Remembrance Day Resources for ESL

Creative Commons photo by Tony Oldroyd (belkin59 on Flickr)

Poppies can be seen everywhere on people's lapels.  It is time to introduce your students to Remembrance Day in Canada. Here are some links with resources appropriate to use with your ESL students.

A Photo Gallery for Remembrance Day in Canada

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whistlepunch/galleries/72157622549642346/

Reading, vocab and quiz about "Remembrance Day Poppies" for Intermediate ESL
(scroll down to this article)

http://www.readingesl.ca/index_canada.html

A reading and quiz from ESL Forums

http://www.englishclub.com/esl-forums/viewtopic.php?f=192&t=65371

An illustrated definition of Remembrance Day in Canada

http://eslfreepress.typepad.com/the_esl_free_press/remembrance-day.html

A Video and quiz: In Flander's Field (with text and pictures) followed by Bryan Adams: Remembrance Day

http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_intermediate.php?id=2804

Remembrance Day in Canada video

http://youtu.be/D4Icb_KfsMg

A video tribute

http://youtu.be/M720ICH_Ne0

A collection of resources for Remembrance Day in Canada

http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/De/resources/remember/links.html

ProProfs Quiz Maker

Here is a sample quiz copied from an existing template. I just wanted to test out the embedding feature of the site for the free account.

Irregular Verbs in Past Tense » quiz software

If you choose to pay for an account, you can remove ads, add media and customize the view. But if you just need a simple quiz (other question formats available) the free account is great.

Discussion » Tools for recording Audio

Discussion » Tools for recording Audio

After looking at some other options, why not join the conversation at Voxopop and share what tools you have used in the past and try out another audio recording tool at the same time.

Soundcloud

For the Tech Testdrive 2012, I shared an audio app called Soundcloud. This is a tool that allows easy audio recordings which can be saved and shared. An added feature is that the listener can add a text comment at any point in the recording as they are listening. If you don't have a smartphone or want to use this in the computer lab, you can work directly on the Soundcloud site, but the ease of using this in the classroom is a real plus.

I first learned about this tool at the TESOL conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Tyson Seburn from Toronto gave a presentation about some of the ways he had used Soundcloud for his language instruction and I thought it was worth a closer look but it took me another year to get around to it. I was experimenting more with using Voicethread in the classroom and how this tool allows for a discussion to be held with a group but there are some applications that Soundcloud might be a better choice for some actvities. That said, here are just a few ideas from an initial brainstorm. (Tyson provides some other ideas as well as more information about the features of using Soundcloud in his blog post so be sure to check it out as well!)

Here are a few ideas for how to use this in a language classroom with teacher created audio:

• Model or create exercises for grammar practice. You can record examples of sentences using one or a mixture of grammar skills. 
• Read a list of sentences using different verb tenses. Students can add comments identifying the verb tense used.
• Read a passage but leave out all the articles. Have students add the articles in at the appropriate locations using the comment feature.
• Read sentences containing grammar errors. Have the students listen for the error.
• Model or create exercises for recognizing pronunciation features.
• Rising and falling intonation in question forms. Students can identify up or down after each.
• Sentence stress to answer a variety of WH questions (see below) Students identify the appropriate question for the stress used.
• Show how connected speech is used. Students use the comment feature to identify incidences of connectedness in the sample.
• Introduce pronunciation of a new list of vocabulary words.
• Sentence stress and intonation to express different meanings with the same words. Students identify the emotion or meaning based on the different intonations.

• Record sample quotes or passages for students to respond to.
• In order to use the passages for a variety of activities, record a list of numbers after the passage and prepare questions on a handout or online to accompany the recording. Respond to questions of comprehension, vocabulary use, require dictation of parts of the passage, give opinion etc. (see below)

The students can be given a link to take them to the Soundcloud page to listen and respond or you can use the embed code directly in your blog, wiki or other course management system.


Now a few ideas for having the students create their own audio. They can share the secret link with you by email or they can make the file public and share their page with all the audio they create.

• Tasks for Accuracy checks
• Sentences applying grammar correctly.
• Words, Phrases or Sentences modeling pronunciation features.
• Fluency based tasks
• Introduce themselves to the class.
• Talk about a subject using vocabulary, ideas from in class lessons.
• Two students can create a dialogue/role-play using the app and share with others.
• Retell a news item they have read.
• Describe a scene or picture and see if their partner can draw it.
• Give directions using a map and have a partner follow them.

I'm sure there are a lot more. Please add your own ideas in the comments section. You can find more of my audio samples using Soundcloud here.  Have fun!

FotoBabble

Fotobabble is a tool that allows you to record an audio clip to accompany a photo.
I used the mobile app for iPhone but you can do this directly on the website as well. Once you have uploaded the picture, you can add a caption, special effects to the photo and record your audio.

After you create your fotobabble, and you can share the picture and audio using email, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites. You can also share a link, or embed the file in Flash or non-flash format. When you share, you can choose to set the photo to private or public. If the public option is off, it can only be viewed by the creator and someone with the link.

How could you use this with students?

Sentence one. by whistlepunch

Sentence one. by whistlepunch

Please listen to this clip and add comments as assigned.

How We Learn

A great visual to share with students that reinforces the need to repeatedly practice and review before you have truly learned something. So many times I hear "I've already learned this" but there is no demonstration in language production that they have. They fail to understand that the introduction of a skill does not immediately lead to the mastery of it. Worth a watch!

QR_Code_Comic_Tutorial

QR_Code_Comic_Tutorial, a photo by The Daring Librarian on Flickr.

A great visual introducing QR codes and suggesting how they may be used in education. I think these are going to just become more popular as more people feel comfortable with using their smart phones for mobile learning.

Voxopop - a voice based eLearning tool

Voxopop - a voice based eLearning tool

Something to explore. We have started using Voicethread so I'm curious to find alternatives and discover the features they may offer. Anyone with feedback on this to share?

Rick Mercer Report
CBC Standing News

A YouTube clip turned into an ESL dictation exercise.

Follow the link here to Listen-and-write.com for this task.

Quiz made on eslvideo.com

[Video]

CBC Hero Photo - video clip from YouTube on SafeShare.

A clip for Remembrance Day.

Here's a Voicethread example asking students to record or type their answer to the question "What do you want to order at Peter's?"



Try it out at www.voicethread.com

Learning English pronunciation

Clouseau working on his Pronunciation...

Scott Thornbury on Repetition in English Language Teaching

Use of Repetition in English Language Teaching
A presentation by Scott Thornbury

Scott Thornbury on Register in English Language Teaching

The Use of Register in English - a presentation by Scott Thornbury

[Video] Fawlty Towers The Wedding Party Part 2-3

A demonstration of the use of SafeShare - a service that allows you to strip all the extras from a YouTube video and even select a portion of the clip to watch. Very easy to use!

Idea from: TEFLChina

I liked this very TPR technique for verbs.

Posted by: "Mario Rinvolucri"


You mention the students who need to move. Exercises that
deal with this are useful.
Irregular verbs
You say GO and touch your toes
The student say GO and touch their toes
You say WENT and touch your hips ....they do the same
You say GONE and throw your hands up into the air above your head .. they do
ditto
You say CUT and touch your toes
You say CUT and touch your toes ....they imitate you
You say CUT and touch your toes
You say TEACH and touch your toes
You say TAUGHT and touch your hips they imitate you.....
You say TAUGHT and again touch your hips


Warmly yours, ( I learnt this idea from Gerlilnde Wissiol in Munich)
Mario

Xueyan Han asks how to combine language and literature.
Dick Tebbits answers: These are interesting tasks (Literary tasks) in their
own right but they also have a purpose in language practice, vocabulary
recycling and the unconscious
recycling of structures and phrases from the original text.
The 'new direction' in language teaching is to make the tasks purposeful.
People do not learn language in isolation but they do learn it in context, as
they use it for various purposes. The focus now in the USA is on a methodology
called SIOP: Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, developed by Deborah
Short and Jana Echeverria. This methodology incorporates CALLA (Uhl and
Chamot) and Sheltered Instruction in a more structured format.
There are steps that are incorporated in this methodology which provide the
teacher with the correct framework to use in guiding the students through
language learning via tasks; in all subjects. The reason that this is becoming
the
focus is that teaching conversational language is appropriate in the
beginning stages of language acquisition but is not the means to an end.
Students who
can converse (BICS) still have difficulty in meeting the academic language
demands of content area classes. While BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication
Skills) take 1-3 years to develop, CALPS (Cognitive Academic Language
Proficiency Skills) take 3-5 years (Krashen). Students cannot afford to let
their
academic learning just sit and wait while they learn a language. SIOP
demonstrates that students can acquire language quicker and with a more in-depth
ability to use that language by being placed in situations in which the language
becomes useful; for instance, if students are working in cooperative groups in a
social studies/history class, they are being forced to use social discourse to
interact with others in the group; to use academic language to complete the
tasks; and reading/writing to also complete the assignments.
You can read more about the SIOP protocol at the following sites:
http://www.siopinstitute.net/research.shtml
www.ode.state.or.us/.../elarts/reading/
literacy/summerinstitute/presentres/stopplanning-hernandez.ppt
SIOP: Making Content Comprehensible for ELLs by Judie Haynes
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/using_siop_model_08621.php.php
Janet Kaback
Newark, NJ

On Jul 10, 2006, at 6:37 PM, Rich Flierl wrote:
> I am searching for a reliable list of the 1,000 most common words
> in English.
Have a look at Paul Nation's web site. On the left, there's a link to
the Range program and the BNC lists:

You can also check out David Lee's bookmarks: corpora> Click on "Freq Lists" on the left and follow the links.
Best,
Brett
-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
brett.reynolds@humber.ca