This week’s Spotlight lesson is our new Simple Present – Be lesson, where language learners can get a lot of practice introducing themselves. Introductions are one of the first things students need to learn to do in a new language. Feeling confident and comfortable doing so can go a long way to making language learning an enjoyable experience.

Like most (if not all) languages, there are a variety of ways to introduce ourselves in English, and we don’t want our students freezing up in the real world if they hear a variation from what they practiced in class. That’s why dialogues that show possible variations (such as the free, printable dialogue below) are great—students can see other ways of saying the target phrase and repeat the basic conversation several times without getting bored.

For listening practice and as a model before the students try it themselves, play the audio clip at the bottom of this post or ask for two volunteers. (more…)

“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.” – Hermann Hesse

When I first began teaching children, I struggled with providing opportunities for all to voice their learning equally. Often, the most vocal students answered questions or took charge in games or group work. The shy students remained silent. With web tools and apps we now have the ability to ensure all our students get to voice their opinions and reflections about the content. With these tools, kids can tell stories, practice vocabulary, or tell us about themselves. Many allow kids to create videos that can be posted on a class website, wiki, or blog or sent to parents and friends. These recordings allow parents to see the learning taking place and evaluate their child’s growth throughout the year. Additionally, many make it fun for even the shyest student to want to participate. Below are a few free tools and apps created with kids in mind.

Web 2.0 Tools

With these free web tools, students can create stories, practice vocabulary, sing songs, or pretend to be the characters they read about. They can work with their peers and practice role-plays or dialogues that they are learning. Kids can also send fun greetings to friends and family, because many of these tools have templates and backgrounds to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and other holidays. (more…)

Our lesson of the week is I’m Going To… in the Simple Future Dialogues section of the Conversation Station. This one-page dialogue would be great as a warm-up, filler, or wrap-up to a lesson about the simple future or plans/entertainment. (more…)

Our Lesson of the Week, I’m from Canada in the Present Simple Dialogues 1 section of the Conversation Station, is a great follow-up from last week’s practice on the simple present. Students can improve their speaking, reading, listening, and grammar skills with this short exercise. (more…)