Writing

Source: Pixabay by reneebigelow (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

Students view an animated video from Upworthy's YouTube channel, answer questions about it, and then write about, design a slideshow or poster, or summarize another video about a random act of kindness.

Source: Infoplease Famous Firsts by African Americans (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

This site presents a vast array of articles and images on a host of subjects .(check Browse tab)  Students can read about African American History,  History and Timelines, Contemporary Issues and Facts, Biographyies and Special Features, Holidays, Education and Awards With the information, students create a timeline of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. In this assignment, students read about Famous Firsts by African Americans.

Source: NPR Technology Entries (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

NPR's "All Things Considered" airs its series called "All Tech Considered" which explores the sometimes daunting—always-changing—world of technology. If you are baffled by your cell phone, or your students are wondering what their kids mean when they say they are tweeting on Twitter, All Tech Considered explores many of these areas and could be of help. Try sending your students here to look up information that interests them. Not all stories have an audio component, so look for ones that have "Listen to the Story" or the word "podcast." Podcasts of many of the archived shows are downloadable and the segments are usually under 10 minutes.

Source: Pixabay by Jim Jorstad (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Students have conversation about favorite places, learn about a United States national monument by watching a video and answering questions, and then select a place in the U.S. to research and present on.

Source: Cleaning Institute Cleaning Tips (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This site offers a world of information about laundry and all types of cleaning tips, understanding products, sustainable cleaning as well as industry priorities. The example website includes a section called Cleaning Tips where you can apply learning to home, school, or work. "Information sheets" found in teacher resources are in a printable format such as PDF. The section on Soaps and Detergents History with a timeline offers another way to organize a lesson.

Source: Pixabay by QuinceCreative (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

Students use web sites for department stores to find product information for similar products in order to compare prices and qualities of products at different stores so that they can make wise buying decisions.

Source: Pixabay by Sergei Tokmakov (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

Students engage in conversation about the environment, practice listening comprehension by watching a video and answering questions, read an article about the harm of plastics on the environment, brainstorm ways to preserve the natural environment, write a paragraph, and create an inforgraphic based on their ideas.

Source: Our Story in 2 Minutes by drivinman687 (License: CC0/Public Domain)

In this activity, students are shown a video called “What in the World… History Compressed” and then later asked to write about it. The emphasis is on critical thinking. The Web site contains videos, political cartoons, and pictures that encourage students to think critically.

Screenshot of Working the Web for Education - Tom March - Critical Thinking

Source: 4Tests GED Practice Test page (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

A free online practice test site for the 2014 GED test with the 4 sections of the GED provided by Barrons Educational Series. It includes an explanation for the right answer.

Source: Unsplash by Natalie Pedigo (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

Intermediate and advanced students learn about ancient and modern wonders of the world using the online information on the Google Arts and Culture site and other Web sites and then and share what they learn in a jigsaw reading/cooperative learning activity. As an optional follow-up, write a paragraph and/or make an oral presentation about a wonder of the world of their choosing (a museum, building, sculpture, statue, bridge, canal, dam, temple, church, cathedral, castle, or natural wonder or a UNESCO World Heritage Site) located in their native countries or elsewhere.

Source: Carnegie Corporation Great Immigrants Website by Unknown (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Students use the Internet to find and read information about a great immigrant from their native countries or other countires. Using the Carnegie Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Web site, they choose an immigrant, read and take notes about them, and prepare an oral presentation, optionally using the PowerPoint or Google Slides template provided.

Source: Unsplash by Jon Tyson (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

 

Students use the Internet to find information about the meaning of their first names, write a paragraph with this information and reflect on the personal connotation of their names, and make an oral class presentation.

Source: Pixabay by PublicDomainPictures (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

 

Intermediate and advanced students or students in Citizenship classes learn about national symbols of the United States through jigsaw reading and follow up by writing a paragraph and/or making an oral presentation about national symbols of their native countries (or state/city symbols if the class is relatively homogeneous).

Source: Newsela homepage (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Newsela is a personalized reading service designed to help students master non-fiction literacy by providing daily news articles at multiple reading levels. Newsela makes it easy for an entire class to read the same article at their own reading level.

The teacher assigns an article(s) to the class. Many of the articles have quizzes available. "Write" is a feature that allows students to answer open-ended questions. The teacher can customize the prompt.

Newsela offers a free version and a premium for pay program called Newsela Pro. Pro includes many additional features including student tracking, annotation on articles, etc. June 30, 2023 Newsela offers Newsela Lite. Articles will still be available at multiple reading levels but each week four articles will be available to select from. The articles will be available for four weeks. Each week one will be replaced. When an article is selected the teacher will be able to see student actions and quiz results. It is free to any teacher. Review the new features. 

