TeachingEnglish newsletter 22 February 2017

TeachingEnglish - the global home for teachers 22 February 2017 Welcome to the TeachingEnglish newsletter This week we feature three more talks from the TESOL Summit 2017 on the future of the ELT profession, on the theme of English in Multilingualism. We are also pleased to announce our latest Blog of the Month Award - Mike Astbury's Five simple games for teaching vocabulary. For the classroom, we have some useful tips on using the Internet with younger learners, using comics and cartoons with teens, and a lesson on the topic of technology for adults. And, finally, find out more about the value and importance of action research for teachers by reading Larry Ferlazzo's latest blog post. We hope you find these resources useful. Deb TeachingEnglish team Teaching kids If you are lucky enough to have a classroom full of computers with Internet access then exploit it. Your young learners will probably know as much as you do  about computers. They may even teach you a thing or two! Here are a few tips for activities using computers with learners.  Find out more Teaching teens Cartoons and comic strips can be used from beginner level to advanced level for a variety of language and discussion activities. They are powerful teaching  tools and can, among other things, tell a complex story in a few images; provide comment and provoke thought on events and issues in the news; comment on and illustrate a whole range of issues like racism, teenage relationships, sexism, ageism, and family relationships. Here are a range of activities for using  cartoons and comic strips with your learners. Find out more Teaching adults Technology is a short series of activities designed to provide students with essential vocabulary and listening practice to help them communicate in English  about technology. There is a short listening practice based around a monologue about technology and the speaker's feeling about using technology. Learners  practise listening skills, expand on their vocabulary and develop speaking skills. Go to the lesson plan Development How can linguistic diversity be leveraged while teaching English, and what best practices allow teachers to incorporate the languages of their students into  their daily professional practices? Watch recordings of three 15-minute presentations on the theme of English in Multilingualism by Li Wei (Inquiry), Joseph Lo Bianco (Equity) and Robinah Kyeyune (Professionalism). Find out more Events Our featured blog of the month award for January 2017 goes to Mike Astbury and his post Five simple games for teaching vocabulary. Mike offers five  adaptable, easy-to-prepare vocabulary games for the classroom. This month's shortlist features advice for students who don't do well in listening tests, a  game for practising the present perfect, a vocabulary revision team game and ideas for encouraging cooperative learning. Read more Magazine Much has been written about Teacher Action Research. Personally, I just view it as a teacher systematically putting a simplified version of the Scientific Method to use in his/her classroom: formulate a hypothesis, experiment, analyze the data collected from the experiment, form a conclusion. Of course, teachers - and everybody else - apply this method constantly, ranging from how we shoot basketballs to how we bake a cake. Read Larry Ferlazzo's blog post about the value and importance of action research for teachers. Read more You have received this newsletter because you registered on our website or previously showed interest in British Council news. If you wish to opt out of future newsletters please unsubscribe here.

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TeachingEnglish newsletter 15 February 2017

TeachingEnglish - the global home for teachers 15 February 2017 Welcome to the TeachingEnglish newsletter This week we have information about the Summit on the Future of the TESOL Profession, which took place in Athens last week, and recordings of talks on the future of our profession. The talks we feature this week are on the theme of Futurology and three guiding principle presentations from Sue Garton (Inquiry), Asmaa Abu Mezied (Equity), and Greg Kessler (Professionalism). We also announce an upcoming webinar by Nik Peachey - Exploiting digital video for language development. For the classroom, we have two great BritLit kits. A classic, 'Jack and the Beanstalk' for kids and 'Journey to Jo'burg' for teens. And if you teach adults, take a look at some ideas on how to integrate more humour into your lessons. And finally, don't forget our upcoming webinar - Implementing good teaching and learning inclusive practices - which takes place on 22 February. We hope you find these resources useful. Deb TeachingEnglish team Teaching kids This BritLit Primary Kit 'Jack and the Beanstalk' has been designed for use with any version of the tale. The kit integrates a range of mixed-ability cross- curricular materials within the context of the tale in order to actively engage children and develop their cognitive, linguistic and social skills. The kit includes storytelling tips, interactive language activities, games, puzzles, chants, project work, a play and more. Go to the BritLit kit Teaching teens The background of the story is South Africa during the apartheid years. Two young children are travelling alone to Jo'burg to try to find their mother who is needed back in the family village. Beverley Naidoo's compelling story is the first in a new series of BritLit resources kits, 'Open Book', which works with longer stories. The kit includes text, audio and activities. Go to the BritLit kit Teaching adults Perhaps one of the most underexploited and neglected areas within language learning is humour. How many course books have a section on humour? How many syllabi include the ability to tell or understand a joke? Yet understanding the sense of humour of a people is a key element of understanding the culture and language and perhaps even more importantly of developing relationships with people from that country. Check out these ideas to integrate humour into your classes. Read more Development Get some new ideas on how to exploit digital video with your students in this webinar presented by ELTons award winning author, Nik Peachey, on Thursday 16 February at 17.00 - 18.00 UK time. Video is one of the most powerful mediums for language instruction and learning and your students' access to the tools to view, create and communicate with video through mobile devices has never been better. Are you making the most of this opportunity for your students? Register now Events On Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February 2017, the British Council partnered with TESOL International Association to webcast a Summit on the Future of the TESOL Profession, for English language teachers and decision-makers worldwide. The summit brought together over 220 delegates from ministries of education, teacher education programmes and key organisations representing 64 countries to participate in four roundtable discussions on four key themes for the future of the profession. Find out more and watch recordings from talks at the TESOL Summit 2017 on the future of the profession. Read more Magazine What are the mega-trends (political, economic, social, intercultural, legal, and digital) and how do they impact English and English language education? Watch recordings of three 15-minute presentations on the theme of Futurology by Sue Garton (Inquiry), Asmaa Abu Mezied (Equity), and Greg Kessler (Professionalism).  Find out more You have received this newsletter because you registered on our website or previously showed interest in British Council news. If you wish to opt out of future newsletters please unsubscribe here.

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TeachingEnglish newsletter 08 February 2017

TeachingEnglish - the global home for teachers 08 February 2017 Welcome to the TeachingEnglish newsletter To mark the most romantic day of the year, this week we have two Valentine's Day lesson plans - one for kids and one for teens. For adults we have a practical article on developing group discussion skills. We feature the professional practice Understanding educational policies and practices with an accessible and informative report 'Factors influencing success in teaching English in state primary schools'. We are also pleased to announce that our blog of the month award goes to Svetlana Kandybovich for her post '1 Worksheet - 10 games'. And finally, if you need help preparing students for written exams, take a look at our recorded webinar with David Petrie - Writing skills for exam practice. We hope you find these resources useful. Deb TeachingEnglish team Teaching kids Valentines day presents an opportunity to explore a topic that can genuinely interest and hold the attention of children of a certain age. This lesson for primary children will give students the opportunity to write a poem and have it delivered to their secret love.  Go to the lesson plan Teaching teens Did you know that in the UK we spend about £503 million on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts for Valentine's Day? This lesson is designed to be used near the date of Valentine's Day (14 February) to talk about the topic of love and romance. Activities include reading about Valentine's traditions in the UK and taking part in a speed dating role play. Go to the lesson plan Teaching adults Group discussions occur in many different formats - from very informal ones between friends to highly structured and challenging discussions included as part of a selection process. In both cases, there are a number of specific skills that we can help our students develop to become better able to contribute effectively to group discussions. Find out more about how to develop your learner's skills. Read more Development This week we feature the professional practice Understanding educational policies and practices with an accessible and informative report 'Factors influencing success in teaching English in state primary schools'. Based on three case studies of high performing education systems, the report's recommendations will be of interest to anyone concerned with English at primary level. Find out more Events Practising writing for exams can be challenging for many students and it is often difficult for teachers to find ways to make writing practice motivating and worthwhile. This webinar with David Petrie presents a series of writing activities for teachers to use with their exam classes. Most of the ideas are transferrable across exams, but it was designed with the Cambridge First, Advanced and Proficiency exams in mind. Watch a recording of the webinar Magazine Our featured blog of the month for December 2016 goes to Svetlana Kandybovich and her post 1 Worksheet - 10 games. Svetlana's post gives you ten games for irregular verbs from one blank sheet of paper. And what's even better, the students get to do all the work! December's shortlist includes ideas for using songs to develop accuracy, listening activities to help students learn grammar, a website to use for describing characters and project-based learning ideas. Find out more You have received this newsletter because you registered on our website or previously showed interest in British Council news. If you wish to opt out of future newsletters please unsubscribe here.

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