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| Vol II Issue 7, January 2006 |
| Using DVD and Video in Your ESL Class - Part One
by Keith Taylor
Have you ever wondered how to use movies in your ESL classes, without just sitting your students down in front of the screen, hitting 'Play' and sitting back to watch?
Here are a few ideas to get you started, using very short movie extracts to present and practise new language and develop communicative skills.
1 No picture
Choose a short extract (2 or 3 minutes) with plenty of sound effects. Play it with the screen covered or turned away from the students, and ask them to write down what they hear. If two of the sound effects are birds singing and a baby crying, you could use the extract to present or practice any of these language points (and I'm sure you can think of more):
Some birds are singing / A baby is crying
Some birds were singing / A baby was crying
It must / might / can't be birds singing or It must / might / can't have been birds singing
I heard some birds singing / I heard a baby crying
After playing the extract, have students compare what they heard in pairs, and then elicit the language from them. Remember to show the extract with both picture and sound at the end of the activity to satisfy the students' curiosity!
Full Story >>>
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Beginner's Games 1 features 5 of our most popular games plus 5 bonus activities!
Learn More >>> |
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| Activities for Beginner ESL Students |
Our newest book, Beginners Activities Book 1 is a collection of tested ESL Activities for beginners, including some of the most popular Activities from our online store.
12 Beginners Activities and Free Bonus ESL Game
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| FREE STORYBOOK SAMPLER |
 
The Mystery of the Secret Code -- FREE sampler
The Mystery of the Secret Code is a complete package for ESL Teachers, including a Storybook, Workbook and Teachers Guide. Suitable for children age 6 - 9 years.
The FULL Version Includes:
Children's ESL Storybook - 27 pages - On a visit to Gold Island, two teens learn about the romantic history of the island, reputed to be a pirate hideout. In their search for gold, they find a map, and a secret code. Is the map authentic, and do they find gold?
Children's ESL Workbook - 30 pages - The Secret Code Workbook promotes creative writing through brainstorming solutions to problems, sequencing events and writing a plan before writing a paragraph. Strategies for writing topic sentences and final paragraph sentences are provided. Vocabulary is reinforced with word Bingo games and crossword puzzles.
ESL Teachers Guide - 15 pages - Answers to all exercises, Complete instructions for the teacher and a glossary.
Try out our FREE sampler >>>
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| Becoming A Better Teacher |
One book I did find that I recommend is Teaching Secrets, by veteran teacher Christine Morrison, who has spent 30 years in the classroom and seen every imaginable classroom situation possible. Christine's book, Teaching Secrets, is well worth a read for any new or experienced teacher, is learn more at her website >>> .
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| Using Powerpoint in the ESL Classroom |
By Futonge Kisito
Teaching ESL, EFL especially to large classes of kindergarten, primary schools and absolute beginner students, can prove to be a nightmare at times. As a teacher of large classes especially, I found the use of ppt presentations a great teaching aid. (Note: by large classes I mean classes of 40-80 students). If you have taught English in places like China , such large classes are not uncommon.
Not only did PowerPoint ( ppt ) help me drive home the language points to the students easily, but it also reinforced the language in form of games, quizzes and other activities, all built around ppt . An example is this Places around memory game . As a highly advanced user of ppt in the classroom, I have adapted many EFL, ESL classroom games to meet the needs of large classes especially. If well planned, using ppt to teach English to large classes takes away at least 50-70% of the difficulties of teaching large classes.
Don¡¯t get me wrong, ppt presentations are not only great for large classes. I have developed ppt presentations for self-study with good results. High level ESL students consider it a professional and modern tool for teachers. Not only can you add sound into ppt for listening exercises, but you can also customize slide transitions, and insert action buttons for interactive exercises. It is a highly versatile language teaching tool and the extent to which you can use may only be limited by your creativity.
Modern technology can sometimes be a subtle dictator. As a language teacher I found that more and more classrooms get equipped with computers and projectors, making it unlikely we would escape from using them. The question is, why try to escape in the first place. Modern equipment are very tameable .
I'm sure some people out there will be wondering how to use ppt in classrooms without computers or overhead projectors. That is exactly what I thought a few years ago. This led me to start converting PowerPoint to DVDs which can be played on most DVD machines, PowerPoint video files, PowerPoint to flash videos for self studies.
Visit www.esl-galaxy.com/powerpoint.htm to download ready-made ppt presentations for ESL classrooms.
By Futonge Kisito
Kisito has taught English in a couple of countries for over 6 years and in 2005 decided to set up his own TEFL website to share his ideas with other teachers.
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| Whaling protester in near-miss - - FREE Activity! |
A harpoon fired by a Japanese whaling ship sailed a meter above a Greenpeace dinghy in the Antarctic yesterday. The harpoon's rope hit the small boat and an activist fell into the icy sea. Texas Joe Constantine was unhurt but was angry that the harpoon had gone so close to his boat. The whalers were chasing a minke whale, which they eventually killed. Constantine said the whalers were taking greater risks because of Greenpeace's success in making hunting more difficult. He said this had increased tensions between the Japanese whalers, especially because of the cat and mouse tactics used by Greenpeace.
The near miss has led Greenpeace to rethink its human shield-style protest against Japanese whalers. Greenpeace spokesman Shane Rattenbury believes the whalers are becoming more and more angry with the protesters. He said: "Yesterday took it to a new level - we are very concerned about that..The harpooners are certainly starting to take shots that perhaps a week or two weeks ago they would not have taken." The whalers say Greenpeace is taking dangerous risks to get media attention. Mr. Rattenbury accused the whale hunt of being "commercial whaling in disguise".
1. I'M A WHALE: You are a whale. Talk to the other "whales" in the class about ocean life. What do you do all day? Do you have any shark friends? What are your plans for the weekend? Have you heard about the humans killing whales for scientific research?
2. GREENPEACE: What protests by Greenpeace do you support most? In pairs / groups, rank the following in order of importance to you. Talk about how strongly you feel about each issue.
- Banning whaling
- Stopping climate change
- Protecting forests
- Banning genetic engineering
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- Ending nuclear weapons
- Encouraging sustainable trade
- banning toxic chemicals
- Protecting Earth's oceans
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3. WHAT DO YOU KNOW? Walk around the class ask other students, "What do you know about whales?" Return to your partner / group and share your findings. Walk around the class again, this time telling classmates about whales: "Did you know (that).?" Repeat for "What do you know about Greenpeace?"
4. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.
Harpoons / whaling / dinghies / icy seas / Antarctica / hunting / tensions / cats and mice / near misses / disguises / risks / new levels / media attention
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.
5. TWO-MINUTE WHALE DEBATES: Face your partner and have the following fun 2-minute debates. Students A strongly believe in the first argument, students B the second. Change pairs often.
- Whales are best. vs. Sharks are best.
- Whale meat is delicious. vs. It's wrong to eat whale meat.
- I want to go whale watching. vs. How boring.
- Whaling should be banned. vs. Whaling for scientific research is OK.
- Whales should not be eaten. They are intelligent. vs. So are cows and pigs.
- Whale meat is a part of many cultural diets. vs. Those cultures must change.
- Whaling is cruel. vs. So are boxing and blood sports.
- Whaling is the same as fishing. vs. Whales are not fish.
- Whales talk to each other. vs. Birds talk to each other too.
- Japan should be punished for whaling. vs. No. Whaling is part of Japan's culture.
6. WHALE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "whale". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
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THANKS!
Many thanks to BREAKING ENGLISH NEWS for this great activity. If you haven't been to Sean's site you should! |
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Got an Idea? |
| Let us know -- send your article or idea, feedback, suggestions to info@efl-esl.com |
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| FREE ESL BINGO |
BINGO is a long time favorite of ESL students and teachers. If you haven't tried it, here is your chance for FREE!
You receive:
- Exercises using comparatives such as the slowest, the hungriest, faster than Variations include Question and Answer Bingo Bonus written exercise using comparatives
- Bonus word order exercise
MORE>>>
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| Videos and music in the ESL Classroom |
Language and culture is a pair of identical twins that are always seen together. Therefore by teaching a language we are teaching culture directly or indirectly. It is therefore not surprising that instruments of culture like music and videos comfortably feature in most TEFL teachers' lesson plans.
a) Music:
English songs can be used for a wide variety of ESL learning and teaching activities. They can start discussions on a topic or even become the centre of debate. This is especially true of songs that develop a particular theme. Songs are also great for teaching listening. One of my favorite exercises with music is completing the blanks as students listen or listening and choosing the correct words from two words than rhyme, for example cry and try . You can teach grammar with songs in many ways. Most English songs sometimes sacrifice grammar for smooth rhyme. This makes them very good grammar teaching tools. You can ask students to find the mistakes or ask them how we would normally say it. Most songs reflect the background of the singer, why not do activities on something like varieties of modern English; or simply by comparing two songs ask students to figure out where the speaker is from and why. This is especially good for lessons that show the differences between British and American English. Of course you can teach new vocabulary with songs and students would understand them better within the context of the song. These are just a few of many ideas for using songs in ESL/EFL teaching. You can download worksheets for your classroom at www.esl-galaxy.com/music.htm
b) Videos:
Like English songs, English videos can be used for an assorted number of language teaching and learning activities. The main difference lies in the fact that you see and hear. Television is however a lazy medium, providing little challenges for the mind, by spoon-feeding the mind with sounds and sights, thereby providing little room for one¡¯s imagination to thrive. So how do we make this lazy medium a useful classroom tool? Lots of ideas come to mind. How about turning of sound and asking students to create the dialogue from a scene? Or how about, getting one part of the class to watch and describe to the others? Yes! How about simply using a freeze frame technique where you watch and pause when it gets very interesting, then ask your students a number of questions about what happens next? View some worksheets on how to use videos here http://www.esl-galaxy.com/video.htm I often use is MR. BEAN movies. It is great for prompting students to describe what they see because there are no dialogues.
