Wow! Stories from Real Life: A Low-Beginning, Multi-Skills Text - Softcover

Like her books that emphasize effective activities with little or no teacher preparation, Laurel's presentations give teachers a repertoire of activities that are easily adapted for different ages and suitable for teaching any content material. The activities engage each student at his or her level of competence, activate students' best learning strategies, and draw on various 'intelligences.' Laurel also shows teachers how to reduce stress and avoid burnout.

For more information about Laurel Pollard's workshops or presentations, please visit laurelpollard.com or contact Alta Book Center. Phone: 800 ALTA/ESL or 650.692.1285 or Email: info@altaesl.com

Other books for beginners
have only a few exercises
to do after the picture story,
and the exercises are not
interactive. This book has lots
of student-student and
teacher-class interaction. I love
this! I didn't know my students
could say so much! - --Libby Swanson, Adult Education ESL

by Lorraine Ruston
Featured in easyenglishtimes.com.

Most of us teach ESL because we like helping students. Here is a new book that will make our job even more enjoyable. Take a look at it and see if you don't say Wow! The true stories from real life set the scene for dozens of activities and exercises that give beginning students lots of meaningful and communicative practice.
The authors, Natalie Hess and Laurel Pollard, wrote the popular Zero Prep and Zero Prep for Beginners: Ready-to-Go Activities for the Language Classroom. As with those books, Wow! Stories from Real Life has many routines that help teachers make the most of the engaging activities and exercises.
Each lesson has a Progressive Cloze set of exercises that help students learn vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation on their own. According to the authors, research shows that cloze is an excellent holistic exercise. (In the book they call these exercises Fill in the Blanks.)
In the introduction Hess and Pollard say, "Everyone loves a good story! Wow! unfolds heart-warming stories of reuniting families, of people in (and out of) love, and of unusual homes (see Living in the Library). Addressing personal themes encourages students to recall, talk and write about their own experiences. These stories really happened. They are all taken from the news or from personal experiences of students we know."
There are flexible exercises that allow students to work individually, in pairs, or in groups and at their own levels. According to the authors, each of the 8 units offers a true story and a bundle of exercises proven to engage students for approximately 5 hours.
The book is suitable for adult and secondary students. In addition to many flexible exercises, there is a detailed step-by-step teacher guide, built-in assessment, and additional online resources, including an answer key. --Easy English Times

by Lorraine Ruston
Featured in easyenglishtimes.com.

Most of us teach ESL because we like helping students. Here is a new book that will make our job even more enjoyable. Take a look at it and see if you don't say Wow! The true stories from real life set the scene for dozens of activities and exercises that give beginning students lots of meaningful and communicative practice.
The authors, Natalie Hess and Laurel Pollard, wrote the popular Zero Prep and Zero Prep for Beginners: Ready-to-Go Activities for the Language Classroom. As with those books, Wow! Stories from Real Life has many routines that help teachers make the most of the engaging activities and exercises.
Each lesson has a Progressive Cloze set of exercises that help students learn vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation on their own. According to the authors, research shows that cloze is an excellent holistic exercise. (In the book they call these exercises Fill in the Blanks.)
In the introduction Hess and Pollard say, "Everyone loves a good story! Wow! unfolds heart-warming stories of reuniting families, of people in (and out of) love, and of unusual homes (see Living in the Library). Addressing personal themes encourages students to recall, talk and write about their own experiences. These stories really happened. They are all taken from the news or from personal experiences of students we know."
There are flexible exercises that allow students to work individually, in pairs, or in groups and at their own levels. According to the authors, each of the 8 units offers a true story and a bundle of exercises proven to engage students for approximately 5 hours.
The book is suitable for adult and secondary students. In addition to many flexible exercises, there is a detailed step-by-step teacher guide, built-in assessment, and additional online resources, including an answer key. --Easy English Times