Helpful ESL Resources

Since we don't have a specific focus for this week's blog (such as listening), I decided to search for what I really need- lesson plans! I do not have any textbooks or any idea what the first step would be to make a plan, other than choosing your topic. I will definitely need some in the beginning to guide me through my teaching process. Below are 5 resources I found:

1) Teachers' Corner

Teachers' Corner has some great lesson plans

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/lesson-plans/reading/index.htm

It has lesson plans for a variety of subjects (ex. Writing, Math, Social Studies, etc.), thematic units, seasonal items, printable worksheets, and more.

2) TEFL.net

http://www.tefl.net/esl-lesson-plans/

This resource also has  ESL lesson plans. It has a tool that makes your own worksheets, all you have to do is type in what you're looking for and the site builds one for you. Pretty neat! This site also contains authentic reading material and teaching tips. All very useful.

3) Super Teacher Worksheets

 http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/comprehension.html

This resource is suggested for Grades 1-4, which fits into my context perfectly. This page is mostly focused on reading comprehension, but they do have writing and grammar exercises to explore. I love how this resource includes famous children's characters such as "Dr. Seuss" but also contains current, cultural characters of today such as "Barack Obama."

4) Real English

http://www.real-english.com/ 

This resource has ESL video exercises. The term "real English" is recommending that one should learn "real English" in the "real world." The videos show every day people on the street, doing daily activities that any of my learners would do. The videos come from a mix of resources: some are original Real English videos and others are You Tube. The below link is a great example of a video for a beginner, "What's your favorite color?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rw-KjV4HrI

 

5) ESL Resource Center

 http://eslus.com/eslcenter.htm

This source is easy to navigate and covers important focuses: Grammar, Reading & Writing, Vocab & Idioms, Spelling, Pronunciation, Listening. It also contains games, random articles, clocks and calculators (which are all handy while learning English). 

Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated!