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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 7:40 AM | By: Юля

Other Free Websites for ESOL Students

Please feel free to share in comments your favorite websites for teaching or learning ESOL. 
1. http://www.rachelsenglish.com/ 
This  is a website for individual study/practice of American English pronunciation, with video to watch and imitate-everything from individual sounds through sentences from TV shows.

2. www.eslcafe.com/ 
This is a valuable website for both ESL teachers and students. For ESL students, there are a lot of information available such as idioms, phrasal verbs, slang, pronunciation and others. 

3. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ 
Merriam-Webster Dictionary online with pronunciation

4. www.real-english.com 
This website contains lots of educational videos with English speakers.

5. http://eleaston.com/materials.html
This website includes a variety of English teaching materials organized by target skill and content categories, as well as tests 
and quizzes.  It is a great site for both learners and teachers.

6. www.englishlistening.com/ 
This website helps learners to Learn English by listening. It offers the learners to study any time, any place. You can listen to real people speaking real English .  

7. www.esl-lab.com/
This website includes many practice exercises and quizzes for listening comprehension.

8. http://www.manythings.org/el/ 
Learners will be asked to fill in the blanks while listening to the songs.  This is another way to practice for listening learning.  

9. www.english-4u.de/ 
This site helps learners to improve their reading comprehension. It offers many games, crossword puzzles, grammar explanations, etc.

10. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/  
This website offers help with the writing process including research and citations.  It also helps learners with grammar, professional and technical writing. 

11. http://www.ohio.edu/linguistics/esl/ 
Ohio University has provided this great site for ESL students and teachers.  It offers interactive activities for writing, as well as a list of writing topics for students at all different levels. 

12. a4esl.org/ 
ESL students can learn vocabulary and grammar through quizzes and crossword puzzles. This site also provides some bilingual quizzes such as Chinese-English, Japanese-English etc. 

13 www.manythings.org/ 
This is a fun study site for ESL students with different levels, which provides word games, puzzles, slang and others.  It is not only focus on students' reading comprehension but also on students' listening ability.

14. www.englishclub.com/learn-english.htm 
This English Learning Center provides English Language Skills and Special Interest ESL (Business English, English for Work...).  It is a useful website for students who are interested in learning English. 

15. http://www.eslpod.com/website/index_new.html
A variety of podcasts for learning English.

16. http://www.elllo.org/ 
Listening samples of English speakers from around the world with transcripts and interactive quizzes.

17 http://www.talkenglish.com/ 
Lessons on various topics for people living in the US or planning on moving to the US.

18 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml  
BBC Learning English

19. http://privateenglishportal.com/ 
Free lessons, including for TOEFL preparation

20. http://www.rong-chang.com/ 
A great starting point for ESL/EFL learners who want to study English through the Web. The site is updated constantly.

21. http://www.sozoexchange.com/ 
A fabulous website for Adult ESOL learners.

22. http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/
Free audio books.

23. http://www.usalearns.org 
U.S.A. Learns is a free web-based multimedia system for adults learning English as a second language.
24. http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/ 
Use the radio transcripts and audio files on this site to improve your American English

25. http://www.speakingyourbest.com/freevideolessons.html 
Accent Reduction

26. http://oyc.yale.edu/ 
Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University. The aim of the project is to expand access to educational materials 
for all who wish to learn.

27. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/ 
Free Course Materials of Massachusetts Institute of Technology

28. http://www.engvid.com/
Free English video lessons

29. http://www.china232.com/ 
Advanced fantastic audio English lessons!

30. http://testyourvocab.com/ 
Test your English vocabulary size, and measure how many words you know. For children, adults and EFL/ESL learners.

31. http://quizlet.com/ 
Quizlet is a lightning fast way to memorize vocabulary lists. It's like flashcards, but much more fun and interactive.Create your own flash cards or use the given ones, play games, and have fun while studying.

