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

Announcements

<p><em>Just like the Publishing team constantly puts out new content, our Product team continuously rolls out new features. Some builds are requests and needs shared by school districts, admins, or teachers, and others are updates we decide on internally to complete during a six-week cycle. In addition to building and designing new features, our&nbsp;engineers and designers are constantly cleaning things up to make the platform as user-friendly as possible for learners and teachers. </em></p>

<p><em>We don&#39;t always get a chance to make formal announcements about all of our new releases, so if you&#39;re a subscriber, we hope you&#39;ll take a minute to review what&#39;s new!</em></p>

<h2>No more password headaches: Key codes arrive</h2>

<p>Logging in just got easier for students. When creating student accounts, teachers can now choose between traditional username + password or our new simpler option: key codes made up of six digits.</p>

<p>Students can log in using their key code + last name, making access quicker and more classroom-friendly.</p>

<p>And for even more efficiency, teachers can bulk create students via CSV upload.</p>

<p><img alt="Keycodes on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5305/content_image__8_.png" /></p>

<h2>Time reports reveal student effort</h2>

<p>Curious how much time students are actually spending on tasks?</p>

<p>The new Time Reports feature gives teachers clear visibility into:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Time spent by students within a specific class</li>
	<li>Total time spent across Ellii and Ellii Solo</li>
</ul>

<h2><img alt="time reports on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5306/content_image__9_.png" /></h2>

<h2>Assessments get a major upgrade</h2>

<p>Assessments just leveled up. We&rsquo;ve brought more task types into the Assessment Player, including:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Image Match</li>
	<li>Listen &amp; Type</li>
	<li>Writing&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Speaking</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="Ellii Placement Test with speaking and writing" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5308/content_Screenshot_2026-03-18_at_8.58.47_AM.png" /></p>

<p>This unlocks more robust assessments, including true 4-skills placement tests and Ellii Bot assistance to grade them. Because of this, students will now see a message at the end of an assessment letting them know their score is being processed and will be available shortly.</p>

<p><img alt="Assessment Player gets new tasks on Ellii " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5307/content_image__10_.png" /></p>

<h2>Round buttons roll into town</h2>

<p>The interface just got smoother.&nbsp;Round buttons have officially arrived, and some of them are now sporting fresh color gradients for a more modern look.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It might look like a small visual tweak, but a lot of work went into it behind the scenes.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="round buttons on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5296/content_image__1_.png" /></p>

<h2>Teacher hack inspires new emoji class feature</h2>

<p>We noticed a teacher manually adding emoji&nbsp;to their class names and thought,&nbsp;<em>That&rsquo;s actually pretty cool...why not make it a feature?</em></p>

<p>Now teachers can pick an emoji for their class name directly from a selector, adding a bit of personality (and easier visual scanning) to the class list.</p>

<p><img alt="emoji in class name on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5297/content_image__2_.png" /></p>

<h2>Ellii Bot now takes scoring requests</h2>

<p>Ever had your class set to manual grading and then realized you suddenly had a mountain of responses to score?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Ellii Bot autoscoring can now be run on demand as a one-off job!</p>

<p>So even if your class settings are set to manual grading (or you forgot to change them), you now have the option to let the bot step in and help.</p>

<p><img alt="Need Ellii Bot's help " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5298/content_image__3_.png" /></p>

<h2>Bot declares: English-only for speaking tasks</h2>

<p>Ellii Bot is tightening the rules on speaking activities. Responses must now be in English, ensuring more accurate feedback and scoring for speaking practice.</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii Bot allows English only" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5299/content_image__4_.png" /></p>

<h2>Homework confusion avoided with&nbsp;in-class tasks skipped</h2>

<p>Some lesson tasks are really meant to be done live in the classroom, not assigned for homework.</p>

<p>Now pair or group tasks like warm-ups, discussions,&nbsp;and role-plays are skipped by default when assigning lessons. Teachers can still add them back into the assignment if they want.</p>

<p><img alt="Homework-only tasks" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5300/content_image__5_.png" /></p>

<h2>Students get &ldquo;already started&rdquo; assignment tracker</h2>

<p>Students will now see which assignments they&#39;ve already started but not finished.</p>

<p>This makes it easier to jump back in and finish the job...hopefully. 😅</p>

<p><img alt="Already started homework label on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5301/content_image__6_.png" /></p>

<h2>Classes can be easily transferred</h2>

<p>Teachers now have a new option when managing their classes&mdash;transfer a class to another teacher. When handing off a class to a coworker or dealing with schedule changes, teachers can now move a class without losing its structure or student list.</p>

<p><img alt="Transfer homework to another teacher on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5302/content_image__7_.png" /></p>

<h2>More platform updates</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Universal Roster</strong>&nbsp;now includes students without a class</li>
	<li><strong>Old notifications cleaned up</strong>&nbsp;to reduce clutter and improve performance</li>
	<li>Platform performance benefits from <strong>smarter notification management</strong></li>
	<li>Performance boost for students&#39; lists, <strong>now loading 4X faster</strong>!</li>
</ul>

<p>A big thank-you to the entire Product team and everyone involved in the discussions that helped shape these updates, including teachers!&nbsp;Your ideas, feedback, and collaboration make improvements like these possible.</p>


2026 Feature Updates at Ellii (Q1)

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

Courses

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

Teaching with Ellii

<p>Are you teaching US history and government and&nbsp;preparing students for the NEW Naturalization Civics Test (2025 version)? You are changing lives, and Ellii wants to help!</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Yes! Ellii has&nbsp;test prep materials for the new Naturalization Civics Test.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>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.&nbsp;</p>

<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>

<p><strong>Note:</strong> Scroll down for useful external links to resources regarding these updates.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Media Gallery</h2>

<p>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;</p>

<p><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></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><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></p>

<p>Videos include a real teacher from Ellii, real&nbsp;photographs, useful drawings, and real questions and possible answers from the test.</p>

<p><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></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Study Packs</h2>

<p>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.<br />
<br />
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.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In our first release, <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/colonial-period-independence/materials" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Colonial Period &amp; Independence</a></strong>, students practice questions <strong>73&ndash;89 </strong>of the civics test.</p>

<p><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></p>

<p>This follow-up pack on <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/the-1800s/materials" target="_blank"><b>The 1800s</b></a><b>&nbsp;</b>features video lessons and practice about western expansion and the Civil War. Students practice questions <strong>90&ndash;99 </strong>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>.</p>

<p><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></p>

<p>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 <strong>100&ndash;118&nbsp;</strong>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>.</p>

<p><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></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/principles-of-us-government" target="_blank">Principles of American Government</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/system-of-government-1" target="_blank">System of Government 1</a>&nbsp;cover the first 30 possible questions on the civics&nbsp;test.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Update as of February 27, 2026</h2>

<p>All 9 <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1&amp;level=&amp;material=&amp;category=45" target="_blank">US Civics Test Prep Study Packs </a>have now been released, with practice for all possible civics questions on the test. Includes question practice and speaking assessments.&nbsp;The full set of videos are available in the Media Gallery in the <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/us-civics-test-prep" target="_blank">US Civics Test Prep</a> section.</p>

<p><br />
Did you know? You can also send content individually to just the students who are studying for the test&nbsp;(NEW feature).</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><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></p>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Collections</h2>

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/us-civics" target="_blank">US Citizenship &amp; Naturalization</a></h3>

<p>This<strong> </strong>collection category<strong> </strong>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;</p>

<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>

<p>This collection category features curated content for pre-approved civics objectives <strong>(COAAPs)</strong> 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.</p>

<h3><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/nations-regions/americana" target="_blank">The United States</a></h3>

<p>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.</p>

<h2>Popular Ellii Lessons</h2>

<p>Use the <strong>Search</strong> 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:</p>

<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>US Test Prep Speaking Practice Tests (for the personal interview)</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>


US Naturalization Civics Test Prep Now on Ellii

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<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

<p>Great news, teachers!</p>

<p>As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Here&#39;s how it works:</strong></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>

<p>Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.</p>

<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>

<p>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!</p>

<p>All the best,<br />
Ben :)</p>

<p>Founder, CEO at Ellii</p>


Introducing Individual Student Assignments

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2724/Ben_Introducing-Individual-Student-Assignments_Banner.png

<p>Ellii<strong>&nbsp;</strong>is making<strong>&nbsp;</strong>some changes to our navigation system to simplify how you find, save, and assign materials, and how you generally get around the site. The changes will go live on October 2, 2025.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Here&rsquo;s what has changed:</h3>

<ol>
	<li>Our top navigation bar</li>
	<li>Our Lesson Section Index page</li>
	<li>Our Lesson Section pages</li>
	<li>The &quot;Like&quot;&nbsp;feature<br />
	&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

<h2>Let&rsquo;s dive into each...</h2>

<h1><b>1. We&#39;ve simplified the top navigation</b></h1>

<p>We&#39;ve made three changes to the top navigation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>First, our navigation bar has been simplified. The Materials tab, Classes tab, and Saved tab have been <strong>combined into one universal menu</strong> we call the &quot;<strong>Everything</strong><em>&quot;</em>&nbsp;menu. So now, to get to any of our three main areas of the site, you simply need to click one button. Click &quot;Everything<em>&quot;</em>!</p>

<p>Second, our search tool has been brought to the middle of the navigation bar, making it more accessible and easier&nbsp;to spot.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>And third, our administrator&nbsp;tools&nbsp;for managing your&nbsp;team and viewing usage reports have been conveniently moved to the Accounts menu on the right side of the navigation bar.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dsy605WReDk?si=Qc240yMiBBnoyUee" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h1><b>2. The Lesson Page Index now includes genre filters, pins, and a plain-text list view</b></h1>

<p>Our redesigned navigation in our Lesson Page Index includes a new <strong>genre tag filter</strong> at the top of the page, so you no longer have to scroll forever to get to a particular section you&rsquo;re interested in. Just click a genre tag to filter to your favorite lesson sections.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
We&rsquo;ve also moved our&nbsp;<strong>Resources</strong>&nbsp;into the Lesson Page. What used to live on its own page is now available as one of the filter genres at the top. Inside, you&rsquo;ll find all the same great resources such as Assessment &amp; Reflections, Certificates, Grammar Charts, and more, now easier to access in one place.</p>

<p>We&rsquo;ve also added a&nbsp;feature that lets you pin the lesson sections you use the most and access them all on one dedicated <strong>personalized Pinned page</strong>.</p>

<p>Lastly, we built a <strong>plain-text index view</strong> to quickly see and scan all lesson section titles in a single, simple snapshot page.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O2G8z_Pl-Aw?si=jIlKgjUdx7IfFZfO" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h1><b>3. Each lesson section&nbsp;now includes&nbsp;category tags, and all lessons have an instant &quot;Add to class&quot;&nbsp;button</b></h1>

