“This is a terrible mistake, because I used up all of my English!”

~ Roberto Benigni, accepting his Academy Award for Best Actor in “Life is Beautiful” (2010)

Did your students watch the Oscars this week? What was their favorite part? Did they enjoy watching the stars on the red carpet, or the live musical performances? Maybe they got a kick out of Ellen’s selfie that broke Twitter, or the pizza man who brought Brad Pitt and his friends pizza!

I often let my daughter stay up late to watch awards shows like the Oscars or Grammys. She’s a dreamer with big aspirations, and I think it’s important for kids to see people achieving their dreams. While my daughter’s favorite part of awards shows is seeing the pretty dresses (her dolls were all dressed up for the occasion this year), my favorite part is always listening to the acceptance speeches. Who are the winners going to thank, and why? What secrets do they have for dreamers who are still trying to achieve their goals?

This year Jared Leto, winner of Best Supporting Actor, gave the best speech! Here is the transcript of Leto’s speech. His speech told a story, and it came from the heart. It captured the audience’s attention, and he didn’t rely on a crumpled up piece of paper.

An Inspiring Video

One of the most memorable speeches in the history of the Academy Awards was delivered by Robert Benigni in 2010. (more…)

Whether they love it or hate it, writing is an essential skill for English learners to acquire. Writing also incorporates many other skills: grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, syntax, organization, etc. For teachers, writing can demonstrate whether or not a student has truly understood a grammar target, and a student’s writing can point to specific areas he or she needs to work on (e.g., forgetting to use articles such as a or the, using the simple past when the present perfect is required, etc.).

There are many ways that writing can be incorporated into the classroom. Blogs, journals, essays, and stories are a few common writing exercises to try. At the heart of almost all writing, though, is the need for a good, well-organized paragraph. Learning the structure of a typical paragraph means students will feel like they have a “guide” to follow. Writing can be daunting, so starting with a how-to lesson is an excellent idea!

Paragraph Structure  (more…)

Writing improves many aspects of English such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. Students can practice writing through blogging, journals, or essays. But often students don’t know where to start. An interesting topic and questions to guide their writing will really help students focus!

Our featured writing lesson on Movies does just that. With four questions to get them started, students can compose a well-organized paragraph on their favorite movie. (Don’t forget to point out the spelling difference, favourite, if you teach in a country that uses British English). (more…)

This week’s Spotlight features a lesson plan from our Conversation Station. This section is full of dialogues for English language learners to read, listen to, and practice.

It is useful for learners to practice conversations using ready-made dialogues, and it’s also useful to use authentic dialogues once in while. You can invite speakers into your classroom, or find authentic dialogues on podcasts and videos. We had our own dialogue at Red River Press this week, and we thought students and teachers might find a few different uses for it. Be sure to download the useful document that we are talking about!

What follows is a conversation I had with Red River Press’s editor, Tanya Trusler. You can play this listening file for your class, and see if they can understand the gist.

Possible Follow-up Questions (more…)

Adventure, in the Writing section of the Project Depot, is a great way for your young learners to practice their writing skills.

All Sprout English’s writing activities include vocabulary words and phrases that are related to the writing topic. Your students will not only learn new words, but will also be more likely to remember them because they’ll use them in context in their writing. The phrases are designed to get students’ imagination going. Students must work them into their stories. (more…)