March 11, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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I have a new link to an excellent Pronunciation Course from English-Online. It has a series of graduated listening exercises to help English Language Learners distinguish between confusing letter sounds (p and d; s and sh, etc.). I particularly like it because they demonstrate the differences in the context of a sentence in the last part of the exercise.
You can find the link at the bottom of the Phonics section (I label it “Pronunciation Game”) of the English For Beginners page.
March 9, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Periodically, I will highlight a particularly interesting link that has been on my website for awhile instead of talking about a new one. Today, I’d like to point out the MacMillan/McGraw Hill California Science site for elementary learners. I describe it on my website as “Science Words and Concepts in Hmong, English, and other Languages” and it’s roughly in the middle of the Science page on my site. Unfortunately, the Science page is the only one on my site I haven’t categorized — yet.
The great thing about this site is that it contains summary translations in many languages of the science concepts taught in the textbooks. It can help English Language Learners tremendously in their understanding of content knowledge and of English (assuming it’s used in the context of a lesson that is being given).
It’s a little tricky to get to the translations from the link on my site (instructions on how to do so are right next to the link). You first click on the appropriate science book; then click on a chapter in the book, and then click on “Translated Concept Summaries.”
March 7, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The Daily English Show is an online video program from a teacher in New Zealand that gives a well-produced lesson on learning English each day. It’s probably more appropriate for Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners, but perhaps would work for High-Beginners as well. I’ve placed it at the bottom of the Video section of the English for Beginners/Early Intermediate page on my website.
The videos highlight in text many of the important words and points discussed in the video, though it’s not entirely closed-captioned. You can, though, access the script on-line.
March 7, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Pick and Click is a fun and simple game to help beginning students learn vocabulary. It comes from TVO Kids, a Canadian children’s television and online network. You first can click on the theme of the words you want to learn about (for example, animals); then you’ll see a short video teaching vocabulary related to the topic; then there will be a short picture/text/audio review of the words, which is then follwed by a fun “test.”
I’ve put the link to this site near the bottom of Vocabulary on the English Beginner/Early Intermediate page on my website. I’ve placed a number of other activities from TVO Kids throughout the various pages on my site. When you go to see Pick and Click, you might want to look directly at some of their other learning games. I’ve never been able to get their Parent/Educator page work very well, though, so you might need to just search through it on your own.
March 6, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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E-Learning For Kids is a new site that has over eighty different learning games in several subject areas, including math, science, and language arts. The link will take you to its home page. You then need to click on the “For Kids” icon on the right of the screen, which will take you to the learning games.
Many of the games have both audio and text, including the ones for math. I haven’t found many math activities on the web that both show and read the text out-loud, so these are unusual. Unfortunately, the games for Health and Life Skills don’t have that feature, and the vocabulary in those activities seems to be at a Intermediate or Advanced Level.
You can find the link for these games under the Favorite Sites section of the English Themes For Beginners and Early Intermediate page of my site. It’s near the bottom of that list.
March 5, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Wabble is a new online version of Scrabble where students can either join an open game with others around the world or they can create their own game limiting it to those with whom they want to play. It comes with its own online dictionary. It’s more appropriate for intermediate or advanced students. You can find it near the bottom of the Word Games section in the Intermediate/Advanced English page of my website.
I find it appealing because it will enable my students to play a game with each other, and not just with the computer. Obviously, they can also engage with each other by playing the board game. The online dictionary aspect of this game just makes the checking of words a little faster and less cumbersome.
Even though they will still be in front of a computer, I plan on having the players in their game sit next to each other in the computer lab. You can find out a little more about my feelings that a large portion of computer usage in the English Language Learner classroom needs to be geared towards promoting face-to-fact interaction among students by reading Family Literacy, Computers, and ESL.
March 5, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
The Learning Edge is an excellent audio/animated/text online newspaper that comes from a school in Canada. I’ve posted their latest edition, which I’ve titled “Workplace Skills,” under the Jobs and Careers category on the English Themes For Beginners and Early Intermediate page of my website. It has several good articles, including ones on interview questions and finding work. I’ve recently placed several additional new links in the same Jobs and Careers category that would be worth checking-out.
All the past editions of The Learning Edge are posted in various places on my site, particularly in the same Jobs and Careers section. Their past few issues have focused on that topic. If you want to see all their past newspapers, you can go directly to their archive.
March 4, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Here’s another fun example of how to use viral marketing to help teach and learn English. In Tiger Film Dub students can choose scenes from an Asian movie, choose what they want the actors and actresses to say, and then have them say it. It’s like one of those old poorly dubbed movies you used to see on television. Students then can email their completed films to themselves, a friend or a teacher.
I’ll be trying it out later this week with my students, and will post their finished products on my website.
I’ve put this link under Student Movies on the Examples of Student Work page. It’s the one that’s titled “You can make another fun movie here.” While you’re there, you might want to check out several other links posted there where students can make movies and some examples.
There is, however, one concern I have about this particular site. It’s sponsored by a beer company. The sponsorship on the site itself is fairly minimal, though. Ordinarily, I would never consider putting a link connected to this kind of business on my site (of course, students are exposed to far worst many times each day). But this activity seemed so unique, and I knew all my students (especially the Asian ones) would love it so much, I made this one-time exception after consulting with other teachers. Please feel free to leave comments agreeing or disagreeing with my decision. I’m still not entirely comfortable with it.
This situation demonstrates the danger and opportunity of using these viral marketing devices in teaching English. As I discuss in my TechLearning article on their use in language teaching, it’s important to also discuss with our students the use of commercial manipulations in our market culture.
March 4, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Never in a million of years would I have predicted I would use “Pokemon” and “learning” in the same sentence. However, now the Pokemon Learning League has been added to the list of Favorite Sites on my English Themes for Beginner and Intermediate page. Just a reminder — most of the time the newest additions to my website are listed at the bottom of the appropriate categories. So the Learning League is at the end of the “Favorite Sites” section.
It’s a free (for now, at least), and has some great some interactive lessons in math, science, life skills and language arts.
(Since I posted about the Learning League it has become a paid service. You can access a handful of activities for free, but most can only be used now if you have a subscription. I have removed it from my Favorite Sites category and placed in on the Beginners page.)
March 3, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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March 3, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
I’ve just posted a link to BITS Interactive Exercises, a site that looks like it would be useful and stimulating to Intermediate and Advanced English Language Learners. There are nineteen “sets” of exercises, and each “set” has five additional exercises within it. These five exercises look intriguing, and include students needing to recognize the meaning of signs, identify the “gist” of the reading, and fill-in-the-blanks.
I’ve placed the link (which I entitle “Interactive Exercises”) near the bottom of the Reading section of the Intermediate/Advanced page on my website.
March 2, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Villainy, Inc teaches geometry and algebra through a story “game” about bad people taking over the world and the game players attempt to stop them. Besides it being a fun way to learn math, the great thing about it for English Language Learners is that a lot, if not all, of what the characters speak is shown in text as well as heard. It’s been developed by Thinkport in Maryland.
You can find both “missions” at the bottom of the Math category of the English Themes for Beginners and Early Intermediate page on my website.
March 2, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Later this month, TechLearning will be publishing an article I’ve written about how to use something called ”viral marketing” as a tool to teach English. This Create a Talking Race-Car Driver is an example. Students can customize a race-car driver and, using the text-to-speech function on the site, compose a short message that their driver will say. They can email their product to a friend or their teacher. I post these creations to my website.
This link can be found on the Examples of Student Work page of my website, where you’ll find other examples of how I use viral marketing with my students.
You can also get a “sneak peek” at a draft of my TechLearning article on my website, which I have creatively titled Samuel L. Jackson and Me but which I suspect will ultimately be published with a different headline.
March 1, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
I recently discovered Willing To Try, a fascinating site that’s hard to describe. It shows various shapes, like a circle or a stick. You click on one (for example, on the circle). It then gives you a choice of it being a moon, stick, or hole. You choose one, and then you see a short and simple story in movie form using the circle as the form you chose. I guess you just have to see it….
It’s a fun way for beginning students to learn a little vocabulary and enjoy it.
I’ve placed the link at the bottom of the Vocabulary section of the English Beginners page on my site.
March 1, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
This link has been on my site for a couple of months, but it’s so good I thought it was worth highlighting in case people have missed it. Answers.com will not only pronounce the word you are looking-up, it will also show and pronounce a sentence accurately using the word. After you type a word in the search box at the top of the page, you just have to click on “Word Tutor” to bring you to where you can get the audio sentence.
Many online dictionaries allow you to hear the word. And most dictionaries show the word being used in the sentence. But this is the only one I’ve found that actually says the sentence, too.
This option is very helpful to my students when they have to write sentences using the vocabulary words we are studying.
I have placed this link under Dictionaries on my English Themes for Beginners and Early Intermediate page. You can also find other links to dictionaries there that are appropriate for English Language Learners, including many that have audio and show pictures.
March 1, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Ressources Pour Le College (Resources For The College) is an extraordinary collection of links that would be useful to teachers working with English Language Learners. It’s a French site developed by Michelle Henry and has thousands of links, lesson plans, and materials to be used in teaching English.
I’ve placed it on the Teacher’s Page on my website under the category ESL Hand-Outs and Lesson Plans
March 1, 2007
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
I think that IKnowThat has the best learning games on the Internet. However, unless you purchase a subscription (which, admittedly, is pretty inexpensive) you have to put up with some annoying ads and an annoying process to get to some of the games.
Happily, Learning Games at AOL Study Buddy has many of IKnowThat’s games easily available to play, including some great map activities. I’ve placed links to these geography exercises on my Geography page at the bottom of the category “Sites That Cover Many Areas.“