<p>Most lesson sections on Ellii include categories to appropriately divide the many lessons by theme or&nbsp;target structure. In the past, you would sometimes find yourself endlessly scrolling&nbsp;to get to a category lower down the page. Now, we&rsquo;ve converted our <strong>categories into</strong> <strong>filter tags</strong>&nbsp;at the top of each lesson section, so that you can instantly jump to the category you&rsquo;re most interested in with just one click.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We&rsquo;ve also <strong>added a + button</strong><strong> </strong>next to every lesson title on the index page so that you can add that lesson to a class without having to click into it first. Super convenient!&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/avb6x-eFX1E?si=VkSsAjkoVV0F77cO" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h1><b>4. Likes have been retired. Your old likes have a new home.</b></h1>

<p>We have retired the &quot;Like&quot;&nbsp;button on Ellii. If you were using the &quot;Like&quot; button before, all of the materials you saved have been moved into a new folder&nbsp;in your Folders area. The name of the folder is aptly called &quot;<strong>My Likes</strong>,&quot;&nbsp;but you can change the name to anything you prefer. From now on, you can put your favorite lessons into that folder.</p>

<p><strong>Why did we retire the &quot;Like&quot;&nbsp;button? </strong>1) Because it was not being used&nbsp;often. More people were putting content into their folders than utilizing the &quot;Like&quot;&nbsp;button. And 2) we think that it should possibly be reintroduced down the road to specifically indicate if you liked a lesson you taught, rather than be used as a favorites/saving&nbsp;feature. We think folders are better suited&nbsp;for saving your favorite items.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IQ1H9eIefRA?si=8_wjLvrOrSaEyUX_" width="640"></iframe></div>

<h1>&nbsp;</h1>

<h1><b>Where are the English Storylines?&nbsp;</b></h1>

<p>Our English Storylines courses (Everyday Idioms, and Detective Series) have been moved to our Courses section. <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=2&amp;material=courses&amp;page=1">You can find them here.</a></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h1><b>Supporting Teachers Through Change</b></h1>

<p>We understand that change can sometimes feel overwhelming&mdash;especially if you&rsquo;ve been using Ellii for a long time and are comfortable with the way things were. These updates are designed to make Ellii easier to navigate, cleaner in design, and more intuitive for all teachers, no matter how you use the platform. Our goal is to give you back valuable time so you can focus on teaching and connecting with your students. We&rsquo;re confident that once you&rsquo;ve had a chance to explore the new design, you&rsquo;ll find it not just different, but a big step forward.</p>


A New Way to Navigate Ellii

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<h1>The ultimate all-in-one platform for ELT teacherpreneurs</h1>

<p>Years ago, I was teaching English at a university an hour&rsquo;s drive from my home. Luckily, I had three English-teacher friends all commuting to the same city. Our daily carpool conversations usually revolved around classroom dilemmas and teaching methodology. Very often, while brainstorming our lesson plans, one of us would say, &ldquo;Ellii has the perfect lesson for that!&rdquo; or &ldquo;Today is an Ellii day!&rdquo; (Of course, back then, it was ESL&nbsp;Library, but you get the idea.)&nbsp;Ellii was the most popular resource in school.</p>

<p>When I left classroom teaching and became an independent &ldquo;teacherpreneur,&rdquo; turning to Ellii was a no-brainer.&nbsp;<strong>Here&rsquo;s why Ellii has everything I need to run my teaching business</strong>.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1107880312" width="640"></iframe></div>

<h2>Engaging, ready-made lessons for every student</h2>

<p>Like many independent teachers, my students range widely in age and level on any given day. I always count on Ellii to meet each student&rsquo;s needs and interests.</p>

<p>When a shy middle school student came to her first 1:1 lesson terrified to speak English, Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/true-grammar-stories">True Grammar Stories</a> got her excited to discuss trailblazers like Ruby Bridges and fascinating places like Chile&rsquo;s Marble Caves.</p>

<p>When a socioeconomics student felt &ldquo;stuck&rdquo; expressing her opinions, Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters">Discussion Starters</a> lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2775-universal-basic-income">Universal Basic Income</a> gave her the language to communicate more deeply on a real-world topic that truly mattered to her.</p>

<p>When the cashier at a convenience store in Cyprus asked me to explain the present perfect tense, I pulled up Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1597-present-perfect">Present Perfect</a> Grammar Practice Worksheet&nbsp;on my phone for an impromptu grammar lesson. He responded, &ldquo;You just clarified in five minutes something that has confused me my whole life!&rdquo;</p>

<p>Ellii offers a massive library of&nbsp;<strong>high-quality, ready-made lessons</strong>, interactive games, engaging videos, and more&mdash;with new materials added daily. Ellii&rsquo;s content isn&rsquo;t just interesting and current; it&rsquo;s designed by real teachers to foster meaningful language encounters and genuine human connection.</p>

<p><img alt="Search results for &quot;travel&quot; showing 210 results in Lessons &amp; Resources" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4832/content_Lesson-Search.png" /></p>

<h2>Super simple class management</h2>

<h3>Student accounts</h3>

<p>As a private teacher, I need a simple system to keep track of everyone and give each student a personalized learning experience. Ellii&rsquo;s <strong>built-in LMS</strong> (Learning Management System) is perfect for this.&nbsp;Ellii offers an <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing"><strong>affordable Individual plan</strong></a> that comes with 35 student licenses.&nbsp;Students can be placed into an unlimited number of classes. I can create a class for one specific student or add multiple students to the same class.</p>

<h3>Drag-and-drop lesson prep</h3>

<p>With Ellii&rsquo;s kanban-style&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/try-class-prepping-with-elliis-lesson-planner"><strong>Lesson Planner</strong></a>, class prep is a breeze. I just drag and drop content into the Prepping, Teaching, or Taught lanes to get ready for upcoming classes, assign tasks to my students, and keep track of what&rsquo;s been done. I have full control over the timing and pace of each student&rsquo;s learning journey. My business students appreciate a structured, intentional flow of exercises. My grammar fanatics love having a curated collection of tasks to tackle. And my conversation students enjoy seeing connected topics and feeling a sense of progress in their language development.</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii's drag-and-drop Lesson Planner showing lessons in the Prepping, Teaching, and Taught lanes" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4833/content_Lesson-Planner.png" /></p>

<h3>Flexible organization</h3>

<p>Whenever I&rsquo;m browsing Ellii&rsquo;s content library, something always catches my eye. I can quickly &ldquo;<strong>like</strong>&rdquo; lessons or save content to customizable&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/folders"><strong>Folders</strong></a>. I can also create <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_sets"><strong>Flashcard Sets</strong></a> to share with my students. Whether I&rsquo;m planning days ahead or pulling things together last minute, Ellii keeps me organized.</p>

<h3>Streamlined grading &amp; feedback</h3>

<p>Ellii&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-grade-feed"><strong>Grade Feed</strong></a>&nbsp;also makes it easy to monitor and support my students&rsquo; progress. I can leave meaningful feedback with stars, written comments, and&mdash;my personal favorite&mdash;audio responses. When I&rsquo;m pressed for time or just need a little inspiration, the suggested responses (created by an Ellii writer) and&nbsp;<strong>Ellii Bot</strong> (built-in AI assistant)&nbsp;are lifesavers.</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii's Grade Feed showing a student's answer and Ellii Bot's suggested response" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4834/content_Grade-Feed.png" /></p>

<h3>Built-in support &amp; professional development</h3>

<p>Teachers spend hours a day connecting with students, but running an independent teaching business can still feel isolating. Over the years, I&rsquo;ve leaned on Ellii for support and guidance.</p>

<p>Ellii is built by teachers, for teachers. Beyond great lesson content, Ellii supports teachers with a weekly&nbsp;newsletter, a huge library of&nbsp;teacher resources, and tons of&nbsp;tutorials, demo videos, and practical&nbsp;teaching tips. When I&rsquo;m looking for a curated sequence of lessons, I turn to Ellii&rsquo;s ready-made&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?page=1"><strong>Courses</strong>&nbsp;<strong>&amp;</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Study Packs</strong></a>. When I&rsquo;m not sure what to teach next, I check the <a href="https://ellii.com/discover"><strong>Discover page</strong></a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/calendar"><strong>Lesson Calendar</strong></a> for fresh content and timely topics. If I&rsquo;m ever stuck on how to break down a tricky language point, I head to the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog"><strong>blog</strong></a>&mdash;it&rsquo;s full of expert insights and inspiring stories from the Ellii team and guest writers from the English teaching community.</p>

<h2>Teacher webinars</h2>

<p>And coming soon, Ellii is launching a brand-new<strong>&nbsp;webinar series for independent teachers</strong>!&nbsp;Join our free, practical sessions led by experienced educators who understand the unique challenges of private teaching. Register now for one of our&nbsp;upcoming webinars on <a href="https://www.crowdcast.io/c/teachwithellii-aug28" target="_blank"><strong>August 28 at 2:00 pm ET</strong></a> or <a href="https://www.crowdcast.io/c/teachwithellii-aug29" target="_blank"><strong>August 29 at 11:00 am ET</strong></a>.</p>

<p>Discover how Ellii can be your full teaching tool kit&mdash;everything you need to help your business thrive!</p>


Run Your Independent Teaching Business with Ellii

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<p>We&#39;ve just built and deployed another really cool new game called <strong><a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank">Ellii Dilemmas</a></strong>. Have you tried it yet?</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kte1oAeUYwE?si=3n6VhVgtPCKqRpKm" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>Just like Ellii Polls, <strong><a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank">Ellii Dilemmas</a></strong> are super simple, highly engaging, and delightfully fun. 😎&nbsp;</p>

<p>With Ellii Dilemmas, your students face impossible choices&mdash;two difficult options with no clear&nbsp;right answer&mdash;and must <strong>choose</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>justify</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>defend</strong> their pick.</p>

<p>So how does it work?</p>

<blockquote>
<ol>
	<li>Start by presenting an <a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank">Ellii Dilemma</a> on your screen in front of your class. Have your students join the session by scanning a <strong>QR code</strong>.</li>
	<li>Have students&nbsp;<strong>read</strong> the dilemma on their own devices and&nbsp;<strong>vote</strong> for the choice they would make in that particular situation.</li>
	<li>Assign your students to small groups to discuss their choices&nbsp;using the built-in technology. If you&#39;re teaching online, you can put your students in breakout rooms.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Gather again as a full group and encourage students to use&nbsp;the &quot;Speak up&quot; function to explain their reasoning and back up their choices.</li>
	<li>Finally, after students have had a chance to speak up, get everyone to vote&nbsp;again to see if anyone&#39;s opinion has been swayed. Compare the results.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>

<p>You can use Ellii Dilemmas as a <strong>warm-up</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>cooldown</strong> activity to start or end any class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Check out the video above to see how it works. Then try it out with your students this week and let us know what you think! We will be adding more dilemmas soon.</p>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4771/content_Ellii-Dilemmas-thumb.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/dilemmas" target="_blank">Try Dilemmas Now!</a></h2>

<p>Ellii Dilemmas is a free feature. So please tell all your teacher friends who don&#39;t have an Ellii account that they can use it without buying a subscription!</p>
</div>


Announcing Ellii Dilemmas!

