Welcome to pie plus, our magazine with extra learning worksheets

Extra English learning activities

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

October news and
Competition to win free pie membership

Summer is definitely behind us but that means Autumn and October has many special days and festivals. We certainly can't forget Teachers' Day on 5th October, so we have Mat talking about being a teacher in Please, sir... After that we have Beer'n'pizza for the day of the same name on 9th October and British icons: the postbox for World Post Day on October 9th. There are loads of other special days during the month so have a look on the sidebar of the levels pages for more.

Remember that while most podcasts are free, podcasts 1 - 99 for levels 1, 2 and 3 are for members only. Each podcast has essential transcripts, worksheets and extra materials for teachers and learners and with over 2500 to choose from, Join pie now!

If you are not already a member, one lucky winner in our monthly competition gets free pie membership! Ana, from Spain, was the lucky winner of last month's competition. She correctly said the answer was was c) the rides. For this month just answer this question:

Which day is market day? Is it a) Monday, b) Thursday or c) all weekend? The answer is in this beginners video: Going out.

Write to us at thepieteam@podcastsinenglish.com. 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.

Richard and Jackie
The pie team

Facebook

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!

podcastsinenglish on facebook



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.

paypal► Using PayPal (pdf 60KB) How to find your pie log in details and how to cancel your subscription. For everyone.

listen► Listening to the podcasts (pdf 23KB)Ten top listening tips to help you to listen to and understand real conversations. For members.

watch► Watching the videos (pdf 23KB)Eight great ideas on how you can watch the videos and understand the podcasts better. For members.

webquests► Using the webquests (pdf 205KB)An explanation of the words and phrases we use on our webquests. For members.

webquests► Natural spoken English 1 (pdf 55KB)Tasks to help you recognise the key features of natural spoken English. For members.

natural spoken English► Natural spoken English 2 (pdf 35KB)This worksheet helps you recognise fillers - and encourages you to use them yourself. For members.

Find a podcast

Over 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. We also have seperate lists for Special Days and for our special British Icons!

►Level 1 list
►Level 2 list
►Level 3 list
►Special days
►British icons

If you have a school subscription why not copy the lists and put them on the notice board for all your teachers to read.