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Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

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Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

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"The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn."

UDL Guidelines CAST website

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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Music is a great way to engage learners, show different kinds of representation, and provide opportunities for active expression.

Check out this Teaching in Harmony video for 5 different ways to start your class using music.

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Music "Starters" for the language classroom

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What do we mean by rapport in the language classroom?
What are some helpful teaching routines to welcome new learners?

Co-Director of The Queensland Institute, Fiona Wiebusch, shares some tips for early career teachers on building rapport, creating routines, and including all learners.

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Tips for Early Career Teachers

24 January 2022 I Fiona Wiebusch

Many language teachers I know are wonderful 'welcomers'.

With each new class, they plan activities that make learners feel safe and motivated to communicate in the target language. These classroom routines help to establish rapport and create a positive and inclusive learning environment.

So, what do we mean by rapport in the language classroom? What are some helpful teaching routines to welcome new learners?

Let's take a closer look at this important part of our teaching practice.

From Theory to Practice
In his seminal text, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, H.D. Brown (2007), defined rapport this way:

"The relationship or connection you establish with your students, a relationship built on trust and respect that leads to students feeling capable, competent, and creative." (p 253)

He suggests that teachers play an important role in this, by:

showing interest in each student as a person

openly soliciting students' ideas and feelings

working with them as a team

giving feedback on each person's progress

valuing and respecting what students think and say

laughing with them and not at them

balancing praise and criticism (showing genuine 'pleasure' and 'concern')

generating energy (not 'flamboyance' but 'focus' from the teacher)

developing a genuine sense of vicarious joy when students learn something or succeed

It's a helpful list to reflect on, isn't it?

For me, rapport begins by demonstrating empathy for the learner experience.

Ways to Welcome New Learners

What does it look like in practice? One of the most important ways to welcome new learners is to learn their names. Sharing introductions, playing name games, creating a seating plan or 'selfie' photo board, are just a few routines that many language teachers keep in their "new class" toolkit.

Another way we welcome learners is to plan get-to-know-you (GTKY) activities. Two of my favourite GTKY activities for teen or adult learners are: Two Truths & a Lie and Find Someone Who . Both activities work well in the physical or virtual classroom and allow the teacher to share their stories too.

Find other ideas to suit your learners here:

Once learners are comfortable, it's usually time to set some goals and expectations. This might involve student-led survey activities to understand class expectations of what 'a good learner/teacher' or 'language class' look like and goal-setting activities for teen or adult learners (McManus & Kotze, 2019) or young learners (Hasper, 2020).

Extending the Welcome

Of course, establishing rapport doesn't end on Day 1. To ensure our warm welcome continues well into the course, consider these top tips:

1- Keep up the 'wonder warmers'
Learning a new language can be a nerve-wracking experience. To lower our learners' affective filters, we often add short, warmer activities near the beginning of a lesson. These tend to be engaging activities that involve using language in a simple and enjoyable way.

I try to think of ways to warm up brains, bodies and voices. For longer language courses, I tend to have a routine for different warmers on different days (see image below). Over time, I've built up a bank of warmers to fit each category, for different learner groups. Such a timesaver! See some great examples of warmers from QI Consultant, Vicki Bos.

2- Check-in with learners regularly.
Planning short activities to support learner progress is also important when building relationships between teachers and students. Regular formative feedback helps us to adapt our pace and pitch and understand what our learners are learning. Edutopia shared this great list of 53 practical ways to check learner understanding, such as using Exit Tickets at the end of each class.

3 - Take your time.
Don't be discouraged if your students aren't 'besties' by the end of Day 1. Rapport takes time but your students will appreciate your sustained effort to learn their names, facilitate get-to-know-you and warmer activities, and to check-in on their progress.

"Teaching is half learning."
As the Japanese proverb above suggests, exploring what works for you and your learners is something language teachers continue to reflect on and develop in their practice over time.

When you welcome new learners, try out different routines and seek learner feedback regularly. In doing so, you'll be demonstrating empathy for the learner experience, building rapport, and helping your learners to feel calm, capable and communicative in the language classroom.

