Care to Liven up Vocabulary Review? Try QUIZLET!

How often do teachers of all disciplines have to build academic vocabulary for their students?  Often times, much of such work is done in class and through engaging techniques no doubt.  What if teachers could design online tools for this purpose which students could access at any time from their iPhone/Smart phone, iPod, tablet, or laptop for free?  What if these tools were actually fun?  What if students didn't actually realizing that they were "working"? :)

Well, there is such a tool and it is FREE!  Welcome to quizlet:)  Here is a site that is quite easy for teachers to set up.  This is a must with the workloads teachers have every day.  Once the teacher has uploaded vocabulary and definitions, s/he shares it with students.  If there are multiple classes, there is a fee of $25 a year with more features added, but most teachers are content with free access.

What are the options once the class is created and the vocabulary loaded?  Students can try FLASH CARDS to prep for additional activities on the site.  There is also the option to hear the word pronounced which is very beneficial for the English language learner.  Once self-confidence is established, students may go on to LEARNING the words, TESTING themselves on them, MATCHING word to definition (drag word to definition--if correct, the words disappear), and finally proceed on to SPACE RACE (a game using the vocabulary).

Try it:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS
Twitter @ell_teacherpros (1950 followers)
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How to Write a Scary Story---Just in Time for Halloween:)

Halloween is just around the corner.  This fun day is enjoyed by all grade levels.  Since the day's events are fun for all, why not build an academic activity into it?  Student background knowledge is already there so all a teacher has to do is tap into it to use it for academic purposes--here writing:)

Writing scary stories activates student creativity with ease.  Remember that they love horror/monster movies so Hollywood has provided quite a bit visual stimuli.  No student starts from zero here.  Such activities may be completed within a small group of no more than 4 or in groups of 2.  For this to be a language developing assignment, students of mixed abilities must be in a collaborative setting where verbal give and take rules the day. 

The activity here lends itself to elementary through high school with adjustments for age group.  The video component is definitely a favorite with kids.  They will gain experience in "directing" the actors and in designing the set.

Make Halloween work for you:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS
Twitter @ell_teacherpros.
Pinterest dmcyberteacher OR Denise Stewart

EASE ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEMANDS OF COMMON CORE READING ASSIGNMENTS FOR ELLS AND OTHERS:)

As students start to interact with text, they will encounter many words that will be totally unfamiliar to them.  Dictionaries should not the first source for ELLs to run to when this happens.  Instead, teachers need to find "out-of-box" imaginative classroom activities to support students in acquiring new vocabulary.  These activities ideally should include something for each of the three learning styles (as the teacher in the video below does) since not all students learn the same way.  Remember that ELLs are individuals first and ELLs second. 

In this video, the kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners are all actively engaged in finding the correct words to complete a list of analogies.  The teacher places one word on the backs of eachstudent with POST-IT notes.  Students have a sheet of incomplete analogies which they must complete by reading all the words on the backs of their classmates until they find the right match.  At that time, they fill in the correct space on their activity sheet.  In the process of doing this, they are discussing their choices with their fellow classmates. 

When all learning styles can relate to the assignment, all benefit.  Notice the amount of talking and reading that goes on in the activity.  This is what ELLs need especially to build their speaking and listening skills in academic settings.  As the listening and speaking skills grow so do the reading and writing skills. 

One more note.  This activity can be used for ANY content area and at almost any grade level.  ELLs will benefit greatly from non-traditional approaches to teaching or reviewing vocabulary because they have classmates all around them to ask questions of as they try to complete the task.  Anxiety is also low since the activity is also fun.

"KICK ME" -- FUN VOCABULARY ACTIVITY FOR ANY AGE OR CONTENT AREA

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS