35 fun classroom practice activities for Present Continuous (Present Progressive) By: Alex Case |Audience: Teachers|Category: Teaching English The simplest use of Present Continuous is to talk about things that are in some way in progress now/ presently/ currently/ at the moment, which is the main focus of this article. This use is often contrasted with Present Simple for present routines/ habits/ repeated actions. In normal communication, Present Continuous is perhaps more useful to talk about future arrangements such as meetings, dates and appointments, but this is so different from the basic meaning that there will be another article on that future use. There are a couple of activities in this article for the much rarer use of Present Continuous to talk about regular habits – often annoying ones – like “She’s always sucking her teeth”. For all these uses, students will need to practise different forms of “be” (“I am”, “he is” etc.), pronunciation of contractions of “be” (“she’s”, “we aren’t” etc.), and spelling rules for “-ing” verbs. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
2-Page Mini-Lesson | Public Transport UK might ban food on public transport Download this mini-lesson Try easier levels of this lesson: Public Transport - Level 0, Public Transport - Level 1 or Public Transport - Level 2. Download the 27-page lesson | More mini-lessons The reading The United Kingdom's government is thinking about banning all food and drink on public transport. Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Professor Davies reported that there are twice as many overweight schoolchildren today as there were 30 years ago. Sources:
11 no-prep warm up activities 11 no preparation warm up activities to keep your students occupied while you do some last minute photocopying, grab a much needed coffee, etc. (For more stimulating warm up ideas check out Penny Urs’ Five Minute Activities.) Due to popular demand here are 11 more no-prep warmers and fillers. 1. Make the most words Write a topical vocabulary item on the board. 2. Write a target word vertically down the board, for example. winter. 3. Using whatever resources they have at hand, students find and write down an appropriate adjective that begins with each letter of their first name. 4. Write a sentence on the board but mix up the word order then challenge students to reconstruct the original sentence. 5. Write a sentence on the board but this time scramble the letters of each word. 6. In groups students think of and write down as many facts as they can about bananas (or cats, Belgium, David Beckham, etc.). 7. Students sit in silence for two minutes and write down every sound that they hear.
English idioms | Learn English | EF English idioms, proverbs, and expressions are an important part of everyday English. They come up all the time in both written and spoken English. Because idioms don't always make sense literally, you'll need to familiarize yourself with the meaning and usage of each idiom. That may seem like a lot of work, but learning idioms is fun, especially when you compare English idioms to the idioms in your own language. Learning to use common idioms and expressions will make your English sound more native, so it's a good idea to master some of these expressions. The tables below are organized by how common the idioms are in American English. The most common English idioms These English idioms are extremely common in everyday conversation in the United States. Common English idioms & expressions These English idioms are used quite regularly in the United States. Familiar English idioms & proverbs
7 ESL Video Activities That Your Students Will Love There’s never been a better time to use video in the ESL classroom. Remember the old days of VCRs, VHS tapes and trips to Blockbuster? When I started teaching, my classroom video material were well-worn, borrowed cassette tapes or ones I recorded at home. Finding a good quality video was like striking pure, untarnished gold. Once you’d acquired the precious item, you’d need to find a room, set up a TV, plug in the video player and then hope to goodness that everything worked. Sometimes, you’d accidentally stick a VHS tape in a Betamax machine (yes, I’m that old!) To be honest, it was such a hassle that you just didn’t bother most of the time. Fast forward a few years, (sorry about the pun!) Websites like FluentU have made life much easier for students and teachers alike by curating authentic video clips and providing all the scaffolding that students could ever need. Why Use Video to Teach ESL Students? There are a number of reasons why video is a great resource in the ESL classroom: 1. 2. 3.
11 Drawings to Remember English Rules Forever This blog post was so popular that I turned it into a book: 102 Little Drawings That Will Help You Remember English Rules FOREVER (Probably). It’s available as an eBook and paperback. Click here to get your copy. Have you ever had a problem that you just couldn’t solve for ages? Then suddenly someone says one word, or just shows you one simple picture, and you get that “aha” moment — you suddenly understand everything? Well, over the many, many years I’ve been teaching English, I’ve found that some simple images can help explain rules in English that cause so many problems for people. Hopefully, they’ll help you, too. So here are some of my most effective little pictures to help you remember English rules. Forever! Maybe. In, on or at for place? I’ve actually talked about this in a previous post, but it’s good to see it in a different way. Usually (but not always), we use: “In” when it’s 3-dimensional I’m in this really dark room, and I can’t get out. “On” when it’s a straight line A or the? OK. OK.
Vytvořte si vlastní online testy a "klikačky" | Digitální_lektoři – Digitální lektoři Taky tvoříte závěrečné testy pro vaše studenty? Nebo jim chcete vytvořit nějaká cvičení z gramatiky? Nebo pro zábavu? Zkuste skvělý nástroj BookWidgets, který se hodí na všechny tyto účely. Já v něm vytvářím online testy pro své studenty a ulehčuje mi to můj lektorský život. V tomto článku vám ukážu, jak na to. Je konec semestru a já právě tvořím testy pro své studenty ve Francouzském Institutu. Na stávajícím systému mi ale vadí 3 věci: Testy se studentům dávají během jedné z posledních lekcí (přijde mi, že je to ztráta placeného času).Musím pak opravovat stohy papírů se škrabopisem.Nemáme k nim se všemi kolegy jednoduchý přístup, a myslím, že si hodně kolegů tvoří své testy sami. Rozhodla jsem se, že letos nepůjdu vyšlapanou zaběhlou cestičkou, ale udělám to jinak. Chtěla bych vám představit skvělý nástroj pro tvorbu autokorektivních cvičení, quizů, testů a zábavných her, který si určitě oblíbíte stejně jako já. Už jste slyšeli o BookWidgets? Jak se vytváří takový online test?
The Big, Fat English Tenses Overview (With PDF) Would you prefer to read this post as a PDF? Click here. Also, check out the Ultimate Guide to Numbers in English. First, take a look at this image. Want a closer look? OK. Yes, it’s a little confusing at first, but don’t panic! Let’s start with the past… The past tenses in English What’s going on here? OK, so as you can see, we have three main tenses going on. When we talk about the present, we’re just looking at what’s happening now and reporting it. When we talk about the future, we’re making plans and predictions. But when we talk about the past, we’re actually telling a story. If we go outside this story time frame, it’s important that we show it so that our story is clear and we understand what happened first and what happened second and, most importantly, what happened outside the story time frame. 1. Why do we use it? We use the past simple if we want to express a single action that happened in the past: I met a very friendly giraffe on my last visit here. …or a state in the past: OK.
ESL Scattergories! - ESL Kids Games Discover more of ESL Kids Games’ online activities . Irregular Verb Challenge – Practice irregular verbs with your students using this tool. This versatile game can be played in many different ways and is a great routine to master irregular verbs with your students. ESL Odd One Out – An online game that is a great way to practice vocabulary and speaking with young learners. This activity is great to help students practice for the Cambridge Movers exam. Number Match – A simple multiplication challenge to get students thinking and multiplying in English. ESL Vocabulary Fortunes – An online game for teens and adults that is a great way to practice vocabulary on a large number of topics. ESL Bomb Game – Bomb is a engaging scoring system that adds excitement to any game. Interactive Word Search – Online interactive word search (word soup) puzzles for Young learners with target vocabulary for Cambridge Young Learner Exams (Starters, Movers and Flyers A1 & A2.
Football Vocabulary: 23 Essential Words and Phrases This is part three of a series on football vocabulary in English. If you want more, check out How to Say Football Scores in English and 9 People in Football (And What They Do). Well, we’ve made it this far! It’s almost the end of a rather exciting World Cup. I’m actually one of those people who usually run to the hills while football mania is going on. But this year has been really rather interesting. And I’ve realised that football is quite a complex sport. I’ve also realised something else: it’s sometimes good fun to talk about football. And, as we come to the final match, now is one of those times! Parts of the Football Stadium When you’re talking about football, it’s important to know the different parts of the stadium and the pitch. Rules in Football But what about the actual game itself? We sometimes want to be able to describe what happened in the match, right? Football, like most sports, has a lot of rules and procedures. The Different Stages of the Match First half / Second half Half-time
ESL Classroom Brain Teasers - ESL Kids Games Brain Teasers are a fantastic way of engaging students and can work well in the classroom. Brain teasers are puzzles where your students have to think to find a solution to the problem. They require students to often think in unconventional ways and as such can be a fun activity for everyone in the class, not just the best students. As a Warmer/Cooler Start/end your lesson with a Brain Teaser. As a conversation starter Display a Brain Teaser and have students work in pairs or groups to discuss their solutions to the problem. Between activities Show your students a Brain Teaser in between activities to give students a short ‘active time’ break between activities and help refocus. Use to practice grammar Brain teasers are a great way to use modals of speculation (It could be…, I think it might be… and It may be that…) with your students. More Online ESL Games Discover more of ESL Kids Games’ online activities . ESL Bomb Game – Bomb is a simple scoring system that adds excitement to any game.