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Articles

<p>Visual literacy is a key life skill. So much of the information that we see and process on a daily basis comes from visual sources such as images, pictures, symbols, signs, and diagrams. In the English language classroom, it is important for us to support our learners to develop these skills.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Visual literacy skills can help learners to:</p>

<ul>
	<li>interpret the main idea of a text before reading by looking at pictures</li>
	<li>understand a complex process using a diagram</li>
	<li>navigate online platforms or learning apps using icons</li>
	<li>stay safe through decoding signs and symbols</li>
	<li>analyze meaning, think critically, and discuss their opinions with others</li>
	<li>be aware of how their responses to imagery and colors can be different from others&#39;</li>
	<li>inspire them to ask questions and explore the topic further</li>
	<li>be creative in how they communicate and convey information</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;In this blog post, I will share some creative ways to bring visual literacy into the ELT classroom.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>1. Infographics</h2>

<p>Infographics are a visual summary of complex information. They use icons, images, and diagrams to convey complex information in a visually engaging and quick way. Their popularity is growing as people in our fast-paced world consume information in more rapid ways.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When I want to find information online quickly, I will search for an infographic (or sketchnote) as a starting point. This way I can have an overview of the key aspects of a topic in seconds, without having to read dense texts.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In class, they are a great way to incorporate real-world reading skills into the classroom. They also support reading skills development in a fun way that reduces processing load on learners who may get overwhelmed by longer texts.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here is an example infographic about <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4116-sun-protection" target="_blank">Sun Protection</a> from Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/real-world-reading" target="_blank">Real-World Reading</a> section.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4432/content_infographic.jpg" /></p>

<p>The Real-World Reading section supports learners to develop literacy and visual literacy skills in tandem. It provides texts in their authentic layout such as emails, bank statements, menus, receipts, bills, bus schedules, and maps.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>2. Sketchnotes</h2>

<p>Sketchnoting is a form of visual note-taking that can boost creativity, information processing, and focus. It is a fun way to bring whiteboards, notebooks, and lessons to life. Students can try it out as a way of helping them take notes, express ideas, or keep a journal.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can collaboratively create a large scale sketchnote of a topic on the whiteboard and then have students copy it or take a photo of it for their records. You could also have students search online for sketchnotes of a topic (e.g., the water cycle) and have them analyze it as they would an infographic.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>What is the infographic/sketchnote about?</li>
	<li>What images does it use? Why?</li>
	<li>What colors does it use? Why?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What facts does it summarize?</li>
	<li>What numbers does it show?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What types of lettering style does it use? Why?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What questions do you have about the topic?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>And of course, you could have students research a topic and then create their own sketchnotes to share with the class.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>You can find out more about sketchnoting here:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">Sketchnoting 101: Supercharge Professional Development with Visual Notes</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/top-digital-tools-for-visual-thinking-activities">Top Digital Tools for Visual Thinking Activities</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-an-elt-conference">How to Get the Most Out of an ELT Conference</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Diagrams, charts &amp; graphs</h2>

<p>Analyzing data in the form of diagrams, charts, graphs, and maps is crucial for navigating life, but also to prepare for academia and work. The ability to interpret with a critical eye can ensure that learners understand diagrams, charts, graphs, and maps correctly and don&rsquo;t get duped by <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/fake-news-in-the-ai-era-essential-skills-for-every-language-teacher-learner" target="_blank">fake news</a>. Learning to create their own can help them to process information, present their knowledge confidently, and study effectively. &nbsp;</p>

<p>This <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/academic-vocabulary" target="_blank">Academic Vocabulary</a> lesson on the <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4185-the-digestive-system" target="_blank">Digestive System</a>, for example, offers learners the opportunity to understand the human body in more detail&nbsp;and learn vocabulary using visual markers. Having a diagram like this in their notebooks serves as an engaging memory booster to help them study and retain the information.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4433/content_diagram.jpg" /></p>

<p>This&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3570-introduction-to-graphing " target="_blank">Introduction to Graphing</a> lesson helps students to learn the basics of understanding, using, and creating graphs.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4434/content_graph.jpg" /></p>

<h2>4. Graphic organizers</h2>

<p>Graphic organizers are visual tools that provide a space for learners to add their ideas, notes, and answers. They are a great way to reduce processing load by providing structured learning in visual form rather than written.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example, in this lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1681-internet-entrepreneurs" target="_blank">Internet Entrepreneurs</a>, students read three texts and then complete a graphic organizer in the form of a Venn Diagram. This allows learners to think deeply about the similarities and differences between each business owner. Having a small space to write in also encourages them to take notes in as succinct a fashion as possible. It also provides a quick visual memory booster to ignite conversations later in the lesson.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4435/content_Venn-diagram.jpg" /></p>

<p>You can read more about graphic organizers in the English language classroom here:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-organizers-for-language-skills-development" target="_blank">Using Graphic Organizers for Language Skills Development</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-facilitation-101">Graphic Facilitation 101: Teaching English through Visual Communication</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>5. Icons, signs &amp; symbols</h2>

<p>International iconography is everywhere&mdash;from the cursor icon on your computer screen to the emergency exit icon in buildings or public transportation vehicles. These icons are specifically designed to be recognizable in any language and can help learners of all levels communicate effectively.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Discussing these signs and symbols in class can make learners more aware of the international language of imagery&nbsp;and how they can use it to convey their own visual messages.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3077-road-signs-signals">Road Signs &amp; Signals</a> is a good place to start. Students can discuss what a red triangle or a green traffic light means. On completing the lesson, you could send them off around the college (or their computer screen) to find other icons that are instantly recognizable. For example, the microphone on or off icon uses a similar circle with a cross through it as the no parking sign.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4436/content_signals.jpg" /></p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4437/content_flashcard.jpg" /></p>

<p>You could also use symbolism like this to help learners to express their feelings towards a lesson, concept, or activity. Give them a red, amber, and green &quot;traffic light&quot;&nbsp;card. Students can show the green card if they understand and are happy with an activity or turn it to red if they are confused and need more clarification.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>6. Flashcards</h2>

<p>There is more to flashcards than simply teaching vocabulary. One image may have infinite interpretations. Take the <a href="https://ellii.com/search/flashcard" target="_blank">microphone</a> icon above for example. It could be used to:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>express that the sound is off</li>
	<li>ask people to turn their mobile phones to silent</li>
	<li>signal where to press to turn your sound off</li>
	<li>show that this is a quiet space</li>
</ul>

<p>In class, it could be used to:</p>

<ul>
	<li>represent quiet reflection time</li>
	<li>manage turn-taking (or active listening time) during conversations or debates</li>
	<li>initiate a silent role-play, skit, or presentation</li>
	<li>inspire a story or conversation about a (broken) microphone</li>
</ul>

<p>Ellii has over 6,000 <a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards" target="_blank">flashcards</a> in its library. Each can be renamed. A fun visual literacy boosting activity could be to pick a flashcard&nbsp;and have students make suggestions for different ways it could be interpreted. This is a fun way to have learners get creative, think critically, and share their differing perspectives, interpretations, and ideas of a visual.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some other ideas for using flashcards in class:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-our-flashcards">How to Use Our Flashcards&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-tips-for-using-flashcards-no-prep-required">3 Tips for Using Flashcards&mdash;No Prep Required</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/assigning-videos-and-flashcards-to-students">Assigning Videos &amp; Flashcards to Students</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/twelve-ellii-flashcards-for-reflection">12 Ellii Flashcards Perfect for Planning &amp; Reflection</a></li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2>7. Emoji</h2>

<p>Emoji&nbsp;are everywhere. They are bright and fun, and they can convey actions, feelings, and opinions. Choosing the right emoji to respond to an online message&nbsp;or to accompany a social media comment can quickly convey how someone feels about something.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example: &nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>They asked me to write an article for the school magazine! 🤩🥳</li>
	<li>They asked me to write an article for the school magazine! &nbsp;😤🤦&zwj;♀️</li>
	<li>They asked me to write an article for the school magazine! 😳🫣</li>
</ul>

<p>The first emoji&nbsp;convey delighted excitement, while the second shows annoyance and the third embarrassment and anxiety. These emojis are commonplace and generally understandable to everyone across cultures. However some may be more open to interpretation.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>For example, my friend often uses this one for a smile, but I think it looks like a grimace: 😬&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Then there are cultural differences. This one could be pray, high five, or thank you depending on the person, place, or context: 🙏</li>
	<li>This one could be &quot;okay&quot;or &quot;perfect&quot;&nbsp;in some places, but highly offensive in others: 👌</li>
</ul>

<p>Inviting discussions on these different interpretations can raise awareness, allow students to choose which icons to use in which contexts, and when to avoid them or explain their interpretations of them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some other ways to use them to develop visual literacy:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/emoji-feeling-adjectives">Blog</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2381-emoji " target="_blank">Discussion Starter</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/how-are-you-feeling " target="_blank">Ellii Poll</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>8. Visual storytelling</h2>

<p>It is often said that a picture can say a thousand words, so why not use pictures to inspire learners to use a thousand words (or ten, depending on their level).</p>

<p>There are many ways to do this. You could bring comics or graphic novels into class and have students read them, discuss them, rewrite the captions, and do role-plays of the panels.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Another idea is to have students draw their own stories&nbsp;or create them using pictures, such as cutouts from magazines or Ellii&rsquo;s flashcards. Students can then narrate or tell the story, turn it into a video story,&nbsp;or interview a character from it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some other ideas:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/create-your-own-adventure-teaching-english-the-wordless-way">Create Your Own Adventure: Teaching English the Wordless Way!</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-stories-we-tell">The Stories We Tell</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/simply-storytelling-inspiring-english-learners-with-story-prompts">Simply Storytelling: Inspiring English Learners with Story Prompts&nbsp;</a></li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2>9. Photos</h2>

<p>One of the best ways to bring natural discussion into the classroom is to have students share personal photos. Have them bring in a photo that is important to them&nbsp;or share some of their recent photos from their phone. Students can then describe the photo to others, ask questions, and find out more about the other learners in their class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As a written activity, have students share images in an online group such as on a shared padlet or virtual learning environment and write a caption. Then have students comment on other learners&#39; posts, encouraging them to ask and answer questions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you prefer higher-impact photos with a more global outlook, check out Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/photo-prompts " target="_blank">Photo Prompts</a> section. These digital activities are a great way to spark conversations and think critically about world topics.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Have learners:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>describe the photo</li>
	<li>guess what happened before the photo</li>
	<li>predict what will happen next</li>
	<li>write a caption</li>
	<li>role-play the photo</li>
	<li>consider different people&rsquo;s emotions or perspectives</li>
</ul>

<p>Here are some ideas for how to get a whole three-hour lesson out of just one image:</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-one-image-can-develop-visual-literacy-and-critical-thinking">What&#39;s the Story? How One Image Can Develop Visual Literacy &amp; Critical Thinking Skills</a></p>

<h2>10. Videos</h2>

<p>As with photos, these are a great way to personalize lessons. Have students share their favorite online funnies or a short clip of them doing something funny or entertaining. Facilitate discussion about what they liked about the video, why it might be popular on socials, and any interesting language that it uses. Let them reflect on the impact the video had on their emotions or beliefs.</p>

<p>There are many ways to use videos in the English language classroom. Here are some tips and ideas for other ways to use them in class:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-videos-in-class">4 Ways to Use Videos Effectively in Class</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-ways-to-use-silent-video-clips">4 Creative Ways to Use Silent Video Clips in English Class</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/selfie-videos-ell">Teaching English with Selfie Videos&nbsp;</a></li>
</ul>

<p>These are just a few ways to incorporate visual literacy skills development in the English language classroom. Which ideas have you tried? What other ideas do you have? We would love to know.</p>


10 Ways to Develop Visual Literacy in the ELT Classroom

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Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>Ellii&#39;s new <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=6&amp;page=1" target="_self">career-specific courses</a> were initially designed to be used as self-study solutions for English learners looking to explore a variety of career pathways. While some students are waiting patiently to get into English language classes, others are looking for specialized content that meets their specific needs outside of a General English class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Teachers or administers can assign a course, and&nbsp;ELs&nbsp;can work their way independently&nbsp;through the digital-only units on their laptops or mobile devices. All tasks and assessments are autoscored; however, we hope that teachers are&nbsp;monitoring students&#39; results and progress and helping as much as they can along the way.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
But what if you want to teach Ellii&#39;s workplace&nbsp;courses in a group setting? We know now that many teachers are previewing these ready-made courses with this question in mind.</p>

<p>Here are some ideas for adding speaking, writing, and other group activities into a classroom setting. Please share your own activity suggestions and feedback in the comments below!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Exploit the dialogues in pairs&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Each unit in a career-specific course at Ellii&nbsp;centers around one dialogue with two or three speakers. As a self-study task, students can read and listen to the dialogues and review vocabulary in context. As a class, you can play the audio and students can follow along. Students can also take turns reading the dialogue out loud. But what else can you do in class with ready-made dialogues? Here are some ideas:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Read the dialogues&nbsp;out loud as a pair&nbsp;and then swap roles</li>
	<li>Peform the dialogues for the teacher and work on pronunciation and intonation</li>
	<li>Swap out a set number of words or expressions and perform a new dialogue&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Write an entirely new dialogue using the key vocabulary and expressions&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Role-play what happened before</li>
	<li>Role-play what happens next</li>
</ul>

<h2>Have a class discussion after&nbsp;each scenario</h2>

<ul>
	<li>What was the dialogue mainly about?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What went wrong?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What went right?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Do you think this scenario would happen&nbsp;on a daily basis? If not, how often?</li>
	<li>Is this a scenario that you could see yourself excelling in? Why or why not?</li>
	<li>Are you still interested in this career after studying this scenario? Why or why not?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What else do you want to know about this type of scenario?</li>
</ul>

<h2>Help the new vocabulary become more sticky</h2>

<p>Here are a bunch of activity ideas we have shared in the past about reviewing vocabulary with ELLs. We also recommend using these blank&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2966-vocabulary-cards" target="_self">Vocabulary Cards</a>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-remember-vocabulary" target="_self">How to Remember Vocabulary</a>&nbsp;(Share the URGE&nbsp;method with your learners)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-activities-for-reviewing-vocabulary" target="_self">4 Activities for Reviewing Vocabulary</a> (Hot Seat, Matchup, Concentration A &amp; B)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/one-to-one-vocab-review" target="_self">One-to-One Vocabulary Review Ideas</a>&nbsp;(Wh-questions;&nbsp;Reduce, Reuse, Recyle; Speed Sort; Word Soup; and more!)</li>
</ul>

<p>In addition, we&nbsp;hope you have already discovered the places to find related <strong>flashcards</strong> and <strong>silent clips</strong>&nbsp;(and how to use them) in this&nbsp;post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/career-pathways-for-newcomers" target="_self">Career Pathways for Newcomers</a>.</p>

<h2>Have students quiz each other&nbsp;before assigning the assessments</h2>

<p>Each workplace course has two assessments&mdash;a mid-course and a final assessment. Your students can work in pairs&nbsp;to quiz each other on the vocabulary and scenarios&nbsp;using the <strong>Review</strong> task from each unit. Alternatively, ask each student to come up with five questions and then pull them out of a box and quiz the class as a group.&nbsp;Students can raise their hands or approach the board to answer. Examples of question types include drawing, spelling, or defining&nbsp;words. Encourage students to also ask&nbsp;main idea or detail&nbsp;questions about the scenarios.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Draw a <em>call button</em> for me.</li>
	<li>When would a nursing assistant use <em>an ear thermometer</em>?</li>
	<li>How does a pharmacist technician verify a person&#39;s ID?</li>
	<li>How do you spell <em>autoclave</em>?</li>
	<li>What kind of questions does an EMT ask when arriving at the scene of an accident?</li>
</ul>

<h2>Create your own additional units together</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Put students in pairs or groups of three.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Have groups come up with a new scenario involving the worker (e.g., nursing assistant) and a colleague or patient/customer from the course.</li>
	<li>Encourage students to research their new scenarios. (They may want to try to use AI for this task, but make sure that they fact-check the results!)</li>
	<li>After writing a new short dialogue, encourage students to choose about 6&ndash;10 keywords that they want to teach from it. (Alternatively, encourage them to&nbsp;recycle vocabulary they learned in&nbsp;the course.)</li>
	<li>After writing their new dialogues, have students work together to peer-edit each other&#39;s work (try our <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2218-writing-correction-key" target="_self">Writing Correction Key</a>). Where would the new scenario fit best into the course?</li>
	<li>Students can then try to create other tasks to build out their lesson (matching, dialogue, vocabulary review, comprension, review), using the template that Ellii has used in the course.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Interview a professional</h2>

<p>To build these courses, Ellii collaborated with people in the field, including nursing assistants, phlebotmists, and others. Your students could do this as well!</p>

<p>Do you or any of your friends, colleagues, or even students know someone who works in this field? Would they be willing to come into your class to talk to the students or even call in via speaker phone?</p>

<p>Have your students prepare&nbsp;some questions for a professional whether you find someone to ask or not. If you can&#39;t find someone to answer the questions live for you, consider putting students to work researching the answers to their own questions.</p>

<h2>Reflect on the course</h2>

<p>We hope you and your learners always take the time to reflect on the content you use at Ellii. We have plenty of reflection tools that you can use in our Assesment Tools area. Some of these tools may be useful for you to use alongside these courses. You could even have students share comments on this blog post!</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2557-3-2-1-reflection" target="_self">3-2-1 Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2228-exit-slips" target="_self">Exit Slips</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3085-wrap-up" target="_self">Wrap-Up</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><br />
Help Ellii design a printable workplace course template</h2>

<p>If you are&nbsp;hoping to use paper-based versions of Ellii&#39;s workplace courses, we would love to hear from you!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Which tasks and activites would you like to see in a paper-based version of Ellii&#39;s courses?&nbsp;Would you use an abridged printout that has the dialogue and comprehension questions, or are you looking for a full printable lesson with all of the tasks from the digital version (i.e.,&nbsp;similar to an Everyday Dialogues PDF)?</li>
	<li>Would you be using the printable version in a group or one-to-one setting?</li>
	<li>Is there a reason the digital version is not currently meeting your classroom needs?</li>
</ul>

<p>Any suggestions or feedback you have will help as we explore how to reverse-engineer our courses for your printable needs in 2025. Thank you for your requests!</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What ideas do you have for adding&nbsp;engaging classroom activities to self-study materials.</p>
</blockquote>


Transform Self-Study Workplace Courses into Engaging Group-Learning Experiences

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<p>Every week, our <strong>Customer Support</strong> team answers dozens of questions from Ellii subscribers. The Support team&nbsp;passes some of these questions on to our <strong>Publishing</strong> and <strong>Product</strong> teams in order to:&nbsp;<br />
<br />
1. gather specialized tips and suggestions that will benefit teachers&nbsp;<br />
2. push for features, updates, and content that subscribers request<br />
<br />
Frequently asked questions&nbsp;often turn into full-length blog posts (e.g., <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/grammar-usage" target="_parent">grammar questions</a>), Help Docs (e.g., <a href="https://help.ellii.com/" target="_parent">step-by-step instructions</a>), or videos (e.g., in-depth feature <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2HAIBUNgKo&amp;list=PLP0N5nuiA3aM_OP18M7G9XSYjXigIuunA" target="_parent">explainers</a>).&nbsp;Reflecting on questions like these&nbsp;also helps us think about what we can do to improve the user experience for teachers, students, and administrators.</p>

<p>Here is a question the Customer Support<strong> </strong>team passed on to the Publishing team this week.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I was wondering which lessons already have built-in assessments. For example, your <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1754-making-requests" target="_parent">Making Requests</a> lesson, found in the <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/functional-english" target="_parent">Functional English</a> section, already has a ready-made assessment included with it.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For 20+ years, Ellii (formerly ESL Library) has been creating materials&nbsp;focused primarly on helping students <strong>learn</strong>, <strong>practice</strong>, and <strong>use</strong>&nbsp;real and relevant English.</p>

<p>We began incorporating <strong>formative</strong> and <strong>summative</strong> <strong>assessments</strong> into our ready-made lessons and courses several&nbsp;years ago when teacher&nbsp;requests for ready-made assessments&nbsp;began to pour in.&nbsp;</p>

<p>With so many different types of lesson sections and resources available at Ellii, we did not take&nbsp;a standardized approach when it came to adding assessments. For example, we added multiple-choice quizzes to our<strong>&nbsp;foundational </strong>sections that focus on grammar and vocabulary. For sections focusing on<strong> life skills</strong>, we added assessments more aligned with&nbsp;real-world tasks with ready-made tools for grading and offering feedback.&nbsp;</p>

<p>While some teachers appreciated our <strong>ready-made rubrics</strong>, other preferred editable ones that they could <strong>customize</strong>. To answer this need, we developed an <strong>Evaluation</strong> resource category in our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools" target="_parent">Assessment Tools</a> section and added generic forms that could be used with a variety of lessons.</p>

<h1>Index of assessments on Ellii</h1>

<p>As we work on improving how teachers can find suitable assessments on Ellii, we&nbsp;hope the index below&nbsp;will give you a better idea of what types of assessments you will find in sections that have built-in assessments.</p>

<p>We also have several sections that were designed to focus on <strong>skill using</strong>, and we do not have plans to add assessments to these. If you come across a lesson or section that you think would benefit from the addition of&nbsp;built-in assessments, please let us know!&nbsp; Note that some of our older lessons in the sections below may be missing a printable or digital&nbsp;assessment.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools" target="_parent">Diagnostics</a></h2>

<p>The following tests are available to help you get a better idea of your students&#39; proficiency levels. This can then help you determine which level of Ellii you should set your filters to when browsing lessons for these students.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4226-ellii-placement-test" target="_self">Ellii Placement Test (Speaking &amp; Writing)</a>&nbsp;(Multiple-Choice and Open Answer: Grammar, Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking)</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4164-ellii-placement-quiz" target="_self">Ellii Placement Test (Autograded)</a> (Multiple-Choice: Grammar, Listening, Reading)</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5607-ellii-exit-test-autograded">Ellii Exit Test (Autograded)</a>&nbsp;(Multiple-Choice: Grammar, Listening, Reading)</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2448-grammar-test-1" target="_self">Grammar Test 1</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2449-grammar-test-2" target="_self">Grammar Test 2</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2450-grammar-test-3" target="_self">Grammar Test 3</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2451-grammar-test-4" target="_self">Grammar Test 4</a></li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="speaking task placement test" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4100/content_Ellii_placement-test-speaking.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample speaking question from Ellii&#39;s Placement Test.</p>

<h2><img alt="grammar test 2 writing" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4099/content_Ellii-Grammar-Test-2-Writing.png" /></h2>

<p class="caption">A sample index of questions and a sample writing question from the digital version of Ellii&#39;s Placement Test.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/casas-test-preparation" target="_blank">CASAS Test Preparation</a></h2>

<p>In this section, you will find ready-made practice tests for all levels of the CASAS STEPS Reading and Listening tests. These tests are modeled after the CASAS STEPS tests and will give your students practice and help them become familiar with the types of questions they will encounter on the real tests. The amount of time students have and the number of times they can listen to the audio is identical to the real tests.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/casas-test-preparation" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4925/content_Screen_Shot_2025-09-17_at_2.01.13_PM.png" /></a></p>

<p>To use the tests in practice mode during class time, you can click on the left menu and launch the questions in a <strong>Task</strong> player. Otherwise, assign a test to your students and they will see it in the same way as you do when you click the <strong>Launch assessment</strong> button.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/casas-test-preparation" target="_blank"><img alt="practice task or test mode" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4926/content_Screen_Shot_2025-09-17_at_2.03.43_PM.png" /></a></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/grammar-practice-worksheets" target="_parent">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></h2>

<p>This is our most popular grammar section. A suggested teaching order is available.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable quizzes</li>
	<li>digital quizzes</li>
</ul>

<p>Note: We&#39;ve had some requests to offer assessments in our companion grammar section for young learners (<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/fun-grammar-lessons" target="_parent">Fun Grammar Lessons</a>). If this is something you would like to see on Ellii, be sure to let us know.</p>

<p><img alt="grammar assessment printable" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4071/content_Grammar-printable-quiz.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample assessment from a printable lesson in&nbsp;<strong>Grammar Practice Worksheets</strong>.</p>

<h2 class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/super-simple-grammar" target="_parent">Super Simple Grammar</a></h2>

<p>This section offers verb basic grammar drills focused on a single target.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable quizzes</li>
	<li>digital quizzes&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/functional-english" target="_parent">Functional English</a></h2>

<p>This life skills section centers around real-world dialogues. It focuses on teaching everyday vocabulary and expressions used in daily&nbsp;interactions.&nbsp;Each lesson includes&nbsp;a few short dialogues.</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable review tasks for assessment purposes with ready-made rubrics</li>
	<li>digital assessment tasks (some include videos)</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="functional english assessment" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4074/content_Functional-english-assessment.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample ready-made rubric from the&nbsp;<strong>Functional English</strong> section.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/english-basics" target="_parent">English Basics</a></h2>

<p>This section offers&nbsp;lessons for newcomers with very low-literacy skills.</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable assessment with ready-made rubrics</li>
	<li>digital assessment (check)</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="money assessment tool b" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4092/content_money-assessment-tool-ellii.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample assessment&nbsp;and rubric from the <strong>English Basics</strong> section.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/everyday-dialogues" target="_parent">Everyday Dialogues</a></h2>

<p>This life skills section centers around real-world dialogues. It focuses on teaching everyday vocabulary and expressions used in English-speaking communities and&nbsp;workplaces. Each lesson introduces one main dialogue. Assessments may introduce new dialogues while reviewing targeted language. Role-plays that can be used for assessment purposes are available in each lesson. A generic <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2771-role-play-assessment-tool" target="_parent">assessment tool</a> is also available.</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable review tasks that can be used for assessment purposes&nbsp;</li>
	<li>role-plays that can be used for assessment purposes</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="everyday dialogues sample assessment" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4082/content_Screen_Shot_2024-11-05_at_11.39.31_AM.png" /></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/real-world-reading" target="_parent">Real-World Reading</a></h2>

<p>This life skills section centers around real-world reading and vocabulary. Each lesson features&nbsp;materials with&nbsp;authentic formats, such as receipts, maps, posters, and emails. These materials help prepare adult ed students to answer reading questions on&nbsp;standardized proficiency tests.</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable assessment with ready-made rubrics</li>
	<li>digital assessment</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="real-world reading digital assessment" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4101/content_Ellii-digital-assessment-sample.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample digital assessment from&nbsp;the <strong>Real-World Reading</strong> section.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/reading-in-english" target="_parent">Reading in English</a></h2>

<p>This academic English&nbsp;section centers around reading strategies. It focuses on reading skills that are useful for improving comprehension.&nbsp;Each lesson is based on&nbsp;one main reading skill.</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable assessment with ready-made rubrics</li>
	<li>digital assessment (check)</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/writing-in-english" target="_parent">Writing in English</a></h2>

<p>This academic English&nbsp;section centers around writing&nbsp;strategies. It focuses on writing&nbsp;skills that are useful for academic and workplace purposes.&nbsp;Each lesson hones in&nbsp;on&nbsp;one main writing skill.</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable writing challenge</li>
	<li>digital writing challenge&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="digital writing challenge" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4102/content_Ellii-sample-writing-assessment.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample writing assessment from the digital version or a <strong>Writing in English</strong> lesson.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/career-pathways" target="_parent">Career Pathways</a></h2>

<p>This digital-only workplace section focuses on career exploration with an emphasis on vocabulary and reading comprehension. Each lesson introduces one possible career pathway.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>digital quiz</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/super-simple-questions" target="_parent">Super Simple Questions</a></h2>

<p>This life skills section centers around very short&nbsp;real-world dialogues for absolute beginners.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>printable assessment suggestions&nbsp;in answer key</li>
	<li>digital assessments</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="Assessment suggestions in Answer Key" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4084/content_Assessment-in-akey.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample answer key excerpt with suggested tasks a teacher could use for assessment.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=43&amp;page=1" target="_parent">General English courses</a>&nbsp;</h2>

<p>These Ellii Up courses are designed for teachers who do not use a coursebook or do not want to build their own curriculum. They&nbsp;offer a sequence of lessons from multiple sections on Ellii&nbsp;at a single proficiency level. Students can progress through the levels and take assessments as they go.</p>

<p>In addition to the course assessments, some lessons within each course&nbsp;have their own assessments within them.</p>

<ul>
	<li>mid-course assessment</li>
	<li>final assessment</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=3&amp;material=courses&amp;page=1" target="_parent">Grammar courses</a></h2>

<p>These courses are designed for teachers who do not use a coursebook or do not want to build their own curriculum. They&nbsp;offer a sequence of grammar-focused lessons from multiple sections on Ellii&nbsp;at a single proficiency level. Students can progress through the levels and take assessments as they go.</p>

<ul>
	<li>final digital assessment</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=6&amp;material=courses&amp;page=1" target="_parent">Workplace&nbsp;courses</a></h2>

<p>These ready-made courses focus on business English or career-specific English.&nbsp;They&nbsp;offer a sequence of lessons at a&nbsp;proficiency level with two main assessments. These are ideal for self-study.</p>

<ul>
	<li>mid-course assessment</li>
	<li>final assessment</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="final assessment sample workplace course on Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4083/content_Screen_Shot_2024-11-05_at_11.44.52_AM.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">A sample vocabulary question from a final assessment in an Ellii workplace course.</p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=2&amp;material=courses&amp;page=1" target="_parent">Serials</a></h2>

<p>These ready-made courses focus on informal English.&nbsp; They&nbsp;offer a sequence of lessons at a&nbsp;proficiency level with assessments throughout.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>3-4 assessments (printable/digital) per course&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools" target="_blank">Generic evaluation &amp; reflection tools</a></h2>

<p>Ready-made printable rubrics and forms to use for a variety of purposes when assessing language learners. Below are 10 examples. Many more are available in our <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools" target="_parent">Assessment Tools</a> section.</p>

<ol>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2832-english-questionnaire" target="_parent">English Questionnaire</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2132-reading-task-assessment-form" target="_parent">Reading Task Assessment Form</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2131-writing-task-assessment-form" target="_parent">Writing Task Assessment Form</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2129-speaking-task-assessment-form" target="_parent">Speaking Task Assessment Form</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2130-listening-task-assessment-form" target="_parent">Listening Task Assessment Form</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2326-advanced-reading-comprehension" target="_parent">Advanced Reading Comprehension</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2383-personal-opinion-assessment-tools" target="_parent">Personal Opinion Assessment Tools</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2126-self-evaluation-form" target="_parent">Self-Evaluation Form</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2228-exit-slips" target="_parent">Exit Slips</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2557-3-2-1-reflection" target="_parent">3-2-1 Reflection</a></li>
</ol>

<h1>A Note on Grading</h1>

<p>If you&#39;re interested in learning more about Ellii&#39;s <strong>Grade Feed</strong>, please watch this video. Note that important updates are in the works, including expanding on our use of AI for grading open-ended writing and speaking responses.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lk1zLa3MGU0?si=UxvrrU74VSMcEXEy" width="640"></iframe></div>

<blockquote>Which Ellii assessments have you used? Which tests are your students preparing for? Share thoughts and feedback about assessment in the comments. Be sure to share your feedback on&nbsp;Ellii&#39;s new CASAS practice tests!</blockquote>

How to Find Assessments on Ellii

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2569/Tara_How-to-Find-Assessments-on-Ellii_Banner(2).png

<p>When I was an ESOL lecturer at City of Glasgow College, I delivered a lot of employability-themed and workplace English lessons. My learners were mostly from refugee backgrounds, wishing to get back into their profession or upskill to reap the economic benefits.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In my previous post, I reflected on&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-importance-of-workplace-english" target="_parent">Why You Should Teach Workplace English</a>. In this post, I&rsquo;ll give some of my top tips on &quot;how.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<h2><b>Seek local (or online) partnerships</b></h2>

<p>Students want to learn workplace English in order to enhance their career opportunities. To do this, connecting them with people who can offer further support is extremely helpful. Local and online partners could provide services such as:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>inspiring workshops and webinars</li>
	<li>mentoring&nbsp;</li>
	<li>job application advice</li>
	<li>work placements</li>
	<li>volunteering</li>
	<li>workplace visits and site tours</li>
</ul>

<h2><b>Share inspiring stories&nbsp;</b></h2>

<p>Finding work in a language you are developing can be a challenge. Students can often get disheartened. To boost their confidence and motivation levels, share stories of people who have been in similar situations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can find these stories in newspapers, magazines, or blog posts. Alternatively, search through the content library at Ellii for a real-life reading, like this one on how <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2405-jack-ma " target="_parent">Jack Ma</a> became China&rsquo;s wealthiest person after creating Ali Baba or how <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4061-entrepreneurs-simple-past" target="_parent">Milton Hershey</a>&nbsp;opened a world-famous chocolate factory or how <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2212-hedy-lamarr" target="_parent">Hedy Lamarr</a> went from acting to paving the way for Wi-Fi technology.</p>

<p>Personally, I find the most motivating stories for learners come from their own peers. Have them share their own success stories in class&nbsp;or invite previous students back to class to share theirs.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><b>Bring in realia</b></h2>

<p>When I was teaching ESOL for Social Care, learners had A LOT of technical vocabulary to learn. One of the most fun&nbsp;and realistic&nbsp;ways to get vocabulary to stick was by bringing in realia.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Luckily for me, my parents hadn&rsquo;t retired at the time, so they brought me lots of cool stuff to use in class: colostomy bags, syringes, bandages, and bedpans. Students had a great time discussing these items as well as&nbsp;labeling them and doing role-plays with them!</p>

<p>Of course, it may not be practical or possible to bring real equipment to class. It&rsquo;s quite unlikely you&rsquo;ll be able to bring a dentist&rsquo;s LED light to class, for example!&nbsp;That&rsquo;s when you can rely on Ellii&rsquo;s vast <a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards" target="_parent">Media Gallery</a>, which now has almost 5,000 images and 150 workplace videos.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://ellii.com/video/led-light" target="_blank"><img alt="LED light silent clip" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4087/content_LED-light-video-Ellii-workplace-english.png" /></a><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job?flashcard=9109&amp;query=LED%20light" target="_blank"><img alt="LED light flashcard" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4080/content_Screen_Shot_2024-11-04_at_4.17.25_PM.png" /></a></p>

<p>Check out Ellii&#39;s growing&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job" target="_parent"> At Work &amp; On the Job</a> flashcard category.</p>

<h2><b>Focus on the&nbsp;<i>English</i></b></h2>

<p>When teaching workplace English, remember that you are first and foremost teaching English. You are (probably) not a pharmacist, dentist, phlebotomist, custodian, emergency medical technician, or nursing assistant. It can be tricky to distance yourself from learning (or inadvertently teaching) the workplace topic. That&rsquo;s for your students to learn. You can give them the communication skills to succeed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>To get around this, ask your learners frequently what they need and what interactions they have (or may have) had. You can also have them bring any tricky coursework to class to inform your lessons. Use these to put the vocabulary into practice using role-plays and real-life scenarios.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It can take a lot of time and preparation to create high-quality workplace English lessons. That&rsquo;s why Ellii has done the hard work for you with its new Career-Specific&nbsp;Pathway courses. The teachers and writers at Ellii are not phlebotomists or pharmacists, either! However, they hired real-life&nbsp;consultants to help build these courses for your students&#39; career exploration and to ensure the scenarios are realistic and relevant. You can teach these in class or set them as self-directed study.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Check them out here:&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Career-Specific Pathway&nbsp;Courses</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/nursing-assistants/materials" target="_parent">English for Nursing Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/pharmacy-technicians/materials" target="_parent">English for Pharmacy Technicians</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/dental-assistants/materials" target="_parent">English for Dental Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-phlebotomists/materials" target="_parent">English for Phlebotomists</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-paraeducators/materials" target="_parent">English for Paraeducators</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-custodians/materials" target="_parent">English for Custodians</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-emergency-medical-technicians/materials" target="_parent">English for Emergency Medical Technicians</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-medical-assistants/materials" target="_parent">English for Medical Assistants</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<p>Not ready for full courses?&nbsp;Ellii also has exploratory Career Pathways lessons that can be ideal to find out what your students are interested in.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Exploratory Career Pathways Lessons</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5018-working-as-a-nursing-assistant " target="_parent">Working as a Nursing Assistant</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5034-working-as-a-pharmacy-technician" target="_parent">Working as a Pharmacy Technician</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5030-working-as-a-dental-assistant " target="_parent">Working as a Dental Assistant</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5035-working-as-a-phlebotomist " target="_parent">Working as a Phlebotomist</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5016-working-as-a-custodian" target="_parent">Working as a Custodian</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5038-working-as-a-paraeducator " target="_parent">Working as a Paraeducator</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<h2>Related</h2>

<p>For more on our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/career-pathways-for-newcomers" target="_parent">Career-Specific&nbsp;Pathway&nbsp;courses</a>, check out this blog post from Tara Benwell and watch for an upcoming webinar!&nbsp;</p>

<p>You may also like this post on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-importance-of-workplace-english" target="_parent">Why You Should Teacher Workplace English</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Have you taught workplace English? What career-specific topics have you taught? What are your top tips? Do you have any employment success stories to share regarding your past ESOL students?&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


How to Teach Workplace English

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/2607/Emily_How-to-Teach-Workplace-English_Banner.png

<p>In this post, I outline some reasons why teaching workplace English is so important. (And why I&rsquo;m personally excited about Ellii&rsquo;s new <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=6&amp;page=1" target="_parent">Career-Specific Pathway&nbsp;courses</a>.)</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S2HAIBUNgKo?si=WOUi4VpVjRMOR39Y" width="640"></iframe></div>

<h2><b>1. Hope</b></h2>

<p>For many years, I taught workplace ESOL to new Scots. My learners were mostly people from <strong>refugee backgrounds</strong> who had made Scotland their home. Many of them were skilled professionals&mdash;doctors, nurses, business owners, and engineers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Imagine being forced to leave your country due to war, political unrest, or lack of safety.&nbsp;You find yourself in an unfamiliar place where you have to take a role below your skill level to survive. You&rsquo;ve devoted years of your life to your career, but your qualifications aren&rsquo;t accepted or have been destroyed. To add to that, your English language skills aren&rsquo;t proficient enough.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Teaching workplace ESOL&nbsp;and providing learners access to self-study courses&nbsp;can give them hope. It can take years to learn English, but <strong>developing skills tailored to their chosen career path</strong> can help them get where they want to be much faster.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/nursing-assistants/materials" target="_parent">English for Nursing Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/pharmacy-technicians/materials" target="_parent">English for Pharmacy Technicians</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/dental-assistants/materials" target="_parent">English for Dental Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-phlebotomists/materials" target="_parent">English for Phlebotomists</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-paraeducators/materials" target="_parent">English for Paraeducators</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-custodians/materials" target="_parent">English for Custodians</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-emergency-medical-technicians/materials" target="_parent">English for Emergency Medical Technicians</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-medical-assistants/materials" target="_parent">English for Medical Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-home-health-aides/materials" target="_blank">English for Home Health Aides</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/soft-skills-for-hospitality-workers/materials">Soft Skills for Hospitality Workers</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-commercial-drivers/materials">English for Commercial Drivers</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<h2><b>2. Motivation</b></h2>

<p>One of the main reasons for learning another language is to enhance career opportunities. Having proficient language skills can increase confidence and open doors. If you ask your learners why they are learning English, <strong>employability</strong> will likely be one of their top reasons.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As teachers, we are constantly looking for content that students can get excited about, and tailoring lessons to students&rsquo; needs can help do this.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>If a student is a <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/pharmacy-technicians/materials " target="_parent">pharmacy technician</a>&nbsp;or is (re)training to be one, what could be more motivating than a whole course specifically designed with their needs in mind?</p>

<h2><b>3. (Re)Training</b></h2>

<p>One of the biggest <strong>barriers</strong> my learners faced when finding employment in Scotland was their <strong>qualifications</strong>. In many cases, their certificates had perished in fires&nbsp;or been abandoned in haste. This left them <strong>without evidence </strong>of having completed their training.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Another issue was that some <strong>qualifications</strong> had different <strong>equivalencies</strong> between countries. For example, four years at university in one country could be the equivalent to two levels below in another. This meant that many students had to re-train in order to practice. In some cases, this meant a conversion course while&nbsp;others had to start their training again from scratch.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Training or re-training is not simple, especially in a new language. Teaching workplace English can support learners to prepare for training courses&nbsp;or support them while they complete their professional development.</p>

<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write" frameborder="0" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/976886639?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="English-for-Nursing-Assistants-Intro-V2"></iframe></div>
<script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>

<h2><b>4. Opening closed doors</b></h2>

<p>In order to be a teacher, lawyer, dentist, or other specialized trade, you need to speak the language of the country you are practicing in proficiently. Many of my learners were intermediate or below. This meant that the proverbial door was closed to them until their language skills were strong enough.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Learning a language can take years. However, this can be fast-tracked by targeted learning and by focusing on the interactions, skills, and vocabulary that each individual learner needs.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=6&amp;page=1" target="_parent">Career-Specific&nbsp;Pathway&nbsp;courses</a> help <strong>dental assistants, nursing assistants, pharmacy assistants, phlebotomists, medical assistants, paraeducators, </strong>and<strong> custodians</strong> communicate confidently in their chosen profession. And don&#39;t worry! Ellii has plans to help nudge the doors open for many other occupations in 2025.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><b>5. Client communication</b></h2>

<p>Many learners may already be working in their chosen profession. They might already have developed their language skills, gotten the qualifications they need, and started working in their chosen role. Yet, now that they are working, they feel the need to polish their work-specific communication skills.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A South African friend of mine is a surgeon. He speaks English proficiently, but when he moved to Scotland, he found that he couldn&rsquo;t understand his patients. Why? Because his patients are speaking Scots. My friend started taking notes of all the Scots terms he encountered and now uses them conversationally around other Scots speakers&nbsp;and with his patients. As with our learners, he needed to develop his workplace communication skills.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In this lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4944-communication-during-a-blood-draw" target="_parent">Communication during a Blood Draw</a>&nbsp;from the <strong>English for Phlebotomists</strong> course, the student can read and listen to an example conversation during a blood draw. The phlebotomist describes the stages and what he is doing&nbsp;while&nbsp;distracting the patient by asking her to talk about her interests.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="English for phlebotomists" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4064/content_Screen_Shot_2024-10-30_at_2.27.58_PM.png" /></p>

<h2><b>6. Career inspiration</b></h2>

<p>Some learners may be exploring which career path they wish to take. Workplace English can be a great way for them to consider some aspects of the job roles that interest them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example, maybe they want to be a dental assistant. Giving them access to the <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/dental-assistants/materials " target="_parent">English for Dental Assistants</a> course can not only polish their English skills, but also help them understand the role more deeply.</p>

<p><img alt="English for dental assistants" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/4067/content_English-for-Dental-Assistants.png" /></p>

<blockquote>
<p>If your students aren&#39;t sure what jobs they might be interested in, you&nbsp;could even start with an <a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/career-pathways" target="_parent">Ellii Poll</a> or lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/career-pathways" target="_parent">Career Pathways</a>&nbsp;before assigning a full course.</p>
</blockquote>

<h2><b>7. Switching roles: Being a better patient!</b></h2>

<p>Maybe your learners have other career interests or Ellii hasn&rsquo;t yet had a chance to create the perfect course for them. You can still use them with your learners!&nbsp;</p>

<p>If a student is going into hospital, you could do this lesson on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4809-patient-admission " target="_parent">Patient Admission</a> from the <strong>English for Nursing Assistants</strong> course.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If a student is <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4892-filling-procedure " target="_parent">getting a filling</a>, try this lesson from the <strong>English for Dental Assistants</strong> course.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If a student needs to visit the pharmacy for medicine recommendations, you could use <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4938-over-the-counter-recommendations " target="_parent">this lesson</a> from <strong>English for Pharmacy Assistants</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When I first started teaching workplace English many years ago, there were limited resources. We had to create our own, so I was delighted to see that Eliii has created all these wonderful resources to make teachers and learners lives so much easier.&nbsp;I hope you enjoy them.&nbsp;For more ideas on how to teach <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/career-pathways-for-newcomers" target="_parent">Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;Career Pathways content</a>, check out these tips.</p>

<p>Watch for my follow-up post on <strong>How to Teach Workplace English</strong>&nbsp;as well as an upcoming webinar focusing on Ellii&#39;s content for&nbsp;<strong>Allied Health </strong>industry.</p>

<blockquote>
<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-57c41dd3-7fff-3929-616a-3dc8321f83ed">Have you taught workplace English? What have you taught? In what ways do you think it is important for learners? </b></p>
</blockquote>


Why You Should Teach Workplace English

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

Courses

<p>Did you see Ellii&#39;s first video-based course on<strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-pre-employment/materials">Phrasal Verbs &amp; Pre-Employment</a>&nbsp;</strong>earlier this year? Our follow-up course, <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-employment/materials"><strong>Phrasal Verbs &amp; Employment</strong></a>, is now live as well!</p>

<p>In this series of video lessons, your students will learn vocabulary and phrases that they can&nbsp;use in typical interactions while working in an office and remotely. Students will follow a new employee&#39;s journey from her first day to her first week to her first year. We specifically chose to focus on a hybrid setting since working from home&nbsp;is increasingly common.</p>

<p>Lessons are based on&nbsp;dialogues between a new employee, her boss, and her colleagues in the following situations:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Onboarding</li>
	<li>Working Remotely</li>
	<li>Attending an Online Meeting</li>
	<li>Preparing for a Presentation</li>
	<li>Asking for a Raise</li>
</ul>

<p>Each lesson&nbsp;contains a video with a dialogue and six&nbsp;phrasal verbs in the employment contexts listed above. They are all followed by&nbsp;several&nbsp;digital tasks to check comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar. The&nbsp;course also includes two assessments.</p>

<p>Watch the introductory video from this course to learn more:</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1006368894" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>Find&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-employment/materials">Phrasal Verbs &amp; Employment</a>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1">Courses &amp; Study Packs</a> area of Ellii under the <strong>Workplace</strong> category.</p>

<p>From that&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-employment/materials">course page</a>, you can easily click on the &quot;<strong>Add to class</strong>&quot;&nbsp;button&nbsp;to assign it immediately or gradually from&nbsp;your <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/try-class-prepping-with-elliis-lesson-planner">Lesson Planner</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On that page, you can also&nbsp;view the&nbsp;<strong>Materials</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Overview</strong>,&nbsp;and <strong>Teachers&#39; Notes </strong>tabs for&nbsp;useful&nbsp;information and additional resources.</p>

<p>We hope&nbsp;your students find this course helpful whether they&#39;re planning on working in an English-speaking environment or just looking to improve their language skills.</p>

<p>Happy teaching!</p>


Phrasal Verbs & Employment Video-Based Course

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<blockquote>
<p><strong>Q.</strong> What is Ellii (formerly ESL Library) best known for?<br />
<strong>A.</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons" target="_blank">Ready-made lesson plans!</a></p>

<p><strong>Q.</strong> What has Ellii become known for in the past&nbsp;few years?<strong>&nbsp;</strong><br />
<strong>A.</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos" target="_blank">Ready-made videos!</a></p>

<p><strong>Q.</strong> What has&nbsp;Ellii been focusing on in 2024? &nbsp;<br />
<strong>A.</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1" target="_blank">Ready-made courses!</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Creating ready-made lesson plans for English language teachers&nbsp;continues to be a priority at Ellii as it has always been. However, each year, the Publishing team tries to add content that is new or innovative, whether its related to a <strong>trend/theme</strong> (<em>social-emotional learning</em>), <strong>skill</strong> (<em>speaking</em>), <strong>modality</strong> (<em>videos</em>), or <strong>need</strong>&nbsp;(<em>workplace English</em>).&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Throughout 2024, Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;Publishing team has been focusing heavily on developing full <strong>courses</strong> with a <strong>workplace</strong> theme. That does not mean we have stopped making individual lessons and videos! You can find all of our new content in our <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/new-content" target="_blank">What&#39;s New?</a>&nbsp;monthly collections, including new lessons that were released with the launch of&nbsp;our newest lesson section:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/career-pathways" target="_blank">Career Pathways</a>.</p>

<h2>Career Pathways</h2>

<p>This new digital-only lesson section, available in our <strong>Academic &amp; Workplace English</strong> genre, is suitable for high-beginner to low-intermediate adult ELLs&nbsp;who are looking for work or considering job opportunities&nbsp;in an English-speaking country. These lessons are exploratory in nature and ideal for <strong>self-study</strong>. They feature real photos rather than illustrations, a common request from today&#39;s adult ed instructors.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Each career-specific lesson includes:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>a vocabulary preview task, featuring 10 keywords with&nbsp;real photos</li>
	<li>a short reading about a specific career (with audio)</li>
	<li>a reading comprehension task&nbsp;</li>
	<li>a gap-fill listening task</li>
	<li>a quiz</li>
</ul>

<h2>Lessons</h2>

<p>We launched this new section with popular career choices for newcomers:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5018-working-as-a-nursing-assistant" target="_blank">Working as a Nursing Assistant</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5034-working-as-a-pharmacy-technician" target="_blank">Working as a Pharmacy Technician</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5030-working-as-a-dental-assistant" target="_blank">Working as a Dental Assistant</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5035-working-as-a-phlebotomist" target="_blank">Working as a Phlebotomist</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5016-working-as-a-custodian" target="_blank">Working as a Custodian</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5038-working-as-a-paraeducator" target="_blank">Working as a Paraeducator</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5223-working-as-a-medical-assistant" target="_blank">Working as a Medical Assistant</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5229-working-as-an-emergency-medical-technician" target="_blank">Working as an Emercency Medical Technician</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>Watch for new lessons regularly&nbsp;and use the comments to let us know which career pathways your students are considering so we can add the lessons that would be most useful for you.</p>

<h2>Workplace Courses</h2>

<p>Our library of ready-made career-specific workplace courses is growing!</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/S2HAIBUNgKo?si=NhL0x5b7M_0So49a" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>To find Ellii&#39;s related courses, go to our <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1" target="_blank">Courses &amp; Study Packs</a><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?page=1" target="_blank"> </a>page and filter to the <a href="https://ellii.com/packs/?category=6&amp;page=1" target="_blank">Workplace</a> category. Be sure to check back regularly.&nbsp;Here are some Workplace courses we have released (or are working on)&nbsp;in 2024:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-pre-employment/materials" target="_blank">Phrasal Verbs &amp; Pre-Employment</a> (video course)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-employment/materials" target="_blank">Phrasal Verbs &amp; Employment</a>&nbsp;(video course)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/nursing-assistants/materials" target="_blank">English for Nursing Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/pharmacy-technicians/materials" target="_blank">English for Pharmacy Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/dental-assistants/materials" target="_blank">English for Dental Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-phlebotomists/materials" target="_blank">English for Phlebotomists</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/healthcare-vocabulary-1/materials" target="_blank">Healthcare Vocabulary 1</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/healthcare-vocabulary-2/materials">Healthcare Vocabulary 2</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-paraeducators/materials" target="_blank">English for Paraeducators</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-custodians/materials" target="_blank">English for Custodians</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-emergency-medical-technicians/materials" target="_blank">English for Emergency Medical Technicians</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-medical-assistants/materials" target="_blank">English for Medical Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/packs/english-for-home-health-aides/materials" target="_blank">English for Home Health Aides</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>Allied Health Focus</h2>

<p>You likely noticed that many of the workplace courses in our library are related to <strong>healthcare</strong>! At Ellii, we work hard to fill the immediate needs of schools and organizations that use our content. Allied Health&nbsp;is a growing industry with a shortage of skilled workers in both the US and Canada.&nbsp;</p>

<p>At Ellii, we are not healthcare experts, but we are language and teaching experts. We&nbsp;teamed up with professionals in the healthcare field to help us create these <strong>non-credit,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>exploratory</strong> courses made specifically for <strong>English newcomers</strong>&nbsp;who are considering&nbsp;different career pathways. These courses may also be useful for experienced healthcare workers who&nbsp;need to upskill to&nbsp;gain employment in an English-speaking country by improving their English proficiency.&nbsp;Our materials writers and editors worked with nurses, EMTs, dentistry professionals, and others to ensure that the scenarios and objectives were realistic, authentic, and functional. These <strong>dialogue-based</strong> courses are ideal for IET programs and&nbsp;focus on <strong>key vocabulary</strong>, <strong>phrases</strong>, and <strong>common workday scenarios </strong>for <strong>a variety</strong> of healthcare careers.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Highlights of Ellii&#39;s Allied Health Materials</h3>

