Information Gap Activities

  This video is part of our ESA Methodology series. The ESA methodology consists of three stages. In this series, we look at the individual purposes of each stage and typical activities for each stage. This second video introduces the study phase of ESA. The purpose of this phase is to cover the actual teaching of the lesson and to check the understanding of that material.The second stage or phase of the lesson is known as the study phase and really the purpose of this phase is to cover the actual teaching of the lesson and to check understanding of that material. Typically in an ESA lesson, the study phase will have two parts. The first phase of the study is to cover the actual teaching component in what's known as the board work and what we try to do in the board work phase is to...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zezhang Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yuncheng Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Which activities can be used for teaching productive skills? Almost every language consists of productive and receptive skills. Speaking and writing are productive, active skills; information is produced in oral or written form. Listening and reading, on the other hand, are receptive abilities. These skills are used when we receive information. A good language...  [Read more]

  Once we're satisfied that all the students have been engaged and that they've been given the opportunity to say something, we can move on to our study phase. Here, it may be necessary or useful to actually pre-teach some gaps in knowledge that have been shown from the engage phase and those gaps in knowledge may include actual grammar structures or indeed useful vocabulary and it's very important that, before we move on to doing any forms of activity, we check their understanding of this material. So, we need to do some study exercises. It's also very useful if you leave this information up on the board through all that study period. Those study activities can just be the normal types of gap fills or matching activities and, as always, we need to demonstrate those activities,...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Niuwu Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yan'an Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Without a doubt, the best thing I have learned from my TEFL/TESOL course is the ESA teaching system. It provides English instructors with a solid frame work for lesson planning to expand upon and vary as needed. During the engage phase I believe warm ups to be vital in order for students to begin thinking in English. While minimizing teacher talk time and providing...  [Read more]

  In this video Linda breaks down the difference between ?anyone? and ?any one?. While this set of words is often confused, the difference is actually quite simple. Watch the video for detailed explanations and examples on the two words. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. In this unit, I learned about productive skills and how to foster fluency and accuracy in a typical ESA lesson. I also looked at what stages in a typical ESA lesson would most benefit...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Urban education can be described as a complicated topic for school reformists in America. With critical issues, such as inadequate funding, lack of resources, and uncertified teachers, the myriad of problems with public education has reached a new high. Many big-city public education systems have turned into melting pots by bringing together members of different racial, social, economic, and ethnic groups. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Crystal H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Per the Bureau of International Information Programs (2011), the "Incomparable Melting Pot" is a likeness that inferred blending of various social...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The most helpful teaching strategy that I learned about in this course was ESA lesson planning. An ESA lesson is one that includes three distinct stages: Engage, Study, and Activate. A successful lesson should include all three components, beginning with an engaging stage and concluding with an activated stage. I plan to use this framework for my own lesson planning because it is flexible, yet has enough structure to establish students’ expectations for how they will learn during every class period. I especially like the distinction between study and activate because it helps me understand the role of different types of activities in a lesson. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rachel S. Please note that this blog post might not...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Yankuangjituanjidongxincun? Are you interested in teaching English in Jining Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Speaking and writing are key when it comes to communication. In the classroom, there are many ways to effectively develop productive skills. By using different activities, the classroom can be varied and interesting to the students. A teacher must be able to influence the students to want to communicate by using different speaking activities, games, and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching a real class, first, we need to mention the rapport between teachers and students. What makes a good teacher and a good learner are tend to be “student-centered” class than “teacher-centered”, which means teachers’ talking time is less than students’. Being a good teacher will always remind and encourage learners about their learning motivations and interests. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Crystal D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Before teaching a class, we need to plan a class and what you expect students to achieve by the end of the class. In a lesson plan, we need a learning objective what do you want students to achieve by the end of the...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas If every single lesson that we undertook with our students was a straight arrow ESA lesson then it is quite possible that the students would be able to predict what is going to come up next. Whilst this might be good for the lower level students, it could potentially become a little bit boring for our higher level students. Harmer considered this and his response was to generate two other types of ESA lesson that we can use to try and generate a little bit more interest. The first of these is known as a boomerang lesson and the second is known as a patchwork lesson. First let us recap the structure of a Straight arrow ESA lesson. This takes each of the three phases in turn, so a picture of the lesson looks like this: Engage  Study ...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in CaohuMuchang? Are you interested in teaching English in Akesu Diqu — Aksu? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. There are many ways of teaching a foreign language. One of them is “Grammar-translation”. The basic principle of this system is finding equivalents in the students’ own language and the foreign language being learned. It’s a system of translation. Another way is “Audio-lingualism”. It concentrates on long repetition drills. Next one is...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhaoxian Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Rizhao Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Being a teacher is a challenging task for most people. Despite many people’s belief that this job is not as serious or hard as many others, it still takes quite a bit of talent and determination to make a good teacher. A teacher is the only true leader and authority in his or her classroom, and therefore he is completely responsible for success and failure of his...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The productive skills, in my definition, are skills that require the students to articulate or produce words, sounds, speeches, or sentences either in written or typed form. The productive skills are speaking and writing. The productive skills are essential and are needed for communicative purposes in our day to day activities. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Taiwo B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Other skills are being taught in the English language, which is reading and listening (receptive skills). However, while these other skills are important, the most important of them are productive skills, particularly speaking skill. This is because for effective...  [Read more]

Shirin Sophy Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Regardless of the ESA type applied in a lesson plan(straight-arrow, boomerang, patchwork, and so forth), the activation phase, when the target language is supposed to be practiced and promoted through various techniques and activities, is usually the last stage of every lesson. A well-designed activation can be an essential characteristic of a fruitful lesson which highly affects learners' level of participation during the lesson and their sense of achievement at the end of the lesson. This phase is naturally divided into some steps to facilitate the activation process, including the controlled, semi-controlled, and free practices that are briefly discussed in this post. Controlled practice, which is the mechanical practice of the new...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Jinlingsi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Shangluo Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. “ESA” – means Engage, Study, and Activate. ESA is designed to allow movement back and forth between the stages. This is a method commonly used in teaching English as a foreign language. The ESA method is popular for its flexibility. The elements - Engage, Study and Activate (ESA) - are necessary for successful language learning in classrooms. These ESA...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Yujiawan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yan'an Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY RAPPORT? WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL WAYS TO HELP ESTABLISH RAPPORT? Rapport means a close or harmonious relationship in which the concerned people understand each others feelings and communicate in a better way. Inside a classroom, establishing rapport between the teacher and students is very much important. It plays a very crucial role in...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Mashanzi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Binzhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. As we all know, a ESA class means Engage, Study and Activate phase, which is widely used in most classes.in the class, we teachers pay attention to how to attract students, how to motivate students, how to make the language point clear and easy to understand, and how to make the opportunity to use it. All of these are we need to make sure that play well in the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Kindergarten students are at the "Beginner" phase of learning English. Therefore, you must treat the students and the learning experience in a fun and appropriate manner. Being kind, friendly, and entertaining is vital for young learners and your rapport as a teacher. Building a good rapport is essential to truly provide the best English course and helping the Kindergarteners progress throughout the semester. Since the students are so young and open to learning, talking only easy, simple words are beneficial to them at the moment. Do not go into further detail in the time being. They are beginners and need to learn the absolute basics before going into further detail about grammar. Your role as a teacher will be to observe, teach, and be a model for the...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Linnan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Dezhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class time. Then, you can design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. Having a carefully constructed lesson plan for each 3-hour lesson allows you to enter the classroom with more...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Yanglou Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Heze Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Teaching an ESL or EFL student requires different ways to approach. First, we need to understand that an ESL learner learns English for their everyday life situations, where as their first language is not English but need to use the language in an English-Speaking country. For example, a person who immigrates to a country like England for their job, he needs to be able...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As we all know, an ESA class means Engage, Study and Activate phase, which is widely used in most classes.in the class, we teachers pay attention to how to attract students, how to motivate students, how to make the point clear and easy to understand, and how to take the opportunity to use it. All of these are we need to make sure that play well in the classroom. therefore, the ESA class is an effective method to use in the class. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sweet Zh. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the Engage stage, considered as a “warmer”, the main purpose is to arouse the students’ interest and get them involved in the class, get students thinking...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Geshi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Tai'an Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. ESA, which stands for Engage, Study and Activate is a method of teaching students a new topic successfully in the most dynamic way possible. Creating immediate rapport with your students, teaching them the new information they need to know and then observing the immediate results of the class is what ESA is all about. Although the first time I had seen ESA was during...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Meizhong Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Liaocheng Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. The information covered in this course was extremely useful and has provided a solid foundation of knowledge in teaching English as a foreign language. With that said, between ensuring that I am fully prepared for each class and having to keep the coursework stimulating for the students, the thought getting up in front of a class for the first time seems a bit...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhitian Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Over the course of this certification program, I learned an abundance of information and methodologies, but none as important as the ESA outline; the ESA methodology is, undoubtedly, the best thing I’ve learned from my TEFL course. The ESA procedure provides a myriad of benefits, engaging learners in a series of dynamic activities aimed to create a seamless and...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Changguan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Dezhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. “Why do I have to take a TEFL course?” I asked this question when my daughter suggested to me to enroll in this course. Having decided to say goodbye to my current job as an international homeroom teacher, I am now embarking on a new journey of applying abroad for a teaching position in an international school. Thanks to the Americans who defeated our Spanish...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Tuya Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Bazhong Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Before I dive into this topic and try to answer the above question, let me quickly draw your attention and provide you some examples on how different teaching online is from teaching in person. In case you teach in person, you need to drive or travel when you have to teach. In addition, you need to bring textbooks, worksheets, activity sheets all printed out in enough...  [Read more]

  So, having elicited this particular structure, what I'm now able to do is to move on to the actual study activities. Typically, they will be in the form of worksheets to check that the students actually understand this information. So, I might prepare three activities. They may not do them all but, for example, I could prepare these three study activities. So, the first one is going to be a fairly straightforward matching activity, where perhaps they match the subject to its correct verb "to be" in that part of the sentence. The second one is going to be a gap fill. For example, I might use this verb here and ask them to complete a sentence using that verb, so that I can check that any spelling changes that take place are correct and the final one is going to be an unscramble,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during class time. Then, you can design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. Having a carefully constructed lesson plan for each 3-hour lesson allows you to enter the classroom with more confidence and maximizes your chance of having a meaningful learning experience with your students. A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates three key components: Learning Objectives, Learning Activities, Assessment to check for student understanding. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elorm D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Sujiadian Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yantai Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Receptive skills, reading and listening, are important skills that all students should master when learning a new language. They are important because they surround the world and can be used for purpose and entertainment. In my own experience, I have seen the consequences of underdeveloped receptive skills and have helped to develop my students’ receptive skills...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Qiandong Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Using games in the classroom is beneficial for better student learning. Games are helpful when introducing new content, enhancing the learning process, or reviewing learned material. A low stress atmosphere in the classroom is created easily by adding games. From Gap fill to Fizz Bizz to I Spy they can help the teacher maintain a positive attitude and establish...  [Read more]