Ideas and resources for parents of ESL/ELL students
These reviewed resources offer information so share with parents of ESL/ELL students. Some are resources parents can use at home with children to reinforce language skills. Others include suggested activities ESL/ELL learners can begin in school and share with parents. Be sure to read the "In the Classroom" suggestions for ways these reviewed resources can build language skills both at home and at school.
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ESL Reader- Online Reading Help - ESLdesk.com
Grades
2 to 12
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0 Comments
ESL Reader provides instant reading help for English language learners. Use it to improve reading time and reading skills. Simply copy/paste or type text into the box and click. Each...more
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ESL Reader provides instant reading help for English language learners. Use it to improve reading time and reading skills. Simply copy/paste or type text into the box and click. Each word becomes a link to a dictionary, thesaurus, or other reference including Wikipedia. Numerous dictionaries and references are available. Select the dictionary or other reference work and click. The site also translates the selected text into a variety of languages, but use caution with online translators! They often scramble meaning and syntax.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): dictionaries (34), guided reading (21), thesaurus (16), vocabulary development (75)
In the Classroom
Provide a link to this site on classroom computers, and use it like a dictionary. Share this link with parents and students on your class web site to have as a resource any time.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Learn American English Online - Learn American English Online
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This comprehensive English program offers complete ESL/ELL instruction on seven levels. The units/lessons are color-coded. The focus of the lessons is mostly on grammar. Blue for example...more
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This comprehensive English program offers complete ESL/ELL instruction on seven levels. The units/lessons are color-coded. The focus of the lessons is mostly on grammar. Blue for example focuses on "be," prepositions, this/that/these/those, and many other topics. You must be able to read and write English to successfully benefit from this website. Each color/level has more than 20 lessons, quizzes, tests, dialogues, and reading. Many of the lessons have an audio clip or a video (or a Voki) to illustrate the level. Answers are provided for the quizzes. Extras include a pronouncing dictionary (found under Vocabulary), extra video lessons, extra information on pronunciation, and extras in each level. The levels also contain reviews and checklists. Many of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): dictionaries (34), grammar (197), grammar review (32), listening (74), pronunciation (37)
In the Classroom
Check this site if you need a quick grammar review of any topic. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard/projector. Provide a link to this site on your class webpage. Many of these lessons would be useful with non-ESL/ELL students, as well. It is easy to scroll through the lessons in each color-coded level. Put a link to this site on classroom computers and send it home with ESL/ELL students in school newsletters to share with their parents.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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ESL Games World - eslgamesworld.com
Grades
1 to 12
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0 Comments
ESL Game World is the place to go for interactives, PowerPoint activities and templates, printable board games, ESL/ELL games for kids and adults, grammar games, vocabulary challenges,...more
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ESL Game World is the place to go for interactives, PowerPoint activities and templates, printable board games, ESL/ELL games for kids and adults, grammar games, vocabulary challenges, and reading activities. Some of the featured activities include Snakes and Ladders, Hangman, and Wheel of Fortune games/templates. Some spelling appears to be different from Standard American English. Check to be sure. Avoid the online store section to stay with free activities.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): grammar (197), grammar review (32), verbs (37), vocabulary (289)
In the Classroom
Find ways to assist your ESL/ELL students in an engaging way! You can also use many of the games to reinforce basic skills with native speakers. Customize some of the activities for the content areas you are studying. Use as a whole class activity on your projector (or interactive whiteboard) to practice vocabulary, grammar, and content. Add as a resource for ESL/ELL learning or even struggling readers. Ideas and materials are gathered in one spot to help you reduce the time you need to meet your ESL/ELL students' differentiated needs. Add this link to your class website or share with parents as a resource.
This resource requires Adobe Flash and PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Shutter Cal - ShutterCal.com
Grades
K to 12
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0 Comments
ShutterCal is a photo-based calendar site. Sign-up and upload an image each day to view a beautiful photo calendar created from your own images. Create an account using email, password,...more
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ShutterCal is a photo-based calendar site. Sign-up and upload an image each day to view a beautiful photo calendar created from your own images. Create an account using email, password, and user name. Click on the date, upload an image, add a caption, then submit. ShutterCal resizes the image and places it into the calendar. Share your calendar using the unique url provided. Embed into your website or blog using the code offered under the "My stuff" link. Premium features allow your calendar to be private; however, that isn't included with the free membership. This is a public site that isn't moderated. So preview any other calendars you plan to share.
In the Classroom
What a wonderful way to share your school year! Create a ShutterCal calendar to embed into your classroom blog or website. Forget a day? No problem, just click on the date and upload as usual. Have your student of the week be responsible for taking pictures for that week's calendar (and for uploading if savvy). This is a public site and content is not moderated. Take precautions when allowing students to view other calendars. In primary grades, a teacher can prepare a calendar for parents to access at home and have children talk about what they have learned. During science units, document the plants you grow or the labs you do using images on a daily calendar. Speech/language or ESL/ELL teachers can create calendars together with students to provide ways to practice oral language retelling events. Teacher-librarians can create calendars with a book a day or research questions shown as images.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Croak.it - Protik Roychowdhury and Srinivasa Teja
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Croak.it allows you to TALK to those who land on your webpage. Your visitors can leave a verbal message for you using the Croakit application program interface (API). (An API...more
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Croak.it allows you to TALK to those who land on your webpage. Your visitors can leave a verbal message for you using the Croakit application program interface (API). (An API is similar to embedding a mini version of the tool.) The beauty of this audio recorder is that it works on many types of devices, including iOS (iPad, iTouch, iPhone), Android phones, or in a regular computer browser. And it's free. There is no email sign up. Their slogan is, "Push. Speak. Share." Leave a message up to 30 seconds on your page. You can push to stop at any time. Once you have created your Croak.it, you have the choice to adjust the tempo and pitch. Share your Croak.it through Facebook or Twitter. Copy the URL and put it on your webpage, in your email, on your blog, etc. Use Croak.it to express yourself using your voice, which is much more interesting than reading text! The only part of this program that uses Flash is the introductory video.
tag(s): speech (83)
In the Classroom
The potential for using Croak.it for and with your students is limitless. Record a message for absent students explaining something done in class and email it to them. Leave verbal instructions on your web page or homework page that might be too complicated to write out or for your students to read. This program has incredible promise for use with learning-support students, speech and language students, ESL/ELL students, non-readers, and for differentiating instruction. If your students have blogs, consider adding Croak.It to their blog pages for spoken comments. An excellent idea from the blog "Inquiry Live in the Classroom" is to use Croak.it with QR Codes and have your students make 30 second book reviews for your classroom or school library. Students can then scan the code of a book they think they are interested in reading to see what others think of it, or to get a 30 second summary of it. Use Croak.it for tutorials on your website. Use a QR Code generator and put the code next to diagrams in text books. To view many more ideas see "QR Codes and Using Them in the Classroom," reviewed here, and know that you can combine these with the use of Croak.it, too. There are many personal ways you and your students can use this program: create a wish list, Mother's Day or birthday greeting, a message to a grandparent, or a recording of part of a picture book for a younger sibling. Because of the 30 second time limit, encourage students to rehearse (never a bad idea) before recording. One suggestion for saving recordings is to create a Google Form or wiki page where students can use to submit their recording links. This allows you to collect student recordings without having to use an e-mail account. Speech and language teachers could create wiki pages (on a private wiki) for each student to record samples throughout the year to demonstrate progress with articulation. World language teachers could record assignments and ask students to respond orally on a class wiki.Edge Features:
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Mural.ly - Tactivos, Inc.
Grades
7 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Collaborate with multiple users in real time on this FREE multimedia canvas. Add documents, audio, video, images, and more by uploading them or grabbing them directly from the web....more
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Collaborate with multiple users in real time on this FREE multimedia canvas. Add documents, audio, video, images, and more by uploading them or grabbing them directly from the web. Embed websites in the canvas as well. Click and drag content into place. Invite others to collaborate and share or embed the canvas on your site.
tag(s): book reports (24)
In the Classroom
It is best for the teacher to create a mural (canvas) and provide the link for students to collaborate on for greater accountability. This is great for any class and especially with ESL/ELL or special ed students where pictures, audio, and images are very useful to promote understanding. Students could create book reports like no other. Create a mural of what students think they know about a given topic, and edit the mural to reflect their new understandings as a unit progresses. Even very young students will enjoy suggesting what to add to a whole class mural. Create a presentation for any group project. Prepare your own mural about various subtopics of content to share with students. Create a class bulletin board mural to embed on your site or wiki. Use a mural to collect image references or inspiration for an art project. Visually share what you have been learning with parents and class visitors. Murals are also a wonderful idea collector or "idea bin" for beginning projects. Read more about the idea bin strategy in TeachersFirst's Cycles vs. Checklists: Fostering Creativity in an Accountability World.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Slidespeech - Slidespeech
Grades
3 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Make the Notes on your PowerPoint presentations into narration using this text-to-speech tool. Upload your presentation, being sure to include the information you want read in the Notes...more
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Make the Notes on your PowerPoint presentations into narration using this text-to-speech tool. Upload your presentation, being sure to include the information you want read in the Notes section. (This will be the part spoken by this tool.) Click share to send by email, share a link, or embed the narrated results in a wiki, blog, or site. Also share via Facebook or Twitter. Presentations can be downloaded as a video or saved as a zip file.
tag(s): digital storytelling (66), video (113)
In the Classroom
Use this tool to differentiate instruction for students in your classes. Students can watch the narrated show any time. Students can use this tool to record their own presentation ahead of time and upload to a site for viewing and grading later. Students with speech difficulties (or challenges with English fluency) will appreciate the opportunity to prerecord their presentations without an audience. High school students can also "narrate" a portfolio slide show for Art school applications or a show of accomplishments for college applications. Students can package book reviews or author reports to be shared in the media center. In primary grades, have students "narrate" their portion of a whole-class slide show, then share it with parents and grandparents by URL. They can practice oral reading as they share their story slides. Use for digital storytelling. Have students draw or upload pictures about a story they have written with the words in the Notes area, and have Slidespeech read the story out loud. Create simple narrated slideshows with questions in the notes area for ESL/ELL or speech/language students to practice on their own, such as slides with images of objects and a questions, "Is this a sock or a shoe?" Challenge students to create review aids for each other by writing questions on slides.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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LittleFingers Games - LittleFingers Software
Grades
K to 5
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0 Comments
Play, learn, and discover with these Shockwave interactives from LittleFingers! Simple directions are given at the start of each activity. Topics include syllables, patterns, geography...more
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Play, learn, and discover with these Shockwave interactives from LittleFingers! Simple directions are given at the start of each activity. Topics include syllables, patterns, geography and mapping, puzzles, alphabetizing, and more. At the time of this review, the African Map activity was the only activity designed for upper elementary students. The majority of activities are geared towards early childhood and primary level students. They advertise that more activities are coming soon. So be sure to check back.
tag(s): addition (180), africa (173), alphabet (76), alphabetical order (12), colors (56), maps (194), matching (23), numbers (159), patterns (66), puzzles (164)
In the Classroom
Create a link to individual activities on classroom computers for student practice. Demonstrate this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share this site with parents through your class website or blog for practice at home. Interactives provide great practice for all students, including ESL/ELL.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sound City Reading - Kathy Davis
Grades
K to 2
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Come to Sound City Reading to find a phonics program for beginning readers. Choose from readiness levels 1-5 and materials to accompany Reading Street for First Grade....more
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Come to Sound City Reading to find a phonics program for beginning readers. Choose from readiness levels 1-5 and materials to accompany Reading Street for First Grade. Print and use accompanying sound pictures for each of the booklets. Choose from several versions of wall charts for classroom use. Other resources include games and word cards to print and use. The site states that Mac users may have trouble pulling up the Reading Street tests correctly, but our editors tested the activities on a Mac and experienced no issues.
