Author Archives: Tanya Trusler

TV Boy – Simple Present Reading

Posted by on Sep 13, 2013 0 Comments

This week’s featured lesson is TV Boy from the Present Simple Stories section in the Library. This four-page lesson includes a short reading that uses simple present verbs. There are comprehension questions to ensure that students understand the reading and a word scramble to practice new vocabulary. Because the reading focuses on likes and dislikes, there is a grammar review section that gives many examples of the “like” + infinitive verb construction. Students can practice this structure with the included speaking and writing exercises. (more…)

Educational Acronyms and Abbreviations

Posted by on Sep 10, 2013 4 Comments

There are so many acronyms and abbreviations related to ELT (which stands for English Language Teaching or English Language Teachers, by the way). Thanks to social media, acronyms are used now more than ever. Twitter, for example, is full of acronyms in individual tweets and in hashtags. Last week I blogged about Education Resources and Networking Opportunities in Social Media, where I listed a lot of acronymic hashtags. But what do they all stand for? Some may be obvious, and some, not so much. I know I had to look up a few. I hope this handy list will save you from having to search for the correct meaning of any educational acronyms or abbreviations you encounter, especially those that have more than one meaning. (For example, when you google ELT, the first thing that comes up is Emergency Locator Transmitter. And PLN has at least 28 possible interpretations!) (more…)

Team Sports

Posted by on Sep 09, 2013 0 Comments

This week’s featured lesson is Team Sports from the Sports & Leisure section in the Word Bank. This lesson will help your students expand their vocabulary and improve their spelling through a popular theme. Eight pages of activities ensure your students have plenty of opportunities for practice, and you have the flexibility of doing it all in class or assigning some pages for homework or review the next day. Your students won’t get bored with this wide variety of activities, including a picture dictionary, a matchup exercise, a word choice exercise, a word search puzzle, a word scramble activity, and a spelling bee. Best of all, your students will be able to put these words to use in the “Question Time” section, where they can practice their speaking and writing skills. Go team! (more…)

Article Review: Setting Goals

Posted by on Sep 06, 2013 0 Comments

Have you discussed goals with your students yet? The start of a new school year is an excellent time to go over goals, especially their learning goals for the term. It’s a good idea to review their goals once or twice throughout the year, too. The benefits are numerous. (more…)

Where Do They Live?

Posted by on Sep 04, 2013 0 Comments

Our Lesson of the Week is Where Do They Live? from the Where section in the Grammar School. This lesson features both world maps and city maps so that students can practice talking about where they live. This is a great lesson to do during the first few weeks of school when kids are getting to know each other. Our head writer, Tara Benwell, also wrote a blog post called Things to Do with a Map that is full of great activities that you could do before, after, or during the lesson. Our Library section has additional colorful maps available for subscribers in the Lists, Tests, Charts, and Maps category. For higher-level students, you could adapt the “directions” exercise in this lesson to include going from A to B with a review of prepositions of place. There is a prepositions chart on the second page of Grammar Chart A in the Lists, Tests, Charts, and Maps category. This week’s lesson could also lead to an interesting discussion about different cultures! (more…)

Educational Resources and Networking Opportunities in Social Media

Posted by on Sep 03, 2013 1 Comment

The wealth of information available via social media continues to amaze me. The vast amount of resources and networking opportunities that have sprouted (no pun intended) up in the last few years is incredible. Educators from around the world can connect and share ideas. But some of us might be wondering where to start! Or, for those of us already immersed in the online culture of the educational realm, how do we add to our networks? We all know time is valuable. How can we make the most of our time online? (more…)

A-F in the Phonics Cafe

Posted by on Aug 30, 2013 0 Comments

Learning letters can be fun! Our Lesson of the Week is A to F from Book 1 in the Phonics Cafe. This lesson features 20 pages of exercises and activities that will get your young learners excited about learning the alphabet. It includes printing practice, coloring and matching activities, a maze, the alphabet song, an alphabet game, and an alphabet test. All the exercises and activities have amazing artwork that your kids will love! (more…)

Welcome to Sprout English!

Posted by on Aug 22, 2013 7 Comments

We’re so excited about the launch of Sprout English, a resource site for teachers and parents of young learners of English. Let us tell you a little bit about who we are and what we do!

Who Are We?

We are a part of Red River Press, a company dedicated to quality educational websites and apps. We used to be called English Avenue, but we’ve undergone a big transformation that includes a beautiful new website, and we are now Sprout English! We feel that there continues to be a lack of resources available for young learners of English, and it’s our mission to change that. We will do for teachers and parents of young English learners what ESL-Library has done for teachers of teens and adults, which is to provide a wealth of valuable resources to make teaching easier and learning fun! (more…)