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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

<h2>Happy New Year!</h2>

<p>This year, Ellii will be sponsoring&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>! As&nbsp;founding fans of this #ELT podcast&nbsp;and&nbsp;firm believers in the power of reflection, we are confident this will be a great fit for Ellii.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In addition to enjoying&nbsp;many&nbsp;episodes and meeting up with this friendly podcast duo in person at the TESOL convention in 2024,&nbsp;Ben and I made an appearance on The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast last year for <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/ellii-talks-materials-writing-teacher-think-aloud-podcast" target="_blank">Episode 60</a>. We loved talking about materials writing and sharing Ellii&#39;s (formerly ESL Library&#39;s) origin story with Shey and Anna.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
If you are unfamiliar with this podcast and are looking to start the year with some fresh and friendly professional development, we encourage you to browse past episodes of The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast. If you like what you hear, be&nbsp;sure to subscribe so you don&#39;t miss all of the new shows.</p>

<p>In their<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/episodes/episode/26cb7c6b/e63-2024-end-of-year-reflection" target="_blank"> 2024 End-of-Year Reflection</a> episode, Shey and Anna discussed&nbsp;some of the themes they are considering for&nbsp;2025:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Ready-to-use teaching tips</li>
	<li>Career advice</li>
	<li>Broader TESOL trends</li>
	<li>Emerging ELT topics</li>
	<li>The intersection of personal and professional lives (finding balance in&nbsp;both worlds)</li>
</ul>

<p>Find The Teacher Think-Aloud podcast in all of your favorite places:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" target="_blank">www.teacherthinkaloud.com</a></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e60-from-teaching-to-materials-writing-a-chat-with/id1629819608?i=1000670852097" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a></li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tBD4sc4TzB0" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4207/content_Ellii-Think-aloud-podcast-2025.png" /></a><br />
Happy listening!</p>


New Year, New Reflections & a Partnership with The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast

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<blockquote>
<p><em>&quot;We look for teachers first. Why? Because those skills do transfer quite nicely when you&#39;re developing content. [...] We&#39;re first and foremost a content platform for English teachers.&nbsp;[...] Planning, preparing, actually speaking in front of people really helps you write better lessons.&quot;</em></p>

<p><br />
&mdash;&nbsp;Ben Buckwold, founder of Ellii</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Reflection and podcasts... These are two of my favorite things!&nbsp;Combine these with two of ELT&#39;s brightest&nbsp;hosts and you get <a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/" target="_blank">The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast</a>, a show I think you&#39;re going to love.</p>

<p>I was an early fan&nbsp;of this ELT podcast&nbsp;and have enjoyed many episodes over the past few years. As a superfan, I invited Anna and Shey to join&nbsp;us at ElliiCon in 2023. We also met them in person at this year&#39;s&nbsp;TESOL conference in Tampa. Ben (founder of Ellii) and I&nbsp;were thrilled when they asked us to be guests on their show this season&nbsp;and have eagerly awaited <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1AN6jiVh8g&amp;t=2s" target="_blank">Episode 60</a>:&nbsp;From Teaching to Materials Writing: A&nbsp;Chat with Ellii (with Ben Buckwold &amp; Tara Benwell).</strong></p>

<p>One particular area of interest Anna and Shey have been exploring recently&nbsp;is how ELT careers can&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/thinkaloud_pod/status/1836788677185339587" target="_blank">go beyond the traditional classroom</a>. They asked us to&nbsp;speak specifically about <strong>materials writing </strong>and share stories about how we branched into the <strong>publishing</strong> field. After 18+ years of working together, it&#39;s no surprise Ben and I got a little nostalgic at times. We hope you love&nbsp;Ellii&#39;s origin story!</p>

<p><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/q1AN6jiVh8g?si=P1D1eYG1_k5-x7Cz" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>As a team of makers who started in the classroom, we have explored similar topics on our own blog as well. Here are some related posts to check out after you listen to the episode.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/beyond-teaching-elt-careers-to-keep-you-motivated" target="_self">Beyond Teaching: ELT Careers to Keep You Motivated</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-passive-income-as-a-teacher" target="_self">5 Ways to Earn &quot;Passive&quot; Income as a Teacher</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teacherpreneur" target="_self">How to Be a Teacherpreneur</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-name-ellii" target="_self">We&#39;ve Changed Our Name to Ellii</a></li>
</ul>

<p>And here is Anna and Shey&#39;s reflection question for you to ponder. Please share your thoughts in the comments below or with our hosts on their own&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teacherthinkaloud.com/blog" target="_blank">blog</a>!</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Have you ever wondered what it might be like to transition into another area within education? What roles are you entertaining? Have you already done it? How have your teacher skills transferred into your new role?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You can download this&nbsp;podcast&nbsp;in a variety of places:</p>

<ul><br />
	<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2zv5mVNpSqkDNiNbQlnm7B" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinkaloud_pod" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e60-from-teaching-to-materials-writing-a-chat-with/id1629819608?i=1000670852097" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Subscribe to the Teacher Think-Aloud podcast and reflect on your teaching practices with a variety of&nbsp;ELT&nbsp;guests and topics!&nbsp;Be sure to follow Anna and Shey&nbsp;on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-think-aloud/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thinkaloud_pod/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/teacherthinkaloud/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/thinkaloud_pod" target="_blank">X</a>&nbsp;and find your own way to support their work.</p>

<p>Happy listening!</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Ellii Talks about Materials Writing with The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast

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Feature Releases & Platform Updates

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<p>Hey again! 👋 We&#39;ve released another new feature at Ellii called <a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls" target="_blank"><strong>Ellii Polls</strong></a>&nbsp;that<em> </em>we know your students are going to love.<br />
<br />
What is it? It&rsquo;s a sessions-based tool that lets you conduct real-time interactive polls in your classroom (virtual or in person) to spark lively discussion, debate, and conversation with your English language learners.<br />
<br />
It&rsquo;s super simple, super engaging, and super fun.&nbsp;😎</p>

<p><br />
You can use <strong>Ellii Polls</strong> as a <strong>warm-up</strong>&nbsp;or <strong>cooldown</strong> activity to start or end any class. Or you can simply use Ellii Polls to <strong>introduce a new topic</strong> you might already be planning to teach. Review the description in each Ellii Poll for notes about related materials.<br />
<br />
If you&rsquo;re already a subscriber at Ellii, Ellii Polls are automatically included with your subscription.</p>

<p>Watch the demo to see Ellii Polls in action!</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8HylceqW6ws?si=NnUd1_0NVnJnakBg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>Here&#39;s how it works:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Teachers browse the <a href="https://ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Ellii Polls</a>&nbsp;<strong>Index</strong> page to find a topic their students might be interested in. (Find a direct link in the Materials drop-down.)</li>
	<li>Teachers preview the contents of the poll on the<strong> Poll Preview</strong> page. In addition to the questions for the polls,&nbsp;some key vocabulary&nbsp;that students will see and review in&nbsp;the survey is also included.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>From the Poll Preview page, teachers click <strong>Start poll</strong>.&nbsp;A slide for&nbsp;a QR code/link appears&nbsp;to share with students.</li>
	<li>Students join the activity in real time by&nbsp;scanning the code with the camera app on their phone or&nbsp;typing&nbsp;the link into a browser.</li>
	<li>Teachers can see students joining the activity.</li>
	<li>Teachers begin the poll, launching one slide at a time.</li>
	<li>After students submit answers to a poll question, the class is prompted to look up at the teacher&#39;s screen to review and discuss the results.</li>
	<li>Teachers move the activity along as quickly or as slowly as they wish.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>That&#39;s it! It&#39;s super simple and we&#39;ll be adding new polls regularly.</p>

<p>Note that this feature is in beta mode. We&nbsp;are counting on our active Ellii subcribers to use the feedback form at the end of each poll to help us improve the feature as we build many more polls for a wide variety of learners. Please share your feedback!</p>


Introducing Ellii Polls

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<p>We&#39;re happy to announce that Ellii has been chosen as one of a handful of delegate companies to represent Canada on the upcoming Team Canada trade mission to Japan. We&#39;ll be accompanying&nbsp;<a data-attribute-index="2" data-entity-type="MINI_PROFILE" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAAY_kPEBedtxXA1ZmbEH8LFTj5gfv6PHl1U">Mary Ng</a>, Canada&#39;s minister of export&nbsp;promotion, international trade, small business, and economic development.&nbsp;We plan to be in Osaka on October 29 and 30, and in Tokyo from October 31 to November 3.</p>

<h2>Why is&nbsp;Japan so important to Ellii?</h2>

<p>Japan has a very special place in our hearts here at Ellii. I first began working on the concept for this company while living and teaching English in Kanagawa from 1997 to 2002. And although I launched the site just after returning to Canada in the fall of &#39;02, most of the original product was designed in Japan for the Japanese teaching market. Today, Ellii is used in more than 10,000 schools in more than 100 countries around the world.</p>

<h2>What will Ellii do in Japan?</h2>

<p>You can learn more about the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/campaign-campagne/japan-japon.aspx?lang=eng">trade mission</a> here. Besides attending meetings with the team,&nbsp;I will be specifically looking for a new distribution partner for the Japanese market. Please reach out if you&#39;d like to talk.</p>


Ellii Is Heading to Japan

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<h2>Total lesson score</h2>

<p><strong>December 1, 2022: </strong>Teachers can now see the student&#39;s total lesson score for the assignment after a&nbsp;task is completed. If there are tasks with more than one attempt, the total score can be switched from First to Best. Clicking on the&nbsp;&quot;i&quot;&nbsp;icon opens a modal with the full details of the scoring. Learn more about scoring with this <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/263-how-a-total-score-is-calculated" target="_blank">Help Doc</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<hr />
<h2>New lesson page</h2>

<p><strong>October&nbsp;19, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>Ellii&#39;s lesson page has a new look! It&#39;s now cleaner and simpler to navigate. This improved design allows you to toggle between the lesson&rsquo;s overview, digital tasks, and PDF&mdash;all in one place. You can seamlessly present content interactively, in class and online. Read more about it in our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/210-how-to-use-the-lesson-landing-page" target="_blank">Help Docs</a>.</p>

