45 Ways To Avoid Using The Word ‘Very’ – Writers Write
Writers Write is your one-stop resource for writers. Use these 45 ways to avoid using the word ‘very’ to improve your writing. Good writers avoid peppering their writing with qualifiers like ‘very’ and ‘really’. They are known as padding or filler words and generally add little to your writing. According to Collins Dictionary: ‘Padding is unnecessary words or information used to make a piece of writing or a speech longer. Synonyms include: waffle, hot air, verbiage, wordiness.’
Improving Pronunciation and Self-Confidence with Flipgrid
It’s a teaching approach – combined with FlipGrid – that’s lead to profound shifts in my student’s speaking skills, and their confidence in front of a camera. I’ll detail how we did it, key tips and learning moments along the way. As an English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher, I’m always looking for innovative ways to help improve my adult students’ pronunciation and self-confidence. Oona Marie Abrams suggested the tool Flipgrid (thanks Oona). The impact has been marked.
For the Love of Flipgrid
Have you tried Flipgrid with your students yet? Flipgrid is a video platform app that allows students to record responses to teacher-posed questions or topics. As a tool for teaching modern communication skills, Flipgrid is nothing short of brilliant–students can watch and hear themselves, and they’re in complete control–they can re-record themselves as many times as they want before they upload their response to the grid. I started using Flipgrid this fall by messaging my PreAP English 9 students the code to our first topic about a week before school started: Introduce yourself to the class. Tell me about your family and any pets you have. Because I’m a bit of an animal nut, I also encouraged them to get any pets on camera with them if they could.
Pen Pals in the 21st Century
As they enter the room, I wave the big yellow envelope in the air. They know what it is, and the room comes alive with excitement. They can barely wait until I open the envelope and pass out the contents. Their pen pal letters have arrived! With Tech, Who Needs Pen Pals?
Solar System, Solar System Information, Facts, News, Photos
Our Cosmic Neighborhood From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects "planets," meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities—Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the goddes of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture. The stargazers also observed comets with sparkling tails, and meteors or shooting stars apparently falling from the sky.
The “Living Is…” Podcast Project: Connecting Hamlet to Our Lives
Act I - Entry Events Entry to project: Podcasting is all the rage with adults, but our English 10 students needed a little introduction into the phenomenon. As a class, we listened to a portion of Isaac Lidsky’s TED talk on TedRadioHour where he described how going blind can actually give you vision.
Choose a Fake Twitter Template
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love Twitter! Not only is it great for my professional development as a teacher but it’s entertaining as well. It’s popularity is increasing in Australia and our students are increasingly taking to it to follow and engage with their favourite sports stars, musicians and celebrities. I’ve always liked the idea of having students create fake Twitter or Facebook profiles of historical figures, fictional figures or even parody accounts, to delve deeper into the understanding of history, a character in a novel or society. Just this week I saw a fantastic account by the name of @TitanicRealTime that tweeted as though it was reporting from the Titanic more than 100 years ago.
926 FREE Speaking Worksheets
Learning to speak a new language is definitely a challenge. It’s very difficult for your students to do if they don’t practice on a regular basis. Luckily, you need to look no further because BusyTeacher.org has the tools to help your students practice their speaking - and want to do it, too! Let’s face it, students aren’t always jumping for joy at the opportunity to speak a language they aren’t 100 percent comfortable with. Students can be hesitant to speak for a wide variety of reasons - fear of mistakes, peer pressure, or lack of self-confidence are some of the main factors. BusyTeacher.org has 936 speaking worksheets to help you plan effective speaking lessons, which will get your students to break through their shyness and start talking!