All the very best to you, wonderful welcomers!
Reference List and Further Learning
Bos, V. (2021). Creative language class warmers. Teaching in Harmony. [YouTube]

Hasper, A. (2021). Back to School: Motivating Learning Online for All Students. Macmillan Education. [Webinar]

McManus, C. & Kotze, H. (2019). Gamifying goals to launch student engagement beyond the classroom. English Australia. [Article]

Thornbury, S. (2012) R is for Rapport. A-Z of ELT. [Blog]

Wiebusch, F.. & James, R. (2019). What starts well, ends well. English Australia. [Webinar]

Woodward, T. (2001). Knowing your Students. Planning Lessons and Courses. Cambridge: CUP [Book Excerpt].

Fiona is the Co-Founder and Director of Teacher Development at The Queensland Institute Pty Ltd. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma of Education and Masters of Applied Linguistics (TESOL) from the University of Melbourne and commenced PhD studies at Macquarie University. She lives in Brisbane has more than 24 years' experience in language education and training in more than 10 countries.

Never miss a story.

Connect with QI below.

Tips for Early Career Teachers

24 January 2022 I Fiona Wiebusch

Many language teachers I know are wonderful 'welcomers'.

With each new class, they plan activities that make learners feel safe and motivated to communicate in the target language. These classroom routines help to establish rapport and create a positive and inclusive learning environment.

So, what do we mean by rapport in the language classroom? What are some helpful teaching routines to welcome new learners?

Let's take a closer look at this important part of our teaching practice.

From Theory to Practice
In his seminal text, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, H.D. Brown (2007), defined rapport this way:

"The relationship or connection you establish with your students, a relationship built on trust and respect that leads to students feeling capable, competent, and creative." (p 253)

He suggests that teachers play an important role in this, by:

showing interest in each student as a person

openly soliciting students' ideas and feelings

working with them as a team

giving feedback on each person's progress

valuing and respecting what students think and say

laughing with them and not at them

balancing praise and criticism (showing genuine 'pleasure' and 'concern')

generating energy (not 'flamboyance' but 'focus' from the teacher)

developing a genuine sense of vicarious joy when students learn something or succeed

It's a helpful list to reflect on, isn't it?

For me, rapport begins by demonstrating empathy for the learner experience.

Ways to Welcome New Learners

What does it look like in practice? One of the most important ways to welcome new learners is to learn their names. Sharing introductions, playing name games, creating a seating plan or 'selfie' photo board, are just a few routines that many language teachers keep in their "new class" toolkit.

Another way we welcome learners is to plan get-to-know-you (GTKY) activities. Two of my favourite GTKY activities for teen or adult learners are: Two Truths & a Lie and Find Someone Who . Both activities work well in the physical or virtual classroom and allow the teacher to share their stories too.

Find other ideas to suit your learners here:

Once learners are comfortable, it's usually time to set some goals and expectations. This might involve student-led survey activities to understand class expectations of what 'a good learner/teacher' or 'language class' look like and goal-setting activities for teen or adult learners (McManus & Kotze, 2019) or young learners (Hasper, 2020).

Extending the Welcome

Of course, establishing rapport doesn't end on Day 1. To ensure our warm welcome continues well into the course, consider these top tips:

1- Keep up the 'wonder warmers'
Learning a new language can be a nerve-wracking experience. To lower our learners' affective filters, we often add short, warmer activities near the beginning of a lesson. These tend to be engaging activities that involve using language in a simple and enjoyable way.

I try to think of ways to warm up brains, bodies and voices. For longer language courses, I tend to have a routine for different warmers on different days (see image below). Over time, I've built up a bank of warmers to fit each category, for different learner groups. Such a timesaver! See some great examples of warmers from QI Consultant, Vicki Bos.

2- Check-in with learners regularly.
Planning short activities to support learner progress is also important when building relationships between teachers and students. Regular formative feedback helps us to adapt our pace and pitch and understand what our learners are learning. Edutopia shared this great list of 53 practical ways to check learner understanding, such as using Exit Tickets at the end of each class.

3 - Take your time.
Don't be discouraged if your students aren't 'besties' by the end of Day 1. Rapport takes time but your students will appreciate your sustained effort to learn their names, facilitate get-to-know-you and warmer activities, and to check-in on their progress.

"Teaching is half learning."
As the Japanese proverb above suggests, exploring what works for you and your learners is something language teachers continue to reflect on and develop in their practice over time.

When you welcome new learners, try out different routines and seek learner feedback regularly. In doing so, you'll be demonstrating empathy for the learner experience, building rapport, and helping your learners to feel calm, capable and communicative in the language classroom.

All the very best to you, wonderful welcomers!
Reference List and Further Learning
Bos, V. (2021). Creative language class warmers. Teaching in Harmony. [YouTube]

Hasper, A. (2021). Back to School: Motivating Learning Online for All Students. Macmillan Education. [Webinar]

McManus, C. & Kotze, H. (2019). Gamifying goals to launch student engagement beyond the classroom. English Australia. [Article]

Thornbury, S. (2012) R is for Rapport. A-Z of ELT. [Blog]

Wiebusch, F.. & James, R. (2019). What starts well, ends well. English Australia. [Webinar]

Woodward, T. (2001). Knowing your Students. Planning Lessons and Courses. Cambridge: CUP [Book Excerpt].

Fiona is the Co-Founder and Director of Teacher Development at The Queensland Institute Pty Ltd. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma of Education and Masters of Applied Linguistics (TESOL) from the University of Melbourne and commenced PhD studies at Macquarie University. She lives in Brisbane has more than 24 years' experience in language education and training in more than 10 countries.

Never miss a story.

Connect with QI below.

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Rapport and routines to welcome new language learners - The Queensland Institute Pty Ltd

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Blog] QI Director, Fiona Wiebusch, shares practical teaching tips and routines to welcome new language learners.

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What are the principles, goals and strategies outlined in this workshop?

What will be our key takeaways from today?

How will we share these ideas with our colleagues?

How will we implement these ideas in our classrooms?

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"As a whole, this book operationalizes full inclusion—the theory, attitudes, and beliefs, plus practical ideas, strategies, and applications. You must have all of these in place

for learning to truly be for all. A feeling of belonging and community in a classroom is as essential as the curriculum taught there. Each student deserves to feel comfortable in

the classroom from the start—that he or she is as important and valuable and accepted as anyone else. Planning ahead should account for all of the students equitably, and even

though we cannot predict everything and some adjustments will always be necessary, the adjustments should happen for everyone equitably as well. This book gives you theory

and practice, sending you on your way to create a classroom that is universally designed for learning. In other words, one that is truly inclusive and truly effective."

- Paul H Brookes

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Take a moment to go through the Engagement classroom strategies checklist.

Which of these strategies do you regularly implement in your classroom?

Can you think of specific examples of learning activities, classroom organisation or routines that you use to achieve these?

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Including All Learners

Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in the English language classroom

How can we as teachers shift our approaches to teaching so that we consider the various needs, backgrounds, and experiences of our students in the language classroom? Universal Design for Learning is a teaching and learning model that takes into account this diversity of students. The aim of implementing UDL strategies is to achieve effective inclusion, thus minimising physical, sensory, cognitive and cultural barriers that may exist in the classroom, and guiding our students to understand and improve their own learning process. This workshop will look at the principles of UDL in terms of three key areas: Engagement, Representation and Expression. Through experiential learning, we will explore and analyse a variety of practical classroom strategies and activities for teaching English incorporating these UDL principles.

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What activities have we experienced in today's workshop?

How can each of these activity ideas be adapted to suit:

different topics/vocabulary/grammar?

different language levels?

my classroom?

my students?

an online class?

a hybrid class?

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Universal Design for Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom

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Universal Design for Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom

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Although this text is specifically focused on early childhood education, there are many ideas, activities and strategies that can be adapted for adult learners.

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Pamela Brillante, Karen Nemeth - Universal Design for Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom_ Teaching Children of all Languages, Cultures, and

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How do the activities from today's workshop foster engagement, representation and expression in the classroom?

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Vicki Bos (she/her) has over 25 years’ experience as a teacher and teacher trainer in the TESOL sector, and has taught in Australia, Japan, Macau, Brazil, and Chile. She is passionate about teaching English through music and song, conducting action research, innovating in learning design, and developing language assessment.

