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

Conferences

<p>For me, the theme of TESOL this year was finding a balance between the old and new, incorporating both the familiar and the novel into our lessons and lives. Tucked in between and within sessions about AI and technology were many inspiring messages about human creativity and connection.</p>

<p>Ellii is an old hand at TESOL, attending it&nbsp;for over 20 years. But this year, we sent three completely new members, including myself. It was the first time we had&nbsp;met each other&nbsp;in person, and we hit it off. I couldn&rsquo;t ask for better teammates&nbsp;to spend TESOL with.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii group picture" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5329/content_Team-picture.jpg" /></p>

<p>But not everything about this conference was completely new&mdash;I was born and grew up in Utah, so for me, it was coming home. Whether it was the sight of mountains peeking from behind the downtown&nbsp;buildings, the warm, dry air, or the &ldquo;dirty&nbsp;soda&quot;&nbsp;bar in the expo hall, I constantly felt a sense of familiarity at this conference.</p>

<p>As TESOL celebrated its 60th anniversary, the Wednesday night keynote by the president of TESOL highlighted many of the members who have made a difference in&nbsp;teaching over the years. It made me reflect on how the field of teaching always has to deal with this balance of building on tradition and embracing the new. I saw many examples of this balance in the sessions that I attended. I&rsquo;d like to highlight a few of these sessions.</p>

<h2>Thinking about the future of learning</h2>

<p>The Wednesday morning keynote,&nbsp;<strong>The Interplay between Technology and Humanity: Shaping the Future of Education</strong>,&nbsp;by Enilda Romero-Hall, prompted us to think about what education will&nbsp;look like in the future and where learners will go to find&nbsp;an education. She emphasized the importance of having conversations about accessibility and equity, and of&nbsp;developing communities for learners.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When the presenter gave us the prompt to think about one word we would use to describe the future of learning, the word that came to mind was &ldquo;flexibility.&rdquo; Learners come in all levels and with unique background experiences. As teachers, being flexible is how we can adapt to help our students succeed in a world where change is constant.</p>

<h2>Creating spaces for learning</h2>

<p>I also noticed a theme of creating learning environments at TESOL. As teachers, we want to make the environment of our classrooms conducive to learning, no matter what level our students are at. We want them to feel comfortable&nbsp;by incorporating things that are familiar to them along with the new language.</p>

<p><img alt="Image of packed session" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5330/content_Nat-Geo-Full-Session.jpg" /></p>

<p>In the packed Thursday session&nbsp;<strong>Welcome Elementary Newcomers With Language, Literacy, and Content</strong>, Deborah Short from National Geographic Learning/Cengage gave us some key principles for teaching newcomers:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Know your newcomers and the resources they bring into the classroom</li>
	<li>Create conditions for language learning</li>
	<li>Design high-quality language lessons</li>
</ul>

<p>The learning environment not only includes the physical space where you teach, but also involves giving students ways to get help, express how they&nbsp;feel, and find comfort in routines. If you know your learners, you can utilize their background knowledge and skills to help them develop challenging new skills in English.</p>

<p>We also need to consider the learning space in conjunction with new technologies such as AI. In the session on&nbsp;<strong>The Future Academic English Textbook: AI Changes Everything</strong>&nbsp;by <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elliicon2022-dr-ken-beatty" target="_blank">Dr. Ken Beatty,</a> we explored the challenges of AI in the classroom and how to work with it. If we&nbsp;assign a task to students that isn&rsquo;t meaningful or useful to them, then they will be tempted to just use AI to complete it. Instead, we can encourage students to get different perspectives and learn about representation bias in AI-generated materials.</p>

<p>One suggestion he had for lesson planning&nbsp;is to create activities&nbsp;that are AI-proof by having students&nbsp;give opinions and personal examples from their own experiences. Have them show drafts of their work and focus on the process over the outcome.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These points reminded me of Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a>, which&nbsp;feature speaking activities that focus on opinions and personal experiences. They are my favorite lessons to share with my own&nbsp;students to get them both thinking and talking, and it looks like they can be effective for AI-proof teaching.</p>

<p>Along with all these great tips for creating materials, my main takeaway from this session is that <a href="https://ellii.com/ai" target="_blank">ethical use of AI</a> is a skill we should be teaching our students rather than avoiding AI. We must address new and pervasive technology with critical thinking.</p>

<h2>Improving conversations outside of the classroom</h2>

<p>Two of the&nbsp;most enjoyable sessions&nbsp;were interactive workshops focusing on discussions and soft skills.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Rewarding Small-Group Speaking with Semisynchronous Discussion Circles</strong>, led by Mark Makino of Southern Utah University, introduced the idea of creating discussion circles where students can hold discussions in class or meet up and record themselves outside of the classroom.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the spirit of presenting on discussion circles, the presenter put us in groups of 4 or 5, gave us each a role, and had us hold our own discussion on&nbsp;teaching strategies. Our&nbsp;roles included the leader, the stubborn one, the generous one, the shy one, and the attentive one. It was fun to experience the activity from the students&#39; point of view and also reflect on our roles at the end.</p>

<p>Eamon McGowan and Haley Boone led a delightful session on&nbsp;<strong>Soft Skills in Action: Practical Strategies for EL Classrooms.</strong>&nbsp;This session focused on teaching the students not only how to use <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects/social-emotional-learning">soft skills</a>, but also how to talk about soft skills outside of class, such as in a job interview, and apply them to their own experiences. The steps in this teaching process include&hellip;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Teach specific&nbsp;soft skills&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Practice the skills in a low-stakes activity with roles assigned to each student</li>
	<li>Practice in a higher-stakes activity that demonstrates skills beyond the classroom</li>
	<li>Describe the soft skills and how to respond to questions about them</li>
</ul>

<p>Both of these sessions taught me ways to incorporate routines and familiarity alongside learning&nbsp;new skills, and I&rsquo;m excited to apply them in my own lessons and in creating materials at Ellii.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Embracing both the old and new at Ellii</h2>

<p><img alt="Image of Ellii session" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5331/content_Ellii-session.jpg" /></p>

<p>The pre-keynote speech and our own Ellii sessions led by Christine and Kylie highlighted Ellii&rsquo;s newer gamified features,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/ellii-polls" target="_blank">Ellii&nbsp;Polls</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/announcing-ellii-dilemmas" target="_blank">Dilemmas</a>, our <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/first-five" target="_blank">First Five</a> section for adult literacy, and how to organize materials and share them with students using Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/try-class-prepping-with-elliis-lesson-planner" target="_blank">Lesson Planner</a>.<br />
<br />
<img alt="Ellii booth at TESOL 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5332/content_Booth-picture.jpg" /></p>