<blockquote>
<ul>
	<li>career exploration</li>
	<li>non-credit</li>
	<li>dialogue-based</li>
	<li>common scenarios</li>
	<li>WIOA compliant</li>
	<li>NRS aligned</li>
	<li>skill-building (vocabulary, phrases, grammar, soft skills)</li>
	<li>intermediate+</li>
	<li>communicative</li>
	<li>mobile-friendly</li>
	<li>ideal for self-study and pre-enrollment</li>
	<li>built-in assessments</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<p><br />
To learn more about <strong>Ellii&#39;s Allied Health&nbsp;content</strong>, watch the recording of this <strong>webinar</strong>!&nbsp;</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/vMlFNOxnhwg?si=7oNAM-swuNBIUgmi" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<h2><br />
Related Ellii Poll</h2>

<p>Get your students thinking about jobs with this interactive<strong> Career Pathways</strong> <a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/career-pathways" target="_blank">Ellii Poll</a>.</p>

<p>Did you know that unlike Ellii&#39;s lessons and courses (which require a subscription),&nbsp;Ellii Polls are free for anyone to use?&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Learn how to access Ellii Polls and invite students here.</a></p>

<h2>Related Media</h2>

<h3>Flashcards</h3>

<p>We also have<strong> Flashcard sets </strong>related to many of these Career Pathways. Find these sets in the <a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job" target="_blank">At Work &amp; On the Job</a> genre in the Flashcards area of our&nbsp;Media Gallery.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/jobs-occupations" target="_blank">Jobs &amp; Occupations</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/job-actions" target="_blank">Job Actions</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/at-the-office" target="_blank">At the Office</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/community-helpers" target="_blank">Community Helpers</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/nursing-assistants" target="_blank">Nursing Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/pharmacy-technicians" target="_blank">Pharmacy Technicians</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/dental-assistants" target="_blank">Dental Assistants</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/at-work-on-the-job/phlebotomists" target="_blank">Phlebotomists</a></li>
</ul>

<p>If Allied Health is the focus for your students, this <a href="https://ellii.com/media/flashcards/body-health-medicine" target="_blank">Body, Health, &amp; Medicine</a>&nbsp;genre will have plenty of useful words for your students to learn.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
To make the best use of Ellii&#39;s supplementary visuals, check out&nbsp;these related Help Docs and videos:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/63-how-to-create-flashcard-sets">How to Create and Save Flashcard Sets</a></li>
	<li>&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/198-how-to-use-the-flashcard-player">How to Use the Flashcard Player</a></li>
	<li>&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/246-how-to-share-flashcard-sets-with-students">How to Share Flashcards with Students</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>Silent Clips</h3>

<p>Do you use Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/silent-clips" target="_blank"><strong>Silent Clips</strong></a>?<strong>&nbsp;</strong>We have&nbsp;a new<strong>&nbsp;</strong>video<strong>&nbsp;</strong>category full of<strong> action verbs</strong> related to popular jobs.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace" target="_blank">Nursing</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/pharmacy-vocabulary">Pharmacy</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/dentistry-vocabulary" target="_blank">Dentistry</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/phlebotomy-vocabulary" target="_blank">Phlebotomy</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/manufacturing-vocabulary" target="_blank">Manufacturing</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/restaurant-hospitality-vocabulary" target="_blank">Restaurant Hospitality</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/hotel-hospitality-vocabulary" target="_blank">Hotel Hospitality</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/education-vocabulary" target="_blank">Education Hospitality</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/construction-vocabulary" target="_blank">Construction Hospitality</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/workplace/custodian-vocabulary" target="_blank">Custodian Hospitality</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Here are <a href="http://4 Creative Ways to Use Silent Video Clips in English Class" target="_blank">4 Creative Ideas for How to Use Silent Clips in the Classroom</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Is there a job your ELLs are interested in that you would like to see added to&nbsp;Ellii&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/career-pathways" target="_blank"><em><strong>Career Pathways</strong></em></a> section (or expanded into a full&nbsp;Ellii course)?&nbsp;Is there a task or activity you would like to see added to existing and future lessons in this section? Please leave a comment for our Publishing team.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


Career Pathways for Newcomers

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<p>Each month, I&nbsp;closely review the feedback and requests that come in via Ellii&#39;s <strong>Teacher Survey</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We get such wonderful&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/tour/testimonials" target="_blank">testimonials</a> and helpful feedback from this survey! Here is one request that came in this week:</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>&quot;Providing more robust training materials for teachers to maximize the use of Ellii&#39;s features and improvements would greatly enhance my ability to provide high-quality education to my students.&quot;</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Helping teachers maximize their use of Ellii&#39;s planning tools and other features&nbsp;is something we are focusing on heavily in 2024.&nbsp;From attending and hosting conferences&nbsp;to building out <strong><a href="https://help.ellii.com/" target="_blank">Help Docs</a> </strong>and <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0N5nuiA3aM_OP18M7G9XSYjXigIuunA" target="_blank">explainer videos</a></strong>, we are always experimenting with how best to deliver training and offer&nbsp;support. This <strong><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/212-how-to-use-ellii-teacher-training-module">Teacher Traning Module</a></strong> is a great place to start!<br />
<br />
Are you an Ellii subscriber? Here are five&nbsp;things to try if you want to maximize your use of the platform:</p>

<h2>1. Subscribe to Ellii&#39;s YouTube Channel</h2>

<p>The <strong>Ellii for Teachers</strong> YouTube channel&nbsp;&nbsp;(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers" target="_blank">www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers</a>)&nbsp;is where we post all of our helpful videos for teachers, including short explainers and long-form demos&nbsp;of&nbsp;Ellii&#39;s new features and updates.</p>

<h2>2. Visit Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;Feature Release Blog Post</h2>

<p>Ellii&#39;s product team releases a series of <strong>new features</strong> and&nbsp;<strong>updates</strong> every six&nbsp;weeks! These updates are often based on customer requests. Visit this <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/feature-releases-platform-updates-2023" target="_blank">post</a> regularly to see what&#39;s new and updated throughout the year.</p>

<h2>3. Use Ellii&#39;s Help Docs</h2>

<p>When you are logged in, you will see a menu underneath your name in the top right corner. Click on the&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Help</strong></a> section to find articles with step-by-step instructions and&nbsp;screencaps on how to use all of the features on Ellii. The Help&nbsp;area also has its own&nbsp;Search field for features.</p>

<h2>4. Contact Ellii</h2>

<p>We have a dedicated customer support team that is available to answer your emails. If you have questions or feedback that you want to give directly to a person at Ellii, you can use this <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/contact" target="_blank">Contact</a></strong> form. It is located in the footer of every page on Ellii.</p>

<h2>5. Get What&#39;s New? Content Notifications &amp;&nbsp;Newsletters&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Ellii&#39;s publishing team&nbsp;sends out a&nbsp;<strong>What to Teach This Week</strong> newsletter every Monday.&nbsp;You can also watch for new content in our <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/new-content" target="_blank">What&#39;s New Collection</a></strong>. We also send out email updates about important features and updates. Go to your <strong>Account</strong> settings (in the menu underneath your name). Then choose <strong>Notifications</strong> and make sure you are getting the updates you want and need.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Are you an Ellii subscriber? What feature or tool do you rely on for teaching English? Is there a feature or tool&nbsp;you want to learn more about?</p>
</blockquote>


5 Ways to Maximize Your Use of Ellii 

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<p>In this blog post, I&rsquo;ll share the importance of literacy skills and the benefits of using a phonics approach to teach them.</p>

<h2>Why is literacy important?</h2>

<p>The ability to read and write is an essential skill. It allows us to access information, communicate with others, express ourselves, and advance our careers. Reading can help us relax, boost our imaginations, and learn about the world we live in. Writing gives us the opportunity to articulate our opinions, share our expertise, and advocate for ourselves and important causes.</p>

<p>From a language learning perspective, learners who are developing literacy skills may be at a disadvantage to their peers with stronger literacy skills. In my classes, there was a noticeable divide between learners whose first script was Roman and those who were learning to read and write in a new script.</p>

<p>Learners whose first script was Roman would take notes quickly, understand meaning while&nbsp;reading more easily, and be able to write well-structured texts confidently. Learners who were developing their literacy skills in English (and perhaps in their first language too) took more time and required more support.</p>

<h2>What are the challenges of teaching literacy?</h2>

<p>There are many reasons why literacy skills are challenging to develop. Students may need to learn how to identify and form a whole new alphabet. They also have to develop an understanding of punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraphing. Then there&rsquo;s rhetorical styles, formality, and a diverse range of text styles with which to become familiar.</p>

