EFL Teaching Recipes

  Everyone loves to brag, so this lesson recipe works every time with a variety of levels and ages. It also allows students to use their own “lexicon” and thus practice producing language rather than just “acquiring”. It really helps … Read More ....

The weather is a standard topic and beyond reviewing the vocabulary (which you can do with these resources) , you can really do it communicatively by getting students to do / practice weather reports!

After going through the vocabulary … Read More ....

There are many ways to teach writing but one way that I really think provides enough structure for beginning and developing writers is guided writing.

Give students a text with words missing (usually nouns). In groups or pairs, they can … Read More ....

   This is a classic TPR game (Total Physical   Response) and gets the students up and participating, as well as learning actively.

The teacher (or a student(s)) instructs other students to do certain actions.

Ex.  Simon says, “Touch your nose”! … Read More ....

 An Activity with a Cell Phone

This activity was done in a workshop for teachers of English working at the DGEP (Direccion General de Escuelas Preparatorias), high school teachers of English.

The activity was to show a simple … Read More ....

“I dropped my gumball, and it went . . . . .”

Required items:

1) Index cards, or pieces of paper

2) A large drawing surface (whiteboard, blackboard, a big piece of paper)

This is a fun activity to help … Read More ....

I really think it is great when a teacher gets the students interested in the world and what’s happening there.

You can use the newspaper in many ways but one easy way is to ask a student each day to … Read More ....

   Foldables are a great way to make your lessons “active” and also more about fostering thinking skills.

They can be of all sorts. Just start with a piece (or pieces) of paper and get the students folding and labeling.  Like … Read More ....

Here’s a way to practice vocabulary and sentences related to describing facial and body features, but it can be modified to include clothing and colour vocabulary, too.

First, practice the vocabulary and language: Stand at the front with a whiteboard … Read More ....

Here’s an activity that’s a fun way for students to practice listening to instructions and following them. All you need is a large TV in your classroom that can play videos, and a friend or family member from “back home” … Read More ....