Southern Ontario Cooperative of ESL Ministries
By Jennifer Tong Every teacher knows the importance of asking questions. It is an art to ask questions that are engaging and inspiring, and that stimulate the students’ thinking. However, have you ever made use of students’ questions in an ESL class? In the Advanced class I teach online, at the start of each lesson, […]
By Jennifer Tong Since the pandemic I have been using wordless picture books, or picture sequences, to teach a mid/high beginner on the phone. Wordless picture books are a sequence of pictures (say 15-25) that tell a story without words. Our lessons consist of telling the story in these books in English. We have found […]
Did you know that in Canada, over a third of the overall older population are senior immigrants? Did you know that nearly two in three seniors in the Greater Toronto Area are immigrants? These older immigrants show up in many of our ESL classes. They can be visitors, recent immigrants, or longer term immigrants. Many […]
Will your online or in-person ESL program continue throughout the summer? If so, here are some resources related to themes about summer. There may be opportunities to go on outings with your students; you may talk about travel; and it may still be good to talk with your students about summer in Canada, Canada Day, […]
By Jennifer Tong* Even though we just heard that we are entering a ‘sixth wave’ of the pandemic, the Ontario government has stuck to its policies of lifting public health restrictions and re-opening the economy. We may be leaving the acute or emergency phase of the pandemic. Many ESL classes, which have changed to an […]
Valentine’s Day: Love and Valentine’s Day lessons (The Virtues series) (readings, including from the Bible; discussion questions, quotes and other activities) http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/valentinesday.pdf (excellent reading on the history and customs of Valentine’s Day, with glossary) http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/02/valentines_day.pdf (a reading with lots of accompanying activities) http://iteslj.org/questions/valentine.html (Valentine’s Day conversation questions) http://bogglesworldesl.com/valentines_day_worksheets.htm (vocabulary and writing activities for lower level) […]
By Jennifer Tong In our online ESL class for Upper-Intermediate to Advanced students, we have been discussing movies since last year. First, we agree on a movie. Then we watch that movie in our spare time before the class. When we come together for a class, we discuss the themes and content of the movie. […]
By Mary-Jane Davison When the spring 2020 pandemic arrived, “Learn English, Make Friends” (LEMF), an outreach program of WMB Church in Waterloo, moved from the community centre to an online format. Almost two years later, the online English conversation circle has shown significant benefits and unforeseen opportunities. Not only has the online circle continued to […]
By Jennifer Tong Many of our church-based ESL classes tend to be informal. This means classes are smaller; there may not be a fixed curriculum, the leaders are often conversation facilitators rather than ‘teachers’, and there may not be formal procedures of assessments or advancing from one level to another. Often, organizers aspire towards being […]
Will your online or in-person ESL program continue throughout the summer? If so, here are some resources related to themes about summer. Although it is harder this year to go on outings with our students, or to talk about travel, it may still be good to talk with your students about summer in Canada, Canada […]