Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

My Safe Home is a pretty neat interactive from the Home Safety Council. It highlight numerous potential dangers in the home, and provides audio support for the text. It’s surprisingly engaging.

I’ve added it to my website under Health.

Speaking of my website, I still haven’t gotten around to verifying links. The last time I did so was several months ago. Typically, twenty or so links go “dead” each month, so there may be as many as 150-200 dead links on the site now. Of course, that’s still a small percentage of the 8,000 links that are there, but it can nevertheless be an inconvenience. I probably won’t get around to cleaning them up until December — if then.

The Fantastic Food Challenge is from Michigan State University and is comprised of four engaging online games designed to teach various aspects of food health and nutrition.

They’re probably accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

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

Here are two recent additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Swine Flu Outbreak:

Obama Declares H1N1 National Emergency is the title of a very accessible lesson from Breaking New English.

Here’s a video report from MSNBC one the flu vaccine.

Swine flu vaccination is a series of photos from the Sacramento Bee showing…swine flu vaccinations.

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

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.

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).

With the announcement earlier this week of a possible breakthrough in finding a vaccine against HIV, I thought I’d put together a quick list of related resources that are accessible to English Language Learners.

This is not by any means exhaustive, and I’m hopeful readers will contribute additional links.  They’re not in any particular order. Some of these sites are probably not appropriate for younger students.

Here are my choices for The Best Web Resources For Learning About HIV & AIDS (and are accessible to English Language Learners):

Agence France Presse has a good interactive titled New hope in the fight against HIV that includes the results of the vaccine-testing announced this past week.

The CBBC Newsround, as usual, has an excellent feature on AIDS that’s very accessible to ELL’s. It’s called What is Aids?

The National Institutes of Health has an excellent interactive tutorial on AIDS and HIV.

Here’s another simple explanation, with pictures, that has the same title What Is Aids? It’s from the Japa Network, which also hosts two good quizes: HIV & AIDS: How much do you know? and another one.

Evolution Of AIDS comes from the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

Students can learn about AIDS (and spelling) from the Avert AIDS game.

AIDS- 25 Years is an Associated Press interactive. This feature, like the one at The Globe and Mail, is a few years old, but still contains a lot of useful information.

The CBC has an interactive map showing the world-wide presence of HIV and AIDS.

Here’s a exercise on AIDS designed for ELL’s.

About HIV and AIDS is a simple animation that provides audio support for the text. It’s from Healthy Roads.

MSNBC has a similar map.

Here’s a very accessible and informative quiz on AIDS.

Here’s a simple reading and quiz designed for ELL’s titled Is it Difficult to Catch HIV/AIDS?

What Would You Do? is an online game from UNICEF.

HIV: How can I protect myself? is a cloze (gap-fill) exercise for ELL’s.

Patient Voices: AIDS and H.I.V. is from The New York times and shares short interviews with people diagnosed with HIV. It might only be accessible to high Intermediate ELL’s.

The Peace Corps has a simple quiz that is quite good. Click on “Edzi Todo Quiz” on this page (there’s not a direct link).

HIV Epidemic– Vietnam is an interactive from The Wall Street Journal.

Hope: Living and Loving With HIV in Jamaica is an exceptionally touching presentation.

Camp Heartland is a TIME Magazine interactive presentation on a summer camp for HIV-infected children.

National Geographic has an extensive multmedia feature on AIDS in Africa.

The Face Of Aids is a slideshow from MSNBC.

It’s Up To Us is a downloable curriculum on AIDS designed for English Language Learners.

Here’s a Webquest titled It Won’t Happen To Me! that’s designed for ELL’s.

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.

The New York Times has developed a surprisingly accessible interactive called A History of Health Care Reform.

It traces efforts over the past one hundred years to reform health care in the United States.

Swine Flu: Fighting A Global Pandemic is an interactive from Agence France Presse. It’s an “Interactive graphic comparing swine flu to other global pandemics, AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, in terms of the number of victims and the amount spent on prevention and treatment of the diseases.”

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

TIME Magazine has just published an infographic titled Leading Cause of Death. It’s a pretty amazing piece of work chocked full with data about smoking cigarettes.

In fact, it may be a bit too “chock full.” It’s pretty “busy,” which might make it less accessible to ELL’s.

Nevertheless, I’m still adding it to The Best Sites For ELL’s To Learn About The Dangers Of Smoking.

The Financial Times has developed a fascinating interactive which demonstrates how fast a disease can spread around the world because of air travel.

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

REEPworld Family English is high on The Best Websites For Beginning Older Readers list. It’s a series of stories about recent immigrants and includes excellent online follow-up activities.

They’ve just expanded their English For Health section, and it provides excellent resources for English Language Learners.

In fact, it’s so good that I’m adding that section to The Best health sites for English language learners.

Xperiment is a site designed by the Canadian Center On Substance Abuse for teenagers. You can try-out drugs with an eyeball named Earl (that’s not a typo).

It’s entertaining and informative, and the way it’s set-up English Language Learners can develop a lot of vocabulary knowledge. You pick a word (”paranoia,” for example) and Earl the eyeball acts it out.

I’ll add it to my website under Health.

Web MD has an interesting web tool called the Symptom Checker. If you, or someone else, is feeling ill, using this application is supposed to narrow down what the problem is and what you might want to do about it.

It’s probably accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners, and might make for an interesting exercise. If the student isn’t feeling sick, you can give everybody a moment to remember a time that they were and compare what they ended up doing to get well with what the Symptom Checker recommends.

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

Here are some more additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Swine Flu Outbreak (this might be the last update I post for awhile on this topic):

The Boston Globe’s Big Picture has a series of photos on the 2009 Swine Flu Outbreak.

Mexico Prepares To Reawaken is a Wall Street Journal slideshow.

In Pictures: Public Health Campaigns is a slideshow from the BBC. It talks about the “fine line between informing and alarming people” according to The English Blog.

The Swine Flu AKA The Pig Flu is a simple interactive quiz created by teacher Created by Amélie Silvert. Thanks to Ressources Pour Le College for the tip.

The San Francisco Chronicle today reported on a study analyzing the connection between education levels and health.  Here’s a quote:

“The study, commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, focused on gaps in education and how that affects a person’s health condition. The report supports other research that shows factors such as income and education have as much or even more impact on a person’s health than access to medical services.”

The Foundation has an online calculator where you can actually get the specific data for any county in the United States.

It’s interesting, but I sometimes wonder about the amount of money spent on studies that come-up with conclusions that most of us had already figured out.

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

The Scrub Club is, to quote The School Library Journal, a Web site that offers an effective and fun way for kids to learn about the importance of hand washing to protect them against influenza.  Some games are included.  It would probably be appropriate for younger ELL’s only.

Prevention Precautions is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

Should Schools Close Over Swine Flu? is a video from MSNBC.

USA Today has several really good interactive graphics about the flu.

Thinkfinity has a good page titled Classroom Resources about Germs and Disease. Just as a reminder, Thinkfinity is on The Best Places To Find Free (And Good) Lesson Plans On The Internet list.

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

Here’s a nice infographic from the Telegraph called Interactive graphic of how swine flu works, how you can help to protect yourself and the six stages of a pandemic. (Thanks to the English Blog for the tip)

Flu Virus Continues Spread is a new slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

Soccer In The Time of Swine Flu is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.

Even as Fears of Flu Ebb, Mexicans Feel Stigma is an article from The New York Times. Excerpts could be modified for ELL’s.

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

A Visual Guide to Flu Pandemics is a good visual historical representation of pandemics through the years. Thanks to Alec Couros for the tip.

Flu Fears Dissipating In Mexico City is an online video from MSNBC.

The BBC has a slideshow called Public Health Campaigns: A Fine Line Between Informing And Alarming.

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

Immigration foes link flu to Mexican threat claims is an Associated Press story that can be modified for classroom discussion.

Another good interactive graphic on the flu from Agence Presse France.

United States and Mexico Battle Swine Flu is a Voice of America Special English report that provides audio support for the text.