ESL etc.

Global Issues and Activism in English Language Teaching

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Entries Tagged as 'reading'

Buy, Use, Toss – Free 10 Lesson Unit from Facing the Future

September 2nd, 2010 · No Comments

Facing the Future is offering Buy, Use, Toss, a 10 lesson unit on consumption, for free download. It looks very good, and features some old favorites like The Story of Stuff and Chris Jordan. It’s aimed at grades 9-12, and seems like it would be perfect for adult ESL learners. The lessons ask students to [...]

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Tags: blog · consumerism · fair trade · global issues activities · k-12 · pictures · poverty & wealth · reading · statistics · the environment · video · visual prompts

Take Our Jobs

June 25th, 2010 · No Comments

Take Our Jobs is a project by the United Farm Workers offering harvesting jobs to unemployed Americans. The idea is to contend the allegation that illegal immigrants take “our” jobs, while also raising awareness about the food chain. Asking students to look at this initiative could be a great way to bring up issues of [...]

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Tags: animal rights · cultural issues · fair trade · financial crisis (2008) · food and hunger · global issues activities · human rights · poverty & wealth · racism · reading · the environment · vegetarian / vegan

Teach UNICEF

June 16th, 2010 · No Comments

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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Tags: audio · blog · child labor · cultural issues · fair trade · finance · food and hunger · global issues activities · global issues resources · health · human rights · listening · maps · natural disasters · pictures · politics · poverty & wealth · reading · slideshow · statistics · video · visual prompts · vocabulary · volunteering · war · water

The Money Gusher / Oil Spill Resources

June 8th, 2010 · 1 Comment

The Money Gusher, George Monbiot’s latest column, draws interesting parallels between the financial crisis and the ongoing Gulf oil spill. Pollution has been defined as a resource in the wrong place. That’s also a pretty good description of the company’s profits. The great plumes of money that have been bursting out of the company’s accounts [...]

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Tags: blog · climate change · environmental justice · finance · financial crisis (2008) · global issues activities · health · infographics · maps · poverty & wealth · reading · slideshow · statistics · the environment

The Best Sites for Learning about Cesar Chavez

April 4th, 2010 · No Comments

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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Tags: audio · blog · child labor · cultural issues · food and hunger · global issues activities · health · human rights · listening · pictures · politics · poverty & wealth · racism · reading · slideshow · video · visual prompts

Dancing Rabbit Blogathon – March 26 / 27

March 25th, 2010 · 1 Comment

Dancing Rabbit is an intentional community in northeast Missouri that is dedicated to living sustainably. They eat (and grow) local, organic food, practice natural building techniques, and host educational seminars. I stayed there for three weeks a couple of years ago and loved it. It is truly something worth supporting. Their website also features past [...]

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Tags: animal rights · blog · charity · climate change · consumerism · food and hunger · global issues activities · health · human rights · natural building · pictures · poverty & wealth · reading · the environment · vegetarian / vegan · video · visual prompts · volunteering · water

Making Connections: Engaging Students in Language, Literacy, and Global Issues

March 24th, 2010 · 1 Comment

Making Connections is a new textbook (w/ teacher’s guide) from Facing the Future. This new research-based teacher’s guide helps students develop English language skills through highly engaging real-world investigations of current global issues. Designed for intermediate-level English language learners and striving readers, Making Connections combines language learning with opportunities for students to think critically about [...]

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Tags: ESL activity · blog · climate change · food and hunger · global issues activities · health · history · human rights · k-12 · poverty & wealth · racism · reading · textbooks · the environment · visual prompts · war · water · writing

EarthPulse 2010

March 9th, 2010 · No Comments

EarthPulse is a great website by National Geographic that provides an overview of many global issues. It starts with a series of essays by Thomas Hayden. He takes a much more strongly anti-consumerism stance than I expected from National Geographic. …here we are, too far into the new century to pretend any longer that a [...]

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Tags: animal rights · blog · climate change · consumerism · global issues activities · global issues resources · infographics · natural disasters · pictures · poverty & wealth · reading · slideshow · statistics · the environment · vegetarian / vegan · visual prompts · water

The Institute for Humane Education

February 10th, 2010 · No Comments

The Institute for Humane Education has a great collection of activities, many of which could be used with English language learners. Most of them are aimed at younger learners, but many could also be used effectively with adults. I haven’t yet had a chance to go through the whole site, but I took a look [...]

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Tags: animal rights · blog · climate change · consumerism · cultural issues · environmental justice · fair trade · food and hunger · global issues activities · global issues resources · health · human rights · k-12 · poverty & wealth · reading · speaking · the environment · vegetarian / vegan · visual prompts · water

A Young People’s History of the United States

February 3rd, 2010 · 1 Comment

I just became aware of A Young People’s History of the United States,a version of Howard Zinn’s classic targeted towards younger readers. I haven’t seen the book myself yet, but I suspect that it would work well with English learners, too.

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Tags: blog · child labor · fair trade · food and hunger · global issues activities · history · human rights · k-12 · maps · politics · poverty & wealth · racism · reading · war