Updated ESL Jigsaw books

Surveys

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:34:00 -0700

Just released, this beginner level book, suitable for literacy or level one ESL, bridges the gap between elementary level language skills and advanced level cognitive skills. Each page features one survey question only, clearly illustrated through unambiguous pictures to ensure minimal explanations are required. Students practice speaking and conversational skills by interviewing their classmates about their preferences, habits and attitudes.

The book begins with simple surveys, such as "What is your name? Please spell it." and "Where are you from?" and moves on to more interesting questions in the themes of Personal Information, Health, Transportation, Food, Shopping and others.

Here's a sample page from the food section:

To download a free sample, click here.

Callan's Canadian Holidays for Low Beginner ESL

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:14:06 -0700

By popular demand, this non-jigsaw, low beginner Canadian holidays book is aimed at literacy and CLB 1. Focusing on commonly known information on holidays, each reading text has pictures to assist with vocabulary comprehension.

Visit the Beginner Sample Lessons page to view some lessons from this book.

Visit the Follow Up Activities page to view some bingo games from this book.

The profile of the learner is a student with limited knowledge of the English alphabet and a very small vocabulary. Copying accurately can be a challenge and the letters "l" and "I" are often confused. Listening proves challenging as students struggle to distinguish where one word ends and the next begins. Considerable repetition is required for vocabulary retention.

Callan's Canadian Holidays for Low Beginner ESL makes use of word clouds for word recognition, word searches for spelling practice and bingo games for vocabulary retention. Listening clozes end each unit. CDs are available.

Written exercises focus on plurals, capitalization, imperatives, third person singular and short answers with "be", "do" and "can".

Holidays included in this book are: New Year's, Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Earth Day, Mother's Day, Victoria Day, Father's Day, Canada Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Remembrance Day and Christmas.

Callan's Contemporary Jigsaws 1

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:35:42 -0800

This book is suitable for mid-beginner and above. It is not suitable for absolute beginners studying, "What is your name?" and the alphabet.

Topics not covered in Thematic Jigsaws, such as environment, employment, food, restaurant, divorce, driving, airport, and life events are covered in this book.

Here is a description of the stories you will find:

The Half-Sister is the funny story of a man whose father tells him each of his girlfriends is his half-sister. (see sample)
The Passport is the story of a woman unable to obtain a passport because her parents falsified the date of her birth.
The Widow is the story of a woman whose husband is killed in the war two months after their marriage, yet she never remarries.
The Divorce is the story of a couple fighting over custody of children, their home and their belongings.
The Custody Case is the story of a divorced couple fighting over custody of their frozen embryos. There are numerous cases like this in the courts today.
Pham’s Employment Decision outlines four different job scenarios. Students must choose which job is best for Pham.
The Promotion is the story of an employee who is repeatedly promoted to higher and higher positions within a company.
Mark’s Lunch is the story of a man with various dietary restrictions deciding what to order on a lunch menu.
The Invitation is the story of some coworkers fighting over who should pay the bill in a restaurant. The story touches on cultural customs around inviting and paying.
Two Families is the story of two families and their shopping habits at the grocery store. One family tries to make environmentally friendly choices, while the other does not.
Broken, Torn, Stained is the story of a couple committing insurance fraud after coming home and finding a flood in their basement. (see sample)
The Bad Driver is the story of a man criticizing a woman driver who is putting on mascara while driving, while he himself is shaving and drinking coffee. (see sample)
The Parking Spot is the story of a man who steals a parking spot a couple have been waiting for and his reaction when confronted. The story touches on issues of racism.
Dog in the Taxi is the story of a taxi driver who refuses to take a blind person’s dog in his cab. There have been several court cases about this in America, Canada and England.
The Second Seat is the story of an obese passenger who is forced to buy a second seat on an airplane. There have been stories in the news about similar incidents in North America and Europe.

Callan's Contemporary Jigsaws 2

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:49:21 -0800

Topics not covered in Thematic Jigsaws, such as environment, employment, food, restaurant, divorce, driving, airport, and life events are covered in this book.

Here is a description of the stories you will find:

The Half-Sister is the funny story of a man whose father tells him each of his girlfriends is his half-sister. (see sample)
The Passport is the story of a woman unable to obtain a passport because her parents falsified the date of her birth.
The Widow is the story of a woman whose husband is killed in the war two months after their marriage, yet she never remarries.
The Divorce is the story of a couple fighting over custody of children, their home and their belongings.
The Custody Case is the story of a divorced couple fighting over custody of their frozen embryos. There are numerous cases like this in the courts today.
Pham’s Employment Decision outlines four different job scenarios. Students must choose which job is best for Pham.
The Promotion is the story of an employee who is repeatedly promoted to higher and higher positions within a company.
Mark’s Lunch is the story of a man with various dietary restrictions deciding what to order on a lunch menu.
The Invitation is the story of some coworkers fighting over who should pay the bill in a restaurant. The story touches on cultural customs around inviting and paying.
Two Families is the story of two families and their shopping habits at the grocery store. One family tries to make environmentally friendly choices, while the other does not.
Broken, Torn, Stained is the story of a couple committing insurance fraud after coming home and finding a flood in their basement. (see sample)
The Bad Driver is the story of a man criticizing a woman driver who is putting on mascara while driving, while he himself is shaving and drinking coffee. (see sample)
The Parking Spot is the story of a man who steals a parking spot a couple have been waiting for and his reaction when confronted. The story touches on issues of racism.
Dog in the Taxi is the story of a taxi driver who refuses to take a blind person’s dog in his cab. There have been several court cases about this in America, Canada and England.
The Second Seat is the story of an obese passenger who is forced to buy a second seat on an airplane. There have been stories in the news about similar incidents in North America and Europe.

Callan's Thematic Jigsaws 1

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:51:07 -0800

These photocopiable group stories focus on vocabulary building along common themes and stimulate discussion through controversial questions in the areas of relationships and ethics.

Themes addressed in this book include:

family
health (a skiing accident, a car accident)
transportation (driving, taking a bus and taking a plane)
immigration and the stages of adjustment
shopping (buying a dress and later returning it)
personal descriptions (including hair vocabulary: dyed, permed, trimmed)
banking (exchanging money, cashier theft)
housing (furnishing an apartment and a break-in)
daily routines
gender roles and housework (incuding adjectives of frequency)
Christmas (the beloved story "The Gift of the Magi")

Callan's Thematic Jigsaws 2

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:53:55 -0800

These photocopiable books of group stories and exercises transform the classroom into a hub of communicative, co-operative activity, with very little preparation required by the teacher.

Stories focus on vocabulary building along common themes and stimulate discussion through controversial questions in the areas of relationships and ethics.

Themes addressed in this book include:

family
health (a skiing accident, a car accident)
transportation (driving, taking a bus and taking a plane)
immigration and the stages of adjustment
shopping (buying a dress and later returning it)
personal descriptions (including hair vocabulary: dyed, permed, trimmed)
banking (exchanging money, cashier theft)
housing (furnishing an apartment and a break-in)
daily routines
gender roles and housework (incuding adjectives of frequency)
Christmas (the beloved story "The Gift of the Magi")

Callan's Beginner Canada Jigsaws

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:11:23 -0800

What could otherwise be a serious, individual or teacher-centred area of content-based ESL is transformed into lively, interactive lessons with this book.

Excellent preparation for citizenship, Callan's Beginner Canada Jigsaws features jigsaws on the territories and all the provinces of Canada, as well as one jigsaw on each of the following: Canada's major cities, government, aboriginals and the history of the Chinese in Canada. Group exercises, which follow the jigsaws, include tic tac toe games, card games, dictation games, cloze passages and other activities.

Students will learn basic geographical information, as well as the main facts about the people and industries of Canada's provinces and territories, in a fun and easy to remember format. Content focusses primarily on information considered general knowledge by well-informed Canadians. All information has been verified through various government agencies in the respective provinces and territories.

Check out this jigsaw on Saskatchewan and then compare it to the Saskatchewan jigsaw on the Callan's Canada Jigsaws page and you will get a sense of the difference between the two levels.

Callan's Canada Jigsaws

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:07:43 -0800

This book is temporarily unavailable as it is being updated and replaced with a second edition version.

If you wish to obtain a copy of the first edition, please try www.eslshop.ca or www.englishcentral.net

What could otherwise be a serious, individual or teacher-centred area of content-based ESL is transformed into lively, interactive lessons with this book.

Excellent preparation for citizenship, Callan's Canada Jigsaws features jigsaws on the territories and all the provinces of Canada, as well as one jigsaw on each of the following: Canada's major cities, government, aboriginals and the Chinese in Canada. Group exercises, which follow the jigsaws, include tic tac toe games, dictation games, crosswords, cloze passages and other activities.

Students will learn basic geographical information, as well as the main facts about the people and industries of Canada's provinces and territories, in a fun and easy to remember format. Content focusses primarily on information considered general knowledge by well-informed Canadians, as well as a few surprising facts. All information has been verified through various government agencies in the respective provinces and territories.

Check out the following jigsaw on Saskatchewan from the second edition and then compare the Saskatchewan jigsaw on the Beginner Canada Jigsaws page and you will get a sense of the difference in levels between the two books.

Callan's Holiday Jigsaws 1

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:54:57 -0800

To fill a void in the interactive material available to teach about national holidays, Nancy was asked to write a holidays jigsaw book. This ready made compilation of interactive lessons and activities on holidays is a valuable resource, saving teachers enormous preparation time.

The following holidays are covered in the book: New Year's, Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, April Fool's Day, Earth Day, Mother's and Father's Day, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Christmas and Boxing Day.

The same books are now available in two levels for teachers in the U.S.A. featuring U.S. holidays.

Each book has a variety of follow up activities, including Jeopardy type overhead games, tic tac toe games, board games, sentence scrambles, dictation games, crosswords and more.

Callan's Holiday Jigsaws 2

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:01:13 -0800

The same books are now available in two levels for teachers in the U.S.A. featuring U.S. holidays.

Each book has a variety of follow up activities, including Jeopardy type overhead games, tic tac toe games, board games, sentence scrambles, dictation games, crosswords and more.

Callan's American Holiday Jigsaws 1

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:02:49 -0800

Huge sale on Callan's American Holiday Jigsaws 1. Half price!

The following holidays are covered in the book: New Year's, Groundhog Day, Martin Luther King Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, April Fool's Day, Earth Day, Memorial Day, Mother's and Father's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

The same books are now available in two levels for teachers in Canada featuring Canadian holidays.

Each book has a variety of follow up activities, including Jeopardy type overhead games, tic tac toe games, board games, sentence scrambles, dictation games, crosswords and more.

Callan's American Holiday Jigsaws 2

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:06:16 -0800

Available in two levels, each book has a variety of follow up activities, including Jeopardy type overhead games, tic tac toe games, board games, sentence scrambles, dictation games, crosswords and more.

Callan's ABCs

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:39:17 -0700

Callan's ABCs is geared at literacy or low beginner ESL / EFL students with little knowledge of the alphabet. Students may be able to identify all the names of the letters of the alphabet, but be less certain of their sounds or be unable to discern sounds within words.

The book uses mainly simple 2-6 letter words to exemplify English sounds and spelling conventions. Each phonics page is followed by a grammar page where students practice questions and short answers, using the vocabulary on the previous page. There are also a number of dictation pages with minimal pairs, as well as review vocabulary and simple sentence pages.

Check out the testimonials for this book here.

Below is one of the early pages in the book. Students listen to the teacher or the audio CD and fill in the first letter of each word.

This page is followed by the grammar page below.