ESL etc.

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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On Fresh Air recently, Terry Gross interviewed Mark Schapiro, author of Exposed. Schapiro talks about the toxic chemicals that are released into our bodies and our environment by many of the goods that we consume. He also talks about how the US policies on hazardous chemicals are much laxer than the EU policies. Thus, many [...]

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I just listened to an interview with Peter Heller, author of a new book called The Whale Warriors. In it, he details his adventures with Paul Watson, a “pirate” who has dedicated his life to stopping illegal whaling. I haven’t yet read the book (waiting for a used paperback) but the story is great: Watson [...]

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The Story of Stuff is a great video that takes you through the lifespan of our stuff – extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. It points out the problems of running a linear process like this within a closed system (the Earth) and links to a lot of great resources. In addition to being able [...]

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