Six years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention.
You might also be interested in THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART ONE and THE BEST RESOURCES, ARTICLES & BLOG POSTS FOR TEACHERS OF ELLS IN 2019 – PART TWO.
Also, check out A Collection Of My Best Resources On Teaching English Language Learners.
In addition, look for our new book on teaching ELLs, which was published in the Spring of 2018 and learn about our next book.
Here are this week’s choices:
Support for teachers and teacher educators is from The British Council, and offers lots of support for online teaching. I’m adding it to THE BEST ADVICE ON TEACHING K-12 ONLINE (IF WE HAVE TO BECAUSE OF THE CORONAVIRUS) – PLEASE MAKE MORE SUGGESTIONS!
Speaking of online teaching, my ELL Beginners class decided they wanted to have daily thirty-minute lessons, and several of their parents want to participate, to. I’m teaching my other classes (IB Theory of Knowledge), too, so I’ll be keeping pretty busy. I’ll keep everyone posted on how it goes.
Here are some plans and lessons that other ELL teachers are doing online with their students:
Here’s a video explaining how to Scaffolded Reading on a Google Doc for #EAL #ELL success. Let me know if I’ve created more questions @ESOLHolmes1 @ELLAdvocates @Larryferlazzo @TanELLclassroom @AndreaHonigsfel https://t.co/NbtJ8rpgCC
— Lindsay Kuhl (@lkuhlio) April 3, 2020
Larry, I am making video lessons like this one for my newcomers. I post them to our google classroom and provide ways for them to reflect and practice. https://t.co/Btpm2AXFbj
— Emily Fɾαɳƈιʂ 💫 (@emilyfranESL) April 3, 2020
It is really great, Andrea! Here’s her video explaining how the reading with notes work (https://t.co/JNZUxE86nx).
— Tan Huynh (@TanELLclassroom) April 2, 2020
I am ready for the NEW adventure of #distancelearning & all the AMAZING learning experiences, failures & successes it will bring. Using @GoogleForEdu Slides w/ hyperlinked activities targeting diff language domains 📒✍️👂🗣️ #BetterTogether #remotelearning #educhat #ELLchat pic.twitter.com/eKKISHBYFB
— Mrs. Park’s Classroom (@MrsEPark1) April 3, 2020
This is Language is another online tool for language learning that has made its platform free during school closures. I’m adding it to The Best Sites Where Students Can Work Independently & Let Teachers Check On Progress and to The Best Sites For Learning Spanish Online.
I’ve sometimes used the Genius Scan app to snap editable images of documents to make it easier for me to “engineer the text” to make it more accessible to ELLs. Here’s another way to do the same thing with your iPhone. this might work, too:
Microsoft Office Lens is good for that. Snap picture of the physical page, then it'll clean it up and make it look more like a page than just a photo of one.
— Alex ~ VicMathsNotes (@arzzax) March 27, 2020
Here are three other important tweets:
I’m debuting my podcast w/ a series on #OnlineLearning. This 1 is on the 5 structures for #virtualLearning w/ a helper of helpers, @SSofronas. https://t.co/qLLSf81k8s
The podcast will be on Apple Podcast when approved.#esl #eal #ellchat pic.twitter.com/IkLJQ0xjfw
— Tan Huynh (@TanELLclassroom) April 4, 2020
In case you missed the webinar Supporting ELs’ reading during distance learning, #Together4ELs #NCELs #ellchat check the recording and slide deck at https://t.co/2LYAdup0EI
— Xatli Stox (@teacherxatli) April 4, 2020
To see the one-stop shop for the Immersive Reader 📖, including a deep dive demo, table of all the apps and platforms it’s in, and other helpful links, check this out 👇 #MicrosoftEDU https://t.co/RLPlAATr48
— Mike Tholfsen (@mtholfsen) April 5, 2020
Hi Larry. Just came across your website for the first time, it was on a list of recommended webs for English learning (don’t ask me which one). Your publications here are a great resource for teaching ideas – you clearly put a lot of effort and passion in to it. From now on count me in as a regular reader and follower.
Coronavirus is forcing many people to change the way they learn English, however despite these difficult times, it is important to also find the positives. I think a lot of English language students are really seeing now how powerful the internet is and that we have access to infinite resources. I will continue to preach my message that learning English is a lifestyle as such and not something we do for a couple of hours a week and then lock away. It´s a chance to meet people (online), learn about new cultures, read up on history, watch Ted talks or enjoy one of the many great teachers out there with podcasts for example. There are thousands of possibilities as you know, and they are all just a click away.
So, count me in as your latest follower based in north west Spain. All the best Barry.