<p>Perhaps the most difficult aspect of literacy is spelling-pronunciation agreement. English is notoriously irregular when it comes to pronunciation rules. Think about the spelling of &quot;ough&quot; for example. It is pronounced differently in &quot;though,&quot; &quot;through,&quot; &quot;thought,&quot; and &quot;tough.&quot; And the word &quot;read&quot;&nbsp;is spelled the same way in both the simple present tense and&nbsp;the simple past tense, but sounds like the color &quot;red&quot;&nbsp;in its past form.</p>

<h2>What are the benefits of teaching phonics?</h2>

<p>In order to develop students&rsquo; reading and writing skills, we need to work on their ability to match sounds to spelling. Teaching phonics is a great way to do this. It provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with common sound-spelling agreements as well as their exceptions.</p>

<h2>How to teach phonics?</h2>

<p>There are many ways to teach phonics. I like to devote time in any reading lesson to identifying a few similar sounds and ways to spell them and then have students add them to their vocabulary notebooks. You could also have them make silly sentences or short texts using the target sound or spelling.</p>

<h2>Ellii&#39;s Phonics Stories</h2>

<p>A great way to teach sound-spelling agreement is to use Ellii&rsquo;s collection of <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/phonics-stories" target="_blank">Phonics Stories</a>. Each one cleverly introduces words that use the same target sound in context. Students can read, listen, and repeat the fun short stories. This raises awareness of new words, their pronunciations, and their spellings.</p>

<p>This collection of stories is perfect for learners of all ages and has been graded to different levels.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii's Phonics Stories" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3872/content_Screen_Shot_2024-07-24_at_4.05.34_PM.png" /></p>

<p>Let&rsquo;s look more closely at <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/3854-a-whale-with-a-veil" target="_blank"><strong>A Whale with a Veil</strong></a>. In this lesson, students read about a whale that wore a wedding veil in a gale. It focuses on the sounds and spellings for /w/, /v/, and /e/ (long a).</p>

<p><img alt="A Whale with a Veil by Tara Benwell for Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3873/content_Screen_Shot_2024-07-24_at_4.12.58_PM.png" /><br />
<br />
The digital version of the lesson also contains&nbsp;a video of the story with captions to follow along.</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/vyIcDc-9LEc?si=BVjLr7Y3t713Tm3q" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>There are lots of possibilities for teaching and adapting this lesson (or any of Ellli&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/phonics-stories" target="_blank"><strong>Phonics Stories</strong></a>) in class. Here are some ideas:</p>

<p>1. Say the title aloud and have students predict the story.</p>

<p>2. Read and listen to the story.</p>

<p>3. Check comprehension by asking and answering questions.</p>

<p>4. Have students identify the sounds and spellings by circling the words in the text:</p>

<ul>
	<li>wh - whale, white, what</li>
	<li>w - west, wait&nbsp;</li>
	<li>silent w = (ow) - blown</li>
	<li>v - vest, veil</li>
	<li>a_e - tale, whale, gale</li>
	<li>ai - tail, wait, wail</li>
	<li>ei - veil</li>
	<li>ay - way</li>
	<li>est - best, vest, rest</li>
</ul>

<p>5. Practice pronouncing the sounds individually and the whole words.&nbsp;</p>

<p>6. Listen to the story again and complete a gap-fill text using the target words.&nbsp;</p>

<p>7. Have students read the text aloud.&nbsp;</p>

<p>8. Have students turn the story into a script and perform it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>9. Help them to find or think of other words that use this sound and spelling. Create a list on the board or in their notebooks.&nbsp;</p>

<p>10. Create a picture dictionary with the new words&mdash;either with drawings, digital images, or printing images to cut out and glue in the dictionary.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Emily Bryson's example picture dictionary drawings" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/3874/content_Screen_Shot_2024-07-24_at_4.04.47_PM.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">Some examples of picture dictionaries from my adult ESOL Literacy class.</p>

<p>11. Write definitions and find synonyms or antonyms for each word.&nbsp;<br />
12. Make sentences, questions, tongue twisters, or short texts with the words.<br />
13. Set the individual tasks for homework.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Do you teach phonics? What are your top tips? Do you have any favorite Phonics Stories?</p>
</blockquote>


How to Develop ESL Literacy with Phonics Stories

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<p>Using Folders inside Ellii to organize your class content and curate your own teaching order, study packs, courses, or even curricula&nbsp;is a game-changer when it comes to having unique and engaging classes!</p>

<p>Introducing our new and improved Folders that are just as fun to make, simple to share, and now easy to move into any class.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Here&#39;s what&#39;s NEW with Folders!</h2>

<p>Take a look at the changes we&#39;ve recently made:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Entire Folders can now be easily <strong>pinned</strong> to any class for quick access.</li>
	<li>Ellii courses, study packs, videos, and flashcard categories can now be <strong>saved</strong> to Folders.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Pinned Folders can now be <strong>found</strong> in the Content Drawer of your class&#39;s Lesson Planner.</li>
	<li>Folders can be <strong>pinned</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>unpinned</strong> directly inside your class&#39;s Content Drawer.</li>
	<li>Multiple Folder items&nbsp;can be <strong>moved</strong> at the same time into the Saved, Prepping, or Teaching lane&nbsp;of your Lesson Planner.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Class content from inside your Lesson Planner can now be <strong>exported</strong> into a Folder to be used again in the future.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

<h3>Can&#39;t wait to start using these new Folder features?</h3>

<p>Watch this video demo to learn all you need to know about these Folder updates and more!</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ABIX4RDl8Qs?si=C-AcPqhL6n7H1Mqt" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>Happy teaching!</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Create & Pin Custom Folders to Your Classes

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<p>Introducing<strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-pre-employment/materials">Phrasal Verbs &amp; Pre-Employment</a></strong>,&nbsp;Ellii&#39;s first-ever video course!</p>

<p>In this series of video lessons, your students will learn vocabulary and phrases that they can&nbsp;use in typical interactions when they&#39;re searching for employment.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Each lesson&nbsp;contains a video with a dialogue and six&nbsp;phrasal verbs in various&nbsp;pre-employment contexts. They are all followed by&nbsp;several&nbsp;digital tasks to check comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar. The&nbsp;course also includes two assessments.</p>

<p>Watch the introductory video from this course to learn more:</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/949286954" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>The&nbsp;course includes the following pre-employment lesson topics:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Networking at a Job Fair</li>
	<li>Reviewing a Resume with a Career Counselor</li>
	<li>Completing a Phone Screening</li>
	<li>Arriving for a Job Interview</li>
	<li>Interviewing for a Job</li>
</ul>

<p>Find&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-pre-employment/materials">Phrasal Verbs &amp; Pre-Employment</a>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1">Courses &amp; Study Packs</a> area of Ellii under the <strong>Workplace</strong> category.</p>

<p>From that&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/packs/phrasal-verbs-and-pre-employment/materials">course page</a>, you can easily click on the &quot;<strong>Add to class</strong>&quot;&nbsp;button&nbsp;to assign it immediately or gradually from&nbsp;your <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/try-class-prepping-with-elliis-lesson-planner">Lesson Planner</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On that page, you can also&nbsp;view the&nbsp;<strong>Materials</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Overview</strong>,&nbsp;and <strong>Teachers&#39; Notes </strong>tabs for&nbsp;useful&nbsp;information and additional resources.</p>

<p>We&#39;re planning on making two more related courses on <strong>Phrasal Verbs &amp; Employment </strong>and <strong>Phrasal Verbs &amp; Post-Employment</strong>&nbsp;later this year, so we would greatly appreciate any feedback you have on this course.</p>

<p>Happy teaching!</p>


Try Ellii's First Video-Based Course

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<p><strong>A more organized teacher is a better teacher, don&#39;t you think?</strong><br />
We do! So we built a clean and simple organizational feature we&#39;re calling &quot;Lesson&nbsp;Planner.&quot;</p>

<p>The Lesson Planner is designed as a Kanban board with three lanes: <strong>Prepping</strong>, <strong>Teaching</strong>, and <strong>Taught</strong>. Drag Ellii content across any lane to effortlessly prepare for your classes ahead, instantly assign lessons to your students, and see what you were working on recently. It&#39;s a super simple way to stay organized and teach better.</p>

<p>To get content into the Lesson Planner, simply click on the <strong>Add to Class</strong> button from any Lesson or Resource page, choose the class and lane you&#39;d like to save it to, and you&#39;re done! You will immediately be able to see your selected lesson content in the Lesson Planner inside your class.</p>

<p>By clicking on any lesson or resource inside the Lesson Planner, you can set a due date, leave a note for your students, and edit the lesson tasks. You can also pre-schedule the release date of any lesson, making planning and assigning content to your students a breeze!</p>

<p><strong>See how the Lesson Planner works in the video below:</strong></p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lorc2EN3MEs?si=2RuZ__1RrPLB-tX2" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<p>Our goal is to help make class prepping easier and more enjoyable. Give Ellii&#39;s Lesson Planner a try today.</p>

<p>Happy Teaching!</p>
