive Statements: With positive statements, the meaning of many is “a lot, a big amount.”

Examples:

• She has many friends.
• There are many problems to solve before we can go home.

C) Negative Statements: With negative statements, the meaning of not many is “a few, a small amount.”

Examples:

• He doesn’t have many courses this semester.
• There aren’t many ways to use this software.

D) Questions: With questions, many is used to ask about the amount when the amount is unknown.

Examples:

• How many cars do they own?
• Are there many ways to say “thank you” in your language?

E) Exceptions: Point out that there are a few well-known exceptions where a plural count noun doesn’t end in “s”:

Examples:

• We have many children.
• There weren’t many people at the ceremony.

Much

A) Rule: Much is used with non-count nouns. These words almost never end in “s,” so they are easy for students to catch.

B) Positive Statements: Much is very formal and awkward in positive statements. I tell my students to generally avoid using much in positive statements. Instead, students can use “a lot of” or “lots of.”

Examples:

• Avoid: I have much time to help you.
• Use: I have a lot of time to help you. / I have lots of time to help you.

C) Negative Statements: With negative statements, the meaning of not much is “a little, a small amount.”

Examples:

• She doesn’t have much patience for people who are always late.
• It didn’t take that much paper to print out my essay.

D) Questions: With questions, much is used to ask about the amount when the amount is unknown.

Examples:

• How much does this sweater cost? (Point out that we usually drop the noun “money” because it’s obvious.)
• How much homework do you have?

E) Exceptions: Point out that there are a few well-known exceptions where a non-count noun ends in “s” (there will be a blog post on this coming soon):

Example:

• We didn’t have much news.

Also point out that we can use much in positive sentences with the words “so” and “too” (there will also be a blog post on “so” vs. “too” coming soon):

• I love you so much.
• I had so much fun at the party last night.
• The new software caused us too much trouble, so we switched back to our old program.

With the holidays coming up, I hope you get many days off! Don’t spend too much on presents!
Tanya

Teaching English can be tricky in the month of December. As we discussed last year on our blog, some teachers aren’t even allowed to use the word “Christmas” any more. ESL-Library’s lesson plan calendar features a wide variety of holiday lesson plans, including lessons on Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Boxing Day (or Festivus if you’re a reluctant shopper like me). If you’re a teacher who chooses (or is advised) to avoid any lesson plans related to religion, you can focus on other themes related to the December holidays, such as shopping or food. If there’s one thing we all do in December, it’s eat!

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” ~James Beard

In the ESL-Library you will find a wide variety of materials on food, dining, and eating out. In fact, you may discover that food is one of our favorite subjects! Check out our collection of food-themed materials.

Gifts for Teachers

New Lesson Plans this Month

• Discussion Starters: Cosmetic Surgery
• Simple Sentences: Food
• Everyday Idioms 2: Quizzes
• American Presidents: Richard Nixon
• Role Play: Socializing
• Grammar Practice Worksheets: Complex Sentences and Adverbs of Contrast

Apps for Business English

News Worth Celebrating: Red River Press’s latest app Collins – English for Business (for iPad) just won the David Riley award for innovation in Business English. Learn more here! This is a great gift for a teacher or a student.

December Features

Every Day is a Holiday – World Aids Day: Students learn about the red ribbon campaign and other grass roots programs. (Dec. 1)

Holidays – Chanukah: Students learn about the Jewish Festival of Lights. (Dec. 9-16)

Every Day is a Holiday – Festivus: This funny, secular holiday was popularized on the American sitcom Seinfeld. Have some fun discussing commercialism with your students. (Dec. 23)

Holidays – Christmas : We have beginner and intermediate lessons on Christmas. (Dec. 25) We also have a Christmas flashcard set. Here are some games and activities to try with our Christmas flashcards.

Every Day is a Holiday – Boxing Day: The meaning behind this holiday has changed tremendously since it was first invented. (Dec. 26)

Holidays – Kwanzaa : Learn about the history of this holiday, which was created during the civil rights movement. (Dec. 26 – Jan. 1)

Holidays – New Year’s : Learn about how people celebrate New Year’s around the world. Low and high-intermediate lesson plans available. (Dec. 31)

Be sure to check out December’s Lesson Plan Calendar for more featured lessons. If you want to get a jump start on the New Year, check out our suggestions for January as well.

May your holidays be filled with gingerbread houses, candy canes, and turkey feasts!

Happy Teaching!
Sincerely,

The Staff at ESL-Library

Is going under the knife becoming a way of life?

We recently received a suggestion from one of our subscribers. This is what she wrote:
“I love your discussion starters! They have been very useful to augment our school’s curriculum. Here’s a suggestion for another discussion starter: Cosmetic/plastic surgery. Have fun with it. Korean students have had eyelid surgery, Brazilian students are quite used to the idea of plastic surgery yet the Japanese or European students are horrified. An interesting topic.”

Thank you for your suggestion! We did have fun with it. Our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Cosmetic Surgery is now available in the lesson plan library. Today’s mini-podcast for English learners is an audio preview of this ready-made lesson plan. The Cosmetic Surgery lesson plan comes with a reading, vocabulary review, and discussion questions. If your students want to keep talking, we also have a Mini-Debates lesson plan on Botox.

Coming soon…Celebrity Babies.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 142nd episode.

Check out previous podcasts here. You will find some holiday ones that you can use  in December.

Do your students realize there’s more to Tag Questions than just knowing how to form them correctly? There is a slight difference in meaning when we use rising vs. falling intonation. A lot of textbooks don’t cover this point, but I think it’s important to teach our students how native speakers actually speak English, especially in informal situations that often call for Tag Questions. After discussing the purpose and intonation, there is also a mini-lesson that you can use to teach your students the structure of Tag Questions.

Purpose

Tag Questions are used when we are pretty certain that someone will agree with us. We use these questions for confirmation or emphasis.

For example:

• That was a great movie, wasn’t it? (I really liked the movie. I can’t read my friend’s mind, but I’m pretty sure my friend will agree with me.)
• The test will be difficult, won’t it? (My friend and I are in a tough class, and all the tests so far have been difficult. I’m quite sure my friend will agree with me.)

Intonation

1. Rising Intonation = voice goes up at the end of the question

This is the more familiar of the two Tag Question intonation styles, at least in Western Canada. We use it to indicate that we’re pretty sure that someone will agree with us. I like to tell my students that I’m about 90% sure in this case.

For example:

• That was a great movie, wasn’t it? (= voice goes up) In this example, I really liked the movie, and I’m 90% sure my friend will agree with me. Maybe my friend usually prefers action movies, but even though this was a romantic comedy, it was a great story so my friend probably liked it.

2. Falling Intonation = voice goes down at the end of the question

We use it to indicate that we’re very sure that someone will agree with us. I like to tell my students that I’m about 95% sure in this case.

For example:

• That was a great movie, wasn’t it? (= voice goes down) In this example, the movie was an action movie, which is my friend’s favourite type of movie. I loved the movie because it had a great plotline and lots of action, and I’m very sure my friend liked it.

Make sure you have your students repeat the questions after you to practice their intonation. When you practice Tag Questions in class (such as from the Structure lesson below), have them try both types of intonation.

Structure

Here’s how I usually present the formation of Tag Questions to my students:

1. Positive Vs. Negative Verbs:

Tell your students that the Tag is always the opposite of the Main Verb. If the Main Verb is positive, the Tag will be negative. If the Main Verb is negative, the Tag will be positive.

• He is funny, isn’t he?
• She didn’t finish her homework, did she?

2. Verbs without Auxiliaries:

Simple present verbs and simple past verbs form their Tags with do or did (in the same way that they use do, don’t, did, or didn’t for questions or negative sentences).

• They speak English fluently, don’t they?
• They don’t speak French fluently, do they?
• We ran for hours in gym class, didn’t we?
• We didn’t run for very long in gym class, did we?

*An exception is the verb To Be. This verb takes the opposite positive or negative form of the Main Verb, and the form depends on the subject.

• She is tired, isn’t she?
• You’re not finished, are you?
• He was on time, wasn’t he?
• They weren’t happy about the rain, were they?

3. Verbs with Auxiliaries:

It’s easy to form Tag Questions when the Main Verb has an Auxiliary Verb (or “helping verb”). Just use the opposite positive or negative form of the Auxiliary Verb.

• We won’t have time to finish, will we?
• He will call me tonight, won’t he?
• You haven’t seen this movie, have you?
• She has been studying English for five years hasn’t she?

4. Verbs with Modals:

It’s also easy to form Tag Questions when the Main Verb has a Modal in front of it. Just use the opposite positive or negative form of the Modal.

• You can swim, can’t you?
• She couldn’t go to the party, could she?
• He should study, shouldn’t he?
• They shouldn’t drive after drinking, should they?

Be careful! Might and may are not used in Tag Questions, and must is also awkward. Tell your students to avoid using these Modals in Tag Questions.

For Modal expressions like have to or be able to, the normal rules of simple present verbs and the Be verb apply.

• You have to study tonight, don’t you?
• You don’t have to study tonight, do you?
• She is able to sing, isn’t she?
• She isn’t able to sing, is she?

5. Other Types of Tags:

Remind your students that it’s also common to use words or phrases in place of Tag Questions, but the meaning is the same (used for confirmation or emphasis). Some common expressions are right, don’t you think, and the famous Canadian eh. Note that intonation is usually always rising in these cases.

• That was a great movie, right?
• That was a great movie, don’t you think?
• That was a great movie, eh?

For more practice on Tag Questions, try ESL-Library’s Detective Series lesson, Episode 2.

What about in your city or country? Are there slight differences in meaning related to differences in intonation, like in Western Canada? I’d love to hear what happens in other parts of the world. Feel free to leave a comment below and share with us!

The Tag Questions lesson is finished! That wasn’t so hard, was it?
Tanya

Do you prefer Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday has become one of the most popular shopping days of the year!  Our updated Business English lesson plan about Online Shopping is the perfect lesson to use in class this week. Today’s mini-podcast for English learners is an audio preview of this ready-made Business English lesson plan. The Online Shopping lesson plan comes with a reading, vocabulary review, discussion questions, a pair jigsaw activity, and a small group project.

Business English Teachers

If you’re already a subscriber, and you have a copy of this lesson plan in your folder, be sure to print out the updated version. Preview all of ESL-Library’s Business English lessons here. If you’re not a subscriber, we hope today’s podcast preview will give you an idea about what you’re missing! Join online today.

You may also be interested in our Office Life series, or the new award winning app that Red River Press developed with Harper Collins.

Coming soon…Skateboarding.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 141st episode.

Check out previous podcasts here. You will find some holiday ones that you can use  in December.

The Monday following American Thanksgiving is Cyber Monday, and at ESL-Library we have officially added this date to our Lesson Plan Calendar. After a crazy weekend of shopping (even for Canadians who celebrated Thanksgiving weeks ago), many people are now turning to online deals. Will you be talking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday in class this week?

We hope you’ll try our Business English lesson plan about Online Shopping. This is a high-intermediate level lesson that features a reading, vocabulary review, discussion questions, and a jigsaw activity comparing traditional and modern forms of payment. Students also participate in a small group project where they get to design their own company. Watch our blog this Wednesday for an upcoming podcast preview of this Online Shopping lesson!

Related materials on Shopping in the ESL Library

Discussion Starters: Consumerism, Mom and Pop Shops Vs. Chain Stores, Second Hand Vs. New
Role Plays: 9 Shopping Scenarios
Everyday Dialogues: Going Shopping, Returning an Item
Business English: Credit Card Debt
Living in English Unit: Shopping
Tiny Conversations: Paying for an Item
Every Day is a Holiday: Boxing Day
Something to Talk About: Is Black Friday taking over Thanksgiving?

