All Reference Material articles – Page 12
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Article
Modal verbs 2 – tips and activities
More teaching tips and ideas from Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield on teaching modals.
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Article
Get out of the classroom 2
Ideas for outdoor lessons which will have an element of English in them.
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Grammar and vocabulary: What is Standard English?: Part 2
In the second part of this discussion and explanation on the concept of Standard English, Tim Bowen focuses on American English.
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Teenagers: Reading 2: The reading task
Usually the task, quite often a set of questions on the text, is set by the teacher or is already in the course book.
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ArticleGrammar contrasts 2: past simple vs present perfect
An article explaining the difference between the present perfect and past simple tenses.
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Article
Festivals: Summer solstice (20th June)
This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and has been celebrated for thousands of years. Solstice actually means a stopping or standing still of the sun. Many different cultures and religions have been fascinated by the sun or have worshipped it throughout history as it ...
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Festivals: Winter Solstice (Yule) - (22nd December)
The Winter Solstice - or Yule, a pagan tradition, is a celebration of the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the North Pole is at its furthest point away from the sun. Yule logs are traditionally lit on the first day of the ...
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Festivals: St George's Day (23rd April)
Very little is known about the man who became St George as many accounts of his reputation were written by his followers and became enhanced. It is now very difficult to extract historical facts from the myths. George is believed to have been born in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), in the ...
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Festivals: Christmas (24th-26th December)
The Christmas Story Christmas is celebrated in different ways throughout the world. Often, the way in which people celebrate Christmas depends upon their family customs or traditions. In the UK, children in primary schools often perform nativity plays, which are reproductions or interpretations of the religious story behind Christmas - ...
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Lesson Share: Tuesday 25th January: To translate or not to translate
In her seventh diary entry, Maria Alamanou describes the perils of translation in Greece
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Festivals: Feast of Passover begins (26th March)
This seven or eight day festival (depending on where you live) commemorates the time when the 'Children of Israel' were led out of slavery to freedom by Moses. They had been slaves in Egypt for over 200 years and when the Pharaoh refused to release the Israelites, God visited ten ...
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Lesson Share: Friday 29th October: All the hours of the week
In her third diary entry, Maria Alamanou feels embrassed about dreaming in English
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Festivals: Doll Festival/Hina Matsuri (3rd March)
This festival is celebrated in Japan where families with girls wish their daughters a successful and happy life. This tradition dates back hundreds of years from a Chinese custom which says that bad fortune is passed to the dolls and then removed by leaving the dolls on a river. Dolls ...
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Grammar contrasts 3: will vs going to
An article explaining the difference between will and going to when talking about the future.
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Article
Grammar and vocabulary: What is Standard English?: Part 3
In the third part of this discussion and explanation on the concept of Standard English, Tim Bowen focuses on International English.
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Article
Teenagers: Reading 3: Vary the tasks
Course books tend to set very similar tasks for reading. This gets very boring for students and some students may just not be very good at that task type but still be good readers. Here are some ideas to help you vary the tasks for your students.
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Lesson Share: Tuesday 30th November: Phrasal verb stupor
In her second diary entry, Maria Alamanou discusses the problems of teaching phrasal verbs
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Lesson Share: Thursday 31st March: Grammar
In her tenth diary entry, Maria Alamanou feels frustrated by the grammar depicted in advanced level course books
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ArticleFestivals: New Year's Eve (31st December)
Many cities and countries around the world are very proud of their New Year celebrations. Cities organize street parties with fireworks, music, food and dancing. Here are some examples of how Christmas is celebrated in different countries: Scotland In Scotland many of the traditions of 'Hogmanay' (as the New Year ...