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Teaching with Ellii

<div class="white-box">
<p>This article is part of a series of posts highlighting our community of teachers around the world. We hope you find their stories interesting and inspiring!</p>
</div>

<p>At 35 years old, Kieran O&#39;Driscoll left his 17-year-long career at&nbsp;Tipperary County Council and Listowel Urban District Council in the Republic of Ireland&nbsp;to pursue his twin passions:&nbsp;languages and teaching.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I had always, from earliest childhood, been very interested in becoming a teacher,&quot; said Kieran. &quot;At&nbsp;age 18, I took a job in local government administration in which I stayed for over 17 years,&nbsp;but the love of languages&mdash;English, Irish, and French&mdash;never left me.&quot;</p>

<h2>A Fresh Start</h2>

<p>Kieran went back to school to study languages and translation, got his PhD in French-English literary translation studies and Jules Verne studies, worked as a lecturer and researcher at a few Irish and UK higher education&nbsp;institutions, and got his TESOL qualifications.</p>

<p>Today&nbsp;he teaches intermediate-level Academic English to adult students at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucd.ie/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">University College Dublin</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucdela.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">English Language Academy</a> in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.</p>

<p>He&rsquo;s been teaching for almost 19 years now.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Teaching Academic English,&nbsp;as I have done for the past few years on a university campus, is an ideal job for me as I can combine my academic research and writing experience with teaching English for specific&mdash;in my case, academic&mdash;purposes,&quot; said Kieran. &quot;I love the idea of teaching as I always loved learning.&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="Photo of Kieran O'Driscoll" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2263/content_content_PHOTOGRAPH_KIERAN_ODRISCOLL.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Kieran O&#39;Driscoll&nbsp;is pictured here.</p>

<p>For Kieran, a typical day of teaching starts at 9:00 am. He teaches Academic English in the morning and <a href="https://www.ielts.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">IELTS (International English Language Testing System)</a> exam preparation in the afternoon. He usually ends his day with an hour or two of lesson planning, marking, and responding to emails from colleagues and students.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Since January 2022, I&#39;ve been fortunate enough to be back full time in the physical classroom, which my students, colleagues, and I all&nbsp;prefer as there is often better teacher-student interaction and higher-quality communicative-based teaching and learning made possible by the traditional physical setting,&quot; said Kieran.</p>

<p>&quot;Having said that, it does have to be acknowledged that it was really helpful to have the opportunity to continue to teach and learn online during the worst of the pandemic. I admire all students and teachers who made the best of things in a difficult situation and carried on doing education remotely.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>How Kieran Uses Ellii in His Classroom</h2>

<p>Kieran is big fan of Ellii and has been for a long time.</p>

<p>Many of his favorite lessons are from the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons" target="_blank">Mini-Debates</a> sections.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I find the Discussion Starters and Mini-Debates really useful and engaging,&quot; he said. &quot;Always great for getting students talking, thinking critically, and working together whilst improving their reading and speaking skills.<br />
<br />
&quot;I also love the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/111/lessons" target="_blank">Group Projects</a>, which I&#39;ve used for group presentations in both General and Academic English. Students have thus given really interesting, information-rich, and visually appealing presentations on such project topics.&rdquo;</p>

<p>One of his absolute favorite lessons&nbsp;is the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1867" target="_blank">St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day</a> lesson, which he taught&nbsp;this March.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I have a soft spot for the lesson on St. Patrick&#39;s Day as it&#39;s very relevant here in Ireland,&quot; Kieran admitted. &quot;I once again taught this lesson and students once more enjoyed it.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Above all, Kieran loves seeing his students reach their personal, professional, and linguistic goals.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Seeing them happy at the end of a lesson and at the end of their course and watching them go on to great things&mdash;the quiet satisfaction of a job well done,&rdquo; he said.</p>

<p>When asked if he had any advice for aspiring teachers, Kieran said it&rsquo;s important to be confident.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Believe in yourself, enjoy the teaching, never stop learning, and have lots of fun&nbsp;whilst cultivating a healthy work-life balance.&rdquo;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Want the chance to be featured in our Teacher Feature series? Visit our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/20th-anniversary-giveaway" target="_blank">20th Anniversary Giveaway</a>&nbsp;blog post&nbsp;to tell us why you love Ellii and how you use it in your classroom.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Teacher Feature: Kieran O'Driscoll

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<p>Humans have always used visuals to communicate.</p>

<p>Cave paintings tell us stories from the distant past. Art, cartoons, illustrations in children&rsquo;s books, infographics, sketch notes, and photos all engage our senses.</p>

<p>Online, images are shared on social media to visually communicate experiences, emotions, and information.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Visual literacy</strong> is the ability to interpret and create visuals to communicate. It&#39;s an excellent way to encourage interaction and critical thinking in a language classroom at all levels.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Ellii&rsquo;s new weekly <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources" target="_blank">What&rsquo;s the Story?</a>&nbsp;category from our <strong>Visual Learning</strong>&nbsp;resources section&nbsp;is the perfect way to get your students&#39; creative ideas flowing.&nbsp;It takes one intriguing photo and puts students&rsquo; reasoning, analysis, and evaluation skills to the test.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In this post, I&rsquo;ll show you&nbsp;my six-step process for&nbsp;how I used the picture in <a href="http://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3971" target="_blank">The Hidden Jar</a>&nbsp;resource to deliver a three-hour class. Let&#39;s get started!&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Woman digging in the sand next to a jar of coins. Taken from Ellii's The Hidden Jar resource." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2249/content_content_businesswoman-burying-money-SBI.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Step 1: Describe the Photo</h2>

<p>I displayed the image above on a whiteboard for all to see. I then asked students to look at the photo and describe what they could see in pairs, then feedbacked their ideas as a whole class. I wrote any new vocabulary on the whiteboard (e.g., high heels, desert, sand, coins, etc.).&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Step 2: Focus on a Target</h2>

<p>We&rsquo;ve been working on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2093" target="_blank">adjectives</a> in class. To encourage <strong>vocabulary recall,</strong> I asked the students to work in pairs to make a list of adjectives associated with the picture. Then we added that list to the board.</p>

<p>The students said:</p>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;She is <strong>hot</strong><em>.&quot;</em></li>
	<li>&quot;She has<b> </b><strong>dark</strong><em> </em>clothes.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;She feels <strong>worried</strong>.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;It is <strong>windy</strong>.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Step 3: Discuss Character Thoughts&nbsp;</h2>

<p>When using photos in class, one of the best ways to <strong>incorporate critical thinking </strong>is to ask students to get inside the character&rsquo;s head.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I drew a thought bubble from the woman and asked students to consider what she might be thinking.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The students said:</p>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;I&rsquo;m hungry.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;Where is that other jar?&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;I hope no one sees me.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Step 4: Discuss Before &amp;&nbsp;After</h2>

