Hi all,
This week I spent some time searching for reading & writing resources for my beginner ESL classroom. I found some great sites I would like to share. Below is the list, along with brief descriptions
1) Writing Resource
I had heard of "About.com" before, mainly as a fact/information source. However while browsing the internet for useful resources, it popped up as having ESL tools and lesson plans. At first I doubted it would have beneficial lesson plans, but I was wrong. About.com turned out to be very useful! It has creative writing activities for ESL beginners and writing workshops for all levels.
2) Reading Resource
http://www.esl-storybooks.com/esl-storybooks.php
ESL-Storybooks.com is an easy site to navigate and has some great materials. It has a collection of ESL stories for children to read. Each Storybook E Book includes a student workbook and teacher's guide. They also include a glossary of new words and vocabulary. This website also contains tips for teaching ESL to children and games that will keep students interested.
3) Reading & Writing Resource (Combined)
http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/
Everything ESL has read alouds, books for the classroom, websites and sample lesson plans. They break everything up into thematic units which is fun and helpful while thinking of ideas.
http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/eslhome.htm
This site has a lot of online literature, booklists for young children and lesson plan ideas for certain books. I really enjoyed this site because it has lesson plans designed for some of the most classic children's books such as "The Magic Schoolbus" and the "Arthur" books.
I found a link on this site "Edhelper.com" that has reading comprehension lessons that are easy to print out. Here is an example:
http://www.edhelper.com/DailyThemes_October_27.html
5) Reading Resource
http://www.eslreading.org/about/abouteslreading.html
ESL Reading contains original stories and simplified versions of classic texts. It's nice that they have full PDF printer-friendly short stories. Most of the texts are accompanied by glossaries and activities. All texts are simplified and graded according to the specific ESL level. This site also has some fun listening activities and video clips.
6) Reading & Listening Resource
http://www.esl-library.com/index.cfm?pageid=7&lang=en&step=2§ion=25
This resource is wonderful for all 4 focus areas (reading, writing, speaking, listening). They have some great beginner lessons, which would be perfect for my teaching context.
7) Writing Resource
http://www.esl-galaxy.com/writing.html
ESL Galaxy contains writing exercises, worksheets to print, and lesson plans.
I like ESL-Storybooks.com
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea.
I like that it includes a student workbook and teacher's guide. Also, having tips for teaching ESL to children and games that will keep students interested is not a bad thing to have handy.
I noticed that:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eslreading.org/about/abouteslreading.html
has simplified versions of classic texts.
I am not the biggest fan of this.
Simplifying great literature kills the spirit of it.
Translation already does enough damage to classic literature.
Simplifying would possibly destroy what was good about it.
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting websites. I liked “about.com” and the fact that they have activities and LP for different levels. I did find a little confusing that the index is not organized at all, i.e., beginners and writing letter for business (probably advanced) are all mixed up in no special order. That being said, once you navigate through the site you find great resources, like the ESL writing workshop (when they even teach how to write a good essay in English) and the ESL for children with games. I wished they have something like that for Portuguese!
The ESL Storybook also seems interesting, but we cannot read the materials unless we buy it, so it is difficult to access. One question: what do you think of the fact that the books were written targeting ESL students? What does that exactly mean? Are the texts written with simpler vocabulary or sentence structures? Will it defeat the purpose of ESL instruction (teach non-natives to read and write like natives)? What do you think?
oooooops! In my previous comment I meant to say "difficult to assess" and not access. Sorry!
ReplyDelete