<p>As a member of the publishing team at Ellii, I enjoyed asking teachers who stopped by our booth what resources they use at Ellii. Our new <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1&amp;level=&amp;material=&amp;category=45" target="_blank">civics</a> materials are a big hit, along with the many <a href="https://ellii.com/packs?page=1&amp;level=&amp;material=&amp;category=6" target="_blank">workplace courses</a> we&rsquo;ve put out in the past few months. Teachers also enjoy our classic <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events" target="_blank">holiday</a> lessons and <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/pronunciation" target="_blank">pronunciation videos</a>. And of course, they love to visit our booth at conferences&nbsp;and get some pens, chocolates, and T-shirts! Being able to share Ellii with teachers who had never used our lessons before was also a great experience.<br />
<br />
<img alt="image of chocolate and pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5333/content_pens-and-chocolate.jpg" /></p>

<p>At Ellii, we want to continue offering teachers flexible options for teaching, whether they need print materials and flashcards or are incorporating digital lessons and videos into their classrooms. We continue to embrace the future of language education and the ever-changing needs of our teachers and students.<br />
<br />
Thank you, Salt Lake City! We look forward to the next meet-up&nbsp;at TESOL 2027 in&nbsp;Houston, Texas.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Celebrating 60 Years of TESOL in Salt Lake City, Utah

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

Teaching with Ellii

<p>Update: Already familiar with our Flashcard Player? See v.2 updates in the second demo below.</p>

<h1>Broadcast Digital Flashcards&nbsp;</h1>

<p>We&rsquo;re thrilled to announce the arrival of our new Flashcard Player. This digital tool allows teachers to present their own custom-made flashcard sets on a shared screen in a live class. Whether you&rsquo;re teaching online or heading back to the classroom, we know you&rsquo;re going to love ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s new addition (<a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">available for Standard and Plus plan members</a>).</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YTs7AUzDZPU" width="560"></iframe></div>

<h1>Flashcard Player Features (v.2)</h1>

<p>The updated version (v.2) of our Flashcard Player allows teachers&nbsp;to:</p>

<ul>
	<li>launch a saved/edited flashcard set from My Folders (go to: Class Prep &rarr; My Folders &rarr; Flashcard&nbsp;Folders)</li>
	<li>show each image from the set to elicit vocabulary (image&nbsp;only)</li>
	<li>click on an image to reveal the text (image +&nbsp;text)</li>
	<li>click on the text to hide the image (text&nbsp;only)</li>
	<li>advance to the next image or go&nbsp;back</li>
	<li>launch from Manage flashcards page after saving a&nbsp;set</li>
	<li>view a sidebar menu</li>
	<li>skip to a flashcard from sidebar&nbsp;menu</li>
	<li>rename a flashcard from sidebar&nbsp;menu</li>
	<li>remove a flashcard from sidebar menu (for the presentation&nbsp;only)</li>
	<li>choose the default presentation&nbsp;style</li>
	<li>choose the presentation font style (Standard or&nbsp;Literacy)</li>
</ul>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eGhFXINJURE" width="560"></iframe></div>

<h1>Coming Soon</h1>

<p>Our designers and engineers are currently working on a few more advanced features for our Flashcard Player. In upcoming versions, you will be able&nbsp;to:</p>

<ul>
	<li>search for and add flashcards from a presentation&nbsp;menu</li>
	<li>play audio for each&nbsp;word (see our new<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/picture-dictionary"> Picture Dictionary</a> task)</li>
</ul>

<p>Stay tuned!</p>


Introducing ESL Library's Flashcard Player 

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

For Students

<h1>Let&#39;s Follow the Instructions</h1>

<p>It&#39;s time to join&nbsp;ESL Library as a student. Did your teacher send you an email invitation to join ESL Library?&nbsp;</p>

<ol>
	<li>Go to your email inbox.</li>
	<li>Find the invitation from your teacher to join ESL Library.</li>
	<li>Click the blue Join Now button.</li>
	<li>Choose the green box. Create an Account. (It&#39;s your first time using ESL Library.)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Fill out the form. Start by adding&nbsp;your first name and last name.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Add your email address.</li>
	<li>Add a password.</li>
	<li>Click Create an Account.</li>
	<li>Choose an avatar (a picture for your profile page).</li>
	<li>Click Start Learning.</li>
</ol>

<p>You are now on your Student Dashboard! This is where you will see your&nbsp;ESL Library assignments.</p>

<h3>Important!</h3>

<p>Next time you come to ESL Library, go to <a href="http://ellii.com/students">ellii.com/students</a> and go to the Log In form. Use the same email and password.</p>

<h1>Reminders</h1>

<ul>
	<li>You only use the email invitation one time.</li>
	<li>Next time, go to <a href="http://ellii.com/students">ellii.com/students</a> and&nbsp;Log In. Use the same email address and password each time you log in.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h1>Questions</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Do you have a problem or&nbsp;question? Visit this post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">FAQs for Students Using ESL Library</a>.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Did you forget your password?&nbsp;Ask your teacher to reset it for you. Here is a <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/193-how-to-reset-your-students-passwords">video for your teacher</a>&nbsp;on how to reset your password.</li>
</ul>


Sign Up as a Student with an Email Invitation

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<h1>About Open-Ended Questions</h1>

<p>There are several <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">task types</a> available on our digital platform. Many are multiple‑choice, matching, or fill-in-the-blank types that have a single answer. Students can view their own results in real time for these types. Other types, such as those titled Read &amp; Listen and Dialogue, do not have results for students because there is nothing to show. However, they do track how long a student spent reading or&nbsp;listening.</p>

<p>Our open-ended question (OEQ) tasks are unique in that they allow students to type short or long responses to questions and prompts. Teachers can view these responses and leave a rating and/or written feedback. Students view the feedback on their own dashboards. (Scroll down for video&nbsp;demo.)</p>

<p>Here are just a few of the question types you&rsquo;ll see in digital lessons that use the OEQ task&nbsp;type:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Comprehension</li>
	<li>Grammar Practice</li>
	<li>Writing Practice</li>
	<li>Summarizing</li>
	<li>Question Time</li>
	<li>Research</li>
	<li>Quiz</li>
	<li>Assessment</li>
</ol>

<p>With your <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">Plus</a> subscription (and in the free upgrade for all until June&nbsp;2020), you can assign digital OEQ tasks to your students for homework. Your students can do these task types on any mobile device or&nbsp;computer.</p>

<h1>Open-Ended Questions: Demo</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SC1EMciAPJw" width="560"></iframe></div>

<h1>Step-by-Step with Screenshots</h1>

<p>If you don&rsquo;t have time to watch the demo, here are some screenshots of the teacher and student views for each&nbsp;feature.</p>

<h2>Completing an OEQ Task (Student&nbsp;View)</h2>

<p>Students start by reading the instructions. Unlike some of our other task types, the&nbsp;instructions will vary based on the&nbsp;activity.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/267/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-13_at_1.19.16_PM.png" /></p>

<p>Where applicable, there may also be a View Reference button. Students can type an answer or leave the question blank and advance to the next&nbsp;question.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/266/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-13_at_1.19.25_PM.png" /></p>

<hr />
<h2>Reviewing/Editing OEQ Answers (Student&nbsp;View)</h2>

<p>After students complete all of the questions, they get a chance to review and edit their answers. When they are happy with their answers, students hit Submit Answers&mdash;they can no longer edit their answers. Students now wait for feedback from a&nbsp;teacher. They can also retry the task. This will appear as a second attempt.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/268/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-09_at_12.09.25_PM.png" /></p>

<p>This is the notification your students see&nbsp;to tell them that they can no longer edit an OEQ task. The student will see n/a instead of a score. If they click on this, they will see their own answers and ESL&nbsp;Library&amp;rsquos Suggested Answers (if&nbsp;applicable).</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/269/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-09_at_12.09.45_PM.png" /></p>

<hr />
<h2>Viewing OEQ Results and Leaving Feedback/Ratings (Teacher&nbsp;View)</h2>

<p>As a teacher, you can see your students&rsquo; results immediately after they complete an OEQ task set. Make sure you are logged in. Then go to Class Prep and navigate to&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/129-how-to-access-digital-homework-teachers">Results</a>.</p>

<p>For this task type, you can also leave feedback and ratings. You will see the word &ldquo;Assess&rdquo; if a task has an option to leave feedback and ratings&nbsp;(currently only available on OEQ&nbsp;tasks).</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/270/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-07_at_2.27.36_PM.png" /></p>

<p>You can choose Rate Answer (see below for the four proficiency statements) for each question. This is optional. You can also leave optional written feedback for each question. In addition, you will see Suggested Answers if answers are available in the text. (Think of this as the digital Answer&nbsp;Key.)</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/271/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-09_at_12.10.36_PM.png" /></p>

<hr />
<h2>Viewing OEQ Feedback &amp; Suggested Answers (Student&nbsp;View)</h2>

<p>After you leave ratings/feedback, your students will see a notification (pen) on their dashboards. Since there is no numerical score, they will see &ldquo;n/a&rdquo; in the Score field along with a pen that shows there is feedback to&nbsp;review.</p>

<p>(Note the video demo does not show the notification of feedback on the Student Dashboard. In the video, the student had previously viewed the assessment so the pen was gone and the assignment had moved to&nbsp;Past.)</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/272/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-09_at_12.13.02_PM.png" /></p>

<p>This is the feedback/rating your student sees after you&rsquo;ve left&nbsp;feedback.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="hasBorder" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/274/content_Screen_Shot_2020-04-09_at_12.12.24_PM.png" /></p>

<p>Our LMS team is also working on other areas where teachers can add more comments for students on the platform. We&rsquo;d love to hear your feedback and thoughts in the comments&nbsp;below!</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/product-feature-update-matching-vocabulary-preview">Matching: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/image-match-interactive-vocabulary-building-for-beginner-english-learners">Image Match: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/see-and-spell">See &amp; Spell: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/blended-learning-listening">Listen &amp; Type: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/181-video-read-listen-task-demo">Read &amp; Listen: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/184-video-dialogue-task-demo">Dialogue: Demo</a></li>
</ul>


Open-Ended Questions

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

Articles

<p>As we have all learned over recent weeks, digital platforms and video conference rooms are&nbsp;tremendous resources for teachers and students who are separated by distance. If you are like me, you have also discovered how different, and even strange, teaching and learning can be in a virtual classroom. Inevitably, there are bumps along the way.&nbsp;Students might hesitate to speak up, wondering if their microphones work&mdash;or leave their microphones accidentally on mute. There may be feedback that makes it difficult to hear someone speak. A teacher might wonder about the overall level of class engagement&nbsp;as some students master the technology more quickly than others. And the list goes on...</p>

<p>In my virtual classes, I&#39;ve taken three steps to create an environment that works:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Offer simple tips around the use of video, the mute button, any chat functions, etc.</li>
	<li>Practice these tips myself and be willing to pause the class to help students with technical difficulties. I have my own technical difficulties too, which are great teaching moments&mdash;and may provide humor.</li>
	<li>Use virtual icebreakers.</li>
</ol>

<p>Of these steps, I&#39;ve found&nbsp;that the third is the most valuable. While the first two steps increase&nbsp;the <em>technical</em> comfort of students, virtual icebreakers are key to increasing their&nbsp;<em>social</em> comfort, which is essential for virtual settings. Furthermore, studies have shown that if participants don&#39;t speak in the first five minutes of a meeting, they probably won&#39;t speak in the meeting at all. (Here&#39;s an interesting article from<em> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/first-5-minutes-of-a-meeting-matter-the-most-2019-6">Business Insider</a></em> that explains the importance of early engagement.)&nbsp;</p>

<p>In an online ESL classroom, virtual&nbsp;icebreakers allow students to warm up to the technology as well as to greet each other and socialize. It also allows late-coming students to enter without missing out on&nbsp;the main lesson. And, in an ESL classroom, virtual icebreakers can also have an instructional component. Below are a few of my favorites.</p>

<h2>1. COVID Names</h2>

<p>This icebreaker is especailly valuable for sharing feelings during this difficult time. (To help your students with vocabulary, have them check out our previous post&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/feelings-coronavirus">Expressing Feelings During the Coronavirus Outbreak</a>.) This icebreaker&nbsp;also practices&nbsp;food words.</p>

<p>To make a COVID name, tell students to&nbsp;choose an adjective that describes how they&#39;re feeling and combine it with the last thing that they ate: <em>Hopeful Soup, Unhappy Strawberries, Bored Ham and Cheese, Anxious Oatmeal,</em> etc. Offer your own COVID name first.</p>

<p>In my classes, this has prompted laughter, but also honest sharing. For advanced classes, this icebreaker can be more challenging if students try not to repeat adjectives that have already been used, but rather use synonyms.</p>

<h2>2. Questions &amp; Answers</h2>

<p>This icebreaker is straightforward: Ask the class a non-sensitive&nbsp;personal question, such as &quot;What color is your kitchen?&quot; During COVID-19, I find that students engage with questions that evoke more relaxed times, such as &quot;What was your best vacation?&quot; or &quot;What is your favorite meal to share with friends?&quot;</p>

<p>As a more challenging instructional follow-up for more advanced classes, give students an answer and have them form questions, Jeopardy-style (e.g.,&nbsp;&quot;Midnight.&quot; / &quot;What time did you go to bed last night?&quot;).</p>

<h2>3. Trivia</h2>

<p>This icebreaker works best if your virtual meeting platform has a chat function that accompanies audio. A function that allows virtual hand-raising also works. Ask students a trivia question and have them offer answers by chat or by raising&nbsp;their hands.</p>

<p>To increase instructional value, use trivia from previous lessons or students&#39; location. For example:&nbsp;&quot;Which Canadian city has hosted the Summer Olympics?&quot; (Montreal) or &quot;Which&nbsp;US state contains the Grand Canyon?&quot; (Arizona)</p>

<p>If you wish, you can make it a contest and award points for correct answers. From an ice-breaking standpoint, though, remember the goal is to increase social interaction and comfort.</p>

<h2>4. Thumbs-Up or Thumbs-Down?</h2>

<p>For this icebreaker, students should choose a view that allows the entire class to be seen at once. They can also use a voting function if one is available in the virtual tool. Students take turns stating something they like/dislike or something they&#39;ve done. For example, &quot;I like shrimp.&quot; or &quot;I&#39;ve visited Washington, DC.&quot; Classmates indicate their similarity or difference with the person by showing a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down (or by using the voting function).</p>

<p>To personalize the activity even more, challenge students to offer an activity or accomplishment that they think is rare or unique about themselves, and see if anyone shares it. For example, &quot;I cleaned out my refrigerator last night.&quot; or &quot;I was born on February 29.&quot;</p>

<h2>5. Sharing</h2>

<p>This is my favorite icebreaker, especially for small classes, but it is really nothing more than having a conversation. Too often in this time of social distancing, we do not have opportunities for casual conversation.</p>

<p>Ask students about their families&nbsp;or what they have recently done. Share the same about yourself. Talk about what you miss during this time of social distancing or what you are looking forward to doing again when the situation passes. Share that you are glad to be in class today and express your appreciation for students&#39; participation. Compare notes about the best methods for buying groceries. Joke about wearing your pajamas.</p>

<p>There are countless ways to adapt these ideas. If you have a suggestion or have had success with a different icebreaker, please add it to&nbsp;Comments below&mdash;and, remember, we&#39;re all in this together.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


5 Virtual Icebreakers

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<h1>Let&#39;s Follow the Instructions&nbsp;</h1>

<p>It&#39;s time to join&nbsp;Ellii as a student. Follow the instructions.</p>

<ol>
	<li>Go to <a href="http://ellii.com/students">ellii.com/students</a>.</li>
	<li>In the top right corner, choose Create an Account.&nbsp;(It&#39;s your first time here.)</li>
	<li>Type the Invitation Code. (Your teacher gave you this.)</li>
	<li>Type your first name and last name.</li>
	<li>Add your email (If you don&#39;t have an email, type a username. Don&#39;t forget it.)</li>
	<li>Add a password. (Don&#39;t forget it.)</li>
	<li>Agree to the Terms of Use. (Check the box.)</li>
	<li>Click Create Student Account.</li>
	<li>Choose an avatar. (This is a picture for your profile page.)</li>
	<li>Click Start Learning.</li>
</ol>

<p>You are now on your Student Dashboard! This is where you will see your&nbsp;Ellii homework. Do you have assignments&nbsp;already? See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">Questions 5 and 6</a>&nbsp;from our post on&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">FAQs for Students</a>.</p>

<h1>Reminders</h1>

<ul>
	<li>You only use the invitation code one time.</li>
	<li>Next time you come to <a href="http://ellii.com/students/">Ellii</a>&nbsp;remember to&nbsp;<strong>Log In</strong> instead. Go to ellii.com/students and Log In with your email (or username) and password.</li>
	<li>If you forget your password, ask your teacher for help.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Questions</h1>

<p>Do you have a problem or&nbsp;question? Visit this post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">FAQs for Students Using Ellii</a>.&nbsp;</p>


Sign Up as a Student with a Class Code

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

Grammar & Usage

<h1>Teaching Grammar Online with ESL Library</h1>

<p>Teaching grammar can be a challenge at the best of times, and having to suddenly manage it digitally can be especially difficult. We hope this series of posts on how to teach grammar online will be helpful!&nbsp;Please feel free to leave comments and questions below. We&#39;re here for you!</p>

<p>This three-part grammar series will cover:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-grammar-online-with-esl-library">How to Teach Grammar Online</a></li>
	<li>How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online (this post)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assess-grammar-online">How to Assess Grammar Online</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</h1>

<p>Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section has 60 lessons available on our online platform.</p>

<p>Once you&#39;ve chosen a target and clicked on the Digital tab, you will see all the digital tasks that are available to our subscribers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our Standard plan subscribers have <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-with-digital-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">free access</a> to all our Premium plan digital tasks, so you will be able to use them all with your students.</p>

<h2>1. Order of Tasks</h2>

<p>The digital tasks in every <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;lesson follow a logical, progressive order (with the easiest tasks at the beginning and the more difficult ones at the end). All these&nbsp;lessons begin with the grammar notes&nbsp;and most end with a quiz (see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assess-grammar-online">How to Assess Grammar Online</a>).</p>

<p>For example, our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1594">Simple Past</a> lesson includes&nbsp;the grammar notes followed by two easy multiple-choice exercises to practice positive and negative sentences in the simple past. After that, there are two tasks to practice regular verbs. Next comes an irregular verb list and two practice exercises. The remaining four tasks include a mix of regular and irregular verbs and cover time markers, question formation, and opposites. The lesson concludes with a quiz&mdash;a quick assessment task so you can check your students&#39; comprehension of everything they learned in this lesson.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that the task order is only a general guideline. Feel free to vary the order of the tasks you assign according to&nbsp;the needs of your students.</p>

<h2>2. Launching Tasks</h2>

<p>You can <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">preview each task</a> before you assign it by clicking the task title. This is also how you would <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">launch the task</a>&nbsp;if you were screensharing it. Under Task Info, you will find the answer key and the task at a glance all on one page.</p>

<p>How many tasks should you do at one time? This depends on the time of your session and the needs of your learners.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you only have an hour, try going through two or three tasks plus correction and discussion. If you are teaching the same learners all week, you could break up the lesson and do two or three tasks a day from the lesson along with other related material (see the Related section of any lesson page). If your students appear to know the grammar target quite well, you could do a couple of tasks and then move on to another target. However, if you have a long class, you could definitely cover the whole lesson (all the tasks for one target) since they are progressive in difficulty and not repetitive in nature.</p>

<p>You could always assign one or two tasks (or all of them!) for homework. See the next section for more information on assigning tasks for homework.</p>

<h2>3. Assigning Tasks</h2>

<p>To assign a task for homework, use&nbsp;the Assignment Manager button from a lesson page (see our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools">Help Docs</a> and <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">How-To Videos</a>&nbsp;for help with this).&nbsp;</p>

<p>You will get your students&#39; results in real&nbsp;time for most tasks. For tasks with written (typed) answers, you will be able to score the answers and leave written feedback for your learners.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that you could also assign tasks for your students to complete during an online session. This way&nbsp;they can complete the tasks individually at their own pace (just as they would in class using a paper-based exercise), and you can see the&nbsp;results for all your students while you&#39;re conducting a class using a screensharing platform. After your students complete a task, you could choose to go through it while screensharing to discuss any problems they may have had.</p>

<p>The beauty of assigning homework tasks is that you could always choose to assign more to students who are struggling and fewer to students who aren&#39;t. You can also assign a random, one-off task on a certain target from any lesson to a student who had a question about it or wanted extra practice.</p>

<h1>Teaching Order</h1>

<p>When should you teach articles? How about prepositions of place? Should you teach imperative verbs before the present progressive? Many teachers wonder which order of grammar targets is best. We have a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2565">Teaching Order</a> chart for our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section that you can apply to all our grammar materials.</p>

<p>Please keep in mind that this is a general guideline and is absolutely not set in stone! The order can vary according to your students&#39; needs. It may also vary if you&#39;re following a certain curriculum.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2565">This resource</a> is mainly for teachers, and as such&nbsp;it is not available as an assignable digital resource, but feel free to share this order with your students using a screensharing platform. You could also download the PDF and email it to your students if you want them to see it.</p>

<p>If you&#39;re an online tutor, you can customize your teaching order much more easily. Try giving&nbsp;your student(s) a list of grammar targets and ask which ones they struggle with the most. Assign writing and/or speaking tasks to discover which targets your student&nbsp;struggles with. You could also use the four assessment/placement tests mentioned above. Any of these methods will also work with a big class, but it might be a bit more difficult to establish a teaching order if your students&#39; needs vary widely.</p>

<p>We hope you found this second post in our three-part series about teaching grammar online useful!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Here is the next post in the series: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assess-grammar-online">How to Assess Grammar Online</a></li>
	<li>If you missed our first post in the series, find it here: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-grammar-online-with-esl-library">How to Teach Grammar Online</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>&nbsp;</h1>


How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online

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<h1>Let&#39;s Learn</h1>

<p>Preview the Queen&#39;s vocabulary:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>disruption:</strong> something that stops or pauses another thing</li>
	<li><strong>front&nbsp;line:</strong> first in line of defence* (traditionally a war term)</li>
	<li><strong>vulnerable:</strong> more likely to experience harm than others&nbsp;</li>
	<li><strong>spare:</strong> to save others from harm</li>
	<li><strong>tackle:</strong> to attack a problem and try to solve it</li>
	<li><strong>resolute:</strong> with great purpose</li>
	<li><strong>attribute:</strong> an important part of something</li>
	<li><strong>applaud:</strong> to clap for, congratulate</li>
	<li><strong>convert:</strong> to change into something new</li>
	<li><strong>endure:</strong> to live through something difficult</li>
</ul>

<h1>Let&#39;s Watch</h1>

<p>Write down any words or expressions you don&#39;t know. Look them up in a dictionary. Then watch again.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bP_hNq6-0S8" width="560"></iframe></div>

<h1>Let&#39;s Review</h1>

<p>Answer the questions in the comments area. Can you use some of the Queen&#39;s vocabulary?&nbsp;</p>

<ol>
	<li>Who does the Queen thank?</li>
	<li>What happens in the broadcast at 2:03? Why does the Queen think this is important?</li>
	<li>According to the Queen, what symbol will remind us of this difficult time?</li>
	<li>What historic event does the Queen use to compare difficult times in the past and present?</li>
	<li>What message of hope does the Queen give at the end of the broadcast?</li>
</ol>

<p>*<strong>Note:</strong> British spelling is used in this post due to the subject matter.</p>


Learning English with the Queen

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<h1>Teaching Grammar Online with ESL Library</h1>

<p>With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic came many, many changes for people all over the world.&nbsp;We&#39;ve all had to adapt to numerous disruptions to our lives&mdash;socially, physically, emotionally, and financially, to name a few.</p>

<p>For teachers, the abrupt switch (in many cases)&nbsp;to online teaching has been especially challenging. At ESL Library, we&#39;ve been helping our overwhelmed ESL/ELT community as best we can with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-with-digital-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">free upgrades</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-online-webinars">webinars</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/faq-teachers">FAQs</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/69/lessons">new materials</a>.</p>

<p>Teaching grammar can be a challenge at the best of times, and having to suddenly manage it digitally was certainly&nbsp;a frightening prospect for some of us.&nbsp;We hope the following blog post on how to teach grammar online will be helpful!&nbsp;Please feel free to leave comments and questions below. We&#39;re here for you&mdash;you&#39;re not alone.</p>

<p>This three-part grammar series will cover:</p>

<ul>
	<li>How to Teach Grammar Online (this post)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assess-grammar-online">How to Assess Grammar Online</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Grammar Notes</h1>

