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

Teaching with Ellii

<h1>Teachers&#39; Notes</h1>

<p>Our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a> section has 100+ readings based on interesting topics that are relevant today. Some of these topics have been suggested by our members, and we welcome your ideas&nbsp;too! Our goal is to include topics that teens and adults have strong opinions or feelings about. We hope that even your shy students will&nbsp;feel inclined to join in. We add new lessons regularly, so please keep a close eye on this section.</p>

<h2>About This Section</h2>

<p>Some teachers prefer to teach a materials-light class. Rather than using a textbook, they search for short or authentic materials that are related to the interests of their students. The Discussion Starters section may be useful for this type of teacher. These lessons are recommended for tutoring and online teaching as well as general conversation classes. Many of these topics will interest teens and young adults, though a mixed-age class will undoubtedly have very interesting discussions based on topics such as climate change, digital learning, or distracted driving!</p>

<p>You don&rsquo;t have to cover all of the suggested activities in a lesson. Some teachers just play the audio file. Others just use the reading and discussion questions.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Discussion Grouping Options</h2>

<p>Discussions based on these lessons don&rsquo;t have to be limited to pairs or small groups. Encourage your learners to share their opinions in a variety of ways.</p>

<ul>
	<li>in a large group discussion with the whole class</li>
	<li>in small groups of their choice and in groups&nbsp;of your choice</li>
	<li>in pairs of their choice and in pairs of your choice</li>
	<li>in chat room conversations</li>
	<li>with fellow students or friends</li>
	<li>with video chat partners</li>
	<li>on a Facebook group page</li>
	<li>in a Twitter chat with a set #tag</li>
	<li>on the phone with fellow students</li>
	<li>via texting on mobile devices</li>
	<li>with parents and other family members at the dinner table</li>
	<li>in role-play situations</li>
	<li>in blog posts and comment sections</li>
</ul>

<h2>Pre-Reading</h2>

<h3>A. Warm-Up Questions</h3>

<p>Before you listen to the audio file or read the article, find out if your class is interested in this topic. How much do they already know? Talk about the 4&ndash;5 questions (provided) together as a class, or put students in small groups to discuss. Note that the digital version has a warm-up video with the same questions.</p>

<h3>B. Vocabulary Preview</h3>

<p>Each Discussion Starter lesson includes a pre-reading vocabulary task. The lesson also reviews these 8&ndash;12 words in a few different ways after the reading. Some teachers prefer to assign this task as a pair activity. You can decide whether or not to allow your students to use their dictionaries for this activity (if you allow this, you may want to encourage English&ndash;English dictionary use). Be sure to practice the pronunciation and spelling of the&nbsp;key vocabulary throughout the week. We hope you&#39;ll encourage your learners to use&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2966" target="_blank">Vocabulary Cards</a> to really get to know each word!</p>

<h2>Reading</h2>

<p>The readings are about 200&ndash;300 words in length and most are written at an intermediate&nbsp;level. Other lessons are low-intermediate and some are high-intermediate to advanced. We encourage you to explore many options for reading in class, including silent reading, reading aloud, shared reading, and reading with audio support. You can also assign the reading for homework, or have students record&nbsp;the&nbsp;reading&nbsp;and&nbsp;send it to you!</p>

<h3><b>Note</b></h3>

<p>Even though most of the readings are aimed at a&nbsp;lower- to upper-intermediate level, the&nbsp;lessons can certainly be used for higher levels as well. Advanced students usually don&rsquo;t mind reading a lower-level lesson if it&nbsp;leads to a great discussion or debate.</p>

<h2>Listening</h2>

<p>All of our Discussion Starters lessons have mp3 files (North American&nbsp;or UK) that you can download or stream.&nbsp;In addition to being available with the PDF, the audio is available in the digital version (Listen &amp; Read and Listen&nbsp;&amp; Type tasks). Note that only the US audio is available in the digital version.</p>

<p>A gap-fill activity is included at the end of each lesson. If you want your students to listen to different voices and accents, try sharing the UK audio (note this matches the text in the British English printable version). If you want your students to really focus on listening, you can play the recording for your learners without handing out the reading and have them work through the comprehension questions.</p>

<h2>Comprehension</h2>

<p>Each reading includes a set of comprehension questions. You can use these questions or have your students write their own questions. You can also ask the questions orally and have students take turns offering the answers. Make sure that your students give more than just one-word answers if they are writing them out. (Encourage them to use the digital version to save paper! Suggested answers are provided after they submit their answers. Teachers can see these suggested answers in the digital answer key and when checking answers.)</p>

