Learn English

Lessons, activities, worksheets and ideas that teach ESL students English composition, conversation, listening, grammar and style.

ESL Speaking Activity – I’m Fantastic

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Routine. It’s a useful classroom tool. It also brings boredom and unhappiness. That’s why routine needs to be broken from time to time.

That’s what this ESL speaking activity will do. Hopefully.

Fantasticats

This is an activity which I have shamelessly borrowed from a terrific business training website. Here is the link for business balls.

This conversation activity creates the conditions for a free speaking activity. With a few prompts the students will engage in an English conversation that does not rely on substitution drills or preset vocabulary.

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Made of and Made from

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coffee
What is coffee made from?

 

Made From and Made Of

This three-part English grammar and speaking lesson helps high-beginner and low-intermediate ESL students learn the difference between made from and made of.

  • Part 1 – brief grammar lesson
  • Part 2 – whole class practice session
  • Part 3 – pair work speaking

Part 1a. Basic Grammar Rules

Look at these sentences. Notice the use of made of and made from. Why are they used in different situations?

  • This shirt is made of cotton.
  • The chair is made of leather.
  • The vodka is made from potatoes.
  • The tea is made from barley.

These two phrases are used to talk about things that have been manufactured or processed.

  1. If the material is not changed…. then use made of.
  2. If the material has been changed (i.e. we can’t see it anymore) then use made from.

Part 1b. Made With

Some products are made from many things. We use made with when describing one of the many ingredients. (If something is made with one main material, use made from.) For example:

  • Kimchi is made with cabbage and salt.
  • This pizza is made with goat cheese.
  • These muffins are made with cranberries.

Look at these two sentences. What’s the difference?

  • This juice is made from oranges.
  • This juice is made with oranges.

Part 2. Practice and Writing

Practice writing sentences using of/from with these words and phrases.

  1. shoes, cereal, a house
  2. a tie, a can, soybean paste
  3. chocolate, a sculpture, a table
  4. bread, wine, a BLT

Part 3. Pair Work Speaking

This pair work activity is called The Hint Game. It is played with two partners and a worksheet.

  • Each partner has a list of words.
  • S/he looks at one word and gives a hint to the partner. The hint must include the use of MADE OF or MADE FROM. Of course, other words and ideas can be included.
  • Partner guesses the word and writes correct answer on his/her answer sheet.
  • Play rotates until all the words have been presented.
  • At the end of play, students keep word list and review next class.

About the exercise sheet: this exercise uses high frequency words from the New General Service List.

Teach writing?

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Save time. Teach well.

Cut your lesson prep time with this colossal collection of ESL resources that stimulate language learning and critical thinking. Simplify your lesson planning because teaching should be a joy, not a chore.toolbox-front-cover-3d-book-8-8

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT

The image in this post comes from Aurlmas and its use complies with the owner’s creative commons licensing terms.

 

Occupy Wall Street – Street Level

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We have heard about Occupy Wall Street. But what is really happening?

This video posted on Vimeo gives us a street side view of the events and the people trying to keep the protest alive.

Watch the video. Answer the questions.

  1. Describe some of the daily life activities that you saw.
  2. Make a list of the verbs that you see in action.
  3. Why are people protesting on the street?
  4. Summarize the story.

Right Here All Over (Occupy Wall St.) from Alex Mallis on Vimeo.

ESL Vocabulary Activities – Flashcards

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Learning how to spell lots of new words can be a long, slow process for ESL students.

So, I’m trying a new technique.  It’s flashcard learning from Quizlet. This lesson is for my advanced level students. It’s new for me. I will wait to see if the results are good.

Here is a link to the first set of flashcards. 15 words for this week’s homework.

Here is what to do.

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