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1. Virginia: The Old Dominion

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article describes Virginia. It presents facts about its geography, climate, history, work life, symbols, and tourist attractions and activities. It also provides useful websites about Virginia.

2. Lesson Plan - Virginia: Jamestown and Its People (Volume 47, Issue 3)

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   The lesson plan “Virginia: Jamestown and Its People” consists of two parts using Jamestown, a historical site in Virginia, and several of its famous figures as the source for classroom activities. Part I activities are about the site including a brief history of Jamestown and its artifacts as a basis for writing and speaking activities, while the second part focuses on some famous figures who lived there as a basis for listening and writing activities.

3. Tools for Activating Materials and Tasks in the English Language Classroom

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

   This article presents techniques to make classroom materials and tasks more interactive and student-centered and thus motivate learners to take more control over their own learning. It demonstrates these techniques through elicitation, gapping, and adaptation/extension strategies. The article offers examples of classroom activities with detailed instructions to show how teachers can use materials and tasks in the English language classroom to address students’ interests, needs, and goals.

4. Language and Life Sciences: Mapping the Human Genome (Reprinted from Chapter 1 of the FORUM Electronic Journal Language and Life Sciences)

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   The authors use the study of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, the building blocks of all living things) to develop student vocabulary and assist in developing a fundamental understanding of the science behind DNA. The article provides supplemental material including helpful Web sites, student group activities with handouts, vocabulary lessons, and warm-up activities.

5. The Formeaning Response Approach: Poetry in the EFL Classroom

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

   This article discusses the use of poetry-based activities in the English as foreign language (EFL) classroom. It claims that poetry exposes learners to content-rich materials. It presents the Formeaning Response approach, which combines language elements with personal responses to poetry, and offers activities that motivate students to attend and respond to both the form and the overall meaning.

6. All That Jazz

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text, Image / Poster / Maps

   This article is the first of three to introduce Jazz music, which was born in the United States over a period of 200 years. Jazz was influenced by African, Latin American, and European music. It is generally accepted that Jazz was first recognized in New Orleans, Louisiana, the southeastern United States. This mostly historical article features many Jazz musicians including Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, Buddy Bolden, Joe “King” Oliver, and Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. A list of Web sites is included.

7. Learning to Learn Cooperatively

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

   This article discusses the use of cooperative learning activities in the classroom to strengthen students’ interpersonal communication skills and increase their participation in the language-learning process. It addresses the importance of cultural and individual differences in cooperative learning. The article offers practical suggestions and useful activities to teach learners how to get involved in such activities and to complete the activity successfully.

8. Journals in the Language Classroom

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

   This article discusses how to use paper-based journals as teaching tools in language classrooms. It describes the concept of writing to learn and provides some suggestions for teachers on how to use paper-based journals at the beginning, middle, and the end of class based on the author’s self-experience and his students’ feedback.

9. The Cotton Club

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text, Image / Poster / Maps

   This one-page piece details The Cotton Club, one of the most glamorous dance and music clubs in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. The Cotton Club was located in Harlem, which in the 1920s was an African-American residential and cultural business center in New York. The club had 30 to 50 chorus girls who danced and sang and were only hired if they were beautiful and very tall. Although the singers and dancers were almost all black, the audience was almost all white, which was a sign of the racial American society at the time.

10. Module 5: Learner Feedback

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

    This Module of the Shaping the Way we Teach English Series contains a lesson plan and accompanying video that is focused on formative feedback.

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