To the Teacher

ICON is a four-level integrated skills series that takes students from beginning to intermediate level. ICON Intro is the beginning level of the series.

ICON grew out of an in-depth research project into the role of course books in effective teaching and learning. From this research the series has distilled a set of activity types that create effective learner interaction in the classroom. Each unit of ICON Intro is designed around these core activities which were identified and developed through work with teachers who routinely teach at this language level. The core activities provide a structure which scaffolds the students’ language learning experience. The scaffolding is achieved in the following ways:

1. The activities are sequenced to build gradually and systematically from more tightly focused to more open-ended language learning interactions.

2. The activity types recur throughout the book, making it easier for teachers to initiate student interaction in the class, since the activities become familiar to students.

3. Many activities are color-coded blue and yellow which clearly shows students ‘who does what’.

4. The units have a consistent structure which supports students’ confidence and independence.

5. The target language is recycled within and across each unit of the book.

This scaffolding makes ICON transparent and easy to use in both small and large classes.

Registered visitors can access sample ICON content in the Download Center.

Materials available include the Core Activities Walkthrough and a Representative Unit.

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