Prove To Your Students That Learning A Language CAN Be FUN:)

If you teach ELLs (ESL students) at the beginning level, you will like the following site:

FREE LANGUAGE COURSES

In this site, students can practice basic vocabulary, do some writing based on dialogues,  focus on listening/repeating, and complete a wide variety of exercises.  The conversations are geared to beginners.  With the summer fast approaching, beginners will need some support in maintaining their English skills over the summer.  This is one source, but there are many more within my blog (just go to SEARCH box on the home page and type in English activities).  Since all the sites are free and on the internet, all a student needs is access to a computer (or smart phone).

For ELLs with more English, why not have them try the following site:

ELLO

Here students will hear people speaking English from all over the English speaking world.  The topics addressed cover an fascinating collection of subjects that students will find amusing to say the least.  One that caught my eye was on a young man who was broke in New York City.  He had been living in a bust boom cycle over several years.  Here (as with all the other scenarios) you have real world conversations on high interest topics.

Students will also find listening games.  Students are presented with several pictures which are talked about in a short dialogue.  Students need to identify the specific objects the narrator addressed and if they do, they score high:)

There are also many videos in many different language settings.  Speakers of English talk about a wide range of topics of interest to them.  This is great listening practice and for free.

Why not make it an assignment to have them find their favorite section and report back to the class on what they discovered? :)  Over the summer, how about having them create their own videos?

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

A Look at Ancient Egypt Via The British Museum:)

With Howard Carter's 138th birthday in the news, why not take a look at the wonders of ancient Egypt?  Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb was a major event of the 20th century.  It opened a window to the past of how the ancient Egyptians lived.  Thanks to the British Museum, students can actually explore many facets of life then through this site. 

Some of the topics addressed are geography, writing, gods and goddesses, mummification, daily life, and much, much more.  Each topic covered appears as a hieroglyph.  Click on one and you will be transported to a new link with photos and easy to read details on the item you selected.  I went to the one on writing and found a picture of the Rosetta Stone along with details on the writing system.  I then dug a bit deeper and found a story on the routine of scribes.  Students of all ages would be fascinated here since it covers a highly respected "job" at the time.  Next,  I explored the section on where writing was used.  Apparently, if you could write, you were in high demand in the society!  Last, but not least, is a challenge on completing a message using the ancient writing system.  This type of activity would be a fun approach to see how much your students understood from your lesson and the site.



ANCIENT EGYPT

HOWARD CARTER'S DISCOVERY OF KING TUT'S TOMB
This site is a mixture of real silent film footage and event re-enactments.  It provides a very well-rounded view of the event. 

KING TUT'S TOMB TOUR
What did the tomb look like?  This is a virtual tour.  Here you will find pictures of artifacts along with short descriptions of the tomb's contents.


Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS