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Teaching our children core values is so important in helping them to become happy, well-balanced citizens who will make a positive contribution to our future society. 

Values are present and visible everywhere and they are the foundation or starting point from where we make our decisions, which ultimately determine our futures. It is, therefore, important that our children learn a strong, moral set of values that will help guide them as they grow older, inform their decisions, help them to know right from wrong, solve problems, assert themselves and build self-esteem and confidence.

Values can be built on a personal level or even shared at a group level such as a family and friendship group. However, we often see them on a larger scale within communities, countries or even the whole world. 

Having a shared set of values connects people on a deeper level and helps us to all work towards the same goals and standards – they can even encourage people to see the similarities between each other, rather than the differences. 

Learning values through reading

Children learn about values through their families, friends, and teachers, through what they watch or listen to and through their life experiences. They also learn about values through the books they read. These lessons can be subtle but are often extremely powerful and can have a significant impact and influence.

As an example, let’s have a look at how shared values are explored in the new graded readers series for young learners, Disney Kids Readers, where special emphasis has been put on exploring values within a story. At the end, you will find several value-based activities that you can download for use in the classroom or as an activity at home. 

How do Disney Kids Readers teach core values?

1. Learning through stories that are already familiar can help children to trust in and take on board the key messages much more easily. Familiarity can break down many barriers to communication and help us understand that values are often universal. 
2. Many children are also familiar with the Disney characters and can find inspiration from reading how they react to situations in life, make decisions and behave. Children often look up to characters and can see them as role models within their own lives. As a result, the readers can be a reference point on how to respond to key life moments and how to incorporate values into real life.
3. Also, depending on the child's age, some values may be new and children may not yet have experience with them in the real world. Therefore, the Disney stories allow them to explore these key messages through their favorite Disney character’s point of view. 

Each Disney Kids Reader is linked to a key value and contains a ‘Values’ page with a short comic strip that brings to life a specific value. 

The list below details a selection of key values taught across the readers. You could ask the children in your class to talk about which values are most important to them and why. Ask them to give an example of a time when they have demonstrated this value in their own lives. 

Friendship, positivity, curiosity, confidence, open-mindedness, courage, determination, self-belief, responsibility, resilience, respect, honesty.

Examples of key values in Disney stories

In The Jungle Book, friendship is a key value, and we learn that it is important to help our friends. Baloo helps Mowgli when he is alone in the jungle and scared. An angry tiger wants Mowgli to leave the jungle, but when Mowgli meets Baloo, he finds a friend in him. Baloo sees that Mowgli is scared and looks after him. We learn that it is important to help our friends when they are in need. 

Do: Ask the children when they have helped their friends.

In Inside Out, we learn about sincerity and how important it is to talk about how we are feeling. Riley is a teenager struggling with a whole range of emotions and we learn that life isn’t about being happy all the time and that it is okay to be sad sometimes. The children learn that this is a normal part of life and that talking it through with a friend, a parent or a teacher can help.

Do: Ask the children if they share their feelings with others.

Here are some activities for you to use with your class to help put into practice the core values from the readers. You can use these activities with any book, in and outside the classroom.

1. My Values Road Sign (L3-4)

This activity is a great way of talking to children about their values. By creating a road sign poster, it will help them to decide which values are most important to them and it is something that they can refer to again and again in challenging times. They can stick it on their bedroom wall, display it on the fridge or you could even make a classroom display of shared values when children have finished their books!

Download the worksheet

 2. Kindness Calendar (L4-6)

This activity can be done as a family, with friends or as a class. The children fill in the calendar with kind actions they are going to do for 7 days. They can cut them out and place them into a jar and ask a different family member/friend/classmate to choose one a day. Do this for a week and discuss how carrying out kind actions makes them feel. Chances are it will make them feel good!

Download the worksheet

3. Core Values Quiz (L5-6)

Try this quiz with your class and test their values. The questions focus on the following values: sincerity, honesty, positivity, resilience and friendship. If they answer mostly As, then they already demonstrate most of the values in their lives. If they answer mostly Bs, talk to them about why it is important to be honest, positive, strong and kind. The quiz will start a meaningful conversation about their own values and how they react to common situations in life.

Download the worksheet

4. My future self (L1-2)

The children fill in the crystal ball with pictures of who they would like to be in the future. Do they want to be smart, funny, have a good job, live abroad, have a family, be rich, be a good friend or help the planet? Which of the plans make one person (themselves) happy and which plans make the world better? Do they need to change any of them?

Download the worksheet

Read our blog posts 'Fostering self-care and wellbeing through the world of reading' and 'The importance of teaching values to young learners'.

The integration of AI tools into workplaces around the world is starting to change the way people communicate professionally. Research suggests that the use of AI to help draft documents and emails is driven not only by convenience and efficiency but also by a desire to be clear and precise in language.

While potentially useful, tools to translate, generate, or ‘correct’ written text won’t help with the effectiveness of the verbal communication that powers business relationships.

When my son created a web consulting business as a summer job, I offered to have business cards made for him. “Oh Dad,” he said, “Business cards are so 20th century!”

It was an embarrassing reminder that communication norms are constantly changing, as are the technologies we use. Younger generations share contact information on their phones’ social media apps, not with business cards. A similar shift has been the move away from business cards featuring fax numbers. “What’s a fax?” my son might ask.

Fax machines have had a surprisingly long life–the first fax machine was invented in 1843–but they have been largely retired because it’s easier to send images of documents via email attachments.

More recent technologies, such as the 1992 invention of text messages, seem here to stay, but continue to evolve with innovations like emojis, a 1998 innovation whose name combines the Japanese words e (picture) and moji (character). 

The 55/38/7 rule and the three Cs

Changing technologies challenge language teachers who struggle to prepare students with the formats and the strategies they need to be effective in academic, business, and social settings. These challenges start with questions about why we have particular norms around communication. These norms form a culture of communication.

The artist/musician Brian Eno defines culture as what we don’t have to do. We may have to walk, but we don’t have to dance. Dancing, therefore, is culture. Communication is full of cultural practices that we don’t strictly need to do, but which make communication more successful. These include practices based on the 55/38/7 Rule and The Three Cs.

The 55/38/7 rule is often misinterpreted as being about what someone hears when we speak. It actually refers to the insights of University of California professor, Albert Mehrabian, who looked at how our attitudes, feelings, and beliefs influence our trust in what someone says.

Mehrabian suggests words only account for seven percent of a message’s impact; tone of voice makes up 38 percent, and body language–including facial expressions–account for the other 55 percent. The consequence of this for our students is that it’s sometimes not so important what they are saying as how they are saying it.

Another way of looking at this nonverbal communication is in terms of The Three Cs: context, clusters, and congruence. 

Context is about the environment in which communication takes place, any existing relationship between the speakers, and the roles they have. Imagine how each of these factors change if, for example, you met a surgeon at a party compared to meeting the same surgeon in an operating theater where you are about to have your head sawn open.

Clusters are the sets of body language expressions that together make up a message; smiling while walking toward someone is far different than smiling while carefully backing away.

Congruence refers to how body language matches–or doesn’t match–a speaker’s words. People saying, “Of course! It’s possible!” while unconsciously shaking their heads from side to side are perhaps being less than truthful.

How does a culture of communication practices translate to new technologies? Mobile phone texts, just like 19th-century telegraph messages before them, need to be precise in conveying their meaning.

In virtual meetings (on Teams and Google Hangouts, for example), students need to understand that tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language may be more important than the words they share.

Politeness as one constant

An additional key concern in virtual meetings is politeness. Once, in preparation for a new textbook, I was involved in soliciting topics of interest to university teachers. I was surprised that several teachers identified the need to teach politeness. The teachers pointed out that the brevity of social media meant that students were often unwittingly rude in their requests (typical email: “Where’s my grade!”). Moreover, such abruptness was crossing over to their in-person interactions.

Politeness includes civility, getting along with others, as well as deference, showing respect to those who may have earned it through age, education, and achievement. But politeness is also related to strategies around persuasion and how to listen actively, engage with other speakers by clarifying and elaborating points and ask a range of question types. Online or in person, if students cannot interrupt politely or know when it is better to listen, whatever they have to say will be lost in the court of bad opinion.

This is particularly important in preparation for academic and business contexts where students need to interact in groups, such as seminar settings and business meetings. Within these, it’s necessary for students to be able to take on a variety of roles, including leadership, taking notes, and playing devil’s advocate to challenge what a group thinks.

