Sometimes we get our dream job but almost immediately, a question pops up: now what? Here are some tips and advice to keep in mind when you embark on your new adventure as an ESL teacher.
Teaching Materials and lessons for English teachers. Easy to teach lessons from ESL Teacher 365. Teaching tips and advice.
Learn three simple things you need to teach your ESL beginners right away. These include variations of introductions, classroom surroundings and basic needs
Check out our top 11 ESL whiteboard games and activities to try out with your students today. Have some fun with these chalkboard games.
Here is a list of my most favorite ESL teaching resources: books, websites and simply products that make my life as an ESL teacher easier!
A list of ESL websites that have plenty of activities, teaching strategies, worksheets, templates, lesson plans and articles which will help in your work.
Check out the following ESL lesson plans and lesson plan templates to get your teaching on in style! It's English teaching made easy!
You’ll learn the 13 rules which help you to teach ESL effectively, together with info on how to become an ESL teacher in no time.
A list of ESL websites that have plenty of activities, teaching strategies, worksheets, templates, lesson plans and articles which will help in your work.
A good teacher should try to say as much as possible in a lesson to give as much information as possible… right? WRONG! In this article we will look at why limiting teacher talk time in a class is a…
Are you a first-time ESL teacher? Here are some amazing tips for new TEFL teachers! They are sure to help you succeed in your career.
A good teacher should try to say as much as possible in a lesson to give as much information as possible… right? WRONG! In this article we will look at why limiting teacher talk time in a class is a…
How do you get a grip on being (and staying!) organized as an ESL teacher? Here are 7 tips that will put you on the right track!
Many teachers have "tried and true" resources that they pull from year after year. I've been an elementary ESL teacher since 2005 working with grades 1-6. During this time I have used a ton of resources with my students; and my favorites have stuck with me. Even though my "classroom" can change year to year, from pushing-in, co-teaching, to predominantly working with small pull-out groups, these tried and true resources are ones that I wouldn't want to do without. Here's a look at a few of my top favorites... Graphic Organizers This resource is #1 for a reason! I almost always use graphic organizers to teach reading comprehension. I find them to be highly effective because they are not text heavy. Students read with a purpose, then complete an activity that supports that specific reading skill/strategy. No matter my students' level of reading or language proficiency, a simple graphic organizer is what I need to reinforce that skill or strategy! I keep these graphic organizers on my desktop, and when I'm planning my lessons I can quickly pull up the organizers I need, then print and go! Tip: When I print, I reduce the setting to 80% and then trim the sides. Students glue the graphic organizer into their reading notebooks which makes for a great collection of student work and visual reference of student progress and effort. Leveled Books for Reading Instruction I have been very lucky to work in schools that have had awesome book rooms full of guided reading sets. I hope that you have the same access to books in your school. Finding books on my students' levels is one thing, but finding relevant books, especially for my upper elementary beginning ELs, is another. It's a challenge, for sure, but with a good book room I know that I can almost always find what I need. Click here for a free modified guided reading lesson plan template! Don't have a stocked book room? I also order several grade levels of the Scholastic News Magazines. (I think 10 magazines per grade level is the minimum order; that's what I get.) I mostly use grades 1, 2 & 3 with my ELs. With your order, you also have access to the online magazines, which is awesome! You can project to an interactive whiteboard, or have students read on an iPad or computer. These various grade levels make it easy to differentiate text levels. Since I use the magazines for reading instruction, students do not take them home. I keep the magazines organized by grade level and time of year, then I reuse the ones I love, year after year. Reading instruction is a big part of my day, so having access to leveled reading materials is a must! Visual Reading Word Wall Cards I love this resource because of the visuals. and the versatility. When introducing a reading concept, such as "making predictions" or "plot," to beginning or intermediate English learners, a meaningful visual is definitely worth a thousand words! These reading word wall cards provide my students with the visual supports they need as they are learning new concepts in English. I use these cards at my reading table, as a word wall, in anchor charts, as sorting headers, and in my learning objectives that I post on the board. Guided Reading Table Anchor Chart Lesson Objectives Words Their Way for Word Study For ELLs, learning spelling patterns in English is important. I especially like this resource because I can differentiate it according to the needs of my students. First, I assess what my students already know, as far as consonants, short and long vowels, word families, digraphs, etc., then start from there. We systematically work through the sorts building their knowledge of sounds and spelling patterns. A bonus with this resource is that it's another exposure to new vocabulary! Each Monday my students receive their list of words, and each day of the week they have various independent activities to do with their words. Then on Fridays, we finish up with a quick spelling quiz. Click for a free download of Weekly Word Study Activities To start, I set up their notebooks with their weekly Word Study Activities. We do this together the first week or two, so that I know that they understand what's expected. This is a word sort that my newcomers might be working on. And this is a sort that my intermediate ELLs might be working on. After I copy the page, I'll cut the page so that they have about 15 new words per week. My advanced ELLs might have 18 to 20 words. Once my students understand their weekly activities, these Word Study Activities become independent activities during the week while in Reader's Workshop. Students are responsible for completing the weekly work and learning their words. I set them up on Monday with their new words, then quiz them on Friday. It's up to them to do the work Tuesday through Thursday. Vocabulary Mini Office This is a MUST have for my newcomers! When they arrive, this is the first resource I give them. It's basic vocabulary that students use everyday. The Vocabulary Mini Office is kept at their desk to use during independent work time. Whether during Writer's Workshop, Reading or Vocabulary practice, it provides them with access to everyday vocabulary. My newcomers love this resource and they use it often. For my older newcomers I put the pages inside their reading folder. When they practice their writing, they can easily find the vocabulary they need. Daily Language Review I often use this resource as a warm-up activity. With my beginner and intermediate students, this is a group activity we do together. I want them to get used to the format of the questions so I do a lot of guided practice and modeling with this resource. My advanced kiddos do this as a quick independent warm up and then we go over it together. It takes about 5 minutes. Depending on the language level of my groups, I pull pages from either the first, second or third grade book. It also provides a great jumping off point. I can see in which areas of grammar my students need direct instruction, such as contractions, sentence structure, mechanics, etc. It's just a quick warm-up. My students like it and I get good information about them from it. As a teacher of English Language Learners, these are some of my must have resources. When I plan my lessons, these are many of the first resources I grab. They make my instruction consistent, effective and meaningful. Yes, there are other resources that I would not want to do without, and perhaps that would make for a follow up post, but if I were to pick my top resources, these would be them! I'd love to know what some of your favorite resources are! (Affiliate Links Below)
How to use the TPR teaching method in the classroom. Educational and instructional TPR helps students understand what the teacher is saying.
You’ll learn the 13 rules which help you to teach ESL effectively, together with info on how to become an ESL teacher in no time.
How to teach beginner ESL students is just as important as what to teach them. Here are 7 strategies that will help you out.
Improve your second language teaching skills by avoiding mistakes such as talking to much, echoing, sentence completion, and unclear instructions. Follow @tesolAmerican TESOL
Teaching mixed level ESL classes can be quite the challenge, especially speaking classes but it's not impossible. Check out these tips!
Check out these top 10 ESL teacher mistakes, with tips for avoiding, or fixing them. Find out all the details for ESL teaching problems!
English may sound daunting to English learners but it does not have to be. Use these 5 tips to teach phonemic awareness and phonics to older ESL students.
10 ESOL Teacher Must Haves. Check out these items to make your teaching job easier.2
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Find out all the details you need to know about using eliciting techniques in the ESL/EFL classroom. Activity recommendations, tips, & more.
Tips to Help Your English Language Learners If you have English language learners in your classroom you already know that teaching reading for this group can be a challenge. Many teachers simply have not had much exposure to the kinds of strategies that can help these kids learn. Just like all other students teachers serve, English language learners have varying abilities and reading levels. What makes it complicated is when students arrive with no language skills other than maybe knowing the words hello and my name is.... Because of this challenge to the homeroom teachers in my building, I created this free resource as a kind of guide to help direct their instruction. I hope it is a help to all the teachers who feel they are helpless with the immigrant students. They need advocates and we, the teachers, are the ones to do it. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Five-Stages-of-Language-Acquisition-Made-Easy-2402804
A list of ESL websites that have plenty of activities, teaching strategies, worksheets, templates, lesson plans and articles which will help in your work.
You’ll learn the 13 rules which help you to teach ESL effectively, together with info on how to become an ESL teacher in no time.
Check out best ESL websites for teaching English including jobs, teachers forums, activities, and recommendations for English learners.
An ESL teacher has a unique job in that s/he has to fulfill a great variety of roles on a daily basis. The four main ones are described in this article.
Teaching ESL/ELL students of different proficiency levels in one classroom can be tricky. Here are a few tips and strategies that will help you be organized and effective.
Beat the overwhelm of teaching an absolute beginner with this downloadable checklist
Some newcomers arrive with no English at all and need to focus on basic classroom English first. This pack will help.
How to teach beginner ESL students is just as important as what to teach them. Here are 7 strategies that will help you out.
Save time and energy with artificial intelligence technology to create effective ESL and EFL lessons. Try AI-powered lesson creation today!
Giving instructions can be tricky in an ESL classroom. Learn the best tips for giving better instructions that are helpful for ESL teachers!
Teaching mixed level ESL classes can be quite the challenge, especially speaking classes but it's not impossible. Check out these tips!
When I was a brand new teacher, I thought the quality of my teaching was ultimately tied to the quality of my resources, so I spent hours searching for great materials. I believed that if I had quality resources, ones that my students enjoyed and were engaged with, then that would make me a good teacher. Well, I still believe that having quality resources is extremely important, but over the years I've also come to realize that being a good teacher is SO much more than the tools in my toolbox. Everyday has a million moving parts that need our constant attention, focus, knowledge and skills of best practice. So even though I now believe that being a good teacher is more than the quality of my teaching materials, knowing that I have a good variety of kid tested and teacher approved resources at my fingertips allows me the time and energy to focus on other aspects of my teaching day. So today, as a follow-up to my original "favorite resources" post, I want to share with you MORE of my "go-to" resources that I consistently use in my classroom with my students! Build a Sentence I love this resource, and so do my students! This resource gets beginning and intermediate ELs speaking and writing! First, a photograph is posted. Then students generate a word bank by telling what they see in the picture. I ask for one word at a time. No matter the level of my ELs, everyone can come up with at least a word or two. I get additional details by asking about colors and quantities of items they see. Once our word bank is sufficient, they use those words to create varying lengths of sentences. They are asked to create a 3 word sentence, then a four word sentence, then a five word sentence, and so on. I'll ask, "Who thinks they can come up with a 4 word sentence?" My students all start thinking and counting on their fingers, then quickly a hand shoots up, then another. They love it! This activity is heavily scaffolded for beginners. Students orally create the word bank and sentences, but I write the words and sentences on the board using correct spelling and grammar. Then they copy. I am a big believer in modeling for beginners, and I model a LOT! This activity is a definite favorite among my students. They practice their oral language skills as well as their writing skills. I do this with my small groups at least once a month. Writing with English Learners I created this resource to prep my students for the writing portion of the annual language proficiency assessment. In Virginia, where I'm from, ESL students take the WIDA ACCESS each winter. Being that writing is the literacy skill that usually takes the longest to develop, I wanted to explicitly teach the skills students needed to be most successful on this assessment. In my lesson plans, I incorporate a listening, reading, speaking and writing focus each week. For the writing focus, I usually pull from these two resources. Whether I am teaching how to stretch out words, write a story, explain a process or analyze information, this resource allows me to choose the skills my particular groups need to work on. For my intermediate and advanced ELs in grades 3-6, I focus on "language formats" found in writing. Whether they are asked to describe, provide an opinion, analyze or compare and contrast, understanding and applying the language with that format is key. 5 Ws and H - A Writing Resource for Adding Details This resource is a new favorite! It teaches students to add meaningful details to their sentences. I often ask students to "tell me more." This writing activity gets them in the habit of giving more information in their sentences by adding thoughtful details. This resource is designed for gradual release. The first set of activities can be done in a whole group setting. A photograph is projected and students are asked to answer the 5W & H questions about the picture. This information is then used to write two thoughtful sentences. As students become more proficient with adding details to their sentences, the next set of activities can be done in either a small group setting or as an independent activity. The last set of activities are writing prompts that students can independently respond to in their notebooks. Posters are included which add a great visual reference for a classroom display. Restate the Question This is a simple, yet effective, activity that teaches students to restate the question or prompt in their answers, both orally and in writing. As a writing activity, either project a prompt on the whiteboard and have students write their responses in their notebooks, or print out the question and have them glue it into their notebook. This takes modeling the first several times, but afterwards should be a quick independent activity. For a speaking activity, pull out a card and ask the question. Students take turns answering several of the questions. This works great in a small group setting. My students often ask if we can keep on "playing." VIDEOS! VIDEOS! VIDEOS! Incorporating videos into my lessons is a MUST! When I plan a new unit, one of the first things I do is to scour the internet looking for fun and meaningful videos. My go to place is YouTube. There are some real gems out there, but it does take some looking. When I find a goody, it goes into my collection and I use it again and again. Here is a blog post that I wrote about using short films to teach reading comprehension skills. I continue to add to the list as I find new films. Click on the image to see the list! Check out my Short Film Bundle here. Monthly Themed Vocabulary This is an great resource to use with primary learners and beginning ELs. Each month contains 20 vocabulary words. I love this because it's relevant to what's happening around students at the given time of year. Along with the terms, which I use as a monthly word wall, matching cards, writing activities, a vocabulary booklet and BINGO games are included. In closing... As I create my weekly lesson plans, these "tried and true" resources are many of the activities that my students use throughout the school year. Having a collection of reliable and engaging materials available frees up the time I'd otherwise spend searching. I'm sure you have your go-to resources too. Happy teaching!! (Affiliate Link)
Check out these top 10 ESL teacher mistakes, with tips for avoiding, or fixing them. Find out all the details for ESL teaching problems!
Beat the overwhelm of teaching an absolute beginner with this downloadable checklist
Lesson plans, worksheets, word games and PowerPoint slides. There are many ESL websites for teachers. Find the best one for you and your students!
Try some of these fun, no-prep games to help your teach English to young or beginner level students.
Looking for esl task cards to use with your english language learners? Try these picture cards that are perfect for quick and effective language practice!
Try out the best vocabulary games for ESL students if you want to help them learn new English words, the less boring way.
Here are the necessary components of an excellent ESL/ELL lesson plan
Guessing games are a great way to practice speaking, critical thinking and vocabulary building in ESL classrooms starting from young learners through adults. Whether you are an English teacher or a parent trying to improve your child's vocabulary in a first or second language, guessing games are a MUST! Here's where to start: Ages 3-4:
ESL Lesson Plan on Virtual Reality - Listening Comprehension + Writing Activity This Fantastic ESL-EFL-TESOL Lesson Plan (PDF Digital Presentation; 13 slides + Answer keys in the last slide) on Virtual Reality (VR) is Great to stimulate English Learning within Newcomers or any English Second Language Student. Ideal participants for this Activity are Foreign Languages Students at Middle School and early High School. This Product can also be Great for ESL Centers Abroad and ESL Tutors or private teachers. This ESL Teaching Resource can be great for intermediate-advanced learners This Stimulating ESL-EFL-TESOL Lesson Plan on Virtual Reality (VR) includes: a brief Introduction Virtual Reality a Picture Description with 4 scenes (Surgeon operanting with VR, a meeting in the metaverse, a Virtual Reality space and a person who is buying a house with VR) 1 Listening activity (with Answer Keys in the last slide) with QR Code-Linked YouTube Video 1 Writing Activity (describing a close future with VR technologies, by describing a typical day of yours if you had to live in such future) Learning English as a second Language can sometimes be a true struggle to many Students out there. Endless Lists of Words and Grammatical Rules that at times happen not to be Clear to Teachers too! Is it worthy to get Stressed for such few Results? Absolutely NO! ESL with Alan has Created a BRAND NEW RESOURCE to make English both FUN and EFFICIENT! For Further ESL-EFL-TESOL Resources, check my Store ESL with Alan! You liked this kind of Resource but English is not your cuppa? Try Italiano con Alan! Some Similar Activities You might also like: Harry Potter ESL Reading Activity + essay prompts + Qr Codes! Great for Newcomer ESL Eurovision Lesson Plan with Song Activity + Writing Essay + Speaking Game ESL Malala Lesson on Girls' Right to Education - Listening + Writing Activity New Intermediate/Advanced ESL-EFL-TESOL Lesson Plan Activity on Sherlock Holmes ESL William Shakespeare Lesson - Listening Comprehension + Writing Activities ESL EFL TESOL Lesson Plan on "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and Teenagers
Concept Checking Questions are used to check children's understanding in the classroom. There are many ways of implementing CCQs when teaching.