<p>All of our 60 digital&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> lessons have <strong>Grammar Notes</strong> as the first assignable online task. These notes contain helpful explanations, examples, rules, and exceptions for each grammar target. Read on for four different ways to present these notes to your students!</p>

<p>To present these grammar notes using our online platform,&nbsp;click on the Digital tab for any grammar lesson. You can now&nbsp;click on Assign Tasks to share the grammar notes on your students&#39; own devices, or you can click on the first title to launch the task (if using a screensharing&nbsp;program). See our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools">Help Docs</a> and <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">How-To Videos</a> for step-by-step guidance&nbsp;or attend one of our free&nbsp;<a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-online-webinars">webinars</a>.</p>

<p>Note that some grammar lessons contain more comprehensive grammar notes in the PDF (printable) version, including charts, more examples, and extra exceptions to a rule. Remember that you have the option of&nbsp;using&nbsp;a screensharing platform to display the PDF during your live class. You could also download the PDF and email it to your students.</p>

<h1>How to Teach Grammar Online</h1>

<p>There are different&nbsp;ways to introduce a grammar target to your learners. Choose one of the following methods based on your personal preference. You could also try each method and see which is best for your learners, or you could try different methods for different targets for variety.</p>

<h2>1. Read through the grammar notes together</h2>

<p>If you like explicit grammar instruction, this method is for you.</p>

<p>Before you begin the grammar practice tasks, walk your students through the grammar presentation notes while screensharing the notes or while they follow along on their own devices. There are plenty of ways to make this more interactive!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have students take turns reading the examples out loud so you can also work on their pronunciation (and so they&#39;re not only listening to your voice&nbsp;the whole time).</li>
	<li>Elicit as you go. For example, before reading about the form or function&nbsp;of a target, ask &quot;Does anyone know the two ways we can contract &#39;He is not&#39;?&quot; or &quot;Does anyone know when&nbsp;we use the present perfect tense?&quot;</li>
	<li>Have students come up with their own example sentences. After reading the examples from the grammar notes, have students think of more and share them.</li>
	<li>Follow up with a discussion. Do your students now understand the form and function of a target? Are they clear on&nbsp;the exceptions to the general rules? Do they need more examples from you? Do they have any further questions about the target?</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Assign the grammar notes for homework</h2>

<p>If you like explicit instruction but want your learners to take charge of their own learning, give this method a try.</p>

<p>The day&nbsp;before you start a new grammar lesson, assign the grammar notes task as homework. Have students read through them and write down any questions they have to ask you the next day.</p>

<ul>
	<li>To make it more interactive, you could tell students to be prepared to answer your questions about the notes the next day.</li>
	<li>You could also ask them comprehension-check questions about the basics of form and function of the target.</li>
	<li>You may want to ask about the exceptions as well since those are trickier to learn and remember.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Assign grammar practice tasks before reviewing the grammar notes</h2>

<p>If you prefer&nbsp;implicit grammar acquisition, give this method a try.</p>

<p>This method involves skipping&nbsp;the grammar notes at first.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Assign one or more of the grammar tasks&nbsp;and see if your students can tell&nbsp;<em>you</em>&nbsp;the grammar rules the next day. By doing a bit of practice, can they figure out the rules and patterns of the target you&#39;re studying?</li>
	<li>Next, go through the grammar notes together or assign them for homework. If you&#39;re doing them together, you can refer to examples from the tasks they&#39;ve already done.</li>
	<li>After covering the notes, assign the rest of the tasks in the lesson.</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Assign a non-grammar lesson that uses the grammar target in context</h2>

<p>If you like the communicative approach to teaching, try this method.</p>

<p>In the top right-hand corner of <a href="https://ellii.com">ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s website</a>, you&#39;ll find the search icon (the magnifying glass). After clicking on it, type in the grammar target in the search field and choose a non-grammar lesson from the list (if applicable). Students will be able to see the target in context.</p>

<p>For example, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses?query=imperative">search for &quot;imperative.&quot;</a> You will be able to assign a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons">Functional English</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/2119">Following Instructions</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1755">Following Procedures</a>, a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons">Writing in English</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1991">How to Write a Recipe</a>, or a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holiday &amp; Events</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/2199">Earth Day</a>. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a> section also has plenty of targets in context.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have students underline examples of the target that they see in context.</li>
	<li>From there, you can try to elicit the basic form and function of the target.</li>
	<li>Then you can try the rest of the grammar practice tasks.</li>
	<li>Afterward, you can decide to use the grammar notes to review tricky exceptions to a rule, skip the notes entirely, or assign the notes only to students who are struggling with the target.</li>
	<li>As a follow-up, you can have your intermediate to advanced students find other examples online (news articles, blog posts, etc.) that use the target and share them together the next day.</li>
</ul>

<p>We hope you found this first post in our three-part series about teaching grammar online useful!</p>

<p>Here are the next two posts in the series:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assess-grammar-online">How to Assess Grammar Online</a></li>
</ul>


How to Teach Grammar Online

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<h1>Teaching Grammar Online with ESL Library</h1>

<p>Teaching grammar can be a challenge at the best of times, and having to suddenly manage it digitally can be especially difficult. We hope this series of posts on how to teach grammar online will be helpful!&nbsp;Please feel free to leave comments and questions below.</p>

<p>This three-part grammar series will cover:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-grammar-online-with-esl-library">How to Teach Grammar Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
	<li>How to Assess Grammar Online&nbsp;(this post)</li>
</ul>

<h1>How to Assess Grammar Online</h1>

<p>Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section has 60 lessons available on our online platform. Choose any grammar lesson that has the digital (computer) icon. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our Standard plan subscribers have <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-with-digital-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">free access</a> to all our Premium plan digital tasks, so you will be able to use them all with your students.</p>

<p>As a reminder from our previous post, to assign a task for homework, use&nbsp;the Assign Tasks button from a lesson page or from My Classes under the Class Prep dropdown (see our&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools">Help Docs</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">How-To Videos</a>&nbsp;for help with this).&nbsp;</p>

<p>You will get your students&#39; results in real&nbsp;time for most tasks. For tasks with written (typed) answers, you will be able to score the answers and leave written feedback for your learners.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that you could also assign tasks for your students to complete during an online session. This way&nbsp;they can complete the tasks individually at their own pace (just as they would in class using a paper-based exercise), and you can see the&nbsp;results for all your students while you&#39;re conducting a class using a screensharing platform. After your students complete a task, you could choose to go through it while screensharing to discuss any problems they may have had.</p>

<h1>Quizzes</h1>

<p>More than half of our online <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> lessons have a quiz on the grammar target from the lesson. We are diligently adding quizzes to the rest and hope to have them all ready soon.</p>

<p>Quizzes are a great way to assess your students&#39; comprehension of an individual grammar target. If they do well, you can confidently move on to another target. If they don&#39;t do well, you could reassign some (or all) of the tasks from the lesson to the whole class or just to individual students who need extra practice.</p>

<p>Alternatively, you could assign related online materials for that target.&nbsp;To find related materials, see the Related section on each Lesson Show Page. Click on a lesson or resource and look for the computer icon, or use a screensharing platform to display the PDF&nbsp;version to your students.&nbsp;</p>

<h1>Placement &amp; Final Assessment</h1>

<p>We have four grammar tests available online that can be used as intake/placement tests, review, or exit exams. You can assign all tasks from a test or just the parts that you&#39;ve covered. Most tasks provide instant results with a few open-ended answers where you can leave feedback. Find a lot more useful information on these tests <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests">in this post</a>. You will find these tests in our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources">Assessment Tools</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> sections (or click on the links below).</p>

<p>To preview the tests, click on a link below and click on the computer (digital) icon. Then click on the task title to preview each task.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2448-grammar-test-1">Grammar Test 1 &ndash; Beginner</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2449-grammar-test-2">Grammar Test 2 &ndash; Low-Intermediate</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2450-grammar-test-3">Grammar Test 3 &ndash; Intermediate</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2451-grammar-test-4">Grammar Test 4 &ndash; High-Intermediate&ndash;Advanced</a></li>
</ul>

<p>We hope you found this final post in our three-part series about teaching grammar online useful!</p>

<p>Here are the first two posts in the series:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-grammar-online-with-esl-library">How to Teach Grammar Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
</ul>


How to Assess Grammar Online

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

Announcements

<p>In recent weeks, our whole team has been focusing on helping <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/faq-teachers">teachers</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">students</a> learn how to use our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">digital platform and tasks</a>. Our publishing team also developed some emergency materials related to the <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/69/lessons">COVID‑19 pandemic</a>. Now we&rsquo;re focusing on uploading digital content and getting back to our scheduled new releases for spring. Here&rsquo;s a sneak peek at what we&rsquo;re working&nbsp;on.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/117/lessons/3289/"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/117_Time-Zones.png" /> </a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/117/lessons/3289">Time Zones</a></h2>

<p>In this new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/117/lessons/">Discovery</a> lesson, students will learn some useful vocabulary and facts about the invisible lines around the&nbsp;world.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/3288"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/80_Banksy.png" /> </a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/3288">Banksy</a></h2>

<p>Many people are filling time with colored chalk and paintbrushes. Get ready to learn about this anonymous street artist in our upcoming <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/">Famous People</a>&nbsp;lesson.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/121/lessons/3290"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/121_School.png" /> </a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/121/lessons/3290">School</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;re working on a new set of literacy lessons in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/121/lessons/">English Basics</a> section. This Vocabulary for Newcomers lesson will help you teach and review some basic words about&nbsp;school.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/3291"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/81_Galapagos-Islands.png" /> </a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/3291">The Galapagos Islands</a></h2>

<p>Looking for some interesting reading to send your students for homework? This upcoming <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/">Famous Places</a> lesson will take your students to a fascinating corner of the&nbsp;world!</p>
</div>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3287"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/107_Digital-Learning-with-ESL-Library.png" /> </a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3292">Digital Learning with ESL&nbsp;Library</a></h2>

<p>In this new <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources">Visual Learning</a> resource, students will learn some useful words and symbols for using ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s digital&nbsp;platform.</p>
</div>

<h1>Flashcards</h1>

<p>We&rsquo;re getting some more Digital Literacy flashcard sets ready to help your students with learning English online. Thanks for your&nbsp;requests!</p>


Coming in May 2020

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1813/Tara_Upcoming-Content_05-May_Banner.png

<h1>Let&#39;s Learn</h1>

<p>Our student log in page looks a bit different now!&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>If you don&#39;t have an account, choose <strong>Create an Account</strong> in the top right corner.&nbsp;Fill out the form.</li>
	<li>If you already have an ESL Library student account, type your username and password and<strong> Log in</strong>.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>If you forget your username or password, ask your teacher to reset it. (Don&#39;t sign up again.)</li>
</ul>

<div class="videoWrapper"><img alt="ESL Library Student Log In Page" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1118/content_Screen_Shot_2020-12-15_at_9.28.51_AM.png" /></div>

<h1>Let&#39;s Review</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Go to <a href="http://ellii.com/students">ellii.com/students</a></li>
	<li><strong>Create an Account</strong> if you are new.</li>
	<li><strong>Log in</strong>&nbsp;if you already have an account. (You already have a username and password. Use these each time you log in. Don&#39;t reuse an invitation code.)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Tips</h1>

<p>Did you forget your username or password? Your teacher can tell you your username or reset your password for you. See&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">Frequently Asked Questions&nbsp;for Students Using ESL Library</a>&nbsp;for more help.</p>


Create an Account or Log In?

https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1812/Tara_Sign-Up-or-Log-In_Banner.png

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

EdTech

<h1>Getting Started</h1>

<p>Are you just getting started with ESL Library&#39;s digital tools and platform? Here is a list of frequently asked&nbsp;questions and answers about our digital tools. If you have another question, feel free to ask it in <strong>Comments</strong> below or click the blue question mark found in the bottom&nbsp;right corner on any page on our site.</p>

<h2>Does ESL Library have its own web conferencing platform?</h2>

<p>No. ESL Library offers printable and digitized content that you and your students can use in two ways. First, you can work together using our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">Broadcast</a> tool. To do the lessons together, you need to be&nbsp;in a live online class using a web conferencing platform like Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, or Microsoft Teams. Choose the digital lesson you want to do together. Then&nbsp;screenshare with your students as you work through the tasks. Your students do not need to log in to ESL Library for your&nbsp;live class. They just join your web conference and you launch the content. Second, you can <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">assign digital tasks</a> to your students to complete&nbsp;on their own devices. Your students do need an ESL Library account to do this (free for students). Watch&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/191-video-how-to-create-classes-and-invite-students">How to Create Classes and Invite Students</a>.</p>