Engaging students with project work

Role-play can help raise awareness of these strategies among students, but it’s not enough to just take on a variety of roles found in common academic and business exchanges; students need to be able to reflect after each role-play session and infer what strategies are successful.

Technology-based projects can also help students engage in a range of communication strategies. For example, a Pearson series, StartUp, embraces technology in each unit by sprinkling various text messages and web-based research tasks. There are also multimedia projects where students use their phones to collect images or video and share the results in presentations that develop their critical thinking.

For example:

Make your own video

Step 1 Choose a favorite restaurant or meal.

Step 2 Make a 30-second video. Talk about the meal. Describe what you eat and drink. Explain why you like it.

Step 3 Share your video. Answer questions and get feedback.

This simple project subconsciously reinforces the unit’s vocabulary and grammar. It also allows students to personalize the project based on things that they need to talk about in daily life–their local foods in this case. This means that each student’s presentation is unique. Unlike with essay assignments, students tend to work hard to craft several versions until they are satisfied because they know their work will be seen by other students and that they will be asked questions that only they can answer.

All this forces students to consider speaking strategies, as well as strategies for appropriate facial expressions and body language. Similarly, they have to use active listening strategies when listening to others’ presentations while asking questions. As technology continues to evolve, teachers need to integrate new applications into their teaching so students learn how to communicate with the tools they have at their disposal.

While English is a rich language, there are some words from other languages that don’t have a direct translation. These words often describe special feelings, situations, or ideas that are deeply connected to their cultures. For example, just as some languages have specific words for different types of weather, other languages have unique words for particular moments or emotions that are hard to explain in English. Here are some interesting examples of untranslatable words that show us the different ways people see the world.

We want lots of fun in our lessons, with a good balance of activities and games with strong educational value. But in my opinion, today’s young learners need more than just fun and games to stay motivated. Fun and games can quickly become meaningless and boring for some students.

How do we create fun and engaging lessons for young learners aged 6-14?

• Have a strong relationship with your students. Know about their natural talents, their weaker points and where they are in their development.
• Encourage them to be active learners and engage them in learning that is meaningful to all of them. E.g. through project work.
• Provide opportunities for students to use technology and develop success skills. E.g. collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity and self-learning.

Most teachers agree that we have to assume the responsibility of preparing students for life as well as helping them to acquire a language – and this is what I aim to demonstrate in this blog. Using Howard Gardner’s Model of Multiple Intelligences, I want to demonstrate how you can learn more about your students and care for individual needs in one classroom.

The students will also learn about themselves and their classmates. They will acquire vocabulary and language (at their level) in a dynamic way and create a project to explore their interests and demonstrate their talents. They will use technology and develop their success skills. Assessment will be fun and engaging. I hope you will be able to adapt the ideas and put them into practice with children aged 6-14.

Howard Gardner’s Model of Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner’s Model of Multiple Intelligences prompts us to ask: How is this child intelligent? He identified eight different types of intelligence which guide the way students learn:

• Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)
• Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Maths Smart)
• Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)
• Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)
• Naturalistic-Environmentalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)
• Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)
• Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self-Smart)
• (He later went on to identify Existential Intelligence – Life Smart, and Pedagogical Intelligence -Teacher Smart)

Lesson 1: Outline the student’s learning goals

Explain to the students that they are going to learn about Howard Gardner’s Model of Multiple Intelligences and that you want them to achieve learning goals on completion of the project. Write the goals on a poster and discuss them with your students. Take a digital photo of the poster to use during the assessment.

Student learning goals – you will be able to:

• Identify different intelligences and what they mean. Name eight different intelligences you have
• Communicate ideas clearly through a project to demonstrate your talents and interests
• Use your success skills more effectively.

Tip: Video parts of lesson 1, especially discussion of the learning goals, to use as part-assessment and reflection on completion of the project.

What do you know about the Multiple Intelligences? How are you smart?

• Ask children what they know about multiple intelligences. Teach key language and vocabulary as necessary, depending on level.
• Ask, “What does it mean be intelligent?” (They will probably say, good grades, be good at maths, English, reading, writing, computers...)
• Tell them being intelligent or smart (get the younger children to repeat the word smart several times) isn’t only about getting good grades. Ask them to think of more ways to be smart.
• Elicit the eight ways to be smart according to Gardner. (You may need to mime). E.g. mime playing the piano or clap a rhythm to elicit Music Smart.
• Discuss what the different intelligences mean. (E.g. Word Smart (Linguistic Intelligence): you like reading, writing or speaking, you are probably good at languages…)
• Teach career vocabulary associated with the different intelligences. (E.g. Word Smart: journalist, teacher, lawyer, editor, TV announcer, web editor.)

Lesson 2: Find out your smarts quiz

Tell students they are going to do a quiz to discover how they are smart. Model each stage of the activity and do the quiz with them to find out about your own strengths. Give each student a piece of paper.

• Take your paper and show the students how to fold it into eight sections, then unfold it and draw lines along the folds to make a grid.
• Write the different smarts in each section. (Use small handwriting to leave room to illustrate each smart with a picture).
• Give a picture dictation to illustrate each smart. Here are some examples:

Word Smart: Draw a dictionary and children reading, writing and speaking.

Logic/Number Smart: Draw sums on a computer, a scientist with test tube.

Music Smart: Draw children singing and playing musical instruments.

Body Smart: Draw children playing a sport, dancing or cooking.

Nature Smart: Draw trees, animals, insects, child watering a plant.

Spatial/Picture Smart: Draw children drawing, painting or taking photos and a pilot in a plane.

People Smart: Draw a child helping or leading a group or a group of children holding hands.

Self-Smart: Draw children keeping a journal, researching on a computer, or meditating.

Encourage students to order their smarts from 1-8. For example, if you love music, write number 1 in the Music Smart section and continue to 8 in order of preference. (You may wish to model this first and order your smarts from 1-8 and then encourage the children to order their smarts.)

After the quiz

• Encourage students to compare and discuss their results. Collect the papers and make notes about each student’s results. This will help you reach all your students when planning activities.
• Explain that we have all the intelligences in different degrees and that all of the intelligences are equal (no intelligence is better than another). Also point out that it is important to know our strengths in order to help in all subjects. (E.g. a music smart student who finds maths challenging may want to sing multiplication tables). Remind students that we usually use several intelligences to do something and we can explore and develop all our smarts.

Tip: Video lesson 2 to use as part of assessment.

Lesson 3: Beginning the project

Encourage the students to create a project for enjoyment. Explain that you want them to collaborate in groups that share the same smarts and interests and using their creativity you want them come up with an interesting topic to explore. (Remind students to concentrate on developing their success skills when they are working with others and mention that you will also be monitoring this as part of the assessment).

Organize the students into groups of no more than five students in each. Give students time to brainstorm in their groups and come up with the best topic for the project, using their critical thinking skills. (E.g. Picture Smart students may decide to create a project about a famous artist, such as Salvador Dali).

You may wish to give each student a KWL chart (Know, Want-to-know, and Learned) to complete during the project process, asking questions such as: What do you know? What do you want to know? What have you learned?

Lesson 4: Planning the project

Inform students about the timing of the project. Encourage each group to make a project mind map, which will encourage them to be more creative and organized.

Remind all the groups to keep the following questions in mind:

• What are you going to do/make? (Presentation, PowerPoint, website, video, posters.)
• How will you research it? (Internet, tech tools, library.)
• How will you delegate responsibilities?
• How will you check that your audience has understood the message of your project? What questions will you ask?

Decide on how many lessons are needed to prepare the project and how much will be done in school or at home, depending on the age groups and timing.

Encourage the students to share their work with the rest of the class (or in assembly.)

Tip: Video the different groups sharing their work.

Can assessment also be fun and engaging?

Yes, it can; here are some tips and suggestions.

• Show the videos you have recorded and ask the students to compare and contrast their knowledge in Lesson 1 and how it developed over the lessons. Encourage them to observe and comment on their success skills.
• Display the photo of the Student Learning Goals poster from Lesson 1. Get the students to self-assess and decide whether they have achieved the goals that were set in Lesson 1. (You may wish to give the students three small pieces of colored paper: red to represent I understand quite well, orange to represent I understand well and green to represent I understand very well). Ask: Can you identify the different intelligences and say what they mean? Encourage the students to hold up a colored piece of paper according to their understanding. (Make a mental note of all red pieces of paper to be ready to give extra help to those students). Check understanding by getting several students to answer the question.
• Get the children to reflect on the learning experience. What have they learned about the different intelligences? How can they develop weaker points using their strengths to help them? Can they use all eight intelligences inside and outside school? Did they manage to get along well with their classmates? Did they communicate the message of their project so that the audience understood?
• Give individual feedback to each student. E.g. congratulate them on their attitude and effort or identify areas for improvement: “You managed to use vocabulary and language effectively when you shared your project, we understood your message perfectly.” Or “You need to work on being more collaborative.” “You weren’t on task during the project.” “How do you think you can improve that?”
• Ask students to give you feedback on the activities they enjoyed. Get them to draw happy and sad face cards. Go through all the activities and get the students to show a happy or sad face according to whether or not they liked the activity. E.g. say “Did you like the ‘Find out your smarts’ quiz?” and ask them to hold up the happy or sad face depending on whether they liked the activity or not.

