ESL Environmental Exercises

• Teach your ESL students to take care of the environment. Anna Henly/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

  Help your ESL students improve their English skills while they learn relevant and useful information about the environment. Some ESL textbooks contain chapters on the topic these days, but the Internet has a rich array of free materials for ESL students to practice listening, speaking, reading and vocabulary while they learn how to live in harmony with the natural world.

Listening Exercises

• Introduce environmental issues to your students with listening selections. For example, Randall's ESL Cafe (esl.com) has a conversation on "A Greener World." It comes with a variety of exercises to use before, during and after listening. If this segment seems difficult for your students, repeat it with the quiz script so they understand better.

  You can also use video listening segments to make environmental topics more vivid. For example, EsolCourses.com has a video with listening quiz on "World Environment Day." Play the video two or more times; then have students take the ten-question quiz.

Speaking Exercises

• Have students talk about environmental issues to share opinions and increase their fluency in English. The Internet TESL Journal (iteslj.org) has dozens of conversation questions for discussion. Select ones that suit the level and interests of your class. Then use them for pair work, group work or class discussion.

  Conversation textbooks that discuss the environment, such as "Talk Your Head Off," showcase more ways to speak about the environment. In addition to questions for discussion, the text includes a survey on recycling, carpooling and conservation. Or have students do a "find someone" activity. Make your own with questions such as "Find someone who takes the bus to school." Or try "The 'EC' Game" provided by the Australian Government (environment.gov.au).

Reading Exercises

• Reading, like listening, gives you a context for presenting new environmental topics to your students. You can find dozens of stories on the California Distance Learning Project website (cdlponline.org) where titles include "Alaskan Oil Spill," "Biosphere," "Fruit Flies," Lost Whales" and "Pollution Fight." These selections come with activities for vocabulary, spelling and comprehension. The stories have an online format, rather than a printable one, so assign them for homework or in a language lab. Students can also listen and watch video as they read along.

Vocabulary Exercises

• Learning about the environment gives you the opportunity to introduce useful vocabulary to your students. You can find several vocabulary exercises on the Bryson website (brysoneducation.org). Topics include "Composting," "Everyone Can Recycle," "In the Wrong Bin" and "Paper, Plastic, Glass & Metal Recycling." If you prefer to make your own vocabulary exercises tailored to a particular reading or listening selection, go to ESL Galaxy (esl-galaxy.com) for links to a variety of free puzzle-making websites. You can choose among crossword puzzle generators, word scramblers and word search makers, among others.