ACE 20th Anniversary Seal

Topic: All Videos

Browse our full catalogue of professional development videos. Videos are free to watch for everyone.

Yes, There ARE Patterns in English Spelling

Students and teachers alike often complain about the challenges of English spelling, given the myriad rules which seem to break other rules, which break other rules. There does not seem to be much consistency between how words are pronounced and how they are spelled. One sound can be spelled three, four or five different ways. In this informative session, we will establish that there are actually patterns in English spelling, many of which are rooted in the history of the language. We will then examine these patterns in detail as a foundation for helping to understand the rules of English spelling. Finally, we will look at various teaching strategies and activities that you can use in order to effectively teach spelling to your students.

View Course

Writing Activities for Low Level Classes

The language skill of writing can be very overwhelming for low level students. To help our low level students become motivated to write and be successful in their writing endeavours, we need to select writing tasks that are both engaging and achievable. Criteria for writing tasks that are effective for low level students include: clear, simple, scaffolded, structured and controlled. In this session, we will introduce you to a wide range of writing activities to use with your low level students that fulfill these criteria.

View Course

Written Corrective Feedback

Written corrective feedback is not only targeted to errors, but also includes commentary on content, form and organization. In this course, we will develop a vocabulary to use when discussing written corrective feedback in an ESL classroom. We will review three methods of written corrective feedback, including direct, indirect, and coded feedback. We will then examine various approaches to written corrective feedback. Finally, we will discuss student errors and the four categories they typically fall into. A central element of this course is to suggest that teachers vary their method of correction based on type of error and proficiency of the student in order to add interest and challenge for themselves and for students.

View Course

Using Timelines to Teach Verb Tenses

While the form of English grammar, or how it is made, is quite straightforward, the use of those forms is somewhat more complicated. It is actually the use of grammar, not the form, that presents the most challenges for both students and teachers alike. In this session we will examine one of the most effective techniques to use when teaching the use of grammar to students – timelines. We will briefly discuss how to draw basic timelines including the use of symbols and colours. We will then walk through possible timelines for all of the verb tenses in English to illustrate the different uses of these tenses. At the end of this session you will have a solid understanding of how to create accurate and useful timelines for each of the tenses in English.

View Course

How to Use the Whiteboard Effectively

The whiteboard, or any similar surface for writing on, is a key tool for every teacher to master in order to be effective as an instructor. The whiteboard allows you to give students supplementary visual information to add to what you’re saying verbally. In this session, we’ll take a quick look at some of the key things to keep in mind when you’re using your whiteboard as you teach language.

View Course

Using Story Writing to Teach English

Story writing allows students to personalize the language they have learned. It is motivating and interesting because students work on their productive language skills, grammar, spelling and writing in a creative way. In this interactive course, we will first review the components of an effective story. Participants will then be introduced to various story writing activities that can be used in the language classroom with different levels of students.

View Course

Using Poetry Writing to Teach English

Poetry can be a great tool to use to teach English to our students. In this session, we first discuss why poetry writing is a useful and motivating activity for English language students of all ages, levels and backgrounds. We look at how to structure a poetry writing lesson in order to fully engage students in the process. Finally, we identify the structure of different types of poems that students can write. At the end of this session you will be able to effectively integrate poetry writing into your classes.

View Course

Using Phonics to Teach Reading and Spelling

Students often struggle to find the relationship between the sounds of English and how those sounds are represented through the English writing system. This is particularly true of students whose first language does not use a writing system based upon the Roman alphabet. Because of the complicated and convoluted path that English has taken throughout its development, our writing system does not directly correspond to our sound system. There are sounds that are represented several different ways, and letters that can represent several different sounds. Phonics is a system that helps make the relationship between the English writing system and sound system clearer for English language learners. It is useful for beginners who are learning to read and write in English and also for low intermediate students who need to improve their spelling.

View Course

Using Literature and Graded Readers to Teach Reading

Literature is a rich source of language for English language students. The universal themes, emotions and messages of great fiction writing speak to students of all ages and backgrounds. In order to make literature accessible to all levels of English language learners, major and specialty publishers have created graded readers. Graded readers are adaptations of literary works and non-fiction works that preserve the plot, characters and settings of the stories but tell them with simplified grammar and vocabulary. In this session we take you through a variety of activities to use with literature, fiction and non-fiction graded readers in order to increase the amount of extensive reading that your students do both in class and outside of class.

View Course

Using Flashcards to Teach Vocabulary

When teaching vocabulary we want to reinforce the information we are giving students verbally and in writing with visual information. This allows us to provide further visual information that visual learners can process to go along with the verbal information for auditory learners. We can also address the needs of tactile and kinesthetic learners by using activities that require student interaction with the learning materials. We can accomplish all of these goals through the use of flash cards. This session will present 20 flash card activities that allow us as teachers to meet the needs of students with all language learning styles.

View Course