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| From our ESL Forum |
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Visit our online forum for teaching ideas, questions, tips and more! Meet and discuss your ideas and teaching techniques with other ESL Teachers. Online Forum
First Day of Classes! What do YOU do?
I make paper name tags at home. Just a small paper folded over so that it stands up, and a Canadian flag at the top corner.
As the students come in, I go to each desk with a tag and a felt pen, and get the student to print their name in large letters on the tag. In this way, each student is greeted, and you get the first inkling of their name. For shy students, it gives them a little confidence that you care about them.
Leave the name tags standing on their desk, so that you can address each one by name. After a couple of weeks, you will likely remember their name, and they are likely sick of bringing their name tag each time anyway.
Join the Discussion >>>
Best Length for ESL Classes? What do you think?
Hi -- just wondering if I could get some feedback on the best or ideal time for an ESL class. I am teaching now with a 45 minute class and it seems too short... any ideas???
I sure know what you mean with 45 minute classes.
It really does seem very short.
We always try to have about three or four main sections to a class - things like greetings, oral questions, reading and understanding the written text for the day,written work, and then ending with a short, snappy oral activity.
With a short time period for classes, try shortening each section of the work. It will make the class very active, and lots of change, but I think your students will enjoy that. That's better than staying with one thing and having the students bored.
Join the Discussion >>>
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| ESL Jobs! |
Welcome to the first in our new column, advertising ESL Jobs in Asia.
English Universal Growth Education Center is looking for ESL teachers for working in high/elementary, or cram schools. The followings list some of our current job openings. If you are interested, please send your resume, color photo within six months and graduation diploma to apply@eugrowth.com, or call us at 886 2 2516-6405 for faster service. We can negotiate for you, and also create jobs for you if your preferable job is not listed below. Please visit our web site (http://www.eugrowth.com/phpcgi/pbrowe.php) for our detailed job list.
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Full-Time Public Elementary School in Keelung,
Taiwan (February 1st )
An elementary school in Keelung, Taiwan is looking for a foreign teacher to fill their full time teaching position. 24 teaching hours per week with a monthly starting salary of NT$ 60,890. Salary will be adjusted according to education and teaching experience. NT$5000 will be given as a housing subsidy.
Classes are from 8:00am to 4:00pm from Monday ¡V Fridays. The teacher will not be taxed on the salary. The teacher is entitled to a two week paid vacation period in addition to national holidays and Chinese Lunar Year Holidays. The school will provide work permit, ARC, round trip airfare and Taiwan¡¦s National health Insurance. Applicants must hold a valid teaching certificate which allows them to teach in their home country.
Full-Time Public Junior High school in Keelung,
Taiwan( February 1st)
An elementary school in Keelung, Taiwan is looking for a foreign teacher to fill their full time teaching position. 24 teaching hours per week with a monthly starting salary of NT$ 60,890. Salary will be adjusted according to education and teaching experience. NT$5000 will be given as a housing subsidy. Classes are from 8:00am to 4:00pm from Monday ¡V Fridays. The teacher will not be taxed on the salary. The teacher is entitled to a two week paid vacation period in addition to national holidays and Chinese Lunar Year Holidays. The school will provide work permit, ARC, round trip airfare and Taiwan¡¦s National health Insurance. Applicants must hold a valid teaching certificate which allows them to teach in their home country.
Full-time Private Elementary school in Keelung, Taiwan (Now to February)
An elementary school in Keelung is looking for 3 English teachers to fill their full time position. Work hours are Monday to Fridays 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Maximum 20 hours teaching a week. Salary will be NT$ 58,000 ¡V NT$ 60,000 with provided accommodation and lunch. ARC and Taiwan¡¦s National Health Insurance will be provided. Qualified applicants must have a BA degree in any major or above. Certified teachers are preferred.
Part-time Public Elementary School in Keelung (February)
An elementary school in Keelung is looking for an English instructor to fill their part time position. Only 10 classes per semester. Class time is only on Fridays from 1:00 pm ¡V 3:00 pm. Salary will be NT$ 800 per hour. Applicant must hold a bachelor degree or above in any major and must be a certified teacher. Work permit, ARC, and Taiwan¡¦s National Health Insurance will be provided.