tag(s): alphabet (76), independent reading (69), phonics (63), preK (164), spelling (142)
In the Classroom
Browse the site for materials to use along with your current classroom curriculum. Print books and sound pictures for students to take home for practice. Share a link to the site on your class website for parents to access additional reading materials. Use materials with ESL/ELL students for additional reading practice. Use with learning support students for extra support in reading.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Snapguide - Heavy Bits
Grades
2 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Looking for an easy to use "how to" guide? You must visit Snapguide! Find various topics: Sports & Fitness, Technology, Cooking, Music, Arts & Crafts, Gardening, and countless others....more
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Looking for an easy to use "how to" guide? You must visit Snapguide! Find various topics: Sports & Fitness, Technology, Cooking, Music, Arts & Crafts, Gardening, and countless others. You can view all of the content of this site without joining. Create your own "how to" guide on any topic. It's a "snap" to create the directions with pictures. You must have an iOS device to create a guide. Download the app onto your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to create a guide for explaining anything! Each page contains a picture and text to explain the parts for your guide.
tag(s): computers (28), crafts (29), directions (16), fitness (40), photography (113), sequencing (29), speeches (13)
In the Classroom
Share the ready-made snapguides in various classes: family and consumer science, music, art, photography, science, computer, and more! Create your own snapguides to share with your class on any subject matter. ESL/ELL and other special needs students will learn better seeing the photos along with the instructions. Use Snapguide to explain a lesson or a project that has multiple directions. Use Snapguide for directions for parents. Create a snapguide for your students when leaving plans for a substitute teacher. Students can also create their own snapguides to use as presentations and even for sequencing practice. These re the perfect prompts for writing and giving informative, how-to speeches. Students can explore the guides available and follow directions or even evaluate their effectiveness. Have cooperative learning groups create their own snapguides to share a new topic with the class.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Requires download/installation of software
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Vozme - Festival Speech Synthesis System Centre for Speech Technology
Grades
K to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
Change text into speech in your email messages, in your browser, website, or Wordpress blog. VozMe is free and easy. Save as an MP3 file and expand your possibilities. Languages ...more
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Change text into speech in your email messages, in your browser, website, or Wordpress blog. VozMe is free and easy. Save as an MP3 file and expand your possibilities. Languages include Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Hindi, and Apache. You can also choose a male or female voice.
tag(s): text to speech (16)
In the Classroom
Create a verbal classroom using speech in your email messages, blog, browser searches, and even class discussions, read alouds, and simple explanations. Lower elementary classes, ESL/ELL, or learning support classes can enjoy greater independence with both verbal and written text. Let students try making a blog post with synthesized speech. ELL students can hear written language to build listening skills and relate written English to the spoken sounds. Send an email with an anticipatory activity for a content lesson by polling, asking a question, or offering food for thought. At the end of the unit, have students create a review for content area subjects. Use in your writing class for students to listen to their own work read aloud. This allows for easier self-revisions. Share all written work on your class blog, allowing everyone to share (with parental permission, of course). Enjoy giving students writing prompts or homework assignments spoken aloud, playable as many times as each individual needs. Send a quick email to a sick or absent student, adding a more personal touch with them hearing your message. Use to read poetry or to illustrate inflection and emotion in your speech. Enjoy all the talking and listening you and your class will do!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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KIPTOWN - Kindergartners In Progress - Asset-Eight, Arizona PBS
Grades
K to 1
2 Favorites
1 Comments
Kiptown is a site to develop kindergarten readiness skills. The town contains five locations, each with an opportunity to practice different skills. Practice literacy, math, science,...more
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Kiptown is a site to develop kindergarten readiness skills. The town contains five locations, each with an opportunity to practice different skills. Practice literacy, math, science, social/emotional, and other skills. Visit the school, firehouse, restaurant, or grocery store. Hover over a location to find the link, then click to enter. Listen to directions in each area. You get feedback with each attempt and an apple at the completion of each section. Be sure to check out the information for parents and caregivers as well as standards, books to use, and other websites for kindergarten readiness.
