The document summarizes presentations from the TexTESOL conference in San Antonio in October 2015. It provides information on several sessions focused on tools and techniques for teaching English literacy using comics, academic vocabulary, writing skills, blended learning, critical thinking exercises, and assessing writing ability using the IELTS rubric. Presenters discussed apps and websites for creating comics, online listening exercises, and vocabulary games. Effective strategies included incorporating TED talks, modeling writing skills, and using rubrics to provide structured feedback to students.

1. TexTESOL Conference
October 2015 – SAN ANTONIO

2. What Fun! Improve Literacy
with Comics –
* Shelley Sanchez Terrell - (Handout)
• Creating comics encourage language learners to
explore vocabulary, summarize information, and
contextualize what they learn in a creative way.
Comics also helps students visualize difficult
science and math concepts. Explore tools and
apps to create and learn with comics!
• Suggestion by presenter, Have the learners go
home and brainstorm before creating comic.
• Shelly Sanchez Terrell is a teacher trainer, instructional designer, adjunct professor,
and the author of 30 Goals Challenge. Taught teachers and trained learners in over
25 countries. Consulted with UNESCO in Bangkok, The European Union, Cultura
Iglesa of Brazil, The British Council in Tel Aviv….recipient of many awards including
the Bammy Award as founder of #Edchat…..

3. Shelley Terrell cont’d-
 Sources – Grammarmancomic.com (free, has you tube videos)
Comic master – (allows creation of graphic novels), Garfield
(has free comic creator) Make Believes Comic (free, has a
comic creator), Kidscomics.com, Marvel Comics - has some
free comics, Pixton – (choose fun option and it is free. The
teacher option is not free.) Comicshead.com (app),
Buncel.com- adds voice to comic, Toondoo.com – avaiable
only on web and can make video and books. Wittycomics.com
(don’t have to register) ***Good for older learners, political
cartoons.
 Resources – Scott McCloud –Understanding Comics, Matt
Madden – Drawing Words & Writing Pictures – 99 Ways to tell a
story. Linda Berry – Picture This

4. Disrupting Classroom Discourse
* Dr. Kate Kinsella – (Handout)
 Tools for Launching an Academic Competency-Based Vocabulary
Campaign.
 Productive word knowledge, the ability to competently use a word in
speech and writing, is pivotal to both school and workplace reading
comprehension, formal communication, and written response. Dr.
Kinsella introduces research-based instructional principles and practices
to prepare mixed-ability classes for the vocabulary demands of text
analysis, discussion and written response. Participants observe video
footage and review sample lessons, note-taking guide formats, and
competency aligned word lists to establish a program-wide high-utility
vocabulary initiative.
 Kate Kinsella, Ed.D. is a teacher educator at San Francisco State University and a highly-sought after speaker
and consultant to school districts and state departments throughout the US.

5. Cultivating Proficient Writers –
* Jeanne Lambert (Handout)
 Academic writing ranks among the most challenging of
courses in the ESL curriculum for both teachers and
students. This session will give writing teachers fresh
ideas for designing writing curricula which prepare
students for success in mainstream college and
university classes.
 What must be included in writing –
 Structure, Focus, Vocab, Transitions, Supporting Ideas
 Jeanne Lambert has 20 years of ESL classroom, teacher training, and materials writing experience. She is the
series editor of “Final Draft”, a new academic writing series from Cambridge University Press.

6. Cultivating Proficient --
• What are the top 4 challenges?
 Understanding purpose, repeated grammar mistakes,
grammar accuracy, Plagiarism.
 Understanding Purpose – The students feel the writing is
artificial. The Solution is- Real world reading and Have
students analyze for themselves. Ask students to analyze in
real time. Teach students to avoid most common academic
writing mistakes (see Cambridge English Corpus for that info)
 Don’t just teach grammar, Teach grammar of academic writing.
This includes; word associations, collocations, academic word
list.

7. Why Teach Writing in the ESL
Classroom?
Danny Meadows – Dept Chair at UNAM, San Antonio
 This presentation includes a discussion about the
challenges of teaching writing in ESL classrooms. Issues
such as grading criteria, grading policies, the amount of
feedback given and the types of feedback given will all
be discussed. The discussion is followed by a
demonstration of several writing activities that can be
used in any ESL classroom.
 Danny Meadows has a Master’s Degree in TESL from Kent State University. He has been teaching ESL for more
than 15 years. Currently, he is the English Department Chair at UNAM, San Antonio.