<p>To encourage students to think in more detail about the photo, I asked them to first discuss what happened <i>before</i> the photo, then what happened<i> after</i> the photo.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Some students found this difficult in pairs, but once a few ideas had been shared as a whole class, there was no stopping them!&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Before</h3>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Maybe she stole the money.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;She was at work.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;She&rsquo;s on holiday.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;She works as a pilot. Her plane crashed.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h3>After</h3>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;She was hungry so she went to McDonald&rsquo;s.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;She ran away.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;She went back to work.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;She had a shower.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Step 5: Add Another Character</h2>

<p>I wanted to add another element to the story.&nbsp;Since the image was projected on the whiteboard,&nbsp;I just drew a stick figure at the side.&nbsp;I then asked students to discuss in pairs who this person was and to make a dialogue between them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>By now, my students&rsquo; imaginations were flowing. When they shared ideas, there was lots of laughter.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The students said:</p>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;It&rsquo;s a security guard. They shout at each other.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;It&rsquo;s a kind person. They try to help her, but she runs away.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Step 6: Read Then Write the&nbsp;Story</h2>

<p>I wanted students to do a little reading and to think even deeper about the picture. So&nbsp;at the break, I quickly created a short paragraph about the image.</p>

<p>I asked students to read it and answer the comprehension questions. Then we spent some time noticing and discussing the grammar and vocabulary.</p>

<p>Lastly, I asked students to write a short paragraph about what happens next. Here&#39;s an example I wrote to give you an idea:</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>The Woman with the Jar</h5>

<p>Hannah went to Morocco for a holiday. One day, she woke up early. It was very sunny and very hot. She got up and had a cold shower. She was still hot. She looked out of the window. She saw a woman digging in the sand. The woman had brown hair and dark clothes. She looked hot and tired. Beside her, there was a large jar of coins. Hannah put a bottle of water in her bag and left the house. She walked towards the woman&hellip;</p>

<ol>
	<li>Where was Hannah?</li>
	<li>Why did Hannah wake up early?</li>
	<li>Did Hannah have a hot shower?</li>
	<li>What did she see out the window?</li>
	<li>What did Hannah put in her bag?</li>
	<li>What did she do?</li>
</ol>
</div>

<p>I did this with my beginner class, who are familiar with the simple present, the present progressive, and the simple past, but still need support in selecting the correct tense and collocating the verbs.</p>

<p>Throughout the lesson, I helped students with emergent language and changing tenses where necessary.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Post-Lesson Takeaways</h2>

<p>One of the best things about using an image this way in class is that it can be used for language learners at all levels. I&rsquo;d love to try this visual literacy activity again with a more advanced class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Overall, I was a little nervous going into class with just one photo, but I was pleasantly surprised by&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>my students&rsquo; creativity</li>
	<li>the usefulness of the language that emerged</li>
	<li>the quantity of speaking and writing produced&nbsp;</li>
	<li>the smiles and laughter throughout the lesson&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
<p>Ellii has an ever-growing bank of <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources" target="_&quot;blank&quot;">What&rsquo;s the Story?</a>&nbsp;resources. Watch for a new prompt each week! Which one will you try first? How would you use these images in class? Let me know know in the comments below!</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-pictures-as-grammar-prompts" target="_&quot;blank&quot;">How to Use Pictures as Grammar Prompts</a></li>
</ul>


What's the Story? How One Image Can Develop Visual Literacy & Critical Thinking Skills

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Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>Not only does reading provide students with access to&nbsp;information and hours of pleasure, but it also&nbsp;leads to greater language proficiency.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As English language learners develop their&nbsp;<strong>reading&nbsp;comprehension </strong>skills, they usually make strides&nbsp;in other areas, such as <strong>grammar accuracy</strong> and&nbsp;<strong>vocabulary</strong> <strong>building</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Previously, we&nbsp;explored ways to enhance students&#39; reading comprehension through <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/pre-reading-activities-to-boost-comprehension" target="_blank">pre-reading activities</a>. In this post, our focus will be on <strong>post-reading activities, </strong>which&nbsp;are activities that are done after students finish reading a text.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are nine post-reading activities&nbsp;that will engage your students and help them have a deeper understanding of what they&#39;ve read.</p>

<h2>1. Write a Summary</h2>

<p>If students can summarize a piece of writing, you can be sure they&#39;ve&nbsp;gotten the gist of what they&#39;ve just read. Refer to our lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2718" target="_blank">How to Write a Summary</a>&nbsp;if they need a refresher on giving a condensed overview of a text.</p>

<h2>2. Create a Quiz&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Give students the chance to step into the teacher&#39;s role. Have students come up with comprehension questions&mdash;short-answer or true/false&mdash;to test their classmate&#39;s understanding of the text.</p>

<h2>3. Play a Game</h2>

<p>Put students into groups of three or four. Have them put away the text. Give them five minutes to think of as many facts as they can about the reading. The team that comes up with the most facts wins.</p>

<h2>4. Do Further Research</h2>

<p>Ask students to do online research on the topic and report findings back to class.</p>

<h2>5. Retell the Information&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Have students sit in a circle. As they go around the circle, each student adds a sentence about the text, preferably in the order the information appeared in the&nbsp;reading.</p>

<h2>6. Make an Outline</h2>

<p>As students make an outline of the reading, the main ideas and details will become clear. If students need help writing an outline, try our lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1827" target="_blank">How to Write an Outline</a>.</p>

<h2>7. Write Questions&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Have students write 3&ndash;5 questions&nbsp;they have about the topic that the reading didn&#39;t answer.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>8. Write a Story</h2>

<p>Encourage students to choose 8&ndash;10 new or interesting words. Challenge them to write a short story using those&nbsp;words.</p>

<h2>9. Identify Target Structures</h2>

<p>Tie in the reading with a grammar lesson. Have students go back through the lesson and&nbsp;identify target structures (e.g., <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1597" target="_blank">present perfect</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar/modals" target="_blank">modal verbs</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2028" target="_blank">articles</a>, etc.).</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share Your Thoughts</h5>

<p>We&#39;d love to hear what post-reading activities you do with your students. Please share your ideas in the comments&nbsp;below!</p>
</div>


9 Post-Reading Activities to Help Students Get the Most Out of a Text

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

Grammar & Usage

<p><strong>Pictures</strong> are exceptionally supportive when it comes to language teaching and learning. A simple picture&nbsp;can instantly demonstrate the meaning of a word, removing any need for wordy or complicated definitions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Pictures are also a brilliant way to <strong>prompt grammar</strong>. Many of our Ellii materials&nbsp;have visuals&nbsp;to support understanding and make grammar practice fun and engaging.&nbsp;</p>

<p>English language teachers can use materials like&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards" target="_blank">Flashcards</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/132/lessons" target="_blank">Picture Stories</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/134/lessons" target="_blank">Word Bank Readers</a>,&nbsp;and other Ellii&nbsp;visuals as versatile&nbsp;prompts for just about any grammar point.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Take, for example, the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons/2006" target="_blank">Daily Routines</a>&nbsp;lesson from the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons" target="_blank">Simple Sentences</a> section. The lesson is aimed at teaching the simple present, but the images alone could just as easily be used to teach the present progressive&nbsp;or the&nbsp;simple past.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here&#39;s how you can use the pictures&nbsp;from the lesson above&nbsp;as grammar prompts.</p>

