The board games in Activate: Games for Learning American English show the paths that the players must follow and the English phrases that the players must produce orally. Each board game has a theme that requires the students to produce certain types of expressions, so they practice a variety of vocabulary, grammatical patterns, and functional meanings.

Download the board games and instructions.

This webinar "Teaching with Jazz Chants" demonstrates how to use Jazz Chants in the classroom. Jazz Chants are a unique way to teach stress and intonation in English. For this webinar, you will find an online webinar recording and the downloadable presentation.

This song was written by Honolulu-based Hawaiian singer Kelli Heath. In the song, Heath discusses some of the problems she sees in the way a large number of people live their lives nowadays. The singer talks about our tendency to only feel strong when we make others weak, our incapacity to learn from our mistakes, our constant need to get defensive, and our occasional avoidance of social contact. Heath is clearly not happy with this state of affairs and urges her listeners to live “like everyday people”, who simply seek to lead a good and peaceful life. A peaceful life can be said to be a life with few worries and a decent level of understanding and care for each other. 

In their song Not Afraid, Turning Pointe wants people everywhere to know that each of us has the strength to fight for our dreams and continue on our journey through life. The implicit message in the song lyrics is one of hope and perseverance. We all come across obstacles in our lives, and may feel like giving up at some point. However, as Turning Pointe sings, if we step up to our challenges and believe in ourselves, we are going to succeed.

Turning Pointe is a pop gospel group based in Atlanta, Georgia. The group consists of 4 members, all with beautiful soulful voices and a desire to share their positive messages of love, faith and hope. Turning Pointe did just that in 2010, when they performed their music around the world (Ghana, Liberia, Guinea, and Congo) through their participation in The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad, a program to bring together American artists and musicians with citizens from around the world (sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs).