January Topic: The Chinese New Year!

The Lunar New Year, beginning January 28th, is best known as the Chinese New Year and is celebrated by many cultures around the globe. Its origin has to do with harvest and since this special time follows the lunar calendar, it falls on a different day every year. There are many festivities, traditions and customs which can make this an interesting and lively topic. Have your ESL students not only learn about the festivities that vary from culture to culture, but also the symbols and beliefs of the Chinese zodiac and what that means for the year ahead!

FIND RECOMMENDED LINKS FOR YOUR ESL STUDENTS HERE!

New Resource - Financial Literacy!

 

Here's a great site for teaching your ESL students of all levels the importance of budgeting and keeping track of their money. There are plenty of free resources and lesson plans to download here.



January Topic: Civil Rights Day

January 19th is Civil Rights Day in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and honor all those who took part in the American Civil Rights Movement (video) in the 1960's. It also celebrates the contributions of activist Martin Luther King, Jr., who was well-known for his campaigns to end racial segregation and to promote black equality in the United States and globally.

Your ESL students may find this topic interesting as it will give them an insight into America's history of human rights.

 

Listen to Martin Luther King's Famous Speech "I Have a Dream" - Have your students take notes and then discuss as a class.

FIND RECOMMENDED LINKS FOR YOUR ESL STUDENTS HERE!

January Topic: Thesaurus Day!

January 18th is THESAURUS DAY! It's a day that commemorates the birthday of Peter Roget (Jan 18th, 1779), the author of  Roget's Thesaurus.

The thesaurus has been an invaluable reference resource for millions of students and other writers around the world who use it to spice up their language with synonyms (different words that have the same or similar meaning). For ESL students, using synonyms not only helps develop and strengthen English skills, it increases confidence and motivation while learning this "tricky" language.
 

Thesaurus.com, Merriam Webster.com and Synonyms.com are just a few online sites that are both easy to find and use. So why not challenge your ESL students to explore and practice new and interesting words daily!

Find recommended links for your ESL students here!

Happy New Year!

NEW YEAR'S customs, traditions and celebrations can help generate some lively classroom discussions with your ESL students. It's also great for working on past & future tenses by discussing key personal or global events from 2016 as well as plans and possibilities for 2017!

Find recommended links for your ESL students here!

Check out some suggested topics and themes here for January curriculum planning or if you need a quick idea!