Delta Publishing

Spotlight on: Speaking

Teaching Teens: Speaking Activities
By Christian Straukamp

Why It’s a Classic:
Teenagers often have a good passive knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar but can be unwilling to take the next step and use their knowledge to communicate and collaborate in class. There are so many reasons why this might be, and this book is designed to help students overcome their reticent and enjoy speaking. The activities are engaging and give students the opportunity to say what they actually want to say.

Key Takeaways:
🖋️Background information and teaching tips
🖋️Bank of resources and activities with clear aims and procedure
🖋️Focus on a variety of speaking activities from accuracy to fluency

Editor’s Pick: I love that there is a real focus on different aspects of speaking, including pronunciation and intonation. There’s also a very helpful focus on the kind of tasks students need to do when they are being assessed. In my own experience of taking exams in other languages, the task I hate most is talking about photos. It’s particularly hard because it isn’t something we normally do, but this book has several activities that work on improving this skill in a fun way – that’s why I’m going to choose 15 Talking about paintings and pictures from p. 55.

If you’re looking for ways to encourage your teenage students to speak more, then this is the book for you!

Check out Teaching Teens here👉: https://lnkd.in/d_Qzbbgp

As if summer holidays weren't enough to get excited about, we have less than a month until our newest title, Supporting EAL Learners, will be in our hands😃!

We asked the authors Peter Clements and Adrienn Szlapak about their 3 favourite activities from the book and how this book can help teachers. Today, we will see what Adrienn has to say...

3 ways the book helps teachers-

We’ve written this book from our experience as hashtag teachers working alongside class teachers and subject specialists who all want the same thing: to support all of our learners as best as we can.
My hope is that this book will help:
• EAL specialists by giving them tried and tested strategies that they can apply themselves when co-teaching or suggest to their class teacher and subject specialist colleagues to use in their own lessons.
• subject specialists by showing them ways in which they can effectively support their EAL learners to be able to fully participate in their respective lessons with the right linguistic scaffolds in place.
• class teachers and form tutors by bringing awareness to different aspects of inclusive practice that foster inclusive spaces and communities beyond the classroom.

My 3 favourite activities from the book are...

1. Register and formality, because even relatively fluent EAL learners often struggle with being effective readers and writers in the different disciplines for the simple reason of not being aware of the conventions of register and formality in English.
2. Laying the foundations for translanguaging, because of the incredibly effective support that can be derived from and layered upon the home languages of our learners with the right strategies at the teachers’ disposal.
3. Empower learners as a linguistic resource, because first and foremost, all learners should feel valued members of the school community and be given opportunities to showcase and celebrate the skills they have developed as multilingual learners.

Stay tuned to hear what Peter Clements has to say AND for the official release of Supporting EAL Learners!

📙It's time for the next post in our Spotlight on: Teacher Development series!

Teaching Unplugged - Dogme in English Language Teaching
By Luke Meddings and Scott Thornbury
ELTons Winner 2010

Why It’s a Classic:
Teaching Unplugged is an absolute classic because it is the first book to deal comprehensively with Dogme in ELT – and in a way that is clear, accessible and fun for teachers to read. Dogme is about conversation-driven teaching that is materials-light and focused on emergent language. By its nature, it is less controlled than sticking to the book, which can be daunting. This book prepares all levels of teachers to integrate this approach so that students can say what they really want to say – not just what we or the materials expect them to say. This is the ultimate guide to successful student engagement.

Key Takeaways:
🖋️A detailed explanation of the core principles behind Dogme ELT and the philosophy about teaching unplugged.
🖋️A huge bank of activities you can use with learners of all ages without much preparation.
🖋️It’s all about choosing the right materials or aides and using them to make conversation happen. You can really get all students speaking with this approach!

Editor’s Pick:
Everything really! But, from the ones I’ve tried out on real students in my teaching days, the one that I probably liked best is on p.58 called, A question of content. As the subtitle says, it is really a no-prep, home-made reading comprehension in which everyone chooses their own texts and writes their own questions. They then justify, share and are just so much more involved than they are when they are working with a text they have been given with pre-set questions. The noise level is high and they ask questions they actually want to know the answers to!