tag(s): communities (24), literacy (75), number sense (61), patterns (66), preK (164), sequences (11), social skills (14)
In the Classroom
This site would be wonderful to use in a pre-K or kindergarten classroom with students who need further development of basic skills. Create a link on classroom computers or use on your interactive whiteboard with students who may need intervention help. Use this tool with ESL/ELL students. Provide this link on your class website for students who need extra practice at home.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
Comments
Kristin, MN, Grades: 0 - 1
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ToolsforEnglish - toolsforenglish.com
Grades
2 to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Create exercises and quizzes for English language and other subjects quickly and easily with ToolsforEnglish. Copy and paste any text and create worksheets by filtering out prepositions,...more
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Create exercises and quizzes for English language and other subjects quickly and easily with ToolsforEnglish. Copy and paste any text and create worksheets by filtering out prepositions, conjunctions, modal verbs, and articles. You can also create documents that scramble words, sentences, or paragraphs, and for matching, multiple choice and true/false questions. Your choices create a worksheet and answer sheet to print right away or create a PDF file that you can save on your computer for later use. The introduction video requires Flash.
tag(s): quizzes (58), word study (43), worksheets (32)
In the Classroom
Despite the name, ToolsforEnglish is for ANY teacher who creates reviews before a test or quiz. Use the gap fill tool on your projector or interactive whiteboard and have students fill in key words to complete the exercise. Assign as homework for a study aid. Create study aids for ELL/ESL, or learning support students to review and learn. Even better: Let students take control! Have students create the tests, in order to find the keywords or quiz each other. Use in centers for a review of current vocabulary, concepts, or even mathematical practice. Divide the class into cooperative learning groups to cover all aspects of one topic. The subject options are limitless. Use as a competition. Post this link on your website as a resource for parents to help at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Animal Tribe - Ariadne Green
Grades
K to 6
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Find not only photos but articles all about animal archetypes used in totems. Learn how indigenous tribes all over the world honored their animal relations as friends and guides. This...more
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Find not only photos but articles all about animal archetypes used in totems. Learn how indigenous tribes all over the world honored their animal relations as friends and guides. This site focuses on seeing animals as allies, self-concept, relationship to family and friends, social values, and spiritual development through getting to know animal traits. Find lesson plans for creating your own totems and more!
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animal homes (19), animals (197), endangered species (28), native americans (48), social skills (14)
In the Classroom
Find lesson plans under the Parents and Teachers link along the top. Find a link to the Totem Pole lesson plan to create a totem pole and understand the significance in your classroom. With Common Core State Standards, there is a push for nonfiction reading and writing. Use this site to focus on nonfiction. Make it a learning station where students look at the photos, reading the captions and articles about the various aspects of animal life. Students could have a special notebook where they summarize or write an opinion about what they learned from "Animal Tribes" that day. Young children could use the information to make a picture book of their own, summarizing what they read (or heard read to them). Include this site during a unit on Native Americans as you learn about their tales and beliefs about animals.Language arts and ESL/ELL teachers could have students write their own description of the pictures and then compare their captions to those on the site. Students could also write a fictional story about what is happening in one of the pictures. The site also mentions endangered animals. Students could research their favorite animal to see if it is endangered or threatened. Why not make it more interactive and have students create an online, interactive poster using a program like Smore reviewed here.
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Spreaker - Spreaker Online Radio
Grades
1 to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google ...more
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Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google +, Soundcloud, Twitter, or add to the Spreaker website. Follow others, or invite others to follow your podcasts. With a click of a button you are creating a live podcast. To create a podcast you do not need Flash. However, there are several tutorials, and these tutorials require flash. There is a free version and a more deluxe premium version. This review is for the free version.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Enjoy a live radio show from your classroom! Publish written pieces of writing, science reports, social studies reports, and any other reports you would like to share. Create a New Book or Book Review podcast for the media center. Link to your podcast URL on your class website. Publish directions to projects, explanations for difficult concepts, or even a radio show of you reading your favorite books for your students. Have upper elementary students take turns reading aloud for a podcast aimed at little reading buddies in kindergarten. Allow students to podcast to "pen pals" in faraway places. Record your school choir, orchestra group, poetry club, or drama club doing their best work or dramatic readings of Shakespeare soliloquies. Take your school newspaper to a new level with recorded radio articles. Be sure to include interviews with students, teachers, principals, parents, authors, artists, and almost anyone. In younger grades, use to save an audio portfolio of reading fluency, expression, or to aid with running records or even include writing. Be sure do this regularly throughout the year to analyze growth. Have fun at Halloween with your Halloween station filled with favorite spooky stories! Welcome your students to a new school year by sending them your message. Create messages for classmates who move away. Bring your foreign language classes an extra resource of your pronunciations whenever they need more practice. ESL/ELL, special education classes can often benefit from the extra explanations, practice, and elaborated instructions given at their own pace. The possibilities are endless! The site itself is a "web 2.0," social networking style site, so some schools may have it blocked. Ask about unblocking just YOUR teacher account so you can have students access it while at school and under your supervision.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Sozo Exchange - Sozo Exchange
Grades
9 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Sozo offers daily online broadcasts for learning English. Older teens and adults will enjoy learning English through daily feature videos, pronunciation assists, and interview clips...more
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Sozo offers daily online broadcasts for learning English. Older teens and adults will enjoy learning English through daily feature videos, pronunciation assists, and interview clips which include lesson features and online review exercises. You can contribute to online surveys, learn idioms, and take quizzes with free registration. Subject matter is designed for teens and adults.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): figurative language (13), idioms (43), listening (74), news (148), pronunciation (37), vocabulary development (75)
In the Classroom
This is a great find for independent ESL/ELL students who want to improve their oral comprehension and knowledge of vocabulary along with its idiomatic language and slang expressions. Keep the link to this program on your computers at school and on your web page for home use, too. Parents wanting to learn English could use this site too!
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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noredink - Jeff Scheur
Grades
3 to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
Have fun while improving your writing and grammar. At the time of this review, noredink's grammatical categories include apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, comma issues, sentence...more
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Have fun while improving your writing and grammar. At the time of this review, noredink's grammatical categories include apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, comma issues, sentence fragments, and run-on sentences. The site promises to have the further categories available soon: commonly confused words, pronoun agreement, and capitalization. The program provides differentiated instruction based on the questions you answer right or wrong. There are tutorials to help you correct mistakes. Sign up with your name, username, email address, gender, school name and a password.
So, what's fun about learning this type of grammar? noredink asks you to pick your interests from Sports, TV shows, Musicians, and Miscellaneous. You will also be asked if you want them to use your friends from Facebook. When you are practicing or are taking quizzes, the program will use your interests and friends, and generate the questions around your interests and friends. The hope is that the content will be more interesting by including sentences with favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, or even personal friends. Be sure to watch the introductory video which is the only item on the site that requires Flash. Good news! The program works on iPads as well as your regular computer.
So, what's fun about learning this type of grammar? noredink asks you to pick your interests from Sports, TV shows, Musicians, and Miscellaneous. You will also be asked if you want them to use your friends from Facebook. When you are practicing or are taking quizzes, the program will use your interests and friends, and generate the questions around your interests and friends. The hope is that the content will be more interesting by including sentences with favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, or even personal friends. Be sure to watch the introductory video which is the only item on the site that requires Flash. Good news! The program works on iPads as well as your regular computer.
tag(s): capitalization (12), grammar (197), homonyms (9), homophones (14), punctuation (38), quiz (67), quizzes (58), sentences (36), verbs (37)
In the Classroom
Teachers sign up and create a class. You will receive a class code for your students to use (optional). With the class code you will be able to track student's progress, assign quizzes and assignments, and see class trends. The program has color-coded "heat maps" to track progress easily. Your assignments and quizzes will be uniquely generated according to each student's interests. Also, students don't have to wait for you to give them an assignment. With their account, they can practice at any time. A student does NOT have to provide an email address to create an account. It will work without it! Since students are providing some personal information about interests, etc., we strongly advise parent permission.ESL/ELL students will especially benefit from the practice using correct English, in their writing, over a continuous time period. Student assignments are at their own level. You can also create your own quizzes.
Use this site as part of your rotation during learning stations. Put your class' URL on your website so students can practice at home, too.
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LearnClick: Create Gap-Filling Exercises - Learnclick
Grades
4 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Create interactive online activities quickly and easily with LearnClick's Create a Gap. Submit any text you'd like to learn and mark the text you want deleted for a fill-in-the-blank...more
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Create interactive online activities quickly and easily with LearnClick's Create a Gap. Submit any text you'd like to learn and mark the text you want deleted for a fill-in-the-blank type of activity. Easily create quizzes or tests for individualized students or your entire class. Create a free account with your email. Follow the simple steps to create tests in minutes with varying options for response style choices; blank boxes, generated drop downs, or drag and drop. Search the quiz bank to save time. The free version allows you to make up to five quizzes, which are published on your public page. Your public page allows a direct link to your quizzes.
In the Classroom
In the classroom, use as a review tool on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Assign as homework for a study aid. Create study aids for ELL/ESL, or learning support students to review and learn with a "techie twist." Let students take control! Have students create the tests, in order to find the main idea or quiz each other. Use in centers for a fun review of current vocabulary, concepts, or even mathematical practice. Divide the class into cooperative learning groups to cover all aspects of one topic. The subject areas are limitless. Use as a "Jeopardy" style competition. Post on your website as a resource for parents to help their students keep motivated to study in a fun way!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Bear - Watch, Know, Learn
Grades
K to 2
7 Favorites
0 Comments
Reading Bear is a systematic program that teaches beginning vocabulary and concepts while introducing phonics patterns. The Getting Started video gives an overview of the program...more
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Reading Bear is a systematic program that teaches beginning vocabulary and concepts while introducing phonics patterns. The Getting Started video gives an overview of the program as it explains the software, videos, and tips for using the system. Choose from any phonics sounds or start from the beginning of the program. Then choose from different video or slideshow tutorials (such as sound it out quickly, let me sound it out, or audio and silent sentences). As sounds are pronounced, the corresponding letter is highlighted. Quizzes are available at the end of each section. Choose from different settings to adjust font, letter color, or order of presentation. At the time of this review, 16 presentations are available. The goal of the site is to create a total of 50 presentations. So check back often.
Some of the video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.
Some of the video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.
In the Classroom
This is an excellent resource for use on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Choose from the different options when presenting letter sounds in your classroom to present letters in different formats. Create a link on classroom computers to use as a phonics center activity. Share this site with parents through your classroom website or newsletter as a wonderful way to practice and learn letter sounds at home. Use this site with ESL/ELL students. Speech pathologists and special education teachers may want to bookmark this excellent site, too.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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Reach Every Child - Horace Mann
Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Find an annotated list of free online books, ebooks, and ereaders at Reach Every Child. The list is organized into categories for general interest, poetry and classics, kids, and a...more
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Find an annotated list of free online books, ebooks, and ereaders at Reach Every Child. The list is organized into categories for general interest, poetry and classics, kids, and a link to their page that has an annotated list of online sites where students can publish their work.
tag(s): audio books (22), ebooks (23), independent reading (69)
In the Classroom
Use this site to help struggling readers develop comprehension skills independence. Improve audio comprehension for the students who need more practice in this area. Use with your ESL/ELL students to offer a wide range of books to enjoy repeatedly independently. Use as a link on your class website for extra literacy practice at home. ELL/ESL and learning support students may benefit from being able to hear or see books in a different way. Encourage effective storytelling techniques while providing a wide variety of examples. Now you are able to meet each individual student's interests. Book lists provide further direction for more quality books.Develop your own audio library with your students. Have your students read their favorite books for a class audio book activity and publish on your website. Alert parents when their reader will be broadcasting. Consider using PodOmatic reviewed here.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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