Fever 1793 by Laurie Anderson is a historical novel with many awards as a young adult book. It takes the reader back to the summer of 1793 in Philadelphia. Events are seen through the eyes of Mattie Cook, who lives with her widowed mother and her grandfather above the coffee shop which is their business. When the fever breaks out, it turns the city and Mattie’s world upside down. This is a novel that is […]
Author: Heyjude
I started teaching EFL in Mexico in the 1970s and stayed for 11 years! My BA is in Latin American Studies, which I did at La Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico. After moving back to the U.S., I got my Master's at SFSU in TESOL and American Literature. I've taught ESL in to refugees and in community colleges in CA since 1987. I'm currently teaching at ARC, WCC and Davis Adult School.
Level 2 Practice Writing Handouts for Final w/ photos
Here are 2 handouts with writing prompts for Level 2 with photos and vocabulary to help them get started. Students can work alone or in pairs to practice writing a short composition describing the scene in the photo in past tense (simple past and an occasional past continuous). After they have had enough time to write down their ideas, work full class to: Elicit from students the composition, guiding them to create an introduction, a […]
Hachiko Waits, exercises for the novel
Hachiko Waits exercises for the novelHachiko Waits is one of my favorite novels to use with ESL students. It’s a lovely story, based on a real story about a professor and his dog Hachiko. Hachiko was so famous that there is a statue of him in Japan that many people visit. These are my set of exercises, questions for discussion, vocabulary work, etc that go along with the 10 chapters. I used to use it […]
Song “Yes, We Can Can as sung by Maria Muldaur
This song was a tribute to Obama sung by Maria Muldaur, with Bonnie Raitt, and the Women’s Voices for Peace Choir at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. It is the perfect follow up for a unit about the Civil Rights movement. It has lots of photos of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. You could just have the students see how many civil rights leaders, presidents and famous people they recognize. The visuals are […]
MLK Poem “Excellence” & a Chinese Proverb
This is one of my favorite handouts to promote peace in the world. I often use it with material about the Civil Rights Movement or at the beginning of the semester, especially the spring semester, which begins right after MLK Day. It went very well with the Rosa Parks book I used this semester. First, I elicit what students know about MLK and ask them what was different about his kind of protest marches. Who […]
Rosa Parks and the Bus to Freedom by Beth Johnson
Here are the additional handouts to the rest or the chapters of this wonderful book from Townsend Press (only $2.00 per book for teachers, very affordable!). My Level 2 students have enjoyed the challenge of reading this for 2 semesters now, and learned a lot of vocabulary. They were very inspired by the story of Rosa Parks’ life. It would be an easier read at Level 3 or 4, but just as motivating. The first […]
Oral Presentation Telling a Story
This is an in-front-of-the class presentation. Students will tell a personal story from their past using the simple past (and at least one past continuous). It can be about a happy experience, a sad day, or something funny that happened in their life. Handout: » Oral Presentation Telling a Story in the Past Tense « More details and all instructions are included on the handout, as well as a simple feedback form I give […]
Interviewing An American # 1
»INTERVIEWING AN AMERICAN # 1 « (click on this for the handout) This homework will make students get out into the community to interview two Americans about their favorite vacation spot. They have to take notes, and write down the information on a form, which they will turn in. They are also graded on their participation in groups when they share the information on one of their interviews. Finally, each group picks the student with […]
Icebreaker Song “I’m Glad to Meet You”
This is one of my all time favorite ways to break the ice with new students, especially at lower levels. I picked this up from an old ESL songbook years ago, but can’t recall the name. The song is to the very familiar tune “La Cucaracha”! Even if singing isn’t your forte, just starting the first line, everyone will immediately join in. If you have a lot of Mexican students, have them sing the real […]
World Village
This is an intermediate /advanced listening & discussion activity that has students imagine the world as a village of 100 people. What would this world look like? All the activities and instructions are on the two page handout. The first page is the handout for the students and the second has instructions and follow up assignments for the teacher. Here are links to the 2 page handout: » WORLD VILLAGE « and the […]