<h2>Vocabulary Review</h2>

<p>Each Discussion Starter lesson includes one or more vocabulary review tasks. If you don&rsquo;t want to use class time for this, you can assign individual tasks for homework and take the answers up the following class to check if your students have remembered the new words. Example vocabulary review activities include fill-in-the-blanks, matching, true/false, and synonym/antonym.</p>

<h2>Grammar Practice &amp; Review</h2>

<p>Some of the Discussion Starters lessons include a mini-grammar review and practice task. The grammar target is typically used in context in the reading. Note that not all Discussion Starters lessons have grammar tasks. There may be another type of task, such as a Class Survey (print only). We encourage you to explore our related grammar lessons (and videos) from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section if your students need more practice.</p>

<h2>Discussion</h2>

<p>We hope the discussion questions in these lessons will give your students plenty to talk about. You can set students up in small groups or have rotating pairs, or even schedule a chat about this topic with students from another class or country! These questions also make great writing prompts.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Research or Critical Thinking</h2>

<p>Some Discussion Starters lessons feature a research option. Others include a critical thinking task or group activity. You can decide whether these optional tasks are appropriate for your students and if you have enough time to include them.</p>

<h2>Speaking Task</h2>

<p>The digital version of our Discussion Starters lessons includes a speaking task called <strong>Personal Response</strong>. Students have up to two minutes to comment on a quote or question related to the topic. The lesson image is also usually provided for inspiration. For a lite version of this lesson, you can easily just do the warm-up questions with a follow-up speaking task as a homework activity. If you want to create a rubric for the speaking task, you can personalize this <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2129" target="_blank">Speaking Task Assessment Form</a>.</p>

<h2>Answer Key</h2>

<p>The teacher version of the printable lesson has an answer key, which may also include some extra usage notes or teaching ideas. We recommend that you print the teacher version with the answer key. You may not need to photocopy the answer key for all of your students unless they request it. Alternatively, you can print out a few answer keys and have students share them around. Looking for the answer key in the digital version? Find answers to applicable task types by clicking the apple icon next to the digital task title in the Task List menu. Note that the printable answer key is not meant to be used with this digital version.</p>

<p><img alt="digital answer key" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2015/content_Discussion-Starters-Teachers-Notes_Answer-Key.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Printable Vs. Digital&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The printable and digital version of our Discussion Starters lessons have most of the same content, though the task names and order may be slightly different. The digital versions currently go with the US printable versions (with American spelling and usage).</p>

<p>While it is possible to use a hybrid approach for this section, it&#39;s important to preview both versions (print and digital) since they do not match exactly. You will encounter a few small differences and therefore it is not advised to have some students using the printable while the teacher or other students use the digital version. Also, some digital activities are not available in our printable versions. Similarly some group tasks (e.g., Class Survey) from our printable lessons are not currently offered in the digital versions.</p>

<p>Look at the following information to see a few key differences between the printable and digital versions. Why do they differ? Unfortunately, our digital task suite does not allow for an exact transferral to and from our paper-based materials. However, as new digital tasks types are built by our developers, we&#39;re able to mirror the printable and digital lessons more closely!</p>

<h3>1. Warm-Up</h3>

<p>In most digital versions, you will find a warm-up video in addition to warm-up questions. The video is a small teaser of the content and contains a few interesting facts. The warm-up questions from the printable lesson are also provided in this digital task. Some teachers like to assign this digital task for homework before doing the lesson in class to get their students thinking about the topic.</p>

<p><img alt="warm-up video" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2016/content_Discussion-Starters-Teachers-Notes_Warm-Up.jpg" /></p>

<h3>2. Vocabulary Preview&nbsp;</h3>

<p>The pre-reading vocabulary task is generally identical in the printable and digital version;&nbsp;however, matching tasks are split into two tasks (A and B) in the digital version to reduce scrolling. If a pre-reading vocabulary task is not a matching task in the printable lesson, the task may vary in the digital version.</p>

<h3>3. Discussion Questions</h3>

<p>The final question set is usually identical, but sometimes one of the questions has been removed from the digital version and used in the speaking task instead. Encourage your class to come up with a few more related questions of their own.</p>

