What's happening in April and May 2024?
This page gives you an overview of all the activity happening across our TeachingEnglish channels in April and May 2024.
For teachers, we'll be focusing on the theme of Managing resources. For teacher educators, the focus is Supporting ongoing teacher development. Below you'll find free online training courses, live webinars and other online events, podcast episodes and research – all related to the bimonthly themes. You'll also find training and resources related to our evergreen themes of Gender, Inclusion, Climate and Assessment throughout the year.
Our theme workbook for teachers is designed to help you develop your understanding of our main theme through reflection and extra resources.
In addition to our themed events and content, we also have hundreds of lesson plans and classroom resources. Below we've selected some lesson plans to help you engage students with topical issues and special United Nations days in April and May.
Online training courses
We have a range of courses running connected to the theme of Managing resources and our evergreen themes. Live events and discussions related to these courses are hosted in our Courses for teachers community on Facebook. Find out more about all courses running in April and May below.
- Motivating activities for primary – enrol before 24 May
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Engage your primary learners with songs, games, chants and vocabulary activities that will make learning memorable.
In this free online course, you will learn about the following:
- Understanding vocabulary for primary
- Understanding games for primary
- Understanding songs, rhymes and chants for primary.
Find out more and enrol on this free course
Download the Motivating activities for primary workbook - Managing learners and resources – enrol before 24 May
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Learn how to manage resources, groupings and differentiation effectively to help build positive relationships with learners in your classroom.
In this free online course, you will learn about the following:
- Understanding classroom management problems
- Understanding differentiation
- Understanding groupings.
Find out more and enrol on this free course
Download the Managing learners and resources workbook - TeachingEnglish: Inclusive classrooms – enrol before 21 September
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Make your classes inclusive learning spaces by identifying barriers that can affect learning and practical strategies to overcome them.
In this free online course, you will learn about the following:
- Introduction to inclusion
- Creating an inclusive classroom environment
- Making your school culture more inclusive.
Find out more and enrol on this free course
Download the Inclusive classrooms course workbook - Gender in language education – enrol before 21 September
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Learn to recognise different kinds of gender bias and stereotypes, some of the barriers learners face in gender equality and equity, and how to help overcome them in your context.
In this free online course, you will learn about the following:
- Gender representation in teaching materials
- Understanding gender equality in teaching practice
- Working with gender equality in education.
Find out more and enrol on this free course
Download the Gender in language education workbook
Online events and webinars
See our free online events and webinars for teachers and teacher educators below.
- Stories in the classroom – mini-event (24 April)
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This event on Wednesday April 24 2024 will feature three webinars with experts from around the world. All webinars help English teachers think about how stories can be used in the English language classroom. The event will also feature a Teachers' Hour session, where three teachers show how they integrate stories and literature into their classes. The event is for teachers of primary, secondary and adult English language learners.
Schedule and speakers
14.15–19.00 (UK time)
14.15–15.15: Building a course around picture books: why, how, wow! (Fiona Hunter, Spain)
15.30–16.30: Teachers' hour
16.45–17.45: The role of the teacher as an online/remote theatre director (Haneen Jadalla, UK)
18.00–19.00: Personal and creative storytelling: From folk tales to our own stories (David Heathfield, UK)
Find out more and register for this online event. - Managing resources – mini-event (17 May)
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This event on Friday May 17 2024 will feature two webinars with experts from around the world. These webinars help English teachers think about what resources can be used in the English language classroom. The event will also feature a Teachers' Hour session, where three teachers talk about what creative and innovative ways they use resources in their classrooms. The event is for teachers of primary, secondary and adult English language learners.
Schedule and speakers
14.30–18.00 (UK time)
14.30–15.30: AI as our ally (Maria Jose Galleno, Uruguay)
15.45–16.45: Using resources that aren't textbooks (Cecilia Nobre, UK)
17.00–18.00: Teachers' hour
Find out more and register for this online event. - Teacher education and practitioner research – how can one support the other? (9 April)
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Please note, the content of this webinar is not aimed at teachers and is specifically for teacher educators who have a role in supporting the professional development of teachers.
A way of encouraging teachers to develop increased agency is through supporting them in researching their own practice and their own classrooms. Professor Richard Smith (Dept of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick) discusses how teacher educators can support and mentor teachers to further develop their understanding, approaches and skills in relation to practitioner enquiry.
12.00–13.30 (UK time)
Find out more and register for this online event - Teacher agency: Becoming a teacher: beyond training (14 May)
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Please note, the content of this webinar is not aimed at teachers and is specifically for teacher educators who have a role in supporting the professional development of teachers.
Alan Maley, involved in language education for over 60 years, discusses the results of an informal, unpublished inquiry where experienced teachers were asked to recall a teacher from their past who they had particularly admired, liked and respected. They were asked to list the factors which led them to this conclusion. Overwhelmingly, it was personal qualities which dominated – of the five main characteristics only one referred to professional expertise.
12.00–13.30pm (UK time)
Find out more and register for this online event - Facebook and Instagram Live events in April and May 2024
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Join our online community of more than four million teachers worldwide. We will be hosting weekly events throughout April and May via our Facebook and Instagram channels.
These 30-minute 'live' sessions are a great opportunity for you to join teachers from around the world.
Engage with English language teaching experts and community members on a range of topics and themes to help you develop your teaching skills, and share ideas and questions with a vibrant global online community.
See what's happening in our community on Facebook
See what's happening in our community on Instagram
For the classroom
See a selection of lesson plans below that you can use to focus on United Nations special days in April and May in your language teaching classrooms.
- International Day of Human Space Flight (12 April)
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Title of lesson plan: Life on other planets
Age group: Secondary
Level: A2 and above
This lesson looks at recent developments in the search for habitable planets and opens up the topic of the possibility of life on other planets. - World Creativity and Innovation Day (21 April)
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Title of lesson plan: Innovation is Great
Age group: Secondary
Level: B1 and above
This lesson is about innovation and its place in society. It develops reading and speaking skills and the use of context-specific vocabulary. The students' own experiences and opinions form the basis of all discussion and extension work.Title of lesson plan: Creativity is Great
Age group: Secondary
Level: B1 and above
This lesson is all about creativity and innovation. Students start with a discussion about creativity, then read texts about three British inventions of the 20th century. They practise using the past simple and present perfect tenses in the context of their own experiences and achievements.Title of lesson plan: Creativity and innovation
Age group: Secondary
Level: B2 and above
Use this lesson about creativity and innovation with secondary learners at CEFR level B2. Access face-to-face classroom and online teaching versions of the materials. - International Mother Earth Day (22 April)
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Title of lesson plan: How green are you?
Age group: Secondary
Level: A2 and above
This lesson plan for teachers of teenage and adult students at level A2 and above is based on the theme of climate change. Students will develop questionnaires and conduct interviews. - World Book and Copyright Day (23 April)
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Title of lesson plan: Stories and poems
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and above
Here you can find a wide range of ideas for using stories and poems in your primary classroom. All of the materials are based on authentic texts or stories written especially for primary learners. They are designed to engage and motivate children as well as develop their understanding of important themes and encourage personal, social and emotional development.Title of lesson plan: Stories and poems
Age group: Secondary
Level: A2 and above
Here you can find a wide range of ideas for using stories and poems in your secondary classroom. All of the materials are based on authentic texts or stories written especially for secondary learners. They are designed to engage and motivate teenagers as well as develop their understanding of important themes and encourage personal, social and emotional development.Title of lesson plan: Shakespeare
Age group: Secondary
Level: A2 and above
Find articles and lesson plans related to the life and work of Shakespeare for you to use in your teenage English language classroom.Title of lesson plan: UK history and literature
Age group: Secondary
Level: A2 and above
Here you can find a wide range of lesson plans dedicated to areas of UK history, literature and culture to use in your secondary classroom. - International Day of Families (15 May)
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Title of lesson plan: My family
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and above
This lesson provides an opportunity for primary children to see different kinds of families. - International Day of Living Together in Peace (16 May)
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Title of lesson plan: Peacemakers and peace-breakers
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and above
Use this lesson in face-to-face or online teaching to promote the values of peace, respect and tolerance in your primary classroom. - World Bee Day (20 May)
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Title of lesson plan: World Bee Day
Age group: Primary
Level: A2 and above
Use this lesson plan with your primary learners to help make them aware of the importance of bees as pollinators.
Podcast episodes
See all our podcast episodes connected to April and May's themes below.
- TeachingEnglish podcast: How can we use 'story' to teach English?
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Wherever you are in the world, and whatever your context, story will almost certainly be an important part of the teaching and learning context. However, what is meant by the word 'story’ may differ from place to place, ranging from the type of traditional tale found in coursebooks, to oral narratives created by students themselves, to digital creations found online. To develop our understanding of these different contexts we first speak to Jamie Keddie, an expert in the way we can use different forms of ‘story’ to teach English. His passion and knowledge of the subject will be sure to stimulate your own classroom practice. After this, we visit the Oasis Centre in Cardiff to learn more about their novel approach to using storytelling to develop their students’ English language skills.
Listen to the episode and download the show notes
Publications, research and insight
See publications related to April and May's themes below.
- Managing resources self-study booklet
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This self-study guide for teachers and teacher educators looks at Managing resources. It forms part of a series of self-study booklets, in which teachers and teacher educators will find useful theory and practice for teaching English effectively, including short case studies and professional development activities to do individually and with colleagues.
Managing resources self-study booklet - Integrating global issues in the creative English language classroom
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This publication provides innovative ideas for teaching, while raising awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Integrating global issues in the creative English language classroom - Gender-ing English language classes across the globe: Practical lessons for teachers
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This book contains 40 lessons that show how English language teachers have included a range of gender topics in their pedagogical practice. Examples of such topics include gender and the workplace, gender and education, gender stereotypes and gender (in)equality. Collectively, they showcase how teachers working in different environments have taken the time to embed a social agenda in their pedagogical practice.
Gender-ing English language classes across the globe: Practical lessons for teachers - Learning English through children's literature
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This article is about the British Council's Young Learners Centre in Paris and how they use children's literature in their teaching of English.
Learning English through children's literature