TeachingEnglish newsletter 21 February 2018

TeachingEnglish - the global home for teachers 21 February 2018 Welcome to the TeachingEnglish newsletter This week we feature three great lesson plans: for kids, 'Creepy crawlies'; for teens, 'CLIL lesson - The Atlantic Ocean'; and for adults, 'Choosing a house'. We also encourage you to take a look at our two latest blog posts on inclusive practices (IP) which cover the tenets of IP and a checklist that you can use when lesson planning. This week's featured article looks at raising awareness of diversity in the language classroom, and focuses on diversity related to physical or sensory impairment. And finally, watch a recording of Noreen Caplen-Spence's webinar - 'CLIL for secondary schools'. We hope you find these resources useful. Deb TeachingEnglish team Teaching kids 'Creepy crawlies' can be done over a series of lessons as part of an ongoing project, dedicating each lesson to a different insect, or otherwise as one lesson. Children love squeamish subjects, so you may find that they want you to extend what you originally planned to do. You'll find that insects are a great basis for teaching several language areas such as colours, numbers, food and body parts. Insect by insect, find suggestions of activities you can develop around each one. [Go to the lesson plan]( Teaching teens This CLIL lesson is based on a running dictation using a text about the Atlantic Ocean. The text can be graded for difficulty according to your learners' language level and subject knowledge. In this activity, students will practise all four skills and geography terminology. [Go to the lesson plan]( Teaching adults 'Choosing a house' is an activity for higher elementary- level students, primarily to practise vocabulary and collocations related to house and home, but also as an early confidence builder for speaking skills. The target language here is vocabulary rather than any longer expressions, although it is impossible without some wider general English ability, and students will certainly need to be familiar with present simple question forms. [Go to the lesson plan]( Development In the language learning context, perhaps the most significant dimensions of diversity relate to physical or sensory impairment (e.g. a long-term health issue or hearing loss) and neurodiversity (i.e. non-typical ways of processing information, often identified as dyslexia, dyspraxia or another specific learning difference). It is these aspects that this article focuses on, because of the challenges they present for language learners. [Read this article by Anne Margaret Smith]( which includes activities to raise awareness of diversity in the language classroom. Events In this webinar, Noreen Caplen-Spence explores what works in CLIL. She stresses the final L in CLIL, i.e. learning is the focus of the session. In addition, she unpicks what is meant by CLIL in different contexts. Finally, she looks at some strategies that are practical, learning-centred and inclusive. [Watch a recording of the webinar]( Magazine Every ELT teacher can easily practise inclusivity in their lessons, although there is always more that we can be doing to ensure every student is sufficiently supported and challenged in our classrooms. According to the new code of practice, just as 'every teacher is a teacher of SEN', it seems to me that every ELT teacher is an inclusive practices (IP) teacher. Read [Rachael Harris's post]( to find out more about the tenets of IP. And check out Rachael's follow-up post [The Inclusive teacher checklist]( when planning your next lesson to check that you are reaching and challenging all your students to achieve the best possible outcomes. You have received this newsletter because you registered on our website or previously showed interest in British Council news. If you wish to opt out of future newsletters, please unsubscribe [here](. British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London, SW1A 2BN United Kingdom [SafeUnsubscribe™ {EMAIL}]( [Forward this email]( | [Update Profile]( | [About our service provider]( Sent by teachingenglish@britishcouncil.org in collaboration with [Constant Contact]( [Try it free today](