Module 4: Lesson 3 - Analyzing tools & materials Flashcards
Share some examples of coursebooks you can use.
- BlinkLearning (https://www.blinklearning.com/portal/home)is an educational teaching and learning platform that hosts books from a number of different publishers, such as Cambridge, Pearson, Oxford, Klett, MacMillan, and many more.
- The Cambridge Teacher (https://www.thecambridgeteacher.es/en) is a useful tool that can be incorporated into online one-to-one lessons. It has a number of useful features, such as a whiteboard that can be shared with the students.
- Macmillan (https://mee2.macmillan.education/LMS/login2.php) also has a platform for its digital books called MEE. When you buy a digital book, you can access it via this platform. You have access to the coursebook, the workbook, and online exercises.
- Cambridge One (https://www.cambridgeone.org/home) has a catalogue of Cambridge teaching resources. There is also a professional development page with guides on how to use the resources. The books have interactive resources and workbooks. There are some collaborative projects included in some books and there is a class presentation tool.
- Oxford Learner’s Bookshelf (https://www.oxfordlearnersbookshelf.com) is a publisher platform with a catalog where you can view free samples of books before you buy. Once you purchase a book, you can use the platform features to view the book, use the video and sound resources, and work with the online workbooks and extra class resources.
What are the 7 core skills of English language teaching?
Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening / Grammar / Vocabulary / Pronunciation
What resource is good to use for:
Reading
Oxford Owl (https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk) is aimed at younger learners in the UK schools system. You can access a free library of books which can be read or listened to. Each book has some games along the way and there are worksheets available to download for some of the books as well. There is also a collection of phonics books for children who are early stage readers.
What resource is good to use for:
Reading & Listening
Memrise (https://www.memrise.com) is a self-study platform that learners can either use at home by themselves, or the teacher can bring into the one-to-one lessons to practice together. The whole platform is gamified, which is really fun for students. It helps them to train their language skills by exposing them to practical phrases that are used in real life. The lessons are spoken by native speakers. You can also create your own course for your students, which is a great perk.
What resource is good to use for:
Speaking
Cambridge Speak and Improve (https://speakandimprove.com) is an online tool where students are given some questions to answer by a speech robot, who then grades their spoken skills and suggests how they can improve.
ESL Conversation Topics (https://eslconversationtopics.com) is a useful resource which helps teachers and learners to choose conversation topics for their lessons. It provides example discussions, highlighting key vocabulary, and even sets the learner questions so that they can extend the conversation topic further.
What resource is good to use for:
Listening
BBC 6 minute English (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9tn/episodes/downloads) is a series of podcasts specifically for English learners. There is a broad range of topics covered and the podcasts can be downloaded and listened to anywhere. They give very clear explanations of tricky vocabulary and explain difficult points in the listening.
PBS Podcast (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts) have daily news casts and they also have a wide range of other subjects that higher-level students would be interested in.
PBS Kids (https://pbskids.org) also have a wide range of podcasts, but they are specifically for young learners. It has a bright and inviting style and should be very motivating for young learners who want to improve their listening skills.
What resource is good to use for:
Writing
Cambridge Write & Improve (https://writeandimprove.com/workbooks#/wi-workbooks) is a free online tool from Cambridge English. It helps students to practice their writing skills and get instant feedback online by showing them how they can improve their spelling, grammar, and vocabulary. There is a large variety of writing tasks to choose from.
Prowriting Aid (https://prowritingaid.com) is a tool which students can use to improve their spelling grammar and writing style. It has several different tools, as well as a handy Grammar Guide.
What resource is good to use for:
Grammar
English Club (https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/) and the British Council (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference) both have extensive grammar explanations, along with materials, activities, and worksheets that you can use in class. The British Council in particular has an enormous amount of free resources that can be used to teach all 7 core skills.
Grammar games can also be a fun way of practicing grammar in the classroom.
Top Marks (https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar)
Education.com (https://www.education.com/games/grammar/)
British Council Games (https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-practice)
What resource is good to use for:
Vocabulary
Busy Teacher (https://busyteacher.org/14471-esl-vocabulary-review-8-killer-online-resources.html) is a good place to search for vocabulary activities and the content can be used directly in your lessons. There is a paywall, but once you’re subscribed, you will have full access to millions of ready-to-use materials that are extremely effective.
Teachit (https://www.teachit.co.uk/elt/systems-and-skills/a2-c2-vocabulary) The best thing about this website is that it has a lot of free resources that you can download simply by signing up. Some content is paid, but there are so many free resources that it might not be necessary to pay the fee.
What resource is good to use for:
Pronunciation
The English Language Coach (https://www.englishaccentcoach.com) is an interactive game that helps students with pronunciation. They can learn vowel and consonent sounds and play games to improve their knowledge of the sounds.
English Club (https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-ia.php) has a fantastic interactive phonemic chart that you can share with your learners to demonstrate proper pronunciation.
TypeIt (https://ipa.typeit.org) has a useful tool for writing phonetic symbols, which saves you time searching for special characters when you want to use them in your lessons.
Other useful resources:
- One Stop English (https://www.onestopenglish.com)
- Breaking News English (https://breakingnewsenglish.com)
- Fluentize (https://app.fluentize.com)
- ESL Brains (https://eslbrains.com)
