Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

…For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

October 10, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments

Storytlr Bites The Dust

TechCrunch just posted about the imminent demise of Storytlr, a site I like a lot.

I wrote a few months ago about how much I liked it. Oh, well.

October 9, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

The Best Sites For Images Of Fall Foliage (& For Teaching About The Season)

Learning the names of the seasons is one of the first vocabulary terms that Beginning English Language Learners typically learn. Images from the fall are always great ones to use to help teach about the season, and I thought I’d share a few links to some great ones.

Fall images are also great opportunities for learning descriptive words, and geography, and, as an eCard site I share in this lists shows, can be used for writing practice, too.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Images Of Fall Foliage (& For Teaching About The Season):

Autumn Scenes is a great series of photos from The Boston Globe’s The Big Picture.

Hidden Stashes of Fall Foliage is a slideshow from The New York Times.

Fall Leaves 2009 is a series of pictures from The Sacramento Bee. The Bee also has an interactive map of fall colors in Northern California.

The Harford Courant has a slideshow of New England colors in the fall.

Yankee Foliage has an excellent eCard feature where users can pick an image, write about it and send it to a friend. For ELL’s, the url address of the card and image can be posted on a student/teacher website or blog.

Here’s a relatively simple explanation for why the colors of leaves change.

The Sun Sentinel newspaper has a slideshow contrasting fall colors in the Eastern and Western parts of the United States.

The Orange County Register has a similar slideshow. They also have one titled Autumn In New England.

In addition to images specifically of the fall, here are some good links to activities designed for ELL’s to learn about all the seasons:

The Leaves On The Trees is a song from The British Council.

Seasons is an interactive from Harcourt.

Puddles is a talking story from Reading Is Fundamental.

Patterns In The Sky is an accessible science interactive that deals with more of the science issues related to seasonal changes.

Shades of fall is a series of photos from the Sacramento Bee.

Autumn Settles In is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

USA Today has a nice interactive about leaves changing colors in the fall.

“Fall Is In The Air” is the title of a series of photos at the Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog.

All About Autumn is a slideshow from Slate Magazine.

“A Glimpse Of The Fall” is a great series of photos from The Sacramento Bee.

Autumn leaves color the horizon is a photo gallery from The Sacramento Bee.

As always, feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.

October 9, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments

The Best Sites To Learn About The Nobel Peace Prize

As The New York Times has reported, 2011′s Nobel Peace Prize winners are “Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa’s first elected female president — her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner.”

Here’s an updated Associated Press interactive.

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Activist Women is from The New York Times.

Nobel Peace prize winners – the full list is an infographic from The Guardian.

Yemen’s ‘Mother of the Revolution’, Liberian president, peace activist share Nobel prize is from MSNBC.

Here’s a video from CNN:

A closer look at the Nobel Peace Prize is a video and article from CNN.

Tawakkul Karman Awarded Nobel Peace Prize is a TIME slideshow.

(NOTE: The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liu Xiaobo, a leading Chinese dissident who is serving an 11-year prison term. You can learn more about him at CNN. Many of the resources on this list relate to President Obama winning the Prize in 2009. However, most of these materials also relate to the Prize in general, and have a great deal of accessible information on the previous winners and the Prize in general, too. I will continue to add more).

Here’s a TIME Magazine slideshow on Liu Xiaobo.

Liu Xiaobo Wins The Nobel Prize is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

Here is a video from The Guardian about Liu Xiaobo’s award.

The BBC has a short article about Liu Xiaobo titled Liu Xiaobo: 20 years of activism.

Supporters Celebrate Prize For Liu is another Wall Street Journal slideshow.

Why the Nobel Peace award upset China is an article from CNN with many related videos.

The Absent Nobel Winner is a Wall Street Journal slideshow

A chair and a photo stand in for Liu Xiaobo at Nobel peace prize ceremony is a video from The Guardian.

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Liu Xiaobo is a New York Times slideshow.

Activist Laureates is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

Nobel Winners Past is a slideshow from Slate.

I just woke up to the surprising news of President Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I don’t have much time, but since I’m bringing my class to the computer lab today, I thought I’d put together a quick list of accessible resources they can use to learn a little more about it.

I may very well be adding to this list when I get home tonight but, for now, here are my choices for The Best Sites To Learn About The Nobel Peace Prize:

Here’s a video announcement of President Obama’s award from CBS News.

CBS also has a “photo essay” profiling recent Peace Prize winners.

MSNBC also has an interactive on previous winners.

The BBC Newsround, as always, has a very accessible report on President Obama’s receiving of the award.

The Wall Street Journal has an interactive on the life of a previous winner, Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma.

Nelson Mandela is another previous winner, so you might be interested in The Best Sites For Learning About Nelson Mandela.

The Best Places To Learn About President Barack Obama’s Life is a previous list I’ve compiled.

The Best Websites For Learning About Martin Luther King shares resources on another previous winner of the award.

The former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari won the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. Breaking News English has a good online exercise on his award.

The Times of London has a slideshow of previous winners.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize is the title of a New York Times slideshow.

The NY Times also has a video of Obama’s comments on receiving the award.

Nobel Diplomacy is the title of a Wall Street Journal interactive highlighting Obama’s diplomatic efforts, which were specifically praised by the Nobel Committee.

Obama Accepts Nobel Peace Prize as ‘Call to Action’ is a slideshow from the Wall Street Journal.

CNN has an interactive timeline showing previous winners.

CNN also has a special feature on the event.

Nobel Peace Prize Myths, Explained is a short article from CBS News.

Obama Accepts The Nobel Peace Prize is a slideshow from TIME Magazine. Obama Receives Nobel Peace Prize is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

Richard Byrne has also written a good post about resources available at the official Nobel Prize site.

October 9, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments

“Audience Sounds”

I just learned about Audience Sounds from Nik Peachey. It has a nice collection of sound effects that are easy to navigate, listen to, and download. In addition to using them in student or teacher “creations,” another way I’ve used these kinds of sound effects is as a way to build student vocabulary. We first review what each sound effect is called; then the class is divided into small groups with each group having a small whiteboard; next, I play one sound effect; next, I give the class thirty seconds to write down what sound effect it is. People show their boards, and the teams that get it correct win a point.

Students enjoy it a lot.

I’m adding Audience Sounds to The Best Places To Get Royalty-Free Music & Sound Effects.

October 9, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

Nature Interactives

The Canadian Museum of Nature has several of what they call Gallery Interactives — very accessible online activities and games designed to teach about….nature.

I’ve placed the link on my Science page.

October 9, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
3 Comments

Kubbu

Kubbu was brought to my attention by Dan Sackin, an English teacher in Thailand.

Teachers can easily create a number of online exercises for students to complete, and you can easily keep track of how they do. It’s free for one teacher and up to thirty students.

Here’s an example of something Dan created for his students.

I’m adding Kubbu to The Best Sites Where Students Can Work Independently & Let Teachers Check On Progress.

October 8, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments

You Need To Check-Out “English Central”

I’m “mad” at David Deubelbeiss.

I’ve been trying to get a little ahead on my posts, and had “finished” my “The Best Internet Sites For English Language Learners — 2009″ when he sent me an email earlier today telling me about a new site called English Central.

Now I have to revise my list because English Central is great!

David has just posted a very thorough post about the site titled English Central – Bringing “voice” and output to learning English. I’d strongly encourage you to read it — I don’t feel any need to “reinvent the wheel.”

A quick description is that it’s a free video site for English Language Learners, lets users listen to parts of the video, then lets them repeat what the characters says and compares it to the original. You get graded on how well you do. It has even more features, but you can read David’s post or check out the site directly. The other great thing about it is that the videos are all appropriate for the classroom, unlike several other ESL video sites that have come online recently.

I’m looking forward to having my students try it out tomorrow.

October 8, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments

Make A “Stop-Motion” Movie

I included some great “stop-motion” movies in The Best “Fun” Sites You Can Use For Learning, Too — 2009, list and now Nik Peachey has written a great post on how you can have students create their own.

Nik’s post also includes links to some other excellent resources. I’m going to give it a try later this year.

October 8, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

Take On The Teacher!

Take On The Teacher! is a spelling game from Scholastic in the United Kingdom. You’re shown two words and have to pick the one that is spelled correctly.

It’s a fun little game, though if you’re in the United States there might be a few trick British ways the British spell their words. Unfortunately, the words are not actually pronounced, which limits its use with English Language Learners. There are, however, cute sound effects when you choose the correct word.

I’ve placed the link on my website under Spelling.

October 8, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

Free Updated Brainpop Movie On Swine Flu

Brainpop has an updated movie on the swine flu that appears to be free — at least for now.

Brainpop Jr. also has one on washing hands.

I’m adding both to The Best Sites For Learning About The Swine Flu Outbreak.

October 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

When Are Teenagers In The “Flow”?

Po Bronson has written a very interesting piece at Newsweek’s site titled Motivation and Flow: The Teenager Edition.

He talks about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s famous research on the best experiences, which he called being in the “flow.”

Bronson then highlights Csikszentmihalyi’s research specifically with middle and high school students. Where did classtime rate in terms of “flow’?

“On average, flow is lower in class than at any other time during the week, except for when doing their paid job,” says Shernoff (one of the researchers who worked on the project).

I’d strongly recommend you read Bronson’s entire piece, but wanted to share a short excerpt here:

His research, though, suggested a way to fix this sorry state. Shernoff recognized that students were most flowlike in moments where they were doing group work or individual work. They were active and participating. The opposite was true for lectures and watching videos.

Unfortunately, classrooms where there was the most participation, such as art class, were usually the least challenging. The classes that were the most challenging, such as science, required students to spend the most time being lectured to. His deduction: we need to combine the methods of how art and social science are taught with the demanding nature of math and science classes.

“Only 15 percent of the time students spend in class was interactive, allowing for discussion or group activities,” notes Shernoff. “The abundance of lectures and taking notes leaves little time for active engagement. When active participation is so rarely invited, it’s no wonder students can’t engage.”

Surprise, surprise….

October 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments

Great Student Blogging Tips

Sue Waters has just announced the winners of a contest for the best advice on student blogging in the classroom.

Announcing The Winners Of The “Share your tips–and win BIG!” Competition! is a great source of advice, and I’m adding the link to The Best Sources For Advice On Student Blogging.

October 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments

New Additions To Swine Flu List

Here are some new additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Swine Flu Outbreak:

The Wall Street Journal just posted a new week-by-week Flu Tracker.

Here’s an interactive health assessment to check if you might have the H1N1 flu (swine flu).

October 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

The Best Resources For Using Puppets In Class

I’ve used puppets with both my Beginning English Language Learner classes and with a mainstream ninth-grade English class (though, admittedly, the ninth-grade class was during summer school when we have the same class for five hours a day and students need a lighter activity now and then).

In both cases, students read short texts that demonstrated the literary elements present in a short story; watched videos of of international stories that re-emphasized the same outline; watched some videos of puppet shows; worked in small groups to develop a story, storyboard, and puppet show; first created “practice” paper puppets that were made in minutes; then created paper-mache ones that took days to complete; made a “backdrop” for their show; performed for the class and then went to a nearby elementary school to present it. Both times the shows were video-taped and reviewed afterwards. Sometime during this unit students also went to the computer lab to do some online puppet activities.

For Beginning ELL’s, this kind of project provides countless reading, writing, speaking (talking through a puppet is a great way to get reluctant speakers to talk), and listening opportunities. For mainstream students, it’s a fun summer school or end-of-the-year project that can be a good vehicle to cover a short story unit.

I was prompted to write this post now because of the huge festival held in Berlin this past week called the “Berlin Reunion.” Huge marionettes were brought there to perform in a series of celebrations recognizing the fall of the Berlin Wall. You can learn more about this event, and see some pretty nifty pictures, at these links:

Giant Puppets Take Berlin is the name of a LIFE Magazine slideshow.

The Berlin Reunion is a series of photos from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture.

Here are my choices for The Best Resources For Using Puppets In Class (divided into various categories):

DVD/VIDEO RESOURCES:

I love HBO’s Animated Tales Of The World as examples of story-telling. Unfortunately, if you’re in the United States, it’s not easy to get a hold of them now. You can find some on YouTube. If you’re in Great Britain, you can access a bunch of them at Teachers TV, but they’re not accessible from the United States.

My favorite examples of puppetry come from the DVD titled Muppets Magic From the Ed Sullivan Show! These are great short skits.

Kevin Hodgson has his students make puppet shows, which he then places on the web.

HOW TO MAKE PUPPETS

The Puppets site also includes a variety of other helpful materials for teachers who want to use puppetry in the classroom.

Here’s a story from a teacher who uses puppets with young learners.

Enchanted Learning has easy instructions on how to make a variety of puppets.

Additional suggestions are welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.

October 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments

The Best Websites To Learn About The Hmong

This is a “The Best…” list I should have done long ago.

Since so many of the English Language Learners at our school are Hmong, these resources are high-interest opportunities for English language development. I’ve often written in this blog how I’ve used many of these sites individually for class lessons, but I’ve never put all of them together in one place on my blog (though I have had some on my website under Hmong).

You might also be interested in The Best Resources To Learn About The Forced Return Of 4,000 Hmong Refugees By Thailand.

Here are my choices for The Best Websites To Learn About The Hmong (and are accessible to English Language Learners). They are not listed in order of preference:

The Oregonian newspaper in Portland has a great article and slideshow about the first cookbook that has been published on Hmong food.

The New York Times recently published an article titled A Doctor for Disease, a Shaman for the Soul. It’s accompanied by a slideshow. It’s about a new policy by Mercy Medical Center in Merced, CA, recognizing the role of traditional healers. The hospital is inviting Hmong shamans to perform nine approved ceremonies. The policy is the first of its kind in the country.

Al Jazeera, the Arabic TV network, has a feature on Hmong refugees in Thailand.

Minnesota Public Radio has a report on the history of Hmong migration (it was done in 1999, so doesn’t include the most recent influx, but it’s still good). Audio support is provided for the text.

The Split Horn is the PBS webpage for the film of the same name. It’s about a Hmong Shaman and his new life in the United States.

“Gran Torino” is the Clint Eastwood movie that tells about his character’s relationship with his new Hmong neighbors. The Sacramento Bee newspaper took sixteen local Hmong residents to see it. They liked the movie — with some reservations. Read the article here You might also want to check-out the official Gran Torino website to see a clip from the movie.

Here’s a short presentation on the Hmong language.

Minnesota NPR has an article, with photos, on an artistic rendering of Hmong migration.

The Simple English Wikipedia has a very short, and accessible, description of the Hmong people.

Here are examples of Hmong artwork.

Amber Garbe, Lee Vang and Kao Lee Lor-Her — all Wisconsin teachers — worked with their Hmong students and their families to create neat downloadable bilingual books.

Here’s an article about another Hmong cookbook.

Many Ideas Open The Way is a book sharing Hmong proverbs. The author has a short slideshow with some proverbs and images at his website.

“The Hmong and Laos: Old wars never die — The unhappy fate of the Hmong” is the title of a short article published by The Economist. It would be a challenging for English Language Learners, but my Hmong students would certainly be motivated to try to get through it. The issue seldom gets this kind of coverage from such a prominent periodical.

The Jungle Hmong: A Forgotten Ally On The Run is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.

“Among The Hmong” is a half-hour episode from the PBS children’s show “Postcards From Buster.” There’s not a direct link to it, but if you go to the PBS Kids video site and type in “Hmong” in the search box, you’ll see it and be able to watch it.

Hmong leader General Vang Pao recently died. You can read about him in The New York Times

The BBC also has a good article and additional resources on his death — Laos general and Hmong leader Vang Pao dies in exile.

The Los Angeles Times also has an obituary.

Thousands Gather To Mourn Hmong Leader Vang Pao is the title of the NPR story on the six day funeral in Fresno for Hmong leader General Vang Pao.

The Los Angeles Times has both an impressive slideshow and useful article on the General’s funeral.

The New York Times also has both a slideshow and article about the General’s funeral.

For the Hmong, an enduring sense of exile is an op ed from The Washington Post.

Hmong Facts is from The Minnesota Historical Society.

Family History: The General, His Sisters And Me is from NPR.

Outsiders Unable to Investigate Vietnam Protest Reports comes from Voice of America.

Taking advantage of Hmong storytelling culture to teach conservation is an interesting article about a U.S. Forest Service-financed Hmong film (with English subtitles) about conservation. You can read more about it here and here. Here’s an excerpt:

Annual Hmong New Year Festival is a Sacramento Bee slideshow.

A Hmong Generation Finds Its Voice in Writing is from The New York Times.

Additional suggestions are welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.

October 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

My Parent Engagement Book Has Been Published

My book (written with Lorie Hammond) “Building Parent Engagement In Schools” was published a few days ago. I haven’t actually seen a copy yet, but I know review copies were sent out.

Amazon says they don’t have copies yet in stock yet, but you can order it directly from Linworth Publishing. They’ll also give you a twenty percent discount — if you’re willing to jump through a few hoops.

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