<p><b>Note:</b>&nbsp;These ideas are best to review familiar grammar. If students are new to the grammar target, introduce it in context first using one of Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/collections/videos" target="_blank">videos</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" target="_blank">stories</a>, or dedicated <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar" target="_blank">grammar lessons</a>.</p>

<h2><b>1. Provide Prompts</b></h2>

<p>First, show students the images. Demonstrate the target language then ask students to make their own <strong>questions</strong>, <strong>answers</strong>, or <strong>statements</strong>. Give them word prompts depending on the grammar they&#39;re using.</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Show the &quot;brush teeth&quot; image. Then ask your&nbsp;students to make a question with the words &quot;does&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;in the morning.&quot; &rarr; <em>Does she brush her teeth in the morning?</em></li>
	<li>Show the &quot;do homework&quot; image. Then ask your students to make a sentence with the words &quot;did&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;last night.&quot; &rarr; <em>I&nbsp;did my&nbsp;homework last night.</em></li>
	<li>Show the&nbsp;&quot;cook&quot;&nbsp;image. Then ask your students,&nbsp;&quot;What is he doing?&quot;&nbsp;&rarr; <em>He is cooking.</em>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2><b>2. Switch Tenses</b></h2>

<p>If students are reviewing multiple tenses, use the pictures to prompt students to change one tense to another.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Say or write: &quot;Change &lsquo;Does she brush her teeth in the morning?&rsquo; to the past tense.&quot; &rarr; <em>Did she brush her teeth in the morning?&nbsp;</em></li>
	<li>Say or write: &quot;Change &lsquo;I did my homework last night&rsquo; to &lsquo;every day.&rsquo;&quot;&nbsp;&rarr; <em>I do my homework every day.&nbsp;</em></li>
	<li>Say or write: &quot;Change &lsquo;He is cooking&rsquo; to &lsquo;last week.&rsquo;&quot; &rarr; <em>He cooked last week.</em></li>
</ul>

<h2><b>3. Draw or Create Stories</b></h2>

<p>Ask students to use simple drawings to express their daily routine or what they did yesterday. Remind students that their drawings don&rsquo;t need to be artistic, but simply communicative.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s an example:&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="daily routine drawings" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2237/content_picture-prompt.jpg" /></p>

<p>Alternatively, you can <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/50-how-to-print-flashcards" target="_blank">print</a>&nbsp;the images&nbsp;and ask students to put them in order.</p>

<p>Get your students to talk in pairs to explain their story. Then ask them to write sentences or a short text using the target grammar.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>Yesterday I got up at 8:00 am. I brushed my teeth and had a shower. Then I had cereal and coffee&nbsp;for breakfast.</em>&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>How do you use pictures to prompt grammar in the classroom? Which of these tips are you most likely to use? Share your ideas with us in the comments below.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-grammar-online-with-esl-library" target="_blank">How to Teach Grammar Online</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2564" target="_blank">50 Grammar Targets</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2565" target="_blank">Teaching Order for Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
</ul>


How to Use Pictures as Grammar Prompts

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<p><strong>Flashcards </strong>are fantastic. They are one of the most flexible and learner-centered tools for teachers.</p>

<p>So many lexical items and language points can easily be represented by a simple visual.</p>

<p>They can be used to&nbsp;introduce or review vocabulary and grammar, as part of a game or activity, or to get your students talking.</p>

<p>You can also rely on them to be there for you when you&#39;ve run out of prep time!</p>

<p>Before we dive into my top three flashcard tips, here&#39;s a reminder on <strong>how to use flashcards</strong> on the ESL Library platform. (If you&#39;re already familiar with their Flashcards feature, feel free to <a href="#tips">go straight to the tips</a>.)</p>

<ol>
	<li>Log in to your ESL Library account.</li>
	<li>Go to the <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards" target="_blank">Flashcards page</a>.</li>
	<li>Select the flashcards you want to use. There are more than 3,000 flashcards to discover! They span a range of lexical topics, so it&#39;s easy to&nbsp;tailor to your students&#39; needs. You can also <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/63-how-to-create-flashcard-sets" target="_blank">create and save</a> premade or custom&nbsp;flashcard sets.</li>
	<li>Choose how you want to display them. You can <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/50-how-to-print-flashcards" target="_blank">print your flashcards</a>, launch them in the platform&#39;s <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/198-how-to-use-the-flashcard-player" target="_blank">Flashcard Player</a>, or use the Share Screen option if you&#39;re teaching online.</li>
</ol>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Pro-Tip</h5>

<p>I tend to select 8&ndash;12 flashcards&mdash;some I&rsquo;m sure my students already know (for their confidence), some they know but might need to review or practice spelling, some that might stimulate some interesting discussion, and some that I think will be particularly helpful.</p>
</div>

<p>Now that you understand how the&nbsp;Flashcards feature works, here are my top three tips for how to demonstrate important language points to your students using&nbsp;ESL Library&#39;s flashcards online and in person. No class prep required!</p>

<h1><a id="tips"></a>3 Tips for Using Flashcards with Zero Prep Work</h1>

<h2>1. Take Your Time</h2>

<p>Taking your time with flashcards allows your students to fully <strong>experience</strong> and <strong>understand </strong>the new word.<br />
<br />
When I first started teaching, I used to drill the flashcards and ask students to repeat the pronunciation after me.</p>

<p>I soon found this to be problematic.</p>

<p>Some students already knew the words, while others knew different words for the same item (e.g., sneakers/trainers or elevator/lift). Others just got a bit bored.</p>

<p>Memorizing lots of vocabulary all at once was also information overload.</p>

<p>This led me to a much more collaborative approach.</p>

<p>The purpose of language teaching is <strong>supporting our students to communicate</strong>, so it makes sense to use flashcards to stimulate conversation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Now when I use flashcards, I&rsquo;ll show the image, and instead of telling students what it is, I&rsquo;ll invite them to tell me.</p>

<p>This can lead to some interesting discussions. And instead of rushing on to the next flashcard, we&rsquo;ll pause and have a chat about it. I&rsquo;ll often ask open-ended questions or practice question forms we&rsquo;re working on.</p>

<p>These conversations give the students time to really experience the new word, helping them to recall it later.</p>

<h3>Putting It into Practice</h3>

<p>Last week in class we started talking about &quot;storage lockers.&quot;</p>

<p><strong>First we discussed:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>What they were</li>
	<li>Whether they had them in their building</li>
	<li>Whether they were common in other countries the students knew well</li>
	<li>What people might keep in them</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>This led to further discussion about:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>How tidy our homes are</li>
	<li>How much &quot;junk&quot;&nbsp;we have in our houses</li>
	<li>What we do with things we don&rsquo;t need</li>
</ul>

<p>All this from a beginner-level&nbsp;class! They got very enthusiastic about it. I now have no doubt that they&rsquo;ll remember the word &quot;storage locker.&quot;</p>

<p><img alt="storage locker flashcard" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2206/content_3-Tips-for-Using-Flashcards_storage-locker-flashcard.jpg" /></p>

<h2>2. Draw It Out</h2>

<p>As a graphic facilitator, I see drawing as a superpower.</p>

<p>I am not an artist, but the simple icons I draw in class communicate a message. I also find that they support students&rsquo; <strong>learning</strong>, <strong>engagement</strong>, and <strong>ability to remember new vocabulary</strong>.</p>

<p>A 2016 study by Wammes, Meade, and Fernandes refers to the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282658904_The_Drawing_Effect_Evidence_for_Reliable_and_Robust_Memory_Benefits_in_Free_Recall" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">drawing effect</a>.&nbsp;It found that people who drew a list of words were more likely to recall them than those who simply wrote each word.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Putting it into Practice</h3>

<p>While I work through flashcards with my students, I like to write the new words on a whiteboard and draw a very simple icon to illustrate each one. This creates a visual reference of new vocabulary for English learners and something for them to copy into their notebooks.</p>

<p>Students can choose to copy the simple icon, write the translation in their own language, or both.</p>

<p>I tend to find that my drawings are accessible and non-intimidating, so most&nbsp;students enjoy copying them.</p>

<p>You&rsquo;ll notice&nbsp;that these icons (see illustration below) consist mostly of lines, squares, rectangles, and circles&mdash;shapes most people feel confident about replicating.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Emily Bryson graphic facilitation example" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2207/content_3-Tips-for-Using-Flashcards_Emily-Bryson-graphic-facilitation-example.jpg" /></p>

<h2>3. Focus on Pronunciation &amp; Spelling</h2>

<p>The more time students spend interacting with a word, the more time it has to settle into their memories.</p>

<p>I like to show students how to write the word and assist them to notice any spelling and pronunciation features.</p>

<h3>Putting It into Practice</h3>

<p>Here&#39;s a quick example of how I used pronunciation and spelling techniques with flashcards.</p>

<p>In ESL Library&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/housing-tools/apartment" target="_blank">Apartment</a>&nbsp;flashcard set, we discussed the double letters in &quot;buzzer,&quot; &quot;lobby,&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;corridor.&quot; We also discussed the /k/&nbsp;sound in &quot;block&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;locker&quot;&nbsp;and made a list of other words they knew with that sound and spelling (e.g., &quot;clock,&quot; &quot;black,&quot; &quot;sock,&quot; etc.).</p>

<p>We then added these lists to their notebooks for reference.</p>

<p>Getting students to notice common&nbsp;spellings helps them to decode the notoriously tricky sounds of the English language.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<div class="white-box">
<p>Which of these flashcard tips are you looking forward to trying out with your class? What are some of the tricks you use to demonstrate important language points to your students? Share them with us in the comments below!</p>
</div>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-ways-to-use-flashcards-in-class" target="_blank">10 Ways to Use Flashcards in Class</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="http://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-our-flashcards" target="_blank">How to Use Our Flashcards</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>&nbsp;</h2>


3 Tips for Using Flashcards—No Prep Required

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<p>Do you use our <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards" target="_blank">Flashcards</a>&nbsp;feature to introduce and reinforce vocabulary with your&nbsp;students?<br />
<br />
From <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/food-drink" target="_blank">Food &amp; Drink</a> to <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/in-at-school" target="_blank">In &amp; At School</a>, we have thousands of flashcards so you can easily teach and review vocabulary and grammar points with your students. Plus, with the recent improvements our Product team has&nbsp;made to our flashcard tools, there&rsquo;s never been a better time to start using the&nbsp;feature.</p>

<h2>How to Browse &amp; Search for Flashcards</h2>

<p>On the left-hand side of the <strong>Flashcards page</strong>, you&#39;ll see&nbsp;our flashcards are sorted into sections. These <strong>flashcard sections</strong> are grouped around a particular theme such as <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers" target="_blank">Letters &amp; Numbers</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/colors-shapes" target="_blank">Colors &amp; Shapes</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/grammar-punctuation" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Punctuation</a>, and so&nbsp;on.</p>

<p><img alt="Sections on the flashcard page with “All” is selected" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2117/content_Melissa_How-to-Use-Our-Flashcards_Sections.jpg" /></p>

<p>Each flashcard section includes categories, which are located to the right of the page along the top. These <strong>flashcard categories</strong> are flashcards that are further grouped together and narrower in focus within that&nbsp;section.</p>

<p>For example, under the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers" target="_blank">Letters &amp; Numbers</a>&nbsp;flashcard section, you&#39;ll find flashcard categories like&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers/capital-letters" target="_blank">Capital Letters</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers/lowercase-letters" target="_blank">Lowercase Letters</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers/letters" target="_blank">Letters</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers/phonics" target="_blank">Phonics</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers/ipa-phonetic-symbols" target="_blank">IPA Phonetic Symbols</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcards/letters-numbers/numbers" target="_blank">Numbers</a>.</p>

<p>Easily find the flashcards you&#39;re looking for by clicking on the different sections and&nbsp;categories.</p>

<p><img alt="Categories of letters and numbers section on the flashcard page" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2118/content_Melissa_How-to-Use-Our-Flashcards_Categories.jpg" /></p>

<p>If there&#39;s a specific flashcard you&#39;re searching&nbsp;for, type it into the search bar available at the top of the&nbsp;page.</p>

<p><img alt="Search bar on flashcard page with the word orange typed in" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2119/content_Melissa_How-to-Use-Our-Flashcards_Search.jpg" /></p>

<h2>How to Build &amp; Save Custom Flashcard Sets</h2>

<p>To build a custom set, you can select flashcards one at a time or select an entire flashcard category.<br />
<br />
The flashcards you select will appear in a box along the bottom of the page. From here, you can click <strong>Manage</strong> to rename, reorder, and remove the flashcards you&rsquo;ve selected. You can also print your selected flashcards if you&#39;re planning to use them in person with your&nbsp;students.</p>

<p><img alt="Cursor selecting the orange flashcard" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2120/content_Melissa_How-to-Use-Our-Flashcards_Selected.jpg" /></p>

<p>To save your selection of flashcards, click <strong>Save to Set</strong>. In the box that appears, you can choose to save your selected flashcards to an existing or new&nbsp;set.</p>

<p><img alt="Save to flashcard set window open on flashcard page " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2121/content_Melissa_How-to-Use-Our-Flashcards_save-set.jpg" /></p>

<h2>How to Use the Flashcard Player</h2>

<p>Whether you&#39;re teaching in class with a projector or sharing your screen online, you can present your custom flashcard sets to your students in real time with our <strong>Flashcard&nbsp;Player</strong>.<br />
<br />
Go to your saved <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_sets" target="_blank">flashcard sets</a> and click on the three dots on the right side of the page to launch the Flashcard Player. From here, you can also edit, delete, or print the flashcard set. Additionally, you can share your&nbsp;flashcard set with your students. If they have an ESL Library account, they can then view your customized set when they sign&nbsp;in.</p>