8. Why Teach English ----
 It is a chance to :
 Express Yourself
 Reproduce Language
 Experience Comfort in Target Language
 Solidify Target Language skills
 Practice skills related to grammar and vocabulary
 Benefits for teachers:
 Chance to provide feedback
 Get to know students personally
 Diagnose and correct student knowledge gap
 How to assess student writing:
 Design assignment with feedback in mind
 Design rubric for ease of use for Student and Teacher
 Don’t be critical but provide some kind of feedback

9. Why Teach English ---
 When to give feedback –
 Within the same week
 Beginning level writing activity:
 Decide on grading rubric
 Activity #1 Word Card (Flash Cards)
 Activity #2 Diamond Poem
 Intermediate Level Writing Activity
 Decide on grading rubric first
 Activity #3 A story in Pictures
 Activity #4 A Shared Story

10. Why Teach English --
 Advanced Level Writing Activity
 Decide on a grading rubric first
 Activity #5 Scenarios
 Activity #6 A collaborative Essay
 One person starts with a writing prompt
 The Essay is then handed to the next person in the group
 The next person adds to the essay and the next and the next.
 Discuss vocabulary words (TOEFL List) Phrasal Verbs,
Vocabulary for situations ( i.e., Vacations)

11. Blended Learning and a University
TOEFL Course –
Dr. Peter Reilly -
 Learn how Blended Learning (BL) enables TOEFL students to
increase their scores. This session will explain how BL responds
to the needs of today’s learners, demonstrate activities you can
include in your online courses, and present statistics that suggest
BL also enhances learner motivation and autonomy.
 Cengage TOEFL Course Book Recommended by Presenter
 Benefits of Online Learning – Practicing online (you get instant
feedback, which improves learning), flexible –( anytime,
anywhere) Individualized learning, requires engagement, Gen 4
friendly: Dynamic and Visual, 21st Century Skill (Digital
Literacy), Higher Learning Outcomes (US DOE)
 Dr. Peter Reilly has taught English in Mexico for over 25 years. His research has been in the area of affective variables in L2 Learning.

12. Blended learning ---
 Speaker recommended
 TOEFL online activity – Reading Comprehension
 Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab – Best listening site on
web – TOEFL level Teacher assigns an activity, student
takes a screen shot of finished assignment, uploads to a
word doc, attaches to an email and sends to Professor.
 Speaker suggested that students evaluate each other. The
guideline would be to be clear, concise, complete and
correct.
 This helps students prepare for speaking in L2
 Perhaps for interview for jobs.
 Online Course resource – Harvard Edx

13. Critical Thinking: What you really
need to know –
* Carol Numrich -
 Critical thinking must take students from basic comprehension to higher-level
analysis. To do this, teachers must engage students in intriguing content, true
inference and synthesis activities, and cooperative communicative activities.
Come and learn how effective strategies can be implemented for true critical
thinking to occur in English language classrooms.
 TOEFL Integrated task – Read, Comprehend, Speak = Synthesis
 Synthesis – Go to text and create a graphic organizer then write an essay
(Comparison, Cause/Effect….) This provides accountability and is a creative task.
 Speaker stated that a learner needed 8-10 exposures to vocabulary to “own it”.
 Speaker mentioned “Frontier Words” – words that are known but not used yet.
 The suggestion was made to use collocations to build on vocabulary. This requires
critical thinking.
 Carol Numrich is a Senior Lecturer and the Associate Director of Faculty at Columbia University’s American Language Program. She has authored several
text books and co-edited the NorthStar series.

14. Critical Thinking -Authentic Tasks
Connotations of Collocations – Draw from Story
Positive Negative Neutral
Collocations with Adjectives – Draw from Story
Collocatio
n
Collocatio
n
Collocatio
n
Collocatio
n
Collocatio
n

15. Critical Thinking -
 Give students a defined role to report back on –
 News group, Book group, etc.
 ProCon.org – great resource for debate content

16. Tools for Teaching and Learning
Vocabulary –
* Jane Mairs – (Handouts - 2)
 Exercises and games that can be used to help students learn
vocabulary. These games and exercises can be created on the
spot, using a dictionary. The presentation will also include an
introduction to a series of FREE websites and apps that help
students learn vocabulary on their own.
 Nglish – Can interface in several languages – Spanish to English,
Arabic to English. Vocabulary and grammar quizzes, flashcards,
personalized word lists and more!
 Ways to learn vocab. Finding synonyms, games, list, Reverse
translation – a way to find synonyms but let dictionary and the
student do the work.
 This site is the winner of AppyAwards 2015
 Jane Mairs has been an editor and publisher of print and digital materials for English language learners for 25 years.

17. The 30 Goals Challenge: Transform
Your Teaching –
Shelly Sanchez Terrell -
 How does a teacher know if she is benefitting learners? What
do educators do when they have questions about the best way
to integrate new technologies into their classrooms? What
should a teacher do to avoid burnout? Who will mentor the
teacher who takes on these questions?
 Ice Breaker – 3 things we should know about you, 2 Places you
would love to visit, 1 Job you wish you had.
 Talking Tom app – beginner level Graphite.org (mind mapping
app)
 Wiki’s allow for translation into different activities
 Shelly Sanchez Terrell is a teacher trainer, instructional designer, adjunct professor, and the author of 30 Goals Challenge.
Taught teachers and trained learners in over 25 countries. Consulted with UNESCO in Bangkok, The European Union,
Cultura Iglesa of Brazil, The British Council in Tel Aviv….recipient of many awards including the Bammy Award as founder of
#Edchat…..