32. http://esl-voices.com/students/listening/
The listening activities are divided into two categories. The Basic Listening Practice  part has various news stories from National Public Radio (NPR), and  Voices of America (VOA). There are questions with levels for easy, medium, and  advanced for each listening section.

33. http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/archive.php?thingId=3 National Public Radio: audios and transcripts
NPR: audios and transcripts

34. http://pulseplanet.com
Pulse of the Planet
This site has short audio recordings which are accompanied by the complete text with pictures on one page. These programs are created by Jim Metzner For PULSE OF THE PLANET and include customs and traditions from around the world.

35. http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/index.html
Lost and Found Sounds: The Stories
This is a wonderful collection of sound documentaries which provide fascinating cultural history collected by the Kitchen Sisters. These programs are presented on All Things Considered on NPR (National Public Radio). Each recording is connected to a page which includes pictures and a detailed summary of the recording.

36. http://www.npr.org/about/programs/talk.html
Talk Programs (NPR)
This site includes programs like Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered. Another good choice is Fresh Air which has wonderful interviews of famous people!

37. http://www.esl-lab.com/
Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
At this site, you can choose from a list of listening assignments that vary in length and difficulty. The conversations are created for second language learners to test their listening and you can read the transcripts and get help with vocabulary at Randall's place too.

38. http://www.voanews.com/index.cfm
Voice of America News
You can hear the news from around the world and read the transcripts while you listen. Choose the current affairs topic you want to learn more about.

39. http://www.englishelearning.com/en/index.html
English Learning
For an introduction to the pronunciation software, ENGLISH POWER 1 and 2, go to this website. In the end, however, this is primarily an advertising site...


40. http://www.eflclub.com/2songs/songs.html
EFL Club Songs
Listen to the Beatles and other popular singers and improve your vocabulary. For a little more of a challenge, some of the words are missing from the lyrics for you to guess! This website is lots of fun!

41.http://eleaston.com/listening.html
E.L. Easton-English Online
There are all kinds of listening activities listed at this site and links to other languages as well.

42. http://www.ohiou.edu/esl/english/listening.html#Other
Ohio ESL
Ohio University offers an excellent reference list of listening practice sites. The list is well organized and descriptions include degree of difficulty.

43. http://www.elllo.org
Ello
Todd Beuckens designed this excellent site for beginner and intermediate learners of English. The audio clips are one to two minutes in length, use natural and informal English, and come with quizzes and dictionary links. Todd features interviews with speakers from all over the world.

44. http://broadcast-live.com/
Live Radio and television from Around the World
No matter what you are looking for, whether it's music or international news, this is a great resource!

45.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/default.stm
BBC News from our own correspondent
Personal reflections by BBC correspondents around the world. This is a very nice news and information site. You can research countries around the world in addition to getting the latest news.

46. http://www.fancast.com/
Fancast
Watch full TV shows and movies at this site.

47. http://www.history.com/media.do
History Made Every Day
Watch full TV shows and movies at this site.

48. This I Believe
You can listen to and read people's philosophy of life statements on this National Public Radio site.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4538138
The Power of Hello
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93536198
Making It Up as I Go Along
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16357141
Living What You Do Every Day by Yolanda O'Bannon
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6431548
Telling Kids the Whole Truth
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88241635
The America I Believe In
http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=27

49. http://www.manythings.org/
Interesting Things for ESL Students
There are many useful links to improve your listening skill and pronunciation ability on this Charles Kelly website. You can listen and repeat all those irregular past tense verbs too!

50. http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo/
Learn English - Feel Good
Among other things, you can improve your ability to understand popular movies and improve your listening skills on this site.

 51. News Websites
On these sites you can watch video clips from ABC, MSNBC or CBS news.
http://abcnews.go.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004316
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/?tag=main_home_Navigation

 52. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/
National Geographic
This website has a lot of educational videos about nature, animals, cultures, science, and more.

