Common Core Gives Purpose to Grammar:)

All too often, many teachers spend a great deal of instructional time on the teaching of grammar in isolation.  Though the intention is good, it rarely leads to a deeper understanding of the written language.  This issue surfaces often in classes where there are English language learners.  Well-intentioned teachers provide a wide range of activities all around mastering a specific form of grammar--tense, word choice, subordinate clauses, etc.  However, this instruction occurs out of context so students rarely see the "big picture" on the need for specific forms of grammar.

With common core, the shift will be addressing grammar within the context of a novel, piece of informational text, a textbook, the internet, a writing assignment, a math word problem, student writing assignments, etc.  The ten tips for teaching grammar in this Eye on Education link are excellent guides for teachers in this area.  Using them, grammar will take on lasting meaning for students.

I was particularly impressed with #8.  The suggestion here is to avoid writing sentences on the board with mistakes for students to correct (popular in many English classes) because such sentences may stay with students more than the corrections.  This is especially true of those still learning English. 

Grammar will find its place within quality reading and writing activities:)

Denise

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Do You Have ELLs Looking to Expand Their Language Skills Outside of Class? Share ESL GOLD With Them:)

Every class has those few students who just never seem to tire of learning English.  This group will attempt anything the instructor offers and more.  Often times, this group will ask for more practice in any form.  For these students, motivation is never an issue.  Instead, the issue may be how to find just the right website where students at all 3 levels (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) will be challenged, but never bored or frustrated. 

ESL Gold is a site with a wide variety of options for students to select from.  They may also self-select the level of difficulty which is wonderful for those who feel confident enough to undertake more academically challenging materials. 

What is in the site?  Students will find activities in speaking (only this section needs a textbook while the others don't), listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, business, pronunciation, TOEFL (for ESL students overseas who wish to study in the U.S.),  and TOEIC  (measures the ability of non-native English-speaking examinees to use English in everyday).  Many of the options here are probably geared for 9th grade on though a few might work at middle school (ex. writing, vocabulary, etc.).  One suggestion I have here is provide a quick tour of what the site has and then let students gravitate to what they enjoy.  The reading comprehension section maintains a steady current flow of news articles on international stories.  There is no modification of language here though the difficulty of language seems to vary with the subject matter.

Though no site will ever replace quality teaching in class instruction, this one easily supplements it for those students who really wish to go beyond the class material on their own time (if your classroom has some computers in it, kids who finish work early could do additional practice here).  

ESL GOLD Hope they like the link:)

Denise

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Blogging - Great Tool to Change Student Attitudes About Writing:)

With the numbers of long-term English language learners rising, schools are exploring all venues to see what can be done to reverse the trend.  These students have been in school since the early grades and now in middle school and high school are failing.  Their academic language skills in reading and writing are far below those of their American peers (those from English speaking homes).  Conversational language is fine, but that skill will not make the language in a textbook more accessible or an academic writing assignment easier to complete.

So how can a teacher re-introduce the skill of writing in a way that will spark interest?  Blogging might be just the ticket to show students that writing is a skill that the vast majority of people have and that they should not consider themselves and exception to the rule:)  There are blogging sites available to teachers to use with their students.

One of my favorites is BLOGGER (this site).  Several teachers at my site have class blogs up with details from their lectures, power points, notes, etc. loaded on it.  Students must create GMAIL ACCOUNTS and then they can create small group blogs on their class projects.  These blogs are stored on the teacher's class blog to share with every student in the class.  Students are describing, noting, clarifying, generating hypotheses, etc. online.  It should also be noted that the teacher assigns the usernames and passwords so that parents can see what their children are doing at any time.  Further, the teacher can prevent strangers from entering the blog since s/he sees the comments first and can decide what does or does not get published so students can write and then publish their results to the web safely!  Long term ELLs are provided with sentence stems to set them up to eventually write up their own lab reports using academic English formats.  Over time and with lots of scaffolding, long term ELLs see their use of academic English improve.  Their blogging entries will develop over time with patience, support, class charts, notes, etc. 

EDUBLOGS is also a free blogging site for classrooms. Like BLOGGER, it is another tool to use to have students publish to the internet.  It claims to be the largest educational blogging site on the internet. Here, blogging is just as easy as sending an email.  If something is stress free to use, more students will use it.  Further, teachers can create as many student blogs as they like.  Managing the sites is also not an issue for the teachers.  Some of the features here--discussion tools, video embedding, Facebook and Twitter integration, and calendars--are also in BLOGGER.  Again, research based assignments are possible here.  Students can collaborate with classmates through them using computers, iPads, OR cell phones/smart phones.  With common core project based learning assignments on the way, this is a tool that will enable students to develop those life long skills to survive in the real world where team work is valued.

Other advantages to having struggling students blog?  Teachers can have students use them as "notebooks."  Just think about it.  No more will students be able to say, "I left my binder home."  No longer will teachers have to struggle in trying to read illegible handwriting.  More importantly, students will be able to embellish more with pictures, videos, links, etc.  These additional supports will enhance their writing efforts.  As mentioned at the start, this is a tool that might excite them about writing.

BLOGGING -- GET STUDENTS EXCITED ABOUT WRITING!

Denise

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LIVEN UP REVIEW ROUTINES FOR ELLS AND EOs With FREE Academic Review Games!

Though MRNUSSBAUM has many rich features to it,  I would like to focus on the academic games first.    Often times, ELLs spend countless hours trying to hold on to all the content data teachers delivered throughout the year, but sometimes fall a bit shy of retaining most of it when they are under pressure in taking tests.

Here students are offered a wide range of content based online activities to build self-confidence and thereby demonstrate their competence to their teachers (and to themselves).  Since the activities here resemble video game formats, students jump at the chance to WIN.  How does one win?  By getting the highest number of correct answers possible, students need to avail themselves of all the skills they were taught during the year by their teachers.  It is also amazing to see them coach each other navigate the more challenging questions.  My favorite was TORTURE THE TEACHER.  Here spelling is the focus.  In selecting incorrect answers, students can force the teacher to resign.  Academically, students are reviewing spelling rules, but having fun doing so.


The video section is also quite impressive.  Take the one on TRAVEL (for GEOGRAPHY).  What could be more exciting than actually seeing stunning shots of Yosemite, or checking out a woman's trip around the world, and much more?  Breathe life into any curriculum with such video clips.  For ELLs, it provides vital context and that context makes content accessible.

Think of this as one more tool to add to your library of student supports:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

Your Students Will Love THE PROBLEM SITE!

As the winter break fast approaches, teachers are trying to prep students for final exams, assist them in finishing up projects, or complete final drafts on essays. Students need to study, but what can the internet do to liven up the routine a bit? Quite a bit actually:) One site that even has activities for calculus is THE PROBLEM SITE. Everything here is free and contains academic content.

You will find educational games, problems, and puzzles galore! Students may also work on daily puzzles of various types, access resource sites in the reference section on astronomy, math, programming, etc. Teachers can also generate worksheets for free here from a variety of disciplines. One fun activity might be to have students generate worksheets for each other:)

Now, though many of these activities are geared to older students, a new section has been added for all levels of elementary school---THE PROBLEM SITE: JUNIOR EDITION. It seems that, due to high demand, this section is going to be further developed so if you teach lower grades, you will want to bookmark (or save as a favorite) to keep current.

If you would like to access the premium features, you won't have to spend a penny---it is free!

Hope you like the site!

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

Exploring America's Historic Newspapers!

The US Library of Congress has made it possible for anyone to access "America's historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress". Imagine being able to read about the Spanish-American War from the daily of the time! Think about how informative to students it would be to see how people of the time viewed what they are studying in your class. The visuals-political cartoons, photographs, sketches, etc.-would provide solid content for ELLs to follow the lesson in English, geography, social studies, etc. With probing questions , quality choices, creative cooperative learning activities, ELLs will be exposed to rich language, new vocabulary (some dated some not), and many opportunities to delve deeply into content with a feeling of success.

Again, pulling from such resources will enhance a lesson. It will supplement it in a way that will leave a memorable image in the minds of your students.

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS