The title of my upcoming second book, which will be published next summer by Linworth Publishing, has been changed slightly, and is now called “English Language Learners: Teaching Strategies that Work.” I think teachers will find it a helpful practical resource that offers the unique perspective of my nineteen years as a community organizer and six years as a public school teacher. Though it’s obviously geared towards teachers of ELL’s, it also will provide a fair number of “universal” ideas for any classroom. I’m sure I’ll be publishing a preview of the book somewhere in the coming months.

I’ve just begun work on my third book, which will be published by Eye On Education, probably in the Spring of 2011. This book will identify some of the common instructional and class management challenges faced by teachers, and provide advice on how to respond to them. I’ll be using this blog to solicit ideas and examples for the book, and, though I can’t offer any financial compensation for contributions that make it into print, you will certainly get credit in the book and the publisher has agreed to donate publications from his catalog to contributors. I’ll be sharing more about this project in the near future.

I’ve been sending it out for three years, and have about six hundred subscribers now. You can see all the past issues here, and subscribe to it here.

Unfortunately, it really didn’t offer any specific ideas of what should be done to respond to those challenges.  That was disappointing, but I also have to wonder — even if it had — would it really have any impact nowadays?

I’m adding these resources to The Best Online Resources For Helping Students Learn To Write Persuasive Essays:

I like this persuasive essay outline generator a lot.

ESL Bee has a number of sample persuasive essays written by ESL students.

Here’s a Fact and Opinion game.

Try another Fact and Opinion Game.

Here are lots of fact and opinion activities.

PBS’ Arthur has a simple Facts and Opinions game.

Curious Robotic Animals is a slideshow from LIFE about robots designed to look and act like animals. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Robots.

Armistice Day Remembrances is a series of photos from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture. I’m adding it to The Best Websites To Learn About Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving Room Escape is a fun online video game that provides English-language-learning opportunities. Here’s its walkthrough. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Teach and Learn About Thanksgiving.

I just added quite a few History and Ethics resources to the sidebar of my Theory of Knowledge class blog.  They join link collections on Math, Arts, Reason, Language, Emotion, Perception, Oral Presentations, and the TOK Essay.

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. I’m adding the link to The Best Websites To Learn About The Hmong.

The Wall’s Rise and Fall is an interactive from the Wall Street Journal. The Berlin Wall, 20 years gone is a series of images from the Big Picture. Both are about the Berlin Wall, and I’m adding them to The Best Sites To Learn About Walls That Separate Us.

Here are some instructions from Microsoft on how to use PowerPoint to create “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories. It’s not accessible to ELL’s, but teachers can use it as a guide. I’ve added it to The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories.. Thanks to Steven Anderson for the tip.

I’ve added these next four links to The Best Websites To Learn About Veterans Day:

America honors its veterans is a slideshow from MSNBC. Here’s a video from MSNBC, too.

War Remembrance Day Around the World is a slideshow from ABC.

St. Louis WWII veterans remembered 60 years later with Honor Flight is an audio slideshow from St. Louis Today.

19 Weirdest Houses Around the World has been added to The Best Images Of Weird, Cool & Neat-Looking Buildings (& Ways To Design Your Own).

How To Use Twitter Lists has been added to The Best Resources For Beginning To Learn What Twitter Is All About.

Academic Vocabulary Games has been added to The Best Websites For Developing Academic English Skills & Vocabulary. Thanks to Diana Dell for the tip.

Learning About Learning has been added to The Best Resource Sites For ESL/EFL Teachers. It’s not specifically for ESL/EFL teachers, but it has an enormous amount of resources about teaching in general. Eventually, I’ll put together a “The Best…” list of broader resources for teachers. Thanks, again, to Diana Dell for the tip.