TeachingEnglish newsletter 05 April 2017

TeachingEnglish - the global home for teachers 05 April 2017 Welcome to the TeachingEnglish newsletter This week we feature two recordings of events from IATEFL 2017. Watch Gabriel Diaz Maggioli's plenary talk 'Empowering teachers through continued professional development: frameworks, practices and promises', and an interview with Jamie Keddie on how teacher talk can be a positive part of the language learning experience. We also have an interesting blog post by Neil T Millington about smartphone activities to get learners talking. For the classroom this week we have lessons for kids and teens on the theme of festivals and Easter. We also have an informative and practical article on how to use a range of graphic organisers in language learning. And finally, don't forget to tune in to IATEFL Online for all the live coverage of this year's conference event. We hope you find these resources useful. Deb TeachingEnglish team Teaching kids Children love learning about festivals and the way other people celebrate them. It's also fascinating for them to compare how they celebrate the same festival in their own country. Easter is widely celebrated by children across the world and it is interesting from a cross-cultural point of view to develop at least a few activities related to eggs, bunnies and hot cross buns!  Go to the lesson plan Teaching teens This is an Easter lesson for teens which focuses on a range of language skills. It is aimed at lower levels but the activities could be easily adapted to suit higher levels. Students will review vocabulary related to Easter, practise using prepositions of place in a classroom Easter egg hunt, read a text about Easter traditions in the UK and look at a typical British Easter menu. Go to the lesson plan Teaching adults Visual representations of information are by no means an innovation in education. The use of graphs and charts to represent statistical information and time-lines showing the sequence of historical events have long been accepted tools, while in language teaching, the mind map is already a common aid to brainstorming a topic. Read this article to find out more about the advantages of graphic organisers in language learning, the different types and functions, and a list of websites which offer a range of organiser templates that you can download for free.  Go to the article Development Teacher talk has had a lot of bad press over the past few years, but some would argue that 'good' teacher talk is a valuable classroom resource. Watch a recording of an interview with Jamie Keddie from the IATEFL 2017 conference about teacher talk and how it can become a positive part of the language learning experience.  Watch the recording Events Watch a recording of Tuesday's plenary session at the IATEFL 2017 conference by Gabriel Diaz Maggioli - 'Empowering teachers through continued professional development: frameworks, practices and promises'. Gabriel tells us how even though most of our colleagues are not provided with development opportunities as part of their jobs, teachers have taken upon themselves to build these growth opportunities. In this plenary he shares some stories, and recommends potential ways in which colleagues can help colleagues learn and develop. Read more and watch the recording Magazine Neil T Millington has been experimenting with using mobile devices in his university communication classes over the last couple of years. He has had some success and in other cases it hasn't worked as well. Read Neil's latest blog post to find out more about how he has been experimenting with mobile devices to get his learners talking - 'Three enjoyable smartphone activities to get learners talking'. 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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LearnEnglish Kids newsletter April 2017

LearnEnglish Kids newsletter  April 2017 Welcome to the latest LearnEnglish Kids newsletter. GRAMMAR VIDEOS UPDATE! Have you seen our Grammar videos section lately? We've just added new games and updated worksheets to each video! These videos help children understand English grammar. Match the vocabulary, watch Kitty talking with Gran, then play a game or print the worksheet for more practice!   INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT Are your children interested in space? The International Day of Human Space Flight is on 12 April, the anniversary of the first human to travel in space.  We have lots of songs, stories, videos and other activities that help kids learn English in our Space topic! EASTER Is it Easter where you are? This year, Easter in the UK is on 16 April, and we have fun activities to help kids learn words and find out more about this celebration.  Go to our Easter topic to find them all! 23 APRIL CELEBRATIONS Do you know all the celebrations on 23 April? It's the anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, St George's Day, World Book Day and English Language Day! Celebrate English Language Day by having fun on LearnEnglish Kids! Children will enjoy watching our stories about William Shakespeare or Saint George, and they can find lots more activities in our Reading topic.   Are you aged 13-17? Are you learning English? Go to our LearnEnglish Teens website to find lots of free resources to help you pass exams and have fun while you learn English online.       Are you learning English? Have a look at LearnEnglish to find lots of resources to help you practise your English.     Do you teach English? Find lesson plans, articles and more on TeachingEnglish, the website for teachers brought to you by the British Council with the BBC.   Visit our Premier Skills website to learn two of the world's global languages - English and football.         We'd love to know what you think about our site. Send us your comments at: learnenglish.kids@britishcouncil.org      The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland)    www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids    You have received this email because you subscribed to our electronic newsletter. If you wish to opt out of this British Council mailing list, please unsubscribe here. Our privacy and terms of use statements. Our commitment to freedom of information.

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TeachingEnglish newsletter 29 March 2017

TeachingEnglish - the global home for teachers 29 March 2017 Welcome to the TeachingEnglish newsletter This week we have more news on how you can join the 2017 IATEFL Conference in Glasgow, even if you can't attend. And if you are attending, then we warmly invite you to our special event to celebrate the launch of Teaching for Success. For the classroom this week, we have a fun-packed lesson for kids based on the popular song 'What can it be?'. For teachers of teens, we have an integrated skills lesson on the theme of tattoos. And for adults, why not try DARTs - activities which help students to interact with texts? Finally, our featured blog post this week is on a theme that many teachers will find useful - 'Giving learners feedback on their writing'. We hope you find these resources useful. Deb TeachingEnglish team Teaching kids In this lesson learners will be introduced to the popular song 'What can it be?' They will listen to the song, complete comprehension activities, and practise the animals, mythical creatures and body parts mentioned in the song. They will also practise the 'has got' and possessive 's structures as well as sing the song. Finally learners can do some extension work based on the song, inventing, writing and singing about their own mythical creature. Go to the lesson plan Teaching teens In this lesson for teens at B1 / B2 level, students will talk about their attitudes towards tattoos, read a text about the growing popularity of tattooing in the UK, design a tattoo for somebody and take part in a role play about a tattoo dilemma. Go to the lesson plan Teaching adults Directed activities related to texts (DARTs) are activities which get students to interact with texts. Their aim is to improve students' reading comprehension and to make them critical readers. These DARTs are based on the poem "When I heard the learned astronomer" by Walt Whitman, and include a range of reconstruction and analysis activities. Find out more Development If you are attending the IATEFL Conference in Glasgow, we invite you to attend a special event, our Teaching for Success launch. The event will take place at 13.15, Tuesday 4 April at stand 46 in the Exhibition Hall. Join us at this pop-up celebratory event where you can evaluate your CPD needs and collect your discount voucher for one of our 60 new self-study modules for teachers.  Browse all our self-study modules  Events If you can't attend the 2017 IATEFL Conference in Glasgow, tune in for live coverage starting Monday 3rd April. The British Council is providing online coverage of live plenary sessions, interviews and over 50 conference sessions starting each day from 9.00 am (UK time). IATEFL Online provides teacher audiences worldwide with an opportunity to share ideas with colleagues before, during and after the conference, so don't miss out, join us for IATEFL Online! Find out more Magazine 'Giving learners feedback on their writing' is our latest blog post by Loli Iglesias on strategies that help teachers to make their writing feedback useful and not too time-consuming. To find out how she and the other teachers who worked on a new approach fostered students' motivation and changed their attitude towards writing, take a look at Loli's blog.  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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