Archive for the ‘Teaching reading skills’ Category

This post might just seem like a list of links, but actually this is the good stuff- TEFLtastic was started as a way of linking to my much more serious and useful stuff elsewhere on the web, and to be honest the actual blog entries just remain a bit of padding between the links. So, click away and see if you agree that I am capable of more than vaguely funny attempts at satire and self-indulgent musings on the meaning of TEFL:

On Usingenglish.com

Worksheets

Business English- Words that can and can’t be shortened

Articles for students (but hopefully of interest to teachers too)

Why does my teacher make me use an English-English dictionary?

Why does my teacher make me learn English grammar words?

On TEFL.net

Games and other practical teaching ideas in the Idea Thinktank

15 uses for guessing games in any pre-school English class

15 problems and solutions for large pre-school classes

15 variations on TPR for little kids

The 15 stages of teaching numbers- for everyone from 2 year olds to financial analysts

15 ways to simplify reading texts

15 ways to reproduce exam conditions

15 ways to make EFL exam tasks fun

15 ways to make EFL exam tasks easier

15 fun ways to score points

Slightly more general and theoretical stuff in the TEFL articles section

15 problems and solutions for large pre-school classes

15 ways to judge an EFL textbook for adults

15 criteria for a good pre-school English class

15 reasons why PPP is so unfashionable

And if all that ain’t enough for yer, here’s the link to all my publications on the Net since 1874.

Hopefully it’s just Mayday bank holiday rather than my lack of effort TEFLtasticwise recently that has seen a sudden drop in my number of views, but if only to make myself feel better I thought I’d give a list of where I’ve been making much more effort elsewhere, with links:

TEFL.net Idea Thinktank

15 fun ways to switch students onto graded readers

15 fun gapfill tasks

15 fun job application practice tasks- CV writing, cover letter, interview practice, HR vocabulary etc.

TEFL.net articles

15 common misconceptions about Business English and ESP

15 cultural differences in the Japanese classroom

15 more cultural differences in the Japanese classroom

15 criteria for a good cultural training lesson

15 more criteria for good cultural training lesson

15 important cultural differences in the classroom

15 more important cultural differences in the classroom

Onestopenglish (Macmillan) articles

Motivating teachers whose Business English students miss class

UsingEnglish articles for teachers

Why your students overuse their dictionaries- with solutions

70 characteristics of a good grammar presentation- possibly the longest article on this subject ever!

Why your students don’t want to do pairwork- with solutions and some pondering about whether they might not sometimes be right

Why your students still make mistakes with grammar they know well- with solutions and a call to relax when there are no solutions

The advantages and disadvantages of peer observations- with how to exploit the advantages and avoid the disadvantages

Things to put in a Self-Access Centre or Student Library- with tips on how to do it on the cheap

Why do my students question me?- with solutions

Why your students have problems with listening comprehension- with solutions

UsingEnglish.com articles for students (teachers might also want to have a look at what I am writing about them)

Why does my teacher make me read silently?

Why doesn’t my teacher correct all my mistakes when I’m speaking?

Why does my teacher make me learn the phonemic script?

UsingEnglish photocopiable PDF worksheets

Travel English pairwork B and V

Business and technical English easily confused words

CAE Reading Part Two match the quotes

TEFLtastic worksheets (pain in the arse to print out but worth the effort)

English for job applications/ HR worksheets

Cultural training worksheets for EFL classes

Requests and offers functional language review

The Roots of Medical English LP and 4 worksheets

And that’s it for TEFL stuff. The other thing I’ve been busy with is my wedding speech for the day after tomorrow, which could well mean that May will be an even less busy month in TEFLtasticland. Anyone fancy writing a guest piece or feeding me a story to keep the 1700 viewers I get on a good day entertained until I get back into the flow? If so, try the “Contact me” link on the right…

17. Find the graded reader extract blind
Students are given several extracts from graded readers that the teacher has brought into class. Without opening the books (and usually without obvious clues like character names), the students have to guess which of the books each extract came from. They can then open the books, flick through and check. You can then discuss which books sound most interesting and give each student one book they like the look of to take away.

16. Find the graded reader extract race
This is similar to Find the Extract Blind, but students can open the books and have to race to find each extract as quickly as possible. (more…)

“In spite of the fact that these recent arrivals spoke ‘almost no English,’ Holly noted emphatically that she ‘was NOT teaching these students English. We focused on phonics.’”

(more…)

 …with one shocking difference.

“There’s a hubbub at the front door. The girls are very tired after their long journey. Speaking a few words of English is a major effort… (more…)

As I mentioned below, am planning on getting all the video worksheets I have written over the years up on the Worksheets part of the blog. All the first bunch I put up a few days ago use a nice little technique I either created or borrow (can’t remember which now) for pre-teaching vocab and making sure the students notice how it is being used in context and have the meaning reinforced, while at the same time practising the use of expressions like “one” and “it” for refering to things elsewhere, a skill that comes up in reading a lot and is also specifically tested in one of the Cambridge exams (CPE?? Again, slipped my mind I’m afraid). Sounds boring, but actually means teacher and students have a good excuse for watching Frasier, Edward Scissorhands, The Life of Brian and Friends in class.

(more…)

The last of the zannshou (lingering heat) has sapped me of blog entry ideas today, but I have continued with the endless task of updating my list of publications. The latest to go up is an article from the now defunct teflfarm.com that I have managed to drag up from the depths of my hard disk and I now offer to those who weren’t around in the stone ages of TEFL websites… It’s on how to use graded readers (easy readers) to liven up your classes and how using graded readers in class can persuade students to use them at home too

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/article-bringing-graded-readers-into-the-classroom/

Somewhere along the way I also wrote a game-based lesson plan on the same subject

http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?catid=58136&docid=145128

And if you haven’t got any graded readers to try these with, there are plenty of reviews on

www.tefl.net/reviews