Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

…For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

December 1, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Additional Resources On HIV & AIDS

Today is World AIDS Day, and I’ve added many new resources to The Best Web Resources For Learning About HIV & AIDS:

World AIDS Day 2011 is a photo gallery from the Sacramento Bee.

HIV and Aids: interactive timeline of a global crisis is from The Guardian.

World AIDS Day 2011 is a slideshow from The Boston Globe.

The Graying of AIDS is a TIME slideshow.

AIDS treatment: Global leaders recommit to AIDS fight is an interactive from The Associated Press.

The Photo That Changed The Face Of AIDS is from NPR.

September 25, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Getting Addicted To Junk Food

I have a fairly extensive “The Best…” list called The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety.

Today, The New York Times published a fascinating article titled Is Junk Food Cheaper? It’s not accessible to English Language Learners, but it includes a lot of important information that teachers might want to modify to share with students. Here’s an excerpt that particularly struck me:

…the engineering behind hyperprocessed food makes it virtually addictive. A 2009 study by the Scripps Research Institute indicates that overconsumption of fast food “triggers addiction-like neuroaddictive responses” in the brain, making it harder to trigger the release of dopamine. In other words the more fast food we eat, the more we need to give us pleasure; thus the report suggests that the same mechanisms underlie drug addiction and obesity.

I’m adding the article to that “The Best…” list.

June 4, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Good New Resources On HIV/AIDS

Here are the newest additions to The Best Web Resources For Learning About HIV & AIDS:

AIDS Treatment: Search For The Elusive Cure is an Associated Press interactive.

The fight against AIDS, 30 years on is a chart from The Economist.

Emory University has introduced AIDSVu, an interactive map that provides a detailed view of the number of people living with an HIV diagnosis in the United States by state and county

June 3, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Say Good-Bye To The Pyramid, Say Hello To My Plate

The United States Agriculture Department has now replaced the Food Pyramid with “My Plate.”

You can read about the change at The Christian Science Monitor. More importantly, you can access online interactive tools and printables at the My Plate site. You can also see an interesting Wall Street Journal slideshow documenting the history of the government’s efforts to help the public learn about nutrition.

I’m adding all these resources to The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety.

December 7, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

The Best Health Sites — 2010

I’ve posted about quite a few websites related to health over the past few years, but have never actually done a “year’s best” list.

However, I have written several health-related “The Best…” lists, which include:

The Best Life Expectancy Calculators
The Best health sites for English language learners
The Best Sites For ELL’s To Learn About The Dangers Of Smoking
The Best Resources For Learning About World Malaria Day
The Best Sites For Learning About The Swine Flu Outbreak
The Best Web Resources For Learning About HIV & AIDS
The Best Online Health Assessments For ELL’s
The Best Sites For Learning About Nutrition & Food Safety
The Best Online Resources For Learning About Health Care Reform

I decided my lack of a year-end health list was an oversight worth correcting this year. So here are my choices for The Best Health Sites — 2010 (not in any order of preference):

State Health Stats is an amazing interactive infographic showing many health statistics about the fifty states. It’s very accessible.

The History of Vaccines is a lively interactive from The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It has an interactive timeline that would be accessible to English Language Learners and online activities that are probably only accessible to advanced ELL’s.

Lunch Line Redesign is a New York Times interactive that highlights ways that school cafeterias are using to encourage students to eat more healthy foods. It’s really quite interesting, and I think it could be a great discussion starter with students.

Better Health Conversation is an interactive from Web MD and General Electric that helps you prepare for your next doctor’s visit. It’s accessible and engaging.

Disney’s Healthy Kids site provides a lot of good information on healthy nutrition in a way accessible to English Language Learners. It’s quite interactive with games and animations, and appears to be free of advertising.

The Trust For America’s Health has published a map titled F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010. It shows adult and child obesity rates by state.

CVS Pharmacy has a pretty impressive multimedia collection of health resources. There are three sections on the site — animations, multimedia, and audio. The animations are engaging, but the English probably isn’t very accessible to English Language Learners. The multimedia slideshows are also good, and are probably accessible to Intermediate ELL’s. Their audio reports are the best resources on the site for ELL’s — they’re short reports with audio support for the text.

Quite a few other resources can be found in “The Best…” lists I mentioned at the top of this post.

Feedback is welcome.

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You might also want to explore the 550 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.

December 6, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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“The History Of Vaccines”

This week is National Influenza Vaccination Week, and a timely interactive just came online.

The History of Vaccines is a lively interactive from The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. It has an interactive timeline that would be accessible to English Language Learners and online activities that are probably only accessible to advanced ELL’s.

It’s seems like a well-done site.