If you want your students coming to class WITH English not FOR English, then this is the book for you! After trying out just a few activities, you’ll notice a shift in student engagement levels – and you’ll hear the difference as your classroom gets noisy! Tell us which activities worked best for you.

Check it out here 👉: https://lnkd.in/d-gRAS5

📙Welcome to the first post in our Spotlight on: Teacher Development series!

☀️Add these to your summer reading list and get some new ideas for the upcoming school year.

Being Creative - The challenge of change in the classroom
By Chaz Pugliese

Why It’s a Classic:
Creativity is essential in the classroom. Even if you think you’re not the creative type, this book will prove that you are. You’ll come away with a bunch of practical ideas and techniques you can use again and again to put a different twist on how you work with the content you need to cover. It’s a must-read! And it’s something you can dip in and out of for years whenever you find yourself feeling like you need to try something new. And another plus - most of the activities require little to no preparation 😊.

Key Takeaways:
🖋️Creative changes don’t have to be time-consuming
🖋️Inspiration from an overview of creative concepts, approaches and strategies – there’s something for everybody.
🖋️Over 100 activities to make your repertoire more creative

Editor’s Pick:
There’s so much choice here, but as I have to go for one, it would have to be an activity on p.47 called Changing texts. You can use it with any text you choose, in or beyond the coursebook. It helps with the alienation factor that some students have when they’re made to read a text they didn’t choose. As they look at the text critically to make it their own, this activity gives them ownership and a voice - which, in turn, is going to improve the learning outcome.

Call to Action: Change isn’t always easy to deal with. Try out a few ideas and do some things slightly differently this year. This may help with not just your students’ engagement, but your own motivation. Get the book now and change up your routine this school year! We’d love to hear your reflections on the changes you’ve made.

Check it out here 👉: https://lnkd.in/dSVEnuDh

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Today is Nelson Mandela Day, a day we can reflect on the importance of his contributions and how we too can contribute to making a difference.

“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”
- Nelson Mandela

If you are considering which books to incorporate into your lessons for next year, we would like to share that our reader, Nelson Mandela, by Leonidas Sapkidis will be available in October.

We hope you enjoy this reader as a way to integrate Nelson Mandela's life and values into your classes next year.

📢It's time for another FREE online seminar!

"Effective strategies for integrating Business Impact into your curriculum" with DELTA Publishing ELT consultant Vicky B.

In this online seminar, we'll explore:
• Course planning and structuring: How to effectively sequence the coursebook's units and integrate supplementary materials for a cohesive curriculum.
• Interactive learning activities: Designing activities that encourage student interaction and practical application of business English.
• Incorporating multimedia elements: Utilising the coursebook's videos and digital resources to create a dynamic learning environment.
• Assessment and feedback: Techniques for assessing student progress and providing constructive feedback to foster continuous improvement.
• Adapting to different proficiency levels: Strategies for customising activities to suit the varied proficiency levels covered in the coursebook.

📆Mark your calendar for July 24, 2024
🕟4:30pm (UK time)

For more information and to sign up for the event 👉: https://lnkd.in/dWgxSTiK

📚 Summer Reading List - Spotlight on: Teacher Development☀️

As summer begins, it's the perfect time to refresh and recharge for the upcoming school year.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight essential reads from our DELTA Teacher Development Series that are perfect for your summer prep to kickstart a new year.

If you want a boost to your techniques and add new ideas to your repertoire, keep an eye out for some DELTA Publishing picks to fill your teacher's backpack for the coming school year. 🎒

Get ready to read, reflect, and refuel. Let’s make the next school year the best one yet! 📖✨

If you want to get a head start, check out the award-winning teacher development titles on our website 👉: https://lnkd.in/dQSURmyS

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July 14th is Emmeline Pankhurst Day.

Emmeline Pankhurst was born on July 14, 1858. As the leader of the British suffragette movement, she is remembered for her political activism, which ultimately led to all British women having the right to vote in 1928.

What better way to celebrate Emmeline Pankhurst Day than to engage your students in a conversation about equal rights?

To help get you started, check out our graded reader, Emmeline Pankhurst, by Angela Hill. You can read it on our digital platform, allango. It's full of wonderful activities, like the one below, and you can enjoy it with the 7-day FREE trial!

If you only want to use this activity, check the comment section for the answer key 😉!

Emmeline Pankhurst on allango 👉: https://lnkd.in/dHZTsHWk

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🌞 Life’s a picnic! 🧺

✨Are you looking to fill some end-of-year class time? Do you need a few activities in your back pocket to keep your students engaged over the summer?

Make the most of summer coming with this FREE activity for your students! Perfect for students of all ages, level A2 and up.

Have a little fun while learning...maybe even get outside and enjoy a picnic while you're at it! 🍉

The 2024 Olympic games are just 1 month away.

Have you prepared your own English class Olympic games yet?

Read on for an interesting glimpse into the history of the Olympic games, share it with your class, then wrap it up with these 5 FUN activities to get in the spirit, practise some English, and do something different!

Perfect for students of all ages, level A2 and up.

Enjoy!

🌟 Do you like music festivals? 🎶

The Glastonbury music festival is kicked off this week, and whether you are going or not, this FREE activity is a great way to talk with your students about music.

Perfect for students of all ages, level A1 and up.

Have a little fun while learning...maybe even add some new music to your playlist! 🎤🎸

🌞 Are you looking for material for your teen short-stay courses this summer?

Make a splash with Dive in!

🔷 Modular series: one week, one book.

🔷 4 engaging topics to get your teens talking while exploring the local environment.

🔷 Project-based activities to enhance the students’ stay.

🔷 Designed for 14-18 year olds.

Find out more about Dive in! here👉: https://lnkd.in/dKWBkRYH

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📢Mark your calendars for our next FREE online seminar!

🗓️ Thursday, 25 June, 16:00 UK time

Author, editor, and teacher trainer, Dagmar Taylor: Preparing in-company English trainers for success

Business English courses often need to be tailored to a company's specific needs. This can be a challenging prospect for teachers who may have little knowledge of the company’s business. In this online seminar, we’ll look at basic components that can be used as a framework for business English courses. Additionally, we’ll be trying out material and activities from Business Impact,
a unique modular business English course, which can be easily adapted to suit the specific needs of a company.

To register 👉: https://lnkd.in/dHeMapZr

For more information about Business Impact: https://lnkd.in/dRHKQ-vU

📢New publication alert!

⌛Do you like time travel?🔎Do you enjoy solving enigmas?

We're beyond excited to share that the SECOND book in our unique DELTA Escape Adventure series, It's about time, is finally here.

🗝️ Synopsis: YOU are the main character in this book. Your adventure begins in a fascinating Victorian house where you meet Lord William Armstrong. He claims to have invented a time machine! Suddenly, you find yourself back in the 19th century and you need to save the world from a water shortage. To do so, you will have to solve challenging enigmas while coming face-to-face with famous people in history. Can you save humanity and escape the book? (CEFR B1)

We asked the author, David Morrison, to share how he thinks this book might be helpful to students and what his three favourite things about the book are.

1. What are the 3 main ways in which the book will help teachers and / or students?
"The book gives students intrinsic motivation to read, thanks to its in-built enigmas. Any frustration on the part of students is minimised thanks to the helpful clues, found at the end of every chapter. Readers really truly feel like they're on a journey back and forth through time."

2. What are your favourite three things about the book? And why?

"Readers experience what it would be like to converse with some of the most important figures of the twentieth century. The enigmas readers must solve activate all of their skills. The ending is a true surprise!"

Read more about It's about time, here 👉: https://lnkd.in/dn45swGa

Check out the other Escape Adventure, here 👉: https://lnkd.in/dxYJdyqq

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☀️⛱️It's June!

With summer just around the corner, we wanted to share some of our reading recommendations to keep your students engaged and entertained over the break.

Join William and Amelia on their exciting adventures to London, New Orleans, and Melbourne in this DELTA Publishing trilogy by Saffron Dodd!

Ideal for students with an A2/B1 level, these stories combine clue-solving fun with cultural exploration, making learning an engaging experience.

Find out more in the links below👇:
1. The Hidden Jewels of London: https://lnkd.in/eHDM5qUf
2. The Lost Lousiana Locket: https://lnkd.in/eZPrGRzB
3. The Missing Melbourne Coins: https://lnkd.in/exG2P-qV

Enjoy!

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📢New book review!

📕Build up to IELTS: A step-by-step course (Score band 6.5-8.0), written by DELTA Publishing award-winning author Riccardo Chiappini was reviewed in this month's edition of Modern English Teacher.

For the full article, make sure you check out the latest issue on their website. In the meantime, please enjoy this excerpt from the review:

"From the teaching perspective, there is a richness of material and an excellent approach to honing the learners’ critical faculties, that would fill any preparation programme. The major focus is writing, with half of each unit devoted to establishing what might appeal to the most picky examiners."

If you're looking for a new book to prepare for your IELTS exam, make sure you check out this book.
For more information, 👉: https://lnkd.in/ddyMMAqg

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Are you preparing your students for upcoming exams?

💡We have 3 helpful TIPS from DELTA Publishing author, Rachael Harris. If you don't know about her book, Activities for Developing Learning Strategies, make sure to check the link below for more information.

3 Revision Tips:

1. A little bit and often: It’s better to do even just 15 minutes a day rather than a big slice of time once a week, do just one reading question, mentally describe one photo you see in detail, do one online exercise on one grammar point…

2. Test yourself! You should be « learning » 20% of the time and testing yourself 80% - don’t wait until you know it to test it!

3. Get comfortable with discomfort! Learning is hard, if what you’re doing is easy, you’re not learning. Being ok with finding things hard and getting them wrong is the best way to ace learning!

Feel free to share your favorite revision tips or activities below.

Book information👉: https://lnkd.in/d7K8Smhu

Happy studying from DELTA Publishing!

🌍Did you know today is the UNESCO World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development?

The aim is to celebrate the beauty and diversity of the world's cultures while focusing on the 'role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development.'✌️

To celebrate diversity through intercultural dialogue, we would like to share an activity from our book, Culture in Our Classrooms, by Gill Johnson and MARIO RINVOLUCRI.

We hope you enjoy this with your students whether it's today or another day, because every day is a great day to promote intercultural dialogue and celebrate diversity.

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📢NEW PUBLICATION AVAILABLE NOW!

Glasgow Meets Edinburgh, by F***y Harper.

Ian's from Glasgow. He's just moved to Edinburgh with his dad. He doesn't like anything about Edinburgh, and trying to settle into a new school with a Glaswegian accent and dyslexia is not working out well. Jessie lives in Edinburgh with her mum. Everything Jessie does is wrong - however helpful she is at home. Upcycling clothes and literature keep her happy, but she has to hide the literature part from her friends, as it really isn't cool. They are about as different as the way fish and chips are served in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but as Ian and Jessie overcome personal challenges, their relationship grows.

For more information 👉: https://lnkd.in/d5qqKB-W

📢 Upcoming FREE online seminar!

📆 23 May at 2:00 pm UK time

DELTA Publishing editor, Gillian Bathmaker presents: Better English for Better Business

Motivating business English learners and providing business professionals with the language they need to make an impact in today’s business environment.
Teaching Business English can be a tough job! Business professionals start class before or after a long day at work, and business course material can be bland, or at worst, irrelevant to the group. In this workshop we’ll be discussing what Business English courses really need to be offering, and we’ll be looking at a variety of ways in which we can energize and motivate busy business clients, making classes both relevant and fun. Examples will be taken from DELTA Publishing’s new Business English course: Business Impact.

For more information about the online seminar and to register 👉: https://lnkd.in/dyY_Waqx

For more information about Business Impact 👉: https://lnkd.in/dRHKQ-vU

📢NEW BUSINESS ENGLISH COURSE 📚

Make an impact now!

Business Impact is a unique modular business English course, 6 books available in two levels (B1-B2 and B2-C1) and/or individual digital modules.

The 3 modules in each book have a clear focus on one of the core areas of business English: Personal encounters, Day-to-day business, and Business results.

The course offers maximum flexibility in content and structure, to best suit students’ needs.

Book 1 of 6 is AVAILABLE NOW! Test the digital modules on allango.co.uk for 7 days FREE of charge!

For more information 👉: https://lnkd.in/dRHKQ-vU

Free 7 day trial 👉: https://lnkd.in/dWg95vqR

Don't miss our next FREE online seminar...TOMORROW!
For more information and to register👉: https://lnkd.in/dZzzvRqc

Excited for ? So are we! 🌟

If you caught our latest newsletter, you're already in on the action. If not, don't fret – we've got you covered!

We're celebrating with a special giveaway. Head to the DELTA Publishing website and check out our "Teaching Tip of the Month" for a chance to WIN a copy of our brand-new reader. 📚✨

In honor of our new reader, Brighton Rock and Roll, AND IATEFL being in Brighton, we want to know...HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW BRIGHTON?

We won't spoil the surprise any more, so have fun and we hope you WIN!

Website: https://lnkd.in/drusn_G5

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Read on to see Fiona Mauchline's 3 favourite activities from the book, and why?

So hard to choose. I think my students’ favourite activities are, in no particular order:
Speed Stories – students consistently name this activity in their course feedback. The combination of ‘surprise’ prompts and having to write quickly gives a fun, mini dopamine moment, but there’s time and guidelines for editing. Students say they find it empowering, because, as they know they’re going to share their stories, they’re motivated to write quickly but also as carefully as the time allows. Doing this activity from time to time gives them practice with that. (Musical Descriptions is another empowering activity for writing skills that my students love, and I see them imagining music when doing written exams.)

Teach it to Me (especially Vocab Mingle and Three Truths and One Lie) – again, my students say this is empowering. It helps them research efficiently, process in their own way, use the target language or content instantly, and use a lot of other language to communicate it to their classmates. It puts them front and centre of their learning while allowing me, the teacher, to check that each student IS understanding and learning (particularly Vocab Mingle).

Role-Play: Such Annoying Customers – my students just love role-plays they can see as being useful ‘in real life’, that teach them transferable skills like negotiating or ‘dealing with tricky people’. Roles are underpinned by an emotion, mood or trait, which helps focus, and the activity really helps them relax and use their language. I sit on the sidelines and nudge gently, to keep the activity going as long as possible, as shyer students often need a few minutes to relax into it.

A sneaky fourth my students love would be any one of the Film projects, for similar reasons to the above.

📆Don't forget to stop by the DELTA Publishing booth at IATEFL on Thursday around 1:00pm to meet Fiona Mauchline in person!

Check out Teaching Teenagers here 👉: https://lnkd.in/d86dwgmp

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🎉Woohoo! The day has come, April 12th, you can officially get yourself a copy of this book.

MEET THE AUTHOR:
Teaching Teenagers co-author, Fiona Mauchline will be at the DELTA Publishing booth at IATEFL on Thursday just after her talk:
Alpha to Z: eight key ingredients for teaching our teens
18 Apr 2024, 12:05 PM (UK time) - 18 Apr 2024, 12:50 PM (UK time)

We asked Fiona if she would share with us three ways this book helps teachers and her three favorite activities from the book. Here is what she had to say…

Three ways it helps teachers:

As the book is in three sections, I think the three main ways it will help teachers are:
· give current, research-based insight into what happens in the developing brain from puberty until around age 27 (give or take) and how that knowledge can help make the classroom a positive, productive, ‘safe’ place for both students and teachers themselves.
· provide them with an ‘easy-to-dip-into’ smorgasbord of activities for classrooms of all sizes, clearly marked according to skills practised, level etc., to help change things up and add new ideas to experienced teachers’ activities, support tired teachers, provide low-prep ideas for teachers covering for colleagues, help newer teachers find what works for them, and, in conjunction with the other two sections, help teachers on training courses.
· provide guidelines for reflection on the classroom – and in fact on other aspects of teaching, such as lesson preparation – and on the various challenges and rewards.
That may be more than three ways 😉

JUST ONE WEEK LEFT! 🎉

Don't miss our lineup of incredible speakers at IATEFL this year.

You can find all the details, including time and location, on our website here 👉: https://lnkd.in/dGMFHaVW

See you soon!

💻Today is the first UNESCO International Day for Digital Learning.

Did you know that we're working hard to make sure that digital versions of all our titles are accessible on our digital platform, allango.co.uk so that you can teach as digitally as you want from wherever you want?

Why not head over and try them out for FREE for 7 days?

You'll find all the digital versions on our website, but here's our On Point C1 Student's Book to get you started: https://lnkd.in/dnMR4p4g

Enjoy!

lnkd.in

📢NEW PUBLICATION!

We have a brand new graded reader, "Brighton Rock and Roll," by DELTA Publishing author, Jeremy Taylor!

We asked Jeremy to share with us three ways he thinks the reader can help teachers, as well as his three favorite things from the reader. Here is what he had to say:

Three ways the book helps teachers:

1. I hope that teachers and students will have a map of Brighton with them while they are reading the book so they can follow Conor and Louise on their adventures. (You can find some good Brighton maps at the link we give you on allango). If they use 'street view' they can actually see the streets. They’ll learn a lot about Brighton.
2. Brighton Rock and Roll is just over 10,000 words long and by reading a fun fast-paced story, pupils will be exposed to lots of vocabulary and grammar structures, but will (hopefully) not think about it, but passively absorb the language, helping them on their journey to being fluent speakers of English.
3. There are so many things that teachers can do with the story. Stop after every few chapters and ask the pupils what they think is going to happen. Get the pupils to act out their favourite scene from the book. Write a letter to one of the characters. Get someone to read out a line or two of speech. Can the other pupils remember who said it and in what context?

His three favorite things about the reader:

1. I love the friendship between Louise and Conor - despite them being brother and sister, each appreciating the others strengths. I particularly enjoyed the adventure on the bus.
2. I’ve been to Brighton many times but it was a joy to spend time researching the many things that you can do in this great place.
3. While Suzy Trojko is fictional, she is based on a rockstar that I had a crush on when I was a young teen. It was fun writing about her and I'm very happy with the ending. Hope you are too.

Fun fact: You can get your copy before IATEFL and retrace the steps of Louise and Conor yourself!

For more information about the book: https://lnkd.in/dXiCjngM

Mark your calendars for our next FREE online seminar with DELTA Publishing author Rachael Harris, from her new book, "Activities for Developing Learning Strategies."

📆Wednesday 20 Mar 2024, 04:00-05:00 PM (UK time)

In this online seminar we will look at what is meant by learning strategies and their importance in encouraging effective language learners. After looking at various categories of learning strategies participants will take part in a variety of activities that will develop the use of learning strategies in our ELT classrooms and leave with some food for thought as well as something fun to try in class.

For more info👉: https://lnkd.in/dG7jR6w3

To register👉: https://lnkd.in/dic4T9M

Book info (with a free activity!) 👉: https://lnkd.in/d_3iNmiQ

See you there!

🎉Happy leap day!

As leap day approached, it made us think...

If you didn't have to go to work or school, what would you do with this bonus day? Would you catch up on sleep? Do something fun?

Thinking forward to our next leap year in 2028, what do you think teaching and learning will look like in 2028? What impact will AI have had?

We would love to hear from you in the comments!