Create fun lessons to engage all your students keeping this model in mind: traditional activities such as short fun activities and games + Howard Gardner’s model of Multiple Intelligences + PBL (Project Based Learning) + success skills + meaningful assessment. Enjoy the results with your students.

How the Global Scale of English can help

The Global Scale of English (GSE) Learning Objectives for Young Learners provides ready-made learning objectives that can help with planning curriculums and lesson and benchmarking learners’ progress. They are great for young learners because they describe language functions in a granular way, enabling educators to give their learners credit for small achievements. They also clearly show the language functions to target next in order to take learners to the next level.

Love is a universal language that transcends borders, cultures and languages. For those learning another language, understanding how to express love in various tongues can be both fascinating and useful. Whether you're planning to travel, connect with friends from different backgrounds, or simply expand your linguistic repertoire, knowing how to say "I love you" in different languages as well as the cultural context, can be a beautiful way to show appreciation and affection. Let's take a look at some of the many ways to express this timeless sentiment and some interesting facts.

1. Cultural nuances:

In many cultures, the way you express love can carry different weights and meanings. For example, in Japanese, "愛してる" (aishiteru) is a very strong expression of love, often reserved for serious relationships, whereas "大好き" (daisuki) is more commonly used among friends and family.
However, French, often called the language of love, uses "je t'aime" to express love as a romantic phrase that can be used for both partners and close family members.

2. Gender differences:

Some languages have gender-specific ways of saying "I love you." For instance, in Arabic, "أحبك" (aḥibbuka) is used when a woman says "I love you" to a man, and "أحبك" (aḥibbuki) is used when a man says it to a woman. Similarly, in Hindi, men say "मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हूँ" (main tumse pyaar karta hoon) and women say "मैं तुमसे प्यार करती हूँ" (main tumse pyaar karti hoon).

3. Formal vs. informal:

Some languages have formal and informal ways of expressing love. In Spanish, "te amo" is more formal and used for romantic love, while "te quiero" is more casual and can be used for friends and family.
 

Love is in the air on February 14th, with hearts, red roses and boxes of chocolates everywhere. We’re all set for the big day, and to help you prepare as well, here are six of our favorite love stories for learners of all ages and levels. There are also plenty of fun ideas for your classroom.

1. Cinderella (Level 1)

Poor Cinderella lives with her stepmother and two horrible stepsisters. They treat her badly, making her cook and clean, while they relax and wear beautiful clothes. However, one night, Cinderella gets the chance to sneak away and attend a fabulous ball. She meets a handsome prince…but must run away before he discovers her true identity. With only a glass shoe to help him, will the prince ever find Cinderella?

How to use this Reader in class:

It’s no surprise that the story has a happy ending. After reading the story, have the learners draw a picture and write about Cinderella’s new life in the castle, with her loving new family.

2. Lady and the Tramp (Level 3)

This classic Disney story tells the tale of two young dogs who come from different backgrounds. Lady lives in a house while Tramp lives on the street. However, one day, Lady is forced to leave the house and the life she knows. Tramp teaches her about life on the streets and the two dogs fall in love… but with the dog-catcher always chasing them, will the story have a happy ending?

How to use this reader in class:

After reading the story, why not watch the animated version with your students? They can choose their favorite character from the movie and write a description of them.

Looking for more romantic Readers for young learners? How about The Little Mermaid (Level 2) or Aladdin (Level 5)? There’s something for everyone in our catalog.

3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Level 2)

If your teenagers are looking for more adventure than romance, this Reader has both. Follow crazy Jack Sparrow, handsome Will and brave Elizabeth as they fight pirates and uncover the curse of the Black Pearl. But will Elizabeth and Will survive the dangerous life on the seven seas?

How to use this Reader in class:

After reading the story, why not ask your students to write a review of it? It’s a great way for them to summarize the plot and share their opinion.

4. Pride and Prejudice (Level 5)

A timeless classic, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of young Elizabeth Bennett. As the oldest daughters in a family of five, she and her sister Jane are both expected to find good husbands and marry soon. But will Elizabeth find love, or will no man be good enough for her?

How to use this Reader in class:

While reading the story, learners can keep a diary, writing entries in the voice of Elizabeth Bennett. This helps them to demonstrate their understanding of the novel and encourages them to have a more empathetic reaction to the story’s heroine. They can either write the diary entries using typical language from Jane Austen’s day, or updating it to more modern language.

Here’s an example:

I had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting Mr Darcy today and found him rather rude and reserved. I imagine he feels this country life is inferior and that the locals are uncultured simpletons!

or

Met Mr Darcy today – what a stuck-up dork! He just stood there, looking down his nose at everyone… you can see he thinks he’s better than us locals.

If you think your teenage learners would enjoy a different modern or classic tale of romance, check out our readers here. There are plenty to choose from, including Romeo and Juliet (Level 3), Love Actually (Level 4) and Madame Bovary (Level 6).

5. Tales from the Arabian Nights (Level 2) 

What would you do if you needed to fascinate a king to save your life? This is the problem Sheherezade faces when she marries a king who has killed all his previous wives. So she tells her new husband exciting, mesmerizing stories every night and always ends the tale with the king wanting to hear more. She tells him stories of adventure, love and mystery… and you can read her stories too in this Level 2 Reader.

How to use this reader in class:

After reading the book, have students vote on their favorite story from Sheherezade. They can then work in groups to present a short play of one of the stories, working together to write a short script.

6. Wuthering Heights (Level 5) 

Unfortunately, the path of true love isn’t always easy. Set in 19th Century Yorkshire, this tragic romance follows the story of Catherine and Heathcliff. The two childhood friends grow up together very closely. However, although she loves him deeply, Catherine can’t marry Heathcliff because of his lower social status. Instead, she marries another man, Edgar. How will Heathcliff react to this news? Will Catherine and Edgar be happy together?

How to use this reader in class:

At one point in Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff runs away from home because he thinks Catherine is embarrassed by him and doesn’t love him. Have the learners write a letter from Catherine to Heathcliff at that point, expressing her regrets about why they can’t be together. It provides students with the opportunity to use phrases such as If only…, I wish… and I should have… whilst demonstrating their understanding of the novel so far.

If Yorkshire moors and Arabian nights aren’t quite what your students are looking for, there are more tales of romance on our site. Choose from modern-day love stories such as Notting Hill (Level 3) and Lisa in London (Level 1) or classics like Anna Karenina (Level 6) and Persuasion (Level 2).

If you enjoyed this post here are some more practical posts to get your students engaged in reading, 'How to bring Shakespeare to life in the classroom' and 'How to motivate reluctant readers'.

The evolution of video games and global connectivity

Video games have come a long way since their inception in the late 20th century. From the simple pixelated screens of 'Pong' and 'Space Invaders', we've entered an era where video games are complex, immersive and incredibly detailed. The evolution of video games has not only been technological but also cultural.

With the rise of the internet and online gaming, players from different corners of the world can now connect, collaborate and compete in real-time. This global connectivity has transformed video games into a social platform, where language barriers are often encountered and interestingly, overcome.

There's no denying that tailoring your teaching to individual students is an effective strategy. However, many teachers struggle with finding the time to include teaching moments which address an individual learner's specific needs. So, what's the best way to create an individualized classroom? Andrew Walkley, co-author of Roadmap, explains the benefits of this approach and shares some techniques to ensure that every student gets the most out of your lessons. 

The best of both worlds?

First of all, what does individualized teaching mean? It's the concept that students will learn most effectively when the activity is specific to their needs and the language they are using is appropriate for their level. This concept is sometimes seen in opposition to coursebooks and class-based learning, where students are all expected to follow the same syllabus. However, class syllabuses and coursebooks have the following benefits:

• Providing students with common goals 
• Encouraging learners to follow an unfamiliar topic that then opens new doors of learning
• The learning opportunities in peer-to-peer explanation 

When we talk about individualized teaching in the classroom, we want to exploit the benefits of learning together while also providing opportunities for more individualized development. So, how can you, as a teacher, combine the two approaches?