<p><img alt="Flashcard sets page with more options menu open" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2122/content_Melissa_How-to-Use-Our-Flashcards_Launch.jpg" /></p>

<p>Once you&#39;ve launched the Flashcard Player, you can choose from the menu to the left whether you want to display the&nbsp;image by itself, the image and the text, or just the&nbsp;text.</p>

<p><img alt="Fox flashcard open in the flashcard player with customization settings open" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2123/content_Melissa_How-to-Use-Our-Flashcards_Settings.jpg" /></p>

<p>To learn more about how to use our flashcard tools, visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/search?query=flashcards" target="_blank">Help Docs</a> or sign up to attend a <a href="https://app.livestorm.co/esllibrary/creating-flashcard-sets" target="_blank">Flashcard&nbsp;Workshop</a>.</p>

<h2>How to Use Flashcards in the Classroom</h2>

<p>Did you know you can print out our flashcards and use them to play classroom games and activities? Here are a few of our favorite games to try with your&nbsp;class.</p>

<h3>Memory</h3>

<ol>
	<li>Divide your students into small groups.</li>
	<li>For every small group, print out one set of flashcards with just the images and the matching set of flashcards with just the text. Then, place the flashcards upside down in a grid. There will be one grid for the flashcards with images and one grid for the flashcards with text.</li>
	<li>Each student in the group takes a turn flipping over a flashcard from each grid. If the flashcard with the word and the flashcard with the image match, the student can keep the pair and take another turn. If the flashcards don&rsquo;t match, the student flips the flashcards facedown again and lets the next student take their turn.</li>
</ol>

<p>The game ends when all the flashcards have been matched. The student with the most pairs wins!</p>

<h3>Pictionary</h3>

<ol>
	<li>Print out flashcards with only the text on them.</li>
	<li>Split the class into two teams.</li>
	<li>A student from one of the teams will pick one of the flashcards and draw it on the board at the front of the class. Their team then has 30 seconds to guess what the picture is. If they guess correctly, that team gets a point.</li>
	<li>The next team takes a turn and so on.</li>
</ol>

<p>The team with the most points wins!</p>

<h3>Spelling Bee</h3>

<ol>
	<li>Print out our flashcards with only the images on them, and divide the class into two groups.</li>
	<li>Show a flashcard to a student from one of the groups. If they know the word and are able to spell it, their team gets a point.</li>
	<li>Do the same with a student from the other team and so on.</li>
</ol>

<p>The team with the most points wins! This activity can also be used to practice pronunciation.</p>

<p>For more flashcard games and activities, check out our blog post on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-ways-to-use-flashcards-in-class" target="_blank">10&nbsp;Ways to Use Flashcards in&nbsp;Class</a>.</p>

<p>How do you use our flashcards in your classroom? Let us know in the comments&nbsp;below!</p>


How to Use Our Flashcards

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<blockquote>This is the first post in our new <strong>Q&amp;A series</strong>! Our subscribers often write to our editors with excellent grammar or teaching questions.&nbsp;We thought we&#39;d start sharing some of the more common questions and answers so that more people could&nbsp;benefit!</blockquote>

<h1>Question</h1>

<p>What can I&nbsp;do when&nbsp;students&nbsp;keep making the<strong> same grammar mistakes</strong> over and over again? How can I help&nbsp;them?</p>

<h1>Answer</h1>

<p>That&#39;s a great question and it&#39;s something so many teachers&nbsp;face!</p>

<p>Whenever I notice a student making a grammar mistake repeatedly, there are&nbsp;a few&nbsp;things I always do for&nbsp;that student (or, better yet, for the whole class if it&#39;s something they could all benefit&nbsp;from).</p>

<h2>1. Review the Form &amp; Function</h2>

<p>The most important thing is to <strong>review grammar notes&nbsp;</strong>on that particular grammar target so that your student(s) learns (or reviews) how the target is formed and how it functions in a&nbsp;sentence. This will greatly reduce their chances of making the same grammatical error in the future.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Subscribers love using our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>,&nbsp;which&nbsp;include grammar notes at the beginning of every lesson to make the presentation easy for teachers and&nbsp;students.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can also search&nbsp;the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/grammar-usage" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage section</a>&nbsp;on our blog to find grammar notes on many popular&nbsp;targets.</p>

<p>Another way to help&nbsp;students fix recurring grammar mistakes is to have them watch a captivating&nbsp;video.</p>

<p>Many grammar&nbsp;lessons on our site&nbsp;include a&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/collections/videos" target="_blank">video</a> that introduces the target in a fun and engaging way. You can also&nbsp;play some of these <strong>grammar videos</strong> for your&nbsp;students from our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/ESLlibrary" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>. We&nbsp;add&nbsp;new grammar videos&nbsp;there every&nbsp;month!</p>

<h2>2. Assign Practice Exercises</h2>

<p>Once you&#39;re confident that your student understands the form and function of the target, you can assign <strong>practice tasks</strong> (from drills to grammar in context) to ensure&nbsp;retention.</p>

<p>Use your class textbook, find exercises online,&nbsp;or try some lessons from our popular&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons" target="_blank">Fun Grammar Lessons</a>, or <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons" target="_blank">Basic Grammar Sentences</a>&nbsp;sections.</p>

<h2>3. Look at the Grammar in Context</h2>

<p>Context is everything. Showing your students how to apply the grammar target&nbsp;they&#39;ve&nbsp;been struggling with in&nbsp;different settings is an effective way to help them fix the grammatical error they&#39;ve been repeating.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>News articles</strong> are a great place to see the target&nbsp;in context. Find an article that includes the target and have your student&nbsp;underline or otherwise point it&nbsp;out.</p>

<p>To&nbsp;see more <strong>grammar in context</strong>, subscribers&nbsp;can search for the target on our site, or they&nbsp;can visit our <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar" target="_blank">Grammar Collection</a>&nbsp;(in the Materials dropdown menu) to see all the lessons that include that target. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Stories</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/129/lessons" target="_blank">True Grammar Stories</a> sections are great places for subscribers to look&nbsp;too.</p>

<h2>4. Don&#39;t Let Mistakes Slide</h2>

<p>Above all, don&#39;t stop <strong>pointing out</strong> (in a kind way, of course) when a student has&nbsp;misused a grammar target&nbsp;in writing or speaking. If we ignore it, the grammar mistake could become <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-strategies-to-help-students-overcome-fossilized-speech-patterns" target="_blank">fossilized</a> and more difficult to&nbsp;overcome.</p>

<p>I usually try to point out grammar&nbsp;errors&nbsp;without interrupting the student&#39;s&nbsp;speech or singling them out. I&nbsp;tell them privately after class, for example, or note several mistakes made by various students&mdash;without naming names&mdash;on the board after a group&nbsp;discussion.</p>

