Sprout English has been growing for over a year now!
As a materials writer who contributes to various Red River Press publications, including Sprout English (previously English Avenue) and ESL Library, I was excited about the opportunity to blog with the Sprout team. I have been blogging in the field of ELT for many years both personally and professionally. Here are a few reasons why Sprout English has been my favorite place to blog so far!
- It’s beautiful! The clean design and gorgeous illustrations make it a pleasure to blog here. I love looking at the finished product. Thanks, Robyn!
- It’s organized! Sprout’s editor Tanya Trusler has the blog team working on a handy, theme- and grammar-based schedule. Each post connects with a featured lesson in our Spotlight section.
- It’s useful! Many of our posts offer free, professionally designed worksheets to go with our suggested activities. The blog allows teachers to get a feel for the quality-based materials that Sprout English offers to subscribers.
A Collection of #ELT Ideas
In celebration of a year of blogging, Tanya and I are putting together a few collections to make it easier for all of us to find useful posts based on themes, topics, and grammar points. Each individual post links to a related lesson or review. While most of Tanya’s posts offer lesson features, grammar tips, and bonus review worksheets, my posts typically offer activity extensions such as games, crafts, and creative writing activities. Shelly Terrell blogs with us regularly, too. Her posts typically focus on teaching tools and technology.
We hope you’ll bookmark our collections and visit regularly. If you’re a blogger, don’t miss the
#ELT Idea challenge at the end of this post.
Art and Music
- Draw and Describe Monsters
- Minimal Pair Craft – Holiday Paper Chains
- Easter Colors: An Eggcellent Easter Activity
- Odd One Out: 5 Silly Activities for Very Young English Learners
- 10 Educational Songs and Videos for Teaching Kids about Food
- Music Activity for Young English Learners: Drumroll, Please
- Draw My Face: Listening Activity
- Movie Poster Activity: Practicing the Simple Present & Present Progressive
Tips and Ideas for Teachers
- Things to Do with a Map
- Teaching Cursive at School
- Teaching English with Stuffed Animals and Puppets
- RSCON4 Recordings – 7+ Sessions for YL Teachers to Watch
- 8 Fun and Interactive Ways to Review Idioms
- Talking to Kids about Jobs
- Spirit Day Ideas for ESL Classrooms
- Printable Show and Share Passport
- Combining English with Movement
Back to School / Year End
- Are you Going to Set Back-to-School Goals with Your Kids?
- Things to Do with a Map
- For ESL Parents – Supporting Your Child’s Language-Learning Journey
- Guess Whose Goals: Future Tense Game
- Pronunciation Practice: Name Games
- End-of-Year ESL Activity: Obstacle Courses
- Back-to-School Lost and Found Challenge
Tips and Ideas for ESL Parents
- Teaching Cursive at School
- A Halloween Letter for ESL Parents
- Supporting Your Child’s Language-Learning Journey
- Starting the New Year Off on the Right Foot
- 10 Summer Printing Practice Ideas for Kids
- Are you Going to Set Back-to-School Goals with Your Kids?
Grammar Games and Activities
- Daily Routines Game – Reviewing the Simple Present Tense
- Visualizing the Present Progressive Tense
- Zero Prep Simple Past Warm Up – Remembering Yesterday
- Guess Whose Goals: Future Tense Game
- Practicing Superlatives During the Olympics
- Valentine’s Day Game for Young Learners – Practicing Gerunds
- Animal Battle – An ESL Card Game for Practicing Comparative Adjectives
- Pronunciation Game – A Plural Party
- Where is Sprout? Games for Practicing Prepositions of Place
- Past Progressive Game for Young Learners: What Were You Doing?
- Countable or Uncountable Food: Our Buffet
- Be Verb Practice: Be Yourself
- There is / There Are Pair Activity: There’s No Place Like Home
- Movie Poster Activity: Practicing the Simple Present & Present Progressive
Using Technology and Video
- Practice English Nations and Nationalities with Talking Photos
- Using Authentic Dialogues in the Classroom – An Interview with Sprout’s Editor
- 10 Educational Songs and Videos for Teaching Kids about Food
- Guess the Travel Memory: Word Cloud Game
- Mother’s Day Video Fun: Animals and Babies
Writing Activities
- A Writing Contest for Frankenstein Day
- Writing Activity: My Acceptance Speech
- Independence Day Handwriting Activity – Sign Your John Hancock
- 10 Summer Printing Practice Ideas for Kids
Holidays and Events
- Starting the New Year Off on the Right Foot
- Guess Whose Goals: Future Tense Game
- Practicing Superlatives During the Olympics
- Valentine’s Day Game for Young Learners – Practicing Gerunds
- 3 FREE Activities for St. Patrick’s Day
- Easter Colors: An Eggcellent Easter Activity
- Mother’s Day Video Fun: Animals and Babies
- Story and an Idiom: A World Cup Listening Activity
- Independence Day Handwriting Activity – Sign Your John Hancock
- A Writing Contest for Frankenstein Day
- Draw and Describe Monsters
- A Halloween Letter for ESL Parents
- Thanksgiving Activity – Count Your Blessings
- Minimal Pair Craft – Holiday Paper Chains
- Alphabetizing Fun – Christmas Activities
#ELT Ideas Challenge
Are you an #ELT blogger? I’d like to challenge other #ELT bloggers to go through their archives and create a list of their own #ELT Ideas. Share your post with me on Twitter @tarabenwell, so that I can share it around! And please join me in using the hashtag #ELTidea. While #ELT is a useful hashtag, some of the more useful hashtags in our industry are a bit more specific (e.g., #ELTpics, #ELTChat, #ESP, #EAP, and even #grammar). I’m going to start using #ELTidea on Twitter and other social media platforms to share games, warm-ups, and authentic resources that ELTs may want to try using in class.
Related Collections
Shelly Terrell’s Tips and Ideas for Teaching English to Young Learners
Tanya Trusler’s Collection of Resources for Teaching English to Young Learners
100 Days of Grammar: A Collection of Resources for Teaching Grammar to Teens and Adults
