Explore Sections 1 in Chapter 5 of the
Teacher’s Guide.


For each of the skills, note down the following:


1 or 2 particulars of developing the skill
1 or 2 opportunities for developing the
skill remotely
1 or 2 effective tools for developing the skill (here, you can make use of Chapter Section 1: Communicative language skills, the CEFR and
the Curriculum
Chapter 4 introduced the holistic approach to planning learning which is primarily
about setting a context in which communicative language skills can be developed
and used. You know already that skills descriptors are derived from the Curriculum
and adapted to the communicative situation.
Teaching communicative language skills remotely is pretty much similar to
teaching them face-to-face because the skills as they are stay the same. The main
differences are in the learning mode.
Though you don’t normally have separate lessons on listening, speaking, reading,
or writing, you may find it practical to look at the specifics of each skill discretely
before you decide how to integrate them (see Section 2) and choose the
appropriate mode, asynchronous or synchronous.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

54

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Communicative language skills are classified in the Curriculum same as in the
CEFR:
• Oral comprehension (сприймання на слух)
• Written comprehension (зорове сприймання) – Reading comprehension
(розуміння прочитаного) in CEFR (2020)
• Oral interaction (усна взаємодія)
• Written interaction (писемна взаємодія)
• Online interaction (онлайн взаємодія)
• Oral production (усне продукування)
• Written production (писемне продукування).
Let’s look at the communicative language skills in more detail.
Oral comprehension. According to the CEFR (2020) “The expression
‘oral comprehension’ involves comprehension in live, face-to-face communication
and its remote and/or recorded equivalent. It thus includes visual-gestural and
audio-vocal modalities”. In other words, oral comprehension is basically about
gathering information from listening.
A well-known pre-/while-/post-listening framework can apply in the synchronous
mode without much adaptation. But if used asynchronously, it’ll allow learners to
re-play a recording multiple times and make pauses if necessary. If you consider
flipping the classroom, you can give the pre- and while-listening tasks for
homework and engage in post-listening activities during the synchronous lesson.
You’ll provide learners with more opportunities to interact and do higher order
thinking (мисленнєва діяльність вищого порядку).
The example of sequencing oral comprehension activities below is based on
Karpyuk, O. and K. Karpyuk (2023) English 6.
Have you been to the capital?, Unit 7, p.117 (the Curriculum topic
‘English-speaking countries’, Grade 6).
Table 5.1 Have you been to the capital?
NB In the Mode section, F stands for a flipped task, A – asynchronous mode,
S – synchronous mode.
Stage Activity Mode Comments

Pre-
listening

New vocabulary with a Quizlet set A, F These activities can be done by
learners on their own and do not
require much teacher support.
However, you can refer to them
during the while-listening stage in the
synchronous mode (revising
vocabulary, sharing guesses, etc.).

Guessing the names of the places
(exercise 1, p.117)

A, S, F

While-
listening

Exercise 1, p.117 A, S Learners listen and note down all the
places of interest they have heard.
Exercise 2, p.117 A Learners do the exercise in their
notebooks or use an online resource,
e.g., Google Forms, which allows them
to know the results immediately.
S Learners do the task and compare
their answers in pairs or groups. This
can be followed up by a whole-class
discussion.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

55

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Table 5.1 (continued)
Stage Activity Mode Comments

Post-
listening

Project ‘London’s places of
interest I would like to visit’.
Search for more information about
London’s landmarks that were
mentioned in the text or some
other places.
Products: PowerPoint
presentations, Google Slides,
Jamboard, etc., or a virtual tour in
Google Earth.

A This task can be assigned as an
individual, pair or group work.

S Learners work together in pairs or
small groups in breakout rooms.
Teacher monitors the activity and
provides support if needed.

Project presentations ‘London’s
places of interest I would like to
visit’

A Learners might publish their projects
on, e.g., Padlet. You can encourage
comments and questions.
S Learners present their projects during
the live lesson. You can encourage a
follow-up discussion.

There may be some concerns regarding the development of oral comprehension
skills especially with its remote and/or recorded equivalent. They’re mostly about
using audio recordings, selecting appropriate resources and platforms to provide
learners with more opportunities for practicing oral comprehension in the
asynchronous mode.
Learners may sometimes find it difficult to understand what they hear in real time
because they can’t control the speed of the information coming at them. The
TimeStretch Player can help learners to slow down an audio file and then gradually
speed it up to achieve the natural flow of speech. You can also use this tool at your
lessons if there’s need for a slower version of a text or an isolated sentence.
Video Converter is a free web tool for separating audio from video or for converting
files for use in different formats on different devices. Although the combination of
video and audio can be really useful, sometimes it is also effective to split the two,
so that learners could focus on what they can learn from the body language of the
characters and then see how that corresponds to the actual words they’re saying
in the soundtrack.
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab is a free resource that focuses on everyday
English comprehension skills at three levels based on content, voices, vocabulary,
and natural speed. A combination of adult, teenage, and children’s voices are
included. Activities are sequenced in terms of pre-/while-/post-listening framework,
and most of them include interactive tasks for language practice.
ELLLO (English Listening Lesson Library Online) is an online collection of free
listening lessons with audio or video, a transcript, vocabulary support and
interactive quizzes.
You have numerous opportunities to develop your own materials for oral
comprehension to personalize learning. A lot of freemium (основні функції
продукту/послуги безкоштовні, додаткові/розширені функції – платні) online
resources like Wordwall, Edpuzzle, Liveworksheets, allow to incorporate audio
recordings as well as create a set of activities to challenge learners and boost their
skills.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

56

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Written comprehension (Reading comprehension). Written
comprehension involves understanding and interpreting both written and signed
texts. As written comprehension and oral comprehension belong to receptive
skills, some frameworks of teaching them may be similar.
Reading is an act of constructing meaning, so whenever you give learners
materials to read, you need to also provide them with the necessary tools to
facilitate understanding especially in case of remote learning. It’s essential to
decide whether the reading is done synchronously or asynchronously (traditional
homework) or rather as a flipped task. The decision is basically informed by the
reading purposes: reading correspondence, reading for orientation (skimming or
scanning), reading for information and argument, reading instructions, reading as
a leisure activity. The purposes should be clearly communicated to learners.
When deciding on the mode of reading, you’ll need to consider the following
factors:
• Learning objectives – They will determine the order of thinking skills involved
in a particular reading task and prompt the mode.
• Difficulty level – Consider the difficulty level of the reading material. Some
reading may require the synchronous mode, so that learners get immediate
clarification and support.
• Learning preferences and abilities – Some learners may require more
guidance while reading or more interaction before and after reading.
• Time Constraints – Consider the time available for the lesson to prioritize
activities for achieving the learning objectives.
• Available Resources – Explore the resources and technology which are
available for either synchronous or asynchronous lesson delivery.
The following lesson episode focuses on written comprehension. It’s based on
Mitchell, H. and M. Malkogianni (2022) Full Blast Plus for Ukraine, Grade 5.
A new experience, Unit 8, pp. 104-105 (the Curriculum topic ‘Rest
and leisure’, Grade 5).
Table 5.2 A new experience
NB In the Mode section, F stands for a flipped task, A – asynchronous mode,
S – synchronous mode.
Stage Activity Mode Comments
Setting the
context and
pre-teaching
vocabulary

Wordwall activity (matching
words and pictures).
Predicting the content by
pictures.

A, S, F This activity can be done by learners on
their own without much teacher support.
As an optional synchronous add-on, you
can ask whether learners have tried or
would like to try any of these activities.

Reading for
orientation
(skimming)

While reading, decide if the
writer of the diary is
enjoying his holiday.

A, S, F Draw learners' attention to the words the
meaning of which they have to find in
dictionaries or guess from the context.
Learners read the text and underline any
unknown words.

Feedback Checking comprehension S Learners shar ideas in pairs/small groups,

then in class.

Reading for
orientation
(scanning)

Activity B p. 105 A, S, F Learners re-read the diary page, this time
looking for more detail; identify true and
false statements.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

57

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Table 5.2 (continued)
Stage Activity Mode Comments
Feedback Checking comprehension A, S Learners answer comprehension questions
either in their notebooks or in a quiz. Make
sure to include open-ended and opinion
questions.
If the activity is done synchronously,
learners can compare their answers in
pairs or small groups.

Optional
follow-up
activities/
Add-ons

Discussion in groups on
Padlet or other similar
platform

S, A You can initiate a discussion around this
sample questions: "What are some leisure
time activities you would like to try in the
future? Why?"
Encourage learners to respond to each
other's posts by commenting or asking
questions.

Writing a blog post/diary
entry about a new leisure
activity

A If necessary, give learners some
guidelines, a prompt or a template.
Encourage learners to share their posts on
an agreed platform or during the next
synchronous lesson.

If you’re thinking outside the box with the external context in mind and planning
additional reading, you’ll be looking for authentic materials, e.g., notices, labels,
recipes, advertisements, emails, articles, etc., which are not specifically designed
for teaching purposes.
Oral interaction. “Oral interaction is understood to include both spoken
interaction and live, face-to-face signing” (CEFR, 2020). Language users are
expected to understand an interlocutor (співрозмовник) and are normally involved
in the following activities: conversation, informal/formal discussion, information
exchange, goal-oriented co-operation, obtaining goods and services, interviewing
and being interviewed, and using telecommunications.
Engaging in oral interaction activities remotely may sometimes be more
challenging than in face-to-face lessons. These ideas may help you:
● Use breakout rooms to create discussion pairs or groups to foster learners’
interaction and collaboration.
● Prepare a Speaking Bank with common sentence starters, statements and
phrases for discussions (see a sample in Appendix D).
● Initiate discussions on stimulating topics based on learners’ interests and
needs.
● Use online tools and resources to digitalize traditional offline activities such
as board games, human bingo, scavenger hunt, etc.
The following lesson episode focuses on oral interaction. It’s based on Mitchell,
H. and M. Malkogianni (2022) Full Blast Plus for Ukraine, Grade 6.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

58

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Modern World, Unit 5, p. 64 (Core Curriculum topic ‘My family, my
friends and I’, Grade 6).
Table 5.3 Modern World
NB In the Mode section, F stands for a flipped task, A – asynchronous mode,
S – synchronous mode.
Stage Activity Mode Comments
Preparation Exploring the Speaking
Bank for expressions for
making suggestions.

F, S, A Prepare a Speaking Bank with expressions
for making suggestions, e.g., Let's .... Shall
we ...? What about ...? Why don't we ...?

Playing a Wordwall random
wheel to practice making
suggestions.
Learners can work in
groups or pairs.

F, S, A Draw learners' attention to the words the
meaning of which they have to find in
dictionaries or guess from the context.
Learners read the text and underline any
unknown words.
The preparation stage can be set as a
flipped task for learners to work on their
own to prepare for the interaction in class.
The Wordwall random wheel activity can as
well be used as a warmer/ lead-in during the
live lesson.

Interaction Activity 1, p.64.

Learners talk in pairs about
participating in an
environmental event. They
discuss three ideas and
choose which event they
want to take part in.

S Ask learners to look at the pictures and
captions and check their understanding.
Invite learners to breakout rooms.

Reports from pairs about
the event they have
chosen.

S When learners are back in the main room,
make a quick poll on which event is the most
popular and why.

It may not always be possible to organize synchronous oral interaction. But you
can simulate it asynchronously by using, e.g., VoiceThread. This resource enables
users to create recordings and leave comments in order to create a virtual
communication environment.
Another helpful tool is Vocaroo which is a free and user-friendly virtual voice
recording service. All the recordings can be downloaded or shared via a link or
QR/embed code. You can initiate an asynchronous class discussion with the help
of the resource and may wish to use a template in Appendix E to make the
discussion more organized. The template can be uploaded to, e.g., GoogleDrive,
Google Classroom or any other virtual space which you use with your learners.
Written interaction. CEFR (2020) describes written interaction as
“... interactive communication through the medium of script or sign”, and classifies
it into correspondence and notes, messages and forms. Correspondence is chiefly
about interpersonal exchange, while notes, messages and forms are above all
about information transfer. “In written interaction the language used is similar to
oral language” (CEFR, 2020).
Developing written interaction remotely doesn’t differ very much from doing this
face-to-face. You will have the same topics, subskills, and types of activities.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

59

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

The sequence of activities below demonstrates a practical approach to developing
written interaction skills (focus on correspondence) that can be done in
synchronous or asynchronous modes, and some of them can be flipped too. This
isn’t a complete lesson plan and it’s up to you to decide how to incorporate this
sequence or some of the stages in a lesson or lessons. You also choose the mode
which is relevant to your teaching situation and which is most beneficial for
learners.
This isn’t, in fact, what we normally do while interacting in writing in real life. But,
these activities are handy in preparing learners for real written interaction.
Table 5.4 Written interaction
NB In the Mode section, F stands for a flipped task, A – asynchronous mode,
S – synchronous mode.
Stage Activity Mode Comments
Pre-writing Introducing the letter

structure

A, S, F This can be done in either mode. However, the
asynchronous mode could be more effective if
you share a presentation and/or a video
instruction. This will give learners an opportunity
to self-study the material and view it several
times.

Presenting the
features of the styles
A, S, F
Embedding grammar
structures

A, S, F Any mode is applicable in this case. If there’re
any time constraints, preference should be
given to asynchronous activities.

Writing Practicing writing
letters and notes

A, S, F Pair and group work during live lessons are
more beneficial for this kind of practice as it
creates an opportunity for mutual learning and
clarifying all the issues on the spot.
Writing assignments A, F Since individual work requires more time and
effort, this activity is recommended for the
asynchronous mode.

Proofreading Involving learners in
peer reviews

A, S, F Any mode is appropriate for this activity.
However, pair work in breakout rooms can give
more tangible results as learners can discuss
what they wrote and get immediate support and
feedback from you. You can make the process
more observable to you and learners if you use
Google Docs with their commenting features.
Once your learners are prepared for written interaction, you can offer them the
following activities:
● Teacher-student letters/notes exchange – this type of activity is absolutely
flexible as it’s easy to adapt to learners of all levels, any topic/situation, and
learners’ interests and needs.
● Student-student letters/notes exchange – it’s a learner-centered activity in
which learners can interact in pairs by exchanging emails. You may ask to copy
you in.
● Group letters/notes exchange – this kind of activity is more complicated in
terms of setting it up. Learners are supposed to carry out a small-scale
research project on a specific aspect of the topic and then communicate their
findings to the group. As a follow-up activity, a report for the whole class can
be done.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

60

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Online interaction. In the area of online interaction, CEFR (2020)
distinguishes between ‘Online conversation and discussion’ and ‘Goal-oriented
online transactions and collaboration’. Online interaction employs practically all
communicative language skills as in the synchronous mode, participants act
alternatively as speakers and listeners, while in the asynchronous mode, they
consecutively act as writers and readers.
In case of remote learning and teaching, synchronous online interaction most often
happens through video conferencing facilities as described earlier in this Guide.
Asynchronous online interaction usually occurs through online discussion boards,
email threads, forums, or similar. There’re plenty of examples of online interaction
in previous chapters and there’ll be more in the chapters to follow.
The fundamentals to consider in online interaction are apparently safe and
effective learning environments and netiquette (see Chapter 1, Section 1).
If you don’t want to use real social media like Facebook, you can choose a
resource which imitates such an online environment. Try a freemium Fakebook,
for example, where your learners and you can create imaginary profile pages for
learning purposes.
Online discussions, brainstorming, collecting arguments for and against, voting,
etc., can be done on a free platform Tricider.
If your learners are interested in engaging with other learners from around the
world, you can offer them ePals, a website which connects K-12 classrooms in
more than 99 countries to share content and ideas, collaborate on projects, and
even one-to-one pen pal exchanges. You can customize the criteria for searching
for possible partners as well as manage safety filters or moderate learners’
messages. Another resource which connects the world through learning is
Go Pangea. This global community engages learners in real-world collaboration
to develop skills for success in school and beyond. Its safety policy is quite strong
as it doesn’t require personal data, doesn’t allow direct private messages, and
provides ongoing supervision.
Oral production. CEFR (2020) categorizes oral production into sustained
monologue (describing experience, giving information, putting a case), public
announcements, and addressing audiences.
The skills for oral production can be developed through well-balanced
synchronous and asynchronous modes. As oral production can be prepared or
spontaneous, you’ll be choosing the most appropriate mode and the sequence of
activities. At the live lessons, it’s easier to create a real-life atmosphere, give
immediate feedback, promote improvisation and learners’ confidence in public
speaking. All these can make oral production more natural. Asynchronous
activities, in turn, can give learners more time and chances to work on their
accuracy and fluency.
The following sequence of activities will prepare learners for oral production. It’s
based on Kosta, J. and M. Williams (2023) Prepare, English 6 and follows the
listening activity about the Loch Ness monster.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
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International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

61

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Mysteries in Nature, Unit 15, p. 93 (Core Curriculum topics
‘Traveling’ or ‘English speaking countries’, Grade 6).
Table 5.5 Mysteries in nature
NB In the Mode section, F stands for a flipped task, A – asynchronous mode,
S – synchronous mode.
Stage Activity Mode Comments
Leading in
the main
activity

Learners give more examples of
the stories about the
strange/mythological animals.
Question prompts:
• What other stories about
strange animals do you
know?
• Do you know the names of
any mythological animals?