<h2>5. Offer Encouragement</h2>

<p>I also try to offer a lot of <strong>encouragement</strong> (e.g., &quot;It takes a long time to learn a language and English grammar is difficult, but you&#39;re doing great and you&#39;ll get&nbsp;there!&quot;).</p>

<p>Students can become overwhelmed or discouraged while learning a new language, so perhaps&nbsp;the best thing teachers can do is to keep motivating our learners as best we&nbsp;can.</p>

<p>Good luck and happy&nbsp;teaching!</p>

<blockquote>How do you handle recurring grammar mistakes? If you have&nbsp;suggestions you&#39;d like to share, please leave us a comment&nbsp;below!</blockquote>


Q&A: How to Help Students Fix Recurring Grammar Mistakes

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<p>Have you heard about our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/135/lessons" target="_blank">Functional Business</a> section?</p>

<p>Heavily requested by ESL&nbsp;Library users, our Functional Business section focuses on workplace&nbsp;communication.</p>

<p>This <strong>Business English course</strong> is designed for learners who are currently or will be working in an English-speaking country, working for an English-speaking company, or communicating with English-speaking coworkers or business&nbsp;partners.</p>

<p>Completing the entire course will help&nbsp;students make introductions at work, talk on the phone, engage in meetings, give and receive feedback, and resolve work&nbsp;conflicts.</p>

<p><img alt="Woman at a desk talking on the phone" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2059/content_Melissa_Discover-our-Functional-Business-Section.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Functional Language Focus</h2>

<p>As you&nbsp;probably have&nbsp;already guessed from the name of the course, this section concentrates on <strong>functional language</strong>. Functional language is language we use&nbsp;to navigate different day-to-day&nbsp;situations.<br />
<br />
In this section, each lesson centers around listening activities that are authentic to the workplace. Students then have the opportunity to practice using the target language through speaking activities that often include&nbsp;role-plays.</p>

<h2>Interactional Language &amp;&nbsp;Transactional Conversation</h2>

<p>Our Functional Business section also includes skill-building activities for both interactional language and transactional&nbsp;conversation.</p>

<p><strong>Interactional language</strong> helps build relationships. Making small talk with staff or clients before beginning a meeting is an example of interactional&nbsp;language.</p>

<p><strong>Transactional conversation</strong>, on the other hand, involves exchanging&nbsp;information to accomplish a goal. Giving a presentation is an example of a&nbsp;transactional&nbsp;conversation.</p>

<p>Both interactional language and transactional conversation are important in the&nbsp;workplace, whether you&#39;re working in a physical office space or&nbsp;remotely.</p>

<h2>5 Tips for Teachers</h2>

<p>Thinking about teaching this course to your students? Here are five helpful tips to keep in&nbsp;mind.</p>

<h3>1. Try Exploiting the Warm-Up Activities Further</h3>

<p>Check out our blog post on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/pre-reading-activities-to-boost-comprehension" target="_blank">Pre-Reading Activities to Boost Comprehension</a> for some&nbsp;ideas.</p>

<h3>2. Don&rsquo;t Be Overwhelmed by the Length of the Listening Tasks</h3>

<p>Rather than including the target language in every line of dialogue, we focused on building context. If students find the listening activities challenging, it&rsquo;s okay to play the audio multiple&nbsp;times.</p>

<h3>3. Personalize&nbsp;to Better Meet Your Students&#39; Goals</h3>

<p>This course doesn&rsquo;t have to be completed in full or in the suggested order provided. It can also be taught as individual lessons if students have a specific goal they want to focus&nbsp;on.</p>

<h3>4. Create a Vocabulary Log</h3>

<p>To help students keep track of all the new words, have them&nbsp;keep a <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2966" target="_blank">vocabulary log</a>. This assessment tool includes space for writing out the word, the definition, an example sentence, and&nbsp;more.</p>

<h3>5. Get Your Students Talking</h3>

<p>For even more speaking practice, have your students repeat tasks with different&nbsp;classmates.</p>

<h2>The End Goal</h2>

<p>By the end of the course,&nbsp;your students will&nbsp;feel better equipped to interact in the workplace. We hope your learners will be more prepared to speak up at work, more confident when listening to coworkers, and less anxious about having to engage in lengthy&nbsp;conversations.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;ve taught or completed our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/135/lessons" target="_blank">Functional Business</a>&nbsp;course, we&rsquo;d love to hear your feedback!&nbsp;Which&nbsp;lessons were your favorite? What tasks were helpful? Are there any situations we should add to the course? Let us know in the comments&nbsp;below, or take this short <a href="https://esllibrarysurvey.typeform.com/to/QyywY25K" target="_blank">Functional Business survey</a>!</p>


Discover Our Functional Business Section

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<p><em>This article is part of a series of posts highlighting our community of teachers around the world. We hope you find their stories interesting and inspiring!</em></p>

<p>Many years ago, Marilyn was helping a friend with a project for her evening language class. That&rsquo;s when she realized she wanted to become a teacher.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Like many instructors who come to this line of work, I fell in love,&quot; says Marilyn.</p>

<p>Marilyn has been an ESL teacher for 15 years now. She currently works at <a href="https://www.nych.ca/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">North York Community House</a> (NYCH), an organization in Toronto that provides support for newcomers. There, she teaches English language classes at the introductory level through the <a en="" href="https://settlement.org/ontario/education/english-as-a-second-language-esl/linc-program/what-is-the-language-instruction-for-newcomers-to-canada-linc-program/" https:="" immigration-refugees-citizenship.html="" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow&gt;Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada&lt;/a&gt; (LINC) program. Funded by &lt;a  data-cke-saved-href=" target="_blank" www.canada.ca="">Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada</a> (IRCC).&nbsp;The LINC program provides free English classes for landed immigrants, permanent residents, and convention refugees to Canada.</p>

<p>&ldquo;This government-sponsored initiative is free for students and is designed to familiarize newcomers with life in Canada&nbsp;by teaching the basics of English, as well as some cultural and societal aspects of Canada,&quot; she explains.</p>

<p>Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marilyn has been teaching her classes online over Zoom. A typical day of online teaching starts with checking her email to make sure&nbsp;her students received the Zoom invitation, haven&rsquo;t forgotten their ESL Library passwords, understand the homework, and know when class starts. Next, Marilyn plans out the day&#39;s lesson using a combination of her own personal&nbsp;materials, lessons from ESL Library, and links from YouTube.</p>

<p>&ldquo;ESL library has been my favourite tool! I find the <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">flashcards</a> exceptionally useful. They save me endless time searching for pictures online to explain things like food, drinks, and clothing. My students enjoy the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">grammar stories</a>, which put&nbsp;the grammar in context for them.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Check out Marilyn&#39;s&nbsp;text response below to learn more about why she loves ESL Library and how she uses it with her students.</p>

<p><iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *;" height="400px" src="https://www.videoask.com/axb09pa7dgi9nkfjdi4c5dheaig7c7m1pzvq3pwv" style="border: none; border-radius: 24px" width="100%"></iframe></p>