<h2>Do my students need an email address to sign up for a student account?</h2>

<p>No.&nbsp;You can give your students a class code&nbsp;instead of having them sign up with email. Here is a <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/128-how-to-invite-students-to-esl-library-digital-without-an-email-address">Help Doc</a>&nbsp;that walks you through the steps. Here is a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/students-join-with-class-code">video demo</a>&nbsp;made for students.</p>

<h2>My student forgot their username and/or password. What should I do?</h2>

<p>Go to My Classes from the top navigation bar and scroll down to My Students until you see your student&#39;s name and username/email. Click on the three dots at the end of the table and choose Reset Password. Create a new password for your student and tell your student what this temporary password is. The next time your student logs in they can use the temporary&nbsp;password you made. Then they can go to My Profile and Change Password to create their own new password that you do not know.</p>

<h2>Can I send a single invitation that goes out to all of my students?</h2>

<p>We recommend having your students sign up as a group using the class code and secret word. You can screenshare this information in a live class. Here is a <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/128-how-to-invite-students-to-esl-library-digital-without-an-email-address">Help Doc</a>&nbsp;that walks you through all the steps. You can also <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/113-how-to-invite-students-to-esl-library-digital">invite students individually using email</a>. They each need their own invitation.</p>

<h2>Can my students do their ESL Library homework on their mobile phones?</h2>

<p>Yes. All of ESL Library&#39;s digital tasks were designed to work on mobile devices or desktop. The Student Dashboard is also mobile-friendly.</p>

<h2>Does ESL Library integrate with Google Classroom?</h2>

<p>Yes. You can now share an assignment on Google Classroom. Simply choose a class and assign some digital tasks. Then click the Share on Google Classroom icon. When your students are logged into Google Classroom they&nbsp;will see a link that takes them to their ESL Library assigment. We are currently working on more integration features.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Can I upload ESL Library content to Google Classroom?</h2>

<p>No. Our terms do not allow you to take our content and move it to another platform. If your students don&#39;t have their own devices to do the digital tasks, you can screenshare the content in a live class. You can also email the PDFs to your students if digital content does not exist.</p>

<h2>How can I use the audio component during live lessons?</h2>

<p>When you are teaching a live lesson and screensharing an ESL Library digital lesson, you can play the audio from your own computer or device and your students will be able to hear it as long as you don&#39;t have your headphones plugged in.&nbsp;You may want to mute&nbsp;yourself (and students) while audio is playing to reduce any echo or sound problems.</p>

<h2>Can I use ESL Library flashcards in a live class?</h2>

<p>Yes! We have a Flashcard Player that allows you to broadcast a flashcard set. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Learn more here.</a></p>

<h2>Can I make the font size larger?</h2>

<p>We don&#39;t currently offer any features for increasing the font size of our digital materials.&nbsp;However, you can zoom in on your own screensharing program if you need to increase the text (especially useful for a formatted Reference task; please share this tip with your students). Our Flashcard Player also has two different font styles to choose from (Standard or Literacy).</p>

<h2>How can I see my students&#39; results?</h2>

<p>Go to My Classes in the top navigation and find the results for the class or student you want to see. (See&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">Step 10</a>.) When you click on a student&#39;s name you can see their individual student results. The results you see are in reverse order of completion within one due date. Please tell your students to complete the&nbsp;tasks in the order that you assign them.</p>

<h2>How can I give students feedback about their digital homework?</h2>

<p>A feedback and rating tool for open-ended questions is available now. You can also leave a general comment after viewing the results of each scoreable task type. On the Student Dashboard, you&nbsp;students will see a pen icon if there is feedback and ratings to view or a speech bubble icon if there is a comment to view.</p>

<h2>How can I cancel an assignment or edit the due date?</h2>

<p>Click on Class Prep in your top navigation and choose&nbsp;My Classes. Choose the class or student you want to cancel or edit an assignment for. Click on the lesson you want to edit or cancel. Click on the due date&nbsp;link on any of the assignments in that lesson. This&nbsp;will bring you back to the edit assignment page.&nbsp;Edit the due date and/or time for any task you want to change, or cancel the lesson. <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">View Step 8&ndash;9 in this Help Doc</a>.</p>

<h2>How can I get back to the lesson itself when I&#39;m viewing results?</h2>

<p>Click on Results for any task. You will now see a link at the top of the page that says View Lesson. This will take you back to the digital tab&nbsp;on the lesson description page. If you are starting on the Digital tab and you click on a due date of a task, you will see the View Lesson link at the top of the Results table that will&nbsp;easily take you back.</p>

<h2>Can I remove students to make room for new students?</h2>

<p>Yes. Simply go to Class Prep in the top navigation bar when you are logged in at&nbsp;ellii.com. Choose My Classes. Choose a class that has students that you no longer need. From the Class List, you will see a list of students. Remove any students that are no longer in your class.</p>

<h2>Can I screenshare the PDFs during a live class?</h2>

<p>Yes. If a lesson has not yet been digitized&nbsp;or if there is a task or reference page that you prefer in the PDF version, you can simply open it on your own screen for your students to view.</p>

<h2>Can I assign the PDFs to my students?</h2>

<p>We recommend using the digital versions where available. Not&nbsp;all of our lessons and resources have been digitized and it may be necessary to email the Student PDF in this case. Our digital assignment feature currently only works with digital tasks.</p>

<h2>Can I edit the PDFs?</h2>

<p>No. We do not allow editing of the PDFs for copyright reasons.</p>

<h2>Do you collect any private information from my students?</h2>

<p>No. We don&#39;t collect or share any private information about your students. Also, it&nbsp;is not necessary for a student to use a real name or even an email address to receive ESL Library homework.</p>

<h2>Where can I learn about digital feature updates?</h2>

<p>We will post monthly <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/product-updates-for-march-2020">product updates</a>&nbsp;on our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog">blog</a>.</p>

<h2>Do you offer any help for students?</h2>

<p>Yes. We have an <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">FAQ</a> for students who are new to ESL Library. We will also be working on some videos and a lesson. Here is some <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/11/flashcard_categories/24">digital literacy vocabulary</a> for your students.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools">Digital Tools: Help Docs</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">Digital Tools: Help Videos</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/191-video-how-to-create-classes-and-invite-students">How-To Video: How to Create Classes and Invite Students</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/student-faq">FAQs for Students Using ESL Library</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/coronavirus-support">Standard Members Upgraded to Plus During COVID-19 Pandemic</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-online-webinars">Teaching Online with ESL Library (Webinars)</a></li>
</ul>


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