My Several Worlds

Some of these tips might seem obvious, but I’m always surprised at the number of new teachers I meet who forget to include these simple tasks in each lesson.
If you like these tips, you might also like: 20 Great ESL Teaching Tips
1. Teach the answer to a question to the entire class and have [...]

1. Review. I know it’s boring, but it’s absolutely essential to language learning. Don’t bother to learn new words if you aren’t going to review. It’s a waste of time if you aren’t committed to reviewing your material.
2. Listen. The more you listen, the more you’ll remember.
3. Use your new [...]

This is Teresa’s first narrative paragraph and it was written during her first month in class. Teresa is eleven years old. She wrote this in January 2008.

To find out more about this super writer, please visit our About The Author Information page, which includes Teresa’s personal bio and other examples of her writing.

Today, [...]

There are very few days when teaching tries my patience, and today wasn’t one of them.  Generally speaking, I love my job.  There is one day in particular that I look forward to each week and it’s because of my creative writing class.  I’ve been teaching these students for the past two years.  I’ve watched [...]

Jim Shan is a fifteen year old student, who has been studying at Gram English School for several years. This is the first of many personal narratives that Jim has written over the last three months in Super Writers. I think he’s a natural born writer. He never fails to make me [...]

With all the hype surrounding the latest Harry Potter book and movie, my students seem to be talking about nothing else. I’ve used this conversation lesson over the past week to generate team spirit and conversation in English. My advanced junior high school students haven’t stopped talking about it!
Time: 2 hours. It [...]

Materials:  3 dice - Preferably the big, plush kind.
Rule:  Numbers 1 and 3 are ‘death numbers’.
I use this game for teaching sentence patterns. 
How to play:  Divide the class into two teams.Write the sentence pattern you are teaching on the board.   Have the two teams take turns making sentences.  Each correct sentence gains one chance to roll [...]

This is a great game to use as an ice-breaker and will also give you an opportunity to gauge your students’ ability.  I usually use it with older students since it can be a challenge to get them talking.  The spontaneous nature of this game forces students to think outside the box. 
Materials:
A stopwatch
 Warm-Up:
I usually warm up [...]

This is a great activity for teaching idioms or learning dialogues.  I use this racing game with my intermediate and advanced level students and it never fails to generate a lot of excitement in the classroom.  I’ve also used it for basic questions and answers with my advanced beginners.  Example:  What’s your name?  My name is…. 
Note:  This game is [...]

SURVIVOR
This is a fantastic game that students of all ages can enjoy.  I use it primarily for reviewing new vocabulary and verb tenses.
I introduce 6 - 10 new words to my beginner and intermediate classes. I usually give my advanced level classes 12 - 15 new words.  After teaching new vocabulary, give the students a [...]