<h3>4. Listening Vs. Listen &amp; Type (Gap-Fill)</h3>

<p>Though this is the same task type in both the printable and digital versions, the blanked-out words may differ slightly. Since the digital task type only accepts exact answers, we sometimes use different blanks in the digital version. For example, if a word has spelling variations, hyphens, or capitalization that could affect scoring when typed incorrectly, we try to avoid using it in the digital version.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Teaching 1:1</h2>

<p>Do you teach one student at a time? The Discussion Starters section is one of our most popular lesson sections for private teachers! English teachers who teach private or semi-private classes&nbsp;love this section because of the relevant, topical content and ready-made question sets that help students gain confidence in speaking.</p>

<p>If your teen to adult learners want to practice talking about real-world issues, this section will give you exactly what you need. You can assign plenty of tasks digitally (or even email the PDF and MP3 if you prefer) for pre-class and post-class homework, including reading and vocabulary review tasks. During your time together, you can focus more on speaking and pronunciation using the prompts provided. If you assign the reading (or listening) before class, ask your student to jot down any vocabulary or sentence structures they want to go over in class.</p>

<p>Encourage (or even challenge) your students to use the key vocabulary during your discussion time. Ask students to tell you a word from the reading that means <em>X&nbsp;</em>(definition from vocabulary preview task). Can they spell it? Do they know what part of speech this word is in the reading? You can also go over any errors from the digital homework together.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<p>Do you use the Discussion Starters section? Please leave a comment below and share your teaching methods with our teaching community. How do you expand on the lesson tasks? What task order do you use? Do you prefer the printable or digital version? What is your favorite topic or category? How do you use this section in your 1:1 classes? Let&#39;s discuss!</p>


Discussion Starters: Teachers' Notes

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

Articles

<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>Before Elena became a teacher, she was a ceramic artist. After working by herself for a number of years, she began to feel like she needed a change.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I wanted to expand my world. Being only an artist did not make me feel like I contributed enough to the world since my work is more decorative than political. I started as a volunteer and loved teaching, so I got trained.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Elena has been a teacher for about 10 years now. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she currently teaches online from her home in Austin, Texas. She teaches adults from all over the world.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I think of my classes as my own little UN. Exchanging cultural information is as important as learning English.&rdquo;</p>

<p>For Elena, teaching online has had its challenges but overall, she&rsquo;s happy now that she was forced to learn how to teach in a virtual setting. She does miss interacting with her co-workers though.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I miss the potlucks&nbsp;and the camaraderie with fellow teachers the most.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Elena finds ESL Library to be incredibly helpful. Check out her text response below to learn 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/a9r8ng91vpvumxzzi7pno3nsn9rly0iztymeawxe" style="border: none; border-radius: 24px" width="100%"></iframe>Despite the challenges of teaching online, Elena loves being an ESL teacher.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I love learning about other languages and of course, when students finally understand something that was previously confusing, it makes my day.&rdquo;</p>

<p>When asked if she has any advice for aspiring teachers, Elena said it&rsquo;s important to watch the news.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Learn what is happening in other parts of the world and learn something about the structure of languages spoken by the students in your class. Do adjectives come before nouns? Is their language a stress-timed language? If you know these things, you can help them faster.&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: Elena

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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>Meet Albania. Albania has been a teacher since 2017. Currently, she teaches Business English online to adults from her home in Mexico City, Mexico.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I decided to become a teacher because I really like sharing knowledge. Plus, the best way to learn something is by teaching it.&rdquo;</p>

<p>For Albania, a typical day of teaching begins with a lot of coffee! Since most of her students are adults, she tends to spend the days preparing for her classes and the evenings teaching.</p>

<p><img alt="a screenshot of Albania teaching one of her students online" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1991/content_teacher-feature-albania.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Here is a screenshot of Albania teaching one of her students online.</p>

<p>Albania finds it incredibly rewarding when she sees her students applying the knowledge they learned in class. However, she finds it challenging to consistently show up for class bubbly, motivated, and patient.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Life can get difficult from time to time. In class, students are the most important thing and I try my very best to show up motivated so that they feel motivated.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Albania is a big fan of ESL&nbsp;Library. Check out her video response below to learn why she loves ESL&nbsp;Library and how she uses it with her students.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe encrypted-media="" src="https://www.videoask.com/ab2a6efxmqnllpefue2iz3cjuwxbjl6x86q4zbct"></iframe></div>

<p>When asked if she has any advice for aspiring teachers, Albania had a lot of guidance to offer.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Do it! You&#39;ll have a lot of fun and you will learn a lot in the process. Try to encourage your students to make mistakes and to be okay with it. It&#39;s part of the process. Try telling them that making mistakes it&#39;s actually a brave thing. Learning something is the most beautiful thing, but it requires a lot of patience with oneself. As a teacher, try to see yourself as a facilitator and be willing to be open to student&#39;s&nbsp;feedback and suggestions. Try to recognize that every student is different. This will be challenging at the beginning, but rewarding during the process. Plus, it will make it efficient in the long run. In the end, we are all students.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Want to share why you love ESL&nbsp;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: Albania

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

Announcements

<p>Every year, our product team works hard to improve the ESL Library platform and provide you with new tools that make teaching easier. Here&rsquo;s a list of just some of the important updates that we made this year.</p>

<h3>Content Recommendations</h3>

<p><img alt="Content Recommendations tab in My Classes page " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1960/content_Melissa_Content-Recommendations-Update.png" /></p>

<p>Most recently, we started providing recommended content for you! Within each of your class pages, we added a new Recommendations tab. You&rsquo;ll see a list of recommended lessons there based on the level and age attributes filled out for each class. You&rsquo;ll be able to easily browse through relevant lessons intended for the specific age and level of your class. Visit <a href="https://ellii.com/yumi/classes?activeTab=students&amp;order=asc&amp;page=1">My Classes</a> to try it out!</p>

<h3>Archiving</h3>

<p><img alt="Archived Students option on My Students section on My Classes Page" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1961/content_Melissa_Archiving-Update.png" /></p>

<p>Instead of having to delete students from your account, we added the ability to archive students. Archiving a student removes them from your class and clears up space for a new student to be added to the class. However, unlike deleting, archiving allows you to still view that student&rsquo;s results and feedback. You can also re-add an archived student back to your class, or disconnect archived students and remove them from your student roster entirely. Visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/248-how-to-archive-or-disconnect-students" target="_blank">How to Archive or Disconnect Students help document</a> to learn more.</p>

<h3>Flashcard Sharing</h3>

<p><img alt="Share Flashcards with Students option on more options menu" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1962/content_Melissa_Flashcard-Sharing-Update.png" /></p>

<p>We added the ability to share Flashcard Sets with an entire class or just a few students within your class. Once a Flashcard Set has been shared, students see the Flashcard Set on their dashboard. They also see any notes that you&rsquo;ve included with the set. Watch this <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/246-how-to-share-flashcard-sets-with-students" target="_blank">video</a> to learn more about flashcard sharing.</p>

<h3>Discover Page</h3>

<p><img alt="Discover Navigation option on ESL Library Menu " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1963/content_Melissa_Discover-Page-Update.png" /></p>

<p>To better show you all our new and featured materials, we completely redesigned our homepage. Visit our <a href="https://ellii.com/discover" target="_blank">Discover Page</a> to see new lessons, flashcards, and blogs as well as any relevant or trending content. Make sure you check it often&mdash;our Discover Page changes every week!</p>

<h3>Collections</h3>

<p><img alt="Collections navigation option on ESL library menu " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1964/content_Melissa_Collections-Update.png" /></p>

<p>We created brand new Collections organized by theme or function to help you find what you need for your next class. English Foundations, Grammar, and Everyday Topics are just a few of our grouped collections. Be sure to check out all our ready-made <a href="https://ellii.com/collections" target="_blank">Collections</a>.</p>

<h3>Discretion Labels</h3>

<p><img alt="Teacher Discretion label on an ESL Library Lesson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1965/content_Melissa_Discretion-Labels-Update.png" /></p>

<p>For lessons with subject matter that may not be suitable for all audiences, we added discretion labels. You&rsquo;ll see Teacher Discretion labels on lessons containing mature, sensitive, or controversial subject matter. Visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/226-teacher-discretion-label" target="_blank">Teacher Discretion Label help document</a> to learn more.</p>

<h3>Speaking Task</h3>

<p><img alt="Speaking Task steps for a student" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1966/content_Melissa_Speaking-Task-Update.jpg" /></p>

<p>We added the ability to assign speaking tasks for homework. Once a speaking task has been assigned, students see the task on their student dashboard. After they have submitted their recording, you can provide them with feedback. Watch this <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/241-speaking" target="_blank">video</a> to learn more about speaking tasks.</p>

<h3>And More!</h3>

<p>For a full list of updates in 2021, see our blog post&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/feature-updates-2021">Feature Releases &amp; Platform Updates 2021</a>.</p>

<p>What was your favorite update that we made this year? What new site feature do you use the most? Let us know in the comments below!</p>


Some Important Updates We Made in 2021

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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 November of 2019, Beth was interested in working remotely. She decided to give teaching online a try.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Surprisingly, it worked out. I would have a full day of classes with students from all over the world, and this made it so much fun and interesting!&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="a picture of Beth" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1954/content_Melissa_Teacher-Feature_Beth.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Beth is pictured here.</p>

<p>Beth teaches English online from her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Most of her students are adults at the intermediate to advanced level but she has also taught children and teens as well. Check out Beth&rsquo;s text response below to learn 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/a5qw1ym0hz3osndek3js75uo8g5nrye8hp8w71qa" style="border: none; border-radius: 24px" width="100%"></iframe></p>

<p>For Beth, the most rewarding part about being a teacher is being able to meet and learn from students all over the world.</p>

<p>&ldquo;It&#39;s also rewarding when a student tells me how their experience has helped them gain confidence in their professions and job interviews.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Outside of tutoring English, Beth is a student herself.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I&#39;m a Spanish language learner/student myself, so I do have some understanding of the struggles and challenges of being a student too.&rdquo;</p>

<p>When asked if she has any advice for aspiring teachers, she said it&rsquo;s important to have fun and to be open minded.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Allow your students to share their own ideas of what works for them!&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: Beth

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<p>One of the most important skills students can learn is critical thinking&nbsp;and, by extension, critical reading. Critical reading helps students form their own opinions about texts and teaches them to think for themselves. If students come from an educational background where this skill&nbsp;has not been prioritized, they may have trouble with the concept. Here are some questions that students can ask as they learn&nbsp;how to read critically.</p>

<h2>The Big Question</h2>

<p>The big question students should ask themselves when they read any text is: &quot;Am I thinking about what I&#39;m reading?&quot; That&#39;s an easy question to answer with a simple &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;no,&quot;&nbsp;but the most successful students will break the question down further&nbsp;by asking the following sub-questions.</p>

<h2>Ask yourself...</h2>

<ul>
	<li>What sources did the author use?</li>
	<li>What is the author&#39;s background?</li>
	<li>Who is the intended audience of the text?</li>
	<li>What was the author&#39;s purpose in writing this piece?</li>
	<li>What information does the author assume is true?</li>
	<li>Does understanding the information depend on knowing the context?</li>
	<li>Does the author show any biases?</li>
	<li>Is the author stating facts or opinions?</li>
	<li>What is the author&#39;s final conclusion? Do you agree with it?</li>
</ul>

<h2>Let&#39;s try it!</h2>

<p>These questions can be applied to any text. Assign your students a short article and have them answer the&nbsp;questions.&nbsp;Then put them in groups to discuss their answers. For bonus points, see if your students can think of other critical reading questions. There will be as many interpretations of the text as there are students, so encourage healthy debate.</p>

<p>Developing these skills will turn your students into free-thinking individuals, which will help them not only throughout their academic careers, but also throughout their lives.</p>


Questions for Critical Reading

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<p><strong>This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for participating! Congratulations to all our winners:</strong></p>

<blockquote>
<ol>
	<li>Lavinia (Norway) &mdash;&nbsp;Week 1 winner</li>
	<li>Adriana (USA) &mdash; Week 2 winner</li>
	<li>Debbie (Canada) &mdash; Week 3 winner</li>
	<li>Tyler&nbsp;(Vietnam) &mdash; Week 4 winner</li>
	<li>Natalia (Brazil) &mdash; Week 5 winner</li>
	<li>Taryn (Canada) &mdash; Week 6 winner</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Here at ESL Library, we are so grateful for and in awe of our community of teachers around the world. In the midst of yet another challenging year, you have continually shown dedication, perseverance, and resilience.</p>

<p>This holiday season, we want to celebrate you with our 6 Weeks of Giveaways promotion! Simply visit our <a href="http://www.ellii.com/giveaways" target="_blank">raffle page</a> and fill in your information for a chance to win a 1-year subscription to ESL Library! Winners will receive full access to our teaching materials and resources. We will select one winner each week from now until the end of the year. Just enter once to be automatically eligible for all 6 draws!</p>

<p>Enter our <a href="http://www.ellii.com/giveaways" target="_blank">6 Weeks of Giveaways raffle</a> today! If you are a winner, we will email you. Be sure to follow us on <a href="https://facebook.com/ESLlibrary/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ESLlibrary/" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/esllibrary" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/esl-library/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> to see all the winners. Good luck!</p>


6 Weeks of Giveaways

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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>Teaching English started out as just a hobby for Augusto. When he lived in Florida, United States, he taught English to Brazilian newcomers who were struggling to learn the language. He found he enjoyed helping people. That&rsquo;s when teaching became so much more.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Doing that, I found myself and where I belonged. From the hobby, it became my life, my love, and my mission from that moment on.&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1828/content_content_2.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Augusto is pictured here teaching one of his students online.</p>

<p>Augusto has been teaching for 16 years now. Currently, he teaches students at the A1 to C2 level in Esp&iacute;rito Santo, Brazil.</p>

<p>&ldquo;When I transform my student&rsquo;s life for a better one, it&rsquo;s the most rewarding prize for me.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Prior to COVID-19, Augusto taught small sized classes in person four times per week. When the pandemic hit, he had to pivot and learn how to teach online. Check out Augusto&rsquo;s video response below to learn why he loves ESL Library and how he uses it in his classroom with his students.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe encrypted-media="" src="https://www.videoask.com/advu51tb4bubp4a7qi72zklmt8a9bsbqmx80dvwc"></iframe></div>

<p>Augusto says it&rsquo;s important for teachers to believe in themselves and to never give up.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Being a teacher can be hard sometimes, but the reward is for life. We change people&#39;s lives. We are the ones who change the world and prepare the next leaders.&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: Augusto

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<p>Since introducing our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons">English with The Washington Post</a> section late last year, we have received a lot of positive feedback. Newspapers are, after all, a great way to bridge the gap between the classroom and the &quot;real&quot; world.</p>

<p>Teachers who use&nbsp;the advanced version of the lessons have told us that their students benefit from exposure to authentic language, while teachers of lower levels say that they enjoy using the modified articles to generate discussion about current events and topical issues.</p>

<p>Some teachers, however, have asked for tips and tricks to make the lessons more engaging. Here are a few activities you can try to get the most out of this section.</p>

<h2>Pre-Reading Activities</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Choose 8&ndash;10 keywords from the article that will be familiar to students. Tell students that they will be using these words to predict the story. Put students into groups of three or four and have them work together to come up with a story. After all the groups have finished, ask a volunteer from each group to share their story with the class. Finally, read the actual article together as a class and vote on which group&#39;s prediction was the most accurate.</li>
	<li>Read out the article&#39;s headline. Then give students a list of words in which half of the words are in the article and the other half are not. Using the headline, students decide which words will be in the article.</li>
	<li>Write the headline on the board and give a brief summary of the article. Have students work together to brainstorm vocabulary related to the topic.</li>
	<li>If the lesson contains photos, have students look at them before they read the article. Put students in pairs and have them come up with a headline to go with the photos.</li>
	<li>Before students read the article, have them practice their <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3179">scanning skills</a> by giving them a few specific questions with answers that are in the form of numbers, dates, or proper names.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Active Reading/Listening Activities</h2>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>Read each paragraph of the article out loud. Pause after each one and see if students can tell you its gist. They can also write a sentence <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2718">summarizing</a> each paragraph.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>As students read the article, encourage them to write down their own comprehension questions. For lower-level learners, they can write down questions that can be answered with a few words or yes/no. More advanced learners can ask factual questions as well as more probing questions that don&#39;t have a right answer, such as ones related to predicting outcomes. (See our blog post on&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/thin-thick-questions">Thin &amp; Thick Questions</a>.)</p>
	</li>
</ul>

