Welcome to pie plus, our magazine with extra learning worksheets - updated weekly
Competition time why not try and win free membership?
Take a text 30 activities for teachers to use with reading texts
Information sheets to help you make the most of our site
How to find a specific podcast
December news and
Competition to win free pie membership
It's that time of the year but we haven't bought any presents yet! Of course the sidebar for the levels is chock-a-block with podcasts for Christmas, far too many to mention here. However, there are a lot of pie videos including Christmas markets for the beginners level and The nativity scene for level 1
We have updated our Podcasts of the month and these include Buyer beware for level 2 which gives some great advice when buying things online, and Look before you eat. In this level 3 podcast we talk about how allergies can ruin the festive period.
Now we have a new podcast and video for our beginners level. This makes 100 videos that we have made for the site!! It's called Who is Father Christmas? We talk about the busiest man of the month.
If you too have not bought any presents yet then our last podcast for the year is for you! Listen to DIY Xmas and get some great ideas for some things you can make yourself. A lot more fun too!
Remember that while most podcasts are free (and there are almost 700 on the site now!) podcasts 1 - 99 are for members only. Each podcast has essential transcripts, worksheets and extra materials for teachers and learners and with over 2000 to choose from, so Join pie now!
Good luck learning or teaching English for the rest of year and we really look forward to seeing you again in 2025.
Richard and Jackie
The pie team
Competition time
Martin from the Czech Republic was the lucky winner of last month's competition. He correctly said that the answer was b) lakes.
For this month's quiz just answer this question:
In the Bible, which animals are at the nativity scene? a) A donkey and sheep, b) donkey, sheep and cows or c) no animals? The answer is in this level 1 video: The nativity scene.
Write your answer on our Contact us page. Remember to tell us your name and where you are from. One winner gets free pie membership for 3 months. Good luck! Answers by the end of the month.
We have our own facebook page. Please like us and meet us there - and why not write some suggestions for podcasts, we'd love to hear from you!
Take a text
Take a text is a collection of 30 activities that you can do with your course book readings. There are 23 pre-reading activities, and 7 post-reading activities.
Each activity has information on what it practises, its uses, preparation before the class and clear instructions on what to do in class. There are also example texts used from a variety of course books so the activities are super clear.
Who is the book for?
■ It's ideal for new teachers. We remember not knowing what a 'jigsaw' reading was, or a 'dictation race'. We also remember thinking that we could do a lot more with a text in a course book, but not knowing what exactly. Over the years we have collected loads of exciting ideas, and these are what we want to share.
■ It's great for more experienced teachers too. Having so many ideas collected together means that it's a practical, easy reference book and one that should remind teachers of tasks they may have forgotten about. We're sure there are some new ideas included too!
Is it free?
Almost! It's just 9 Euros.
Students' information worksheets
To help you make the most of the site. There are more information worksheets for teachers on the teachers' page.
► Using PayPal (pdf 60KB) How to find your pie log in details and how to cancel your subscription. For everyone.
► Listening to the podcasts (pdf 23KB)Ten top listening tips to help you to listen to and understand real conversations. For members.
► Watching the videos (pdf 23KB)Eight great ideas on how you can watch the videos and understand the podcasts better. For members.
► Using the webquests (pdf 205KB)An explanation of the words and phrases we use on our webquests. For members.
► Natural spoken English 1 (pdf 55KB)Tasks to help you recognise the key features of natural spoken English. For members.
► Natural spoken English 2 (pdf 35KB)This worksheet helps you recognise fillers - and encourages you to use them yourself. For members.
Find a podcast
Almost 700 podcasts! There are now three ways to find a podcast. One, go to the extras page where they are listed under topics. Two, type a topic into the search box (top, right). Three, by browsing the new lists of podcasts which we have compiled for each level:
►Level 1 list
►Level 2 list
►Level 3 list
And we have podcasts linked to special days throughout the year: ►Special days list
If you have a school subscription why not copy the lists and put them on the notice board for all your teachers to read.
PS Fill in the blanks as new podcasts come out until we renew the lists. (Lists last updated January 2024)
