Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Harcourt has an excellent Multimedia Art Glossary that provides audio support for the text in addition to visual images.

I’m adding it to The Best Art Websites For Learning English, as well as placing the link on my website under Music and Art.

The Calgary Academy has a quite impressive online and interactive short story unit. The ambitious activity provides audio and visual support for the text, and is designed for students to learn the different elements of a short story.

I’ve placed the link on my website under Short Story.

And this is just one of many exceptional online exercises on that site.  I’ll be highlighting others in future posts.

Project Third Edition is another new excellent site from Oxford University Press supporting one of their textbooks.

There’s a ton of different and engaging online activities there for Beginning through Intermediate English Language Learner students.

I’ve placed the link on my website under Vocabulary on my website, even though it also includes reading and listening exercises..

Google announced today a new feature in their popular Google News page — you can now create your own customized news sections, and publish them so they’re accessible to anyone (if you want to). For example, I just created one on Hmong news, which is obvious interest to many of my students.

Of course, in a lot of ways you do something like this with an application like Daymix and, unlike with the new Google news feature, you don’t have to sign-in at Daymix to create your custom page.

But I could see Google’s page just being one more way for students to create their own high-interest content to read.

Thanks to Mashable for the tip, which also has more info on it.

The Smithsonian and the National Center For Family Literacy have jointly developed several brand-new learning interactives. They include a virtual sit-in at a lunch counter and an exercise to learn more about the American flag. All provide audio support for the text, and would probably be accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

I’ll be adding direct links to various sections on my website.

PUSH by Sapphire is an extraordinarily popular book among teenagers. Here is its description:

Claireece Precious Jones endures unimaginable hardships in her young life. Abused by her mother, raped by her father, she grows up poor, angry, illiterate, fat, unloved and generally unnoticed. So what better way to learn about her than through her own, halting dialect. That is the device deployed in the first novel by poet and singer Sapphire. “Sometimes I wish I was not alive,” Precious says. “But I don’t know how to die. Ain’ no plug to pull out. ‘N no matter how bad I feel my heart don’t stop beating and my eyes open in the morning.” An intense story of adversity and the mechanisms to cope with it.

This month, PUSH is coming to movie theaters as Precious. You can see the trailer at the link.

The National Center For Family Literacy is working with the film distributor, who will offer literacy tips on its website. The film will also be in limited release in November to help recognize National Family Literacy Month.

Creative Kids Central has a number of very engaging online activities related to classical music. I particularly like its “talking” and musical story on the 1001 Arabian Nights and its online video game on the composer Brahms.

Both are accessible to English Language Learners.

I’ve placed the direct links on several sections on my website.

Thanks to Phyllis’ Favorites for the tip.

I’ve been thinking of having students try to set-up and participate in an online debate that would involve both their classmates and others. It might be a good writing opportunity to prepare them for a persuasive essay, and a way to generate some high-interest reading possibilities as they prepare their positions.

I’ve been exploring what possible sites might be out there students can use. I’m narrowing them down but, since I haven’t actually had them do this activity yet, I can’t say positively which one is best. But I thought I’d share the conclusions I’ve reached after my initial experiments, and invite readers to share their experiences with these sites and others.

So, given that caveat, here are my choices for The Best Sites For Students To Create & Participate In Online Debates:

I like Create Debate a lot. One of its key advantages is that it appears to allow the creator of the debate to moderate the discussion. I’m imagining that a student can create the debate and that I then add it to the site under my name and within the initial prompt indicate which student started it. Then, they and others can contribute, but I can check regularly and delete any inappropriate comments made by others.

Heads Up seems to be an ideal site, and is specifically designed for students and teachers to use. However, it’s designed for use in the United Kingdom. I haven’t contacted them yet (but will soon) to see if non-UK schools can participate.

Opposing Views highlights key questions (political, scientific, etc). It then, in a fairly succinct “bullet” format, has an “expert” share pro and con arguments. Users of the site can also leave their own comments.  The language and lay-out of the site is fairly accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.  After reading the arguments, users can easily leave their own comments on the issue.

Two other sites – Riled Up and For And Against — appear to have some potential, but moderation of discussions on both sites seems very limited so I’d be concerned about using it in class.

Procon is not a site to participate in debates but, instead, offers what seems to be very well-researched pro and con positions on multiple controversial issues. It could serve as a good model for students to use as they craft their own positions.

Debategraph is in a category all its own. It looks like a cool way to visualize arguments, but I can’t quite figure it out.

Additional suggestions and feedback 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.

The Scruffs is an online “hidden object” game — basically an “I Spy” kind of activity. You’re shown a list of items, and have to find them within the picture.

It’s a fun way for English Language Learners to develop vocabulary.

I’ve placed the link on my website under Word and Video Games. If you want to find other similar ones, though, including several from Scholastic, look under Reading.

CNN is unveiling a completely new website design on Monday, and many of its new features, including an interactive game, something called NewsPulse (which appears to be a visual way of accessing news), and an integration of TED Talks makes it appear it will be even more useful for educators and more accessible to English Language Learners.

You can read more about the new design, including screenshots, at TechCrunch.

I’ve found that students of all ages are interested in robots. Given that interest, I thought it would be a good idea to bring together a number of resources about them that are accessible to English Language Learners. They make for high interest reading material, and provide good images to write about, too. The videos provide good listening practice.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites To Learn About Robots:

The Boston Globe’s Big Picture has a nice series of photos of Robots.

The Big Picture also has another series of similar images called More Robots.

The Tech Museum has a nice group of robot-related activities.

LIFE has a slideshow on Japanese Robotics.

LIFE also has a slideshow of famous robots from television and the movies.

Robots, Robots Everywhere is an online CBS News video on Japanese robots.

Here’s another CBS News video — this one on soccer games between robotic dogs.

Robots can help when disaster strikes, according to this video news report.

The Robot Hall of Fame has a slideshow.

ABC News has a slideshow on robots replacing human teachers in the classroom.

CNN has several interesting videos, including ones on:

A Home Robot

A Robotics Competition

The First Robotics Championship

Robotic Suits To Help The Disabled

The Robo-Penguin is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.

Curious Robotic Animals is a slideshow from LIFE about robots designed to look and act like animals.

I’d certainly be interested in hearing other suggestions, so please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

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.

Online quizzes of various types abound on the Web.  Many include content not appropriate for classroom use, or are on the same site with other quizzes that aren’t appropriate.   Some are on sites just too filled with ads.  Others are too complicated to be accessible to English Language Learners, or would just take too long to complete.  And many require registration, or charge in order to take the quiz.

I’ve found, though, that my English Language Learner students enjoy taking online quizzes that don’t fit into those above categories.  Many are just for fun, but include reading and vocabulary development opportunities.  Some, though, can offer useful information to students — for example, well-done career tests.

Here are my choices for The Best Online Personality, Career, & Just Plain Fun Quizzes (not in order of preference):

Career Path and Monster both have multiple job-related quizzes.

Queendom: The Land of Tests has a ton of quizzes on many different topics.

The BBC Human Body and Mind also has a number of different types of tests.

ABC in Australia has a fun little personality test.

The Central Intelligence Agency has a “tongue-in-cheek” CIA Personality Quiz.

Here’s a link to something called The Big Five Personality Test.

Channel One has a lot of online quizzes, including many personality ones.

Take a How Do You Learn? quiz to identify learning styles.

Proprofs Quiz School has several personality quizzes, and it’s an easy place for students to create their own, too.

The Pew Research Center Interactive has several very accessible political and community quizzes that would provide good grist for learning and discussion.

At 15 has a Pic-a-Pic personality quiz.

Similar Minds has a large collection of personality quizzes. Some of them are accessible to ELL’s.

The Constitution Center has a Which Founder Are You quiz. You answer a variety of personality-like questions, and then you’re told which of the “founding fathers” you are most like.

I’d certainly be interested in hearing other suggestions, so please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

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.

Howtoons shows cartoons (you can download the PDF versions) designed for kids to learn how to make various things. They’d be accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners, and would be good models for students to create their own.

It’s an offshoot of the popular Instructables site, which shows instructional videos and other “how-to” ideas in various forms. Instructables, though, isn’t on my The Best Online Instructional Video Sites list because it has come content not appropriate for classroom use.

Thanks to Keisa Williams for the tip.

The Book of Odds is an intriguing website that tells you the odds of just about anything happening. It’s intriguing content, and probably accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

Thanks to Mashable for the tip.

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).

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.

In huge news for the Hmong community (and in Sacramento), the United States recently dropped its case against General Vang Pao for allegedly being part of a conspiracy planning an armed takeover of Laos.  You can read about it and watch a slideshow, videos, and an interactive timeline at the Sacramento Bee.  All these resources are not only informative, but many are accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

The Sacramento Bee has another extensive article on General Vang Pao, whom many call “King of the Hmong.”

Sacramento Bee  ran a guest column earlier this year about Hmong who are hiding in the jungles of Laos and those who are being mistreated in refugee camps in Thailand.  It’s titled U.S. Must Honor, Protect Hmong Veterans.

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.

Here’s a short passage about Hmong New Year, along with a few comprehension questions.

Last October, a Hmong man here in Sacramento was shot to death as the result of an affair he was having with another man’s wife.  It’s gotten a lot of media attention.  The Sacramento Bee published a lengthy article titled Hmong Leaders Ask: Could Old Ways Have Headed Off Slaying?. It gives a good overview, I think, of Hmong culture and the traditional use of clan elders to mediate disputes.

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.

The Sacramento Bee has a nice slideshow on local Hmong New Years celebrations.

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.

News Dots is the newest addition to The Best Visually Engaging News Sites. It’s from Slate Magazine.

It’s a bit hard to explain, but you might want to check out this post from Alt Search Engines.

The Oregonian newspaper in Portland has a great article and slideshow about the first cookbook that has been published on Hmong food.  My students are going to love this!

It will certainly be added to my upcoming “The Best Sites To Learn About The Hmong” list.

