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1. Module 11: Individual Learner Differences

   In: Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World Format(s): Text, Video, Website

   This Module of the Shaping the Way we Teach English Series is focused on facilitating learning for a wide variety of students and student needs.

2. Maps and Legends

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 2 Format(s): Text

   The author of this student-directed reading, Michael Chabon, shares his experience as a pioneer of the Columbia Experiment. Columbia’s renewal was the dream of James Rouse, who put together a team of city planners to design a lovely, convenient, modern city where races lived together in harmony. Chabon writes about the impact of living with the dream and vision of the city’s development. Since the late 1960s, Columbia has grown from a few thousand people to the second largest city in Maryland.

3. The Use of Ethics in the EFL Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 4 Format(s): Text

   If students are not meeting their goals, it may be that the reason is non-linguistic. Motivation is an important factor that teachers need to consider. The writer argues that carefully chosen ethics cases can motivate timid students to speak out by removing their fear of making mistakes and by encouraging them to talk about heart-felt beliefs. Since ethics cases may not have clear right and wrong answers, this sets them apart from other discussion topics. Debate will foster critical thinking skills.

4. Assessment of Young Learners

   In: English Teaching Forum 2005, Volume 43, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses how the trend towards low-anxiety, communicative-based language teaching and integrated language and content teaching has created a need to change assessment strategies for young learners. The author describes alternative assessment techniques such as nonverbal responses, oral interview, narratives, group assessment, and dialogue journals, and suggests how they can be carried out through regular classroom work.

5. The White House Interactive Tour

   Format(s): Website

   Have you ever wondered what happens inside the White House? You can through this interactive virtual tour. Visit again and again to: watch exclusive videos; tour the West Wing, Residence, East Wing, and South Lawn; and learn about the use of the White House rooms throughout history.

6. U.S. Coins: Reminders of History and Heritage

   In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article describes the various US coins, the design, size, and history of coins, coin-making, the US mint, coin production, and the mottos that appear on coins. There is also a section on coin collecting as a hobby, a list of websites about coins, and a glossary of coin terms.

7. The Lighter Side: National Park Symbols

   In: English Teaching Forum 2007, Volume 45, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   “National Park Symbols” is a matching activity in which students match the symbol of a park activity to its meaning.

8. Rules and Laws

   In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   This article presents a lesson that gives students the opportunity to explore aspects of rules and laws. The goal of the lesson is to help students learn vocabulary and concepts associated with the topic, practice their English language skills, and develop an understanding of the role of rules and laws in civil societies. The article shares three activities for a fifty-minute lesson plan, but the authors state that teachers may modify the lesson for their own contexts and student needs.

9. A Judicious Lesson: A Whole-learning Reading Activity

   In: English Teaching Forum 2001, Volume 39, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses the use of whole-reading activities in a university level reading and speaking course. The author used a magazine article about a murder and a trial to develop a four-week unit in which students investigated ideas about crime, punishment, rhetorical strategies, idiomatic language, and the United States' judicial system. Through the use of this unit, the author advocates for readings and activities that challenge students to move beyond comprehension of a text.

10. VOA Podcast: President Obama Wins Second Term

    In: VOA Podcasts: Shows in Special English Format(s): Website

    Listen to Voice of America (VOA) Podcast:President Obama Wins Second Term. Podcast from VOA Learning English: News Report in Special English. Stories are written at the intermediate and upper-beginner level and are read one-third slower than regular VOA English.

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