<p>For Marilyn,&nbsp;teaching online is not always easy.</p>

<p>&ldquo;It has been a challenge to help students &lsquo;enter&rsquo; the Zoom classroom. I&rsquo;ve had to have tremendous patience with my students and myself as I learn to navigate the virtual world with more finesse and confidence.&rdquo;</p>

<p>But despite these challenges, Marilyn truly loves&nbsp;being a teacher.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I love my work because I get to witness the growth of language skills, the emergence of confidence in using English, the new friendships people make in my classroom, and then their movement forward into the world of jobs and college. Some students have remained in touch,&nbsp;and I love seeing their progress.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Want to share why you love ESL Library and how you use it in your classroom? <a href="https://www.videoask.com/fw0f8td5x" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tell us here.</a></p>


Teacher Feature: Marilyn

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<p>Reading is an essential skill in second-language acquisition. As learners&nbsp;develop their <strong>reading</strong> skills, they not only build their <strong>vocabulary</strong>, but they also&nbsp;become familiar with&nbsp;common <strong>grammatical&nbsp;structures</strong> and phrasing in the target language. Learners can transfer this knowledge to the other three&nbsp;basic&nbsp;skills&mdash;listening, speaking, and writing&mdash;and see their overall fluency improve.</p>

<p>By providing <strong>pre-reading activities</strong>, teachers can help learners become successful readers. Pre-reading activities increase comprehension by activating students&#39; prior knowledge and generating interest in the topic.&nbsp;In our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons">Reading &amp; Discovery</a> category, most lessons begin with a set of <strong>Warm-Up Questions</strong> and a&nbsp;<strong>Vocabulary Preview</strong> task.</p>

<h1>I. Warm-Up Questions</h1>

<p>Warm-Up Questions&nbsp;allow&nbsp;students to connect&nbsp;their own life experiences to the reading before they even see the text. Students who stare at you blankly when you announce the day&#39;s lesson topic will soon realize&nbsp;that they do, in fact, know something about the subject matter and, more than likely, have opinions about it as well.</p>

<p>For example, if you tell a group of students who did not grow up in North America that you&#39;ll be reading about <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2853">Fred Rogers</a>, they may wonder what he has to do with their lives. However,&nbsp;once you begin asking&nbsp;the Warm-Up Questions, students will begin focusing on the broader topic&mdash;children&#39;s television&mdash;as they develop a schemata with which to approach the reading.</p>

<p>But what are the best ways to present Warm-Up Questions? We all know that students respond well to variety and that every student&nbsp;learns differently.</p>

<p>Presenting the questions in the same way each class won&#39;t work for every group of students. They&#39;ll get bored with the predictability of&nbsp;the process when we really want to pique their curiosity.</p>

<p>Here are some suggestions for using Warm-Up Questions with your students.</p>

<h2>Have a Whole-Class Discussion</h2>

<p>The easiest way to present Warm-Up Questions is to have a whole-class discussion. This works best when the students are at the same level.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Ask the whole class the first question and elicit responses before moving on to the second question.</li>
	<li>As students call out their answers,&nbsp;it&#39;s always a good idea to write notes on the board&nbsp;because it promotes further responses from other students and shows you&#39;re listening and engaged.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Have Group Discussions</h2>

<p>For variety&mdash;or If you have shyer students who are hesitant to speak in front of the entire class&mdash;divide the class into groups of three&nbsp;or four.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have more advanced students take notes for the group.</li>
	<li>Circulate among the groups and make sure all students are participating.</li>
	<li>To extend the activity, come together as a whole class and have the groups share their ideas.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Have Pair Discussions</h2>

<p>Any time is a good time for pairwork, especially if you add a little fun. This activity, called <strong>Speed Chatting</strong>, will get your students talking!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have students pair up and ask each other the Warm-Up Questions.</li>
	<li>Give them only 60 seconds to ask and answer the questions.</li>
	<li>When the time is up, have them work with a new partner.</li>
	<li>Repeat the process&nbsp;for three&nbsp;or four&nbsp;rotations.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Assign Questions the Day Before</h2>

<p>Introduce the Warm-Up Questions at the end of the class on the day before you do the reading. Ask students to answer the questions for homework.</p>

<h2>Use Illustrations</h2>

<p>If you&#39;re using the PDF version of a lesson, draw students&#39; attention to&nbsp;the illustration that goes with the lesson. In pairs, have them come up with their own set of Warm-Up Questions based on this illustration.</p>

<h1>II. Vocabulary Preview</h1>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons">Reading &amp; Discovery</a> lessons all include&nbsp;a Vocabulary Preview task. Usually, this is in the form of a matching activity.The purpose of this task&nbsp;is to introduce students to unfamiliar words before they encounter them in context.</p>

<p>Give the following ideas a try the next time you want to&nbsp;use&nbsp;the Vocabulary Preview task before assigning the reading.</p>

<h2>Model the Pronunciation</h2>

<p>It&#39;s always a good idea to model the pronunciation of new vocabulary&nbsp;words. You can do this as a separate activity in which you say the words and have the class repeat, or you can do this as part of another activity as you introduce each word.</p>

<h2>Try a Matching Exercise</h2>

<p>To get a sense of whether or not the vocabulary is familiar to students, have them try matching the words to the correct definitions on their own and then check answers as a whole class.&nbsp;This can help you determine how much time you need to spend on this task. Remember to have students try to match the words and definitions again after you&#39;ve done additional work.</p>

<h2>Explore the Vocabulary Further</h2>

<p>If other activities are needed to reinforce unfamaliar words, extend the activity by doing the following:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Give students a sentence that contains each word.</li>
	<li>Have students classify the words according to their part of speech.</li>
	<li>Point out any prefixes or suffixes.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Create a Word Wall</h2>

<p>Encourage students to be active vocabulary learners. You can do this&nbsp;by creating&nbsp;a word wall in the classroom. Have students vote on the three&nbsp;words from the task they would most like to remember and add them to the word wall.&nbsp;You can also have students keep an individual vocabulary journal.</p>

<h2>Work in Pairs</h2>

<p>Put students in pairs and assign one&nbsp;or two&nbsp;words to each pair.&nbsp;(You can allow them to use a dictionary for this activity.)</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have them come up with a definition (in their own words).</li>
	<li>Next, have them write&nbsp;an example sentence that contains each word.</li>
	<li>Then have them teach their word(s) to the class.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Ask Concept Questions</h2>

<p>Concept questions are questions that contain a target word. They are also usually Yes/No questions. Asking them allows students to&nbsp;hear the word in context and process the meaning. For example, <em>rodent</em>&nbsp;is a target word in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1911">Groundhog Day</a> lesson. You can pose the following question: &quot;Is a rat a rodent?&quot;</p>

<h1>III. Other Pre-Reading Activities</h1>

<p>In&nbsp;addition to the Warm-Up Questions and Vocabulary Preview tasks, there many&nbsp;other activities that work well to prepare students to tackle a reading. Here are a few:</p>

<h2>Make a KWL Chart</h2>

<p>Instruct students to create a three-column&nbsp;KWL chart.</p>

<ul>
	<li>They should label the first column &quot;K&quot; and list all the things they already <strong>know</strong> about the topic.</li>
	<li>The second column, labeled W, should include things that students <strong>want</strong> to know about the topic.</li>
	<li>The third column, labeled L, will be filled out by students as a post-reading activity to jot down what they <strong>learned</strong> from the reading.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Guess the Topic</h2>

<p>Choose four&nbsp;or five&nbsp;familiar words that are related to the topic and see if students can guess what the reading is going to be about. For example, if you&#39;ll be&nbsp;doing a lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/3169">Coffee</a>, you can use the words <em>drink, beans, brown,</em> and <em>caffeine</em>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Brainstorm</h2>

<p>As a class, brainstorm all the vocabulary that comes to mind about the topic.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Use Audiovisual Tools</h2>

<p>Expose students to audiovisual supplements.&nbsp;This is a good way to introduce harder or lesser-known topics when Warm-Up Questions may themselves need a warm-up.</p>

<p>For example, in the Fred Rogers lesson, you might show a clip from his children&#39;s show that you find on YouTube. Or, for the lesson <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/1962">J-Pop Vs. K-Pop</a>, you could bring in audio samples of both types of music.</p>

<h1>Share Your Thoughts</h1>

<p>What kind of pre-reading activities&nbsp;do you use with your learners? Do you have any tips to share with the teaching community?</p>

<p>If you teach 1:1, is there an activity that works particularly well with individuals? Please share your ideas in the Comments section below.</p>


Pre-Reading Activities to Boost Comprehension

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<p><em>This article is part of a series of posts highlighting our community of teachers around the world. We hope you find their stories interesting and inspiring!</em></p>

<p>In 1999, Poonam, a teacher of 15 years, immigrated to Canada from India. She worked at a bank in Toronto for over eight years, often helping immigrants with their banking. As she realized how challenging the language barriers were, she decided to go back to teaching. She joined <a href="https://www.tesl.ca/" target="_blank">TESL</a> in 2009 and has been an adult ESL instructor at the <a href="https://www.ycdsb.ca/" target="_blank">York Catholic District School Board</a> since 2010.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Every day in the class feels like a beautiful day of learning. It&rsquo;s a treat to be in class with these learners who come from different walks of life and cultures, and the feeling of being a part of their family just makes me a better teacher and person.&rdquo;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Although it was a bit overwhelming in the beginning, having to teach online during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a positive learning experience for Poonam.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Learning new techniques of teaching, use of varied platforms, and educating my students on how to learn online has been a tremendous development. The support from my manager has always been continuous and forthcoming, and she has helped me overcome any hurdles and challenges in doing my job, in the past and now.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Poonam has been a long-time member of ESL Library and is grateful for the support the platform provides.</p>

<p>&ldquo;My heartfelt thanks to all the staff members and teachers of ESL Library for the wealth of resources and lessons that supplement my teaching. Thank you for working so hard to make teaching fun for me. My students love the exercises and lessons.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Check out her text response below to learn more about why she loves ESL Library and how she uses it with her students.</p>

<p><iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *;" height="600px" src="https://www.videoask.com/a0big6i6d5v2vd4avhfud5prss4aryqa709c0qhm" style="border: none; border-radius: 24px" width="100%"></iframe></p>

<p>As a dedicated teacher, Poonam strives to create a welcoming and relaxed space to learn.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I try to create a positive and comfortable learning environment using real world tasks, peer teaching, and most of all, encouraging and applauding them every step of their progress. Also, I always tell them that it&rsquo;s okay to make mistakes. Making them feel that we are a family has strengthened my rapport with them.&rdquo;</p>

<p>For Poonam, the most rewarding part about being a teacher is seeing her students confidently use their English language skills.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Being a part of their educational journey and to celebrate their success is an amazing feeling. When my students successfully use the language in real-life situations and I see the impact my teaching has had on them, it encourages me to perform better.&rdquo;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Poonam also believes that ESL teachers play a bigger part in their students&rsquo; lives than they may realize.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I believe teaching ESL is not just teaching English. It&rsquo;s about educating the learners how to live and enjoy their life in this beautiful country. I always follow the rule of putting yourself in the other person&rsquo;s shoes. It creates respect, rapport, and makes teaching and learning a lot of fun. A passionate educator can leave an everlasting and positive impact on a learner&rsquo;s life. Just teach with your heart!&rdquo;</p>

<p>Want to share why you love ESL Library and how you use it in your classroom? <a href="https://www.videoask.com/fw0f8td5x" target="_blank">Tell us here.</a></p>


Teacher Feature: Poonam

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Find useful resources and tips for teaching English with interactive apps and sites.

EdTech

<p>January 6 is National Technology Day. National Technology Day celebrates the world&rsquo;s technological achievements and explores how technology positively impacts our daily lives. In honor of this day, we&rsquo;re celebrating the ESL Library platform and recognizing the hard work that goes into it. We chatted with Eduardo, our CTO, and asked him a few questions about the technology behind our platform. Here&rsquo;s what he had to say:</p>

<p>MELISSA: <strong>How has the ESL Library platform changed over the years?</strong></p>

<p>EDUARDO: Over our 20 years in the industry, the technology behind ESL Library has changed a lot. Our engineering team grew exponentially, ensuring we can build a better, more complete, and more reliable system. We are running on more powerful servers&nbsp;so every class can be taught without delay. Our software is built using the latest development frameworks, giving our team the ability to incorporate the best techniques and newest technologies to our platform in order to deliver the best experience to teachers and students.</p>

<p>MELISSA: <strong>What have been some of the biggest challenges?</strong></p>

<p>EDUARDO: The increased demand caused by the pandemic was both a blessing and a curse. Scaling up our servers to support 10x its usual traffic was not an easy task, and the team had to work around the clock to make sure the system was working properly. We are all humans, and even with the uncertainty of those moments&mdash;with our personal and professional lives being affected&mdash;the team had&nbsp;the massive change that was happening for educators and learners around the world in mind. We knew every second was important and wanted to help our users making this transition easier, as much as we could.</p>

<p>MELISSA: <strong>What are you most proud of?</strong></p>

<p>EDUARDO: I am proud to be creating technology that aims to empower teachers, not replace them. Education is what drives the world towards a better future, and it should never lose its human touch, its collaborative aspect. A computer will never be able to understand and enlighten a student mind as well as a teacher can. A computer can, however, assist a human teacher to accomplish their mission in the best possible way.</p>

<p>MELISSA: <strong>What will the ESL Library platform look like in the future?</strong></p>

<p>EDUARDO: We are working towards making ESL Library easier to use, more accessible, more personalized, and more insightful. We are looking forward to making ESL Library even better with the numerous features, integrations, games, and real-time activities we have planned.</p>

<p>Teachers, how does technology positively impact your life? What are some of your favorite technologies? How do you use the ESL Library platform and what is your favorite part about it? We&rsquo;d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.</p>