18. The Power of TED with 21st Century
Reading and World English –
Dalia Bravo -
 National Geographic Learning (NGL) and TED are now partners in ELT! Using examples from the new
21st Century Reading series and World English, the audience will learn how TED Talks are used to
develop 21st century skills such as creative and critical thinking, collaboration, and information, media
and visual literacy!
 Per TED Talks People, What six elements make a great TED Talk.
 Awesome visuals – jaw dropping moment
 Pictures, images over text
 Animated presentation – Humorous without a joke (tells a story)
 Gripping content that pulls you in (Narrative)
 Personal experience back up with research
 Friendly tone – passionate
 Makes a point – teaches the audience something new.
 “How to buy happiness”, “Grit” – conference attendees like these talks the best
 Attendee Resource - NPR.or Kut org – Story Corps every Friday, Screen Cast-o-Matic
 Dalia Bravo Completed her BA in International Business at SFSU. She was a Northern California Representative and is now a Marketing Product Manager at NGL.

19. The Power ---
 Ted Talks incorporate cultural literacy, vocabulary ists,
discourse markers (tone, word stress, sentence stress),
story questions (audience awareness), transcripts,
objectives.
 High level strategies –
 Pre Unit Discussion (listening and reading activities), Main
Idea, Sequence, Classification, Context Clues, Building
Vocabulary, Critical Thinking, thematic, Audio, Listening,
Speaking, Relevant and Meaningful Readings, Short Answer
Response, Flipped Classroom, Before/During/After viewing
activities.

20. Online Tools, Wikis, Kahoots, and
Other Engaging Activities to
Facilitate Academic Vocabulary
Acquisition.
* Jennifer Robison – (Handout and Online Activity)
 Looking for new ways to help students learn academic
vocabulary? Use your cell phone to participate in a fun
“Kahoot” (an online instructional game), and discover other
useful tools and low teacher prep classroom activities that
promote autonomous learning and cognitive engagement with
vocabulary.
 Jennifer Robison has been teaching in the Intensive English Program at UTSA since earning the ME-TESL degree in 2010.

21. Online Tools ---
 The speaker gave several resources and suggetions–
 Vocabulary.com – Use the Academic Word List
 Wiki’s – Use a document that exists online and can be collaborated
upon by many people (group learning activity)
 Give student jobs –
 Related Words, Definitions, Collocations, Word Associations, Count/Non-
Count Nouns, Model Sentence, Word Type (Adjective, Noun, Verbs)
 Vocabulary Cards – Benefits – Portable, In Class Activity
 Develop a rubric for grading
 Student activity for practice – Powerpoint (can use images),
Sentences, etc.
 Kahoot’s – Base one on GRE Vocab. (Kahoot.it and
getkahoot.com)
 Crossword Puzzles

22. Online Tools --
 Category Activity – Students put words into categories
 Two in One Vocab Review – Students work in pairs and write
vocab on board. Circle two unrelated words
 Create Associations – What room for each word? Why in this
room? (Cognitive Process at Work)
 Rapid fire Brain touches – two minute activity
 Vocab Chain Game
 Jeopardy Games – Superteachertools, edtechnetwork – have the
students create.
 See separate handout on creating a kahoot. NOTE: there are
two kahoot sign in URLs!!!

23. Beyond Past Tense – Tic-Tac-Toe:
New Directions in Gaming for ESL
– Ellen Clegg (Handout)
 Resources for Games and Bibliography for authorities on
Gaming.

24. Academic Literacy Using the IELTS
Rubric as a Guiding System –
* Dr. Glenda Rose – (Handout)
 This IELTS workshop is meant to serve as a useful tool to help TESOL and TEFL writing
teachers understand the complexities of assessing and supporting English writing in the
academic register. The workshop offers a hands on procedure for gaining understanding
of IELTS and band scores and the IELTS rubric.
 How to teach writing – Teachers must also be writers. Writing is a skill and an art.
Teachers must relate the need to read and be readers themselves. Coherence +
Cohesion – smooth and simple. Teachers must model this.
 A rubric is needed to judge for competency – It is like a map and more than a way to
score or grade. It is a map of a learning outcome and a way to examine backward.
 In order to attend a British Institution a student has to have a 7 on the IELTS Rubric and
a 6-6.5 in an American Institution. 6+ defines excellence.
 It takes 7-9 years to become a balanced bilingual in any language. (Reading, Writing,
Listening, Speaking)
 Valerie Sartor, PhD, served as a Fulbright Scholar (2014-2015/Russia) and an English Language Fellow (2009-2010/Turkmenistan). She has also worked as an IELTS Examiner
(Beijing).

25. Academic Literacy -
 Compare/Contrast and Argument are the two biggest types of writing.
 In the US we are teaching western logical pattern of thought.
 Paragraphs: Should be balanced. They are easier on the eye and mind.
 Topic Sentence – The hook, can include facts, numbers, quotes, questions.
 Transitioning – takes art & skill
 Conclusions – create a well thought out conclusion. A good conclusion can be the
difference between a 5 or a 7 on IELTS rubric score.
 Argument – Teaching start with one type and stick with it. Inductive or Deductive.
 An IELTS score of 7 or above indicates that the student will successfully
matriculate & perform in a work environment.

26. TexTESOL – Austin 2016
 TexTESOL Houston November 7th, University of Houston,
2015
 THE END…..