Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Mapdango is called a “mash-up” — a combination of a variety of web applications. It’s a neat geographical and map search engine that, after you enter the location you’re interested in, will show you the area’s weather, areas of interest from Wikipedia, Flickr photos, and other items.

One particularly useful feature is that it shows all of the above connected to its geographical location on a map, too.

It’s a easy way to get a sense of a community. My students will be using it tomorrow to learn a little more about the places where our international sister classes are located.

I’ve placed the link on my website under Sites That Cover Many Areas.

My Great World is a newer site that lets you choose a place on a world map and access images from that location.

The key feature of the site, though, is that you can then (without registering) choose an image, write a fairly lengthy message, and mail them both as an E-Card. The url address of the card can then be posted on an online journal or blog.

It’s an easy online application that can be used by English Language Learners for a multitude of lessons, particularly geography.

I’ve placed the link on my website under Student E-Cards.

I’ve posted before about online sites that allow you to decide where you want to go, search for things that you would do and see there, and then easily “drag and drop” an itinerary that can be posted on a website or blog.

Some of these travel sites are very accessible to English Language Learners and are great tools to use in Geography classes.

Mashable posted today about a new site that might be the most accessible of all of them (though I still have to check it out a little more carefully). It’s called Nile Guide.

I’ve placed the link under Student Trips on my website.

Map Skip is a newer web application. It allows you to post your own story and photos about a particular place on its location on a world map. Other people can read and leave comments on the story you write, too. It also has an easily accessible translation key that creates a machine-translation into many different languages.

It’s a nice site to make stories public, though English Language Learners can create the same kinds of stories on the many other sites I have listed on my Examples of Student Work page under Student Maps.

That’s the same place where I’ve posted this link.

ZeeMaps is an online mapmaking tool I recently learned about. It seems to be pretty similar to the twenty other free sites that I have listed on my website under Student Maps.

Registration takes a few seconds.  It does seems to have a specific collaboration feature that I haven’t seen on many of the other map sites, so it may warrant a look for that reason alone.

Teach The Children Well is an extensive and excellent collection of links geared towards elementary students and also accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

It’s organized by Elaine Doolittle, and I learned about it while digging around the archives of Phyllis’ Favorites.

The links seem up-to-date, and I’ll be placing direct links to many of the sites on my appropriate webpages. But I wanted to highlight the main page here. It covers all subjects, and is definitely worth checking-out.

English Quest is an online ESL teaching system out of Taiwan.   You have to pay to subscribe to the program, but they do have two good sample lessons that I’ve posted on my website.

One is a phonics lesson on the “ck” sound. I’ve placed that link on my English For Beginners page under Phonics.

The other is a geography lesson that I’ve placed on my Geography page under Introduction to Geography.

Both lessons are accessible to beginning English Language Learners.

What The World Eats is an online slideshow from Time magazine that shows families from fifteen different countries, along with what they eat during one week and its cost.

This site can be used with English Language Learners to initiate a discussion on economic inequities; use in compare/contrast activities; and take advantage of it to develop new vocabulary.

I’ve placed the link on my Geography page under Sites That Cover Many Areas.

I learned about this resource through TechLearning.

Visual Geography is a nice site with images, information, and quizzes about 85 countries around the world. Primary Resources blog posted about it today.

The text is accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners, and the images are obviously good for students of all levels. I like the quizzes it has about each country, and I also really like a neat feature called “Compare.” You can pick any two countries and easily compare their demographic data with a click of the mouse.

I’ve placed the link on my Geography page under Sites That Cover Many Areas.

TeachersFirst shares resources they find on the web that would be helpful to educators.  They have a great free weekly email newsletter that I’ve written about previously.

They also create their own resources, and today I’d like to highlight some online activities they’ve made about the Middle East.

That link will take to you their Middle East Interactive Activities page.  I particularly like Middle East Nations and Facts, which provides good info on each country.

Their map activities are certainly accessible to English Language Learners who are just beginning, while the Nations and Facts game is probably appropriate for Intermediate and above.

You can find the link on my Geography page under Asia.

The “The Things To Do” section of the Victoria and Albert Museum in Great Britain has a ton of online activities, and many are accessible to English Language Learners.

I’ve placed direct links to several of the activities on the appropriate pages of my website.

I particularly like their Design A Coat of Arms, which fits in well with the World History class I’m teaching this year.  Students create the coat of arms, then email the url to be posted on a blog or online journal.  Students can then describe it.

Of course, this online activity, like many that I post about, can easily be done in the classroom with construction paper and colored pens, too.  As I’ve mentioned before, though, using the computer can provide a nice change-of-pace, as well as offer an opportunity for the development of some tech skills.

Yes, it’s time for another one of my “The Best….” lists. This one will highlight the websites I think are the best for teaching about geography.

As in my other lists, the criteria include that the sites don’t require any software download, and that they’re free, engaging, and accessible to English Language Learners.

I suspect that many will disagree with the fact that that Google Earth is not on my list. It’s not there because, one, it requires a download and, two, I just haven’t found it particularly useful. Yes, yes, I know there are tons of lessons and ideas about how to use it, and many teachers apparently teach with it very effectively. In fact, you can find many Google Earth resource links on my Teacher’s Page under Geography Teacher Resources. I’ve just never felt the potential benefit was worth spending my time trying to figure out how to use it.

My opinion might change, though, since I’ve read in more than one place that Google is planning on moving most of the capabilities of Google Earth to a browser-based application so that a download will not be required.

You can find all of these links, along with thousands more, on my website. If you’re interested in this particular list, you might want to make a point of checking-out my Geography page.

Here are my top picks for The Best Websites For Learning & Teaching Geography:

Number twelve is a very creative game called Scribble States. Players have to “connect the dots” with a virtual pencil, and then have to answer a multiple-choice question about which state (in the United States) they just drew. And the whole thing is timed, to boot!

Mapping Our World from Oxfam is a great series of animated and audio lesson on maps, and the accuracy and inaccuracy of their projections affect our view of the world. I’ve ranked this site number eleven.

Number ten is sort of a tie between three sites that are good reference sites for students to use when they’re researching different countries. One is Fact Monster- Countries. Another is DK Online World Desk Reference. For DK you have to get a password, but it’s free, quick and easy to do so. My students, and I, have found these two sites very informative and accessible. The third one, though, I believe is slightly better because it appears to have more up-to-date data and it includes images. It’s called the World Info Zone.

There’s another tie for the ninth spot on my list. Both offer an extensive collection of online videos from around the world. The two are Geobeats and National Geographic Videos.

Eighth place is yet another tie between Zipskinny and HotPads. They both provide extensive demographic information about individual neighborhoods in the United States. Zipskinny presents in fairly straightforward text, while HotPads shows it more visually. You might find it useful to read my original posts about Zipskinny and HotPads to get a little more information on how the two compare with each other.

Mythic Journeys is number seven. You can see, hear and read animated tales about creation myths from around the world at this site. These will certainly help students learn about different cultures.

The Traveler IQ Challenge is probably going to be just about the most difficult map game you’ll ever play. But it’s a lot of fun, and there are “Challenges” from all parts of the world. I’ve ranked these games number six.

Community Walk is number five. Students can put many sites on a map with descriptions and images (which can easily be grabbed off the web). Students can use these to report on countries, describe field trips, and for numerous other mapping assignments. There are lots of these kinds of site, but I’ve found Community Walk to be the most accessible.

Placespotting is number four. Students are shown a spot on the map, and given a series of riddles to help them determine what it is. All these geographic riddles are user-generated, and students can create their own, too.

Nations Illustrated is number three. You can look at beautiful pictures from around the world individually or in a slideshow. Students can choose images to write about and send them as an E-Card. Links to the E-Card can then be posted on an online journal or blog.

There’s a three-way tie for the second spot. Tripwiser, Yahoo Travel, and TripTie all allow students to learn about places and plan a trip to anywhere in the world, which they can then post on an online journal or blog. The sites require free registration, but it’s easy and quick.

Finally, the number one website for learning and teaching Geography is…. the Social Studies page at I Know That. It has tons of different kinds of map games that are informative and fun. Once you click on each game, an annoying pop-up asks if you want to register. But all you have to do is click “maybe later” and it goes away.

Let me know if you think I’ve missed any particularly good geography sites.

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I learned about Purpose Games from Susan Tsairi via a post she wrote on EFL Classroom.

Students can play many different games reinforcing knowledge in Social Studies, Science, and other subjects.  In addition, if you register (free), you can also easily create games yourself.

I’ve placed links to it on various pages on my website.  One of them is on my Teacher’s Page under Create Tests and Exercises.

Explorapoles has several nice and short online videos, with transcripts, of Arctic expeditions.  They would be accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

I’ve placed the link on my Geography page under Sites That Cover Many Areas.

There sure are a lot of creative people out there! When I think of learning games related to geography, I figure there are only a limited number of things you can do with a map. However, I’m continually amazed at what people come up with….In fact, I think my next “The Best…” list, after the one on sites for exploring jobs and careers that I’m publishing next week, will be on Geography.

The most recent addition to creative geography games is called Place Spotting. You’re shown a satellite image of a location, and then have to read a variety of clues to try to determine the location. All the different “riddles” are user-generated.

I think most of the ones on the site now might be too hard for English Language Learners. However, students can create their own, including their own clues, post the link to their creations, and everyone in the class can try to solve the problems their peers have created. It could be a great activity! And it doesn’t appear that you even have to register on the site to be able to make your own riddle.

I’ve placed the link on my Examples of Student Work page under Student Geography Riddles.

The Old Montreal Game is an online video game that players can use to learn about the history of….. Montreal.

Players are in a museum, and have to “point-and-click” to find several “time tunnels.”  They then travel back in time.  It’s well-designed, and accessible to Early Intermediate English Language Learners.

I’ve placed the link on my Geography page in the United States and Canada section.

The History Channel has a site on the History of Mexico that includes several short videos accessible to English Language Learners.

The clips include ones on the Maya and Aztecs, as well as more modern history.

The site also has a fair amount of text that’s probably accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

I’ve placed the link in two places.  It’s on my Geography page under Latin America.  It’s also on my World History page under The Middle Ages.

Primary Resources Links recently posted about a charity that “provides livestock and training to poor families in Africa.”

Their website for kids, called Cowforce,  has several good animations about Africa that would be accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

I’ve placed the link on my Geography page under Africa.

I learned about a great series of geography games from Good Experience.  It’s called the Traveler IQ Challenge (and appears to sponsored by Travel Pod), and they’re different from any other geography games I’ve seen on the Internet.

You’re given a location, you click where you think it is, and you get points depending on how close you are from its accurate location.

This description, however, doesn’t get near to giving justice to the games.  Just check them out and you’ll see what I mean.

I’ve placed the link on my Geography page under Sites That Cover Many Areas.

Pearson Education in Australia has a great site of free Companion Websites to support their textbooks.  The ones they have for what they call “secondary” (high school) seem especially good.

Among them, I’m particularly interested in what they call “drag-and-drop interactives.”  They’re also called “clozes” and “fill-in-the-gap” by others.

In these clozes, students have to drag the correct word to blanks in the text.  This is a good World History example.  Students can vary the level of difficulty.  They would be good activities for English Language Learners after they have gained some knowledge about the different eras.

Their Geography textbook sites have map-based activites like this one.

To get to these activities, you first have to click on the textbook titles, like Old Worlds, New Worlds.  Then click on a chapter at the top of the screen, and then on the drag-and-drop interactive for that chapter.

Since my website is designed for self-access by English Language Learners, I’ll be placing direct links to each interactive under the appropriate sections on my Geography and World History pages.  However, I probably won’t be getting to that for awhile, especially since I’m not teaching Geography this year and we’ve already covered Ancient History in my World History class.

I will get to it, though, in the next month or two.  In the meantime, I thought readers might find it useful to have this information now.