She currently works as a Teacher Professional Development Specialist with The Queensland Institute, directs the UQ School of Psychology mental health research choir UQ Voices, and works in assessment writing with Cambridge University. She also runs education consultant services through her website and YouTube channel Teaching in Harmony, aiming to foster joy and creativity in language learning and teaching.

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We aim to answer these questions.

1. What are the overall principles of Universal Design for Learning?

2. What are some of the recommended strategies for implementing these principles?

3. What do these look like in everyday classroom practice?

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We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections to land, sea and community. We acknowledge the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples upon whose land we are gathered today. We pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

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Explore some of these classroom drama games for language learners. These are suitable for specific language points, but also as warmers, coolers and fillers!

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Looking for a way to liven up your classroom?

Want to keep your students excited about coming to language class?

A fantastic way to break the routine and put a fun twist on the standard parts of a language class is with these two words:
Drama activities.
Almost everyone loves to play act, from kids in a beginning class to adults who've been working all day.

Drama activities-like the six highlighted in this post- will add spice and interest to your language class, offering your students an entertaining way to apply the language they've learned.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Why Use Drama Activities in the Foreign Language Classroom

Drama activities, besides being a fun and exciting way to break through the doldrums of the traditional language class, offer a variety of pluses that directly contribute to the language student's learning experience.

To combine verbal and non-verbal communication

Using drama activities in your language classroom will help your students to connect the verbal communication involved in vocabulary, grammar and structure with the non-verbal communication of gestures, facial expressions and movement.

Both verbal communication and non-verbal cues are crucial to understanding the target language as seen in real conversations with native speakers and videos from sources such as FluentU.

By introducing a drama activity that gets your students on their feet, you help them to remove focus from exclusively speaking the language "correctly." They begin to understand that combining what they can say with other natural, non-verbal cues will help them to overcome shyness that leads to a type of quiet interference.

To focus on contextual meaning

A simple question/answer activity will have a limited context for your students. A drama activity, on the other hand, will put the student into a situation where the language being practiced and used makes sense within a larger context. Drama sets a scene and the scene sets the language to be used.

To increase student motivation and interest

Face it, students kind of get bored sitting in their seats, looking at the board, taking notes and reading from the text. Though we can't always get away from these activities in our language class, we can alleviate the potential for boredom or even discipline problems by alternating regular classwork with drama activities.

Getting the students on their feet, moving about the classroom and shouting out answers will foster not only more interest in the material being practiced and learned, but they will also help students be more motivated to participate in class.

To shift responsibility of practicing from the teacher to the students

Finally, drama activities create an important shift in focus in the classroom.

You, the teacher, are no longer standing at the front with all eyes on you.

Students are no longer reciting answers to questions.

You become quiet while they make all the noise.

While your evaluation of the activities will be important, you'll actually be silently observing for the majority of the time students are doing these activities. And that's because they're student-oriented, so these activities will get your students interacting with one another, and help them to "forget" that you're there. This creates a relaxing, fun atmosphere where quality language practice can take place.

How to Use Drama Activities Effectively for Language Learning

Use drama activities at the right moment

Except under remarkable circumstances, a drama activity will be something you'll want to save for "special moments." That's not to say that you can't incorporate them into your regular class planning; however, you should reserve them for slots where they can best be used. They are activities that reinforce prior learning, so drama activities can actually become an entertaining way to review classwork.

Other moments for drama activities include:

after an important exam

once every two weeks, with the promise of doing the same in another two weeks

at the end of a class when there's extra time (the shorter, quicker activities are a great for this)

Excite your class with drama activities

Though you've planned drama activities as part of your regular schedule (once a week, once a month, end of semester), keep your students aware that the activities will be done. Consider them a "carrot on a stick," a reward for good behavior or fine exam results. Remind your students during the regular classwork that today's theme will come up again in one of these drama activities.

Then, if you insert a drama activity by surprise, your students will remain excited with your classes. An excited class just seems to learn easier than a bored one!

Have the right materials on hand

Each of these activities will need a bit of preparation on your part. Some of the items you'll need you can provide yourself, while for a few activities your students will be involved in the producing, finding or bringing in of some items.

Some basic items may include:

a deck of playing cards to help with pairing participants

a bag of hand-held props to use in the activity

extra chalk or strips of scrap paper

prepared flashcards

an egg timer with a bell

Now that you know how to use these gems, here are six excellent drama activities to try out in your classroom.

6 Fun Drama Activities for Dynamic Language Learning

1. Charades

The game of Charades has existed since the 16th century. Most people have played one version or another of this game. In this case, Charades is an activity in which one student mutely uses body language while the rest of the class tries to guess what he/she is trying to communicate. This reinforces the connection between body language and spoken language, and the activity is especially useful for vocabulary review.
Setting up
Beforehand, count out one card for each student from a regular deck of playing cards. Then, from a second deck, make a pile of those exact same cards. If you have 20 students, for example, you should have two identical piles of 20 cards-made from two different decks. (Note: For smaller groups, you can use a single deck. An ace of hearts in the first pile would correspond to the ace of diamonds in your second pile, as they're both red aces.)

Put the students in a semi-circle with space in the middle for the charade.

Have on hand:

Noun, verb and adjective flashcards (one word per card)

Two decks of playing cards (per above instructions)

Egg timer

Doing the activity
From the first prepared deck, randomly hand out one playing card to each student. You should have the same cards in your own, second prepared deck. Shuffle your cards, take the first card from the stack and call out the card. The student with that card is the first up to act.

Hand that student a flashcard. The student should begin with an agreed gesture to indicate noun, verb or adjective. For example, "noun" could be miming "hold a ball." "Verb" could be represented by knocking one wrist on the other. "Adjective" could be pointing to their own smiling face. Set these gestures from the beginning.

Give the student one or two minutes to act out the word, and use your timer to do this. The student can't make a single sound while miming. The rest of the group should try to figure out the word being acted out. Remind your students to use complete sentences, like "Is it a ball?" or "Are you sad?," rather than simply shouting out words.

If someone guesses the word before the time's up, lead the applause and then pick another card from your deck to choose the next student to act. By using the playing cards, you are making sure everyone gets a chance to act out a word.

A variation might be combining two or three flashcards together. For example, an adjective with a noun, or a noun with a verb. "Is it a big ball?" or "Is the toaster running?" might be winning guesses in an ESL class, for example. It doesn't matter if the words match exactly, that's part of the joy and should lead to good, fun laughter.

2. Gibberish

This activity is meant to take the heat off of the student, allowing them to try to experience communication without grammar, structure and vocabulary. On the other hand, it also helps students to identify clues which leads to comprehension through gestures, tone of voice and body language. This is a good activity for practicing reported speech and general past tense explanations.
Setting up
Put the students in a semi-circle with space in the middle for two chairs and a table.

Have on hand:

Deck of cards to assign partners

Situation flashcards (i.e. "What you did last night," "What happened on the way to class," "Who you saw in town yesterday")

Your egg timer

Doing the activity
Pair up students with the playing cards. Have two cards of each number, such that there are the same number of total cards as there are students. Shuffle and pass out cards at random, and then have students find the other student with the same number. After all the pairs have matched up, collect one card from each pair. Shuffle these cards and pick one card. This will be the first pair to sit at the table. Give one student a situation card, which he or she doesn't show to their partner.

The student with the situation card now has one minute to explain, in a made-up gibberish language, whatever is noted on the situation flashcard. For example, a situation card might read "I got stopped by the cops while driving home last night," and the acting student would have to try to convey that situation using gibberish, gestures and facial expressions. ( Video example here.)

When the egg timer bell rings, the partner who watched must then explain to the class, in the target language, what he or she has understood. You can have the class vote if they agree or disagree with this "translation." The first student confirms the accuracy of the "translation" of the situation.

Lead the class in applause and pick a new pair to do the same activity.

You can give the students more time to speak gibberish if your class time permits. You can also switch roles before changing pairs, so that all students get a chance to speak gibberish and explain or "translate."

