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ESL Fast- Free Online English Teaching and Learning Materials - ESL Fast
Grades
8 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This website offers an extensive collection of short stories for ESL/ELL learners. Students can read each story, listen to the audio at two speeds (slow or normal), and review comprehension...more
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This website offers an extensive collection of short stories for ESL/ELL learners. Students can read each story, listen to the audio at two speeds (slow or normal), and review comprehension questions after reading. Vocabulary words within the text are highlighted and linked to an online dictionary, and an additional dictionary link is provided at the top of the page for unfamiliar words not included in the vocabulary list. Many stories also include printable or reviewable exercises to support comprehension and language practice. While advertisements on the site may be distracting, it provides a large number of ESL/ELL stories across a wide range of topics. Some story content may not be appropriate for younger students, so teacher preview is strongly recommended.
tag(s): audbk (25), audtxt (19), dictionaries (49), short stories (18), vocabulary (251)
In the Classroom
The reading and listening activities are easy for students to work on independently because of the listening option. Special ed teachers may also have students who will benefit from the listening practice. Don't forget to provide the headphones. Provide this link on your class website or newsletter, so the families of ENL/ELL students can read (or listen) to the stories together.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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National Women's History Museum - National Women's History Museum
Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
The National Women's History Museum site includes a rich collection of resources. Although the collection is certainly deep on issues related to women's suffrage, there is also information...more
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The National Women's History Museum site includes a rich collection of resources. Although the collection is certainly deep on issues related to women's suffrage, there is also information on women in World War II, women and education, women and the Progressive movement, and women spies. There are good photographs of artifacts from the women's movement, and a nice collection of lesson plans, grouped by grade level.
tag(s): 20th century (169), artists (99), biographies (96), jamestown (6), women (189), womenchangemaker (79), womens suffrage (64), world war 2 (169)
In the Classroom
Of course, the site would be useful to students doing research on the women's movement in general, or on the role of women during several important historical eras. In the "educational resources" section, there is a collection of quotations from women that would be great for creating displays for women's history month. Challenge students to create a poster for one of the women quoted using a tool such as Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. There is also a group of quizzes that could be adapted for classroom use. The section focused on the women of Jamestown includes the stories of Native American women as well as the role of early European settler women and could supplement the usual Thanksgiving lessons on the new American colonies. There are also free lesson plans and classroom activities that teachers should take advantage of!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cornell-Notes.com - Ryan Stewart
Grades
4 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Create ready-to-go notetaking sheets for your students or have them create their own using this online tool that generates PDF (Acrobat Reader) files to your specifications. Once you...more
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Create ready-to-go notetaking sheets for your students or have them create their own using this online tool that generates PDF (Acrobat Reader) files to your specifications. Once you choose the options you want under Create Your Personal Notepaper (blank, ruled, etc), click Submit to see your "perfect notetaking sheet" in Acrobat Reader. Click "Save a copy" to keep it or simply print it out on the spot.
tag(s): note taking (34)
In the Classroom
If you require a notebook for your course, this is the perfect tool. Share the link from your teacher web page so students can create their own, customized sheets. Be sure to demonstrate how it works, then "write" a sample set of Cornell-style notes by sharing it on your interactive whiteboard so students can see how to use them! Learning support and study skills teachers will love this one. Middle school science and social studies teachers should encourage a consistent note-taking system like this so all students can find what works for them. Perhaps try different variations until students figure out which is best.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Alphabet Organizer - Read Write Think (Iron Monkey Interactive)
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
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This Alphabet Organizer makes learning words and terminology exciting-- and organized. All levels may use this -- from primary students learning the alphabet to secondary students...more
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This Alphabet Organizer makes learning words and terminology exciting-- and organized. All levels may use this -- from primary students learning the alphabet to secondary students learning advanced vocabulary. On the interactive keypad, type in the beginning letter of a word. Key in the rest of the word in the blanks provided. You also have the option of typing in the word's meaning. Once your list is entered, you may choose a booklet or chart format for presenting your information. Studying content-area words or vocabulary meanings has never been so easy.
tag(s): alphabet (46), vocabulary (251)
In the Classroom
Think outside the 'box' when considering this application. Teachers may opt to teach the elements of the story through entering character traits, setting, plot events, etc., then printing a chart to teach those concepts. Special Ed or ESL/ELL teachers will love using this organizer to help students organize new words they must learn. If students use a three-ring notebook, new words can be added over time. Mark this tool as a favorite on your classroom computer so students can access it as needed.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Auto English - Bob Wilson
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
This is a wonderful new "labor of love" resource for second language learners and ESL teachers created by an English teacher living in Spain. It includes the typical grammar lessons,...more
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This is a wonderful new "labor of love" resource for second language learners and ESL teachers created by an English teacher living in Spain. It includes the typical grammar lessons, flash cards, worksheets, phrasal verb practice, and idioms, but also less typical links to many video lessons and a few audio mp3's. Many of the sections have unique applications; for example, the vocabulary section has both online interactive practice and printable materials for the same lesson. The puzzles and games section includes a variety of printable worksheets.
In the Classroom
This is a good overall site you can rely on for a variety of ENL/ESL purposes. Use it to find lessons and review activities for your ENL/ESL students.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Lazy Readers' Book Club - Dr. Danny Brassell
Grades
2 to 12
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This site offers reviews of ten new books each month in three categories; Children, Young Adult, and Adult. Selected books are easy to read and short enough to be ...more
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This site offers reviews of ten new books each month in three categories; Children, Young Adult, and Adult. Selected books are easy to read and short enough to be read without losing their appeal. Users can search for appropriate titles by author, title, number of pages, level, and rating. When searching the young adult section by pages, readers can find young adult books that range from 32 pages to full length. After searching, each display page contains 10 books with a short summary and a picture of its cover.
In the Classroom
Use this site to encourage reluctant readers to choose their own short books with subjects that interest them! For children who can't choose, encourage them to use the "Random Shuffle" feature. Share the link on your teacher web page for students and parents ot access from home. Start a "Lazy Readers" club in your own classroom, with students writing reviews you can post on a bulletin board or a reading wiki.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Neil Gaiman - Harper Collins
Grades
6 to 12
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Neil Gaiman offers readings and videos of many of his novels and stories on this site along with essays, interviews (including one of his daughter interviewing him) and detailed answers...more
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Neil Gaiman offers readings and videos of many of his novels and stories on this site along with essays, interviews (including one of his daughter interviewing him) and detailed answers about details of his writings organized by title (see FAQs). Additional features include a blog, "Where's Neil?", biographic and award details, and press releases.
tag(s): comics and cartoons (61), novels (34), short stories (18)
In the Classroom
Share this site with reluctant readers as a way to interest them in reading more stories and comics about kids like themselves. If you keep a list of author sites for independent reading and book reports, add this one to the list! Tag it "author."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods - Ralph Lengler and Martin J. Eppler
Grades
8 to 12
2 Favorites
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Who says the chemistry department can monopolize the periodic table? This site highlights various charts, graphic organizers, tables, and other ways to express information visually....more
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Who says the chemistry department can monopolize the periodic table? This site highlights various charts, graphic organizers, tables, and other ways to express information visually. The presentation makes the sell (or better grade). Teachers, especially secondary school, will appreciate this page to show the various ways to make their students' presentations more meaningful. Those who teach advanced reading skills and how to interpret visual data will love all the examples, as well. Hold your mouse or cursor over each square of the periodic table to view each type of visual.
tag(s): design (76), graphic organizers (57), mind map (33), periodic table (49)
In the Classroom
Viewing this with the entire class will be more effective with the interactive whiteboard or projector. Teachers in any subject will find this site invaluable in teaching how to make strong visuals for oral or written presentations. What powerful evidence for multiple intelligences! Your visual/spatial students will LOVE this one, and others will learn to build that intelligence. Try these same strategies in YOUR PowerPoint presentations to communicate ideas visually, without being "powerpointless" at back to school night!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Quizlet: The End of Flashcards - Brainflare: Andrew Sutherland
Grades
3 to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
This easy-to-understand web and mobile app tool allows you or your students to enter vocabulary terms and definitions to create electronic flashcards and quizzes to enhance word study...more
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This easy-to-understand web and mobile app tool allows you or your students to enter vocabulary terms and definitions to create electronic flashcards and quizzes to enhance word study in any language or content area. Students may choose to create study sets, electronic tests, or a networking page, which allows them to interact and learn with others who share the same interests. Teachers or students can create groups to share word lists. Use this tool from any device or move between several devices and still access your work. The iOS and Android app practice tests can include multiple-choice, true/false, or written questions. Turn on "Instant Feedback" (new feature for the apps) that will give real-time feedback on right/wrong answers as you go, or wait and get your score at the end. As wonderful as this technology is, the most remarkable thing about Quizlet might be in its history--its creator was a high school student who tells his inspiring story and shares his blog through links at this site.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (129), flash cards (45), Formative Assessment (47), quiz (63), spelling (93), vocabulary (251), word study (58)
In the Classroom
Membership asks for an email. Email allows you to notify others that you want to share a word list or activity with them. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of Gmail subaccounts, explained here. This tells how to configure Gmail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class. KEEP A LIST of students' usernames (non-identifying) and passwords, in case they forget them! If you already use Google Classroom with your students, it only takes a few minutes to get them set up with a Quizlet Class.Quizlet has a very thorough "Help Center" to get the idea of how the site works. Save your "sets" and decide whether you want them to be entirely public, just for you personally, or shared with a "group." The new version of "study sets" allows you to scan your notes with your phone or tablet and create study sets designed for your specific needs. You can now highlight main ideas, underline key concepts and bold important study terms to create custom content. Create your own groups for each class or subject. Be sure to note the fact that you can upload vocabulary lists by copying/pasting from various formats--- a time saver! Use this tool easily in your BYOD classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have.
Content and English teachers may set up their personal network of users. Pretest your gifted students and allow them to "test out" of material they already know. Learning support teachers will want their students to create their own Quizlet sets and help learn them in the process! Teachers may create their own sets of words, or let students do the work for themselves and each other. Use the interactive whiteboard for quick flashcards or electronic testing using your sets. World language and ESL/ELL teachers will find many word sets already built and ready to use at this site. If you team teach with others at your grade level, take turns making the online Quizlets to accompany your science or social studies chapters. Be SURE to share this tool on your teacher's web page for students to use at home.
Be sure to see the classroom quiz game for groups, Quizlet Live (from the creator of Quizlet), reviewed here.
Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
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 shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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World News - WN Network
Grades
4 to 12
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This is a wonderful compilation site of news from all over the world. Users can read the home page or search news of a specific geographic region. An ...more
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This is a wonderful compilation site of news from all over the world. Users can read the home page or search news of a specific geographic region. An excellent plus here is the ability to choose to read the news in a variety of languages. World Photos today, multimedia, global weather, and sports are just a few of the many attractive sections that add to this site's appeal.
tag(s): news (223)
In the Classroom
Share this site with your school's foreign language teachers. Have students do comparisons between English and foreign language versions of the news. If you teach writing, you can find controversial topics as writing prompts for persuasive writing among the articles, as well, and have students find facts to support their positions. Make this site available from your teacher web page for current events assignments. Reading teachers will want to use the articles on an interactive whiteboard to teach main idea and summarizing: highlight key words to use in a main idea or summary sentence you write together below the article.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fun Icebreaker Ideas & Activities - icebreakers.ws
Grades
K to 12
22 Favorites
0 Comments
Start the first day of school or a new marking period with a getting-to-know-you activity from this great, searchable collection. The activities are designed for all ages, so some will...more
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Start the first day of school or a new marking period with a getting-to-know-you activity from this great, searchable collection. The activities are designed for all ages, so some will not work well with very young ones (such as writing things on slips of paper). The site is easy to navigate and sorts ideas by group size and activity level for easy retrieval. There are also activity suggestions for Zoom if you use distance and remote learning. You are invited to submit your own ideas. Since the site is designed for general use, not for schools, some ideas may be impractical in a classroom setting but could be easily adapted. Substitutes - check out some of these icebreakers, the kids will love them....and you! Warning: By clicking the "Download Templates - Free" you will go out of the Icebreaker website to the Shift website that has templates (unrelated to icebreakers) for free.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): back to school (54), firstday (25), newbies (9), remote learning (32), substitutes (25)
In the Classroom
New or veteran teachers who want students to get to know each other as they enter a new school (starting middle school, for example), want to observe them so YOU get to know them, or need to build better team skills with a challenging class or club, will find ideas to try. Mark this one as a Favorite so you can find it again, since "first day" activities tend to get lost in the flurry -- and in the fading memory -- during the year.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kids Book Club Book - Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp
Grades
2 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
This site, a companion to a print book, focuses on ideas and activities for book clubs, including short summaries of books, recipes, and activities paired up with featured books. ...more
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This site, a companion to a print book, focuses on ideas and activities for book clubs, including short summaries of books, recipes, and activities paired up with featured books. Books included are of many levels and genres, all of high interest for children. Children's authors write some of the book reviews; book club members are welcome to list their book club, book descriptions, and activities on the site as well. Links include an author section with a comprehensive list of authors who will speak to your book clubs by phone and authors and illustrators willing to visit your school.
In the Classroom
Find food ideas and activities to promote reading on this site! Mention this site to your school librarian for use with school book clubs. FCS teachers may want to coordinate some of the recipes with books featured in language arts class. Parents would appreciate the link on your teacher web page or newsletter so they can encourage reading at home. Your school parent organization can find great ideas, as well. Make this link part of your family literacy treasury.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Proverbia.net - Vicent Jorda
Grades
3 to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
Finally, a rich resource of proverbs to use for classroom bulletin boards, quotes of the day, and, most importantly: teaching figurative language and idioms. Find proverbs alphabetically,...more
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Finally, a rich resource of proverbs to use for classroom bulletin boards, quotes of the day, and, most importantly: teaching figurative language and idioms. Find proverbs alphabetically, by topic, or by author. Click for the Spanish version of the site, as well. Spanish teachers will love this way of teaching the nuances of the language. If you teach about Ben Franklin, you could spend a full class on his proverbial sayings found here. ESL/ELL students will benefit from exposure to the idioms included in the proverbs, as well.
tag(s): figurative language (19), franklin (12), idioms (29), spanish (112)
In the Classroom
Ask students to find three proverbs unknown to them and explain them visually on a PowerPoint slide (can easily be printed into a big book or poster). Feature a proverb a week in your classroom or on a bulletin board to build analogous thinking, cultural literacy, and inferencing skills as you ask students to explain what it means. This will gently ease your concrete thinkers into broader understanding.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Placing Characters on Trial - Sharon B. Jenkins and Jennifer H. Slinger
Grades
8 to 11
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Placing Characters on Trail aligned to the novel "Of Mice and Men" will teach students in grades 6-12 a greater understanding of the moral implications of the characters' actions, how...more
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Placing Characters on Trail aligned to the novel "Of Mice and Men" will teach students in grades 6-12 a greater understanding of the moral implications of the characters' actions, how to judge characters' actions citing evidence from the novel itself and the basics of the jury trial system taking on roles as lawyers, defendants, plaintiffs, jury members, and judges. The lesson includes an Overview, Materials Needed/Preparation, Estimated Time, Procedures, Post Activity/Takeaways/Follow Up and Assessment. The lesson is aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The lesson can be downloaded as a Word Document.
tag(s): branches of government (70), civil rights (220), debate (39), literature (215)
In the Classroom
As you plan to teach the novel, set aside the time to do this webquest, or intersperse the steps during the time spent reading. Students will have more of a purpose in their reading. If you do not teach "Of Mice and Men," consider using some of the links from this webquest to make a similar activity for a "trial" of a character from another book. Most of the work has been done here. Simply create a word processing document with your own directions and the links for students to use or put your new webquest in the form of a PowerPoint show with links from there so students can navigate the task.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ESL Lessons and Help - Karin M. Cintron
Grades
4 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Originally written for ESL students to practice language skills, these interactive quizzes are very useful for allowing all levels of students to test their skills online in a nonthreatening...more
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Originally written for ESL students to practice language skills, these interactive quizzes are very useful for allowing all levels of students to test their skills online in a nonthreatening way. These interactive quizzes seem to touch on all bases from business English to grammar to vocabulary (including idioms), making them great for either pretesting, practice or review. They also allow the teacher to individualize what students need from a variety of choices.
In the Classroom
Assign individual or mini-lesson practice on laptops or a computer cluster in your classroom after grading writing assignments or while studying grammar. Learning support and ESL teachers will also like the extra practice options to help students with grammar skills and idioms. Since there is no "scoring" function, you may want students to raise hands and SHOW you how they did as they complete activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Women in Poetry - Carolyn Kohli/The Academy of American Poets
Grades
9 to 12
1 Favorites
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This unit (an extensive set of lesson plans) uses both critical writing and the Internet to explore women in poetry. It helps to make students familiar with the work of ...more
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This unit (an extensive set of lesson plans) uses both critical writing and the Internet to explore women in poetry. It helps to make students familiar with the work of women poets and confident in understanding poetry. Students get practice reading poems critically, learn technical poetry vocabulary, do research on the web, write responses, and more. Examples of themes explored in the unit include "Entering the Darkness Out of Childhood," "Voices of the Mothers," and "The Body Electric." The culminating project is creating a webpage. The lesson plans are very detailed, so that even teachers reluctant about teaching poetry will engage their students with this literary form.
In the Classroom
Choose the lesson options that best meet your needs and time limits or simply use the research and project portions. Although the site suggests making a web page on your school server, a wiki would be an easy place to create the culminating projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Newpapers in Education - Capital Newspapers
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This wonderful collection of lesson plans and activities using e-newspapers offers a wide variety of motivating plans including how to use different sections of the newspaper for educational...more
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This wonderful collection of lesson plans and activities using e-newspapers offers a wide variety of motivating plans including how to use different sections of the newspaper for educational purposes and how to match curricular content an levels with various newspaper activities. A Special Report section offers timely, short-term projects that correspond with STEM and current hot topics.
tag(s): comics and cartoons (61), fashion (13), news (223), newspapers (88), sports (89)
In the Classroom
All of the lessons described here require online versions of newspapers, but you may be able to find any article in a hard copy newspaper as well. You could also use online newspapers from this resource to find online papers and conduct some of the same lessons. In the course of the discussion, or possible read the article from a different point of view, a topic of basic information literacy in the 21st century.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Braingle: Brain Teasers, Puzzles, Riddles and More - Braingle
Grades
3 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Exercise your gray matter by solving one of the 12,000 'braingles' at this site. It purports to be the largest collection of puzzles, riddles, mind games, etc, on the ...more
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Exercise your gray matter by solving one of the 12,000 'braingles' at this site. It purports to be the largest collection of puzzles, riddles, mind games, etc, on the Internet. Once you explore the site, you trust their word. The site is mobile phone and wii-friendly. Don't miss the section with SAT vocab (in Mentalrobics). There are articles on study skills and strategies such as clearing your mind before studying, "chunking" when reading, or various strategies to memorize material. Engage students into math and reading exercises through the endless riddles and puzzles at this site. They won't even be aware they are 'reading' or 'solving math.'
tag(s): brain (58), puzzles (163), riddles (15), vocabulary (251)
In the Classroom
Start class with a "warm-up" brain teaser. Or include this link on your teacher web page (with a caution about parental supervision for younger ones). Site creators claim the entire site is family-friendly, safe for classroom use. Portions of the site require membership, and the membership level that displays ads is free. You may want to set up a CLASS account and use it under controlled circumstances since there are forums and chat rooms, however. Or ask your tech folks to block the portion of the site that includes "community" in the URL (http://www.braingle.com/community/) to avoid having to deal with forums, chat rooms, etc.(If you are lucky enough to have such helpful tech support, make them cookies once in awhile!)Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Simple English Wikipedia - Wikipedia Foundation
Grades
3 to 10
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Simple English Wikipedia is a new production of Wikipedia, focused on readers and learners with less vocabulary than native speakers of English. According to the producer, the pages...more
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Simple English Wikipedia is a new production of Wikipedia, focused on readers and learners with less vocabulary than native speakers of English. According to the producer, the pages featured here contain simpler words and shorter sentences than the regular Wiki pages. The number of pages is more limited as well, though this should grow with educators and learners contributing information. Another difference is that any slangs or idiomatic language is carefully explained to accommodate the ELL reader. The HELP pages explain how to write and submit articles for Simple English Wikipedia and have suggestions for simplifying English.
tag(s): writing (308)
In the Classroom
Share this site with your school ESL teachers as well as classroom teachers who may have ESL students who are involved in researching and possibly even writing new articles. Bookmark this for your classroom computer. If you do recommend wikipedia as a source for research, be sure to have the discussion about its unknown authorship and usefulness as a general information tool but not as a "scholarly" resource. As a challenge to your better writers, consider asking them to write entries that you can submit to this encyclopedia on classroom topics in simpler English. They will have to analyze their own language and writing style with far greater scrutiny than ever before. Or have the class create a two-version wiki glossary of your own on curriculum topics in any discipline, using this as a model for the "easy reading" side.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching That Makes Sense - Steve Peha
Grades
4 to 10
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This is an exciting site for teachers because of the practical worksheets and ideas that absolutely fill it. It is geared to writing, particularly writing about what we read. While...more
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This is an exciting site for teachers because of the practical worksheets and ideas that absolutely fill it. It is geared to writing, particularly writing about what we read. While it may seem geared for intermediate and middle school students, it has a lot to offer to older students as well-- particularly ones who are not good writers and need more engaging, closer work to become better writers. In light of NCLB, this is a great site for working with slow or disabled older students or really just any students who need to become better communicators.
tag(s): writing (308)
In the Classroom
The PDF files that are downloadable from this site are great! It is divided into 6 sections that you can use to plan, or you can use portions directly with students in a lab or on laptops. Have students do different parts of the same projects, working from the templates provided. A great exercise for older students is to go through the writing samples and evaluate them as a class. Since there are multiple examples posted, it would be an excellent lesson to work with an interactive whiteboard. The ideas are limited only by your imagination!
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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