Advanced Search: Resources

1. Teachers Working Together: A Successful Community of Practice

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Teachers Working Together: A Successful Community of Practice," explores best practices and innovative ideas that can be shared and cultivated in a collaborative and engaging professional network called a Community of Practice (CoP).

2. Brain-Based Research & Language Teaching

   In: English Teaching Forum 2002, Volume 40, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article summarizes information on how the human brain works. It presents insights from research on the human brain that informs second and foreign language teachers. This article offers seven principles that can provide a general context for learning and teaching and lists some guidelines for selecting classroom materials, strategies, and methodologies.

3. 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.

4. Using Songs to Teach English

   Format(s): MP3, Video

   This webinar, “Using Songs to Teach English” explores the myriad of ways songs and music can help create a classroom that is happy, interactive, and intellectually challenging. The presenter will introduce some effective techniques for incorporating music and song in the EFL and ESL classroom.

5. Technology-Enhanced Task Engagement in English Language Instruction

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Technology-enhanced Task Engagement in English Language Instruction," defines what a task is and why tasks matter for language teachers and learners.

6. Strategies for Engaging Young Learners

   Format(s): Text

   The difficulty in teaching young learners (YLs) in the EFL classroom is maintaining engagement throughout the lesson. Therefore, teachers of YLs need to incorporate activities that are meaningful, engaging, and also entertaining. This webinar will share practical tips and ideas for engaging young learners in the EFL classroom, including using fun songs with humor, using actions to accompany poetry and song lyrics, and promoting creativity. We will also focus on techniques for making input comprehensible, such as using gestures, visuals, and realia as learning tools. When using a variety of techniques and activities, children forget they are in a step-by-step language lesson, and the learning comes naturally.

7. Lesson Plan: Exploring Michigan

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   The lesson plan “Exploring Michigan” provides information on things to see and do in Michigan. It has three parts: a warm-up, the main activities that cover the four skills, and follow-up activities to further practice the content of main activities. The lesson aims to practice expressions of preference and persuasion. At the same time, the learners plan things to do on a trip to Michigan while creating and presenting an itinerary for a trip to Michigan, and then for a visit to their own country.

8. Two Writing Activities for Extensive Reading

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 3 Format(s): Text

   These activities promote writing fluency and self-monitoring as well as skills such as getting started with writing and skimming. Students demonstrate understanding of their extensive reading. Timed repeated thinking and writing is similar to free-writing. It includes brief cycles of writing and reflecting. In each cycle, students start their writing over. A similar activity involves cycles of skimming, writing, and thinking. For variation, students can start from where their last writing left off or choose the most important point as a starting place for the next writing turn.

9. Peace

   In: American Rhythms Format(s): MP3

   In this song, hip-hop singer, humanitarian, motivational speaker and entrepreneur Chen Lo makes an appeal for peace in the world. Download the MP3 or listen online.

10. Let’s Play Ball: Using Cultural Themes to Teach English

    In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

    This webinar will demonstrate how teachers can use one theme in American culture and society, Baseball, to give learners a toolkit for deciphering and using messages that contain a deep cultural context, no matter their source.

Pages