Breaking News English.com

Breaking News English.com
Free ready-to-use EFL / ESL lesson plans in Word and PDF. Graded news articles, listening, podcast, and communicative activities.
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

About the Site

Sean Banville (Webmaster and Author of the Lessons)

• British, Master's (distinction) in TEFL/TESL, permanent resident of Japan, Apple iMac and iPod lover, Arsenal Football Club supporter, gardener, visitor to 37 countries, early riser, long-distance swimmer, kayaker and cyclist.

Features

• The lessons are free.
• There are several new lessons each week at two different levels.
• All lessons are based on stories currently in the news - as the world's news breaks, teach it.
• All lessons are also downloadable in Word.doc and PDF formats.
• Listening files can be downloaded in mp3 format or subscribed to via a podcast.
• Classroom handouts are readily reproducible.
• There is a graded listening for each level.
• Teachers can easily copy and paste the parts of the lessons they want to use.

History

• So… half way through a Master’s in TEFL/TESL with Birmingham University, I was reading a wonderful book called "Appropriate Methodology and Social Context"*. This got me thinking about what would really interest students on a daily basis, which got me thinking about daily news, which got me thinking about having a cup of tea and a sit down, which then got me thinking about a website offering news English lessons the same day the news breaks.

Eighteen months and one dissertation later, I started my new project. I called it "Breaking News English.com".

Why did I start this? Well… years of producing news materials for my language school in Japan; too many fine teachers to mention telling me to write a textbook; dozens of other fine teachers telling me my news materials worked well for them; my experience as a teacher-trainer; a lovely iMac computer; a stupendously supportive and wonderful wife; and a horribly loud alarm clock delicately balanced on the top stair outside my bedroom. What better recipe for success?

And so onto successes… and many have there so far been. Just getting everything online is one; each pre-toast-and-marmalade upload yet more; wonderful E-mails of encouragement – fuel for fingertips at keyboard; lots of support and encouragement from other ESL sites; seeing my site in #1 position for many searches on various search engines; and others. Small though these successes may be, I hope I can in some way contribute to a change in ELT news materials by producing my materials.

*Adrian Holliday, 1994, Cambridge University Press.

Help Support and Promote This Website

• Recommend my site on blogs, forums and other sites.
• E-mail me to say "hi" and give me feedback.
• Consider buying my 1,000 Ideas and Activities book.
• Consider contributing via a donation.