Gifts for Teachers

Not a member yet? Why not put ESL-Library on your wish list? Share this link with that special someone who doesn’t know what to buy for you! You may also want to consider buying ESL-Library for a teacher friend. Exchanging gift subscriptions is a no-hassle option that provides new treats every month of the year.

Have fun shopping!

Vocabulary is one of the most difficult parts of learning a new language. There are just so many words to remember! It really doesn’t help when two words sound the same or look the same, like advice and advise. Talk about confusing! In my experience, students struggle with certain challenging word pairs whether they’re beginners or advanced. Not surprisingly, these word pairs often end up on exams like the TOEIC. I’ve compiled a list below of the words that I think are among the most difficult for students to keep straight. Teach your students these words in depth using the info below, or just review them from time to time: either way, your students will be ahead of the game if they can master these word pairs!

1. advice / advise

There are differences in grammar and pronunciation for these two words.

A. ADVICE

• Meaning: a suggestion or recommendation meant to help someone
• Grammar: noun
• Pronunciation: the second syllable has an soft /s/ sound
• Example: She gave me some good advice when she told me to study hard.

B. ADVISE

• Meaning: to suggest something to someone in order to help them
• Grammar: verb
• Pronunciation: the second syllable has a hard /z/ sound
• Example: The teacher advised the students to study hard for the final exam.

2. effect / affect

There are differences in grammar for these two words. When speaking quickly and naturally, these words sound the same, so the position in the sentence (subject, verb, object) is important.

A. EFFECT

• Meaning: the result or influence of something
• Grammar: noun
• Pronunciation: when speaking slowly, the first syllable has an /i/ sound (as in teeth), but when speaking quickly and naturally, the first syllable has a schwa sound (as in the) because it is unstressed
• Example: Turning up the volume had no effect on the sleepy students.

B. AFFECT

• Meaning: to influence or produce an effect on
• Grammar: verb
• Pronunciation: when speaking slowly, the first syllable has an /ae/ sound (as in cat), but when speaking quickly and naturally, the first syllable has a schwa sound (as in the) because it is unstressed
• Example: This medicine might affect your driving because it causes drowsiness.

For practice with effect and affect, try the Vocabulary Review (on page 3) in our Famous People lesson on Chris Hadfield.

3. accept / except

There are differences in grammar and meaning for these two words, but they sound very similar.

A. ACCEPT

• Meaning: to receive something willingly or approve of something or someone
• Grammar: verb
• Pronunciation: the first syllable has an /ae/ sound (as in cat), but when speaking very quickly, the schwa sound (as in the) is produced because the vowel is unstressed
• Example: He accepted the invitation and was looking forward to the party.

B. EXCEPT

• Meaning: with the exclusion of something or someone
• Grammar: preposition
• Pronunciation: when speaking slowly, the first syllable has an /E/ sound (as in get), but when speaking quickly and naturally, the first syllable has a schwa sound (as in the) because it is unstressed
• Example: I finished all my homework except for my difficult math assignment.

4. especially / specially

There are differences in pronunciation for these two words. The grammar is the same and the meanings are similar, so make sure to point out to your students that “specially” is not common, and they will almost always use “especially.”

A. ESPECIALLY

• Meaning: in particular, to emphasize something
• Grammar: adverb
• Pronunciation: there are four syllables, and the first syllable has a schwa sound (as in the)
• Example: I hate all vegetables, especially broccoli.

B. SPECIALLY

• Meaning: in a special way
• Grammar: adverb
• Pronunciation: there are only three syllables, and this word does not begin with a schwa sound
• Example: She is popular because she treats her friends specially.

5. immigrate / emigrate

There are differences in pronunciation for these two words. The grammar is the same and the meanings are similar, so make sure to point out to your students that “emigrate” is not common, and they will almost always use “immigrate.”

A. IMMIGRATE

• Meaning: to move to another country
• Grammar: verb
• Pronunciation: the first syllable has a /I/ (uppercase i, not lowercase L) sound (as in hit)
• Example: He immigrated to Canada last year when his dad got transferred.

B. EMIGRATE

• Meaning: to move from another country
• Grammar: verb
• Pronunciation: the first syllable has a /E/ sound (as in get)
• Example: They emigrated from Brazil in 2010, and they miss the warm weather.

6. custom / customs

There are important differences in meaning for these two words. Make sure you point out that meaning A becomes “customs” in the plural, and takes a plural verb, but meaning B is always singular, and takes a singular verb.

A. CUSTOM

• Meaning: tradition
• Grammar: noun
• Pronunciation: no /s/ sound at the end of the word in the singular, but /s/ sound at the end of the word in the plural
• Example: Taking your shoes off when you enter someone’s house is a custom in my country. (Another example: Certain customs were followed. Note the plural verb.)

B. CUSTOMS

• Meaning: when entering another country, the place where you show your passport and declare your goods
• Grammar: noun
• Pronunciation: /s/ sound is always at the end of the word
• Example: I always get nervous when I go through customs at the airport. (Another example: Customs was intimidating. Note the singular verb.)

I hope this clears up the confusion for your students!

Tanya

Here at Red River Press we were very excited to receive the good news that Collins English for Business: Listening won the prestigious David Riley award for innovation in Business English. Red River Press partnered with Harper Collins to build the iPad app for business English learners, which is based on the popular course book by Ian Badger.

“The Collins app was up against 12 other innovative Business English products. The judges commented that it was a difficult decision, but that Ian Badger’s innovative use of authentic recordings as well as the app’s smart use of mobile technology meant that it came out on top. “Collins Blog

RRP is currently developing three more apps for the business series.The first app in the series is currently on sale in the app store for 60% off. Please pass on this exciting news to your students!

More about the Business English App

The first app in the Collins series features 55 recordings, with English accents from all over the world from native and non-native English speakers. Learners who want to focus on learning a specific accent can choose “Units by Accent”. Units are also divided by topic. As they work through the units, learners will find useful tips about pronunciation, colloquialisms, and grammar. There is also a Mini-Dictionary for reviewing the most advanced vocabulary used in the recordings. Take a tour of Collins Business English: Listening here, and consider recommending it to your English learners for self-study.

Collins Business English App Series

• Collins Business English: Listening (Available Now)
• Collins Business English: Speaking (Coming in December)
• Collins Workplace English: (Coming in February)
• Collins Hotel and Hospitality English: (Coming in February)

Check out all of the other iPad apps by The English App (Also available for iPhone and iPod touch)

What Teachers are Saying About Author Ian Badger and the App

Ian Badger’s Presentation at IATEFL

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100th Grey Cup

 While most people are familiar with America’s NFL (National Football League) and its exciting Super Bowl championship, Canada also has a football league called the CFL.  At the end of the season, the top two CFL teams compete for the Grey Cup. This year Canada is celebrating its 100th Grey Cup! The championship will take place in Toronto on November 25th between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders. It always adds to the excitement when the host city’s team is in the championship game! (Even Canada’s Justin Bieber will be there!)

In today’s mini-podcast, English learners discover the history behind the sport often referred to as “American Football”. This podcast is an audio preview of our ready-made Famous Things lesson plan. The Football lesson plan comes with vocabulary review, a reading, comprehension questions, and discussion questions. There is also a research task where students find out more about the “pigskin” itself. Preview all of ESL-Library’s Sports lessons here.
Coming soon…Skateboarding.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 140th episode.

Check out previous podcasts here. You will find one on Thanksgiving that you can use this week as well.

Related in the ESL Library

Thanksgiving Podcast
Thanksgiving Flashcard Set
Tiny Conversations Lesson: Saying Thank You
Cooking and Food Preparation Flashcard Set
Discussion Starter lesson plan on Consumerism (for Black Friday)
Something to Talk About: Is Black Friday taking over Thanksgiving?

Thank You!

We are thankful for all of the teachers who subscribe to our library. Thank you for sending your feedback, requests, and ideas. We appreciate every one of you! We also appreciate all of the team members who work together to keep this digital library up-to-date. This includes writers, programmers, artists, editors, and managers.

If you’re not a member yet, we’re thankful you visited our blog. We hope you’ll take a look around our library and consider joining.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s anti-bullying week in the UK, and the BBC has just released the results of an interesting survey that could spark some great discussion in your classroom. The  study suggests that many students are hiding their talents and skills to avoid being targeted by bullies.

Are you looking for something to talk about with your English learners this week? Do you enjoy using authentic materials?

The article Pupils Hiding Talents From Bullies is a relatively short and simple text that teen and adult students will find very engaging. The survey results suggest that up to half of UK children between the ages of 11-16 have hidden their talents and skills to avoid being bullied. Share this article with your English learners to get them talking about this fascinating issue. After the discussion, invite your students to create anti-bullying posters for your classroom. Challenge them to come up slogans, such as “Don’t Let Bullies Rob you of your Talents!”

A Lesson Plan on Bullying

If you’re going to be talking about bullying in class, we hope you’ll try our popular Discussion Starters lesson plan on Bullying. Here in Canada, many young people recently had a wakeup call about the dangers of bullying, following the suicide of a bullied teen named Amanda Todd. Last month we shared Amanda Todd’s heartbreaking video on our blog, with a few ideas for showing it in the classroom. A teacher who used our lesson plan on bullying and showed the bullied victim’s video to her middle-schoolers had this to say:

“Loved the blog and discussion starter on bullying. I was hesitant about showing the [Amanda Todd] video to my 7th and 8th grade students, but after checking with their parents, I did. It was very moving for them and produced a lot of conversation and attempts that they often don’t make.”

Related in the ESL Library

Not a member yet? Check out this Podcast preview of our Bullying lesson plan to see if this material would be of interest to your students. If you think your students would enjoy lessons like this, and you like the idea of a digital library, please join! We also recommend this discussion topic and video: Bullied Bus Monitor Inspires Human Kindness

Is your house full of chocolate leftovers from Halloween? Mine is! If you’re a chocoholic like me, you probably use the excuse “Chocolate is good for me!” every time you sneak a mini bar from your child’s loot. Our Health Matters section is full of lessons that are based on fun and interesting lists, including today’s reading: 6 Myths About Chocolate. Visit ESL-Library to print out the health lesson that goes with today’s podcast. The lesson comes with a warm up, a reading, vocabulary review, comprehension questions, a role-play idea, and a writing activity where your students will work on their own lists. This lesson on Chocolate also gives students the chance to practice paraphrasing orally. Preview all of ESL-Library’s Health lessons here. If you have any suggestions for topics, please leave a comment.

Coming soon…Cosmetic Surgery

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Mini-Biography, Discussion Starter, Grammar Story, or Holiday or Health lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 139th episode.

All languages have their confusing words…words that sound the same, look the same, or have the same meaning. Especially confusing are words that have similar forms (for example, in different verb tenses) but are not used in exactly the same way (the present and past tense of “read,” with two different pronunciations, comes to mind). In my opinion, the irregular verbs “lay” and “lie” rank at the top of the list in terms of confusing forms and usage.

These words are a particular pet peeve of mine…because I can never keep them straight! I have probably looked these two words up more often while teaching and editing than any other words in the English language. I hope that by writing out the rules here that we will sort them out, together, once and for all!

Usage

The quick trick is to notice if there is a direct object in the sentence.
If there is, then use the appropriate form of lay: to place in a horizontal position.
E.g., She laid her baby in the crib at night.