1. Involve students in choosing your route

All classroom groups are different and made up of people from different age groups with distinct needs and interests. Roadmap can help in two ways:

1. There is a fast and slow track. The fast track focuses on language input and speaking. The slow track has additional skills lessons at the back of the book that are thematically linked to the corresponding fast track lesson. 
2. Each lesson has a clear goal and final task. For shorter courses, get each student to choose three tasks they would definitely like to do. Based on the results, you can prioritize those lessons.

At the start of the course, make a point of asking about students' learning priorities and then plan accordingly. Once you've completed an input and speaking lesson, you can ask the students if they want to further explore the topic through the skills lesson.

2. Make use of tasks

Open tasks, where students exchange their own ideas in a meaningful way, are a key part of individualized lessons. In essence, they are self-differentiating because each student will attempt to complete the task using whatever language they are able to use. In Roadmap, each of the main lessons ends with a clear task connected to a Global Scale of English (GSE) can-do statement. However, there are also lots of other speaking opportunities without a 'speaking' label (under vocabulary or reading, etc.), as well as the conversation that typically occurs in any lesson, all of which can be treated as open tasks.

3. Give individualized feedback and then share it

In a group setting, it's impossible to give individual feedback on every single task. However, you can give individual attention to different people throughout the lesson. Make yourself available to give students the language they need as it arises during an activity. Then, when they've completed the task, write some of these examples on the board, but leave a gap for the keywords. Elicit these keywords from other members of the class. If they can't get it, ask the student(s) you helped to explain the missing language. You might then repeat the task, but this time, pay attention to a new group. 

4. Check what vocabulary students know

All coursebook writers and teachers make choices about what vocabulary to introduce to students. In the case of Roadmap we are guided by the GSE and teachers might like to experiment themselves using the GSE Teacher Toolkit. However, all students will have their own lexicons. You can individualize learning better by asking students to rate the words you aim to cover in a unit according to whether they know them or not. For example, 1 = it's completely new, 2 = the meaning is familiar but I don't use it, 3 = this is part of my productive vocabulary. 

5. Get students to create their own word lists and cards

This knowledge will enable you to encourage students to focus on their individual vocabulary needs. They can reinforce learning by developing a word list or making flashcards using a web tool such as Quizlet. For new words they may have a word/collocation with an L1 translation.

With familiar vocabulary, they could have cards with a keyword on one side and varied collocations or common examples on the other (also in English). It's worth setting aside some time in class to do this at the start of a course. If your students are engaged and motivated, it can become a regular discipline for learning new vocabulary. 

6. Ask more open questions about usage, not just meaning

When we do vocabulary tasks from the course material in class, we can use open questions to individualize learning with the following two techniques. Firstly, as you go through the answers, rather than going in order 1 to 8, you can nominate people to give the answer that they're most unsure of and want to check. Secondly, we can ask the rest of the class open questions which focus on how words are used. For example, take these questions from different vocabulary exercises in Roadmap B1+:

• What (other) things might you spill?
• Why might a character in a series be killed off?
• What (else) can you describe as reliable?
• What can someone do to stay calm? 

You could also ask questions such as, "What's the opposite of staying calm?" or "What might you say if you spilled something?"

When you ask these questions, you are checking meaning, but more importantly, you are also pushing students to reveal how well they know a word. Do they know the collocations of spill and reliable? Do they have the other language they might need to talk about the aspects of a TV series or help someone who is in a panic? You can then encourage students to choose how much of this potentially new language they want to add to their word lists.

7. Provide open homework tasks and make time to share the results

Homework is another opportunity to individualize learning. Give students a wide choice of tasks based on the material of the course or beyond, for example:

• Choose any number of exercises they want to do from workbook material 
• Find and read one article they are interested in (in L1 or L2)
• Write five things they want to learn how to say in English (perhaps using Google Translate)
• Write up an interesting conversation they had in English (the conversation could be originally in L1 or L2)

Whatever task they choose, the key is to dedicate some classroom time to discussing which homework task they did and why. Encourage them to explain their answers and what they learned through the task, and whether or not they would choose to do a similar task again.  

For a more detailed introduction on how you can individualize your teaching, check out Andrew's webinar: