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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Tip of My Tongue - Chirag Mehta.

Grades
1 to 12
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Have you ever just had a word on the "tip of your tongue"? You know what it means, you just can't think of the exact word, only its synonyms? With ...more
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Have you ever just had a word on the "tip of your tongue"? You know what it means, you just can't think of the exact word, only its synonyms? With this tool, you can search by Word Meaning. Ever been stuck on how to spell a word? With this tool, you can search Partial Words by Starts With, Contains, or Ends With. Note: the source dictionary this site uses includes "adult" words. Discuss appropriate use with young people.
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tag(s): crosswords (19), puzzles (143), spelling (95), word study (58)

In the Classroom

Create a bookmark/favorite on class computers and your class website for students to use when they just cannot think of the right word. Use for word games like Hangman or Monopoly. Use to solve crossword puzzles. Have students look up words they do not know how to spell! Use this tool with ESL/ELL students as an interesting way to learn new words. As with any online dictionary intended for all ages, you will need to set explicit consequences for students "looking up" inappropriate words-- just as you would for saying those words out loud in your classroom! Share this tool with parents at back to school night as an interesting tool for the whole family to use.

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CurriConnects Book List - Music and Musicians - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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Dance to the beat with books about musicians, composers, and the way they make music. This list includes fiction and nonfiction books, as well as books about instruments and how ...more
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Dance to the beat with books about musicians, composers, and the way they make music. This list includes fiction and nonfiction books, as well as books about instruments and how they are made. Take note of music and the people who make it -- from long ago until today. This list includes books for ALL levels. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ESL levels and Lexiles'''® to match with student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly.

tag(s): composers (16), music theory (45)

In the Classroom

Share this list with students (and parents) during Music in Your Schools Month (March) or even during a unit on sound in your science classes. Bring the Arts into STEM to make STEAM!

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What is Ebola? - KidsHealth

Grades
3 to 8
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This informative article provides a quick overview of Ebola virus information. Find symptoms associated with Ebola, how it spreads, and learn where it came from. Click the speaker icon...more
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This informative article provides a quick overview of Ebola virus information. Find symptoms associated with Ebola, how it spreads, and learn where it came from. Click the speaker icon to have the article read to you. You can also choose the link to read (or hear) the story in Spanish.
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tag(s): bacteria (21), diseases (66)

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Discuss together when you are answering children's questions regarding the Ebola virus. This site is perfect for use with weaker readers and ESL/ELL learners. Allow them to listen to the article on classroom computers or read in Spanish. Share this link on your classroom website for parents to use when discussing Ebola with their child. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Have students create true/false quizzes using information from this site. Use an online poster creator, such as Padlet, reviewed here. Challenge older students to share what they know about Ebola before reading this article then research information on misconceptions using Snopes.

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Parent-Teacher Conference Tip Sheets - Harvard Family Research Project

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K to 12
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Achieve maximum potential from Parent-Teacher Conferences with these three tip sheets (PDFs) from Harvard Family Research Project. Tip sheets for parents, teachers, and principals offer...more
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Achieve maximum potential from Parent-Teacher Conferences with these three tip sheets (PDFs) from Harvard Family Research Project. Tip sheets for parents, teachers, and principals offer targeted suggestions for teams working together to promote student success. Suggestions include ideas for before, during, and after conferences and suggestions for all participants to "Be Heard."

tag(s): parent conferences (24)

In the Classroom

Use these tip sheets as suggested on the site. Prepare copies for parents, principals, and teachers well before conference meetings. Include a link to parent tip sheets on your class website or include with class newsletters. Be sure to include copies for other professionals such as counselors, and ESL/ELL, Learning Support, Speech/language clinician, or Gifted Education teachers.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Chatzy - Chatzy.com

Grades
7 to 12
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Chatzy offers no-frills, easy to use private chat rooms with no sign-up required! Fill out the simple start-up form with your name, chat title, message, and participant's emails. Participants...more
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Chatzy offers no-frills, easy to use private chat rooms with no sign-up required! Fill out the simple start-up form with your name, chat title, message, and participant's emails. Participants instantly receive an email with your message and a direct link to the room. Room administrator options include allowing or turning off emoticons, images, and videos. The Save/Print options allow administrators to keep a record of any conversations. There is a setting to use Chatzy on mobile devices with smaller screens, as well. Note: Some school networks block all chat tools, so check in advance whether you can access it if you plan to use this tool at school.

tag(s): chat (42), communication (136)

In the Classroom

Use this site to connect to other classes to open up discussion between your students in one convenient place. Safety is not a concern with this site, since only those with an email invitation/link can participate in a chat. (Your students need not have email. You can simply email the link to yourself and share it with students to enter into their browsers.) Teach good digital citizenship of chat etiquette while using this activity to learn. Connect with other classes to learn about other locations, learn various perspectives, find animals that are similar yet different, learn about the different books others are reading, or survey students on various economic, political, or environmental topics. Be sure to plan content ahead of time, so students have the opportunity to think through the material and formulate a response. Discuss appropriate ways to communicate to others prior to connecting with another classroom. Use Chatzy as a place for students to brainstorm and share ideas about a topic. Use as a simple help forum for students to ask questions of each other and of you. Share a chat room with parents once a month for a question and answer session at a scheduled time.

Use backchannel chat on laptops during a video or student presentations. Pose questions for all to answer/discuss in the backchannel, or ask students to pose their own "I wonder if..." questions as they watch and listen. Keep every student engaged and THINKING as an active listener. The first time you use backchannel, you will want to establish some etiquette and accountability rules. The advantage of backchannel chat is that every student has a voice, no matter how shy. Use this in world language classes, ESL/ELL classes, or autistic support classes for backchannel chat. Challenge students to use their new language skills by acting out a scene from a video or describing the feelings of the actors. When studying literature, collaborate with another class to have students role-play a chat between two characters. In a history class, create fictional conversations between soldiers on two sides of the Civil War or different sides of the Scopes Monkey trial.

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My Live Chat - mylivechat

Grades
K to 12
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Create a polished, professional live chat on your blog or class site with this FREE tool. Create a "How Can I Help You?" message to pop-up as parents and students ...more
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Create a polished, professional live chat on your blog or class site with this FREE tool. Create a "How Can I Help You?" message to pop-up as parents and students visit the page. When in an active chat, visitors receive a pop-up asking if they wish to join the chat. This tool runs on every platform and mobile device. Be sure to check out the demo tab to understand how to use the tool in your website. Add the HTML code into your site to add the chat box and features. Use this tool to analyze site traffic so you can identify what is most used by students and parents.
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tag(s): chat (42), communication (136), DAT device agnostic tool (143)

In the Classroom

Create a chat message pop-up for the most frequently asked questions students and parents have about finding items on your classroom site. Offer a set time for office hours published well in advance for parents and students to drop in and ask questions about assignments, homework help, or any other questions that they may have. Set up a chat time early in the school year for "meet and greet" so parents discover your website or for those who are unable to attend back to school night! Cut down on email! Encourage students to identify the questions they (or their parents) have the most as you develop the scope for your chat. ESL/ELL teachers can use the chat to provide extra written language practice for their students in an engaging way! Use the chat with your colleagues in a Teacher Lounge format to help each other in the appropriate use of technology, content sharing, or professional development.

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Lingo Hut - Lingo Hut

Grades
1 to 8
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This site offers English lessons for ENL/ESL students beginning from their native language. All directions and vocabulary are in their first language. Learn by clicking on the topic...more
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This site offers English lessons for ENL/ESL students beginning from their native language. All directions and vocabulary are in their first language. Learn by clicking on the topic you would like to pursue. Listen to the pronunciation of the new vocabulary while looking at its translation. Activities that review the vocabulary include flash cards that are in the first language on one side and English on the other, tic-tac-toe games and concentration games. Quizzes show the words and phrases studied in your first language. Select the answer based on the English words and phrases heard. If computers have microphones, students can also record their own voices pronouncing the vocabulary words and then immediately listen to how they sound.
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tag(s): flash cards (42), multilingual (63), vocabulary (235), vocabulary development (90)

In the Classroom

Sit ESL/ELL students in pairs at classroom computers to get extra review for survival vocabulary and phrases. This site is perfect for the classroom where there is one or more English language learners. This would be like having a personal tutor. Be sure to put the URL on your class website so students can work at home, too. It would be a good idea to get parents involved, if they are learning English, too.

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Online Math Learning - OnlineMathLearning.com

Grades
1 to 12
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Supplement math instruction in the classroom using OnLineMathLearning. Find videos explaining concepts, worksheets for practice, games, and activities. The site material correlates...more
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Supplement math instruction in the classroom using OnLineMathLearning. Find videos explaining concepts, worksheets for practice, games, and activities. The site material correlates to Singapore Math but is assessable to all learners. Explore math by grade level, or by topic. Find math worksheets by grade level or even by topic. There is also Test Prep for SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE, ESL, IELTS, or TOEFL. Furthermore, this site has instruction on Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Animal facts, Programming, or English help. Find many science project ideas, listed by subject area.
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tag(s): parents (60), video (256), worksheets (70)

In the Classroom

OnLineMathLearning is a nice supplement to your classroom. Use the videos on your interactive whiteboard to begin instruction. Differentiate your math instruction by student need and assign individually. Use the worksheets, games, and activities for extra practice and reinforcement. Allow students to see the ideas listed before they start their science fair projects. Recommend this website to parents so they can understand the "new way" of doing math. Be sure to list as a resource for extra practice on your class website. Keep the videos on this site in mind for using as models when assigning students to make their own videos. Be sure to include in your math parent night. Use as enrichment for your advanced students.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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CurriConnects Book List: Childhood Here and There - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
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This CurriConnects collection of books shares tales of childhood in many cultures and countries. Find books that help you realize that what is "typical" for the kids at your school...more
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This CurriConnects collection of books shares tales of childhood in many cultures and countries. Find books that help you realize that what is "typical" for the kids at your school may seem odd to those who grew up somewhere else. Discover what was typical for our grandparents is not the same as what is typical today. This collection includes tales of growing up in many circumstances, books to make you stop and wonder what "typical childhood" means. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ESL levels and Lexiles'® (where available) to match student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. For more on text complexity and Lexiles'®, see this information from the Lexile Framework. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly. If your library does not have the books, try interlibrary loan!

tag(s): book lists (159), cross cultural understanding (156), independent reading (85)

In the Classroom

Include these books for independent reading during a unit on world cultures, in a guidance class about differences, or in a reading unit about drawing inferences. Spark discussions about what we assume is "normal" and what we should realize about our own upbringing. The conversations will easily evolve into projects where students can compare and contrast or create "profiles" of childhood in different places and cultures.

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Wordsmyth Kids! - Wordsmyth

Grades
K to 5
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Wordsmyth Kids! is a visual dictionary for young children. Search for any word to read the definition, view an image, see the Spanish translation, and hear the word pronounced (click...more
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Wordsmyth Kids! is a visual dictionary for young children. Search for any word to read the definition, view an image, see the Spanish translation, and hear the word pronounced (click the little speaker). Choose "Places with this word" to find books and activities that include the word. Every icon will "speak" if you roll the mouse over it, so navigating is easy for almost anyone, even low level readers. Be sure to check out tools at the bottom of the page in the World portion of the site to add labels, highlight different areas of pictures, and launch activities using the kite icon.

tag(s): dictionaries (48), parts of speech (40), spanish (104), thesaurus (22), vocabulary development (90)

In the Classroom

This site is a must-add to any elementary classroom's bookmarks! Demonstrate Wordsmyth Kids! on your classroom whiteboard or projector, bookmark it in your favorites, and make it directly available to students from your class webpage. Tell parents about it, too. Elementary students will enjoy defining their spelling words or content area vocabulary. Have students categorize words by parts of speech or create a list of synonyms. Have students create their own word "sticky note boards" for new vocabulary words using a tool such as Lino, reviewed here (no membership required) to create and share their sticky notes. Be sure to share this site with parents for use at home too! Speech and language and ESL/ELL teachers will love the audio possibilities and the activities related to many of the basic vocabulary groups, such as animals, etc.

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News in Levels - newsinlevels.com

Grades
K to 8
6 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Find high interest, leveled news articles (and lessons) for English language learners. Although this site was designed for ENL/ESL it could be very useful in any elementary classroom...more
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Find high interest, leveled news articles (and lessons) for English language learners. Although this site was designed for ENL/ESL it could be very useful in any elementary classroom looking for informational texts that can be differentiated for various reading levels (great for meeting Common Core standards). This tool could be used with any readers to increase comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary skills. There are three difficulty levels. Complete the Test Your Level exercise in the pop-up box after you first get to the home page to find out what level will be best for you. Many of the lessons include audio and practice exercises. In addition, interesting pictures pique the students' interest. The same story is presented in all of the various levels. The vocabulary at lower levels repeats at the higher levels with more vocabulary added as the level increases. Definitions for the vocabulary words, below the reading, assists with English meanings. The audio is hosted on YouTube. At the time of this review, most of the news story content was fine for all ages. However, please preview the story before you share it with your class to be certain it is appropriate.
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tag(s): differentiation (83), guided reading (33), multilingual (63), news (229), reading comprehension (142)

In the Classroom

Add this website to your classroom computers, websites, and newsletters for parents of ENL/ESL students or beginning readers. This tool is especially helpful at the beginning of the year, as you are learning students' reading levels. Use this tool to differentiate in all primary classes. Although this site was created for English Language Learners, it could still be used by all students including gifted and learning support. Differentiate for your advanced/gifted students in elementary, while meeting Common Core standards of Informational Text. Use these news articles as informational text meeting your Common Core goals. Assign students of different levels the same story at the appropriate level or build skills by sharing the same story as a class. Challenge groups to compare the stories in pairs. Have students create a visual presentation of the story. First have students create a rough draft of their comic using Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here. For Level 1 readers have them create their final comic using ToonyTool, reviewed here, for Level 3 readers use Make Beliefs Comix, reviewed here.

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English With Jennifer - Jennifer Lebedev

Grades
2 to 8
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This Youtube channel is designed for English Language Learners. Find a variety of subjects: beginning and advanced English, pronunciation, various grammar points, vocabulary, writing,...more
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This Youtube channel is designed for English Language Learners. Find a variety of subjects: beginning and advanced English, pronunciation, various grammar points, vocabulary, writing, punctuation, slang, language notes, and more. You can proceed through a series chronologically and build from one lesson into the next. You can also view individual lessons. This collection, started in 2007, continues to grow steadily and offer a great variety. The explanations on the videos are clear and easy to understand. Teachers and parents can subscribe to receive more offerings and assistance as well as updates. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): grammar (133), video (256), vocabulary development (90), writing (315)

In the Classroom

Visit Jennifer's Blog to find ideas about how to use these lessons in the classroom and to find additional support. Jennifer frequently updates the offerings. Share these videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector. FLIP your classroom and have students view the videos at home and discuss the next day in class. (This is a great option if YouTube is blocked in your school.) Use the videos to introduce a grammar or punctuation point you would like to make, and assign others in the series for homework. Look at the "Word of the Day" each morning when you begin your ESL/ELL lesson. Use the slang offerings in a similar manner. Be sure to provide this link on your class website for students (and their families) to access at home for additional English practice.

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Online Voice Recorder - 123apps

Grades
K to 12
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Just as the name says, Online Voice Recorder allows you to record your voice from your computer and save the file. With no membership required, this is a free and ...more
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Just as the name says, Online Voice Recorder allows you to record your voice from your computer and save the file. With no membership required, this is a free and simple recording treasure! Simply push the record button and follow screen prompts to ALLOW the application access to your computer's microphone. Talk as long as desired. Then listen to the recorded playback. Trim and edit the length using easy sliders as desired. Save your finished version in MP3 format using the link.
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tag(s): blended learning (16), communication (136), fluency (24), preK (254), speech (66), spelling (95)

In the Classroom

Have students practice spelling words orally, record speeches, practice reading fluency, and much more using Online Voice Recorder. After recording, allow students to listen to the playback and reflect upon the quality of their work. Do before and after recordings of students to share with parents during conferences to demonstrate reading progress. Have students record weekly summaries for what has happened in your class to share on your class website or blog (you will have to upload the files). Record weekly or daily homework assignments and share as a voice recording on your website. Save file space by replacing old files with new ones. Online Voice Recorder would be an excellent resource for recording and sharing more complicated directions for projects and assignments (adding you voice intonation and cues!). Your weaker readers and ENL/ESL students may do better with a combination of written AND auditory directions. Provide the link on your class website for students to use at home for additional practice in spelling, reading, practicing reports, and more. Share this site with parents at Back to School Night. Have students write and record audio book reviews others can play on iPads in the school library. If you have gifted students in your classroom, this tool is simple enough for even the youngest to be able to record audio mini-dramas portraying a historic figure, poetry readings, and more. Be sure to show them how to NAME and download the files to the local computer! Anything they can say out loud can become a creative project recording. Don't forget about recording musical performances or practices.

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Calkoo - Trinity Capital

Grades
4 to 12
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Other online calculators don't add up to the diverse collection of calculators Calkoo has to offer. Browse categories including measurement, wage, taxes, stock analysis, mathematics,...more
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Other online calculators don't add up to the diverse collection of calculators Calkoo has to offer. Browse categories including measurement, wage, taxes, stock analysis, mathematics, loans, health, saving, investing, real estate, and more! Calkoo can handle many tasks, including some rather complex calculations. Complete the various fields based on the type of calculation. Some utilize radio buttons and drop down boxes, while others ask for numbers only. Create almost any kind of calculation you need with this easy accessible calculating tool. Language options include English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Russian.
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tag(s): addition (128), area (52), calculators (37), division (98), fractions (159), measurement (125), multiplication (122), percent (58), quadratics (26), subtraction (109), volume (34)

In the Classroom

Calkoo is a great free tool to replace expensive graphing calculators that many students may not have. Calkoo works well on computers, mobile devices, and interactive whiteboards. Use this site during a unit on careers, economics, or financial literacy. Include it as part of a measurement unit. Share during Family and Consumer Science units to explore the cost of living and have students put together a mythical "budget" for living in their chosen career. Have students send you on a vacation and include calculations for the currency converter, fuel cost calculator, sales tax for souvenirs, and more! This is a great site to support many experiments in science. Calculate acceleration, velocity, and time, or use the mathematics category to complete problems. Use this tool in social studies class for quickly calculating years or months from important timelines or when figuring out geographical distances. In English or L.A. classes, quickly figure out the life span of authors or how long ago a story took place. In health or science classes, use the BMI calculator or get other accurate measurements. Visit Calkoo and select a calculator to meet your needs! Include this site on your class web page for students and parents to access as a reference. The various languages make this tool very useful for ESL/ELL students.

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Newsela - Matthew Gross

Grades
2 to 12
19 Favorites 2  Comments
At the start of the school year for 2023-2024, Newsela made some significant changes for their FREE or LITE version of the program! Now they offer four leveled news articles ...more
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At the start of the school year for 2023-2024, Newsela made some significant changes for their FREE or LITE version of the program! Now they offer four leveled news articles at five reading levels for teachers to choose from. The articles will be available for four weeks; Newsela Lite is free for any teacher to access four pre-selected news articles, select and lock reading levels for students, see alignment to state standards, schedule assignments and set due dates, access students' quiz scores, and respond to students' writing prompt submissions and annotations. Many of these features were on the "premium" account until the 2023-2024 school year.

Incase you're wondering - Newsela features current events stories tailor-made for classroom use. Click "Products" on the top menu and slide down to browse content in subject areas (social studies, science, etc.). Stories are student-friendly and can be accessed in different formats by reading level. Use Newsela to differentiate nonfiction reading. Newspaper writers rewrite a story four times for a total of five Lexile levels per story. All articles have embedded Common Core-aligned quizzes that conform to the reading levels for checking comprehension, customizable assignments, writing prompts, and annotations. An account is required to use Newsela, both for teachers and for students, but students sign up using a teacher or parent-provided code rather than an email address. Click the Resources tab at the top to find guides and short webinars. Teachers can create classes and assign reading-level specific articles to individual students or download printable PDF copies of the article in any of its reading-level versions. There is no outside advertising.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (143), differentiation (83), guided reading (33), independent reading (85), news (229), reading comprehension (142), remote learning (61)

In the Classroom

Achieve two goals here: help students improve their reading comprehension and keep them current with what is happening in our nation and the world. When assigning articles, choose to have the class read at one reading level, or choose individuals and set the reading level for them. There are five categories from which to choose. You may want to set up different articles at different learning stations on the computers in your room. Have the students rotate daily through the stations, completing one or two a day until they have completed all five articles. Since Newsela is cloud based, even absent students can complete the missed work easily. If you and your students are teaching and learning remotely, or you have a blended classroom, Newsela will work perfectly for those! Teachers of gifted students can use this site to accelerate or enrich reading for students. Find each student's individual levels for reading nonfiction. Teachers of Learning Support and ENL//ESL students will love this alternate way for their students to meet nonfiction/current events requirements.

Comments

This is an excellent article. Thanks for sharing this information. Please keep sharing content like this. Cassandra, IL, Grades: 0 - 12
This is an excellent site and allows differentiation while everyone is reading the same text. Renee, NC, Grades: 0 - 5

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ESL Reader- Online Reading Help - ESLdesk.com

Grades
2 to 12
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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...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.

tag(s): dictionaries (48), guided reading (33), thesaurus (22), vocabulary development (90)

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.

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Learn American English Online - Learn American English Online

Grades
2 to 12
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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...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.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): dictionaries (48), grammar (133), grammar review (31), listening (68), pronunciation (33)

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.

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ESL Games World - eslgamesworld.com

Grades
1 to 12
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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,...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.

tag(s): grammar (133), grammar review (31), verbs (27), vocabulary (235)

In the Classroom

This website contains many ads, demonstrate avoiding the advertisements with your students before assigning or using any of the activities. 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 it with parents as a resource.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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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 (51), phonics (49), preK (254), reading comprehension (142), reading strategies (96), spelling (95)

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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Spreaker - Spreaker Online Radio

Grades
1 to 12
6 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.

tag(s): communication (136), podcasts (72), radio (20)

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.

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