 53. http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/
Discovery channel
This website is similar to National Geographic and includes full TV episodes of popular shows from the Discovery channel.

 54. http://www.eslnotes.com
The English Learner Movie Guides
Movie summaries, vocabulary and cultural references, and other resources to support language learners going to the movies.

 55. http://www.englishbaby.com
English, baby
There are some good audio and video clips here that replicate authentic speech and provide a good focus on vocabulary. You are also encouraged to pay for the more advanced features of the website and there are way too many ads to navigate.

 56. http://www.englishcentral.com/en/videos
English Central
Learn English while watching videos. You can record your voice and get feedback on this site. One of my students recommended it, so it's definitely worth exploring if you want to improve your speaking. You have to join the site but it's free.

 57. www.gcflearnfree.org
Goodwill Free Computer Training
This website provides free online courses that teach Word, Excel, Power Point, math, reading, vocabulary, everyday life skills, etc.


 59. www. freerice.com
Learn English vocabulary and grammar, literature, sciences, math, geography, etc. For your correct answers you will receive points that will be transferred into grains of rice to be donated throughout the world. 

60. http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/index.html#
 Pronunciation resources from Iowa State University 



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Websites for Advanced ESOL Students with College Aspirations


1. www.amazon.com 
One of the best websites for doing online shopping, including books. 

2. www.alibris.com 
My favorite website for buying new and used books.

3. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov 
The website through which you should apply for student financial aid.

4. http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/
Free online Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

5. http://5yiso.appspot.com/ 
If you are not sure how to use a certain word, this free online dictionary of collocations will help you.

6. http://www.forvo.com/ 
A wonderful website for checking pronunciation of unfamiliar or difficult words

7. http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/
Corpus of American English. Here you will find thousands of words used in authentic contexts. This free source will help you both learn new words and find out how native-speakers use them. All you need is to register. Registration is free!

8. http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/AWL/index.htm 
A great source of academic vocabulary and practice tests (click on "Sublist 1/2/3...").
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 12:50 PM | By: Юля

PBS Videos for ESOL Students with Healthcare Career Aspirations


As the worsening economy leads to massive job losses—potentially forcing millions more Americans to go without health insurance—FRONTLINE travels the country examining the nation's broken health care system and explores the need for a fundamental overhaul.




In Sick Around the World, FRONTLINE teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies -- the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures.




In recent years, there's been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders and prescribed medications that are just beginning to be tested in children. In The Medicated Child, FRONTLINE producer Marcela Gaviria confronts psychiatrists, researchers and government regulators about the risks, benefits and many questions surrounding prescription drugs for troubled children.


Vaccines have changed the world, largely eradicating a series of terrible diseases, from smallpox to polio to diphtheria, and likely adding decades to most of our life spans. But despite the gains, a growing movement of parents remains fearful of vaccines. In The Vaccine War, FRONTLINE lays bare the science of vaccine safety and examines the increasingly bitter debate.




How far would you go to sustain the life of someone you love, or your own? When the moment comes, and you're confronted with the prospect of "pulling the plug," do you know how you'll respond? In Facing Death, FRONTLINE gains extraordinary access to The Mount Sinai Medical Center, one of New York's biggest hospitals, to take a  closer measure of today's complicated end-of-life decisions. 
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Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 11:34 AM | By: Юля

Learning Languages through Technology


2 PBS documentaries



Social Bookmarking (you aren't using Delicious though. You are using Diigo)
Diigo in the Classroom
            Step by Step
            Click here to get to Diigo to sign up for an educator account
            Add your Diigo Account here to share with the class - Google Document

            Here is my Diigo Account - Kim's Diigo


Project Based Learning

            Project Based Learning Video
            Video Part 2

Global Project Based Learning Projects
            Project based Learning -
            Project, Problem, and Inquiry Based Learning
            Edutopia
            Cool Cat Teacher


Podcast, Digital Story-Animato Resources:




          Podcasting:


 Digital Storytelling

  • Animoto Code to create account - a4etuftdea821
   

WebQuest




Rubric




            Video - Conversation Starters

            Video - Leading with Lolipops

Other

            WEB2PDF

            PDF Crowd

            PDF my URL

            HTML to PDF

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Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 5:11 PM | By: Юля

Week 10: Final Review. Part 2.



Part 2:
Answer the following question:  Why is it important for all teachers to integrate technology into the lessons they teach, regardless the age of the students?  Discuss what may be barriers to technology integration and how you as the teacher can overcome them.  Using what you have learned throughout the course, please provide examples and information to support your answer.  Within this blog entry, please discuss some web2.0 tools that would assist with technology integration.
There are many good reasons to integrate technology into any classroom, regardless of content, students' age, or their proficiency. First of all, technology allows to accommodate learners of different styles and multiple intelligences, levels, and needs (e.g. creating podcasts for students to review newly-acquired material outside of class, giving them a choice of what program to use (from verysophisticated to more simplified ones, for example) to present their research findings, having them choose whether to read, watch, or listen to the same information, etc. ) Second of all, it enhances student learning and makes content more vivid, comprehensible, and meaningful to them (e.g. geometric simulations, virtual field trips , videotutorials, etc.) Moreover, technology allows to develop those skills that our students' potential employers are most likely to look for. I agree with A Principle's Reflection that technology promotes independent-learning, creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, technological proficiency, global awareness, media literacy, communication, and collaboration, all of which are so critical for professional success of our current students in the future.
Nevertheless, technology should be used thoughtfully and in moderation.Sharing Technology for the Classroom contains one idea which seems to me fallacious. "A middle school principal in Maine... proclaims that the debate over handwriting is finally over- all assignments must be keyboarded. You can mourn the passing of handwriting if you must; the kids certainly won't. If they are writing better and more detailed papers, yes, there has been progress." My students often state that writing by hand allows them to improve their spelling and memorize new words better, be good at proofreading, and some even claim that handwriting boosts creativity. Those who are good at touch typing, like me, might prefer typing over handwriting because they can type as fast as they think. Nevertheless, advantages of handwriting overweight its disadvantages. Thus, for example, Virginia Berninger, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, conducted a research that demonstrated the importance of handwriting: elementary and middle school students who participated in the study and who wrote essays by hand, produced longer, more creative, and in general more qualitative essays.  "Handwriting aids memory. If you write yourself a list or a note — then lose it — you're much more likely to remember what you wrote than if you just tried to memorize it," said occupational therapist Katya Feder, an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa School of Rehabilitation. There are other pros of staying faithful to handwriting but which in the interest of this review and space I will leave out. In brief, there are reasons why handwriting should not be completely replaced by typing.
Along with the harmful tendency to overuse typing, there is the sense of isolation that overreliance on technology may create. Thus, for example, this course allowed very little face-to-face communication among the students and I personally know only 3-4 people by name. Virtual communication has its benefits but in no way should it replace regular face-to-face interactions.
That being said, integrating technology in the classroom meets numerous obstacles in its way. First of all, school districts, adult education bureaus or other educational organizations often lack sufficient financial resources to afford required modern technology. In addition, due to certain administrative procedures, it might take a long time from the moment a teacher requests, say a laptop for each student, to the moment when every student gets it (Shaping Technology for the Classroom discusses this problem in detail). Last but not least, teachers and sometimes students might not be that technologically savvy and might experience some sort of anxiety towards using technology. But what can we, educators, do to overcome these barriers? We should stay persistent and unite in becoming "the agents of change". And the 12 Most Genius Questions in the World can help us to make better decisions and demonstrate more effective teaching. 

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Week 10: Final Review. Part 1.


Your final assignment of the course is your course reflection. Here you will discuss what you Learned (The L of the KWL) from the beginning of the course to now. In this blog posting, please discuss the remaining course objectives you have recently met that were not met at the midterm of the course (where you wrote about them in the midterm reflection ). (List them out and discuss how you met them). This also where you reflect upon where you began before this class and what you have learned that will help you in your future as an educator.

When I enrolled in this course, I was not looking for laid-back instruction. My goal was to learn by leaps and bounds, be constantly challenged, make discoveries on every step of the way, and learn what is directly-applicable to my teaching practice. And this course did not fall short of my expectations by any means. Truth be told, this was one of the toughest courses I took at SNHU and the one I learnt the most in. There were two major factors that made this course so effective for me. The first was incredible enthusiasm and knowledge of our professor, Kim Tufts. The second was the "hands-on" instruction delivered in the class. A well-known Chinese saying reads, "Tell me something - and I'll forget. Show me something - and I`ll remember. Let me experience it - and I`ll understand.” Not surprisingly, having us immediately transfer everything learnt in the class to our teaching led to such great outcomes. In the midterm reflection, I already explained what resources discussed in the class I have already started employing in my adult ESOL classroom. However, by that time we had not done a lesson plan with an artifact and a WebQuest yet, and neither had we followed state and national standards to develop lesson plans. Therefore, it is high time I discussed how the lesson plan and the WebQuest together with applicable state and national standards helped me to meet the rest of the class objectives.

3. Design meaningful and authentic digitally based learning experiences with multiple and varied assessments.

In the lesson plan I created, students used various online resources, including teacher recommended ones, to research Boston historic sites, create digital photo stories on them to present in front of their classmates, evaluate the effectiveness of their presentation, assess the learning of their classmates, and create final photo stories of Boston to share their acquired knowledge and travel experiences with their families and friends. In light of their upcoming visit to Boston, the authenticity and relevance of this lesson plan significantly increased. The students were assessed based on their group work, individual work, digital photo stories, tests they created for the classmates, and their overall comprehension and retention of the key concepts. I want to believe that all my efforts resulted in truly meaningful and authentic digitally based learning experiences with multiple and varied authentic assessments.

My Webquest, designed for advanced ESOL students working on research and academic writing skills, allows them to employ multiple online resources to conduct a successful research, answer higher-order questions (like whether or not they believe that Americans and the British are divided by a common language), defend their points of view, and to present their findings in front of their classmates. Students also employ their creativity and imagination while creating an imaginary identity of a human being a thousand years from now, writing his/her professional biography, and acting on behalf of that person. (The latter technique is often used in Desuggestopedia, which "desuggests" learning psychological barriers, anxiety, and encourages students to take risks.) Students are assessed based on their writing, research, presentation, the depth of their comprehension of the key concepts, and the ability to communicate their findings and conclusions to others. All these are examples of authentic assessment tasks and are very close to the ones students will get in college mainstream classes.

4. Reflect upon and demonstrate effective use of digital tools and resources.

I think that weekly blogging allowed me to reflect upon effective use of digital tools and resources. As for demonstrating, I met this objective by creating a lesson plan with an artifact and a WebQuest. Tasks for the lesson plan and the WebQuest were aligned with state and national standards (WIDA core standards, NETs, and English Language Arts Core Standards) and were created taking into account their effectiveness and efficiency. It is critical to ensure that fun and effectiveness are balanced so that students advance academically while enjoying relevant and engaging lessons. In fact, that is what I strove for throughout this course and my lesson plan and WebQuest in particular.


6. Illustrate through application how state and national standards are implemented within the curriculum (e.g., NH Curriculum Frameworks, ISTE (NETS-Teacher/NETS-Student) and NH-ICT Literacy Standards for K-12 Students (306.42))

As I have mentioned above, objectives and procedures for the lesson plan and the WebQuest were aligned with state and national standards (WIDA core standards, NETs, and English Language Arts Core Standards).
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