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 […]
This is a handout based on a reading from World English 1 second edition, pg.74-75 “The Cradle of the Inca Empire”. I was using it as homework in a high-beginning integrated skills course, earlier in the semester. I took it out of the book to better encourage students to write on the reading, and added tasks to the reading based on what students had been learning (emphatic adjectives and past tense). I wanted them to practice annotating […]
In my low-beginner listening class students learn how to recognize numbers in different contexts. One of the contexts is time. In addition to the practice provided by the textbook (“Skillful Listening & Speaking”), I use a map of world times zones to practice telling the time. << https://www.worldtimezone.com/ >> It is a world map which shows current times in major cities. I simply zoom and scroll around the map while asking the class to tell […]
One of the most challenging but interesting skills in teaching English vocabulary is phrasal verbs. I like to use pictures when teaching phrasal verbs (see examples attached) – otherwise, they become a long list of pretty word combinations which mean nothing to students. I simply browse the web for the most representative and/or peculiar/funny/memorable image to represent a phrasal verb. For example, I illustrate “get along” with a picture of tiger cubs playing with rabbits. […]
As part of my low beginner listening course I teach adjectives derived from nouns with the -y suffix. In addition to the material provided by “Skillful Listening & Speaking”, I made a list of such adjectives to expand the vocabulary and also review the alphabet and spelling (which is never a bad idea with beginner students). I spell the original noun; students write it down. Student read the noun and then say the corresponding adjective. […]
One of the skills I teach in my listening class at the low beginner level is how to recognize and interpret idioms. It is also a good opportunity to review clarification questions which the students learned at the beginning of the course. For example: “I’ve got a lot on my plate!” – “What exactly do you mean?” It is always helpful to introduce idioms related to a topic – for example, “food” idioms. I particularly […]
This is the last class on American English vowels. Previously, we covered all vowels. Below are a few simple steps I take to introduce diphthongs to my students: Explain the meaning of the word “diphthong”. Present the list of words with the five diphthongs. Students listen and repeat after me. Students read the words out loud as I walk around the classroom, listen and correct them if necessary. Diphthongs are not the most difficult sounds […]
Every semester I teach on a chapter that introduces the use of one and ones. My son, age 2, gave me the idea one day to use his Megablocks in class. Megablocks are similar to Legos, but they are very big. They come in all different colors and shapes, which makes them perfect for this lesson. Directions: Buy or bring Megablocks (or something similar that can attach together). Bring them to class. Grab several different […]
This is a reading adapted from Readworks.org that is a nice accompaniment to World English Intro, Unit 2: Jobs Around the World. This reading takes place ideally after students have been taught how to look up words in a dictionary. After students have done World English Intro, Unit 2, p. 16, students are given the reading handout and advised to look up the meaning of the words in the back (words 2-6). Then, students read […]
I have created several listening handouts for students to examine how people make requests. The idea behind this activity is for students to start realizing that people don’t speak like the textbook and people make choices in their pragmatic requests. It also builds students sense of discovery. Original idea adapted from Scott Phillabaum. First step: Ask students how people make requests or ask for things. Second step: teach them ways to make requests. Third step: […]