Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

…For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

January 26, 2012
by Larry Ferlazzo
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I Didn’t Know That “The Language Guide” Had Interactive Exercises

Many teachers of English Language Learners know about The Language Guide, which is an excellent picture dictionary on the Web that has audio, too (it also has versions for other languages).

I’ve used it for years, but didn’t realize until a student pointed it out to me this month that each page has an “options” feature which provides listening and speaking quizzes. I’m not sure how long that option has been there — perhaps I’ve just missed it for years…

It’s just another reason why it’s on The Best Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced English Language Learner Sites list.

January 15, 2012
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Excellent ESL/EFL Exercises

Here are two new excellent additions to The Best Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced English Language Learner Sites:

Mrs. Haquet’s Interactive Vocabulary Exercises

Mrs. Haquet’s Interactive Books

November 15, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments

“Graph Words”

Graph Words is a new very simple visual thesaurus. It’s not as fancy as some of the other similar applications out there, but I think some of them are actually pretty confusing to English Language Learners.

I’m adding it to The Best Reference Websites For English Language Learners.

Thanks to Richard Byrne for the tip.

July 31, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Telling Time

I’ve just updated The Best Sites For Learning How To Tell Time and made these additions. They are collections of multiple interactives related to telling time:

Telling The Time

June 30, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
2 Comments

Paul Nation Online Course On “Teaching ESL/EFL Vocabulary”

Renowned ESL/EFL teacher, researcher and author Paul Nation is particularly known for his work on teaching vocabulary to English Language Learners.

Just by chance I found a site where it seems he’s giving an online course on Teaching ESL/EFL Vocabulary. As far as I can tell, it’s free and open to anyone — if someone knows differently, please let me know.

It’s just started, so it may be a great learning opportunity.

June 11, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Teaching About The Summer

Here are the newest additions to The Best Sites For Learning About The Summer:

Summer Is Nearly Here is the title of a series of photos from The Atlantic.

The East Coast heats up is a Washington Post slideshow.

Heat gripping half of US expected to last for days is from The Sacramento Bee.

January 15, 2011
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Excellent Vocabulary Interactives

I’ve previously written about the interactives created by teacher Mrs. Haquet from Frenchfrog’s Little English Pond. I just realized, however, that I have not included her extraordinary creations in The Best Sites Where ELL’s Can Learn Vocabulary.

All of her great vocabulary games can be found here.

Here interactive books can be found here.

I’m adding both links to the best vocabulary list.

December 30, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The “Special Holiday Emergency Desk” Is Wonderful

The “Special Holiday Emergency Desk” is a wonderful application to reinforce vocabulary with English Language Learners, and it’s also a lot of fun for anybody else.

You type in the word for just about anything, and a virtual artist “draws” it for you. It’s an almost seamless use of Google Image search that converts any image into a version that appears like it’s been drawn.

It fits right in with similar apps I have on The Best “When I Say Jump” Online Sites For Practicing English, which I think is one of my favorite “The Best…” lists.

December 29, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The Best “Words Of The Year” Features For 2010

There are several “words of the year” lists that come out annually. The might be useful for advanced English Language Learners, but I think they can be more effectively used in Theory of Knowledge classes (plus, they’re fun to read for English teachers ).

Here are my choices for The Best “Words Of The Year” Features For 2010:

The Words of the Year from The New York Times, which also has links to lists from previous years. The New York Times Learning Network also has a simple lesson plan for using the list.

The Wall Street Journal has an interactive on The Words of the Year.

Merriam-Webster came out with their own Words of The Year. Both NPR and the Christian Science Monitor have articles about Webster’s list, too.

Wikipedia has an excellent section on Words of The Year.

The Top Political Buzzwords of 2010 comes from The Nation.

A 2010 dictionary (abridged) comes from The Boston Globe.

The year in language:The best and worst of 2010 comes from The Boston Globe

Additional suggestions are welcome.

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You might also want to explore the nearly 600 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.

December 16, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Winter Resources

I’ve updated and revised The Best Sites For Learning About The Winter Season.

Feel free to offer additional suggestions.

November 28, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Wow! “Step Ahead” Is A Great Site For ELL’s

As many teachers of English Language Learners know — either through my previous posts or through their own experience — one of the best sites for English Language Learners is the Oxford University Press Student Sites page. They have a large number of sites to support each of their English textbooks, and the activities are free.

It’s on a variety of my “The Best…” lists, and specific book sites are also on various lists. Some of the book have more engaging support than others. Not surprisingly, the newer the site is, the better the activities.