A, S The mode will depend on your working
routine and the task can be assigned as
a homework or a project at the end of
the unit. It can also be done during a
live lesson.

Planning
speaking

Learners collect ideas for their
stories using the guiding
questions (Speaking 1, p. 93):
• Where does the animal live?
• In which country?
• In the forest/water/
mountains?
• What does it look like?
• Is it big/small?
• Does it fly?
• Is it friendly/shy?
• What is it called?
• Are there any pictures or
photos of it?
• Is it real or just a story?

A Learners can draft their stories
individually using a mind map or a
graphic organizer to put their ideas
together.
S Learners work in breakout rooms to
collect ideas for their stories using the
guiding questions. Google Docs,
Jamboard, Lino can be helpful to
organize ideas.
A, S Give learners some time to finalize their
stories.

Sharing
stories

Learners tell the stories they
prepared.

A Learners record videos or audios by
using Flip, Zoom or a similar application
which allows video/audio recording.
They upload their recordings to an
agreed platform.
S Learners work in pairs or small groups
and share their stories.

Feedback/
Review

Learners share their impressions
on the stories.

A Encourage peer feedback and give
your own feedback. You can also
comment on the stories in individual
messages to learners especially if you
spotted any issues.
S Re-group learners and ask them to
share what impressed them in the
stories most of all. In the main room,
invite several impressions and
summarize.

If you want to add some fun to your lessons and give your learners more oral
production practice, try out Chatterpix, which is a free and entertaining application
available on Google Play and App Store. Learners can turn any image into a
‘talking head’ by selecting/taking a photo, drawing a line for the mouth, and
recording a 30-second message. They can then personalize their ChatterPix
before saving them to their devices or sharing them by email.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

62

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Written production. As defined in CEFR (2020), written production falls
under two categories: creative writing and reports and essays. Teaching written
production is generally viewed as writing as a product and writing as a process. In
her article ‘Product and process writing: A comparison’, Vanessa Steele compares
the two approaches. The table below is borrowed from the article.
Table 5.6 Process and product writing
Process writing Product writing
• text as a resource for comparison • imitate model text
• ideas as starting point • organisation of ideas more important than

ideas themselves
• more than one draft • one draft
• more global, focus on purpose, theme, text
type, i.e., reader is emphasised

• features highlighted including controlled
practice of those features

• collaborative • individual
• emphasis on creative process • emphasis on end product
The vision of writing will inform the sequencing of activities and, consequently,
advise on the choice of the remote mode of learning and teaching: synchronous
or asynchronous.
Tables 5.7 and 5.8 demonstrate the two approaches to teaching writing and how
synchronous or asynchronous modes can be combined for the purpose.
Table 5.7 Product writing
NB In the Mode section, F stands for a flipped task, A – asynchronous mode,
S – synchronous mode.
Stage Activity Mode Comments
Modeling the
text

Learners study a
sample text which is
the basis for their own
writing.

A, F You can email sample texts to learners or add
them to a collaborative platform. You can also
record a video explaining the key features of a
sample text and show learners how to write their
own.
S You can model writing synchronously using the
elements of guided discovery to identify text
features and writing procedures.

Collaborative
writing

Learners do the
writing in pairs or
small groups.

S Collaborative writing can be organized in
breakout rooms. You can monitor pair/group
work and provide learners with relevant support.
A Collaborative writing imitates a real-life situation
when people need to work together on the same
document/task. Google Docs or Google
Classroom are perhaps the most common for
the purpose.

Independent
writing

Learners work on
their writing tasks and
submit it individually.

A You need to agree with learners in advance on
how they can submit their work. You may
already have an established routine.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

63

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language
skills and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of existing
online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Table 5.8 Process writing
NB In the Mode section, F stands for a flipped task, A – asynchronous mode,
S – synchronous mode.
Stage Activity Mode Comments
Pre-writing/
brainstorming

Learners explore the
features and structure of
the text.
Learners brainstorm
ideas for the text in small
groups. They can also
brainstorm the writing
strategy and relevant
vocabulary.

F This will set the basis for further activities.

A, S Both synchronous and asynchronous modes
are appropriate for this stage. There’s also a
good range of tools for this purpose, e.g.,
Padlet, Lino, Flip, Google Docs, Jamboard, etc.

Organizing
ideas/drafting

Learners organize their
ideas, structure their
thoughts to get ready for
drafting their text. They
can use the following
tools:
Graphic organisers
templates
Coggle.
Learners draft their text.

A As it’s one of the most time-consuming stages
in the writing process, it may be preferable to
do it in the asynchronous mode. You need to
agree on how your learners can ask for
help/advice and how you’ll respond. You may
also need a live meeting with your learners at
some point.

Reviewing Learners review other
groups’ texts against a
checklist or rubrics.

A, S You need to consider the most appropriate
channel for exchanging texts at this stage. It
should be user-friendly and allow editing.
Here’s a couple of techniques which you may
think of using:
• 50-50 – ask learners to delete 50% of
other groups' text without losing the initial
message
• Improve it! – ask learners to suggest
corrections and ideas for improvement.

Revising Learners edit their own
pieces of writing taking
into account other
groups’ reviews.

A For practice purposes, you can advise learners
to use online tools like Grammarly,
GrammarCheck, Writer, Grammarix. These
tools are widely used in real life, so, you
shouldn’t worry very much about cheating.

Preparing the
product for
publication/
sharing

Learners finalize their
products and publish
them on the agreed
platform.

A, S Agree with learners on the location for
publishing their texts, e.g. Padlet, Lino, Google
Docs, or similar. Invite learners to
react/comment on other learners’ work.
It could be useful to organize a live meeting to
give feedback to learners and to discuss their
writing experience together.

Chapter 7 will give an overview of more tools which can enhance learners’ writing
skills. But, remember to be choosy.7 of the Teacher’s Guide).


Chapter 7: Overview of Existing Online
Resources

Lead-in
Chapter 7 presents a collection of online resources, platforms, tools, and
applications which are out there to help you to enrich your virtual classrooms.
When you see the whole list, your eyes may run wide. But, don’t worry. Some of
the resources have already been described in the Guide, some of them may have
been in use by you for quite a time. So, you can skip reading about them. Look for
something new and effective. And remember not to overwhelm learners with tools
as the more doesn’t always mean the better.
You can take advantage of the criteria below to make an informed decision about
this or that tool.
Accessibility. Learners can easily access and use a tool/app from
anywhere (level of technological literacy, compatibility with their devices) as well
as use the resource without any barriers regarding its design and usability.
Relevance to learning outcomes/objectives and learners’ needs. The
use of the resources should be justified by the purpose of the activity and
contribute to the achievement of learning outcomes. They should also satisfy
learning needs and learners’ interests.
Engagement. Resources which have an interactive component and/or
some sort of gamification will keep learners engaged and promote active learning.
Progress tracking. It’s really helpful to use tools with a feature of tracking
learning progress which shows learners the benefit they get out of it.
This chapter consists of four sections that explore a wide range of high-quality and
trusted online learning resources and tools which are primarily applicable for
remote learning and teaching but which can as well, at least some of them, be
used successfully in the face-to-face classroom.
Section 1 focuses on Zoom’s multiple features to enhance learning experience
and Section 2 deals with some of the Google Education tools that can help
learners develop their English language skills. Section 3 will be interesting to those
who use smartphones, messengers, and mobile applications widely. Section 4
presents Mayer’s principles of multimedia. Finally, Section 5 examines a wide
range of online tools which can diversify remote learning and teaching.
Note again that this chapter only informs and recommends. It doesn’t prescribe
anything.
Section 1: Zoom features to enhance English lessons
Zoom’s popularity all over the world has grown significantly since December 2019
when the outbreak of Covid-19 prompted schools to switch to remote learning. It’s
in the top five video conferencing facilities thanks to its range of features and
functions which make it one of the most effective and accessible tools for remote
synchronous lessons in different teaching contexts. And you may be one of its
users already.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

76

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

You can explore some general Zoom’s tips and tricks for teachers but this section
will look at some features and advice which may be particularly useful for teachers
of English. You may skip this section if you’re a confident user of Zoom.
Breakout rooms. Zoom breakout rooms (BR) help to organize and
maintain positive group dynamics during live lessons. You can set up group, pair
or even individual tasks. BR can assign participants automatically according to the
number of rooms. You can let learners choose a room according to the task, their
roles, or topic for discussion or you can use the so-called ‘clever’ grouping when
you assign learners to rooms manually. The manual grouping is useful for
differentiating the learning process by task and/or support, e.g., giving different
tasks to different groups in case of mixed ability classes, giving additional tasks to
fast finishers, creating opportunities for peer feedback, or giving individual
feedback to learners.
BR expands the space for communication and collaboration through activities like
‘Find someone who ...’, ‘Pyramid discussions/think-pair-share’, ‘Jigsaw’, ‘Speed
interview’, etc.
You can monitor learners’ activity in BR (using cameras, microphones, and sharing
screen) without even joining the room. Just keep the BR dialogue box open. You
can give pairs/groups additional instructions/tips/reminders by using the
broadcasting feature.
NB You can reduce the return time from breakout rooms in settings (Options)
before opening the rooms (see Figure 7.1). This is a useful time saver.
Figure 7.1 Breakout rooms settings

It’s crucial to pre-plan how learners will interact with content and prepare
appropriate task descriptions and instructions. The ways of making instructions
effective were discussed in Section 4 of Chapter 2.
Chat. The Chat function in Zoom is useful for interaction, communication
and collaboration which you can use to:
• share links, documents and files
• ask questions and review learners’ responses
• encourage questions from learners
• ask for feedback or quick reflection at the beginning/in the middle/at the end
of the lesson
• give feedback to the whole group or individual learners.
Learners who feel shy or reluctant to speak out in public will perhaps appreciate
the Chat function most of all. They can contribute to conversations and stay
engaged. When using the Chat, it is necessary to keep in mind the virtual wait time
and make sure that learners have enough time to think and type.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
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International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

