Any age | TeachingEnglish | British Council

Planning a writing lesson

Submitted by TE Editor on 27 April, 2011 - 13:13

Writing, unlike speaking, is not an ability we acquire naturally, even in our first language - it has to be taught. Unless L2 learners are explicitly taught how to write in the new language, their writing skills are likely to get left behind as their speaking progresses.

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Writing picture books

Submitted by Tony Mitton on 5 April, 2011 - 11:43

Following on from Sandie Mourão’s article referring us to the importance of picture books, and their application across a variety of age groups, we a

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Using texts constructively 2: intensive input-output work

Submitted by Michael Swan on 1 February, 2011 - 18:10

This is the second of Michael Swan's articles for TeachingEnglish, in which he looks at the role of texts in the learning process.

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CLIL Science: Threats to biodiversity

Submitted by chrisbaldwin on 10 December, 2010 - 16:20

This activity is a jigsaw reading based on a text by the UK Natural History Museum, available here.

Observations - why bother?

Submitted by Andy Baxter on 7 December, 2010 - 17:04

"Nice board work." This was a killer phrase back in the days before the invention of the interactive whiteboard.

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Lateral thinking

Submitted by Derek Spafford on 23 November, 2010 - 14:36

I like to use this activity to promote recognition and then practise the past continuous. It utilises a well known lateral thinking puzzle.

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Video recorders in the classroom

Submitted by Jamie Keddie on 19 November, 2010 - 13:04

I have just become an uncle! My new nephew Tomás is three weeks old today. Mummy and daddy live in Barcelona but his maternal grandparents and great granddad live in Scotland.

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Have you ever...?

Submitted by admin on 16 November, 2010 - 12:59

This activity practises ‘have you ever...? to talk about life experiences. It is student led in terms of the content and is satisfying as a result.

Preparation

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Inventions

Submitted by admin on 9 November, 2010 - 18:15

This is a fun speaking activity in the form of a game. It can be used with most levels and most age groups. Students practise presenting their opinions and reaching agreement.

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Video for the English classroom

Submitted by Jamie Keddie on 3 November, 2010 - 10:54

Exactly five years ago this month, the video-sharing site YouTube was officially launched to the public.

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