3. Draw an Object

In this activity, students will be guessing vocabulary based upon drawings done by their classmates. Though it sounds like the popular picture drawing game, it's actually a double header activity, with two teams guessing at the same time. This is another activity that's great for vocabulary review.
Setting up
Draw a line down the middle of the blackboard.

Divide the students into two groups and have each group stand on their side of the board.

Have on hand:

Vocabulary flashcards

Your egg timer

Doing the activity
Pull aside one member from each group to the back of the room. Show these two students the same flashcard. They must then rush to the board and will have one minute to draw something that will get their group to figure out the word. However, they cannot draw the item that was on the card!

So, if the word was "book," for example, they couldn't draw a book. Students must draw something else-maybe a shelf, reading glasses or Harry Potter and Dr. Seuss's cat with a hat, for example.

Remind your students to use complete sentences in the target language when guessing (i.e. "Is it a book?"), rather than shouting out single words. When someone guesses the correct word, pull aside two more people and begin again.

You could give points for each team, but the best way to do this activity is to keep the students moving and changing words. You can also repeat words, so that "book" may turn up again after a few other words, but with two other students drawing. This activity should be done quickly and with mounting excitement and noise level; everyone should be talking at once.

4. Where Are We?

In this activity, students will be acting out different objects that are characteristic of a certain place. Though they are miming the objects, students should also use verbal language related to the room.

For example, if they are in an operating room, there will be a table, the instruments, the lighting. They could say "Nurse, hand me the scalpel" or "How's his pulse?"
Setting up
Students are placed in the semi-circle formation.

They can use a table and no more than two chairs.

They can also choose one prop per actor from the prop bag.

Have on hand:

Some place flashcards (i.e. "dentist office," "library," "supermarket")

Bag of various props

Doing the activity
Use your playing cards to make pairs or trios. Get the first pair (or trio) up on stage and give them a place card. Give them a minute to organize their ideas together.

They now have two minutes to show the rest of the students where they are by arranging the table and chairs, using the props and having a relevant conversation in the target language. They can not directly name the place they are in, but instead students must act within it. When the timer goes off, ask the audience to guess, in complete sentences, where the scene just took place. Applaud and change pairs.

5. Mirror Talk

This activity is based on the mirror mimicking game many of us have played as children. Instead of simply pretending to be a mirror and following the leader's movements, one student has to try to say the same thing the other is saying in unison, as if it were a choral exercise.
Setting up
Students are, again, in a semi-circle.

List, on the board, several questions in one column, with answers in the other column to those questions. Let the students see the questions and answers that they'll be using.

Have your egg timer ready.
Doing the activity
Pair up students with the playing cards, like you did for Gibberish. Call on the first pair to center stage. One student, let's call them student A, faces the board while student B has their back to the board and can't see what's written.

During one minute, you will point to questions on the board, which student A (who can see them) will ask aloud. As student A speaks, student B tries to say the same question as close to the same time as their partner. Then you will point to that question's answer, which student A also reads (and student B tries to say at the same time, mimicking his or her partner). Point to questions randomly, but match the answer to the question.

Switch the students and do another minute. Call up a new pair.

Once every pair has done two minutes, begin the second round. This time, you will point to questions at random, but you will not match the answers. So, a question may be "How old are you?" while the answer will be "At ten o'clock." This random choosing will keep the students on their toes and concentrating on trying to mimic their partner as closely as possible without anticipating.

6. Name Six

This is a fun vocabulary review activity that can be used as a warm-up. It's based on the old beanbag hot potato game many of us played as kids.
Setting up

Push all the chairs and tables back and have students sit on the floor.

Have on hand: A beanbag or a squishy toy.

Doing the activity
Choose one student to stand in the middle of the circle. This student closes his eyes and turns around slowly, counting to ten. Meanwhile, the circle is passing the hot potato around as fast as possible so as not to burn their hands.

When the center student reaches ten, he or she calls out "stop," opens his or her eyes and points at the student with the hot potato. You will then give a category, such as "Six words that begin with 'p'!" If the language you're teaching uses pictographs instead of an alphabet, you can use a reference word, like "Six colors!," "Six adjectives!" or "Six occupations!"

The hot potato begins to pass around the circle again while the chosen student has to say six words that begin with the letter "p" before the potato comes back to him or her.

If the student succeeds, there's no change and the activity begins again. If the student does not succeed, then they become the student in the middle who turns and counts. Repeat the sequence. You can adjust the number of words to be said, or the number of times the hot potato is passed, according to the number of students in your class and their level to give a fair amount of time for producing the words.

Drama activities are not only a great way to get your students more involved in the class. They can also serve as useful review, a reward for work well done and a break from the sometimes unavoidable routine of text work, taking notes and sitting exams.

Have fun with your students while doing these activities, and they will show their appreciation to you with their enthusiasm in your language class.
Revel Arroway is a retired teacher with over 30 years experience in ESL and Spanish teaching, as well as teacher training. Though he no longer teaches, he continues to be active in training teachers, creating and writing about methods and activities that help ESL teachers jump-start their classes and simplify their lesson load.
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6 Fun Drama Activities for Dynamic Language Learning

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Looking for a way to liven up your classroom? Want to keep your students excited about coming to language class? A fantastic way to break the routine and put a fun twist on the standard parts of a language class is with these two words: Drama activities.

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Experiential learning workshop

Welcome

UDL Guidelines and Strategies

Focus on Engagement

Focus on Representation

Focus on Action and Expression

Reflection

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Check out these useful strategies for encouraging critical thinking skills in the classroom, to connect language learning to the wider world.

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The 21st century learning skills are often called the 4 C's: critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating, and collaborating. These skills help students learn, and so they are vital to success in school and beyond.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is focused, careful analysis of something to better understand it. When people speak of "left brain" activity, they are usually referring to critical thinking. Here are some of the main critical-thinking abilities:

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is expansive, open-ended invention and discovery of possibilities. When people speak of "right brain" activity, they most often mean creative thinking. Here are some of the more common creative thinking abilities:

Communicating

Collaborating

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The 21st century learning skills are often called the 4 C's: critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating, and collaborating. These skills help students learn, and so they are vital to success in school and beyond. Critical Thinking Critical thinking is focused, careful analysis of something to better understand it.

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If you're after some tips and ideas for the language-teaching classroom, check out the Teaching in Harmony YouTube channel. New videos weekly...well, mostly weekly.

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Building Empathy in the Language Classroom

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Building Empathy in the Language Classroom

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Empathy is essential to inclusion in the classroom space.

Watch the Teaching in Harmony video for five strategies, with accompanying song-based activities, to foster and build empathy in your class.

Strategies:

1. Hypotheticals

2. Emotion identification

3. Planned kindness

4. Listening with empathy

5. Motivational messages

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Classroom Management strategies using empathy: activities and song suggestions

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For free, fun creative activities using songs in the language classroom, check out the Teaching in Harmony website.

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The Queensland Institute | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

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Welcome to The Queensland Institute! We are a private education and training provider based in Brisbane, Australia.

We’re on a mission to empower global educators.

Specialising in teacher development, we support international education strategies and language education goals for schools and universities in Australia and around the globe. Our programs are proven, impactful and efficient in helping global educators teach with confidence and creativity.

We provide:

Courses that inspire innovation in teaching and learning

Consultancy that supports your development goals

Connections that continue beyond the classroom

Contact us to learn more HERE.

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The Queensland Institute | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

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View The_Queensland_Institute's Linktree. Listen to their music on YouTube, Spotify here.

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Facebook
Vicki Bos Teachinginharmony

Instagram
@teachinginharmony
@thequeenslandinstitute

Email
vicki@thequeenslandinstitute.com
vickibos@teachinginharmony.com

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Take a moment to go through the Representation classroom strategies checklist.

Which of these strategies do you regularly implement in your classroom?

Can you think of specific examples of learning activities, classroom organisation or routines that you use to achieve these?

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Action & Expression Classroom Strategies Checklist

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Action & Expression Classroom Strategies Checklist

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Take a moment to go through the Action & Expression classroom strategies checklist.

Which of these strategies do you regularly implement in your classroom?

Can you think of specific examples of learning activities, classroom organisation or routines that you use to achieve these?

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Activity 3: My Free Time Graphic Organiser

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Activity 3: My Free Time Graphic Organiser