ESL etc.

Teach UNICEF is a new website that shares a bunch of UNICEF teaching materials by topic and grade level. Topics include child labor, armed conflict, poverty and sanitation, to name a few. Most topics offer materials for grades 6-8 and 9-12, and some include K-2 or 3-5. You can also browse by media type. I [...]

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March 31st was Cesar Chavez’s birthday, and Larry Ferlazzo updated his list of the Best Sites for Learning about Cesar Chavez. His list includes a lot of great stuff, including readings, audio and video clips. One that caught my eye is something from the Smithsonian on the banning of the short-handled hoe. I have to [...]

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Drop the Weapons is a collection of audio and video clips aimed at convincing young people not to carry guns and knives. The speech in these clips is very natural, making it a nice change from scripted recordings. Some of the videos are “choose your own adventures” where viewers interact by choosing what to do [...]

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A Class Divided is a wonderful episode of Frontline that shows an ingenious two-day activity undertaken by the third grade class of teacher Jane Elliot. In this activity, devised the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Elliot divides her class into blue-eyes and brown-eyes. On the first day, the blue-eyed students are given preferential [...]

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I was recently asked for suggestions for materials that could be used with younger learners. Here are a few of my favorites. Facing the Future has a collection of activity-based, global issues lesson plans for students of all ages. In addition to the great stuff they offer for sale, they have a ton of materials [...]

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The Smithsonian’s Forces of Change online exhibit has lots of accessible information on various changes taking place on the Earth, especially those related to the climate. It has sections on the Arctic, the atmosphere, El Nino, and soils. If I were using this in my class, I would probably first look under the “media library” [...]

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eslflow.com has a good-sized collection of environmental activities for the ESL / EFL classroom. Topics include climate change, pollution and transportation. The materials look to be mainly vocabulary exercises and readings. Let us know in the comments if you find any particularly good ones.

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Larry Ferlazzo just posted two multimedia plagiarism resources that could be useful for English learners. The first, Plagiarism, is an interactive slideshow that talks about what is and is not plagiarism. The information is all presented visually, which is nice because English learners can go through it at their own pace. The second, Academic Integrity, [...]

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Facing the Future is an organization that makes activity-based, global issues curricula for students of all ages. In addition to the great stuff they offer for sale, they have a ton of materials available as free downloads. I especially like the lesson plans from Engaging Students Through Global Issues, and the Climate Change curricula. Finally, [...]

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The Everyday Life Project features interactive activities (using text, pictures and audio) that take students through everyday activities. Activities include looking at the classifieds, using an ATM, and getting a prescription filled. Registration is required, but it is free. If I were teaching a class in the US, I would definitely recommend this site to [...]

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