Digital Resources in the ESL Classroom

 

Offering students various instruction methods and ways of consolidating their learning in all subject areas is what all good teachers do. Some days, avoiding screens altogether is ideal, returning to basics. Other days, digital resources are the winners, attracting kids to their learning and helping them to focus on making progress in a fun way. A healthy balance is imperative within all classrooms, especially the ESL one.

Here are five fantastic digital resources, in the form of PowerPoint presentations, that you can use in your ESL classroom to help your learners succeed. Remember to use them in slideshow mode to ensure that the images show up correctly and they work like a game.

1.       The S Family PowerPoint

This grammar-based PowerPoint focuses on the use of simple present tense verb conjugation alongside the use of adverbs of frequency. It revolves around the S family and the things they do around the home. It is a great way to practise conjugating verbs correctly for the third person, but you can also stretch your children that bit further and ask them to change the sentence to be about themselves and the regularity at which they do a certain thing. For example, she does her homework could be changed to I do my homework regularly. Looking at how does changes to do and actually answering personally about the frequency of homework makes it relevant to them and their experiences. You could do this both verbally and written. 

2.    At the Circus PowerPoint

Describing a picture can be an enjoyable way to practise several skills in English, such as simple vocabulary, verb conjugation, prepositions and adjectives. Looking at one scene from the circus, without labels, children could work in pairs to discuss or list things that they can see. On the next slide, verbs will appear. Could they use the vocabulary from their list together with the verbs to create sentences describing the scene? For example, a big lion could change to a big lion is roaring loudly.

The Pirates Treasure PowerPoint

Teaching ESL through the medium of pirates is such an engaging way to involve the class. This PowerPoint is great fun and memorable, with many children requesting it time and time again. Children are expected to describe the treasure within the pirates’ chest according to a variety of criteria. Of course, they can do that just by looking at the pictures on the screen, but if you wanted to bring it to life a little bit more for them, why not bring in some of the items so that they can touch, smell and look at them?

4.       Let’s Chat Food PowerPoint

Food can bring people together in all walks of life and for all age groups. Having the opportunity to chat about food in the classroom can be a delight to watch, seeing children’s faces beam at the thought of certain foods or curl up their noses and feign being sick. This PowerPoint asks two questions per food Do you like...? and How often do you eat...?  These questions are perfect for stimulating discussion in pairs or small groups. You can also use the information students give to one another to come up with a graph or pictogram, for example.

5.       Guess the Word at School PowerPoint

My Guess the Word PowerPoint set in the school environment is enjoyable for all. Going through the alphabet, clues are given as to something related to school and children must use these to have a good guess. While you could read out the questions to younger children, more advanced learners ought to be expected to read them independently. You could even use this PowerPoint as an end of topic quiz, assessing their knowledge in a fun way.

Do you use presentations and games in powerpoint?