Hello everyone,
The Office of English Language Programs will be celebrating the 60th Anniversary of English Teaching Forum (FORUM) in 2022. We will officially launch the celebration this month with a series of webinars, all presented by past authors of FORUM, regular social media posts highlighting and celebrating the 60th Anniversary, and much more. The social media toolkit can be found in SharePoint and Box. Please use as you begin planning activities you may want to do to celebrate FORUM in 2022 and to amplify this celebration.
We’re happy to announce the dates and presentations for American English Live Series 13 to kick off 2022. Throughout the entire series, we’ll be celebrating 60 years of English Teaching Forum with webinars presented by FORUM authors, including RELOs Lottie Baker and Kevin McCaughey! See below for presentation dates and titles.
Be sure to check out our newest set of materials and project, Sing Out Loud Word Play. Word Play is an exciting program between American English, American Music Abroad, and American Voices to bring music and lyrics into the English language classroom around the world. These materials include .mp3’s of original music by American Music Abroad musicians, lesson plans, activities, and a video series all of which are downloadable to use in the classroom. Be sure to check out these great resources on the American English Website.
Our January theme on the American English at State Facebook page is Art and Music. On the American English for Educators Facebook page our January theme is Cooperative Education. The Teacher’s Corner Facebook group has joined the Educators page. We are excited to share its amazing content and resources to reach a larger audience. Feel free to download our graphics and use them on your U.S. Government associated Facebook pages. They can be found in Box and Sharepoint.
During the month of January on the American English at State Facebook Page our theme will be Art and Music and our language point will be “What’s the Difference”. Our #WomenWednesday features a quote from American dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham. This week we continue our celebration of English Teaching Forum’s 60th anniversary with more celebration and interactive graphics.
In January on the American English for Educators Facebook page we welcome the Teacher’s Corner to the page. Throughout 2022 our themes on the page will highlight and celebrate English Teaching Fourm’s 60th anniversary. Every month we will have a guest expert who has been published in Forum. The theme for January is Creating a Communicative Classroom and it will connect to the experts published article, Activating and Maintaining a Communicative Classroom.
The American English YouTube channel now has over 104,000 subscribers and 803 videos! Our featured animated video is about Cooperative Learning. Do you use cooperative learning in your classroom? Cooperative learning has many benefits! Take a look at this video to hear about some of the ways cooperative activities can help your students.
The current issue of the 2021 English Language Forum is posted on the American English website. A highlight from (Vol. 59, No. 3) is an article on using story retelling wheels with young learners. The issue also includes an article on humor instruction, and the My Classroom article profiles a teacher in the Galápagos Islands. Authors in the issue represent Japan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and Tajikistan. Please share with your contacts!
Be sure to check out our American English Materials. You can find copies of our materials at the following links. The Global Guide to English Language Programming in American Spaces can be found in Box and on the American English Website. The updated Picture U.S. edition 2021, is in Box and on the AE website. The Online Program Material Guides – Teacher’s Guide to Creating Lessons with MOOCs, MOOC Camp Guide for Facilitators, and Virtual Watch Party guide is in Box and on the AE website.
Online Professional English Network (OPEN) MOOCs: Integrating Critical Thinking Skills into the Exploration of Culture in an EFL Setting, English for Tourism Professionals, English for Media Literacy for Educators, Assessment of English Language Learners, English for Business & Entrepreneurship, English for Journalism and more are open for enrollment. More details about all MOOCs and links can be found below.
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American English at State Facebook Page
Description: The American English at State Facebook Page is aimed at English language learners. Please share it as appropriate with relevant audiences in your area.
January’s Theme: Art and Music January’s Language Point: What’s the Difference
Graphics that are in the Box and Sharepoint for you to cross-post/use: · Idiom: golden opportunity · American Art and Music: Impressionism, Country, Luminism, Rock n Roll · What’s the Difference: during/while/for, everybody/somebody/nobody/anybody. other/another/the other, any/some, fun/funny · Food for Thought: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Small Talk: colors · #WomenWednesday features a quote from American dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham · #EducationUSA shares a vocabulary graphic for campus · English Teaching Forum 60th Celebration Graphics: First Issue |
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American English for Educators Facebook Page
Description: The American English for Educators Facebook Page is aimed toward engaging English language teachers around the world.
January’s Theme: Creating a Communicative Classroom February’s Theme: Embracing Social Media
Graphics that are in the Box and Sharepoint for you to cross-post/use:
· #SELSunday: SEL Skills · Our #MotivationMonday graphic shares a quote: “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” · #MaterialsMonday: speaking information gap · #TeachingTip: find the difference · #WordyWednesday features theme-related vocabulary; this week’s term is open-ended questions · #ThoughtfulThursday: safe and comfortable classroom · Our #SolveThisScenario series this week is about nervous student · We will continue sharing teaching tips from English Teaching Forum, classroom management techniques, and additional resources from americanenglish.state.gov. · English Teaching Forum 60th Celebration Graphics: Newsletter and First Issue |
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American English for Educators Teachers’ Corner
Description: The Teacher’s Corner section of the American English for Educators page will present and focus on themes from articles published in English Teaching Forum to celebrate FORUM’s 60th anniversary.
January Theme: Creating a Communicative Classroom: Online and In-person January Forum Article: Activating and Maintaining a Communicative Classroom
This Week’s Content: · Week 2 of our Creating a Communicative Classroom content will focus on Effective Warm-ups, Knowledge Checks, and Reflections. · Our Expert David will share his tips for facilitating warm-ups in the classroom. · We’ll examine how knowledge checks might work throughout different points in a lesson. · We’ll present a language-focused jigsaw activity and also a communicative activity called Marketplace. · We’ll explore the power of student reflection activities. · We’ll share a great AE article that outlines how to facilitate a read and run activity. Link to page: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanEnglishforEducators |
| American English Live Teacher Development Series 13 |
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American English Live: Teacher Development Series 13 begins on January 19, 2022! Throughout the entire series, we’ll be celebrating 60 years of English Teaching Forum with webinars presented by ETF authors, including RELOs Lottie Baker and Kevin McCaughey!
Series 13 events take place every other Wednesday from January 19th through March 30th at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern Time from Washington, DC. To join these sessions, go to the @AmericanEnglishforEducators Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AmericanEnglishforEducators) at those times on the event dates. Check the local broadcast times in your region here: bit.ly/ChecktheTime
At the end of each free session, you can complete a short quiz to earn a digital participation badge!
Optional Certificate Language: To learn about opportunities to connect with other participants and a chance to earn an e-certificate when you attend 4 out of 6 sessions, contact your Regional English Language Office or local U.S. Embassy: https://americanenglish.state.gov/support-near-you-regional-english-language-officer-relo
Presentation Dates and Titles:
January 19, 2022 – 8 am and 1 pm ET Presentation: Skim, Scan, Run! An Active Approach to Developing Reading Macro Skills English Teaching Forum, Volume 56, Issue 1 Presenter: Kevin McCaughey and Heather Benucci
February 2, 2022 – 8 am and 1 pm ET Presentation: Cultural Introductions by Way of Storytelling English Teaching Forum, Volume 53, Issue 3 Presenter: Matthew Jellick
February 16, 2022 8 am and 1 pm ET Presentation: Effective e-reading: Helping students stay on task while reading online English Teaching Forum, Volume 57, Issue 4 Presenters: Nicole Brun-Mercer
March 2, 2022 – 8 am and 1 pm ET Presentation: Task-Based Reading Activities Using Authentic Materials and Skills English Teaching Forum, Volume 59, Issue 2 Presenter: Mina Gavell
March 16, 2022 – 8 am and 1 pm ET Presentation: “What was it about?” Supporting Text Retelling & Response English Teaching Forum, Volume 59, Issue 2 Presenter: Lottie Baker
March 30, 2022 – 8 am and 1 pm ET Presentation: Accommodating Learning Disabilities in the English Language Classroom English Teaching Forum, Volume 59, Issue 1 Presenter: Jimalee Sowell |
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American English YouTube Channel Our American English YouTube channel is an outstanding resource for English language teaching and learning. The channel has a total of 803 videos, divided into sections aimed at English language learners and English language teachers.
We encourage you to use these resources freely and to invite teachers and learners in your area to subscribe to our channel.
Featured Section: For English Language Teachers: Deep Dives into Professional Development by Topic
This newly added section features 15 thematic playlists. Twelve playlists consist of our full-length professional development webinars organized by topic; these consist of short video clips that highlight teaching tips by topic. See this document for a detailed index of these 12 topics and which videos can be found on each playlist. We’ve also downloaded 11 of these playlists into Box and SharePoint for you to access offline if needed.
Full Box link: https://state-low.box.com/v/YouTube-Playlists-for-Teachers Full SharePoint link: https://bit.ly/WebinarsByTopic
Featured Video: Cooperative Learning
Do you use cooperative learning in your classroom? Cooperative learning has many benefits! Take a look at this video to hear about some of the ways cooperative activities can help your students.
Full YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/ZVcOOGqy9nI Shortened YouTube Link: https://bit.ly/CooperativeLrngYT Full Facebook Link: https://business.facebook.com/AmericanEnglishforEducators/videos/271017888409757/ Shortened Facebook Link: https://bit.ly/CooperativeLrngFB |
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English Teaching Forum Current Issue: The third issue of the 2021 English Language Forum is now available on the American English website. The (Vol. 59, No. 3) issue contains articles about finding strategies for implementing humor instruction in English language teaching, using story retelling wheels with young learners, practicing stress and intonation with an “mmm” technique, developing learners’ discussion and tutorial leadership skills, engaging beginning students online, conducting a press conference to deepen understanding of fictional characters, and much more.
Link: https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/english-teaching-forum-2021-volume-59-number-3 Shortened Link: https://bit.ly/3DejwA0 |
