The Escape Room: Class Version
Get your students thinking about the benefits of struggle and mistakes with this engaging activity. It’s great for first week community building that will get your students working together, solving puzzles, and learning how to be the best language learner possible.
Gamify Discussion Time
For many students, participating in class discussion can be scary and overwhelming. However, I have found that by using sentence frames in a competitive way, students can feel more excited and confident to participate.
Close Reading Rounds
Time: approximately 50 minutes Level: adaptable to multiple levels. I used it in an advanced class one level below freshman composition. In past posts, I wrote about “Close Reading Folders” and “Close Reading Knowledge Building,” two activities to get your students working together to unpack key passages of a text. I love the concept of […]
Five Interactive Activities to Debrief a Text
Reading is an excellent way for students to grow their language skills. Having just the right activity to help students access the text on an even deeper level can not only expand your students’ learning but also create engagement and make learning fun. Check out these five activities to help you do this.
Close Reading Knowledge Building
All of our students bring with them unique thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. When we give them opportunities to share, together they can grow their understanding of a topic. Check out this idea for a deep reading activity that can be used in both lower and more advanced levels alike.
Building Blocks – A lesson in Active Learning
Start your class off on the right foot with this community building activity that doubles as a lesson in how to be a successful language learner.
Schema Jigsaw Grid
Set students up to be successful with a challenging reading with this pre-reading activity. They’ll get some great speaking practice in the process.
CATESOL Reflections Part 2: Tech
Check out this list of interesting websites/apps I heard about at the CATESOL conference.
CATESOL Conference Reflections: Part I
The annual CATESOL conference is a professional development event for ESL educators in California and Nevada. I attended this weekend and will summarize some tidbits I learned about critical thinking and also vocabulary strategies.
Error Correction Telephone
Here’s another way you can structure error correction to liven up your class and put the fun in grammar.