<h2>Video Activities</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Before you read the article or go over the vocabulary, play a short clip of the video and have learners guess what the lesson will be about.</li>
	<li>Show a short clip with the sound off. If the clip is about&nbsp;an event, ask students to write a narration of the event. If the clip shows a&nbsp;person talking, have students describe the speaker&#39;s appearance and then speculate about their personality, job, family, etc.</li>
	<li>After watching the video, have students create a mind map based on what they saw. (See our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1826/print">How to Brainstorm</a> lesson&nbsp;for tips on mind mapping.) Then put students in pairs and have them take turns telling each other as much as they can about the video using their mind map.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Post-Reading Activities</h2>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>Ask students to summarize the article in their own words. They can write their summaries down or they can present them orally.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Challenge students to <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/learning-with-letter-writing">write a letter</a> to someone who is mentioned or quoted&nbsp;in the article. Encourage them to share their opinion about the topic, even if they don&#39;t agree with the person they are writing to. If they disagree with the addressee, make sure they support their argument with facts and details.&nbsp;</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Have students look online for articles from other sources on the same topic or event. Have them make a list of any factual differences they find between the new sources and The Washington Post article.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Organize a jigsaw activity&nbsp;by dividing students into groups of three&nbsp;or four. Assign each group&nbsp;a particular aspect of the topic from&nbsp;The Washington Post lesson.&nbsp;For example, if your class is working on the lesson <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons/3847">Ecotherapy for Kids</a>, you could break the topic down into the four&nbsp;popular types of ecotherapy: nature meditation, horticultural therapy, animal-assisted therapy, and conservation-related activities. You would then ask the groups to become &quot;experts&quot; on their given topic by&nbsp;doing additional online research about the topic&nbsp;and reporting back to the class with their findings.&nbsp;This activity works best if you give the groups a list of questions about their topic before they start their research. If time permits, all the groups can collaborate to create a poster or fill in a chart or table using their research.</p>
	</li>
</ul>

<p>We would love to hear what other activities you have done&nbsp;with your students. Please post your ideas in the Comments section below.</p>


Tips for Using English with The Washington Post

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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>Twenty-one&nbsp;years ago, Ralph&rsquo;s church heard about a community in Ružomberok, Slovakia that wished for their children to learn English. Ralph&rsquo;s church wanted to help. That summer, they taught 30 children at their first of many English Camps.</p>

<p>&ldquo;We had no idea what we were doing, but through trial and error we began learning how to improve our English classes.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Since then, they&rsquo;ve grown quite a bit. They now have about 125 students from ages seven to 15 each summer, and they have added an adult class.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Since 2000, we have had over 200 American volunteers teach English in&nbsp;Slovakia.&rdquo;</p>

<p>In 2009, Ralph took his English-teaching experience and went to China for two weeks. He taught both baseball and English to university students in&nbsp;Nanjing.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I brought over 50 baseball gloves&nbsp;and some baseballs and bats with me. We had fun learning new words and phrases in baseball language. It was great fun just being with them!&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="Ralph with university baseball team in Nanjing China" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1800/content_Melissa_Teacher-Feature_Ralph_teaching-english-basebal-uni-Nanjing-China-future-school-teachers.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Here, Ralph is pictured with his class in Nanjing.</p>

<p>In 2015, Ralph&rsquo;s teaching expanded even more when his church began providing conversational English classes to international students attending Virginia Commonwealth University.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Providing English classes for these international students has become my great joy! The opportunity to meet students from all over the world and to help them build a community with Americans and other international students is so rewarding!&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="Ralph with class of doctors and scientists wanting to improve their conversational english" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1801/content_Melissa_Teacher-Feature_Ralph_english-class-medical-doctors-scientists-improve-conversational-english.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Here, Ralph is pictured with his Sunday morning English class.</p>

<p>Over the past few years, Ralph has relied heavily on ESL Library when teaching his international students.</p>

<p>&ldquo;The lessons are well organized and offer a variety of current issues and topics. I feel like I learn much from the lesson topics as I teach the lessons to international students. ESL Library offers lessons that are adaptable to almost any situation and are applicable for students at different English levels. They are fun to use!&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="Ralph at a meal with students " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1802/content_Melissa_Teacher-Feature_Ralph_students.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Here, two of Ralph&rsquo;s students are pictured holding ESL Library materials.</p>

<p>Check out Ralph&rsquo;s video response below to learn more about why he loves ESL Library and how he uses it with his students.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe encrypted-media="" src="https://www.videoask.com/aqful5cl372xf08k929lmutx9b6lkc7bl9okwlpl"></iframe></div>

<p>In the future, Ralph hopes to teach in Slovakia again. He&rsquo;s also exploring the possibility of teaching English in a refugee camp.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Many people in our world live in hopeless conditions. Doing something as simple as helping them learn English can give them a sense of hope!&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: Ralph

