Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<h2>What will 2026 have in store for the world of English Language Teaching?&nbsp;</h2>

For the last few years, Ellii has tasked me with making predictions for the ELT trends of the coming year. Sadly, my mystic powers remain undeveloped, so I seek the assistance of esteemed&nbsp;experts online.&nbsp;

This year, I was astounded by the response. It has taken me some messy mind mapping and some AI assistance to pull together the top trends and wishes for the year ahead.

<img alt="Emily Bryson's mind map about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5135/content_Emily_Bryson_Messy_MindMap.jpeg" />

Here goes! Let&#39;s start with the trends.

<h2>What&#39;s hot in ELT in 2026</h2>

<h3>1. Human connections</h3>

Overwhelmingly, human connections wins the gold medal. This could be a push back&nbsp;against the increasing prevalance of artificial intelligence. Many practitioners shared their concerns over the growing isolation learners and teachers experience and how to recapture the social connections within&nbsp;the language classroom.&nbsp;

<img alt="Katherine Bilsborough quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5136/content_Katherine_Bilsborough_Human_Connection.png" />

There was a lot of discussion around &quot;back-to-basics&quot; approaches such as dogme, projects, games, picture books, visuals thinking, and graphic novels.&nbsp;

<h3>2. Artificial intelligence</h3>

Unsurprisingly, AI is still riding high. Perhaps human connection wouldn&#39;t be at the forefront of so many practitioners&#39; minds without it.&nbsp;

Sue Leather shared her worrying reflections that ELT materials developers are finding it more difficult to find projects, as more publishers move towards AI-generated content.&nbsp;

<img alt="Sue Leather quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5137/content_Sue_Leather_Agile_Writers_and_AI.png" />

From a classroom perspective, particular concerns were raised around safeguarding, responsible use, and the erosion of need to learn English.&nbsp;

<img alt="Dr. Steve Brown quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5138/content_Dr_Steve_Brown_Learning_Avoidance_AI.png" />

<img alt="Jen Dobson quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5139/content_Jen_Dobson_AI_safeguarding.png" />

<img alt="Stephen Farren quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5140/content_Stephen_Farren_AI_Soft_Skills.png" />

If you&#39;d like some ideas to support your learners to use AI responsibly, check out these blog posts:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-prevent-students-cheating-with-ai">How to Prevent Students Cheating with AI</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Teacherpreneurship</h3>

As technology becomes more affordable and accessible, more teachers are finding ways to boost their income, diversify their skills, and set themselves up as entrepreneurs.

Business coaches such as Rachael Roberts and Ola Kowalska are noticing more confidence with marketing and more individualized offers.&nbsp;

<img alt="Ola Kowalska quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5141/content_Ola_Kowalska.png" />

<img alt="Rachael Roberts" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5142/content_Rachael_Roberts__1_.png" />

This is good news for students, who can benefit from learning experiences that are truly tailored to their needs.&nbsp;

If you&#39;d like to know about teacherpreneurship, you may like these posts:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-passive-income-as-a-teacher">5 Ways to Earn &quot;Passive&quot; Income as a Teacher</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teacherpreneur">How to Be a Teacherpreneur</a></li>
</ul>

You may also want to check out <a href="https://ellii.com/indieteacher">Ellii for Independent Teachers</a>, which is the perfect platform to use with private classes.&nbsp;

<h3>4. Trauma awareness &amp; social emotional learning</h3>

Multiple ELTers mentioned the need for language teaching to be well-being&nbsp;focused and trauma aware. As Stephen Farren said, we have to have an &quot;understanding that &#39;trauma&#39;&nbsp;doesn&#39;t come from a specific part of the world.&quot;

Social justice, advocacy, and the ESOL classroom as an opportunity to support learner emancipation were key themes under this umbrella.&nbsp;

Penelope Roux had this to add about self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-esteem:

<img alt="Penelope Roux quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5143/content_Penelope_Roux_Self_Reflection_awarenes_esteem.png" />

Here are a couple of posts on this theme:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/support-english-learners-from-refugee-backgrounds">6 Ways to Support Learners from Refugee Backgrounds</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/social-emotional-learning">A Quick Guide to Social Emotional Learning</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>5. Soft skills (aka life skills)</h3>

&quot;Future Ready&quot; is likely to remain popular this year. These are skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and digital skills. They are skills that are essential in order to be successful in the classroom and workplace.&nbsp;

Check out these posts on the topic:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/top-tips-for-incorporating-life-skills-into-your-classroom">6 Tips for Incorporating Life Skills into Your Classroom</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-teach-workplace-english">How to Teach Workplace English</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>Wishes</h2>

As the discussions developed, people started to notice distinctions between trends that they could see happening vs. things they wished would happen.&nbsp;

Here are things that we would like to ask the ELT fairy godmother to bring in 2026.&nbsp;

<h3>1. Global issues</h3>

In many coursebooks and language, PARSNIPs&nbsp;are erased. These are:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Politics</li>
	<li>Alcohol</li>
	<li>Religion</li>
	<li>Sex</li>
	<li>Narcotics</li>
	<li>Isms (e.g., racism, sexim, feminism)</li>
	<li>Pork</li>
</ul>

The reasons from this often stem from trying to create &quot;one-size-fits-all&quot; courses as well as avoiding arguments or triggering topics in class.&nbsp;

However, many students and practitioners feel strongly that these topics should be a key part of the classroom. Teachers and students have the power to be changemakers.&nbsp;

<img alt="Huma Hasna Riaz Ahmed" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5144/content_Huma_Riaz_Global_Issues.png" />

The Ellii resource&nbsp;bank is full of lessons with global topics. This blog post will get you started:&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-power-of-teachers-and-learners-as-changemakers">Teachers &amp; Learners as Changemakers</a>

<h3>2. Sustainable ELT</h3>

The English language classroom can be a vehicle for direct action when it comes to environmental topics. Practitioners hope to see more of this in the coming here.&nbsp;

<img alt="Christopher Graham quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5145/content_Christopher_Graham_Sustainability.png" />

Here is a post with ideas on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/46-greening-the-elt-classroom-tips-teaching-ideas">Greening the ELT Classroom</a>.

<h3>3. Slow learning</h3>

Jane Carvell shared a wonderful idea inspired by the Slow Food Movement. It captured my imagination, especially with the growing&nbsp;desire for human connection. The &quot;slow&quot; approach focuses on removing the pressure from learning and going at a pace that allows learners to make connections, ask questions, and prioritize deep learning.&nbsp;

<img alt="Jane Carvell quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5146/content_Jane_Carvell.png" />

<h3>4. Extensive reading</h3>

Perhaps another&nbsp;throwback to the &quot;back to basics&quot; and &quot;human connections&quot;&nbsp;that underpin this year&#39;s predictions relates to the essential skill of reading. Lots of practioners mentioned the joy of storybooks, picture books, graphic novels, and extensive reading in class.&nbsp;

You can read Sue Leather&#39;s post about it here:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sueleather_reading-extensivereading-activity-7403905458849144832-HQe6/">Sue Leather: The Benefits of Reading for Pleasure</a>

Here are some reading recommendations for your learners:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-advanced-students">Advanced</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-high-intermediate-students">High Intermediate</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-your-low-int-students">Low Intermediate</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>5. Visual thinking</h3>

Graphic organizers, visual tools, infographics,&nbsp;images, and doodles&nbsp;are a great way to simplify complex information and aid understanding. In recent years, graphic facilitation techniques&nbsp;have&nbsp;become&nbsp;more popular. Perhaps because they&nbsp;are a great &quot;back-to-basics&quot; approach that boosts human connections.&nbsp;

<img alt="Fernanda Freytes quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5147/content_Fernanda_Freytes.png" />

This year, the&nbsp;<a href="https://sketchnote.school/wsw26/">World Sketchnote Week Conference</a>&nbsp;that takes place from&nbsp;&nbsp;January&nbsp;12 to January 16 has&nbsp;two whole days devoted to education, with many language-teaching-focused sessions. Check it out, and come see me share some of my ideas to add sparkle to your lessons with sketchnotes.&nbsp;

You can find more on this topic here:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">Sketchnoting 101</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-facilitation-101">Graphic Facilitation 101</a></li>
</ul>

So, what do you reckon?

<blockquote>
What will 2026 have in store for English language classrooms around the world? What are your wishes for the year ahead? We&#39;d love to know your thoughts.&nbsp;
</blockquote>

If you&#39;d like to read the comments on my LinkedIn&nbsp;post, or add your own, here is the original post:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brysonemily_elt-trends-to-watch-in-2025-activity-7402626392011722752-32iJ?utm_source=social_share_send&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop_web&amp;rcm=ACoAAAi7ip0BCqZAlTHCFG8wTwULtYB8nWVFeUM">Emily Bryson&#39;s 2026 Trends in ELT LinkedIn post</a>

Here are links to my trends posts from previous years:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elt-trends-to-watch-in-2025">ELT Trends 2025</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elt-trends-to-watch-in-2024">ELT Trends 2024</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-english-language-teaching-trends-in-2023">ELT Trends 2023</a></li>
</ul>

Wishing you all the best for 2026!

Trends & Wishes in English Language Teaching: 2026

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

Few, fewer, fewest and little, less, least&nbsp;are small words that often cause big confusion for students. The key difference is what kind of noun they describe: count or&nbsp;non-count. Once students understand that distinction, the&nbsp;forms become much easier to use correctly.

<h1>Count Nouns: Few &ndash; Fewer &ndash; Fewest</h1>

Use the adjectives&nbsp;few, fewer, and fewest&nbsp;with nouns you can count one by one (e.g., &quot;people,&quot;&nbsp;&quot;books,&quot; &quot;jobs,&quot; &quot;emails&quot;).

<h2>Few</h2>

Few means not many and has a negative tone.

<ul>
	<li>Few students arrived on time today.</li>
	<li>There are few parking spaces near the building.</li>
	<li>Few answers were correct on the quiz.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Fewer</h2>

Fewer is the comparative form. It compares two amounts.

<ul>
	<li>There are fewer cars on the road today than yesterday.</li>
	<li>Fewer people joined the meeting than we expected.</li>
	<li>This year, we have fewer applicants than last year.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Fewest</h2>

Fewest is the superlative form. It means the smallest amount.

<ul>
	<li>Sara made the fewest mistakes on the test.</li>
	<li>This class has the fewest students in the program.</li>
	<li>That team scored the fewest points.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Non-Count&nbsp;Nouns: Little, Less, Least</h1>

Use the adjectives&nbsp;little, less, and least with nouns that you cannot count individually, such as &quot;attention,&quot; &quot;time,&quot; &quot;water,&quot; and &quot;information.&quot;

<h2>Little</h2>

Little means not much and often sounds negative.

<ul>
	<li>She showed little interest in the project.</li>
	<li>There was little hope of finishing on time.</li>
	<li>We have little information about the car accident.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Less</h2>

Less&nbsp;compares two amounts.

<ul>
	<li>This task takes&nbsp;less effort than the last one.</li>
	<li>I spend less money on coffee than I used to.</li>
	<li>He feels less stress at his new job.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Least</h2>

Least means the smallest amount.

<ul>
	<li>He drank the least milk of all the children.</li>
	<li>She has the least experience on the team.</li>
	<li>This option requires the least preparation.</li>
</ul>

<h1>A Note about A Few &amp;&nbsp;A Little</h1>

While few and little can sound negative, a few and a little are usually postive. They suggest enough.

<ul>
	<li>A few chairs are still available.</li>
	<li>I have a few questions for you.</li>
	<li>There is a little milk left&mdash;enough for coffee in the morning.</li>
	<li>He speaks a little English.</li>
</ul>

&nbsp;

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/aw-vs-awe/" target="_blank">Aw Vs. Awe</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/lay-vs-lie-lets-lay-this-matter-to-rest/" target="_blank">Lay Vs.&nbsp;Lie</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/everyday-vs-every-day/" target="_blank">Everyday Vs. Every&nbsp;Day</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on They&#39;re, Their &amp; There</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on You&#39;re &amp;&nbsp;Your</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on To, Too &amp; Two</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-its-and-its/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on It&#39;s &amp;&nbsp;Its</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/ah-vs-aah/" target="_blank">Ah Vs. Aah</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/count-non-count-nouns/" target="_blank">Count &amp; Non-Count Nouns</a></li>
</ul>

&nbsp;

Few, Fewer, Fewest & Little, Less, Least

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Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

Ellii & the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) for Adult Education

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<h1>We&#39;re unwrapping another year of content at Ellii...</h1>

<h2>🎶 Sing it with me!&nbsp;🎶</h2>

<h1><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/new-content/new-in-2025" target="_blank">New in 2025</a></h1>

<hr />
<h2>January</h2>

🎶 In the first month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/casas-test-preparation" target="_blank">CASAS Reading STEPS Level D</a></li>
</ul>

<img alt="CASAS STEPS Practice Tests on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5082/content_month-1.png" />

<h2>February</h2>

🎶 In the second month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li>a <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/famous-people/5306-ayrton-senna" target="_blank">lesson request</a> from our Brazilian CTO (who could say no?)&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

We added lots of new content about famous Brazilians this year as well as two Study Packs!

<img alt="lessons on famous Brazilians on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5083/content_month-2.png" />

<h2>March</h2>

🎶 In the third month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li>a historic&nbsp;lesson in <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/that-s-news-to-me" target="_blank">That&#39;s News to Me</a>&nbsp;(Canada&#39;s Next Prime Minster)</li>
</ul>

We added new lessons to this section every week, using content from our media partner, The Associated Press. We also added current events&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/current-events" target="_blank">videos</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/photo-prompts">photo prompts</a>!

<img alt="That's News to Me lessons including Canada's New Prime Minister" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5084/content_month-3.png" />

<h2>April</h2>

🎶 In the fourth month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li>a lesson on&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/5429-cryptocurrency" target="_blank">Cryptocurrency!</a>&nbsp;(followed by many more <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a> lessons and warm-up videos by our newest Publishing team members)</li>
</ul>

<img alt="Discussion Starters lessons on Ellii, such as cryptocurrency" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5085/content_month-4.png" />

<h2>May</h2>

🎶 In the fifth month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/soft-skills-for-hospitality-workers" target="_blank">Soft Skills for Hospitality</a>!</li>
</ul>

Search &quot;soft skills&quot; for all of the new content we added on our &quot;theme of the year&quot; for 2025.

<img alt="Soft Skills for Hospitality on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5086/content_month-5.png" />

<h2>June</h2>

🎶 In the sixth month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/conversation-phrases-course" target="_blank">Conversation Phrases with Lise</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Ellii&#39;s video team focused on &quot;speaking&quot; content for&nbsp;2025.

<img alt="Conversation Phrases course on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5087/content_month-6.png" />

<h2>July&nbsp;</h2>

🎶 In the seventh month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li>a new section for Adult Literacy (<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/first-five" target="_blank">First Five</a>)&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

We added 29 new lessons to this section as well as&nbsp;several Language Ladder packs!

<img alt="Adult Literacy section on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5088/content_month-7.png" />

<h2>August</h2>

🎶 In the eighth month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/picture-stories" target="_blank">Young Learner stories</a> with Benji!</li>
</ul>

New Benji lessons this year were about Benji&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lesson/5653-workday" target="_blank">Workday</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lesson/5866-vacation">Vacation</a>!

<img alt="young learner picture stories on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5089/content_month-8.png" />

<h2>September</h2>

🎶 In the ninth month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li>a print-based course that took our whole team&#39;s&nbsp;energy!</li>
</ul>

Due to popular demand, we have started making printable versions of our workplace courses, starting with&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/nursing-assistants">English for Nursing Assistants</a>&nbsp;and moving on with four more in 2025.

<img alt="printable workplace courses on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5090/content_month-9.png" />

<h2>October</h2>

🎶 In the tenth month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li>Ellii Up E! (the latest course in our ready-made <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1&amp;level=&amp;material=&amp;category=43" target="_blank">General English</a> curriculum)</li>
</ul>

More General English courses coming throughout 2026!

<img alt="General English courses" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5093/content_month-10.png" />

<h2>November</h2>

🎶 In the eleventh month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li>Videos on <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep" target="_blank">US history</a> (Study Packs too!)</li>
</ul>

More US civics and test prep content coming throughout 2026.

<img alt="US Civics Test Prep on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5091/content_month-11.png" />

<h2>December</h2>

🎶 In the twelfth month of 2025, Ellii brought to me...

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank">Ellii Dilemmas</a> like <a href="https://ellii.com/gather/dilemmas/the-pet-policy" target="_blank">The Pet Policy</a>!</li>
</ul>

We&#39;ve also added lots of new beginner-level <a href="https://ellii.com/gather/polls" target="_blank">Ellii Polls</a>. A big request from teachers in 2025!

<img alt="Ellii Dilemmas" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5092/content_month-12.png" />

<h2>Who&#39;s counting?&nbsp;</h2>

We are! Here&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/new-content/new-in-2025" target="_blank">everything</a> we added to Ellii&#39;s content library in 2025. Subscribers have access to all of this content, plus everything else we&#39;ve added to Ellii in&nbsp;the last 20+ years.

<blockquote>
<ul>
	<li>253 lessons &amp; resources</li>
	<li>60+ Ellii original videos</li>
	<li>70+ AP videos &amp; silent clips</li>
	<li>9 flashcard categories (46 new flashcards)</li>
	<li>45 study packs</li>
	<li>14 courses</li>
	<li>44 polls &amp; dilemmas</li>
	<li>40 blog posts&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<h2>Who makes all of this content at Ellii?&nbsp;</h2>

Humans,&nbsp;of course! At Ellii, we have a small but mighty team of real-life materials writers, editors, proofreaders, designers, artists, producers, and other helpers (including our own daughters who offer summer help)!&nbsp;We also have a partnership with The Associated Press and owe a little shout-out to our AI assistant, aka &quot;ElliiBot,&quot;&nbsp;this year. 
 
Here&nbsp;is Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;2025 content and marketing team, including staff and contractors! A huge thank-you to all of our contributors.

<blockquote>
Tanya, Head of Video Production

Ann, Head Editor

Saori, Lead Designer

Lula, Motion Graphics Designer

Alison, Content Support Specialist

Zara, Materials Writer

Steve, Illustrator

Laura, Course Writer

Felicia, Materials Writer

Kate, Assistant Editor

Lise, Video Content Producer / Marketing Lead

Sarah, Designer&nbsp;

David, British English Editor

Emily, Blogger

Jaksyn, Jr. Materials Writer

Sofia, Jr. Publishing Assistant

Tara, VP of Publishing
</blockquote>

That&#39;s a wrap. If you think this is awesome, you should see what Ellii&#39;s Product team was up to this year. Stay tuned! 
 
~ Tara&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/warm-ups-fillers/2221-how-to-make-a-paper-snowflake" target="_blank"><img alt="How to Make a Snowflake lesson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5101/content_IMG_8151.jpeg" style="width: 300px; height: 400px;" /></a>

Ellii&#39;s VP of Publishing (Tara Benwell) on winter break at Blue Mountain, featured with 3-D snowflakes from our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/warm-ups-fillers/2221-how-to-make-a-paper-snowflake" target="_blank">How to Make a Snowflake</a> lesson.

<blockquote>
Did you enjoy using Ellii&#39;s content this year? Please leave&nbsp;us a love&nbsp;note below that we can add to our <a href="http://ellii.com/tour/testimonials">Testimonials</a> page.&nbsp;
</blockquote>

The 12 Months of Ellii (in 2025)

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Find quick links to each episode of the Teacher Think-Aloud podcast, hosted by Shélynn Riel and Anna Ciriani-Dean and sponsored by Ellii.  

Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast

In&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/5B4RIMKW51deYzrbDr9DIy?si=66A1yllIRT6d4kebFtp4oA" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 78</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>, co-hosts Sh&eacute; and Anna talk with Dr. Tabitha Kidwell, faculty member in TESOL at American University and longtime teacher educator, about how teacher trainers themselves learn to lead professional development. Drawing on her recent research, Tabitha discusses the surprising reality that most trainers receive little formal preparation&mdash;often describing their first experiences as &ldquo;being thrown into the fire.&rdquo;

<blockquote>&ldquo;Teacher education is not something that you can read in a book. It&#39;s something that you really have to develop in collaboration with others and through your own personal growth and professional growth.&rdquo;&nbsp; &mdash; Tabitha Kidwell</blockquote>

Together, we explore what makes teacher training truly effective: contextual awareness, adult-learning theory, active facilitation, and continuous reflection. Tabitha highlights the need for structured Training of Trainers (ToT) programs, purposeful mentoring, and professional learning networks that help teacher educators thrive. The episode also unpacks the parallels between learning to teach and learning to train, emphasizing that good teachers aren&rsquo;t automatically good trainers without intentional support.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone leading&mdash;or aspiring to lead&mdash;professional learning in ELT. Gain insight into how intentional mentorship, structured preparation, and reflective networks can transform teacher development for the better.

 
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RK5dEG8AA6w?si=s4vt-HbA13Wh940U" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> 
🎙️&nbsp;Listen now on your favorite platform:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-teacher-think-aloud-podcast/id1629819608" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

🔗&nbsp;Follow The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast on social media for more updates:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teacherthinkaloud" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thinkaloud_pod/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thinkaloudpod.bsky.social" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-think-aloud/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>

Get featured on the podcast! 🎙️

<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/">The&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>&nbsp;is looking for contributions to their annual Friends of the Podcast episode, in which they feature voices from teachers around the world. In past years, these episodes have focused on&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/6XfSr9oolcE?si=DR_JsVtLKImIXxio" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">teaching contexts around the world</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/Gh7SQJbEEmQ?si=UT3ZIxht0mQOECSu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">AI for ELT</a>. This year, they&#39;re asking contributors to get back to basics and reflect on what areas they want to work on in their teaching practice.&nbsp;

Getting featured is easy!&nbsp;

1️⃣ Reflect on these questions:

<ul>
	<li>What is one thing that you want to work on in your teaching practice? Why?</li>
	<li>What is one step that you&rsquo;ll take to start working towards your goal?</li>
</ul>

2️⃣ Record a 60-second voice memo answering them

Go to&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/backtobasics26" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/backtobasics26</a>.

<ul>
	<li>Listen to the prompt.</li>
	<li>Record your audio response with one easy click.</li>
</ul>

Training the Trainers: Developing the Next Generation of Teacher Educators

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In Episode 77 of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>, Sh&eacute; sits down with Ben Buckwold (Founder &amp; CEO of Ellii) and Tara Benwell (VP of Publishing at Ellii) to explore the story behind one of Ellii&rsquo;s most creative classroom tools: <a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank">Ellii Dilemmas</a>. Born, quite literally, on a cocktail napkin, this interactive activity invites students to wrestle with moral and everyday dilemmas through authentic dialogue, reflection, and debate.

Ben and Tara share how Ellii Dilemmas grew from a moment of procrastination into one of the platform&rsquo;s fastest-growing features&nbsp;with thousands of teachers already using it worldwide. The conversation covers the tool&rsquo;s pedagogical design, from its built-in discussion scaffolds and &ldquo;Speak Up&rdquo; feature to the way it fosters empathy, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning.&nbsp;

Together, we unpack how moving from debate to dialogue can transform speaking practice into something deeply human and reflective.

<blockquote>&ldquo; It&rsquo;s a way for students to engage, have a conversation, a debate, a discussion, a dialogue, and to just really get into it.&rdquo;&nbsp; &mdash; Ben Buckwold</blockquote>

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JNk03oadJgI?si=jxGkKYLzZJPsqhKM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

Get featured on the podcast! 
The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>&nbsp;is looking for contributions to their annual Friends of the Podcast episode&nbsp;in which they feature voices from teachers around the world. In past years, these episodes have focused on&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/6XfSr9oolcE?si=DR_JsVtLKImIXxio" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">teaching contexts around the world</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/Gh7SQJbEEmQ?si=UT3ZIxht0mQOECSu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">AI in ELT</a>. This year, they&#39;re asking contributors to get back to basics and reflect on what areas they want to work on in their teaching practice.&nbsp;

Participating is easy: all you need to do is listen to a short prompt and leave a voice memo at&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/backtobasics26" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/backtobasics26</a>.&nbsp;The deadline to participate is December 15, 2025.

🎙️&nbsp;Listen now on your favorite platform:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-teacher-think-aloud-podcast/id1629819608" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

🔗&nbsp;Follow The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast on social media for more updates:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teacherthinkaloud" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thinkaloud_pod/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thinkaloudpod.bsky.social" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-think-aloud/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>

Ellii Dilemmas: Sparking Real Dialogue in the ELT Classroom (with Ben Buckwold & Tara Benwell)

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Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

Fall conference season is officially underway, and the Ellii team is buzzing&mdash;attending eight conferences this month alone, including BRAZ-TESOL, TESL Ontario, MITESOL, VATESOL, and more. Throughout the season, different members of our team step away from their desks to share Ellii&rsquo;s newest content and features&nbsp;and to chat with teachers and administrators about whether <a href="https://ellii.com/" target="_blank">Ellii</a> might be a good fit for their English language programs.

Conferences also offer something just as valuable: the chance to learn. Hearing from speakers, teachers, and publishers helps us better understand the evolving needs of today&rsquo;s English language learners&nbsp;and inspires new ideas for improving the Ellii experience for classrooms around the world.

<h2>MITESOL 2025 &ndash;&nbsp;Elevate, Motivate, Unite</h2>

The 2025 MITESOL conference took place on November 8, 2025, in the Student Center at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). The venue&nbsp;inspired this year&#39;s clever theme: Elevate, Motivate, Unite. The date itself was also significant! Michigan&#39;s governor, Gretchen Whitmar, officially declared November 8 as <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/proclamations/2025/11/08/november-8-2025-english-language-educators-recognition-day" target="_blank">English Language Educators Recognition Day</a> to honor the dedication of teachers who support English language learners and to acknowledge the value that these learners bring to Michigan.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Though I live in Windsor, Ontario,&nbsp;Michigan is my closest neighbor, so I&nbsp;was excited&nbsp;to attend, exhibit, and present at MITESOL on this monumental day!

<img alt="Anne Damiecka, Alexandra Covell, Tara Benwell at the Cambridge Ventures + Ellii booth at MITESOL 2025" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5000/content_MITESOL-2025.jpg" style="height: 526px; width: 500px;" />

Anne Damiecka (ESOL Specialist and Territory Manager, Cambridge University Press &amp; Assessment), Alexandra Covell (MITESOL President &amp; 2025 Conference Chair),&nbsp;Tara Benwell (VP of Publishing at Ellii) at MITESOL 2025

<h2>Morning Keynote&nbsp;</h2>

I knew it was going to be a worthwhile keynote when Dr. Raichle (Rai) Farrelly, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, began the first session&nbsp;by talking about&nbsp;how she likes to &quot;bookend&quot; her classes with stories.

In her keynote&nbsp;titled Mapping Knowledge and Language for a Change Agent Mindset,&nbsp;Dr. Rai used&nbsp;personal experiences, videos, and pictures to highlight why stories matter in our classrooms. Key takeaways were:

<ul>
	<li>stories drive connection</li>
	<li>stories are advocacy tools</li>
	<li>stories tell our history</li>
	<li>stories convey world views</li>
</ul>

Dr. Rai also shared&nbsp;strategies to foster curiosity, build knowledge, and inspire meaningful action to transform&nbsp;English classrooms into &quot;spaces for equity, connection, and global impact.&quot;

She illustrated the power of student agency by sharing a compelling story about young learners who launched a campaign to help school cleaners regain respect and dignity in their workplace.&nbsp;The young students developed an entire campaign to help change how cleaners were treated. They used this Design for Change model:

<ul>
	<li>Feel: What bothers you about the world?</li>
	<li>Imagine: Imagine ways to make the situation better.</li>
	<li>Do: Go out and put your ideas into action.</li>
	<li>Share: Inspire others with your act of change.</li>
</ul>

Dr. Rai also taught us about the <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-54677-8_4" target="_blank">Care-Know-Do</a> pedagogical framework:

<ol>
	<li>Social Emotional Learning</li>
	<li>Meaningful Learning</li>
	<li>Mastery Learning</li>
	<li>Critical Socioconstructivism</li>
	<li>Inquiry-Based Learning</li>
	<li>Experiential Learning</li>
</ol>

Dr. Rai left us with these inspiring&nbsp;parting words from the late <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3531-jane-goodall" target="_blank">Jane Goodall</a>.&nbsp;

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lfLKHY52ERc?si=hRdMrXzexjZaIzLo" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

<h2>Ellii Presentation</h2>

After spending some time chatting with teachers at the Ellii booth&mdash;where we were exhibiting next to our new publishing partner, Cambridge (Ventures)&mdash;I took a few steps down the hall to the Kiva Room, a cozy space with tiered bench seating. I was delighted to spend the hour with&nbsp;several teachers who were not yet familiar with Ellii (along with a few who were) during my session, Develop Oral Communication Skills in ESL Classrooms by Implementing Ellii&rsquo;s Game-Based Tools.

As a content creator, the workshop was an excellent opportunity to showcase&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/polls" target="_blank">Ellii Polls</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank">Ellii Dilemmas</a> and get a feel for how engaged&nbsp;participants were in the activities.&nbsp;In her keynote, Dr. Rai&nbsp;emphasized three&nbsp;essential components to any student advocacy project. I was able to demonstrate how students can develop and build these very skills with&nbsp;Ellii&rsquo;s interactive activities:

<ul>
	<li>critical thinking</li>
	<li>meaningful communication</li>
	<li>academic language</li>
</ul>

<a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/polls/names" target="_blank"><img alt="Ellii Poll Names" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5005/content_ellii-polls-names.png" style="width: 500px; height: 299px;" /></a>

After students submit answers to a poll or dilemma, the class is prompted to look up at the teacher&#39;s screen to review and discuss the results, vocabulary, and questions&nbsp;in pairs or as a group. The activities are carefully scaffolded and useful language and sentence stems are&nbsp;provided. In addition to participating in the activity, attendees&nbsp;shared lots of ways that they would use these activities in their own classrooms.

<a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/polls/names" target="_blank"><img alt="Tara Benwell, VP of Publishing at Ellii, demonstrates Ellii Polls in the Kiva Room at Eastern Michigan University, MITESOL 2025" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4999/content_MITESL-2025-Ellii-Polls.jpg" style="height: 453px; width: 500px;" /></a>

This is the first time I have seen this result. 100% of participants polled said they&nbsp;liked their <a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/polls/names" target="_blank">names</a>!

If you missed this session at any recent conferences and want to learn more about Ellii&#39;s FREE interactive, game-based activities, check out these posts and videos:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Introducing Ellii Polls</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/announcing-ellii-dilemmas" target="_blank">Announcing Ellii Dilemmas</a></li>
</ul>

<a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas/the-crooked-coworker" target="_blank"><img alt="Ellii Dilemmas" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5007/content_ellii-dilemma-crooked-coworker.png" style="width: 500px; height: 299px;" /></a>

If you missed the session, watch&nbsp;an interview with <a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes/episode/1a443540/e77-ellii-dilemmas-sparking-real-dialogue-in-the-elt-classroom-with-ben-buckwold-and-tara-benwell" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud</a> podcast that just came out this week, featuring&nbsp;the story behind the development of this&nbsp;&quot;tech-enabled&quot; tool that encourages students to look up, listen,&nbsp;and speak.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JNk03oadJgI?si=ZvyC5Tga2YG8Gkgs" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

After a lively morning of sessions and conversations, it was time to break for lunch&mdash;and another inspiring keynote.

<h2>Lunch Keynote&nbsp;</h2>

The exhibit hall was closed during the luncheon, giving exhibitors a chance to mingle with attendees and enjoy a delicious meal (falafel, chicken, and cookies!) along with a wonderful keynote.&nbsp; 
 
Dr. Katie Welch&mdash;who has presented twice at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA53ad4GloU" target="_blank">#ElliiCon</a>&mdash;spoke about social-emotional health for teachers in her talk, From Fatigue to Flourishing: Supporting Teacher Well-Being in Tough Times. She shared a range of practical ideas for educators, including an &ldquo;extension request form&rdquo; designed to help teachers reclaim their time.&nbsp;Katie also recommended the <a href="https://truthforteachers.com/podcast/" target="_blank">Truth for Teachers</a>&nbsp;podcast.

One of my favorite moments of the conference was a story Katie told about teachers advocating for fair pay in their small Texas community. She described how one teacher refused to take no for an answer and rallied others to use their voices and advocate for themselves.

Back at the booth, Katie and I spoke with an MA&nbsp;student who admitted it&rsquo;s a challenging time to be preparing for a teaching career amid so much negativity surrounding the profession. She thanked Katie for offering hope.&nbsp;

<h2>Ventures 4e (+ Ellii)&nbsp;</h2>

Another bonus of attending the MITESOL conference was learning all about <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/ca/cambridgeenglish/catalog/adult-courses/ventures-4th-edition" target="_blank">Ventures 4th Edition</a>, set to launch in summer 2026. Now that Ellii can be bundled with Ventures, you&rsquo;ll often find us side by side in exhibit halls. It was a pleasure getting to know CUPA district manager Anne Damiecka and discussing Adult Literacy needs in Michigan.

I also attended Anne and Katie&#39;s&nbsp;session and learned about the exciting updates coming to Ventures 4e&mdash;especially the new Lesson G, which will focus on workplace themes.

<img alt="Anne Damiecka sharing Ventures 4th edition at MITESOL 2025" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4998/content_MITESOL-2025-Ventures.jpg" style="height: 438px; width: 500px;" />

Anne Damiecka&nbsp;speaking during the Meeting the Needs of Adult Learners in Michigan session, presented with&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Katie Welch&nbsp;

Ellii will be developing&nbsp;new Ventures collections to go with the 4th edition before the updated coursebook series is released&nbsp;next summer.

<a href="https://ellii.com/ventures" target="_blank"><img alt="Ellii + Ventures" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5009/content_ellii-ventures.png" style="width: 500px; height: 305px;" /></a>

<h2>Gratitude</h2>

MITESOL 2025 was a day filled with inspiration, community, and meaningful conversations. I returned to Canada feeling&nbsp;grateful for the educators who continue to elevate, motivate, and unite English language learners wherever their classrooms may be.

As we head into a season of gratitude, I want to extend a special thank-you to Alexandra and the entire MITESOL team for organizing such a productive conference and for helping Ellii feel right at home. And to Ashley, Ellii&rsquo;s conference coordinator extraordinaire&mdash;thank you for planning every detail and keeping us perfectly on track during each and every busy conference season!&nbsp;

English Language Educators Recognition Day Announced at MITESOL 2025

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These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

A learning journal is a personal record of the past, present, and future of your learning. It&#39;s a great way to look back at how much you&#39;ve learned, think about what works best for you, and plan ways to learn even more in the future. You can also use it to note down how you felt doing different tasks or activities.&nbsp;

This blog post shares some ways that you can use a learning journal for your English language learning.&nbsp;

<h2>1. Planning</h2>

Planning your learning helps you to know what you need to do&mdash;and do it!

Use your journal to:

<ul>
	<li>note your schedule for the day, week, or month</li>
	<li>list&nbsp;your homework tasks (and check them off when you finish them!)</li>
	<li>write down your goals (and take notes of ways to achieve them)</li>
</ul>

Each day, week, or month, ask yourself:

<ul>
	<li>What do I want to do?</li>
	<li>How can I do it?</li>
	<li>What can I do better?</li>
</ul>

Take notes and&nbsp;do the work. Then, in the future, read your notes again and&nbsp;look back at how you have changed!

<h2>2. Tracking progress</h2>

Ellii helps you to plan and track your learning. But having a paper journal is a great way to think about this over a period of time.

At the end of each class, you could think about how confident you feel. Give yourself a number from 1 (not confident) to 10 (very confident). Write this down on one page of your journal. Over time, you will&nbsp;see the numbers changing!

You can also draw a rocket to the moon and some stars in your journal. The moon is where you want your English&nbsp;to be&nbsp;(for example, B2 level). Give each star a goal (for example, get confident with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCzJN0g5NHQ" target="_blank">present perfect progressive</a>). As you meet each goal, color in one of the stars.&nbsp;

<img alt="rocket to the moon" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5056/content_Notebook_Rocket-to-the-moon_Emily-Bryson.png" />

<h2>3. Reflecting</h2>

When we reflect, we look back at our learning. It can be helpful to ask ourselves these questions at the end of every class:

<ul>
	<li>What did I learn?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>How did I feel?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What worked well?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What do I want to do differently next time?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What questions do I have?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

A fun way to do this is by drawing a rose, a bud, and a thorn in your journal. Next to the rose, write something good that happened. Beside the bud, write something that you are excited about or an idea you had. And by the thorn, write something that you need to work on or get help with.&nbsp;

You can draw the rose, bud, and thorn yourself, or print this <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/warm-up-activity-for-social-emotional-learning" target="_blank">worksheet</a>.

<img alt="Rose, bud, thorn step by step Emily Bryson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5057/content_Rose-bud-thorn-step-by-step-Emily-Bryson.png" />

<img alt="Rose, bud, Thorn, Ellii activity" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5058/content_Rose-Bud-Thorn-Activity_Ellii.jpg" />

<h2>4. Daily diary</h2>

Every day, we do a lot of things. Keeping a diary of your day in English is a fantastic way to practice the language. You could even sketchnote your day by adding simple drawings. Try to use grammar or vocabulary that you have learned recently or need to practice.&nbsp;

<h2>5. Writing prompts</h2>

Starting a daily journaling habit means that you will spend 5&ndash;10 minutes a day writing in English. Over time, that adds up to 35&ndash;70 minutes per week, 2&ndash;5 hours per month, and 30&ndash;60 hours per year. Just think how much your English&nbsp;can improve in that time!

But sometimes, finding things to write about can be hard. Here are 35 ideas to get you started: 
 
<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/journal-prompts-for-writing-practice" target="_blank">Journal Prompts for Writing Practice</a>

<h2>6. Ideas</h2>

Some of the best ideas never happen because we don&#39;t write them down! Keep notes of your ideas and things you want to try in your journal&mdash;for example, a podcast you want to listen to or TV show in English that you want to watch. That way you can look at the&nbsp;list when you have time&nbsp;and choose one of them.&nbsp;

<blockquote>
Have you tried journaling to help you learn English? Which of these ideas do you want to try? Share your ideas and advice for other learners in the comments.&nbsp;
</blockquote>

6 Ways to Use Journaling to Learn English Fast

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Did you know that the writers who create Ellii lessons and resources are all English teachers or former teachers?

That&#39;s just one of the reasons we love receiving poetry, stories, and paragraphs&nbsp;that students write while doing Ellii lessons.&nbsp;

In our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1885" target="_blank">Remembrance Day / Veterans Day lesson</a>, we challenge students to write acrostic poetry and share it with our team. Check out this year&#39;s submissions as well as the poems from years past.

<h2>2025 Student Poetry&nbsp;</h2>

This year&#39;s submission is from Eyerusalem Hailu at the Bickford Centre in Alison Clarke&#39;s class: Essential Skills Upgrading program,&nbsp;Toronto District School Board

<blockquote>
Remember the brave who gave their lives. 
Every moment was unforgettable. 
Memory and admiration bring tears. 
Energy for us to go forward. 
Meaningful for everyone of us. 
Recall again and again their sacrifice. 
Admire the people who sacrificed their lives. 
Never forget what they did for us. 
Celebrate every year on November 11th. 
Excited to be a part of this incredible Day. 
&nbsp;
</blockquote>

<h2>2024 Student Poetry</h2>

Here is a new poem submitted by Bryna Gerakos, an ESL Instructor at Hudson Adult Learning Center

<blockquote>
Veterans, we are 
Eternally grateful 
To you 
Excellent service 
Remembering and honoring you 
And we will 
Never forget you 
So, thank you very much!

By Gabriela Sanchez, Johanna Ortega, Dunia Caal, and Lin Yangzheng.
</blockquote>

&nbsp;

<h2>2023 Student Poetry</h2>

Here is a new poem that was submitted by Ms. Anderson&#39;s 4th Period Intermediate ELD Class:

<blockquote>
Memories of Silence for Their Sacrifice 

Remember the lives of soldiers

Everything stops for

Memories of silence

Enormous Alliance

Moments before disaster

Bullet dodging when Death calls your name

Remember the lives of the soldiers who sacrificed

Anniversary of the soldiers who fought for peace

November 11th is the Day of Remembrance

Color of poppies reminds &quot;we kept this promise&quot;

Everything for peace
</blockquote>

<hr />
And here is a poem that was submitted by Ms. Anderson&#39;s 6th Period Intermediate ELD Class:

<blockquote>
 
Peace for Veterans 

Represents all the soldiers globally

Every soldier that fought in War

Memories of lost ones

Event for remembering the veterans that fought for peace

Memorial is a way to remember someone

Be polite to Veterans

Remembering our loved ones

Allied forces fought for our peace

No veterans should be disrespected

Celebrate memories with loved ones

End war
</blockquote>

<h2>2022 Student Poetry</h2>

We love these moving acrostic poems we received&nbsp;from Betul Ozer Budak&#39;s LBS (Literacy and Basic Skills)&nbsp;class.

<h3>Poem #1</h3>

<blockquote>
Veterans Day...

Every November, we remember.

Trumpets play &quot;Last Post&quot; ...

Eleven o&#39;clock: a moment of silence ...

Red poppies people wear

After the war, people were happy but

Never forget the soldiers who died

Soldiers who fight ...

By Asmae Dadi, Ebtesam Rashed, and&nbsp;Helen Ada
</blockquote>

<h3>Poem #2</h3>

<blockquote>
Poppies everywhere

On our hearts

People&#39;s stories

Poppies everywhere

Yesterday&#39;s memories

By&nbsp;Ebtesam Rashed and&nbsp;Helen Ada
</blockquote>

<h3>Poem #3</h3>

<blockquote>
Remembrance

Every year we remember them.

Many soldiers died in the war.

Every 11 November is Remembrance Day.

Many people have a ceremony.

Birds of peace carrying olive branches

Remind us the young soldiers.

At 11 o&#39;clock the war ended but

Nobody forgot the soldiers.

Ceremonies we have for them;

Each of us is proud of them...

By&nbsp;Aisha Ankaa,&nbsp;Cuc Thi Nguyen, and&nbsp;Ebtesam Rashed
</blockquote>

Here are a few wonderful Remembrance Day poems from Kosta Stojanovic&#39;s LINC 4/5 class at Coll&egrave;ge Bor&eacute;al in Toronto, Canada.

<h3>Poem #4</h3>

<blockquote>
Red poppies bloom on each breast

Earth remembers it&#39;s heroes

Many great-grandparents were there

Every soldier lives to wonder why

Memories of War that never stray

But someone is shooting again and again

Remembrance poppies are red, not signifying blood of soldiers

And their stories never see the light of day

Need of peace is worldwide

Children want to live in love

Every day can be better,&nbsp;if everyone has remembrance

By Elvira Shootca
</blockquote>

<h3>Poem #5</h3>

<blockquote>
Raise your head off the ground

Everyone is proud of you

My heart is like a galaxy

Even though you&#39;re not here I feel you

My heart belongs to you

Breathe in the morning of victory

Raging about war

Army protect the people

Never make me feel sad

Ceremony for your courage

Everyone will always remember

By Mandana Hodhodynejad
</blockquote>

<h3>Poem #6</h3>

<blockquote>
Rmember our soldiers

Enlist the soldiers

Making our world into peace

Everyone who died in the wars

Memorial never forget

Brothers who bled just

Respect our fallen soldiers

Armistice day

November 11th armed weapons fall silent

Celebrate the soldiers

Enjoy freedom in happiness and peace

By Dilek Tas
</blockquote>

<h2>2021 Student Poetry</h2>

<h3>Poem #1</h3>

This beautiful acrostic poem was sent in by Sherry and&nbsp;Kathleen&#39;s class:&nbsp;

<blockquote>
Vests of soldiers carry valued human beings

Emotions of appreciation echo when we commemorate every year on November 11

Treasures you have done for us are countless as we are free

Echos of your contributions are hard to describe out loud.

Remembering you veterans

Appreciating your efforts

Nations will never forget you for

Sacrificing your lives to give us freedom.

By Antonio, Cecilia, Huda, Jingyuan, and Yunyi
</blockquote>

<h3>Poem #2</h3>

Here&#39;s another poem that was submitted by an intermediate LINC class.

<img alt="Remembrance Day Poem by LINC students" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1879/content_Remembrance-Day-Poem.jpg" />

<h2>2020 Student Poetry</h2>

Here are some poetry submissions we received in November 2020 from a low-intermediate&nbsp;LINC class in Toronto, Ontario. Thank you to Kosta and his class for sharing this writing with us!

<h3>Poem #1</h3>

<blockquote>
<h3>Remembrance Day</h3>

Essential day

Many people lost a loved one

Ended of the war must be done

Be peaceful, remember the war

Against the war, no more the war

Celebrate the peace

Everyone will be happy

By Momoko, Anibal and Zhi Sheng
</blockquote>

<h3>Poem #2&nbsp;</h3>

<blockquote>
<h3>Very important</h3>

Eating and drinking

Tomorrow it&#39;ll&nbsp;be coming

Email to me

Remember it

Answer and reply

Notice it on your calendar

Send it to me

By Coco
</blockquote>

<h3>Poem #3</h3>

<blockquote>
<h3>Remembering our veterans</h3>

Enormous respect

Many left behind the family who were

Eager to see them again

More peace, no war

By wearing the poppy we remember,

Each that fell

Rising like the sun every day

Don&#39;t forget them

Anually we honour the past

Yesterday is not forgotten

By Milena Nessi
</blockquote>

<h2>Poem #4</h2>

<blockquote>
Red color

Email me

May I have&nbsp;

Enough for me

Many years

Best of luck

Raise your hand

At a time

Never mind

Call me

Excellent place

By Israt, Alice, and Coco
</blockquote>

<h2>Poem #5</h2>

<blockquote>
Voters are protesting

Eat your food

Trumpet is a bass horn

End your day in a happy way

Remembrance Day is a poppy day

Are you okay

No one here

Can you hear?