Full-Time Cram School in Sanxia/Taipei, Taiwan (January )
A cram school in Sanxia, Taipei, is looking for an English instructor to fill their full time position starting ASAP. Work hours are from 2:00 pm ¡V 7:30 pm from Mondays to Fridays. Salary will range from NT$50,000 ¡V NT$65,000 per month. School will provide work permit, ARC and Taiwan¡¦s National Health Insurance. The applicant must be a BA degree holder or above. Females under the age of 40 preferred. Can speak a little Chinese is also encouraged, but not necessary.
Full-time Cram school in Lin Kou ¡V (Now)
A cram school in Lin Kou Taipei County is looking for a teacher to fill their full time position. Work hours are from 9:30 am ¡V 11:30 am with afternoon and evening classes starting at 3:30 pm until 9:30 pm Monday ¡V Fridays. With the exception of Wednesdays afternoon and evening work hours are from 1:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Guaranteed 8 working hours per day which includes class time, preparation time and administrative hours. School will provide curriculum, work permit, ARC and Taiwan¡¦s National Health Insurance. School will assist the teacher in finding an apartment close to the school. The applicant should have a BA and above degree. TESOL and teaching experience preferred but not required.
Full-time Cram school in Hsinchu, Taiwan(February)
A cram school in Hsinchu is looking for a female teacher to fill their full time teaching position. Work hours are from 8:30 am ¡V 6:00 pm every Monday ¡V Friday. Monthly salary will be NT$60,000 and for every additional hour, the pay will be NT$600. Total work hours will be 100 hours per month. School will provide ARC, work permit, and Taiwan¡¦s National Health Insurance. The teacher is required to spend at least 45 mins. Preparing lesson plans for the day. Applicants should be a BA holder of above in any major. North American¡¦s preferred.
Full-time Cram School Position in Hsinchu, Taiwan(February)
A private school in Hsinchu is looking for one foreign English teacher. Work time is from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm from Monday to Fridays. There are 5 foreign teachers and l50-200 students in the school at the moment. Class size is around l8 students and there are two teachers in the class. Curriculum will be provided and a Chinese teacher will assist you in the class. Monthly salary is NT64,000. Teaching hours are 25 hours plus l2 office hours per week. Health Insurance and working permit/ARC are also provided.
Full-time Cram School Position in Taichung, Taiwan (Now)
A Full-time cram school teaching position is available in Taichung. Working hours are from Monday to Saturday. The salary is 60,000 NT. Total working hours are 40 hours a week, however additional hours can be arranged at 600 NT per hour. The school provides Taiwan¡¦s National Health Insurance, work permit and ARC.
Full-time Cram school in Kaoshing (February)
A cram school in Kaoshing Taiwan is looking for an English instructor to fill their full time teaching position. Work hours are from Monday to Fridays 3:00 pm ¡V 9:00 pm and Saturdays from 9:00 am ¡V 12:00 pm. Maximum 25 teaching hours a week with an approximate 7 administrative hours per week. Salary is NT$58,000 with provided accommodation. Applicant must hold at least a 2 year college diploma with TESOL related certificate, or a university bachelor¡¦s degree or above in any major. Work permit, ARC and Taiwan¡¦s National Health Insurance will be provided.
Full-Time Cram School Position in Pingdong (Now)
One prestigious cram school in Pingdong city needs a foreign ESL teacher. The working hours are 2:00~9:00 PM from Mon. till Fri. The total teaching hours are 22~25 hours. There are 6~10 kids in a class. The monthly salary is 60,000.
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| ESL Activities! |
| Beginners Activities
ESL Bingo
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Intermediate Activities
Mystery of the lady who Knew too Much |
Advanced Activities
Caribbean Mystery Cruise |
| MORE Beginners ESL Activities and Games >>> |
More Intermediate Activities and Games >>> |
More Advanced Activities and Games >>> |
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| Beginners Games -- Book 1 |
Our latest book, Beginners ESL GAMES is a collection of tested ESL games for beginners, including the most popular and best selling ESL games from our online store. DETAILS >>>
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{FIRSTNAME}'s Resource Center
ON SALE!
Every month we have a new special -- games,
ESL Mysteries and more!
http://www.efl-esl.com/specials/index.htm
ESL for CHILDREN
Visit our sister site for ESL materials for teaching children age 8 - 12.
http://www.esl-storybooks.com
ESL Curriculum
Tested in the classroom!
http://efl-esl.com/esl-curriculum/index.html
MEET - DISCUSS - CONNECT
Join the discussion at our ESL Teachers Forum
http://www.efl-esl.com/forum/
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This Newsletter is
brought to you by Learning English with Laughter
Ltd.!
http://www.efl-esl.com
The author can be contacted at:
brian@efl-esl.com or by
visiting:
http://www.efl-esl.com/contact.htm
No part of this course may be reproduced without the
permission
of the
author.
(C) Learning English with
Laughter Ltd. 2006 All rights reserved.
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