E V O L V E S C H O O L: British Council TeachingEnglish 07 November 2012

TeachingEnglish Newsletter

07 November 2012

Regular readers will know that the TeachingEnglish website has hosted a number of Guest Writers. Why not have a look at our archive where you can find articles and blogs by ELT luminaries such as Adrian Underhill, Carol Read and Michael Swan.

LearnEnglish Teens

Welcome to our new website with material especially designed for teenage learners.

LearnEnglish Kids
Children can develop their English skills with topic-based games, songs, stories.

LearnEnglish
Develop your English, with language games, downloads, stories and articles.

BritLit
The aim of BritLit is to help teachers from around the world to exploit English literature in the ELT classroom.

Premier Skills

Communicate in two of the world's global languages - English and football

Welcome to the latest edition of the TeachingEnglish newsletter!

This week we have some important dates for you - the deadline for the 2013 ELTons is fast approaching, and it's time to register for the International English Language Teacher Educator conference in Hyderabad.

And if you're looking for activities to try this week, we have a lesson plan about what makes a good job and an activity to wake up those sleepy students.

You may also be interested in this week's link - Web of stories, and our searchable tool for teachers - Teaching knowledge database - give it a try!

Finally, don't forget our upcoming webinar: A trip down the memory lane of methodology: Chia Suan Chong, 29th November 2012, 8pm UK time.

Enjoy!

Deb

TeachingEnglish Team | British Council | BBC

ELTons 2013 - call for applications

The ELTons, sponsored by Cambridge ESOL, are the only international awards that recognise and celebrate innovation in the field of English language teaching (ELT). The deadline for applications is 23 November 2012. Applications are judged by a panel of ELT experts, the shortlist announced in March, and the winners are announced at an awards ceremony, held in London on 22 May 2013.

Third International English Language Teacher Educator Conference: 16 - 18 March 2013

British Council and English Foreign Language University will co-host the 3rd International English Language Teacher Educator Conference from 16-18 March 2013 in Hyderabad. The theme of the conference 'English Language Teaching in a Diverse Environment' sets out to explore and celebrate the tremendous diversity of teaching and learning approaches available to teachers and teacher educators across the world.

Read more and register

Lesson plan - Happiness is a snip away

The aims of this lesson are to provide practice of the vocabulary of jobs and of reading and speaking skills. The lesson is based around a jigsaw reading exercise on a text about a survey of hairdressers. It introduces the topic of jobs with discussion and a dictation, then asks learners to identify and exchange information. It finishes with learners giving their own opinions about what makes a good/bad job.

ARM exercises - speaking activity to wake up a sleepy class

This is a great way to start a lesson with a free-speaking activity. I call it 'ARM exercises' which is simply short for Accept, Reject or Modify statements. This activity can really stimulate discussion and the focus is very much on the students rather than the teacher.

Link - Web of stories

Everyone has a story to tell. You can record yours at Web of Stories for others to enjoy. The site is full of wonderful stories, freely accessible to the public.

Tools for teachers - Teaching knowledge database

Not sure what an allomorph is, what ARC stands for or what a task-based syllabus looks like? Use the teaching knowledge data base to find out. You can browse alphabetically for the term you are looking for, or use the search box in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Find out more