If there isn’t a direct object then use the appropriate form of lie: to recline or assume a horizontal position.
E.g., I’m lying down because I have a headache.

Common Error

If you find that you can’t keep these words straight when conjugating them, you’re not alone! The thing that is most confusing about these two verbs is that the present tense of lay is the past tense of lie!

We can hardly blame Lance Armstrong for mixing these two up in his recent tweet: “Back in Austin and just layin’ around…” which caused a stir among language lovers. He wrote “laying” when he should have written “lying” (no direct object). This caused some controversy, not only because of the grammar, but also because he tweeted a photo of himself surrounded by his Tour de France jerseys even though his victories have been annulled. (Just imagine the responses if he had used the correct word (“lying”) in that tweet. Check out ESL-Library’s NEW Discussion Starters lesson on Steroids in Sports.)

Now let’s look at these verbs in more detail by examining their different meanings and forms.

Meanings

I won’t bore you with the more than fourteen meanings of “lay” and the more than eight meanings of “lie” (according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Let’s just stick to the meanings which are similar, and thus the source of all the confusion.

LAY

a) to put or set down

• e.g., He laid his books on his desk after school.

b) to place for rest or sleep

• e.g., She laid her baby in the crib.

LIE

a) to be or to stay at rest in a horizontal position

• e.g., I was lying in bed for hours last night before I finally fell asleep.

b) to assume a horizontal position, often used with down

• e.g., He will lie down for a quick nap.

Bill Bryson, in Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors, notes that it’s a common mistake for people to say, “Go upstairs and lay down.” It should be “lie down” because there is no direct object. The Chicago Manual of Style mentions that the children’s prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep,” is a good mnemonic device because it shows the use of a direct object after “lay.”

Verb Forms

LAY – LAID – LAID vs. LIE – LAY – LAIN

We can see that the form “lay” is used both as the present of lay and the past of lie. Memorization and repetition will definitely help you keep them straight. Also, the Copyeditor’s Handbook has a great sentence for keeping the past tense forms in mind, which you might want to pass along to your students: “He laid the book on the table before he lay down.”

Now, let’s examine these verb forms in more detail:

LAY – LAID – LAID

a) Present: Lay

• e.g., He lays his keys in the container by the door when he gets home every day.

b) Present Participle: Laying

• e.g., She can’t come to the phone right now because she is laying her baby in the crib.

c) Past: Laid

• e.g., I laid my passport on the counter at the airport.

d) Past Participle: Laid

• e.g., The vet has laid the dog on the examination table.

LIE – LAY – LAIN

a) Present: Lie

• e.g., He lies down for an hour every day after work.

b) Present Participle: Lying

• e.g., She is lying back in her favourite chair.

c) Past: Lay

• e.g., After watching two movies, the kids finally lay down to go to sleep last night.

d) Past Participle: Lain

• e.g., You have lain in bed for hours! Get up!

Note: Lie – To Make An Untrue Statement

Another common use of the verb “lie” is as an intransitive verb with the meaning “to make an untrue statement.” This “lie” also does not take a direct object, and the verb forms are lie – lied – lied because it is a regular verb. (E.g., She lied about staying home last night. Her friend told me she was at a party.) Because of the different forms and meaning, I hope this won’t confuse your students too much. It’s up to you whether you want to mention it within a “lay/lie” lesson, or save it for another day. Interestingly, Lance Armstrong’s grammatically incorrect tweet may be a useful way to remember all of these rules!

Do you need to lie down after all that info?
Tanya

Sources:

Bryson, Bill. Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors, 2008, p. 200-201.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, 2010, p. 287.
Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor’s Handbook, 2011, p. 347.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, 2008.

“Study the past if you would define the future.” ~ Confucius

Teaching students about historical events can get them excited about learning. The trick is to bring history to life and make it more tangible than a textbook offers. Students need to experience history, not just read about it. One way students can get a perspective about a historical event is to create a timeline. Timelines act as graphic organizers that help learners categorize, sequence, and analyze the events and people that create that particular history. Timelines also help learners to chunk difficult language and summarize in their own words how they understand the history they read about.

Timeline Tools

Below are various free multimedia online tools that your students can use to create timelines of any historical event.

Capzles- Create multimedia timelines on the web or on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Add pdfs, videos, music, and images to accompany dates and events.
MyHistro- Create multimedia timelines on the web or on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Each event can be labeled on a map and have text, pictures and video added.
Tiki-Toki- Create multimedia timelines on the web with text, images (Flickr supported), and video (choose from YouTube or Vimeo).
Timetoast- This is embeddable in a blog or wiki and allows students to add text and images. This tool is very simple to use and allows for longer descriptions when clicked.
TimeRime- Another embeddable timeline that supports events with text, images, music, and more. Has zooming features and other cool features for educators.
Timeglider- Create multimedia timelines with text, links, and images to accompany dates and events. Has zooming features, allows embedding, and the ability to create legends.
Xtimeline- Create multimedia timelines with text and images to accompany dates and events. Allows collaborative timeline creation and embedding. Under the interactive timeline is room to add links and more information.
Vuvox- mix, create and blend your videos, photos and music to accompany events. Allows embedding and linking to other resources.
Thinglink- This is more a multimedia poster but students can add an image of a historical event then create dates that are linked to multimedia resources.
Animaps- Create an animated video timeline of a map that pops up with text.

A Few Activities and Ideas

Creating a multimedia timeline is just part of the process of bringing that historical event to life, but students can experience more while researching and collecting resources to include in their timeline. Below are a few tips and ideas to ensure your learners get the most out of the process.

Interviews

• Students can interview someone who is tied to the event. They can interview someone from a museum or a relative or conduct a Skype interview with a person located somewhere else.

Primary Resources

• Students can include video or audio excerpts of people who experienced the event. Find primary resources on sites like History.com, the Library of Congress, Scholastic, and StoryCorps audio interviews.
• Students can add primary writing excerpts and quotes to their timeline such as images or pdfs of handwritten letters, poetry, newspaper articles and diary entries. In this post, Richard Byrne lists 9 websites to find all types of primary resources.

Digital Reenactments of Events

• Students can create a digital comic of the event. ToonDoo and Creaza have libraries of historical figures to choose from.
• Students can create a video or multimedia story of the event using a tool like Primary Access that gives students access to images, letters, and primary resources from the Library of Congress and other places. GoAnimate and Xtranormal also have a library of characters and backgrounds that students can choose from to create a video reenactment.
• Students can create a talking avatar with Voki that has a library of historical figures to choose from. Students can use their voices to make the avatar speak or type in the text.

Geography of the Events

• Students can include links to virtual tours of the event. Find a good list of historical virtual tours in this article, Teaching History with Technology: Virtual Tours.
• Students can include links to maps or images of what the area looked like when the event took place. Find historical maps here, interactive maps with timelines here, and animated historical maps here.

More Great Websites and Resources

Find more ideas of how to effectively teach history by visiting the resources below:

• Webinar Recording: Teaching Language Learners with Timelines
• 28 Tech Tools to Bring Out the Story in History
• Famous People and Famous Things lesson plans and more from ESL Library

What other ideas do you have?

If you want to receive more of Shelly’s tips for online resources for teaching English, then subscribe!

English, like all other languages, has many different ways to express one thing. For example, we can say “too,” “as well,” and “also,” and the meaning is virtually indistinguishable. The same is true for these commonly confused words: despite, in spite of, despite the fact that, in spite of the fact that, although, though, and even though. These expressions are all used for the same case: to describe a situation where something is unexpected. So how do we explain the different sentence structures and punctuation for these expressions? Over the years, I’ve developed an easy, clear way to present and teach these expressions to my students. I hope it works for you, too!

1. Unexpected situations

First, explain to your students that we use all of these terms to describe a situation that is unexpected. For example, if it is raining, we expect that most people would use an umbrella. If someone chooses not to use an umbrella, this would be an unexpected case. Write this sentence on the board:

• It is raining. I didn’t use my umbrella.

2. Despite / In spite of + N

Next, explain to your students that despite and in spite of must be followed by a noun or gerund. You can also point out that despite and in spite of have the same meaning, but despite is more commonly used than in spite of. The latter is a little more formal.

a) Despite / In spite of + N, + SVO.

Write sentence pattern (a) and the following examples on the board, pointing out that we use a comma when we start the sentence with despite or in spite of (the adverb phrase).

• Despite the rain, I didn’t use my umbrella.
• In spite of the rain, I didn’t use my umbrella.

b) SVO + despite / in spite of + N.

Write sentence pattern (b) and the following examples on the board. Make sure to tell your students that we can also start the sentence with the main clause, with no changes in meaning. In this case, we don’t need a comma.

• I didn’t use my umbrella despite the rain.
• I didn’t use my umbrella in spite of the rain.

For examples using gerunds, write the following:

• Despite studying all night, she didn’t pass her exam.
• She didn’t pass her exam despite studying all night.
• In spite of studying all night, she didn’t pass her exam.
• She didn’t pass her exam in spite of studying all night.

3. Despite the fact that / In spite of the fact that + SVO

Explain to your students that we have a way, in English, to use despite and in spite of with a Subject-Verb-Object clause. We can add the phrase the fact that. Make sure you point out to your students that this way is not commonly used as it is very formal. They should be aware of it, but they probably won’t use it much. (Note that when I say “SVO,” I’m simply referring to a main clause…some verbs do not take a direct object, as with “it was raining.”) You can write sentence patterns (c) and (d), and the examples, on the board:

c) Despite the fact that / In spite of the fact that + SVO, + SVO.

Ensure your students notice the use of a comma when we start the sentence with the adverb clause.

• Despite the fact that it was raining, I didn’t use my umbrella.
• In spite of the fact that it was raining, I didn’t use my umbrella.

d) SVO + despite the fact that / in spite of the fact that + SVO.

Point out that there is no comma used when we start the sentence with the main clause.

• I didn’t use my umbrella despite the fact that it was raining.
• I didn’t use my umbrella in spite of the fact that it was raining.

4. Although / Though / Even though + SVO

Tell your students that all three of these expressions are common, and they essentially have the same meaning. One could argue that there is slightly more emphasis on the unexpected with even though, but I don’t see it as an important distinction, and students already have enough to remember as it is. The choice of which expression to use is theirs, but I often tell students that I tend to use although more than the other two, and I’ve noticed that it appears on the TOEIC test more often as well. Here are some examples to write on the board, along with patterns (e) and (f):

e) Although / Though / Even though + SVO, + SVO.

Reiterate that we need a comma when we start the sentence with an adverb clause.

• Although it was raining, I didn’t use my umbrella.
• Though it was raining, I didn’t use my umbrella.
• Even though it was raining, I didn’t use my umbrella.

f) SVO + although / though / even though + SVO.

Again, make sure your students notice the lack of comma when starting the sentence with the main clause.

• I didn’t use my umbrella although it was raining.
• I didn’t use my umbrella though it was raining.
• I didn’t use my umbrella even though it was raining.

Although these structures can be tricky, I hope your students will master them in no time once they see all of these examples!
Tanya

PS
Your students can practice using “despite” in our NEW Global Warming lesson plan. A full lesson plan on Complex Sentences and Adverbs of Contrast is available in our Grammar Practice section.

The Beauty of Digital Publishing

When the announcement was made that Obama had been re-elected, our team worked together to make a few important updates to our lesson plan. The revised lesson plan was published for teachers to use the following morning. This is the beauty of digital publishing! If you’re not a member yet, please subscribe.

