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Need Free Math Worksheets? Try Math Worksheets Land!
Math Worksheets Land
Math Worksheets Land provides a large amount of helpful math resources for students and teachers. The entire collection is aligned to the National Core Curriculum making it easy to include in your lesson planning.
You can find the site at: http://www.mathworksheetsland.com
NEW from i to i – 20 Free Classroom Activities!
Whether it’s your first day in the classroom or your fiftieth – every ESL teacher is in need of a little helping hand every now and then.
Here are 20 free classroom activities from i-to-i which include classroom tips and accompanying handouts which you can photocopy for your lessons!
Get yours here!
Auto Mode 3 – Practise vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation skills together!
Get Instant Feedback on your English Pronunciation!
Now you can practise your English pronunciation skills and get instant feedback with our really useful new widget:
http://www.englishbanana.com/pronunciation-practice-talk-a-lot-elementary-book-1.html
Two New Podcast Lessons FREE to Download – Just Added!
We’ve just added two new podcast lessons, which are yours to download and keep absolutely free!
(Right-click to download to your computer, or left-click to play in your browser.)
You Are The Course Book (Mode 2) – Demo:
http://www.englishbanana.com/podcasts/yatcb-mode-2-demo-20062012.mp3
Understanding Connected Speech in English #1:
http://www.englishbanana.com/podcasts/connected-speech-1-26062012.mp3
Download the MP3 Recording of our Latest Class
You can now download the MP3 recording of our latest class.
Left-click to open in your browser and right-click to download to your computer:
Planning an English Class without a Course Book to Hold your Hand
by Matt Purland (4th June 2012)
Planning an English Class without a Course Book to Hold your Hand
New Free Teaching Manual! “You Are The Course Book”
Free Teacher Training Class for ESL Teachers #1
About the Class:
In this free class for teachers of ESL (English as a Second Language) we will look at how to get great results in an ESL class using the Talk a Lot Method. We will discuss some examples of student work that has been produced using this method, and you will have the opportunity to tell us about your teaching practice.
You can sign up for the class below:
http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/830928-free-teacher-training-class-for-esl-teachers-1
Download our Latest Online Lesson as a Free MP3 File! “You are the Course Book!”
You can now download our latest free MP3 audio lesson, entitled “You are the Course Book!” It was a really fun session on WizIQ.com this week, so I hope that you will get a lot out of it. Any feedback is of course very welcome!
Every Day I Enjoy a Walk with Andrea!
Learn English Vocabulary and Feel Good about It with FreeRice.com!
This great website has been around for a while, but it’s a fantastic way to test your knowledge of English vocabulary (and other subjects, including Science, Geography, and Humanities). We spent around 10 minutes playing and earned 630 grains of rice, which doesn’t sound that much, but if 30 other people also did the same, we’d have enough grains of rice to feed one person for one day. Why not give it a try? 
FreeRice.com
Check Out ESL Basics – a Really Helpful Resource Site!
Have you discovered ESL Basics yet? If you haven’t, you are in for a treat! It’s a remarkable resource site for ESL students and teachers featuring hundreds of short easy-to-watch videos on the following topics:
Vocabulary, US Citizenship, Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, and Tongue Twisters
If you are studying with Talk a Lot Intermediate, you will find the videos about idioms and phrasal verbs particularly relevant.
ESL Basics is the brainchild of Andrea Giordano, who stars in the short videos, and Josh Michael, who does all the technical wizardry. The site is an absolute boon for any student who is learning new vocabulary (which should be everyone, right?) and for teachers who can dip in and out of the site, for example using a short video to illustrate a new idiom or phrasal verb. You can even request a video on a particular word, phrase, or topic. How cool is that? Here is an example of a video by Andrea about the phrasal verb “to check out”:
ESL Basics on YouTube...
Andrea making a video for ESL Basics...
I asked Andrea for some comments about the site for this blog post. She told me:
“At ESL Basics, we believe that real-life context is a student’s best friend, not a list of terms to memorize. This is why our language instruction is surrounded by a conversation. ESL Basics fosters an environment where students aren’t just learning one word, they are acquiring language. ESL Basics is structured around a philosophy of context-driven lessons, videos, and usability. We are also committed to equipping English language teachers to host student-centered learning environments. I am an avid traveler, experienced teacher, and dynamic speaker who loves to see students and teachers meet their full potential. As well as at our home page, you can find ESL Basics at: youtube.com/eslbasics and facebook.com/eslbasics. “
If you love picking up new language – as well as new ideas for teaching – I would really recommend following Andrea on Twitter too: http://www.twitter.com/eslbasics
It seems that ESL Basics is one of those rare resourse sites that you don’t see very often – one that exists for the pleasure of being there and helping out other people. The joy of sharing the English language is wonderfully in evidence at ESL Basics! Why not CHECK IT OUT today?
Silent b – Phonics – lamb, limb, climb
Ah – silent letters. They’re so quiet that we can’t even hear them! They’re so quiet that we could question whether we need them in the spelling at all… but that’s another post!
How I used the Love and Relationships Idioms in my lesson today
I wrote twenty idioms on the board which kind of told a story of a relationship from the beginning to the end:
Method (Pre-Int to Intermediate Level):
Pre-task: Elicit: what is an idiom? i.e. A fixed phrase with a meaning that isn’t clear from the words used in the phrase.
1. SS work in pairs. They discuss together which ones they know already.
2. Group feedback.
3. SS check ones they don’t know in the dictionary or online.
4. Group feedback. Go through the list in order. Give examples. Elicit examples from SS. Check that everyone understands each idiom.
5. SS work together to prepare a dialogue or performance that includes all 20 idioms. Give them around 15 mins. Make a cup of tea for yourself; have a break; er, I mean monitor SS… Dialogues could be set in the past, with SS talking about a past relationship, or in various scenes set throughout the course of a relationship; or discussing future foreseen problems that might arise in a present relationship… etc.
6. SS read out or act their dialogues/scenes. Give feedback. Solicit feedback from other groups. Make a note of errors.
7. Error correction on the board with the whole group.
8. Homework, or follow-on activity: find 10 more idioms or phrasal verbs on the topic of Love and Relationships, and write a sentence using each one.
Note: for higher levels, you could mix up the order and get them to put them into their own order to make a story of a relationship.
It worked well and passed the time nicely for about 50 minutes. SS seemed happy to be learning (a lot) of new idioms. Do let me know how you got on, if you used this lesson plan! Thanks
Membean for Students and Teachers (FREE VIDEO)
Extend Your Vocabulary Easily with Membean.com!
We’ve recently been trying out a brand new web service which aims to help you to extend your vocabulary. Membean is a really fun way to “lock in” new words – through a variety of methods.
We asked Membean Founder and CEO Ragav Satish to explain more about the goals of this valuable site:
“Membean is a unique web-based vocabulary learning environment that has its roots in research on human memory and learning. At Membean vocabulary comes to life through engaging video, rich imagery, interactive visualizations, quirky memory devices and unforgettable passages. Once a word is learned it must be maintained in the memory. This is where Membean’s unique Adaptive Reinforcement Engine comes in. Based on your interaction with the tool, it knows when to show you a new word, what questions to ask you and when you need to re-learn a word.” It really is fantastic! Here is an example of a word definition page, for the word “panache”:
The other great thing about Membean is that it really motivates you to learn – plus it is totally addictive! You can sign up for a free membership today, and find out what we mean!
FREE ESL Video – Learn 7 Idioms in English with Valen – “All”
This is a really useful video from a super teacher! Learn 7 English idioms containing the word “all”. Thanks Valen!
Cambridge Advanced Exam in English Speaking Exam Practice
Cambridge advanced exam in English speaking exam practice
10 Levels of Politeness in English
Imagine the scene: a young couple arrive home after a long day at work. One of them is hungry. There are many different ways to get what you want in English, but being polite will probably be the most effective way. But how polite should you be? Look at the following levels of politeness, and decide which level is the most acceptable:
↑ MORE DIRECT ↑
1. “Dinner!”
2. “Make dinner!”
3. “Make dinner, please.”
4. “Can you make dinner, please.”
5. “Could you make dinner, please.”
6. “Could you possibly make dinner, please.”
7. “Could you possibly make dinner, please, if you have time.”
8. “Could you possibly make dinner, please, if you have time – if you don’t mind.”
9. “I was wondering whether you could possibly make dinner, please, if you have time – if you don’t mind.”
10. “Sweetheart – I was wondering whether you could possibly make dinner, please, if you have time – if you don’t mind.”
↓ MORE POLITE ↓
Answer: Level 5 or 6 would be fine in this situation, while Levels 1-3 are too direct. In general, English ears hate to hear the imperative voice (giving orders). Levels 7-10 are maybe too polite and too formal for a young couple who know each other well. As you can see, the more words and clauses in the sentence – and especially the more modal verbs – the more polite it becomes.
Freely Download, Print, Copy, and Sell English Teaching Materials
This is a short video about English Banana.com’s Free Licences, which allow you to use our free printable worksheets and books to teach and learn the English language. You can also sell English Banana.com materials for profit – without paying us any commission. This map shows how other people are using our licences: http://tiny.cc/eb4 You can find out more about the book in this video by clicking here: http://tiny.cc/eb2
