Websites | Spicy Tooth

Spicy Tooth

ESOL – Literacy – Numeracy

NRICH Maths

NRICH maths is an extensive collection of resources that promotes maths through problem solving. There are many interesting activities that encourage learners to think of different ways of solving problems, which is a change from many of the worksheet-based maths sites. NRICH covers a wide range of levels, from primary to secondary. The website is…

Quizizz – Not Just A Kahoot! Clone

Quizizz is an up-and-coming real-time assessment application, which at first glance looks very similar to Kahoot! However, looks can be deceptive and after some initial scepticism I am becoming quite fond of using Quizizz with my learners. As I have mentioned in other posts, the use of real-time assessment applications have become a viable alternative…

e-Learning

Here is an infographic I created to accompany a session I gave on e-Learning to a group of trainee teachers.

Teaching Spelling to English language learners

Is it just me, or has spelling taking a bit of a backseat in the classroom? We spend a lot of time teaching grammar and the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, but when it comes to spelling, I find that I usually only scratch the surface of the topic. The other day,…

Cuisenaire rods

Cuisenaire rods are a physical learning tool that are used primarily in the teaching of maths concepts, such as fractions. However, they also have application in language learning, such as for showing word stress and intonation. Examples of how cuisenaire rods can be used in language learning can be found on many websites, including an…

Eye halve a spelling chequer

I have recently been looking at the peculiarities of English spelling, which prompted me to dig out a poem I came across a number of years ago. I believe the poem below is the original version, although various modified versions of the poem also exist. The British Council website has a good activity for the…

Maths worksheets

There are numerous (geddit?) websites offering maths worksheets. Here are some of my favourites. I have replaced one of my previous recommendations because of the high number of trackers the site uses. themathworksheetsite.com themathworksheetsite includes a limited range of free worksheets that are generated dynamically. I particularly like the free number line generator, which generates…

Word clouds – Wordle, Tagul or Tagxedo?

Word clouds are a method of displaying words on a screen. It is particularly useful for showing the frequency of words in a text, with words that occur more frequently in the text appearing in a larger font than words that occur less frequently. An example of their use could be to get learners to…

Teacher’s Corner

Teacher’s Corner is a fantastic website, full of resources for teachers. Grouped under the ‘printable worksheets’ tab are a range of ready made worksheets, including crosswords, word searches, word scrambles, telling the time worksheets, money worksheets and maths worksheets. There is also a word cloud generator. What sets this website apart from others is the…

English Speaking Board (ESB) ESOL Exams

The organisation where I work has all but dropped Cambridge ESOL exams and are offering exams from ESB (English Speaking Board). Reading At the time of writing I am preparing a class for their ESOL Entry 3 reading exam. While the reading texts in the sample papers do not appear to be particularly difficult, the…