If your students are interested in American Presidents, we also hope you’ll try our ready-made lesson plans on some historic leaders from the past. New lesson plans are being added to the American Presidents section each month. Watch for Nixon and Kennedy this December!

Related in the ESL-Library

When Do We Capitalize President?
Podcast: Global Warming (Includes a quote from Obama’s victory speech.)
Podcast: Barack Obama
Idioms for Election Week
2012 Presidential Debates: What’s a Zinger?
Leave us your comments about our Barack Obama lesson in the comment fields below.

Despite the undeniable evidence of global warming, neither of the 2012 American presidential candidates made climate change a top priority in their plans to run the country. In President Obama’s victory speech, however, he did have this to say:
“We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened up by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.”(See full transcript of President Obama’s victory speech.) This speech was delivered just one week after Hurricane Sandy, a storm so strong that it put campaign trails on pause at a crucial time before the election. Will this devastating superstorm be enough to put climate change back on the American agenda?

This week’s mini-podcast offers an audio preview of our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Global Warming. In the corresponding lesson plan, students complete vocabulary review exercises and comprehension questions based on the reading. They also take part in a discussion about the melting sea ice in the Arctic, and the responsibilities of developing and developed countries and their governments. View our entire Discussion Starters section, and share your suggestions for future topics.

Print the Global Warming Lesson Plan to use in class with this podcast. Not a member yet? Join ESL-Library here!

Check out last week’s podcast on Kids and Technology.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Biography, Holiday, Discussion Starter, or Famous People/Place/Thing lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Find 130+ ESL-Library podcast episodes on iTunes. You’ll also find related podcasts that our listeners enjoy. Don’t forget to share the link with your English learners and fellow colleagues.

Origin

The term dead heat was originally used in horse racing. When two horses raced against each other and tied, the heat was called “dead” and did not count. The winner was undecided. This term is still used in horse racing, but is also used in political races. When two candidates are so close (according to the polls) that you can’t guess who will be declared the winner, it is considered “a dead heat”.

Related Words and Expressions

What is the opposite of a dead heat?  When a candidate wins by a large margin it is considered a landslide victory. Richard Nixon was re-elected in 1972 with a landslide victory. (Watch for the NEW Nixon lesson plan coming to our American Presidents section next month.) This term is also used in sports. My brother sent me a text yesterday to inform me of the results of my nephew’s hockey game. The text said: “It was an ugly win.” In other words, my nephew’s team won by a landslide. You could also say they won hands down.  The term “hands down” also came from horse racing. Jockeys who were way ahead of their opponents could loosen the reins, and win without putting in a lot of effort.

The candidates will likely be battling down to the wire (the finish line in horse racing). Do you think this election will require a recount? Your students can learn about the historic Bush vs Gore recount in our new George W. Bush lesson plan.

Teaching About American Presidents

We already have a lesson plan on Barack Obama in the ESL-Library. Do you think we’ll need to add one on Mitt Romney? Obama and Romney may have our attention this week, but mid-month all eyes will be on Abraham Lincoln! The new Daniel Day Lewis film “Lincoln” comes out November 16th. Introduce your students to this historic political figure before the big release.

Related

When Do We Capitalize President?
Podcast: Barack Obama
2012 Presidential Debates: What’s a Zinger?

Subscribers of ESL-Library often thank us for adding lesson plans related to current events. Teachers love waking up to find a timely lesson plan in their twitter or Facebook feed, such as our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Steroids, which was published the day after Lance Armstrong was stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles, or our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Global Warming, which features a discussion related to Hurricane Sandy. Over time these lesson plans become part of the ESL-Library archives, making it possible for students to study history and English simultaneously.

Combining English learning with history makes sense when you’re teaching teens and adults because many English learners bring background information to these topics. Your students are more likely to engage in discussion and use the related vocabulary and grammar that they learn if they already know something about the topic. Understanding the readings and recordings is also easier when students are familiar with the topic. In the ESL-Library you will find lesson plans on many historic events including The Titanic, Prohibition, September 11th, and the Fukushima Disaster. You’ll also find lesson plans on Chernobyl, Live 8 Concerts, and the Chilean Miners. Our Famous People section is full of people who deserve to be remembered, including Princess Diana, the 9/11 Heroes, and Martin Luther King. Your students will appreciate being able to join in English conversations about these familiar topics outside the classroom.

This month, as we remember the many men and women who have gone to war for our freedom, we invite you to take your students on a walk through history. Ask your students which historic events and people they are interested in. Search for these topics in our lesson plan library (and in our Podcasts). If we don’t have lesson plans on the topics your students suggest, send us a request!

New Lesson Plans this Month

• Discussion Starters: Global Warming
• Discussion Starters: Kids and Technology
• Discussion Starters: Steroids
• Simple Sentences: Animals
• Famous Things: Cricket
• American Presidents: George W. Bush
• Health Matters: 6 Myths About Chocolate
• Grammar Practice Worksheets: Direct and Reported Speech

In the App Store: Collins – English for Business (for iPad)

November Features

Famous People – Barack Obama: Will Obama be voted in for a second term? Americans will decide on November 6th. We received many requests for a lesson plan on the current US President.

Holidays – Remembrance Day: Whether you know it as Remembrance Day, Veterans’ Day, or Poppy Day, November 11th is a day to show respect to the men and women who protect our freedoms.

Every Day is a Holiday – Diwali: Teach your students about the Festival of Lights, a joyful holiday from the Hindu calendar. (November 13-17)

Holidays – American Thanksgiving: Learn about the history of American Thanksgiving, as well as other harvest festivals around the world. Low and high-intermediate lesson plans available. (November 22)

Be sure to check out November’s Lesson Plan Calendar for more featured lessons.

Are your students confused about how to use prepositions like “despite” and “in spite of”? Do you need a refresher on how to teach the various constructions when talking or writing about unexpected results? Follow the grammar section of our blog! Our editor Tanya will be covering this grammar point in November. You’ll get a chance to review the preposition “despite” in our Global Warming lesson plan.

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. ~George Santayana

Happy teaching!
Sincerely,

The Staff at ESL-Library

With the US elections coming up, the word “president” is on everyone’s minds, and it is a topic that will be covered in many classrooms. But is it president or President? What about when we say a president, the president, or President Obama? Textbooks don’t seem to cover these differences. Luckily, the style guides do! There are a few easy rules that apply to many such civil titles.

Use a capital when the title directly precedes the name.

Examples:

• President Barack Obama
• Vice President Joe Biden

Note: The title “vice president” doesn’t include a hyphen, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and The Chicago Manual of Style.

Don’t use a capital when the title doesn’t include a person’s name.

Examples:

• The president of the United States
• The vice president of the US

Note: Exceptions occur when a political office chooses to capitalize a title in all positions, most likely for emphasis in promotional products.

Confusion?

Now, here’s where I get confused. It’s clear to me that a president shouldn’t be capitalized, because “a” doesn’t refer to one specific person, but when I write the president, I instinctively want to capitalize it. After all, with “the,” we’re clearly referring to just one person! So, if you’re like me, you’ll have to resist the urge to capitalize after “the,” too.

Some more examples:

• Abraham Lincoln was a great president.
• Lincoln was the president from 1861 to 1865.
• President Lincoln is remembered for his work to end slavery.

Other titles:

Don’t forget that these rules apply to most other civil titles, too, no matter what political system your country has.

Examples:

• The prime minister of Canada
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper
• The mayor of Vancouver
• Mayor Gregor Robertson

For more examples of president/President, check out ESL-Library’s lesson on Barack Obama. That lesson is also a great way to teach some of the vocabulary your students will need to be able to discuss the elections in class. ESL-Library also has a section on American Presidents for you to try, including a NEW lesson plan on George W. Bush.

American friends, I hope the elections turn out the way you’re hoping for!

Tanya

Source: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, section 8.21.

How young is too young to use a mobile device? How does the iGeneration differ from Generation Y? Can apps replace human connections? This week’s mini-podcast offers an audio preview of our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Kids and Technology. In the corresponding lesson plan, students complete vocabulary review exercises and comprehension questions based on the reading. They also take part in a discussion about what impact the iGeneration will have on the human race. View our entire Discussion Starters section, and share your suggestions for future topics.

Print the Kids and Technology Lesson Plan to use in class with this podcast. Not a member yet? Join ESL-Library here!

Check out last week’s podcast on Steroids in Sports.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Biography, Holiday, Discussion Starter, or Famous People/Place/Thing lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Find 130+ ESL-Library podcast episodes on iTunes. You’ll also find related podcasts that our listeners enjoy. Don’t forget to share the link with your English learners and fellow colleagues.

Also known as the series comma, the Oxford comma, and the Harvard comma, the serial comma has been cause for debate for many years. When I became the editor for ESL-Library.com, I was thrilled to learn that their house style included the serial comma, because I prefer to use it myself. I’ve worked for other clients who’ve shunned its use, and it’s been hard to remember to leave it out.

Even the style guides can’t seem to agree. The Chicago Manual of Style recommends its use, but the AP Stylebook does not. What do you do? Let’s have a look at some of the reasons to love the serial comma, and some of the reasons to dump it.

To Use

The first reason that comes to mind is clarity. Sometimes a serial comma is necessary to make the meaning of the sentence clear. One famous example that made the rounds on the Internet was the sentence “We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin.” In this case, the meaning is clear — both JFK and Stalin were invited, as well as two or more strippers. Good times! However, if you don’t use the serial comma, as in “We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin” you could assume that JFK and Stalin were the strippers. No thanks!

Another reason for the serial comma is that its use reflects how we speak. In essence, commas are representations of pauses we make when we speak. To me, not using the serial comma means we shouldn’t pause at that part of the sentence when we speak. For example, think of the following sentence: I like apples, oranges, and pears.

Which sounds better:

• I like apples, oranges, and pears. = I-like-apples (pause) oranges (pause) and-pears.
• I like apples, oranges and pears. = I-like-apples (pause) oranges-and-pears.

To me, using the serial comma (and therefore pausing) sounds better, both in my head and out loud. Maybe I should just stop talking to myself so much!

Not to Use

I think the best argument not to use the serial comma is length. Your sentence is one character shorter without it, and since the meaning is generally the same with or without it, why bother making the sentence longer?

I also think that not using it seems to be getting more common. Because of the AP and CP style guides, we don’t usually see the serial comma in newspapers or magazines. And with the advent of texting, making everything shorter is the popular choice!

No matter what you decide to do, the important thing is to be consistent. Whether you have a strong opinion about it, or you were just taught to write a certain way, keep it consistent and you can’t go wrong.

So make a choice, stick to it(,) and have no regrets!

Tanya

Lance Armstrong was officially stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles this week in the latest steroid scandal. Athletes continue to dope despite the risk of failing a drug test, ruining their reputation, and being kicked out of a sport that they love.  Why? Because they want to win at all costs! Should steroids be regulated rather than banned? Are spectators and fans partly to blame? This week’s mini-podcast offers an audio preview of our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Steroids. In the corresponding lesson plan, students complete vocabulary review exercises and comprehension questions based on the reading. We hope this reading sparks a discussion about performance enhancers and cheating.

Print the Steroids Lesson Plan to use in class with this podcast. Not a member yet? Join ESL-Library here!

Did you miss last week’s podcast? Check it out! You’ll find an audio recording from an episode of our Detective Series: The Case of the Missing Ring.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Biography, Holiday, Discussion Starter, or Famous People/Place/Thing lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Find 135+ ESL-Library podcast episodes on iTunes. You’ll also find related podcasts that our listeners enjoy. Don’t forget to share the link with your English learners and fellow colleagues.