OUP has a new support site for its Step Ahead series. I haven’t seen the textbook, so can’t say anything about it. However, its website is a real winner and is clearly one of the best sites offering textbook support on the web. I’ve added it to our Intermediate English class blog, and my students will certainly be visiting it often.

September 30, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The Best Sites To Learn “Feelings” Words

We’re teaching students in our Intermediate English class to write an Autobiographic Incident essay now. As part of that process, we’re learning about “sensory details.”

The lessons that we’ve been doing to teach this aspect of writing has been to have students go to the computer lab, write down words in a specific word group — today we did “feelings” words and yesterday we did adjectives (see The Best Sites For Gaining A Basic Understanding Of Adjectives) — they learn through using specific links we have on our class blog; then have them find synonyms by using Lexipedia (there are other similar sites, but they use color-coding to distinguish synonyms and antonyms — with Lexipedia you can completely eliminate antonyms by unchecking a box). Next, students put all the words they found into categories. Finally, we provide several simple sentences where they need to add sensory details. They need to expand the sentences by including words they’ve learned.

My colleague Katie Hull and I will describe this process more in depth in our forthcoming book on teaching writing to English Language Learners.

In the meantime, though, I thought readers might find the sites we used to teach “feelings” words useful.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites To Learn “Feelings” Words:

Emotion Theater

Feelings Puzzle

Feelings Audio Game

Puppet Personalities

Puppet Personalities 2

Match the Feelings

More Feelings and Emotions

Feedback and suggestions are welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at the 500 other “The Best…” lists and consider subscribing to this blog for free

September 24, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Fall Colors Interactive

USA Today has a nice interactive about leaves changing colors in the fall.

I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Images Of Fall Foliage (& For Teaching About The Season).

April 25, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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“Word Is”

“Word Is” lets users write down their own definitions of what words mean to them and then rate which ones they like best.

Some of the definitions can be a bit esoteric, so I wouldn’t recommend it as a place for English Language Learners to study for vocabulary development (though I’m sure they would pick-up some useful info). However, it would be a nice place for students to write their own definitions.

I’m adding it to The Best Places Where Students Can Write For An “Authentic Audience.”

April 23, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

What’s That Noise?

What’s That Noise? is a “talking book” from the British Council. It also provides opportunities for vocabulary development specifically about the names of animals.

It’s accessible to Beginning English Language Learners.

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

March 27, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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The Best Images Of Scary Views

I happen to be a bit scared of heights. I’ve also noticed that students might find them a bit scary, too, but many are also thrilled by them.

So, I thought a series of images of scary views from spectacular viewing platforms around the world might be a neat way for my English Language Learners to have some fun, learn new vocabulary, develop some descriptive writing practice, and have some interesting stuff to talk about — in English.

So here are my choices for best places to find The Best Images Of Scary Views:

Breathtaking Viewing Platforms is a slideshow from MSNBC.

Sears Tower Opens ‘The Ledge’ is a video from CBS News. You can also see images of the view here.

Grand Canyon Skywalk is another video from CBS.

National Geographic also has a video of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

12 Insane Elevated Eco-Parks & Dizzying Outdoor Overlooks
10 Amazing Viewing Platforms

6 Vertigo-Inducing Viewing Platforms

10 Breathtaking Viewing Platforms From Around The World

The 1,000metre-high AlpspiX viewing tower recently opened in Germany to give some amazing views of the Alps — if you’re not too scared to walk on the platform. Check-out the structure, and the views, at the Daily Mail.

Feedback is always welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.

You might also want to explore the 400 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.

March 25, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Dangerous Animals

The British Council has some good activities for English Language Learners to gain a better understanding of “dangerous animals.”

They include:

* A “talking story” about dangerous animals found near or on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It’s called “Angel! Look Out!”

* A song about a Hungry Hippo.

Both activities are accessible to Beginning English Language Learners, and both can be found on my website under Animals.

March 19, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
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Chinese Zodiac Zone

Cambridge English has an intriguing site called the Chinese Zodiac Zone that’s designed to help English Language Learners become familiar with idioms.

It’s probably most accessible to Intermediate ELL’s. It’s a little too complicated to explain in a post, but it’s easier to play. It’s certainly one of the most creative ways I’ve seen to teach idioms.

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

March 8, 2010
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment

Learn English With Pictures And Audio

Learn English With Pictures and Audio has a good-sized collection of images, text, and audio to help English Language Learners begin to develop their vocabulary.

I’ve placed it on my website under Vocabulary.

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