Searching the Internet for Ideas

There are thousands and thousands of sites out there, here are just a few. You can also visit the other pages in this website for more.

General

Edutopia An extensive site with teaching ideas for all ages and topics - includes some good videos of teachers at work. 

Cult Of Pedagogy A podacast and blog all about teaching. It includes a lot about classroom practice and teacher support.

CAELA  - Center for Adult English Language Acquisition is an extensive website that includes teaching strategies, approaches and methods as well as activities and many links to other resources.

Lanternfish     Formerly called Bogglesworld, this site has lesson plans, printables, and other activities for both young and adult learners - some great flashcards and information gap activities.

The Internet TESL Journal   No longer updated but you can find archived articles, activities, methods, lessons, etc.  and browse a massive list of links.

American English This is a site from the U.S. Department of State for English Teachers around the world. Check the Resources tab for webinars and slides on a variety of topics.

ESL Flow This is a collection of links organized by skill and topic.

Larry Ferlazzo  This is the website of a teacher in California who posts hundreds of links to sites that can be useful for teachers.  Lots of information!

Asian EFL Journal  A professional language acquisition journal focussed on Asian cultures.

Teaching Channel  A site for teachers that includes articles and over a thousand videos of real classrooms.

Teach This is a commercial website with complete activities on a variety of topics. Some are free and others are for subscribers (but even looking at the descriptions may give you ideas.)

Minnesota Literacy classes on YouTube  This YouTube channel shows examples of ESL activities in a real classroom with adult learners.

ESL Games has lots of activities and their books are free PDF downloads.

Classroom English Expressions

Phrases for giving Praise in the Classroom

English on the Web 

Focus on Young Learners

 MES-English     MES-English.com - ESL Resources / EFL Resources for Teachers of Young Learners.  FREE flash cards, handouts to match, phonics cards, ESL games, worksheets, an international projects Xchange library and activities all ready for printing.

Focus on Reading and Writing

Click here for a page of reading resources.

Focus on Vocabulary

Teaching Vocabulary: Two Dozen Tips and Techniques This is a handout from a TESOL Conference by Joseph Pettigrew that gives a nice overview of vocabulary teaching activities with examples.

ESL Flashcards is a site that has flashcard sets you can download for free. They are organized by theme and you can download in different sizes, with pictures and words or just pictures or just words.

Focus on Pronunciation

Rachel's English  This site is designed to help the independent learner improve but is a great resource for pronunciation explanations and demonstrations.

Focus on Storytelling

Story Arts     A storyteller's site that includes lesson plans, activities and a bank of tales from around the world.

The Basics of TPRS from Bryce Hedstrom  a pdf doc with explanation and basic steps for TPR Storytelling

Using Film Clips in Class

Lesson Stream You can find a variety of video based lessons for different skills here from Jamie Keddie.  He is working on a new project now called Videotelling.

Online Tools for Creating Materials

Magic School AI is an extensive site with free and paid versions. In seconds, you can create texts with specific vocabulary, adjust the level of  texts, create questions for YouTube videos and much more.

Discovery Education Puzzlemaker  This site is from the Discovery Channel.  It includes free tools like Puzzlemaker and a library of lesson plans.

Reading Worksheet Generator  This has an especially nice picture feature for vocabulary match ups.

PosteRazor   This is free software that allows you to make posters from your computer.

Graphic Organizers from Free Teaching Resources  A nice collection of free printable graphic organizers from a site with many more links to other kinds of resources.

Apps to Use In and Out of Class

Kahoot - A  fun game to played in the classroom that turns smart phones into game clickers.

Quizlet - Create online flashcards with sound and pictures. If you get a teacher's account you can use Quizlet Live in class with your students.

Baamboozle is a fun online game that can be played with teams in the classroom or remotely. 

GooseChase - An online game/activity designed for group scavenger hunts. Free version is limited but still very adaptable for class. Sign up as a teacher to get more features for free.

Wordwall has a large collection of word games you can create for online use. The free version is limited.