ESL Fun with Karaoke

These recommendations come from Larry Ferlazzo’s Best of list.  He writes:

Karaoke is a good language-development activity,  and there are quite a few karaoke sites on the Internet….

[These sites are] …available free-of-charge (or at least some of its resources have to be free), easy-to-use, require no download, and allow students — either alone or in a group —  to record themselves singing.  A link to their performance can then be posted on a student or teacher website.

The Sims On Stage is clearly number one on the list. This wonderful site lets users easily record themselves singing karaoke and hosts the performances on-site.  If students don’t want to sing, they can listen to countless others who have while the lyrics are streaming across the screen.

A new one just opened for business today.   The Karaoke Channel Online has an extraordinary collection of songs available…for a price. However, if you choose the free option you have access to two hundred songs, though none of them are particularly up-to-date. But it’s a very easy process to record and save.

You might also be interested in The Best Music Websites For Learning English and The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English.

Thanks, Larry!

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Verb Power! Simply Pointing It Out

Here is a Verb PowerPoint that points out the power of consistency and simplicity in verb practice.  It uses simple, repetitive sentence structures to help ESL students differentiate between present progressive, simple past, and simple present verbs.  The images come from FreeFoto.com.

A N-MUSD Adult School Beginning High ESL Teacher created the PowerPoint after an “unsuccessful” grammar lesson on the same concept.  Lora writes,

Hi Martha.  Remember the day I told you I had a terrible lesson, and you assured me that I would be able to fix it up?  Well, this PowerPoint lesson is the result.  I e-mailed it to Taylor first, and he’s so excited about it, he’s adapting it to his level.  I used the inidividual white boards you have for teacher checkout in the CASAS office.  The students showed me their responses to the questions before I revealed the correct answers.  Please feel free to share it with anyone else who would like to have it… Since it’s there in its original form the photos and/or the words can be changed to suit the lesson.    

 Thanks, Lora, for sharing your SUCCESS in using materials, resources, and technologies to make subject matter accessible to students (Standard 3), modifying instructional plans to adjust for student needs (Standard 4), and using the results of assessments to guide instruction  (Standard 5). 

We are a community of learners and leaders! 

 

 

 

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Tending to Attendance

Here are our attendance averages for weeks 1, 2, and 3. Attendance grew at our Whittier site in all four classes.  Nice work, Whittier!  I think it paid off to attend Whittier’s Back-to-School night to trumpet our program!!  🙂

Program Averages		1st week	2nd week	3rd week
BESST Night	Beg Low	24	30.6	33.75
	Beg High	34	37.25	35.75
	Int Low	33	37.875	35.875
	Int High	28	42.75	37
	Advanced	25	35	34.25
	Citizenship	17	13.5	16
	Computers	24	29.5	26.5
BESST Day	Beg Low	21	22.6	23
	Beg High	28	27.6	28.3
	Int Low	33	31.6	29.2
	Int High	34	37	32
	Advanced	32	33.8	38.4
	Computers	27	27.7	26.4
	GED	14.5	15.75	13.75
Whittier	Beg Low	36	35.2	37.6
	Beg High	19	21	22.4
	Multi Inter	21	23.6	28.8
	Computers	18	14.8	18.6
CMHS	Beginning	31	40.5	38.5
	Intermediate	17	16.5	15.5

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Learn English at Home…for FREE!

by Mandi Spottsville, Distance Learning Program Coordinator

The Newport-Mesa Adult School is using a wonderful program to help meet the needs of parents who cannot attend our 3-hour classes but who still want to learn English.  This program is called EASY English.  The EASY program is a set of DVDs and corresponding work packets that students bring home to study.     Read on to learn about the series and how you can participate…for FREE!  (Parent Letter in English and Spanish included)

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Learners to Leaders 2008!

NMUSD Adult School ~ a dynamic community of learners and leaders!

We learn to become wise leaders in our families, our workplaces, and our local, national and global community.   Education…becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.  Paulo Freire

Here are some great interactive resources to help you transform your learners into Leaders, 2008:

prepared by Jim Brice, ESL instructor at San Diego Community College District

Brain Pop: Presidential Election

• fun, simple videos on democracy, voting, the U.S. Constitution…
• quizzes
• activities

 Scholastic News Countdown to Election 2008

Do you know where the candidates for President stand on the issues? …Discover what John McCain and Barack Obama think about major social and political issues. Then, test your knowledge of the candidates and their positions with the Where the Candidates Stand guessing game.

Candidate Bios 2008  created by Jim Brice

1) Count off A, B, C, and D in your group. 

2) Go to the web site for your candidate listed below.

3) Read about your candidate and write one note about each category below.

4) Fill in the other spaces in class with your group later.

 

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Our ESL Student Transfer Policy and Procedure

We want to remind all ESL teachers, administrators, and office assistants at Newport-Mesa Adult School that our student transfer policy and procedure are as follows…

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Remembering 9/11 in the ESL Classroom

On his blog Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day……For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL, Larry compiled a list of helpful sites for remembering 9/11 in the ESL classroom.  Check out these excellent resources:

Inside 9/11 is from the National Geographic. It has short video interviews, along with transcripts, of key people connected to the event, including survivors.

Complete an audio exercise on 9/11 at the Web Language Lab.  (Note: We’re now commemorating the seventh anniversary.)

America’s Day Of Terror from the BBC has a lot of excellent information. In fact, it might have too much for English Language Learners, so you might want to point students to particular sections of the site.

The Cable News Network has a special page of video and audio clips related to the attack.

New York Magazine has a Photo Gallery of that day’s events.

Voice of America has a series of audio broadcasts, with text, about the 9/11 Anniversary and its effects years later.

The Biography Channel has a Profiles of 9/11 Photo Gallery.

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Using Video in ESL Instruction

Check out this easy-to-make video on teachertube.com:    ESL Instruction-Teaching Eating Utensils. Description from teachertube.com Although obviously homemade, this video is a wonderful example of ESL instruction using video implementation. It is a great jumping off point for you to use in your classroom, creating your own videos for vocabulary lessons, or even encouraging your students to create their own!

 NMUSD Adult Educators – We have a digital video camera in the office that is available for check-out.  Please see me (Martha) for a quick lesson on how to use it. 🙂

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ESL Tip ~ Online Radio Essays on NPR

This I believe! ~ Here is a true treasure of an ESL tip, shared by Beth Bogage (SDCCD) at the April 10-13 CATESOL conference in Sacramento.

Use “This I Believe” online radio essays in your intermediate-high and advanced ESL classes to read, write, and talk about values.

Continue reading for WHY, HOW, and WITH WHAT…

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ESL Tip: Sponging with Verbs

ESL Tip submitted by Nancy

NMUSD Adult School Beginning Low ESL instructor

Here’s a simple idea that works when you have a few ticks left on the clock and need a quick-n-easy sponge activity that keeps students focused on English.

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PLC Meeting Minutes: Feb 27, 2008

Our BESST-Center Evening ESL Teachers met in their PLC teams on February 27, 2007.  Read on for their posted meeting minutes.  Lead on!

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Fast-Acting Relief for the Computer-Lab Headache

You want to take your class of 30 adult ESL students to the computer lab for hands-on computer experience.  Your lesson objective is to teach how to access and use free ESL web sites.  For many students, it will be their first time navigating the web.  They feel nervous…and so do you! 

Read on for some tips from experts in the field on how to make ESL computer-lab time more productive and pain-free for everyone.  

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Learner Outcomes for ESL Beginning Literacy

Our curriculum planning team is working to provide additional tools for our Beginning Literacy teachers. Here is a draft of our ESL Beginning Literacy Expected Learner Outcomes.  Read on for more information.

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Multiple Assessments for Next-Level ESL Placement

In our adult ESL program, we use a variety of assessments to evaluate student learning.  During the last week of the semester, our teachers and ESL students work together to review these assessments and jointly determine whether the students have met the exit criteria for their levels. 

In this article, you can read about our next-level placement process.  You can also download and revise our End-of-Semester ESL Student Evaluation reports which are designed to engage the students in self-evaluation and allow them to participate in the next-level placement process.  Read on!  Lead on!!

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Listening Comprehension: Free Online Audio Resources for ESL Learners

Listening comprehension is an essential skill for adult ESL learners.  Our students need authentic, interactive and varied listening activities that build the communicative skills they need to succeed.

Here’s one great site that offers a FREE audio course with 40 Units of English focusing on practical conversations and academic language as commonly found in American universities and society. 

• Practical American English Audio Course

Read on for information on this great resource and practical ideas on how to use it in your ESL class.  We share to impart, impact, improve and empower!

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A Spotlight on Top Tech Tips of 2007

 As 2007 draws to a close, we celebrate our favorite picks and most cherished tricks of our 2007 Tech Tips.   Here are just a few from October-December… We share to impart, impact, improve and empower!  Read on. Lead on!

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You Can Build a Teacher Web Page!

By Carole Kamper – NMUSD Adult School Technology Peer Mentor

DID YOU KNOW???  You can easily build a web page for use with your Adult Education class.  We share to impart, impact, improve and empower!  Read on. Lead on!

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Two Thumbs Up for this ESL Site

The 80th annual Academy Awards are coming!  Create your own BUZZ by using this free website that helps your students study English through movie trailers and reproducible ESL activities that go with them.  You’ll be an instant celebrity!   Read on. Lead on!

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Have You Tried Google’s Web Page Translation?

Google breaks the language barrier with this translation feature. Using machine translation technology, Google now gives you the ability to translate any web page with a single click.  Read on to see how Google Translation can work as a powerful instructional tool for you!  Read on. Lead on!

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Daily Oral English: Conversation Starters

If you are looking for some conversation starters and reading comprehension activities, this website may just be what you need to get your students listening, talking and learning together.  We share to impart, impact, improve and empower!  Read on. Lead on!

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a4esl.org – Building Vocabulary using Smartboards

Are you looking for a virtual picture file by topic with instant assessment built right in?  Look no further than http://a4esl.org/.  It’s a homerun!  Read on. Lead on!

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