Saturday, November 30, 2013

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Week… 11-30-13 …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EF

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL


LARRY FERLAZZO’S WEBSITES OF THE DAY







The Best Articles I’ve Written In 2013
In addition to the thousands of posts I’ve written in this blog (and in my parent engagement blog) over the past seven years,  my six books, and my weekly posts for Education Week Teacher and The New York Times,  I’ve also written over one hundred articles for different publications. You can access all of them here. You can also see what I think are The Twelve Best Articles I’ve Written About Edu
“Unspeak” Looks Like An Intriguing Interactive Documentary
Unspeak is described as: an interactive documentary investigating the manipulative power of language. The site looks pretty wild and, if you can figure it out, engaging. I think it would be useful for IB Theory Of Knowledge classes when studying language. Here’s an introductory video to it:

November’s Infographics & Interactives Galore — Part Six
There are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’ve begun a new semi-regular feature called “Infographics & Interactives Galore.” You can see others at A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics and by searching “infographics” on this blog. I’ll still be publishing separate posts to individually highlight especially useful infographics and interactives, but you
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Good Posts On Education Policy
Here are some recent useful posts on education policy issues: iHave a Dream: The unanswered questions behind LA’s ed tech fiasco is from Pando Daily. I’m adding it to A Very Beginning List Of The Best Articles On The iPad Debacle In Los Angeles Schools. Thanks to Lori Jablonski for the tip. Responding to an Uninformed Critique is by Richard Rothstein and Martin Carnoy. I’m adding it to The Best S

This Week In Web 2.0
In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth , I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” It’ll be a short compilation of new decent sites that are worth noting, but maybe not necessarily worth a separate post…: I’ve previously posted about Haiku Deck, which now has a Web version and may very well be the best tool for creating online slidesh
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
I’ve started a somewhat regular feature where I a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention: 9 great reasons to use posters in your language classroom is a very good post from Adam Simpson. i-Diots is a good lesson from Film-English that can help teach the importance of delaying gratification. How ‘Seeing’ A Language Ca

The Best Comic Strips For Students & Teachers In 2013 – Part Two
My annual lists continue… Here are the best comic strips that have appeared since The Best Comic Strips For Students & Teachers In 2013 — So Far. You might also be interested in: The Best Comic Strips For Students & Teachers In 2012 — So Far The Best Comic Strips For Students & Teachers In 2011 Part Two Of The Best Comic Strips For Students & Teachers — 2010 The Best Comic Strips

 mark as read

The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2013 – Part Two
The annual “Best…” lists continue…. You can see my picks for the first six months of the year at what functions as Part One of this list: The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2013 – So Far. You might also be interested in: All My 2013 “The Best…” Lists (So Far) Related To Social Studies In One Place The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2012 — Part Two The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2012 — Part One The Best Social Studies Sites Of 2011 The Best “The Best…” Lists Related To Social Studies — 2010 The Best Social Studies Websites — 2010 The Best Social Studies Websites — 2009 The Best Social Studies
Attention, IB Theory Of Knowledge Teachers! How Do You Teach “Knowledge Questions” (Formerly “Knowledge Issues”)?
For me, at least, one of the most challenging concepts to teach in my International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge class is the idea of “Knowledge Questions” (formerly known as “Knowledge Issues”) and how to help my students be able to formulate their own. I’ve posted some related resources in our TOK class blog, but I thought I’d put out a request to other TOK teachers and invite them to share what they do in their classes. Please leave your lesson ideas in the comments section of this post and I’ll bring together everybody’s thoughts in one post sometime in December.
“‘We Can Do Better’ : An Interview With Jim Burke”
‘We Can Do Better’ : An Interview With Jim Burke is my newest post over at Education Week Teacher. I’m adding it to The Most Useful Resources For Implementing Common Core.

YESTERDAY

Fascinating Infographic: Hungry Planet – Consumption Around the Globe
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures: Source: InternationalBusinessGuide.orga>
Just Updated My Holiday List Of Resources
I’ve just updated my massive The Best Places To Learn About Christmas, Hanukkah, & Kwanzaa list. Feel free to let me know what I’ve missed…
“Best and worst education news of 2013″
I’ve updated my mid-year post, and The Washington Post has published my choices for the Best and worst education news of 2013. Let me know what I missed!

NOV 28

The Best Articles, Videos & Posts On Education Policy In 2013 — Part Two
Here’s another annual “Best…” list, this time focusing on education policy. You can see my picks for the first six months of the year at what functions as Part One of this list: The Best Articles, Videos & Posts On Education Policy In 2013 – So Far. You might also be interested in: All My 2013 “The Best…” Lists (So Far) On Education Policy In One Place All My 2012 “The Best…” Lists On Educati
Resources For World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day is December 1st. You might be interested in The Best Web Resources For Learning About HIV & AIDS.
Video: “Thanksgiving 2013 Google Doodle”
This Google Doodle would be a great video to show English Language Learners and have them describe what happens in it. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn & Teach About Thanksgiving:
Some Final Thanksgiving resources For This Year
Here are some new additions to The Best Sites To Learn & Teach About Thanksgiving: “Thanksgiving By The Numbers” is a video from The New York Times: Here’s an impressive Thanksgiving chart that’s based on an even more impressive interactive:
November’s Infographics & Interactives Galore — Part Five
There are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’ve begun a new semi-regular feature called “Infographics & Interactives Galore.” You can see others at A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics and by searching “infographics” on this blog. I’ll still be publishing separate posts to individually highlight especially useful infographics and interactives, but you

NOV 27

November’s (2013) Best Tweets — Part Four
Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I shared through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post. If you don’t use Twit
Two Very Useful Resources On Bullying
Here are two new additions to A Very, Very Beginning List Of The Best Resources On Bullying: How do other countries tackle bullying? is from The Guardian. It Takes a Village to Create a Bully is from The Pacific Standard.
Infographic: “Second Language Acquisition, By The Numbers”
by noahsmith. Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. by HuffPost Partner
What Is One Thing You Learned About Writing Today?
I’ve previously The Best Questions To Use For Class Closing Activities — What Are Yours? and have done a much better job this year at using them than I’ve done in the past. And I’ve also seen how valuable they have been to both students and to me. In my ninth-grade English class, students completed writing an essay on the last day prior to Thanksgiving break. Their closing question was “What did
Video: What Astronauts Eat On Thanksgiving
I’m adding this video to The Best Sites To Learn & Teach About Thanksgiving:
Just Sent-Out Free Monthly Email Newsletter
I’ve just mailed out the December issue of my simple free monthly email newsletter. It has about 2,000 subscribers, and you can subscribe here.
November’s Best Posts From This Blog
I regularly highlight my picks for the most useful posts for each month — not including “The Best…” lists. I also use some of them in a more extensive monthly newsletter I send-out. You can see older Best Posts of the Month at Websites Of The Month (more recent lists can be found here). Here are some of the posts I personally think are the best, and most helpful, ones I’ve written during this pas
November’s “The Best…” Lists — There Are Now 1,207 Of Them
Here’s my monthly round-up of new “The Best…” lists I posted this month (you can see all 1,207 of them categorized here): The Best Ways To Modify The Picture Word Inductive Model For ELLs The Best Videos Of Tom Lehrer’s Songs The Best Sites For Learning About Italy The Best Sites For Learning About France The Best Online Resources About President John F. Kennedy The Best Resources For Geography A
Two Excellent Thanksgiving Resources
Here are two excellent additions to The Best Sites To Learn & Teach About Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving created by ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ author — not the Pilgrims is by Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post. Thanksgiving, or how to eat American politics:The democratic ideals behind turkey, pie, and the rest of our holiday feast is a great interactive at The Boston Globe. It shows how each tr
“My Best Posts On Parent Engagement In 2013″
I’m kicking-off my annual “Best” lists with My Best Posts On Parent Engagement In 2013 over at my other blog, Engaging Parents In School. You’ll see many more lists over the next thirty days. You might also be interested in All My “Best Of 2013 – So Far” Lists In One Place, which collect my mid-year posts….

NOV 26

November’s Infographics & Interactives Galore — Part Four
There are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’ve begun a new semi-regular feature called “Infographics & Interactives Galore.” You can see others at A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics and by searching “infographics” on this blog. I’ll still be publishing separate posts to individually highlight especially useful infographics and interactives, but you
From BuzzFeed: “33 Signs You’re A New Teacher”
33 Signs You’re A New Teacher is a pretty funny, sometimes cynical, and often wise list from BuzzFeed. I’m adding it to The Best Advice For New Teachers. Thanks to Alexander Russo for the tip.
My Most Popular Posts In 2013
It’s time for my annual list of most popular posts. You can see previous popular post lists here. You might also be interested in seeing a similar list at my Education Week Teacher advice blog. It’s based on the 1.2 million “unique visitors” this blog has had so far this year. Here are My Most Popular Posts In 2013  (note that some of them have been posted in previous years, but I update them and
“What Are The Unique Challenges Facing Male Teachers?”
What Are The Unique Challenges Facing Male Teachers? is the new “question-of-the-week” at my Education Week Teacher column. Feel free to leave your responses in the comments there or here….

NOV 25

What Are The Cognitive Impacts Of Poverty?
Earlier this year, I posted The Best Articles About The Study Showing Social Emotional Learning Isn’t Enough, which highlighted a study showing that social emotional learning isn’t enough — that poverty causes a lack of self-control and perseverance and it’s not the other way around. Since that time, a number of other articles have been published focusing on that same subject –the cognitive impac
Special Edition: “Round-Up” Of Good Posts On Education Policy
Usually, I only post a once-a-week round-up of useful posts on education policy issues. However, I’ve got a bit of a backlog, so here’s a special edition: Following Common Core money: Where are millions of dollars going? is by Carol Burris and appeared in The Washington Post. I’m adding it to The Best Articles Sharing Concerns About Common Core Standards. Interesting SIG vs. non-SIG comparisons i
More Thanksgiving Resources
Here are more additions to The Best Sites To Learn & Teach About Thanksgiving: Five myths about the Pilgrims is from The Washington Post. Thanksgiving By The Numbers is an infographic from The History Channel. I’ve embedded below, but I don’t think it will come on an RSS Reader: Provided by Nationwide Bank Here are all the Thanksgiving resources from The New York Times Learning Network in on
The Best Posts On Curiosity
I was prompted to write this post after reading a piece this morning in Scientific American about a very intriguing study. The S-A article is titled Openness to Experience and Creative Achievement. The article is a big confusing — at least, to a layperson like me. Fortunately, however, the author links to another study that supports his conclusions, and that study was much more accessible to me.
Using Protest Movements & Historical Photos For English Language Development
My latest New York Times post for English Language Learners is on protest movements and using historical photos for language development. It includes a student interactive. I’m adding it to: The Best Sites For Learning About Protests In History The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons

NOV 24

Updated Resources On Immigration Reform
Here are new additions to The Best Resources About The New Push For Immigration Reform: In Report, 63% Back Way to Get Citizenship is from The New York Times. Illegal Immigrants Are Divided Over Importance of Citizenship is from The New York Times. What Happened To Immigration Reform is from The Atlantic.
Video: “Kid President’s 20 Things We Should Say More Often”
This could be a fun and useful video to show to any class, and particularly to a class of English Language Learners:
Infographic: Sustainable Thanksgiving
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites To Learn & Teach About Thanksgiving:
Here’s What My IB Theory Of Knowledge Students Did For Their “Ways Of Knowing Final Project”
As regular readers know, in addition to teaching English Language Learners and mainstream classes, I also teach a very diverse International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge class that includes students ranging from ones in my ELL classes to full-IB Diploma candidates. I think it’s safe to say it’s great experiences for students and teacher alike. One of the major projects I had students do this
This Week In Web 2.0
In yet another attempt to get at the enormous backlog I have of sites worth , I’ve recently begin a regular feature called “The Week In Web 2.0.” It’ll be a short compilation of new decent sites that are worth noting, but maybe not necessarily worth a separate post… It’s a short post this week: Creating and Using Video is by Edublogs’ Sue Waters, and is one of the most useful posts I’ve seen this
“The Challenger Disaster” Is An Excellent Movie For TOK & Other Classes
“The Challenger Disaster” was shown on the Discovery Channel and The Science Channel last week, and it was an impressive movie. Even though I’ve blogged a lot about Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, I was not aware of his critical role in determining the cause of that space shuttle disaster. You can see clips from the movie here and read about it this New York Times article. It could
A Collection Of The Best Fun, Yet True, “Said No Teacher Ever” Resources
Last year, John T. Spencer began a great Twitter hashtag called #saidnoteacherever. A lot of people have run with it since. I just learned about a “Said No World Language Teacher Ever” video from Joe Dale, and there are now even “Said No Student Ever” videos. Here’s the one I just learned about through Joe: Here’s one by other teachers. And if you go to watch it on YouTube, people have made some
Videos Of The Week
In yet another effort to get at my backlog of resources to share, I recently began this feature to share useful videos. I’ll still periodically highlight certain ones on their own, but the rest will be found on this regular post: I’m adding this first video to The Best Sites For Learning About New York City (thanks to Michelle Henry for the tip): I’m adding this video to The Best Sites For Learn

NOV 23

Infographic: “Lunches From Around The World”
I’m adding this infographic to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures: Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually. Infographic by Chef Works
Around The Web In ESL/EFL/ELL
I’ve started a somewhat regular feature where I a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention: Dictations Are Fun! is from TEFL Reflections. It doesn’t exactly fit, but I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning How To Use The Dictogloss Strategy With English Language Learners. How Monolingual Teachers Can Support Yo
‘Listen, Empathize, Connect’ For Student Motivation
‘Listen, Empathize, Connect’ For Student Motivation is the last post in a three-part series I’ve published at Education Week Teacher. Today, educators Jason Flom and Barbara Blackburn contribute their thoughts, along with many comments from readers.
Video: “¿Qué Pasa U.S.A.?”
It’s completely new to me, but ¿Qué Pasa U.S.A.? was the first Cuban-American sitcom, which aired from 1977-1980″ on the Miami PBS station. This new remix, created by Melody Sheep for PBS, is really interesting. You can find many episodes on YouTube, and I’ve also embedded a clip from one where they are attending a citizenship class. It’s pretty funny.
Better Late Than Never: Several Final New Gettysburg Address Resources
Here are a few more additions to The Best Online Resources For Learning About The Gettysburg Address: The Gettysburg Address as a Powerpoint is from The Atlantic. The President’s Hand-Written Response to the Gettysburg Address is also from The Atlantic. The Associated Press has an interactive on the Address. Text to Text | The Gettysburg Address and ‘Why the Civil War Still Matters’ is from The N
This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts On Education Policy
Here are some recent good posts on educational policy issues: The King of MOOCs Abdicates the Throne is from Slate. I’m adding it to The Best Posts & Articles On MOOC’s — Help Me Find More. Coalition wants the state to let more schools skip the Regents is an article about the New York Performance Standards Consortium. I’m adding it to The Best Articles Describing Alternatives To High-Stakes T