<hr />
<h2>New writing task design</h2>

<p><strong>September 5, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>Ellii&#39;s writing task type (Open-Ended Questions) has a new design that matches the updated design of the Speaking task! Students can now read the reference on a split screen while answering comprehension questions. A <strong>Hide reference</strong> toggle is also available if students want to see the writing box in full.</p>

<hr />
<h2>New Speaking task design</h2>

<h2><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2715/content_Ellii_New-Speaking-Task-Design.jpg" /></h2>

<p><strong>September 1, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>Ellii&#39;s Speaking task has a new look and feel! References are no longer in a modal. Students can now see the reference prompt (question, photo, illustration, reading, or audio) on the screen at all times as they create their recording.</p>

<p>After they finish the recording, students simply slide to the next screen to review and submit. (Students can also trash their recording from the first screen and start again.)</p>

<p>You may want to run through the new style with your students so that they understand how to delete, edit, and submit their speaking tasks.</p>

<p>Watch for a similar design improvement coming to our writing and comprehension tasks soon!</p>

<hr />
<h2>Auto-Scoring (AI) open beta</h2>

<p><strong>August 29, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>Following a successful closed beta round of testing, we&#39;ve&nbsp;officially launched an open beta test of our Auto-Scoring (AI) feature for open-ended writing questions. Ellii teachers can now opt in to use this feature in their classes to save time on grading digital tasks.</p>

<p>You&#39;ll find the auto-scoring opt-in checkbox when you create your class and edit it. This feature currently only works for comprehension-style writing questions where Ellii&#39;s Publishing team has provided suggested answers. These tasks will be auto-graded if you opt in, however, as a teacher, you can always edit the score if Ellii Bot doesn&#39;t grade something to your liking.</p>

<p>Note that you need to opt in for each class and assign to students within a class in order for the AI to work. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/research-behind-ellii-auto-scoring-ai-feature" target="_blank">Learn more...</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>That&#39;s News to Me Flashbacks</h2>

<p><strong>August 24, 2022</strong>: The That&rsquo;s News to Me category has a new section called Flashbacks. There, teachers can find all older news articles. <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons#:~:text=HIGH%20INT%20%E2%80%93%20ADV-,Flashbacks,-100th%20Anniversary%20of" target="_blank">Take a look...</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Videos and flashcards in Media Gallery</h2>

<p><img alt="Ellii Media Gallery page" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2716/content_Ellii_Media-Page.jpg" /></p>

<p><strong>August 15, 2022: </strong>You can now <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/262-how-to-find-videos" target="_blank">find and play videos</a> without going into lesson tasks. You will find a brand-new <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos" target="_blank">Media Gallery</a> in our Materials drop-down menu. In the Media Gallery, you&#39;ll see tabs for Flashcards and Videos.</p>

<p>Videos are organized by sections and categories within sections,&nbsp;just like flashcards. When you click into a video, you can see which lesson(s) it&#39;s found in as well as a list of similar videos.</p>

<p>Watch for more Media Gallery updates coming soon!</p>

<hr />
<h2>Student Dashboard 6X faster</h2>

<p><strong>August 15, 2022: </strong>We&#39;re constantly making improvements on the student side that teachers may not notice! Our developers have been working diligently to improve&nbsp;the performance of the Student Dashboard for the hardest-working students at Ellii. Those who have a lot of assignments on their dashboard should now notice a sharp increase in performance.</p>

<hr />
<h2>Ellii Bot recommendations</h2>

<p><strong>August 2, 2022:</strong>&nbsp;Up till now, we&#39;ve&nbsp;recommended content for you based on your preferences and&nbsp;our calendar features. Now we&#39;re also using machine learning to recommend content that you may be interested in based on teacher behavior. You&#39;ll see Recommended by Ellii Bot on your Classroom&nbsp;page for these types of recommendations.</p>

<p>Our developers will continue to improve these recommendations as we learn more about machine learning.</p>

<hr />
<h2>Grade band preferences on or off</h2>

<p><strong>July 18, 2022: </strong>If you teach adults, you may not want to see suggested grade bands on Ellii materials. You can now go into your Account settings and turn off Grade Bands in the Grade Band Preference area.</p>

<hr />
<h2>Organization Reports</h2>

<p><strong>July 8, 2022</strong>: Ellii Organization account users with admin access can now view the <a href="https://ellii.com/organizations/management/reports" target="_blank">Reports Page</a>! Under <strong>Organization</strong> on the top menu, there is now an option called <strong>Reports</strong>. There, admins can see all the data related to their account and connected teachers. The data goes as far&nbsp;back as January 1, 2022 and can be exported as a CSV file.</p>

<p>Please note that the Manage Teachers page has been renamed to <strong>Team</strong> and has been moved to the Organization dropdown.</p>

<hr />
<h2>Copy Ellii Folders</h2>

<p><strong>July 5, 2022</strong>: Teachers can now copy an <a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published" target="_blank">Ellii Folder</a> by selecting &ldquo;Copy to My Folders&rdquo; in the more options menu.</p>

<hr />
<h2>Collections index view</h2>

<p><img alt="Ellii Collections page with new view selected" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2560/content_Ellii_New-View-for-Collections.jpg" /></p>

<p><strong>June 23, 2022</strong>: The Collections page has a <a href="https://ellii.com/collections" target="_blank">new view</a>! Teachers can now see the sub-pages in each category without clicking on the main page, making it easier for you to find the content you want&mdash;fast.</p>

<hr />
<h2>Class Sharing</h2>

<p><strong>June 22, 2022</strong>: Teachers and other educators who are part of an Organization account can now share classes! Co-teachers of a class are able to manage assignments, add feedback, grade work, view student participation, and more. <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/259-how-to-share-classes?utm_campaign=Site+Update%3A+Class+Sharing+%E2%80%93+Teachers+in+an+organization+account&amp;utm_content=Site+Update%3A+Class+Sharing+%E2%80%93+Teachers+in+an+organization+account&amp;utm_medium=email_action&amp;utm_source=customer.io" target="_blank">Learn more&hellip;</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Ellii&#39;s on Spotify</h2>

<p><img alt="Ellii’s Spotify profile and playlists " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2562/content_Ellii-on-Spotify.jpg" /></p>

<p><strong>June 22, 2022</strong>: We recently launched a Spotify account! Teachers can pair our playlists with lessons found on the Ellii platform for a more engaging learning experience. <a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/dmq8qckunpt5o3g9ixyupia0a" target="_blank">Get started&hellip;</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Equivalency Scale: ELD (1&ndash;6)</h2>

<p><strong>June 13, 2022</strong>: We added numeric proficiency levels (ELD 1&ndash;6) to our Equivalency Scale. These proficiency levels align with WIDA&rsquo;s proficiency levels (Level 1&nbsp;<em>Entering</em>, Level 2&nbsp;<em>Emerging</em>, Level 3&nbsp;<em>Developing</em>, Level 4&nbsp;<em>Expanding</em>, Level 5&nbsp;<em>Bridging</em>, Level 6&nbsp;<em>Reaching).&nbsp;</em>K&ndash;12 teachers who want to see these levels on Ellii filters and labels can select ELD &amp; Ellii in their account settings. <a href="https://ellii.com/equivalencies" target="_blank">Take a look&hellip;</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Task Score</h2>

<p><strong>April 11, 2022</strong>: Open-Ended Questions and Speaking digital tasks now have a Task Score. If at least one question requires teacher scoring, a Partial Score warning is displayed so that the teacher knows that they need to manually import a score.</p>

<p>On the student side of the platform, they will see a warning symbol to indicate that their displayed score isn&rsquo;t final.</p>

<hr />
<h2>Assignment Manager</h2>

<p><strong>April 6, 2022</strong>: The new Ellii Assignment Manager will allow teachers to easily assign tasks to their students with a simplified view. Teachers can also now leave their students a note with their homework! <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework?utm_campaign=Site+Update+%E2%80%94+Assignment+App&amp;utm_content=Site+Update+%E2%80%94+Assignment+App&amp;utm_medium=email_action&amp;utm_source=customer.io" target="_blank">Learn more&hellip;</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Microsoft&#39;s Immersive Reader tool</h2>

<p><strong>April 4, 2022</strong>: Microsoft&rsquo;s Immersive Reader tool is officially available on Ellii! This highly requested digital tool helps learners improve their reading, writing, and comprehension skills by reading the text out loud. It can also be customized to offer students a more personalized reading experience. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-microsoft-immersive-reader-on-ellii" target="_blank">Learn more&hellip;</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>ESL Library is now Ellii!</h2>

<p><strong>March 14, 2022</strong>: ESL Library is now Ellii! We changed our name to better reflect who we are in today&rsquo;s English language landscape, which is one of the most widely used content and courseware platforms for English teachers in the world. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-name-ellii" target="_blank">Learn more&hellip;</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>New Flashcards page</h2>

<p><strong>February 17, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>The Flashcards page has a whole new look! This redesign will make it easier for you to search through our flashcard categories and sections, create flashcard sets, and link to individual&nbsp;flashcards. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-our-flashcards" target="_blank">Learn more...</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Archiving Classes</h2>

<p><strong>February 10, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>You can now archive classes!&nbsp;Archiving a class allows you to hide a class without losing all the data associated with that class. In other words, you&rsquo;ll still be able to see previous results and feedback from that class, even after you&rsquo;ve archived it.&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/new-year-new-updates" target="_blank">Learn more...</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Classroom page&nbsp;</h2>

<p><strong>February 10, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>The My Classes page is now called &ldquo;Classroom.&rdquo; It also has&nbsp;a brand new look! You&rsquo;ll notice three tabs for Classes, Students, and Assignments, allowing you to toggle between them with ease. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/new-year-new-updates" target="_blank">Learn more...</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Updated navigation bar</h2>

<p><strong>February 10, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>We updated our platform&#39;s navigation bar to make it easy to find what you&#39;re looking for. You&#39;ll now see:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Materials</strong>, which remains unchanged</li>
	<li><strong>Class Prep</strong>, which has replaced Saved;</li>
	<li><strong>Classroom</strong>, which reflects what was formally the My Classes page.</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/new-year-new-updates" target="_blank">Learn more...</a></p>

<hr />
<h2>Collections in Search</h2>

<p><img alt="One search result for &quot;shapes&quot; on the Ellii website, with the collections tab selected" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2561/content_Ellii_Collections-in-Search.jpg" /></p>

<p><strong>February 10, 2022:&nbsp;</strong>Collections now appear in your searches!&nbsp;You can also filter the material type to see only collections using the Collections tab on&nbsp;the search results page.</p>

<hr />