By Rania, Gadha, and Milena
</blockquote>

<h2>Pronunciation Work</h2>

Here is some pronunciation work these writers did while working on their poetry from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a> lesson. We&#39;re so happy to see students working with <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons/3352">pronunciation symbols</a>. We&nbsp;hope you&#39;re enjoying our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/130/lessons">Pronunciation</a> lessons, too.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1070/content_Screen_Shot_2020-11-26_at_4.22.13_PM.png" />

Keep up the great work, LINC class! And most importantly, thank you for remembering our veterans.

<h2>&nbsp;</h2>

Student Poetry for Remembrance Day / Veterans Day

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Most people know that English is&nbsp;the most common&nbsp;language&nbsp;in the world. In fact, it has 1.5 billion speakers!&nbsp;Travel anywhere by plane and the announcements will be in English and in the local language. Meet people&nbsp;from different countries on vacation and you&#39;ll probably all speak together in English.

But sometimes it might feel like English belongs to so-called &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speakers. This is not true.

<blockquote>
<h2>English is global and it belongs to everyone.&nbsp;</h2>
</blockquote>

In fact, 80% of English language users are NOT so-called &quot;native&quot; speakers! Most people who use English learned it through hard work and practice and by using helpful resources like Ellii&#39;s.

In this blog post, I will share some ideas that will (hopefully) make you more confident with your language use and help you to OWN your very own personal voice. Because English belongs to you.&nbsp;

<h2>The problem with trying to sound like a &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speaker</h2>

In my opinion, there are many problems with the terms &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;non-native&quot; (and with wanting to speak like one).

Here are some problems:

<h3>1. Who really is a &quot;native&quot; speaker?&nbsp;</h3>

When people talk about so-called &quot;native&#39;&quot; speakers, they often think about people from countries like the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.

However, there are actually 75 English-speaking countries in the world. And that number is growing. People often forget that countries like the Philippines, Singapore, Kenya, Dominica, Malta,&nbsp;and Hong Kong all have English&nbsp;as one of their official languages.&nbsp;

There are also many countries around the world that have lots of&nbsp;fluent English language users. For example, <a href="https://www.worlddata.info/asia/pakistan/index.php#google_vignette">46% of people in Pakistan speak English</a>.

<h3>2. &quot;Native&quot;&nbsp;speakers do not speak &quot;perfect&quot;&nbsp;English.&nbsp;</h3>

There is no &quot;perfect&quot;&nbsp;way to speak English. This is true for all languages. Think about your own language. Ask yourself:

<ul>
	<li>How many different countries speak it?</li>
	<li>What different words and phrases do people use in different places?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What accents are there? Which of these do you find difficult to understand?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

The fact is that English is spoken differently everywhere. There are many different Englishes: American, Scottish, Nigerian, Caribbean... The most important thing is to be understood.&nbsp;

<h3>3. &quot;Native&quot; speakers are harder to understand.&nbsp;</h3>

English languages users around the world often say that it is easier to speak with other people whose first language is not English. So-called &quot;native&quot; speakers speak quickly,&nbsp;use local words (e.g., slang), and idioms, and they often have accents that can be harder to understand.&nbsp;

They also don&#39;t always understand that it takes two people to have a successful conversation. They might believe the hard work is for the English language learner.&nbsp;But really, they need to slow down, leave spaces between their words, and choose their words more carefully.

<h2>So, do you really want to sound like a &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speaker?&nbsp;</h2>

The reality is that there is no &quot;perfect&quot; way to speak English. It&#39;s more important to understand and be understood.&nbsp;

Here are some ways to OWN English, and make it yours:&nbsp;

<h3>1. Love your &quot;mistakes.&quot;</h3>

Mistakes are fantastic. They help us to learn. They can also become part of our own special way of using English. Unless you are taking a test, it doesn&#39;t really matter if you say&nbsp;&quot;in the bus&quot;&nbsp;instead of &quot;on the bus.&quot; Everyone knows what you mean! Enjoy learning new expressions and don&#39;t be afraid to try them out. Laugh&nbsp;and play with the language. A new way of expressing something can often sound poetic to those who speak English as their first language&nbsp;because it feels fresh and new.

<h3>2. Stop apologizing!</h3>

There is never any need to say &quot;Sorry about&nbsp;my English.&quot;&nbsp;You are learning. You are trying. You are getting better every day.&nbsp;

<h3>3. Use it for things you love.</h3>

When you enjoy doing something, you want to do it more. So find ways to use it for things you love. Sing, make videos, read recipes,&nbsp;post or comment&nbsp;on social media, or reply to this blog post.

<h3>4. Be yourself!</h3>

You can only be you and you will always be you. The way you speak English is also part of you and your life. Be yourself and make your own English!

To practice your English on your own, check out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.englishapp.com/">EnglishApp</a>&nbsp;by Ellii.&nbsp;Or find out if your school&nbsp;has access to&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/solo">Ellii Solo</a>.

<blockquote>
How are you owning your English? Share your thoughts!
</blockquote>

English Belongs to Everyone: Here's How to OWN Your English!

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Starter courses for each level with a suggested teaching order from the ESL Library publishing team.

Courses

Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

Are you teaching US history and government and&nbsp;preparing students for the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test? You are changing lives, and Ellii wants to help!

<blockquote>
Yes! Ellii is developing test prep materials for the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test.
</blockquote>

We began working on new content as soon as the notice went out about the new test (Sep&nbsp;18, 2025). If your students are preparing for the naturalization test, you&nbsp;can expect plenty of new content on Ellii in the next few months. We&#39;ll be updating this post as new content is available.&nbsp;

<h3>What has changed with the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test?&nbsp;</h3>

<ul>
	<li>If applicants applied before or within 30 days of the notice (Sep&nbsp;18, 2025), they take the 2008 test.</li>
	<li>If applicants&nbsp;applied 30 days or more after this notice (Sep&nbsp;18, 2025), they take the 2025 test.</li>
	<li>On the new (2025) test, the&nbsp;USCIS officer will ask applicants to answer up to 20 out of&nbsp;128 civics test questions&nbsp;to prove their&nbsp;knowledge of&nbsp;US&nbsp;history and government.</li>
	<li>USCIS officers will&nbsp;stop&nbsp;after the&nbsp;applicant answers&nbsp;12 questions correctly OR misses 9 questions.</li>
</ul>

Note: Scroll down for useful external links to resources regarding these updates.&nbsp;

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Media Gallery</h2>

Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;new <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep" target="_blank">US Civics &amp; Test Prep</a> videos build history and government knowledge while offering practical test-taking tips. Choose from short, digestible clips or full-length video lessons with chapter divisions.&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep/colonial-period-independence" target="_blank"><img alt="US Civics Test Prep videos" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5010/content_Civics-Video-Colonial-Period-and-Independence_OG-play.png" /></a>

The first 18 <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep" rel="noopener" target="_blank">US Civics &amp; Test Prep videos</a> are available now!&nbsp;

<a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep/the-1800s" target="_blank"><img alt="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep/the-1800s" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5011/content_Civics-Video-1800s_OG-play.png" /></a>

Videos include a real teacher from Ellii, real&nbsp;photographs, useful drawings, and real questions and possible answers from the test.

<a href="https://ellii.com/video/recent-american-history" target="_blank"><img alt="Recent US History video " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5055/content_Screen_Shot_2025-11-19_at_3.11.32_PM.png" /></a>

More videos are coming soon.&nbsp;

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Study Packs</h2>

Ellii Study Packs allow you to assign your students bundled content easily with one click. Visit our <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=45&amp;page=1" target="_blank">US Civics</a> category in Courses &amp; Packs&nbsp;and watch this content&nbsp;grow. 
 
If you and your students like Ellii&#39;s test prep videos, you&#39;ll love the NEW study packs. Each video lesson comes with practice tasks, including vocabulary review, comprehension, and speaking practice. In our first release, <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/colonial-period-independence/materials" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Colonial Period &amp; Independence</a>, students practice questions 73&ndash;89 of the civics test.

<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/colonial-period-independence/materials" target="_blank"><img alt="Colonial Period &amp; Independence Study Pack on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5012/content_US-Civics-Test-Prep-Colonial-Period-and-Independence_OG.png" /></a>

This follow-up pack on <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/the-1800s/materials" target="_blank">The 1800s</a>&nbsp;features video lessons and practice about western expansion and the Civil War. Students practice questions 90&ndash;99 of the civics test. Expand your students&#39;&nbsp;knowledge with related lessons from our library, such as lessons on historic figures from this period, including <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3185-harriet-tubman" target="_blank">Harriet Tubman</a>, <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3473-frederick-douglass" target="_blank">Frederick Douglass</a>, and <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2881-susan-b-anthony" target="_blank">Susan B. Anthony</a>.

<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/the-1800s/materials" target="_blank"><img alt="The 1800s US Civics Test Prep Study Pack on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5013/content_US-Civics-1800s_OG.png" /></a>

The third&nbsp;pack features video lessons and practice about conflict and change in <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/recent-american-history/materials" target="_blank">Recent US History</a> (the 1900s and early 2000s). Students practice questions 100&ndash;118&nbsp;of the civics test. Expand your students&#39;&nbsp;knowledge with related lessons from our library, such as lessons on historic figures from this period, including <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1535-franklin-d-roosevelt" target="_blank">Franklin Roosevelt</a>, the <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2856-the-vietnam-war" target="_blank">Vietnam War,</a> and <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1466-september-11th" target="_blank">September 11th</a>.

<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/recent-american-history/materials" target="_blank"><img alt="Recent US History US Civics Test Prep Study Pack: The 1900s and early 2000s" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5054/content_US-Civics-Recent-US-History_OG.png" /></a>

You can also send content individually to just the students who are studying for the test&nbsp;(NEW feature).

<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-individual-student-assignments" target="_blank"><img alt="individual assignments on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5014/content_Screen_Shot_2025-11-14_at_11.12.24_AM.png" /></a>

We have six more packs in the works&nbsp;and will be releasing the videos and lessons as they are ready!

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Collections</h2>

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics" target="_blank">US Citizenship &amp; Naturalization</a></h3>

This collection category offers six ready-made collections of EL Civics content focusing on US law, government, history, and culture. This content will help prepare ELLs for life and citizenship in the United States.&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lessons/american-presidents" target="_blank">American Presidents&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/american-institutions" target="_blank">American Institutions</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/american-trailblazers" target="_blank">American Trailblazers</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/american-holidays" target="_blank">American Holidays</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/us-history" target="_blank">American History</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics/us-landmarks" target="_blank">American Landmarks</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/el-civics" target="_blank">EL Civics</a></h3>

This collection category features curated content for pre-approved civics objectives (COAAPs) selected by California agencies supporting adult ed. Search for content that is specifically related to the needs assessment of your students and use this content toward&nbsp;the 30 hours of instruction your learners need before doing related assessments.

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/nations-regions/americana" target="_blank">The United States</a></h3>

Our content library is full of lessons about American facts, figures, and firsts. This collection highlights some of our most popular lesson content related to the US, including presidents, famous people, and holidays.

<h2>Popular Ellii Lessons</h2>

Use the Search field on Ellii to find lessons on topics you are covering, and reach out to us if you can&#39;t find what you&#39;re looking for. Here are some popular US civics lessons:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5757-us-immigration-rights" target="_blank">US Immigration Rights</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2277-american-citizenship" target="_blank">American Citizenship</a> (in editing)</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3836-n-400-vocabulary" target="_blank">N-400 Vocabulary</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2676-the-united-states" target="_blank">The United States </a>(Listening in English)</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2263-map-of-the-us" target="_blank">Map of the US</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1505-george-washington" target="_blank">George Washington</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2779-trail-of-tears" target="_blank">The Trail of Tears</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3172-the-us-constitution" target="_blank">The US Constitution</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5636-the-bill-of-rights" target="_blank">The Bill of Rights</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4037-the-declaration-of-independence" target="_blank">The Declaration of Independence</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2764-the-supreme-court-us" target="_blank">The Supreme Court</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3381-election-day-us" target="_blank">Election Day</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/video/republicans-democrats" target="_blank">Republicans Vs. Democrats</a> (explainer video)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Coming Soon on Ellii&nbsp;</h3>

<ul>
	<li>30 + more videos</li>
	<li>Six + US Test Prep Study Packs</li>
	<li>NEW comprehensive civics&nbsp;lessons focused on US History &amp; Government&nbsp;</li>
	<li>US Test Prep Speaking Practice Tests</li>
</ul>

<h3>Useful External Resources for 2025 Updates</h3>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/18/2025-18050/notice-of-implementation-of-2025-naturalization-civics-test" target="_blank">Notice of Implementation of 2025 Naturalization Civics Test </a>(09.18.2025)</li>
	<li><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/brochures/USCIS-2025-Civics-Test-Study-Guide.pdf" target="_blank">One Nation, One People Study Guide (2025)</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025-Civics-Test-128-Questions-and-Answers-09.15.2025.pdf" target="_blank">128 Civics Questions (2025)</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/find-study-materials-and-resources/check-for-test-updates" target="_blank">USCIS Comparison of 2008 / 2025 Test</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5n2h5rdfojhykxegok15a/Natz_Test_Comparison_A_2008-2025.pdf?rlkey=47rpmtohvcrqazh1uf17h8o7k&amp;e=1&amp;st=r1lxr88r&amp;dl=0" target="_blank">Bill Bliss&#39;s Comparison chart of 2008 / 2025 Test</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship" target="_blank">USCIS Citizenship Resource Center</a></li>
</ul>

2025 US Naturalization Civics Test Prep Now on Ellii

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<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

Great news, teachers!

As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;

<h3>Here&#39;s how it works:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!

All the best, 
Ben :)

Founder, CEO at Ellii

Introducing Individual Student Assignments

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<section>
In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 76</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>, co-hosts Sh&eacute; and Anna sit down with teacher trainer and host of&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everything-efl/id1494494153" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Everything EFL</a>,&nbsp;Erin O&rsquo;Byrne, to explore how the&nbsp;Lexical Approach&nbsp;can transform both teaching and learning in the English language classroom.

Erin shares how her journey&mdash;from pandemic boredom to professional epiphany&mdash;led her to embrace the Lexical Approach as a practical, empowering methodology that just&nbsp;makes sense.&nbsp;She explains how shifting from teaching individual words to teaching&nbsp;chunks of language&nbsp;helps students process meaning faster, use real-world English, and become more confident, autonomous speakers.

<blockquote>&ldquo; You are giving them real-world language. The lexical approach is very much conversation driven. They recognize things. They notice things faster.&rdquo;&nbsp; &mdash; Erin O&rsquo;Byrn</blockquote>

From corpus linguistics to classroom spontaneity, this episode explores how teachers can &ldquo;learn it loose,&rdquo; noticing and recycling meaningful phrases that actually appear in authentic communication. Erin also unpacks&nbsp;emergent language&nbsp;and how creating space for student-led noticing can reduce prep time, prevent burnout, and spark creativity for both learners and teachers.

Whether you&rsquo;re new to the Lexical Approach or looking to refresh your teaching, this conversation is packed with ready-to-use ideas and reflective insights on how to move from&nbsp;rules to real language.
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mw2DSqH6-fI?si=FBuk8_xdjCXI2c1N" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

🎙️&nbsp;Listen now on your favorite platform:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-teacher-think-aloud-podcast/id1629819608" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

🔗&nbsp;Follow The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast on social media for more updates:

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teacherthinkaloud" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thinkaloud_pod/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thinkaloudpod.bsky.social" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a></li>
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	<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-think-aloud/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>
</section>

Empowering Learners & Teachers with the Lexical Approach

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