Need Short Educational Videos for Your Classes? LOOK NO MORE:)

How many times do teachers try to find just the right educational videos for their classes only to have their choice blocked due to district policies on use of YOUTUBE? Nothing is more frustrating when after all the searching, a teacher has found just the right one to support instruction and then can't show it! ELLs need such supports to make those vital connections to content if they are to fully comprehend the lessons. Leaving that important component out sets them up for mediocre work at best in a classroom.

Well, here is a site with over 35,000 APPROVED videos (mostly from YOUTUBE) that have been cleared to run in any classroom even those with a YOUTUBE block (not all districts have this, but many do). All grades are here along with every subject area. Teaching about Anne Frank? There is a copy of the ONLY video in the world with her in it. Teaching TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD? One video provides through pictures background knowledge of the time leading up that of the book. Students follow the period from the happy 1920's to the hard times of the depression to the pain of Jim Crow laws. For ELLs with no background knowledge of US history, such a site sets them up to have an idea of why the book was written. This is an example of building that crucial background knowledge to truly appreciate the message behind the novel.

All subject areas are listed here as well as grade levels. Teachers should join just in case they have videos that they would like added. To date, over 15,000,000 videos have been watched! Here is the site: WATCH KNOW LEARN Bookmark it:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

Free EDUCATIONAL Videos on ALL Subjects and for ALL Grades!

Often times teachers look to activating prior knowledge before launching into a new lesson. This may be accomplished with classroom discusssion, anticipation guides, quickwrites/quickdraws, etc. Videos may also be used, but often times are not because it takes time to find just the right clip. A search for just the right film takes time, and teachers rarely have much of that to spare:)

Well, WATCH KNOW LEARN, may be the answer. All subjects are covered here and for ages 3-12. In fact, a US history teacher at my site was looking for visual information on the Trail of Tears (forced removal of the Cherokees from the east to Oklahoma) for the ELLs in the class. The images here vividly portray the plight of these people as they were forced off their ancestral lands by the American government. Such visuals even the weakest student can relate to. The visuals build that crucial background knowledge ELLs need to succeed in content classes.

Within this site, every discipline is covered and all videos are for schools/teachers/students/parents. Registration is free. Feel free to submit your own educational videos if they enhance instruction.

Hope you enjoy the site:)

Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS

Teachers' Treasure Trove of Digital Media to Assist In ALL Grades and Subject Areas!

Ever wish you could take the abstract concepts in a lesson and make them more accessible with your students (and especially for your ELLs)? Often times, the real world application is not readily available to drive home a key point without your spending endless time on the internet hoping to get lucky:) Well, the site TEACHER'S DOMAIN may be just what you are looking for and it is FREE! The site is from NY and is dedicated to NY State teachers, BUT open to any teacher anywhere in the world with registration. I am in California and have full access. Content teachers in English, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, Arts, and Social Studies (all grade levels) will appreciate the already prepared lessons which they can adjust to meet their populations' needs, but more importantly is the digital video selection.

This site's digital collection takes subject material and applies it to the real world. Take the study of angles and slope. It makes more sense when a student can see how it surfaces in the world around them. All too often, students sit in the classes wondering how any of the lesson they are listening to personally affects their lives. Here the video component addresses this often missing component in many lessons. Yet, the site doesn't just offer lots of videos alone. It goes beyond by offering TEACHING STRATEGIES to accompany those videos. This site is quite unique in the extent it goes to supporting every strategy with solid rationales. Such support creates a learning environment in which EVERY student can be fully engaged in the learning process. The scenarios these activities create are ones of full interaction--with peers, with groups, with teachers, with the text, etc.

I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

A Treasure Chest of Activities For ALL GRADES and ALL SUBJECT AREAS!

SCHOLASTIC offers outstanding teacher resources for all subject areas and at all grade levels. This includes online interactives, worksheets, historical photographs, lessons, instructional video clips, and much more. Though this is a commercial site geared to teachers and the needs of their students, they are extremely generous in what they offer to schools for free.

Once you pick your grade and particular subject interest you have, take some time to explore all facets of the site. There is quite a bit there and, though it may seem overwhelming at first site, you will quickly get acclimated to it. The information you find here could easily be woven into any lesson with your computer and LCD projector. Materials found here build student curiosity which leads to motivation to learn.

Though all students will enjoy this site, your ELLs will benefit the most since it takes complex material (i.e. material that they have no background information on), and makes it accessible with ease. Textbooks are fine, but this generation is a digital one. The more tech in any lesson, the more successful the instruction.

I hope you enjoy the site.

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS