http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/word-family-framework What is the Word Family Framework (WFF)? The WFF is a searchable resource for teachers and learners of English that consists of over 22,000 vocabulary items arranged according to six levels aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).. Start using the Word Family Framework What can the WFF be used for? The WFF can be used by institutions, teachers and learners to construct target vocabularies for individual learning, syllabus and lesson […]
Category: Intermediate
Showing versus Telling – Building Support
This lesson illustrates to students how to write “telling” versus “showing” paragraphs. That is, student are shown the difference between a paragraph that merely states reasons rather than develops them through explanation, examples, or specific details. The lesson proceeds as follows after discussing components of a paragraph from previous lessons: Project on the screen the first model of a “telling” paragraph. Read the paragraph aloud and then ask students to complete the comprehension questions following. […]
Personal Shields
This I typically assign as homework the first day of class. I show examples from previous student work, and encourage them to be as creative as they want. The second day of class they get in groups of four and try to mix the nationalities as best I can, and they share their personal shields with each other. The noise level always increases immediately. After they have time to get acquainted with this new material, […]
My Bonnie Song and Engergizer
Having staffed leadership conferences for many years, this was always my favorite “go to” if I felt everyone needed some extra energy. It also works well at the beginning of class, or to refocus after some challenging classwork. I explain the background of the song, and explain who Bonnie might be. They are always terrible the first attempt, but there’s lots of laughter and astonishment. We try it again, and go even faster once they […]
Campus Online Scavenger Hunt
This I assigned as homework at the beginning of the semester to have students search the campus website to discover services available to them that they might not be aware of. Although this is what we used here at Sierra College, I’m looking forward to creating one for Woodland Community College. It will be similar. >>Scavenger Hunt<< Annie
Past Tense Regular Verb Pronunciation Activity
Pronunciation of the regular verbs for beginning and intermediate students is always challenging. I created this kinesthetic lesson to provide students a challenging problem solving activity which is easy to correct. I begin with putting the heading of “t”, “d”, and “id” on the whiteboard, and then ask them to tell me which is the final sound as I pronounce a number of different verbs. They tell me. After we have quite a list under […]
Student Information
This handout helps the instructor to gauge if a student is in the correct level. At our school, Woodland Community College, we have four levels of integrated skills on Saturdays. Students often self-place themselves into a level that is either too high or too low. This simple diagnostic tool helps the teacher to determine if a student should be advised to move up or down. Handout: >>ESL. STUDENT INFORMATION<< pdilley
Hold Your Horses
Students are introduced to common idioms such as in one ear and out the other, butterflies in my stomach, and hold your horses. Exercises in the text check for understanding and also ask the students if the idioms ever applied to their lives. They can give written and / or oral responses. The resource is the text Hold Your Horses by Myra Shulman Auslin in the Dormac Idiom Series. pdilley
Oral Report: Personal History
This is an in front of the class presentation. Students will have a handout with specific questions to answer. They simply have to fill in the blanks with answers to such questions as what country they are from. When a student has finished presenting the class and I ask followup questions. Everyone seems to enjoy learning more about their classmates. Grading is up to 10 points maximum. I am looking for fluency, range of vocabulary, […]
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 […]