50 Essential Resources for ESL Students Learning a new language is always daunting, especially when that language is as full of weird rules and contradictions as English. Even native speakers sometimes have trouble mastering the nuances of tense and grammar. Fortunately, if English is not your first language, there are a variety of ESL resources online to help you master the English language. From speaking to writing, these tools will help you get a handle on English and give direction to your education and career. Don't let the size of the task deter you from getting it done. Use these resources to become fluent in no time. Grammar and Usage Use these sites to boost your grammar skills, from verb tenses to noun placement. Purdue Online Writing Lab: The OWL offers a comprehensive repository of practice sheets and linguistic primers for learners at all levels.Dave's ESL Cafe: ESL teacher Dave Sperling's in-depth site provides numerous lessons about sentence structure, word use, and more. Spelling and Pronunciation Podcasts
The Seven Best Short Animated Films for the Language Classroom - Kieran Donaghy Animated films are ones in which individual drawings, paintings, or illustrations are photographed frame by frame. Traditionally animated films have been associated with children, however, nowadays they are designed to appeal to everyone. With the increased ease of creating animations, there has been a huge rise in the number of animated films being produced, and the vast majority of these are short animations. Many of these short animated films can be exploited in the language classroom as they are short enough to be used in a single session, offer a complete narrative in a short space of time, have a unique capacity of grabbing and holding students’ attention, and deal with contemporary subjects and issues, such as bullying, racism, sexism, homelessness, and human rights, which are relevant to students’ lives. Here are my seven favourite animated short films for the language classroom. Paperman Paperman is an Oscar-nominated short film by John Kahrs which went viral. Head Over Heels
20 Strategies for Motivating Reluctant Learners | MindShift | KQED News Kathy Perez has decades of experience as a classroom educator, with training in special education and teaching English language learners. She also has a dynamic style. Sitting through her workshop presentation was like being a student in her classroom. She presents on how to make the classroom engaging and motivating to all students, even the most reluctant learners, while modeling for her audience exactly how she would do it. The experience is a bit jarring because it’s so different from the lectures that dominate big education conferences, but it’s also refreshing and way more fun. Perez says when students are engaged, predicting answers, talking with one another and sharing with the class in ways that follow safe routines and practices, they not only achieve more but they also act out less. “If we don’t have their attention, what’s the point?” She’s a big proponent of brain breaks and getting kids moving around frequently during the day. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. NED’s GREAT EIGHT 9.
7 Easy ESL Visual Aids to Teach Anything Effectively A picture is worth a thousand words. Nowhere is this truer than in the ESL classroom. Suppose after a verb game or during some reading comprehension exercise, one of your curious students wants to know the difference between “He danced at the party” and “He was dancing at the party.” What will you do? You could probably give a really clear explanation about how one sentence states what happened at a specific place or time, and the other gives background information to establish a scene in the past. And then maybe you’d give a couple more examples prior to showing how the two very similar tenses—past perfect and past perfect continuous—do in fact differ. Or, you could draw a picture of two timelines, one representing each sentence, and have the students describe them. Which would be more effective? The Benefits of Using Visual Aids in the ESL Classroom Visual aids, like those two timelines, are so perfect for the ESL classroom. Helps students understand and remember concepts more easily 1. 2. 3.
Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2015 We’re delighted to announce the winners of our 9th annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Competition! It’s exciting to see such an array of excellent blogs for writers. Make sure you visit all the ten blogs to get to know the new top crop of writing blogs. How were the winners selected? Initial qualification: A site must have been nominated more than once by multiple individuals. Goins, Writer The blogger behind this blog is Jeff Goins. Positive Writer Bryan Hutchinson has created a dynamic blog with a positive vibe and has built a substantial readership in a relatively short time. Tara Lazar: Writing for Kids Children’s fiction author Tara Lazar has turned her blog into a lively resource for picture book writers. Helping Writers Become Authors Katie Weiland’s blog is a great place for fiction writers. The Write Practice Created by Joe Bunting, the Write Practice is the place to go if you want to kick-start your writing practice. Live Write Thrive Terrible Minds The Write Life Jennifer Blanchard
Free Books & Children’s Stories Online | StoryJumper PricesSchoolsLoginSign-up Library New Purchased Books Most popular by language: EnglishEspañolFrançaisPolski Popular topics: minecraft magic math fairy friend adventure animals Make your own book (FREE) He runs with animals in the forest, pilots an airplane, and rides a wild horse. by lgrimm A Life Cycle Adventure This story is about a little caterpillar's journey to discover what it is and what it does. by RubySue The Very Hungry Caterpillar This book is about a Caterpillar who's very very hungry. by snowpie E the Elephant Overcomes A lonely Elephant finds confidence within by meeting new friends ! by academyjenna What Makes You a Super Hero? This book helps remind kids that through every day actions of being kind, helpful and thoughtful, they have the "powers" to be a Super Hero. by DanikaGordon Wings About a girl who gets wings. by Nightpelt12 A sweeter version of "Hansel and Gretel". by bannisterz Charlie the Hotdog Charlie the hotdog learns that no amount of condiments can make you feel special.
Kids' Book Review Exploring the World in Your Classroom: 45 Travel Lesson Plans You can't take your students with you on vacation as you travel the world, but you can take them on virtual trips as you explore different cultures together. Lesson plans on travel give you the opportunity to delve into topics like culture, geography and even math as you plan for travel expense. With a travel theme, you can dig into literature, help students embrace their inner artist and give them a love and passion for a new and exciting location. Whether you are digging into a country for a detailed unit study, want to diverge from the curriculum for some fun travel-themed lessons or simply want to give your students a love for travel, here is a list of resources that can help you embrace travel without leaving the four walls of your classroom. Grades K - 5 Benefits of Cycling Lesson Plan (Grades K-5) - Teach students about the benefits of traveling by cycling using this curriculum outline. Middle and High School All Grades
Teenagers and UK culture | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC Why bring UK culture to the teen classroom? We can introduce UK culture into the English classroom to help our students improve their English and at the same time learn about values and ways of doing things which may be different to theirs. Learning about life and culture in the UK can be very motivating as it brings the language alive for learners and creates a link between language and real life. See if you agree with these comments from teachers on teaching UK culture to their teenage learners: ‘We need to avoid reinforcing erroneous British stereotypes to our teenagers. Not everyone in the UK is very formal and drinks tea at five o’clock!’ ‘Culture is the fifth skill in addition to reading, writing, listening and speaking. ‘I try to make British culture "real" to my students. What materials can I use to introduce UK culture? Life in the UK In this section teenagers can read about topics with a British connection. Learning the language doesn’t automatically mean learning the culture.
New Zealand Kiwis are flightless birds native to New Zealand, and have become a symbol and nickname for New... Whether exploring New Zealand's iconic bird, the kiwi, watching the haka, or learning about poi... Scroll down for our collection of famous New Zealanders notebooking pages and mini printable... Take a trip to New Zealand with us by printing and enjoying our New Zealand colouring pages! These printable New Zealand postcards make a fun writing activity for the classroom - or for a... Useful for a New Zealand theme, Waitangi Day or even prior to a visit to this lovely country, our... You can visit some of the sites of New Zealand in your imagination - or write about an actual visit... Here is a small collection of useful map worksheets and fact worksheet - perfect for studying New... Here you will find a collection of New Zealand flag printables including a New Zealand flag... With its interesting and unique birds and the rich culture of the Maoris, a New Zealand theme...