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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>Meet Rachel. Rachel became an ESL teacher because she wanted to empower people.</p>

<p>&ldquo;For better or worse, language has power. In the US, knowing English provides people with more opportunities. More opportunities give individuals the power to make their own choices.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Rachel teaches at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chinesemutualaid.org/" target="_blank">Chinese Mutual Aid Association</a> in Chicago&nbsp;and has been a teacher for four years. Her students are all adults and read between a grade two and&nbsp;a grade 12 reading level.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1790/content_Melissa_Teacher-Feature_Rachel_Greenwood.jpg" /></p>

<p>For Rachel, a typical day of teaching in the virtual world involves two hours of teaching on Zoom, grading homework, and planning lessons.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Before COVID-19, I was teaching about 20 hours a week in-person so the synchronous teaching time has shrunk dramatically. We do much more asynchronous work now, so I spend more time grading homework assignments. The asynchronous work has created more opportunity for students to improve their reading and writing skills, but less time for speaking.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Check out Rachel&rsquo;s text response below to learn why she loves ESL Library and how she uses it with her students.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *;" height="300px" src="https://www.videoask.com/af7z3s6zd9ck35kwi7aj3i17s5jaszeqbkpl1ce8" style="border: none; border-radius: 24px" width="100%"></iframe></p>

<p>For Rachel, &ldquo;The most rewarding part of being a teacher is seeing a learner reach a goal they were working toward. It&rsquo;s really special when you get to be part of their journey.&rdquo;</p>

<p>She also loves that she gets the chance to learn too.</p>

<p>&ldquo;My favorite part of teaching is the mutual learning that happens between everyone in the classroom, including the teacher. I think ESL provides a unique opportunity to share cultures.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Her advice for aspiring teachers?</p>

<p>&ldquo;I am learning that you can rarely break things down too much. When you spend the time to scaffold and break the material down to smaller pieces, the lesson usually goes better.&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: Rachel

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<p>This past weekend, Haiti was struck by an earthquake. Over 1,900 deaths have been reported so far and thousands more are injured. Tropical Storm Grace hit Monday night, adding to the devastation, delaying search and rescue efforts, and overwhelming hospitals that were already crowded. Sadly, as search and rescue operations resume, the death toll is expected to rise.</p>

<h3>How You Can Help</h3>

<p>On top of the struggles that already existed in Haiti including the COVID-19 pandemic, violence from gangs, increasing poverty levels, and the recent assassination of President Jovenel Mo&iuml;se, Haitians are now also grappling with injuries, homelessness, flash floods, mudslides, and the loss of loved ones as a result of the earthquake and storm. Haitians need our help. Here are some organizations providing aid in Haiti:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://donate.redcross.ca/page/88246/donate/1?locale=en-CA&amp;_gl=1*o4v50c*_ga*MTY5Nzc3ODkyNS4xNjI4NTI0MTUz*_ga_376D8LHM0R*MTYyODk4NTQwNy40Ni4xLjE2Mjg5ODU0MzYuMA..&amp;_ga=2.166761662.147769486.1628985408-1697778925.1628524153&amp;_gac=1.20588874.1628985408.CjwKCAjw092IBhAwEiwAxR1lRg7aATOZdgaxY7JGXB9RBjVgqyjAcA31dOzUPkN7uNkKxa6u6h7M9xoCPSgQAvD_BwE " rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Canadian Red Cross</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/massive-earthquake-devastation-haiti" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UNICEF</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2010-haiti-earthquake-facts " rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Vision</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://donate.mcccanada.ca/cause/haiti-earthquake" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MCC</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>How to Approach the Topic of Haiti in the Classroom</h3>

<p>Seeing, hearing, and reading about natural disasters can be distressing. Here are a few tips for discussing what&rsquo;s happening in Haiti with your students:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Give students the opportunity to express their concerns and encourage them to ask questions.</li>
	<li>Be a good listener and acknowledge how they feel.</li>
	<li>Take action and do something positive together like making a donation, organizing a fundraiser, or writing an article that will raise awareness and that can be shared with students&rsquo; family and friends.</li>
	<li>Take some time together to learn about Haiti&rsquo;s history and culture.</li>
</ul>

<p>Teachers, do you have other ways that we can help Haiti or other ideas for discussing Haiti in the classroom? Please let us know in the comments below.</p>