Hyphens, apostrophes, differences between noun and verb forms…English vocabulary can be confusing for students and native speakers alike! At this time of the year, Halloween vocab will probably be a part of your classes, so I’ve made a list of some confusing Halloween words to go over with your students. If you need ideas on how to present or review new vocab, check out my 4 Ways to Teach New Vocab and 4 Vocab Review Activities blog posts.

The idea for this blog post came when I was editing our Halloween beginner and intermediate lessons last week. “Jack O’ Lantern” was spelled using capital letters in the lessons, and I figured I’d better check to make sure that was standard. Much to my surprise, not only did “jack-o’-lantern” not use capital letters, but it also uses hyphens, according to both Merriam-Webster’s and the Oxford Canadian dictionaries. Tricky, right?

Now, you might be thinking, “Who cares about hyphens?” It’s true that mistakes like these aren’t the end of the world, since the meaning would still be clear in most cases, but why not teach your students the correct forms from the get-go? After all, it could be a little embarrassing if your students checked their dictionaries and pointed out your misspellings…best to be prepared! Here are some of the trickier words I’ve come across (spelled and punctuated according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) and the Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English:

jack-o’-lantern

This word shouldn’t use caps and should use hyphens. If you think that using an apostrophe followed by a hyphen looks very strange, you’re not alone! It does looks strange…spooky, even!

trick or treat (noun)
trick-or-treat (verb)

According to Merriam-Webster’s, the noun form doesn’t use hyphens, as in the following example:

• “Trick or treat!” yelled the children at the door.

The verb form uses hyphens, as in the following example:

• The children trick-or-treated for three hours last night.

haunt

No spelling change for this word, but you might want to point out that the noun and the verb have different meanings.

The noun means a place where one likes to hang out/spend time, as the following example demonstrates:

• The cafe on 2nd Street is one of my favourite haunts.

The verb refers to a ghost or spirit that stays in a certain place, as in the following example:

• The ghost of the murdered man haunts that old mansion up the street.

The adjective form is “haunted,” and it has the same meaning as the verb.

• That haunted house scares me. Sometimes lights come on even though no one lives there.

candies — candy
zombies — zombie

The plural form of “candies” is spelled with a “y” in the singular form. This is very common in English, so your students might not understand why we can’t say “one zomby.” Point out that the singular “-ie” ending is an exception.

witch / which

Students are used to seeing the word “which” in sentences such as “Which one would you like?” and “That building, which is really old, is a landmark.” Point out that the Halloween term for a sorceress is spelled “witch.” You can demonstrate the difference in the following example:

• I’m going as a witch for Halloween this year. Which costume did you choose?

costume / custom

I’ve seen many students get these two words confused. Explain that the spelling, meaning, and pronunciation are all different for these two words.

“Costume” is an outfit that people wear on Halloween to disguise themselves, as in the following example:

• I’m going as a witch for Halloween this year. Which costume did you choose?

“Custom” is a tradition or habitual action that people do, as in the following example:

• Removing your shoes before entering someone’s house is a well-known Japanese custom.

For more practice with Halloween words, and to access some ready-made Halloween lessons, check out ESL-Library’s Halloween lessons.

Happy Halloween everyone!
Tanya

“Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.” ~Mason Cooley

Teachers worldwide will introduce children to Halloween culture and traditions this year. Halloween is one of those holidays that children love to learn about even if it is not practiced in their countries because they get to dress up in costumes and eat candy. Even if you do not teach Halloween, the following activities are fun for children and help spark their creativity.

A Few Wicked Web 2.0 Activities

Below is a list of websites and apps and ideas on how to integrate them with your students.

The Skeleton Dance
Skeleton Dance- Your students upload their photos and their friends photos to be included in this video staring them as dancing skeletons. Your students will love doing this and posting on Facebook or emailing to others or their friends. Follow up this activity by doing any of these writing activities.

• Have students use their imagination and write a story stating how and where they took this video.
• Divide your students into pairs or small groups and have them write a dialogue about the events leading to this video. They can write down the setting, character descriptions, and dialogue. You can use this worksheet as a framework.
• Divide your students into pairs or small groups and have them write a plan for a Halloween party they are throwing together. This will be the main entertainment. For an added bonus pick one of the ideas or a few to incorporate in a class/club/school Halloween party.
• Divide your students into small groups and have them create a play in which this would be one of the main scenes.

Halloween Jokes
Jokes can be cultural, but they are a great way to study vocabulary and how words can mean something entirely different in various contexts. Activity Village has a list of free kid-friendly jokes and various ways to print them out and use them in class. Here are a few more ideas.

• Divide students in pairs. Have them pick out 2 to 3 jokes they memorize from the list and retell in front of their peers.
• Print the jokes and cut the paper into strips with each joke listed and it’s punchline on a different strip. Walk around and have students pull out a strip. They must go around the room and try to determine which punchline goes with what joke. Have them sit together when they think they find their match. After gather as a class and have each pair tell their joke to check if they actually found the right match.
• Have students pick out 2 to 3 jokes they memorize from the list. Then play the game mingle. Students are in pairs and are given 30 seconds to a minute to tell their jokes to their peers. You then blow the whistle and they must tell their joke to a different student.
• Divide students in pairs. Have students pick out 2 to 3 jokes they memorize from the list. Have them use the following free sites to have their characters retell the joke. They can use ZimmerTwins, GoAnimate, MakeBeliefs Comix, and Xtranormal. If you want them to use their mobile devices, then try these free dialogue apps- Sockpuppets, PuppetPals, or Talking Ben and Tom News Reporter.
• Have students create their own Halloween jokes in response to these and share them with the class.

Wicked Stories
Students often love to listen to and create their own spooky stories. It’s a great way to learn English and be creative. For older students, have them create stories they will read to younger students or their children. Teenagers love reading stories to younger children and the younger children love it as well. These sites will help inspire students with their stories.

• I love the Digital ELT Play site which is filled with great Halloween story games where students walkthrough the story and complete tasks. You can find a great free lesson plan provided for each game for various levels and ages. Here is a list of their top 10 Halloween lesson plans that incorporate games.
• Use a site like Shadowlands to discover haunted places in your area or other places. Have students choose one of the haunted places to research for a writing project. They can retell the story with audio and visuals using Animoto, Capzles, Fotobabble, or Stupeflix. Have them use a Google Map to tell the story and mark the locations by time and event. These are great tools to do that: Meograph, ScribbleMaps, or Tripline.
• Many of the stories at Moonlit Road have audio and visuals to go along with them. You can create entire lesson plans based on any of these.
• Have students use these story prompts sites to create their own Halloween stories: Writing Prompts for Halloween, or Spooky Story Prompts.
• Have students create Halloween stories using Storybird or Zooburst.
• Create a class spook story on the free BoomWriter site.
• Halloween ebook app for i-devices- This ebook incorporates students’ uploaded photos so they get a personal touch with the story.

Pumpkin Sites
Even if you don’t celebrate Halloween, your students will enjoy pumpkin carving. It was one of the favorite activities my students of all ages did in Germany. Here are a few online carving sites and games that teach words as well.

• Carve a Pumpkin Online for young kids
• Carve a Pumpkin app- With this great app from Parents magazine, kids create a jack-o-lantern that lights up after it is carved. Kids can \add spooky stickers to their pumpkin. There are various pumpkins to choose from and backgrounds. Have the students e-mail the e-cards to friends of family members. A follow-up task includes having students get into pairs. Student A describes the pumpkin created. Student B must try to recreate the pumpkin by the verbal description. Make sure the students save the pumpkin to their photo library to compare. You can also have students try to carve their pumpkins in real life after the drawing.
• Pumpkin carving Starfall site for small kids that also teaches them pronunciation

More Great Websites and Resources

You can find more ideas in these posts:

• Horrified! 20+ Halloween Ideas and Activities
• 18 Educational Apps for Halloween
• Tons of Halloween printables, crafts, and games
• Tons of Halloween games for kids to play in class or for a party

What other ideas do you have?

If you want to receive more of Shelly’s tips for online resources for teaching English, then subscribe!

A Who-Dunnit for English Learners

Have you tried our Detective Series in your English class yet? “The Case of the Missing Ring” is a who-dunnit series designed for high-intermediate to advanced learners who are interested in vocabulary building, listening practice, and everyday English and idioms.  With Halloween around the corner, October is the perfect month to get started on this section! The series includes 11 lesson plans, 3 vocabulary review check points, and 3 quizzes. Teachers’ notes and downloadable audio files are also included. All members of ESL-Library have access to these materials. Not a member yet? Join here!

Episode 1

In the intro to the series students learn about the Hummingbird family. Cynthia Hummingbird’s granddaughter Emma is about to be wed. There is only one problem. The wedding ring has been stolen! This ruby ring is a family treasure. Throughout this series, Detective Bossley is conducting an investigation. In each episode the detective questions one of the residents of Hummingbird Manor. The first suspect is Ralph Hummingbird, the bride-to-be’s father. Today’s podcast offers a sneak preview of Episode 1.

Here is the vocabulary that is introduced and practised in this lesson:

• reruns
• to get down to business
• to mean the world to someone
• to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth
• to mean nothing
• the love of one’s life
• Bingo!
• on the contrary
• empty nest
• to have your heart set on something

Students are also challenged to name Ralph’s alibi, and to predict whether or not Emma’s father is a likely suspect. Each lesson plan includes vocabulary review, comprehension questions, discussion questions, a gap-fill, a fact file, and a professional audio recording by a talented group of New York actors.

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If you search around for related videos on YouTube, you will quickly discover that Amanda Todd’s call for help was not unique. Bullied teens are sharing their stories online, and begging for their abusers to leave them alone. Storify offers an unique way to view how everyday people respond to a story like this in the news. Here is a Storify about Amanda Todd, featuring tweets and Facebook messages following the teen’s death.  If your students are interested in talking more about this issue, you might also be interested in our ready-made Discussion Starters lesson plan on bullying.

#RIPAmandaTodd

Teachers want their students to talk as much as possible, since conversation practice helps students improve their pronunciation and listening skills, and allows them to put the grammar and vocabulary they’ve learned to use. Speaking is a fundamental part of communication in another language. But sometimes, getting students to speak is a real challenge! Textbooks, filled with written work and drill-type activities, aren’t always helpful. So what can teachers do?

Fear not! Remember that students usually want to talk. Their favourite types of activities are generally ones that involve communication and interaction. Providing students with fun speaking activities, therefore, will almost always be met with an enthusiastic response. Give my favourite speaking activity a try!

Student-generated questions:

By having students write their own questions, you are getting them directly involved in the conversation before it even begins! They are also more likely to listen to each other’s answers (something that is often a challenge) because they want to hear how others will respond to their questions. Usually, you will end up with funny, interesting questions that students are interested in discussing.

General method:

• Cut up enough small squares or strips of blank paper so that each student gets five squares. To save trees, use the back of used paper!
• Pass out five squares to each student.
• Get students to write one question on each of the five squares. You can provide a topic, such as “travel” for lower levels, or “controversial issues” for higher levels. You could also choose whatever topic you’ll be discussing in class that day/week. Sometimes I even give “your choice” of topics to the students, and I find that this ends up being the most fun…it allows them to ask silly or creative questions.
• Circulate and correct students’ vocab and grammar as they are writing out their questions. (This also allows you to check that nothing inappropriate is being asked.)

Variation 1:

• Put the students into small groups of three or four. I’ve found that small groups provides students with ample speaking time as well as with a good variety of opinions.
• You can set a time limit (such as 20 minutes) if you’d like. For groups that finish quickly, you can give them some questions that another group has already used.
• You can follow up as a class after all the groups are finished. You could ask something like, “What was the funniest or most interesting thing your group talked about?”

Variation 2:

• Do this activity as a whole class. That way, the students will get to hear all of their questions being asked and responded to, which is fun for them.
• You can ask the same question to more than one student, too. Keep the conversation going by asking if others agree or disagree with a student’s response.
• Keep in mind that shy students have trouble speaking in front of the rest of their classmates. Solve this by keeping the atmosphere informal and allowing students’ answers to be short. Jump in with prompts or interjections to keep them talking, if need be. Remind students that this isn’t a presentation, just natural conversation practice.
• Since this variation will take the most time, set a limit, for example 20 questions a day. You can then continue to use these students’ questions as a warm-up every day for a week or so, if you’d like!
• I’ve found that doing this activity as a class really allows classmates to bond with each other.

Variation 3:

• Put the students into pairs. While this way won’t provide them with many opinions, they will get in the most speaking time.
• You can follow up as a class after all the pairs are finished. You could ask something like, “What was the funniest or most interesting thing you and your partner talked about?”
• This variation works well in private or semi-private lessons, too.

For more ways to get your students talking, check out our Discussion Starters section, our Something to Talk About section, or the other interesting posts in the ESL-Library Blog!

Happy chatting,
Tanya

What’s it like to live under the fear of drones? Is the use of drones a war crime? What other uses are there for drones besides targeting terrorists? This week’s mini-podcast offers an audio preview of our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Drones. In the corresponding lesson plan, students complete vocabulary review exercises and comprehension questions based on the reading. They also take part in a discussion about the potential for the domestic use of drones. View our entire Discussion Starters section, and share your suggestions for future topics.

Print the Drones Lesson Plan to use in class with this podcast. Not a member yet? Join ESL-Library here!

Check out last week’s podcast on Barack Obama.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Biography, Holiday, Discussion Starter, or Famous People/Place/Thing lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Find 130+ ESL-Library podcast episodes on iTunes. You’ll also find related podcasts that our listeners enjoy. Don’t forget to share the link with your English learners and fellow colleagues.

Have you and your students been talking about Felix Baumgartner’s planned sky jump? The extreme sportsman planned on setting a world record for the fastest free fall from at least 23 miles  over the New Mexico desert. He hoped to be the first human to successfully break the sound barrier while sky diving. Unfortunately, the planned free fall was aborted today due to a combination of factors.

Do you enjoy teaching your students English vocabulary and expressions using authentic resources from the news? Here is a recap of what happened today. These are some of the expressions that were used by broadcasters who were covering the event.  You could try putting these sentences on the board as a gap-fill exercise.

• They had a brief window to launch.
• In the morning there was a weather delay.
• The radio system went down.
• It is a risky maneuver.
• Felix Baugartner suffers from claustrophobia.
• The time was running out.
• The jump was called off/aborted.
• The event was anticlimactic.
• The balloon is spent now.
• Hopefully the weather will be more favorable tomorrow.
• Tomorrow’s weather doesn’t look promising.

You could also use this news story to practice making predictions:

• Do you think Felix Baumgartner will have another chance this October?
• Do you think Felix Baumgartner will survive the jump?
• How will the previous record holder feel if Baumgartner succeeds?
• Will extreme sky diving become a new sport?

Are your students interested in talking about Extreme Sports? Try our Discussion Starters lesson plan! Not a member yet? Check out our podcast preview to see if this is a lesson that your students would be interested in.

A few weeks ago, someone emailed us at ESL-Library.com to ask if the grammar on our home page was correct. In the featured lesson about protests in the Middle East, this sentence caused some confusion: “Over the past few years, there have been a growing number of both peaceful and violent protests.” The person wanted to know if “…there have been a growing number of…” was correct. Shouldn’t it be “…there has been a growing number of…”?

This is a question that commonly confuses our students! The problem is that the subject-verb agreement is different for the expressions “a number of” and “the number of.” Here’s how I usually explain it to my students:

1) “A number of” takes a plural verb.

Tell your students to think of it this way: a number of means many. Because “many + plural noun” takes a plural verb, you would say “Many cars are on the freeway during rush hour.” Likewise, you would say “A number of cars are on the freeway during rush hour.”

The important thing to remember is that this expressions is acting like a quantifier. So even though it involves a singular noun “number,” it is serving the same role in the sentence as a quantifier such as “many,” “a lot of,” “lots of,” “hundreds of,” etc. You would say “A number of people have started the test” just like you would say “A lot of people have started the test.”

2) “The number of” takes a singular verb.

Here’s where it gets even more confusing. In English, “the number of” doesn’t mean “many.” Tell your students to think of it as one number. So even though that number might be large, the purpose of this expression is to compare this one number/amount with another number/amount. For example, we would say “The number of crimes in New York has increased this year.” There might be 56 more crimes committed this year compared to last year. Another example is “The number of people who are writing the test today is larger than yesterday.” There might be 20 more people writing the test today.

For more practice, see if your students can pick out these expressions on the Internet, in newspapers, or in magazines. Also, this is a very common grammar question in Part 5 of the TOEIC test, so make sure that any students you have who are preparing to write this test memorize the correct subject-verb agreement for these expressions.

I hope that clears things up for you and your students! I hope that the number of questions they have about these expressions is now zero.

Tanya

Source:

• “The number of x” takes a singular verb; “a number of x,” a plural verb.” (Einsohn, A., The Copyeditor’s Handbook, p. 344)

Examples in use:

• “Even in regular prose, a number of expressions are almost always abbreviated and may be used without first spelling them out.” (The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., p. 488)
• “The article that precedes the mass noun signals whether the mass noun or the number of the noun in the prepositional phrase controls the number of the verb.” (The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., p. 205)

One of the great things about teaching and learning in an ESL classroom is that you get to pretend! With role plays, dialogues, and games, students are constantly putting on different hats to practice the language in a variety of scenarios. If you’re the kind of teacher that loves to play along, you probably love your job! In October, you can go one step further with costumes and Halloween fun. Be sure to visit our blog for Halloween ideas this month. Shelly Terrell is sure to have some NEW Halloween tips and suggestions to make language teaching and learning spooktacular this month.

If your students enjoy mysteries, now is the perfect time to start our Detective Series: The Case of the Missing Ring. Take turns being Detective Bossley, and find out who stole the missing ring by the end of this month! The audio for this section was recorded by a talented group of NYC actors. Check out a listening sample here!

New Lesson Plans this Month

• Discussion Starters: Drones
• Everyday Dialogues: Meet the Teacher
• Simple Sentences: Transportation
• Famous People: Barack Obama
• Famous Things: Basketball
• American Presidents: William Howard Taft
• Grammar Practice Worksheets: Prepositions

Coming later this month: Role Play Cards and Famous People (Who am I ?) Flashcards!

October Features

Every Day is a Holiday – Teacher’s Day: Some say that a teacher deserves the title of most important job in the world. A single teacher can influence hundreds of children in a lifetime. (October, 5)

Holidays – Canadian Thanksgiving: The turkey is coming early this year! If you’re teaching English in Canada, don’t forget to use our holiday lesson plan in the first week of October. (October 8th)

Every Day is a Holiday – Columbus Day: Do your students think that Christopher Columbus deserves an annual day of recognition? Many people do not! Learn all about this controversy in our popular lesson plan. We also have a Famous People lesson plan on Columbus. (October 8th)

Mini Bios – Frankenstein: Don’t miss Frankenstein Day! There are plenty of ways to celebrate it. Be sure to try our mini-biographies lesson plan with your students this month. (October, 26)

Holidays – Halloween: We have a beginner and intermediate lesson plan on Halloween. We also have flashcards (with vocabulary review ideas), teaching ideas, and a warmup suggestion. Watch our blog for NEW Halloween teaching ideas coming later this month. (October, 31)

Be sure to check out October’s Lesson Plan Calendar for more featured lessons.

I pretend I’m one of the royal family when I’m in a hotel and that the hotel belongs to me – it is a palace. ~Martin Short

Happy teaching!
Sincerely,

The Staff at ESL-Library

Barack Obama is currently campaigning against Mitt Romney in the 2012 US Presidential Election. Many teachers sent in special requests for a lesson plan on Obama this year, and we were more than happy to fill this order. Today’s podcast offers an audio preview of our new lesson plan on Barack Obama. The Barack Obama lesson plan comes with vocabulary review, a reading, comprehension questions, and discussion practice using famous Obama quotes. Students face off to be class president by proving how much they know about the US President.  For example: Was Obama the first president to have a twitter account?

Coming soon…Drones.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Mini-Biography, Discussion Starter, Grammar Story, Holiday or Health lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Introduce your students to iTunes today!

Check out last week’s podcast on Yom Kippur.

Here are some questions to ask your students after a debate:

• Who do you think won the debate?
• Where does _____(name)  stand on ______ (issue)?
• What was memorable about the debate?
• What was the most difficult question the candidates had to answer?
• Did you think any of the candidates lost/gained votes because of this debate?

Mini Debates in Your Classroom

Have you tried having debates in your classroom? October is the perfect month to check out our Mini-Debates section. Your students can debate issues that matter to them, such as The Death Penalty, Teen Botox, and Video Game Violence. Be sure to review our NEW Teacher’s Notes for tips on using this section. If you have suggestions for new topics, please let us know!

NEW: Barack Obama Lesson Plan

We also have a NEW Famous People lesson plan on Barack Obama. Many teachers sent in special requests for this lesson plan. We have added it to our Famous People section, but it will also go in our growing collection of lesson plans on American Presidents. Check out the podcast preview here. Do you think we’ll need to add one on Mitt Romney one day soon?

Teaching new vocabulary is all well and good, but without review and practice, it’s almost impossible for students to remember all those new words. Simply studying and memorizing the words and definitions can be pretty boring, which makes the new vocab harder to remember. By making vocab review as fun as possible, you will help your students stay interested, and they will retain the new words far more effectively. If you missed my post on teaching new vocabulary, check it out first, then use the following techniques to review the vocab on subsequent days.

1. Hotseat:

• This is a classic! If you know a variation different from the one I’ll list here, feel free to leave a comment explaining the changes you make below. We’d love to hear your version!
• First, divide the students into two teams.
• Have one student from each team sit at the front of the class, in two chairs that face their classmates (with their backs to the board).
• Tell the two students that they’re in the “hotseat.” You will write a word on the board, and students from their team can yell out descriptions of the word. They must not use gestures, give the first letter, or say the actual word.
• Write one word on the board and let the chaos begin! The first student to guess the word correctly gets a point for their team.
• Choose another member from each team, and repeat. Once all the students have had one or two turns (or you’ve run out of words), add up the scores. The team with the most points wins!
• If neither student in the hotseat can guess the word, you can give them a hint such as the first letter or a clear description.
• Warning: This game can get very loud, but it is guaranteed fun!
• Note: When students know that this game will be played, they are really motivated to study so that they don’t let their team down.

2. Matchup:

• If you used this technique for teaching vocab, this is a great way to reuse the slips of paper that you cut up.
• If you haven’t already done so, print out a list of words and definitions (one list per small group or pair), and then cut all of the words and definitions into slips of paper and mix up. Don’t forget to keep a master list for yourself for easy reference.
• Distribute the words and definitions to the groups/pairs. For lower levels, separate the word slips and the definition slips into two piles to make it a bit easier.
• Tell students to match up the words and definitions. To make it more competitive, the first group/pair to correctly match everything up, wins!
• Note: While this activity takes a long time when students are initially learning the words (and guessing), it is very quick as a review activity, and may not be worth all the time you spend cutting up the slips of paper if you didn’t use them to teach the vocab, too.

