Keep Calm and Teach English

Oscar Wilde’s story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is perhaps the author’s most popular work. The tale of Dorian Gray’s moral decadence caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890. Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's only novel. Although sensored in its first edition, it has enjoyed wide popularity, and has inspired many cinematic, literary, and artistic adaptations. The video that follows presents an abridged version of the story for B1+ students. Text and audio is taken from  Opportunities Pre-Intermediate, Longman . The worksheets include Think-Tac-Toe activities for homework. Think-Tac-Toe activities allow students to choose tasks that better align with their learning styles and interests. (For more information on Think-Tac-Toe activities you can visit one of my older posts on  differentiated instruction ). If you decide to use them in your classroom, leave me a c...

Frankenstein  by Mary Shelley can be described as the first great horror story. Published in 1818 it has remained popular untill this day and has formed the basis for a number of films. The film adaptations tend to present the monster as an evil character, but the book itself tells us a different story… The following video presents an abridged version of the story for B1 students. Text and audio is taken from Opportunities Pre-Intermediate, Longman . I designed the worksheets in 2015 but some minor changes were needed in order for the tasks to work better. I also added a key to the tasks to make it more teacher friendly. The worksheets include Think-Tac-Toe homework activities which allow students to choose how they will show what they are learning, by giving them a variety of activities to select from. (For more information on Think-Tac-Toe activities you can visit one of my older posts on  differentiated instruction. )

"All the world's a stage" is the phrase that begins a monologue from William Shakespeare's play  As You Like It . The speech ( Act II Scene VII) compares the world to a stage and life to a play, and categorizes the seven stages of a man's life: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, old age and facing imminent death. The man in the poem goes through these stages all expressed in a sardonic and sometimes bitter tone: Infancy: He is a helpless baby and knows little. Whining schoolboy: He begins to go to school and is unwilling to leave the protected environment of his home.  The lover: In this stage he is always sentimental, expressing his love in a silly manner.  The soldier: He is uneasy and hot-headed. He is always working towards making a reputation for himself even at the cost of foolish risks. The justice: In this stage he thinks he has acquired wisdom. He has reached a stage where he has gained prosperity and social status and b...

An interactive that illustrates the basic elements of a good story, using the tale of Cinderella. A lively way to help students make sense of literary terms like plot, setting, characters, climax, resolution and so on . Elements of a story

There can be no Christmas without Charles Dicken's iconic short story about the cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge who finds the true meaning of Christmas through a journey in his past, present and future. The story has been repeatedly adapted into films and has never ceased to bring out the good in people.  photo by  TerriC The following video is an abridged version of the story for A2 to B1 students. Text and audio: Opportunities Pre-Intermediate, Longman. -A Christmas Carol- By Charles Dickens

Dramas from BBC Learning English BBC Learning English offers a range of classic literature stories dramatised for Intermediate EFL learners. Among them you can find Gulliver's Travels, based on an original story by Jonathan Swift. There's a new episode on this page every Friday. You can also listen to dramatised versions of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. And there will be more titles added in the future. You can download both the audio and the transcript together with a glossary and comprehension questions. 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley can be described as the first great horror story. Published in 1818 it has remained popular untill this day and has formed the basis for a number of films. The film adaptations tend to present the monster as an evil character, but the book itself tells us a different story… Abridged version for B1 students. Text and audio taken from Opportunities Pre-Intermediate, Longman. Frankenstein by Eurydice Gkori on Scribd

The Pearl is a famous novella by John Steinbeck. Published in 1947, it is the story of a poor pearl diver, Kino, who finds a valuable pearl and is convinced that his life will change. The story explores man's nature as well as greed and evil.  Steinbeck's inspiration was a Mexican folk tale. Here is an abridged version of the story for B1 students. (Extract taken from Opportunities Pre-Intermediate, Longman)

One of my favourite Christmas stories is "The Gift of the Magi" by O' Henry. It is a romantic short story, about a young married couple and their struggle to buy each other a worthy Christmas gift with little money. Its twist ending is generally considered an example of comic irony, making the story highly entertaining and adequately festive. photo by  StockSnap The version presented here is abridged, accompanied by an audio file from  manythings.org/ .

"1984" is a classic political science fiction novel that has had great impact since its publication in 1949. Many of its terms and concepts, such as Big Brother, have entered everyday use, while because of it the adjective Orwellian has come to describe official deception, surveillance, and manipulation by a totalitarian state.  The lesson that follows is based mainly on selected extracts from the Appendix where the principles of Newspeak as a way of controlling people are explained. The pre-reading activities offer an opportunity to revise main political terms. Suitable for older teens and adults, level B2 or higher. 1984 You can accompany the reading texts with the audio extracts I compiled in the following video:

Shel Silverstein's story of a missing piece searching for its perfect match to help him "roll" is a highly moving and educating one. For those of you who haven't read it it is a lesson on relying on ourselves and understanding that nothing can really fulfill us if we are not able to feel complete from within.  Here is a reading comprehension lesson where the students watch the story on Youtube and get to fill in an open cloze summary ending with a discussion on "missing pieces". Target group: Teenagers Level: B1+ The Missing Piece Lesson