77

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

There’re plenty of activities you can do using the Chat to keep learners interested
and involved. Here’re some examples:
• Sharing opinions and debating on various topics – You demonstrate a
statement on the screen and ask learners to write ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’,
‘disagree’, or ‘strongly disagree’ in the Chat. Then, learners raise hands to
justify their opinions.
• Playing ‘Would you prefer ... or ...?’ game – You demonstrate a question on
the screen and ask learners to reply with A or B in the Chat. Then, they can
raise hands if they’d like to explain their answers.
• Holding an information/opinion exchange with the ‘Ready-steady-go’ response
technique (also described in Chapter 2, Section 3 as a Waterfall end-of-class
activity) – You ask a question/give a statement and invite learners to type their
responses in the Chat and hold on posting them until you say ‘ready, steady,
go’. Learners post their messages which become visible at the same time.
With this technique, learners aren’t influenced by the responses of their
classmates.
If you have tech-savvy learners in your group, you can nominate them as Chat
Assistants who will monitor the Chat window and help you to manage the
discussion. You can have assistants with other technology too, by the way.
In some cases, you can benefit from using direct/private messaging if you need to
give immediate feedback/praise to individual learners, give them additional
information/prompt. Learners, in turn, can ask a question or inform you about any
current issue.
Reactions. Zoom reactions provide opportunities for expressing ideas or
emotions and giving/getting immediate non-verbal feedback through a variety of
emojis. These can be used for:
• quick check-ins at the beginning of a lesson to ask about learners’ mood and
feelings, e.g., thumbs up/down or any relevant emoji
• encouraging learners to demonstrate their attitudes to information or opinions
• cheering each other and celebrating success
• quickly collecting answers to a yes/no question or suggestion
• inviting the expression of needs for clarification or additional explanation.
Annotations. Zoom annotations can be effective during remote
synchronous lessons if you and your learners are confident in using them.
Annotations can be used to:
• highlight important information on, e.g., a slide to attract learners’ attention
• draw pictures or diagrams to illustrate new vocabulary
• underline or circle grammar structures
• add additional text/comments
• etc.
Whiteboard. Zoom virtual whiteboard replicates a board in a face-to-face
classroom. It can be useful for:
• demonstrating concepts using the drawing function
• annotating graphics, diagrams, texts
• structuring small group discussions
• notetaking
• brainstorming
• group project planning
• collecting feedback/answers/ideas/results/opinions
• demonstrating the topic of the lesson and lesson objectives
• etc.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

78

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

And what do you think about trying out Zoom whiteboard templates? There’s quite
a number of them in the Zoom desktop client. You can find the one which best fits
your purposes. The content of your whiteboards can be saved as PNG/PDF files
for further reference.
Apps. You can integrate most widely used applications into Zoom. This
can save time at the lesson as you can operate apps directly from Zoom. You can
search Zoom App Marketplace or use these direct links to common apps Timer by
Zoom, Mentimeter, Wooclap, Kahoot!
Filters and backgrounds. Zoom filters and backgrounds aren’t only fun;
they can meaningfully enhance learning. Examples are numerous and here’s just
a few:
• topic-related background, e.g., a famous building (English-speaking
countries), interior of a shop (Shopping), a landscape (Nature), etc.
• blurred background to play a guessing game
• funny images to arouse positive emotions, etc.
However, there’re certain system requirements which make filters and
backgrounds available.
Section 2: Google for Education to facilitate English
lessons
Google for Education provides a range of tools that can be used to enhance
English lessons and support learning. If you have a Google account, the tools like
Google Docs, Google Earth, Google Forms, Google Meet, Google Slides,
Jamboard, etc., are built-in.
Google Docs for collaborative writing, peer editing, discussing, doing
assignments, practicing vocabulary and grammar, whiteboarding and progress
tracking.
Google Earth for creating virtual tours to anywhere on Earth with the
opportunity to see interesting places in 2D/3D.
Google Forms for pre-lesson assessment, reading/listening
comprehension quizzes, vocabulary and grammar practice, peer feedback and
assessment, exit tickets.
Google Meet for remote synchronous lessons.
Google Slides as a tool for presentations, interactive activities,
collaborative projects, learning portfolios, feedback and assessment.
Jamboard for interactive games, collaborative writing, drawing, creating
mind maps, peer editing, group projects, feedback and assessment.

Eric Curts, an authorized Google Education Trainer and Innovator, runs the award-
winning blog ‘Control Alt Archive’ where he offers help guides, presentations, and

training materials for all Google products.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

79

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Section 3: Phones, messengers, and mobile applications
The rise of mobile technology has revolutionized the way people communicate
and learn, and it has been especially beneficial for remote learning. Mobile
phones, messengers, and mobile applications have made it easier for learners to
access educational resources and connect with their peers and teachers through
video conferencing from anywhere in the world. You can create a channel or group
for your lessons on Telegram, Viber or WhatsApp.
Like any other technology, mobile phones can help to:
● provide a social and fun learning environment
● build confidence and motivation
● encourage teamwork and collaboration
● expose learners to diverse learning resources
● promote language practice, both accuracy and fluency.
In areas where the Internet connectivity is limited or unreliable, mobile phones
could be used as hotspots to provide Internet access to other devices.
Section 4: Mayer’s principles of multimedia
You may have already used various platforms, tools, applications in your teaching
practice. Some of them work well asynchronously; others work effectively in a
synchronous mode; while some of the tools may be equally useful in both
asynchronous and synchronous settings.
You can use ready-made materials as learning assets or create your own digital
learning content using different tools. In whichever case, it’s essential to guarantee
the relevance, quality and accessibility of resources. Mayer, R. (2001) developed
twelve principles of multimedia which explicate how to structure multimedia
learning experiences.
Table 7.1 is compiled and adapted from DeBell, A. (2019) ‘How to use Mayer’s
12 Principles of Multimedia’.
Table 7.1 Mayer’s principles of multimedia
Principle How to use
Coherence Learners learn best when extraneous, distracting material is not included.

● Cut out the extras.
● Use only the information that the learner needs.
● Reduce, simplify, clarify to enable comprehension.

Signaling Learners learn best when they are shown exactly what to pay attention to on

the screen.
● Highlight important words.
● Use animated arrows to point out the most essential information.
● Insert slides or scenes that separate learning sections.

Redundancy Learners benefit more from narration and graphics, as opposed to narration,

graphics, and text which could overload learners.
● Give preference either to text or graphics but not both together.
● Minimize the amount of text to avoid overloading visual channels.
● Use closed captioning for learners who prefer to read subtitles.

Spatial contiguity
(просторова
суміжність)

Learners perceive information better when text and visuals are close together.
● Keep all related text and graphics physically close together in the frame.
● Make it easy for learners to know where to look for information.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

80

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Table 7.1 (continued)
Principle How to use
Temporal Contiguity
(часова суміжність)

Learners learn best when words and visuals are presented together instead
of in consecutive order.
● Make sure that the corresponding animation/visuals and narration/audio
are well synchronized.

Segmenting Learners learn best when information is provided in segments rather than

one long continuous stream.
● Provide learners with more control over their learning by, e.g., adding
‘next’ or ‘speed control’ buttons.
● Break learning into smaller, bite-sized chunks.
● Make sure that no lesson, slide, or video has too much information
packed in it.

Pre-training Learners learn more efficiently if they already know some of the basics.
● Pre-teach some vocabulary (terms, names, words, definitions).
● Create a ‘guide’ or ‘cheat sheet’ (шпаргалка) for learners to use
throughout their work on the materials.
● Develop an entire lesson up front dedicated to understanding the basics,
before the learner moves into the actual course.

Modality Learners learn best from visuals and spoken words than from visuals and

printed words.
● Limit the amount of text you use on screen.
● Rely more on visuals.
● Use printed text only for key terms, lists, or directions.

Multimedia Learners learn best from words and pictures than just from words alone.

● Avoid using text on screen alone.
● Use relevant visuals.
● Make sure that images enhance or clarify the information.

Personalization Learners learn best from a more informal, conversational voice than an overly

formal voice.
● Keep your language simple and casual.
● Use the conversational style and the first person (you, I, we, our).
● Avoid overly professional sounding text as well as long, complex words.
Voice Learners learn best from a human voice rather than a computer voice.

● Avoid using an automated, robotic, computer voice.
● Record your own narration.
● Make sure your audio is high quality by using a professional microphone
and mastering audio editing software.

Image Learners don’t necessarily learn better from a talking head video.
● Use appropriate animation and visuals that help reinforce the audio
voiceover.
● Limit the amount of your talking head screen time.

Mayer’s principles aren’t mandatory to follow but strongly desirable if you want to
maximize comprehension.
Section 5: Selected platforms, tools, and applications to
enrich remote learning
This section provides a comprehensive list of platforms, tools and applications
which this way or the other can enhance the remote learning and teaching. Some
of them have already been discussed in other chapters for various purposes. The
resources are in the alphabetical order to avoid prioritization.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

81

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

All Things Topics, All Things Listening, All Things Grammar are websites from
Robert Dobie, M.Ed/TESOL. The names of the website speak for themselves.
Plenty of various resources for various purposes and in various formats.
Baamboozle is a freemium online game-based learning platform. It offers a wide
selection of games ready to use but you can add your own challenges, so, the
library of content grows daily. Here’re several examples to practice vocabulary
Think of a word, Word picture puzzles, Two images, one word and grammar
Comparatives & superlatives.
Canva is a powerful tool with numerous features, high-quality templates, and an
enormous library of photos, vectors, icons, and stock images ready for use. It’s
possible to create your own designs from scratch too. Here’s what and how you can
do with Canva tutorials. There’re plenty of ideas on using Canva here Canva video
playlist, 10 ways for teachers to use Canva in the classroom, 10 ways to take your
lessons to the next level with Canva, 25 interactive classroom ideas.
Canva is also a tested collaborative tool that allows learners to work synchronously
in groups, contribute to their mutual product and request feedback from their
classmates. Learners can capture photos or videos of their class work, homework,
assignments, and school activities; post those in their own or class account; and
have discussions around their posts.
If free Canva isn’t enough, you can try and get access to Canva for Education which
provides all the premium features to teachers for free. Check whether you qualify
and how to submit proof of your teaching position.
Classroomscreen is a freemium user-friendly tool for classroom management
which could enhance synchronous lessons. It offers a variety of widgets for different
purposes. The most popular of them are described on the home page. And here,
you can see some examples of using the Dice widget Word game, Ask a question,
Story Creation.
Englishwsheets provides resources for reading comprehension, grammar, and
vocabulary. The site offers various exercises, crosswords, puzzles, picture
dictionaries, classroom posters, flashcards, tests, etc. You can view and download
worksheets and then share them with your learners.
ESL Galaxy offers tons of free activities to be done online and also printable
worksheets and board games. You can use ready-made materials or download a
template to customize the activity. All the materials are sorted out by levels, topics
and types.
Flip is a video discussion tool which fits both synchronous and asynchronous
modes. Flip offers a detailed Educator Toolkit to enable you to bring the tool to your
classrooms with the greatest advantage.
You can use Flip in many different ways. One of the popular uses of Flip is digital
storytelling. A sample lesson and some technical considerations are presented in
the article ‘Flip Lesson Plan for Upper Elementary and Middle School Classes’ by
Stephanie Smith Budhai.
And have you considered using Flip for formative and even summative assessment
(oral production and interaction)? Especially asynchronously? Just give it a thought.

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Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

82

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Flippity is a free resource which offers more than a couple of dozens of templates
for creating interactive activities like flashcard questions, quizzes, crosswords,
spelling tests, games, etc. You can see the whole variety if you follow the Flippity
link above. You will notice that each template has a demo and a step-by-step
instruction which make it easier for you to create your activities.
The choice of the template will definitely depend on the purpose, e.g., classroom
management (Random Name Picker, Badge Tracker, Leaderboard, etc.),
knowledge/skills builders (Flash Cards, Crossword Puzzle, Word Search,
WordMaster, Word Cloud, etc.), formative assessment (Quiz Show, Virtual
Breakout, etc.) and, of course, multipurpose engaging games (Matching, Connecto,
Bingo, Word Scramble, etc.).
JeopardyLabs allows you to use existing games or create your own from a
template. The games can be played online from anywhere in the world. There are
several examples of quizzes with a focus on vocabulary (School Life, Shopping)
and grammar (Quantifier Jeopardy).
Lino is a free online web sticky note service with a wide range of functions, which
are attractive and reliable. Users can add different types of content – text, images,
and videos. It’s possible to create groups on Lino to engage in collaborative
activities. Here’re some of the most common uses of Lino:
● gathering the results of learners’ research/ideas/opinions
● creating a final product of project work
● doing think-pair-share activities with a follow-up summary
● doing jigsaw activities
● whiteboarding to create any content, especially graphic organisers
● assessing for learning and peer assessing.
Liveworksheets is a helpful free resource for creating interactive worksheets for
your learners. This will make traditional worksheets more enjoyable and engaging
to work with. Liveworksheets offers a comprehensible tutorial which doesn’t require
further explanations.
You can create your own worksheets or use a variety of worksheets already created
by other users. In the latter case, be critical and choosy.
Mentimeter is a freemium learner response system with no installation required
that lets you interact with your learners in real time via computers or mobile devices.
It’s a useful tool for ice breakers or warmers; brainstorming; discussions; quick
tests, polls or quizzes; feedback, reflection or self-assessment, etc. You can

encourage engagement and interaction by asking multiple-choice, opinion, open-
ended, scale, ranking questions, etc. The answers instantly appear on the screen

in the form of a word cloud, graph, scale, speech bubbles or question-answer board.
You can find much more about Mentimeter here What is Mentimeter and how can
It be used for teaching?. And these resources abound in ideas, tips and tricks: Best
classroom icebreakers in 2023, 9 ways to keep students engaged in 2023,
Interactive quizzes & games for the classroom.
Myfreebingocards.com is designed to help you create randomized bingo cards to
use in class. With these free bingo games, you can customize the title, content, and
appearance of bingo cards, make printable bingo cards in PDF format like here
(Around the Town - Grade 6), share virtual bingo cards like this (Around the Town -
Grade 6). Bingo can be played online or printed out.

This Teacher’s Guide was developed by the SDELE
Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

83

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Padlet is a freemium versatile collaborative tool which has a lot of different
templates and supports a wide range of file formats. It doesn’t require learners’
registration and is safe to use.
You can create a Padlet as a:
● timeline – can work well for storytelling.
● shelf – automatically arranges the board into columns which you can headline.
This template helps to collect ideas under certain categories. For example,
you can plan a trip (planning a trip).
● stream – could be used for a folding story in which several pieces of a story
are put together but the writers only see the prior ‘fold’ – not the whole story.
Like this collaborative story.
● canvas – allows to connect different pieces of information. You can use
canvas to present new language items or to demonstrate a lesson roadmap
for the learners to follow during synchronous or asynchronous lessons.
● map – is suitable for a class project on countries and nationalities or
presenting a travelling journal.
You’re welcome to explore creative ideas from Lucie Ranard on how to use Padlet
for teaching English. But, your own creativity is still crucial.

Rebus Number One can generate rebus puzzle for any word. It’s free, user-
friendly, with lots of options for the final result. You can demonstrate rebuses on the

screen or pick up the idea and design your rebus on, e.g., Jamboard like in this
example (Places in the Town - Grade 6).
Sound Grammar provides video conversations focusing on specific grammar
points. Levels range from true beginner to intermediate and correspond to A1, A2,
B1 and B2 of the CEFR. Each level is accompanied with a free downloadable
workbook with various exercises and answer sheets.
Wordwall is a freemium online platform for creating learning activities (NB a free
account allows users to create up to five activities and use the community collection
without any limitations). You can create your own learning materials or use a variety
of ready-made, fully customizable tasks. You can switch between templates for one
and the same activity or design printables.
With different Wordwall features, activities can be used in synchronous and
asynchronous modes. They’re easy to share in Google Classroom, messengers,
social media, etc. by link or embed code.

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Program implemented by American Councils for
International Education: ACTR/ACCELS Ukraine Office.

84

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The basics of
remote learning and teaching
Chapter 2 Facilitating remote
learning and teaching
Chapter 3 Remote assessment
FOR learning and OF learning
Chapter 4 Context-based
lesson planning
Chapter 5 Developing
communicative language skills
and language remotely
Chapter 6 Incorporating social
and emotional learning in
English lessons
Chapter 7 Overview of
existing online resources
References
Recommended resources
Appendices

Summing up
Chapter 7 presented a wide variety of resources which make learning and
teaching memorable. And the list isn’t exhaustive. It’s often difficult to choose a
proper tool from this array. So, first, apply the criteria from the Lead-in to this
chapter. And, second, answer these questions:
• Does the resource contribute to the development of learners’ communicative
language skills?
• Does the resource help to develop learners’ critical and creative thinking
skills?
• Can learners achieve learning objectives using the resource?
• Is the resource user-friendly?
• Does the resource allow learners to create and share their own products?
• Does the resource promote communication and collaboration?
• Will the resource encourage some sort of research?
• Will the resource help learners to improve their digital literacy?
• Is the resource likely to meet learners’ needs and learning preferences?
If most of your answers to these questions are ‘Yes’, then use this resource
undoubtedly. If most of the answers are ‘No’, then give this resource another
thought and, perhaps, reject it. Always think about your learners and their learning
in the first place!