Thanks to Colorin Colorado for the tip.

I’ve created “The Best…” lists for many, if not most, of the major holidays and celebrations in the United States. To locate them, just go to that link and find the “Holidays” section.

If, however, you’re looking for resources accessible to English Language Learners about holidays that I might not have covered, here are a list of sites that provide information on many different celebrations.

Here are my choices for The Best Websites For Learning About Multiple Holidays:

Social Studies For Kids

Heads Up English Holiday Lessons for English Language Learners.

Holiday Lessons from EL Civics.

American Holidays from Susan Schneider’s ESL Website.

Religious Festivals from the CBBC Newsround.

Self-Study Holiday Quizzes from Activities For ESL Students.

U.S. Holidays For ESL Students

Dave’s ESL Cafe Idea Cookbook — Holidays

Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations From Around The World comes from “Topics Online Magazine,” a resource specifically designed for English Language Learners.

Education World’s Holiday Center

Holidays and Traditions from Ressources Pour Le College

Ressources Pour Le College also has a collection of great Internet Scavenger Hunts, which include several on different holidays.

History Channel’s History of Holidays

Calendar of Themes from Houghton Mifflin

National Patriotic Holidays from Glencoe. Glencoe also has a broader resource on holidays called Beyond The Textbook.

Fact Monster has numerous resources on holidays

Holidays Worksheets from Lanternfish

How Stuff Works — Holidays

The Orange County Register Interactive Graphics

Thinkfinity’s Spotlight On The Holidays

If you type the name of a holiday into the search engine at the New York Times, the first item that pops-up is a page the newspaper has with basic information about the celebration and, more importantly, multimedia it has created related to the day.

The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers has a Holidays and Special Days section on their website.

Renee Maufroid, an English teacher in France, develops a lot of excellent ESL/EFL online activities.  You can find ones she’s created on a number of holidays by going to his site.

If you go to Edsitement and type in the query “holiday” in their search engine, you’ll find a number of resources. Many might be too advanced for ELL’s, but can be modified.

A site called Whyzz has two sections filled with a lot of accessible info on holidays. One is called Holidays and the other is Holiday Q & A’s.

ESL Holiday Lessons has many good lessons about…holidays.

ESL PDF has many printable hand-outs on various holidays.

The Minnesota Literacy Council has a great series of holiday clozes (fill-in-the-gaps).

Kid’s Turn Central has an extensive collection of accessible holiday resources.

Mr. Donn has a good page called Ancient Roots of Modern Holidays.

The Museum Of Science and Industry has an extensive Holiday Traditions section. It has a ton of information, though it’s probably only accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners.

Better Homes and Gardens has slideshows and eCards related to all major holidays.

The Saskatoon Public Schools in Canada has an Online Learning Center with a lot of Holiday links. Scroll down to “Monthly Themes & Holidays.”

Teaching Tolerance has numerous high-quality lesson plans on many different holidays and anniversaries.

Time and Date doesn’t quite fit in with the other sites here, but it does let you quickly determine the dates for holidays in pretty much any country and any year. It’s a good curriculum planning tool.

If you go to Cookstr and click on “Holidays” on the left menu, the screen will show many holidays you can click on to get appropriate menu ideas.

Pete’s PowerPoint Station has a bunch of accessible PowerPoint presentations on different holidays.

Teachers First has a Holiday Central filled with useful resources.

John’s ESL Community has simple explanations for many holidays.

Woodlands Junior School in Great Britain has resources on many national holidays.

I’d certainly be interested in hearing other suggestions, so please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

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.

Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing is coming out on October 15th, and looks like it might be a great book.

The Sacramento Bee today chose it as its “Top Nonfiction Pick” for the fall. Here is what is said:

If America is a land founded by immigrants, then just what is “American”? It is no single thing but many things mixed together to form a new thing.

Ilan Stavans, a professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts, has gathered the writings of immigrants who put forth their firsthand experiences of jumping into the cauldron of this country.

They came from around the world over a period of four centuries. All arrived in search of opportunity, and all had to navigate the shock of the new. Many found racism and brutal conditions instead of the dreams they had envisioned. A few built empires.

Stavans culled his material from diaries, memoirs, letters, travel notes and stories. As immigration to this country continues, and the politicization of it becomes more visible, perhaps perspectives from the past are more valuable than ever.

Layers is a new site that lets you annotate any webpage. Two especially nice features it has are (1) you can add photos and videos to your annotation by just including the url address and (2) you can see how other people who are also registered at Layers have annotated the same page.

I quite regularly post about any new site I can find that allows you to easily annotate webpages. I’ve got a lot of them listed on Best Applications For Annotating Websites, but I don’t think I have yet to find the perfect one for students to use. Layers might come close, but it’s not initially particularly intuitive in its initial lay-out on how to use it. Nevertheless, I’m adding it to that list.

As I shared on that “The Best..” list, these kinds of sites are ideal for students to demonstrate reading strategies on the Web, just as the use real Post-Its in the classroom.

I’ll have students give it a try and see what happens.

Thanks to Go 2 Web 20 for the tip.