3. Concentration – Activity A:

• Use the slips of paper from activity #2, and arrange them face down on the table for each pair or small group of students.
• Students take turns turning over any two of the cards. If students choose correctly (they turn over a word that matches the definition or vice versa), they can keep the pair of paper slips. If they choose incorrectly, they must turn the slips over again and place them back in the same place.
• Once all the slips have been matched up, students should add up how many pairs they have. The student with the most matches wins!

4. Concentration – Activity B:

• Draw a grid on the board with 20 squares (5 X 4). Write the numbers 1-20 in the top left hand corner of each square. Have a master list for yourself that you can refer to with ten words and ten corresponding definitions filled into the grid (one word or definition per square, with the order mixed up).
• Divide the students into two teams. Ask one student from team A to choose one box. Write the word or definition in the center of the box. Have that same student choose another box. Fill in that box, too.
• If the two boxes create a match (word + definition), leave the words written in the boxes and give that team a point. If they don’t match, erase both boxes and repeat the process with a student from team B.
• Continue until all the boxes are filled in. For the last pair of boxes, make it more challenging by having that team member guess the last box (i.e., if the word is chosen, write the word in the box, but then the student must tell you the definition without seeing the last box, and vice versa). The team with the most points wins!
• Note: Most boards will clearly show which spots have been erased, thus making it easier for students to remember which numbers have already been chosen. To make it more challenging, when setting up the board, run the eraser over the centre of each box before starting the game. Sneaky!

I hope these activities will make it easier for your students to remember new words. Have fun!
Tanya

Students across Canada will be taking part in the annual Terry Fox National School Run today, an event that is always a highlight of the school year for my own kids. This morning, after blowing us away with his knowledge about Terry, my 6-year-old grabbed a toonie from some birthday cash he recently received. “How many Hot Wheels cars would this buy?” he asked me. When I told him one and a half, he shoved the toonie into his pocket along with the change I had already given him to take and said, “I’ll give it to Terry.” While it was a proud parent moment, I couldn’t help think to myself that my son’s teacher was the one who deserved a pat on the back. It’s always amazing to see students and staff dressed in a sea of red and white on the day of the run. Terry is an inspiration for us all, and we have teachers to thank for keeping his memory alive. Have a great run kids!

FREE Terry Fox Lesson Plan

If you’re looking for ESL materials for teaching your students about Terry Fox, please try our Famous People lesson plan. We’ve unlocked it for ALL teachers today!

Yom Kippur is an important holiday in the Hebrew calendar. Jewish people throughout the world spend the day making peace with God. Learn all about this interesting holiday in today’s mini-podcast. This podcast is an audio preview of the reading from our Holiday lesson plan. The Yom Kippur lesson plan comes with vocabulary review, a reading, comprehension questions, pair work, and idiom practice. If you have any suggestions for future holiday topics, please leave a comment.

Coming soon…Kids and Technology.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Mini-Biography, Discussion Starter, Grammar Story, Holiday or Health lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Introduce your students to iTunes today! This is our 132nd episode.

Check out last week’s podcast on 5 Reasons you Aren’t Getting enough Sleep.

Vocabulary…it’s a double-edged sword. Students universally recognize the need to expand their vocabulary in order to improve their fluency, but it’s difficult — and often boring — to memorize word after word. Varying the types of vocabulary exercises used will engage your students and enable them to retain the new words more effectively. Remember: your goal as a teacher is to get the students to be able to use the new words when they speak or write. As such, repetition is key…but using the same technique over and over will cause the students to lose interest. Using a combination of the following methods will hopefully get your students excited about vocabulary again.

1. Vocabulary Board Game:

• Write all of the new words in a long list on the left side of the board.
• Divide students into two teams, and explain that you’ll be reading out a definition to one team at a time.
• If that team can correctly guess the corresponding word, they get $100 (pretend money, of course!). If they guess the wrong word, the other team can “steal” the money by guessing the correct word for $50. If the second team still can’t guess correctly, it goes back to the first team for $50, and so on until one team gets it right. Play then resumes with the next definition getting read to the second team, for $100 if correct.
• You can provide students with a copy of a word-definition list after the game to save them from having to stop and write down the definitions as you go. Or, to save trees, write the definitions next to the words as they are guessed correctly, and students can copy them down.
• The winning team is the one who has the most money once all the definitions are filled in! For the last definition (since it will obviously correspond to the only word left on the board), I often make it more challenging by making the team tell me what they think the definition is. If correct, they get $100; if not, the other team can try for $50, and so on.

2. Matchup:

• Have one page of words and definitions for each pair or small group of students. Cut each word and definition into strips (a paper cutter works wonders here). Don’t forget that you can keep the strips for vocabulary review later, or review for a test.
• Circulate, pointing out where students have made an incorrect guess so that they can make another attempt with that particular word. Don’t forget to keep a master list for yourself; it helps to refer to it as you circulate.
• When all the students are finished, you can go over the answers as a class. To make it more exciting, you can turn it into a competition by naming the first group to correctly match everything up the winner.

3. Mini-Presentations:

• Assign one new word to each student. Have them look up the definition in their dictionaries (preferably English-English).
• Tell them to write down the definition in their own words. They can ask you for help, if necessary. Circulate to check that their definitions are clear.
• Also, get them to write down an example sentence, so that their classmates will be able to better understand the meaning of the new word. Circulate to check that the example sentences make sense.
• When all of the students are done, have them come up to the front of the class one by one. Get each student to write the word and definition on the board, and while the other students are copying it down, have that student read the example sentence. You can add additional clarification at this time, if need be.

4. Context:

• Being able to use the context (the sentences or paragraphs that surround the word) to figure out the meanings of new words is an essential skill that you want all of your students to be able to master one day. Because it is difficult to do, try it as a class activity once in a while to get students used to it.
• Have students read through the text first. You can have them do it silently or out loud. Reading out loud enables you to correct their pronunciation and intonation, which is a good use of time since you’re practicing several skills at once.
• Once you’ve gone through the text, point out the new words one by one, and have students guess at each word’s possible meaning as a class. After a few guesses, you can give students the answer if they are unable to come up with it. Point out the contextual clues that could help them figure out the meaning for next time.
• This exercise is especially helpful in preparing for examinations like TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.

It’s important to note that going over vocabulary only once will rarely result in retention. I plan to write my next post on fun vocabulary review activities, so check back soon! You can also check out Flashcard Ideas on our website for ways to use flashcards for vocabulary practice and review. Our Simple Sentences lesson plans have lots of vocabulary activities for beginners, too.

I hope your students will find learning vocabulary to be more engaging after employing these techniques!

Tanya

Are you a restless sleeper? Would you give anything for a good night’s rest? Today’s podcast features a reading from our Health Matters Lesson Plan on Sleep. You and your students will discover 5 reasons you may not be getting enough sleep. The related lesson plan includes a reading, vocabulary review, comprehension questions, discussion questions, a role-play, and a writing task. Students are also invited to share their own ideas online in our optional Web challenge.

View our entire Health Matters section, and share your suggestions for future topics.

Print the Sleep Lesson Plan to use in class with this podcast. Not a member yet? Join ESL-Library here!

Coming soon to our podcast…Kids and Technology.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Biography, Holiday, Discussion Starter, Health Matters or Famous People/Place/Thing lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Find 130 +  ESL-Library podcast episodes on iTunes. You’ll also find related podcasts that our listeners enjoy. Don’t forget to share the link with your English learners and fellow colleagues.

The NHL players and owners were unable to come to a labor agreement this Saturday, and as a result the professional hockey league is now in a lockout. The league feels that the players currently receive too much of the NHL revenue at 57%.  The players don’t agree with the concessions that the league has proposed. Are you looking for something to talk about in class this week? Do you enjoy using authentic materials? Share this story with your English learners. A blog post on the CBC website provides a basic overview, and explores the question: Who is to blame for the NHL lockout? The post also includes a video that went viral this week, featuring the players perspective.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Here are some questions to discuss with your students after reading or paraphrasing the CBC post, and reviewing the video (also shown above).

1. What caused the NHL lockout?

2. Why are #ThePlayers calling this work stoppage an “Owners Lockout”?

3. Do you think the NHL season will begin midseason? Why or why not? What could happen to the league if the season is canceled entirely?

4. Who do you think will get the best deal if the lockout ends?

5. Who is Gary Bettman, and why don’t hockey fans like him?

6. Do you agree with the quote below from an angry hockey fan?

“I have a terribly difficult time empathizing with billionaire’s screaming they aren’t getting a big enough slice of the pie!”

CBC community member, El_Padroni

English Vocabulary related to Striking and Work Stoppage

• lockout
• concessions
• revenue
• collective bargaining
• labor dispute
• picket line
• salary cap

Athletes’ Salaries

If your students are interested in this topic, please share our featured Discussion Starters lesson plan on Athlete Salaries . (Podcast preview here.) You may also be interested in our Famous Things lesson plan about Hockey.  We are adding new sports-themed lessons every month. Stay tuned for a new lesson plan on basketball next month!

Interestingly, International Peace Day also falls this week. We hope you’ll check out our collection of lesson plans for peace. This includes our Famous Things lesson plan on The United Nations, as well as other lesson plans on Famous People who have fought for peace.

Are you looking for something to talk about in class this week? Do you enjoy using authentic materials? Share this story with your English learners. The Huffington Post has a great video that features New Yorkers commenting on the ban. Here are some questions to discuss with your students after sharing the article or showing the video. If you teach low level learners, simply paraphrase the article for them.

1. Why are some people against the ban?

2. What is the mayor’s goal?

3. Do you agree with the ban? Why or why not?

4. Is a ban like this needed in countries outside of America?

5. What different arguments were used by the nutritionists in the slideshow?

6. What else should be banned to prevent obesity?

Obesity

If your students are interested in this topic, please share our Discussion Starters lesson plan on Obesity. (Podcast preview here.) You may also be interested in our Mini-Debates lesson plan about Junkfood At School, which discusses the banning of junk food in vending machines.  Check out our Health Matters section  for more related lessons. If anyone in your class wants to share a thought about the soda ban or obesity in general, please ask them to leave a comment. We would love to hear from your students!

The English App is pleased to announce the release of Collins English for Business: Listening. Red River Press partnered with Harper Collins to build the iPad app for business English learners, and will be developing three more apps for the business series in the next few months.
The first app in the Collins series features 55 recordings, with English accents from all over the world from native and non-native English speakers. Learners who want to focus on learning a specific accent can choose “Units by Accent”. Units are also divided by topic. As they work through the units, learners will find useful tips about pronunciation, colloquialisms, and grammar. There is also a Mini-Dictionary for reviewing the most advanced vocabulary used in the recordings. Take a tour of Collins Business English: Listening here, and consider recommending it to your English learners.

Collins Business English Apps for iPad

• Collins Business English: Listening (Available Now)
• Collins Business English: Speaking (Coming in December)
• Collins Workplace English: (Coming in February)
• Collins Hotel and Hospitality English: (Coming in February)

Check out all of the other iPad apps by The English App (Also available for iPhone and iPod touch)

Is Graffiti a crime or an art form? The answer depends on who you ask. It also depends on how much effort goes into the act of creating the mess or mural! This week’s mini-podcast offers an audio preview of our NEW Discussion Starters lesson plan on Graffiti. In the corresponding lesson plan, students complete vocabulary review exercises and comprehension questions based on the reading. They also take part in a discussion about vandalism, and create their own graffiti wall.

View our entire Discussion Starters section, and share your suggestions for future topics.

Print the Graffiti Lesson Plan to use in class with this podcast. Not a member yet? Join ESL-Library here!

Coming soon to our podcast…Kids and Technology.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Biography, Holiday, Discussion Starter, or Famous People/Place/Thing lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Find 130 ESL-Library podcast episodes on iTunes. You’ll also find related podcasts that our listeners enjoy. Don’t forget to share the link with your English learners and fellow colleagues.

Not only do students have to contend with the articles a, an, and the, but they also have to learn to use many other quantifiers. Words like all, some, and none seem simple enough to learn, but when students have to use them with the, confusion abounds. Hopefully, if you follow the steps below, you will be able to clearly convey the three different quantifier sentence patterns to your students.

1. First, explain the terms “specific” and “general.”

In English, a specific noun is one that you can see, that there’s only one of, or that you’ve already mentioned before.

Example: Please pass me the pen that is in front of you.

A general noun is one that you can’t see or that there are many of.

Example: I’m hungry. I wish I had a sandwich.

2. Next, give the three main sentence patterns and explanations for quantifiers.

(Note: Ns refers to a plural noun or a non-count noun.)

A) ALL OF THE + Ns

Use this pattern when you want to talk about specific nouns.

Example: All of the students in my class studied hard for the test. (plural count noun)

Example: I used all of the paper in my notebook to write my essay. (non-count noun)

B) ALL THE + Ns

Explain to students that this pattern is the casual form of the “all of the + Ns” pattern, where “of” is simply dropped to shorten the phrase. Most textbooks don’t mention it, but shortening phrases is very common in English, especially spoken English, and should be taught to your students.

Example: All the students in my class studied hard for the test. (plural count noun)

Example: I used all the paper in my notebook to write my essay. (non-count noun)

C) ALL + Ns

Use this pattern when you want to talk about general nouns.

Example: All students (in the world) have to take exams. (plural count noun)

Example: Not all water (in the world) is drinkable. (non-count noun)

3. Finally, you can mention that these three patterns also apply to other quantifiers in English.

Alternatively, you could repeat these rules using different quantifiers on other days, as a review.

I find it helps to give students approximate percentages of amounts, to help them understand the meaning of each quantifier.

• 100% = All
• 95% = Almost All
• 80% = Many (count nouns), Much (non-count nouns)
• 50% = Some
• 20% = A Few (count nouns), A Little (non-count nouns)
• 5% = Almost None
• 0% = None

Note: Make sure you point out that “almost all” isn’t possible without the “all.” I often hear students mistakenly saying, “Almost people” or “Almost of the people.” This is also a very common question in the grammar section of the TOEIC test.

I hope all students benefit from all (of) the info here!

Tanya

Many, many times I’ve heard my students say things like “I’m look forward to sleeping in” or “I’m looking forward to sleep in” instead of the correct “I’m looking forward to sleeping in.” Their confusion is understandable when you look at all of the usual grammar rules that they’re trying to apply, albeit incorrectly, to the expression “looking forward to.”

Can we use two – ING verbs in the same sentence?

Yes, we can! In fact, the expression “looking forward to” is most often used with the present progressive (aka present continuous) verb tense to express a future meaning.

• I’m looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday.

Note that this expression can be used with other tenses, but still mainly with those that use –ING verbs.

• She has been looking forward to going on vacation for months. (Present Perfect Progressive)
• He was looking forward to/had been looking forward to going on vacation before he found out that he couldn’t get the time off. (Past Progressive or Past Perfect Progressive)
• I look forward to seeing you every day. (Simple Present)

Doesn’t the base form of the verb follow “to”?

Usually, yes. The construction to + base verb forms the infinitive verb. Infinitive verbs have many uses in English; for example, they are used after certain main verbs (I want to buy a new shirt), after nouns (I asked my friend to help me), etc.

However, don’t forget that “to” is also a preposition (I went to the store) and that prepositions are almost always followed by a gerund (-ING verb form).

• This tool is used for cutting.
• We got here by taking the bus.
• They are looking forward to doing their presentations.

So the “to” in “looking forward to” is a preposition that is part of an expression. Remember the rule preposition + gerund…it is usually applicable, even if the preposition is “to.” Try to determine, in each case, whether “to” is a preposition that is part of an expression, or if “to” is part of an infinitive verb. (Look for my blog post on Gerunds and Infinitives, coming next month, for more help!)

Can we use three –ING verbs in the same sentence?

Yes, and we commonly do so with the expression “looking forward to” because of the go + gerund construction.

• I’m looking forward to going skiing next weekend.

Explain to your students that there are three separate things happening here. First, “am looking” uses –ING because of the present progressive (with a future meaning) verb tense. Second, we use “going” because of the preposition + gerund rule (see the second Q&A). And third, we use “skiing” because of the go + gerund construction (used for many activities, such as go shopping, go dancing, go surfing, go hiking, etc.).

Can we use “looking forward to” with just a noun?

Yes. Because prepositions are also commonly followed by nouns, the “to” in this expression can be followed by a noun.

• I’m looking forward to dinner.
• She’s looking forward to the class.
• He’s looking forward to Friday.

You can find more examples of “looking forward to” in Detective Series, Episode 6.

I’m looking forward to hearing that your students aren’t having any more trouble with this expression!

Tanya

First days are stressful for students and teachers alike. Naturally, it’s a little difficult to feel at home in a classroom when there is a sea of new faces around you. Students usually worry about their English level and that they won’t be able to express themselves properly when they’re called on. Introductions are an essential first step to putting everyone at ease, but sometimes, talking about yourself while everyone is staring at you is the most anxiety-producing part of the first day! As teachers, using an icebreaker activity that varies from the traditional self-introduction can help students feel a lot more comfortable in your classroom.

Icebreaker activity: Interview a classmate

This is one of my favorite icebreaker activities because it gives students a chance to talk to just one person for a while before getting to know everyone else. I find my students are far more comfortable with a pair activity rather than with a group activity on the first day, and often they form instant friendships with the person they are paired up with.

Method for beginner/low-intermediate students:

1. Give students a list of questions, either on a handout or on the board.

• Suggestions: What’s your name? Where are you from? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Do you have any pets? What do you like to do in your free time? What do you do/what would you like to do in the future (job)? Do you prefer summer or winter? What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite movie? What kind of music do you like? Etc.

2. Put students into pairs.

3. Have them ask each other all the questions. Assign a time limit, such as 10–15 minutes.

4. If some students are finished quickly, encourage them to think of other questions to ask each other.

5. When everyone is finished, have each student introduce their partner to the rest of the class. You can allow them to give as much information as they want, but if you have a big class, you may want to limit their talking time by saying something like, “Tell us three interesting things that you learned about your partner.”

Method for high-intermediate/advanced students:

1. Put students into pairs.

2. Tell them they should get to know each other by asking any questions they’d like. Assign a time limit, such as 15–20 minutes.

3. If some students are finished more quickly than others, encourage them to continue their conversation by asking their partner to elaborate on something that they found interesting during the interview.

4. When everyone is finished, have each student introduce their partner to the rest of the class. You can allow them to give as much information as they want, but if you have a big class, you may want to limit their talking time by saying something like, “Tell us three interesting things that you learned about your partner.”

By using this method, I hope you and your students will feel relaxed and comfortable!

Tanya

On September 11th, 2001, many people died trying to protect others from harm. These people included firefighters, police officers, and everyday citizens. More than ten years have passed since this terrorist attack, but the heroes of 9/11 will never be forgotten. This week’s mini-podcast offers an audio preview of our Famous People lesson plan on the 9/11 Heroes. In the corresponding lesson plan, students complete vocabulary review exercises and comprehension questions based on the reading. They also practice summarizing information and writing interview questions and thank you notes.

View our entire September 11th Lesson Plan collection, and feel free to share your feedback.

Print 9/11 Heroes Lesson plan to use in class with this podcast. Not a member yet? Join ESL-Library here!

Coming soon to our podcast…Graffiti.

Please introduce your students to our FREE podcasts. These can act as a preview to our Biography, Holiday, Discussion Starter, or Famous People/Place/Thing lessons. They can also serve as extra listening homework to help your learners develop an understanding of the rhythm of English. Some teachers use our weekly podcast (posted every Wednesday) as a warm up for an online tutoring session.

Find over 125 ESL-Library podcast episodes on iTunes. You’ll also find related podcasts that our listeners enjoy. Don’t forget to share the link with your English learners and fellow colleagues.

Do you enjoy using authentic materials in the classroom? Share this slideshow that was put together by the Huffington Post. It documents some of the tweets that came in during the #Googlepocalypse.  Here are some questions to get your students talking about our dependence on search engines:

• Do you use any other search engine besides Google?
• Were you alive before search engines were popular? If you were, how was life different? If you weren’t, what do you think has changed since the Internet became popular?
• Imagine Google was down for 15 days instead of 15 minutes. How would your life change? What would be the worst part?
• Do you think Google will always be the #1 search engine?
• If you could get a job with Google, what would you do?
• Why do you think Google has been so successful?
• Make a list of ways you can find out information without search engines. How would the results compare if you searched for what you were looking for via Google?

“Google seems to be functional again. That was a brief, terrifying glimpse into the abyss.” @shonagosh (Source: Huffington Post)

Related in the ESL-Library

If you are looking for a related ready-made lesson plan to use in your English classroom, please try our Famous Things lesson plan on The Internet. This lesson includes warm up questions, a reading, comprehension questions, vocabulary review and discussion questions. You could also try our Discussion Starters lesson plan on Social Media. Not a member yet? Join today!

The ESL-Library team wants to help you start your year off right! Shelly Terrell’s new post “Beautiful Beginnings” inspired this month’s teaching theme. Be sure to follow our blog for back-to-school tips and ideas this month. If you’re looking for grammar tips, our editor Tanya will be adding new ones very soon! This September we invite you to explore the lesson plan library and flashcard library to find exactly what you’re looking for. Start your year off right by:

1) printing out (or at least organizing) the flashcard sets you need to go along with your themes and chapter units. Be sure to check out our Flashcard Ideas and tutorials.

2) bookmarking our Lesson Plan Calendar for supplementary materials. (Non-subscribers can access the topic suggestions too.)

3) getting to know your students in the first few weeks, so that you can find out their interests and needs. We’re building a special survey for you to use. Stay tuned!

4) creating an emergency folder of extra materials. Consider our Discussion Starters, Health Matters, or Grammar Practice Worksheets for sick days or moments when your technology fails. We also have warmups and fillers!

New Lesson Plans and Flashcards this Month

• Discussion Starters: Graffiti (with audio)
• Simple Sentences: How’s The Weather?
• Famous People: Neil Armstrong (Podcast preview available)
• Famous Things: American Football
• Flashcard Set: Weather and Seasons
• Mini Biographies: Check out the new design!
• American Presidents: William McKinley and Theodore
• Grammar Practice Worksheets: Adverb Clauses of Time
• Mini Debates: Teacher’s Guide

In the works: Role Play Cards!

September Features

Every Day is a Holiday – Labour Day:  It was hard work putting this holiday on the calendar! Learn all about the history behind this Canadian holiday. Do your students agree with the 40 hour work week? (September, 3)