EF Teacher Zone
Ideas, tips, and tools for language teachers around the world.
MenuVisit EF Teacher Zone

Grammar

12 articles
4-part holiday season lesson plan: speaking and grammar
5 min read 5 min

Get your class feeling the holiday cheer with this lesson combining a couple of Christmas themed activities with a New Year’s resolution wrap-up.1. Wa...

Grammar recap: Intro to gerunds and infinitives
7 min read 7 min

As students become more proficient in English, they inevitably begin focusing on some of the trickier aspects of the language. One of those is gerunds...

Grammar lesson plan: Modals of possibility, for levels C1+
5 min read 5 min

Modal verbs are are the bread and butter of every grammar class. Students encounter them at all levels, from foundation to proficiency. In C-level cla...

What are anaphoric and cataphoric references? (And how to teach them)
4 min read 4 min

What a mouthful! In short, anaphoric and cataphoric references are emphatic styles of sentence structure taught at C1 – C2 level. They are used to ins...

Grammar lesson plan: Reported speech, for levels C1+
4 min read 4 min

Though a fastidious grammar point, accurate use of reported speech is essential to daily life. C1 students will have a strong grasp of this form. Howe...

What are circle games? (And why they’re great for ELT)
5 min read 5 min

A group of students sitting in a circle, engaged in a whole class activity. It’s an image that easily comes to mind when thinking of a classroom situa...

Grammar lesson plan: 3 activities to teach the passive voice
5 min read 5 min

There are tons of uses for the passive voice. But rather than reading 30 pages on the matter or listen to a lecturer profess its values, students need...

Ten must-know whiteboard games
5 min read 5 min

One of your biggest classroom allies is right in front of you: the whiteboard. With a healthy dose of teamwork, competition, and movement, these ten a...

Grammar lesson plan: Prepositions
4 min read 4 min

This may seem like an easy topic. But don’t let the title fool you. Prepositions are a complex part of speech, and a teacher should have an arsenal of...

Grammar lesson plan: Narrative tenses
5 min read 5 min

We all tell stories. But non-native speakers can feel inhibited by the fear of making grammatical mistakes and as a result compromise their storytelli...

Grammar lesson plan: “I wish” and “If only”
4 min read 4 min

This lesson provides activities that help students express regrets, wishes, and complaints using “I wish,” and “If only”.  This is important stuff—pro...

Christmas activities for adult learners and a diverse classroom
5 min read 5 min

Christmas is approaching.As a teacher, you might be feeling excited…or deflated as the year comes to an end.It’s easy for Christmas to become repetiti...