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NEW!!! Ready Lesson Plans
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With a particular focus on dialogue role-play, this site offers ready, original, downloadable scripts for your classrooms.

Send your comments if you have enjoyed some of the ideas in your lessons.

Poems:Of Ghosts, Dreams and Wizards.  By Lucille Lever

9/24/2018

3 Comments

 
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Now Available on Amazon. Suits young readers as well as adults who like poetry. Great prompts for teachers for their discussion and writing classes.
3 Comments

My New Book is now Available

9/24/2018

1 Comment

 
i am so pleased to announce that my book of poetry, suitable for kids of about 10 through adults is now available on Amazon. The title “Poems: Of Ghosts, Dreams and Wizards” by Lucille Lever would be an interesting book for your teaching bookshelf. Now is a great time for some Halloween lessons. These rhymed poems suit ESL classes as well as regular English lessons.

Teachers will enjoy the topics that will enable discussion about dreams, imagination and mystery. The poems will be a basis for writing poems and sharing with others.
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1 Comment

Friday Fun Lesson Idea in Creative Writing

8/31/2018

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Think of an interesting topic (perhaps based on a theme being studied at this time) and write it up on the board.  Give the students a given amount of time (depending on age and level) and have them write the first part of a story.  It is important to tell them not to write a complete story but only start it, with details, characters and storyline

After this time period is up, exchange papers so that each student gets the essay of another.  The students then have to read the story they have and write the other half of the story that they receive.

Later, the stories can be read to the class.  This activity means that what everyone writes is important because someone else has to base their writing on the first part of a story that is not their own, while their own original creation is being worked on by someone else.

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American Electoral College explained

8/30/2018

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It is not easy to explain the electoral college, but here is a great link that describes in fairly easy terms how the system works.  This may help teachers to explain the system to their students as the graphs are very good, too.
http://t.news.msn.com/politics/electoral-college-explained?ocid=ansnews11

1 Comment

Toefl Test Vocabulary

4/19/2018

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If you are planning to generate some vocabulary lists for your students, even those who are very young, take a Toefl book and randomly choose words that you know feature in the test.  This way the students get used to words that will help them at a later date.  Learning instructions, test question forms and academic words are all important aspects of language and can be taught instead of words that may not be particularly helpful for students.
​All vocabulary is important, of course, but this is a suggestion that makes sense in the building of students' development.
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1 Comment

Talking Mannequin Heads

4/18/2018

2 Comments

 
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Purchase two mannequin heads at a craft store (Michaels or Joanns) and use them for dialogs.  Ask students to stand behind the heads and have a discussion on any topic you choose.  This works in the same way as puppets or masks in that the student talks through another, making it easier for the speaker to feel that he/she is not the focus.

​Heads can be decorated with hats or jewelry.  They can be used and dressed up in costumes of other countries if different cultures are being discussed, or in historical garb if history is the focus.  

​Jokes, stories and drama situations are suited to this prop.

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2 Comments

Esl Ideas this Week

4/10/2018

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Do something different this week!  Try an activity that you don't usually do.  We all have our own teaching styles and sometimes fall into a particular pattern.  Incorporate pair work if you don't usually, a game if its not particularly your "thing", more or fewer writing activities, more or less reading.  Change the tempo of your class.  This will add interest to both you and your students.  Check out the writing ideas, speaking prompts, dialogs, and other suggestions on this site.

1 Comment

Headlines from the Newspaper

4/9/2018

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Cut out headlines from newspapers and have the students write articles to suit the headlines.  You could choose just one and see how many different articles you get from the students, or you can cut out enough so that each student receives a different one.

​After this you can have them read the original article that was written under that headline.

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1 Comment

Diary Writing by a Famous Character

4/7/2018

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Have your students write a diary entry as if it were written by a famous or historical person.  For example, if they have been studying Napoleon, they could write about a day of his.  Or Elvis might have an interesting thing to say in his diary.  

​Find out who the students admire, or who they have been learning about in history, and get them to personalize them in a diary.

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1 Comment

Humorous Dialog Ideas

4/3/2018

2 Comments

 
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Here are some fun ideas for writing dialogs or acting out scenes in both the ESL or any language classroom:
Topics:
Two fleas discuss their home
Two tears talk about a recent problem
Two cats gossip about the dogs in their household
Two hairs left on a bald man's head talk about life
Two flies on the wall talk about a recent event
Two pieces of old fruit remaining in a bowl talk about their lives
Two earrings discuss recent fashion
Two ants speak about their last job

See more ideas on this site for topics for dialogs​​

A great list could be brainstormed from the group that you are going to teach - and remember to  keep their suggestions.  One creative mind is much smaller than lots of brains at work!​​​​
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2 Comments
<<Previous

    Welcome.

    Hello fellow teachers,
    I am really happy to see visitors on my site each day, enjoying the different ideas. 

    With a particular focus on dialog role-play, this site offers ready, original, downloadable scripts for your lessons; and this seems to be a popular idea for teachers.

    I am a teacher of ESL and Drama with over 38 years of experience in a number of countries.  I enjoy sharing creative ideas to help both teachers and students teach and learn in a positive atmosphere.

    I also love paper crafting, die cutting, sewing and creative art, many of which can be used in language classrooms too.  Visit my craft site for ideas and inspiration. www.cottonthreads.net.


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  • Blog
  • Home
  • Abstract Scripts
  • Beginners' Scripts
  • ESL Dialog Scripts
  • Grammar Dialogs
  • Kids' Zone
  • Dialog Topics
  • Look & Read
  • Reading Ideas
  • Role Play Ideas - Links
  • Speaking Ideas
  • Writing Ideas
  • Writing: Essay Endings
  • ESL Articles for Teachers
  • Links to Useful Esl Websites
  • Movie Watching Worksheet
  • Ready Lessons Menu
  • Speaking/Writing/Drama Inanimate Objects
  • Vocabulary Whats that word
  • Project Speaking Writing Drama Mini Malls
  • Writing Fortune Cookies Lesson
  • Writing & Oral: Surveys
  • Ready. Creative Writing Letter of Complaint
  • Ready Dance Movement Story to Music
  • Ready Lesson Project Writing Speaking - About Me
  • Ready ABC Learning