English Teachers in Russia & Elsewhere, E-textbook — Issue #129
In this issue you have a new poem, with audio, about a monster called Paul.  Also you’ll find some activities from past ETs in Russia issues included below.
Contents
=> Paul the Monster Crashes a Party (poem with audio)
=> Ghostly Unfinished Sentences (speaking and grammar activity)
=> Two Witches […]

English Teachers in Russia & Elsewhere #128

Contents
=> 4 Riddles: Easy C-Test Activities
=> Kasha Malasha Translation Activity
=> Riddle Answers

Quick Riddle C-Test Activity

In a C-test, half of every second word is missing. An apostrophe counts as a letter.
In the four riddles below, students will figure out the missing letters and complete the words. Then, in […]

English Teachers in Russia & Elsewhere #127
Contents
=> The Paper-Wrapped Surprise Game
=> In the Next Issues
The Paper-Wrapped Surprise Game
This game was explained to me — in English — by 10-year-old Dana Yastremskaya of Minsk, Belarus. Thanks, Dana. (Oh, incidentally, you can hear a recording of Dana’s song “The Bee” […]

English Teachers in Russia & Elsewhere

E-textbook — Issue #126

Contents
=> The Great Song Translation Activity
=> Where to find songs?
=> Lyrics to Cole Porter’s “True Love”
=> In the Next Issues
The Great Song Translation Activity

This activity has many steps, but that’s what makes it good. Students […]

 "True Love" by Kevin and his mom [1:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Contents
=> Word Origins: Scavenger & Scavenger Hunt
=> 3 Scavenger Hunt Ideas
=> In the Next Issues
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Word Origins: Scavenger & Scavenger Hunt
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Scavengers are animals that find and eat dead animals. These include vultures, beetles, and raccoons. Scavenger comes from a Middle English word, skawager, which was, actually, a customs collector. (You can […]

Contents
=> Tapering Dialogues - a pair writing activity by Mario Rinvolucri
=> Following up Tapering Dialogues
=> In the Next Issues
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Tapering Dialogues - a pair writing activity by Mario Rinvolucri
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This activity was created by Mario Rinvolucri. (See “Unleashing Writing
Creativity in Students,” English Teaching Forum, Volume 43, Number 4, 2005). It works great! http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol43/no4/p42.htm
Allow fifteen […]

Contents
=> What’s a Fortune Cookie?
=> Quick Fortune Writing Activity
=> Funny Fortune Cookie Contest – and a poem?
=> Three Quotations About Fortunes – gap-fill
=> In the Next Issues

Fortune cookies are those things that you get at Chinese restaurants after your meal, and usually along with your bill. You won’t find them in China […]

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Birthday Card Activity
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Below, you can see the familiar format of the birthday card: a partial sentence on the outside of the card, followed by an ellipses (that’s three dots, like this …). Then the birthday boy/girl opens the card to reveal the (often surprising) finish of the sentence.
Outside of card […]

Contents
=> Crossfire Dictation – a multi-listening/writing task
=> In the Next Issue

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Crossfire Dictation
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I tried this activity in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. It’s a listening/writing
task that is, well, pandemonium. Chaos. But the teachers in Dushanbe
seemed to like it.
Here’s what I did: I gave each teacher a picture of a US State. […]

Contents
=> Multi-Listening Tasks
=> Welcome to Subscribers from CATEC and Tajikistan
=> In the Next Issue
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Multi-Listening Tasks
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What’s a multi-listening task? I’m not sure–I just made up the name. But recently I worked in Tajikistan, by invitation of of the US Embassy there in Dushanbe.
I tried a couple new listening activities. They take very little […]