Tag: lesson plan

Education and Big Ideas

English Language Learners? Give Their English a Boost with Poetry

Every day, ELLs and ESL students face a barrage of grammar, readings, and comprehension checks. Offer them a language victory through poetry and memorization. Memorization, long thought to be the “bad boy” of education, has a respectable history of function and use if one scans back over the ages. Our grandparents and theirs held forth on lofty topics, declaiming for a quarter hour or more … Continue reading English Language Learners? Give Their English a Boost with Poetry

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Education and Big Ideas

Innovative Lessons for Romeo and Juliet: Duels, Sword Play, and Poetry

For teachers, a new school year can either mean rehashing the same old same old or looking for ways to stretch their pedagogical wings. One area that needs regular revamping is literature. How do you bring literature to life for students who only read under duress? Romeo and Juliet is a standard high school text, and a nexus from which dozens of inventive lesson plans … Continue reading Innovative Lessons for Romeo and Juliet: Duels, Sword Play, and Poetry

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Education and Big Ideas, Fascinating Folk

Kipling’s “If”: Your Source for Lessons from Every Direction

Establishing a real connection between literary texts and students creates a powerful cognitive bond. Rudyard Kipling’s “If” is an ideal example. Who Was the Man Behind the Perfection Of “If”? A recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, Rudyard Kipling was a product of a classic colonial tale, that of an English boy born in Bombay, India to a life he adored in … Continue reading Kipling’s “If”: Your Source for Lessons from Every Direction

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Education and Big Ideas

Using News and Old Time Radio Shows to Improve Language Skills

Okay, some of your students hate to read. Fortunately, there is another way to build their vocabulary and improve their  English proficiency – it all begins with radio. Anyone who has ever learned a language is aware of how difficult it is to pick up actual meaning from target language conversations, news broadcasts, movies, radio, or the internet. Listening is a complex cognitive function, requiring … Continue reading Using News and Old Time Radio Shows to Improve Language Skills

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Education and Big Ideas

Using TED Talks to Teach DETERMINATION

TED is a free resource offering teachers an array of materials to enhance any subject. Guiding or instructing students in the realm of personal values is a sometimes treacherous path to walk. Many of the traditional stories illustrating such topics are religious in nature and those are best left out of the classroom. Our world, however, can provide a plethora of new material without offending … Continue reading Using TED Talks to Teach DETERMINATION

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