Source: Tip Kai by Tip Kai (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

This activity uses prerecorded authentic conversation in which Carl meets Pancho. Pre- and post-listening activities are provided along with immediate feedback on comprehension exercises.

This is a good unit on consumerism. The lesson is complete with video, note-taking and practice.

Students watch a video which explains advertising strategies. Then, using a note-taking chart, they will practice identifying advertising strategies while watching various commercials. They can also use the form at home while watching TV commercials for further practice. Then as a final activity, students can make a team presentation using PowerPoint.

Source: The Free Dictionary (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Use the online dictionary, The Free Dictionary as a stepping off point for developing research skills and expanding students' vocabulary and knowledge base through exploration of word of the day, today's birthday, this day in history, today's holiday and article of the day.

TheFreeDictionary.com site has many features including Word of the Day, Daily Grammar Lesson, Article of the Day,  This Day in History, Today's Birthday, Quotation of the Day, Today's Holiday, Idiom of the Day and Grammar Quiz. Word games include Hangman, Spelling Bee, Match Up and WordHub.

Source: Snopes.com (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

While learning about urban legends, students practice reading skills, summarizing and paragraphing in speaking and writing, and hone their abilities to view media critically. Students use Snopes, a site dedicated to fact-checking news stories, past events and urban legends, to read and take notes on an urban legends. 

Source: The Free Dictionary (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Using this site, students will practice vocabulary by learning and using the word of the day, playing the spelling bee, and looking up two idioms and one acronym. Students can customize their page to include as many features as they like. Other features included in the side menu include a thesaurus, medical legal and financial dictionaries, acronyms, idioms, and encyclopedias.

This Web site is rich in possibilities. Beyond vocabulary practice the site offers a variety of dictionaries in various languages (Spanish, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, Russian and Turkish). There are games to play: Hangman, Spelling Bee, Words Within Words, Matching. There are also great sources of information: Article of the Day; In the News; This Day in History; Today's Holiday; Today's Birthday; and Quotation of the Day.

Source: NPR's This I Believe (License: CC0/Public Domain)

If you listen to NPR radio, you may hear both famous and unknowns discussing their core values and beliefs on weekly broadcasts of the radio spot “This I Believe,” a take-off on Edward R. Murrow’s original 1950s radio show. The site is an archive of all the modern broadcasts accompanied by the original print essays and contains a searchable database of thousands of other essays on numerous topics ranging from patriotism, to family, to sports. Each short essay that has been broadcast on NPR has a “Listen” link to hear the authors read their essays, which provides a listening component for the ABE student. The audio can be the basis for exercises on note-taking, listening for main ideas, supporting details, and cloze (listening for missing words).

Source: Summarizing Activity (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This site has many activities which can be done independently by a student or in a class with a group of students. This will be a writing activity on how to summarize an article or a story. Students will watch the Summarizing video, then they will do the online activities that go along with the video. Finally, the students will practice writing a summary.

The site also offers a wide variety of other topics in video format, many with worksheets or other resources to use. See the More Ways section below.

Source: Working the Web for Education Tom March (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

In this activity, Students will read and discuss a current issue: Rise of the machines: Philippine outsourcing industry braces for AI. The emphasis is on critical thinking. Students will read, consider and discuss the future of Technology and its impact on jobs.

The Tom March Web site contains videos, political cartoons, and pictures that encourage students to think critically. 

In this activity, students answer the VARK Learning Style online questionnaire’s 16 questions to measure their learning style preferences in these areas: Visual (V), Aural/Auditory (A), Reading/Writing (R), and Kinesthetic (K) – see descriptions at VARK Modalities page http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=categories in order to find their preferred learning styles and their weaker study habit. The inventory’s focus is on study habits and skills more than personality traits, and there are “help sheets” that explain to students how to develop their less-preferred learning modalities.

In this activity, students will use the Internet to select or are assigned to find information about a fantastic place in the USA, such as a national park or monument, take notes, and create a visual aide (a Word document or PowerPoint with images). Students will then copy/paste their assignment into an AI application for revision and edit suggestions. As a class the revisions are weighed, discussed, examined and determined it they are useful or not. Discuss the value of AI.

Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_the_psychology_of_evil#t-52581 (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Philip Zimbardo is a well-known professor of psychology at Stanford University and has created a series of videos , on different psychological topics. Be sure to check out other videos found on his YouTube channel.