Speaking and Listening

Source: Pixabay by John Hain (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

In this activity, students use the Internet to gather information and take notes for a presentation about a civil rights leader. Students work individually or in pairs to enter information and images on a Google Slideshow (or other slideshow software) template file and make an oral presentation.

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: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/cookies-christmas-cookies-pastries-6835157/ by Geralt (License: Creative Commons 4.0)

 

Students will learn about common health problems along with symptoms. This is one unit in a 4 unit text created using the CK-12 Website.

Source: Pixabay Image (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

This chapter teaches students how to make a doctor's appointment.

Source: Bing by Bing Image Creator (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
describe a dream home by house-type, location, rooms, and amenities.
use websites to research and locate homes for rent or sale.
collaborate with other students and present information to the class

Source: Unsplash by S'well (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Students choose a destination for a dream vacation, research a destination, transportation, what to do and see there, and lodging, and then create a simple budget. They then present their vacation in a slideshow to the class. 

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

Flipgrid is an easy-to-use video discussion platform, which has numerous applications in the adult education classroom. In this activity, students post a video response indicating their name and their goal for the class. Students are initially very hesitant and need something very structured and easy to record for their first assignment. Once students are familiar with Flipgrid, you can go on to more complex assignments. ESL students might work in small groups to record a dialog from their textbook. High school students might read a text or view a video and then give their conclusion or opinion of the resource. Flipgrid is a great way to promote critical thinking skills and get your students talking and expressing their ideas and thoughts.

You can ask students to weigh in on critical events in the news; practice and record dialog; give their view of an article, book, or movie; share their favorite poem, or add a YouTube video to your topic and have students respond to its content. It is a great tool for English Language Learners. The short videos encourage students to plan their responses and to speak clearly. They have the opportunity to record their response numerous times until they are satisfied with their post.

Flipgrid works well with any browser, Chromebook, tablet, or mobile device; and integrates well with Google Classroom, Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Edmodo, Schoology, and more. Students only need access to a device with a camera and microphone. The Flipgrid app makes it super easy for students to access.

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: Pixabay by Gerd Altmann (License: CC0/Public Domain)

Honing their 21st Century Skills of global awareness and teamwork, students work in teams, role-playing international business consultants. Their job is to create a presentation for a group of American business people relocating to another country (students’ native country or a country assigned to them) about business customs and etiquette in that country, especially as they differ from that of the USA.

Source: Pixabay by OpenClipart-Vectors (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

Students watch videos and take notes to learn idioms, practice the idioms in conversation and on an online discussion forum (optionally), and then create a "quiz" for their classmates OR select a new idiom from the video channel or other sites,  create a presentation to teach the class the idiom(s) by creating a PowerPoint or Google Slideshow presentation, writing and performing a dialog, using Web sites to create digital films or comic strips based on dialogs, making an infographic, or making videos.

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

 

Students will make oral presentations with visual aides to talk about their hometowns. Students practice present and past passive verb forms by talking about their hometowns or birthplaces (It is called..., It is known for..., etc.). For information that is unknown (such as what is produced there), students can use Web sites such as Wikipedia to find the information.

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: Wakelet: Man grabbing his shoulder (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Students can choose different stories to read. Each story has 4 activities plus a typing practice.

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.

Source: Pexels by Rene Strgar (License: Creative Commons 4.0)

 

This activity uses prerecorded authentic conversation in which a caller wants to order a pizza. 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: ReadWorks (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students are assigned a reading passage and shown the different tools they can use during the reading. They are then introduced to a Question Set and asked to complete the activity. When the students finish the activity, it is projected so they can see the article and as a class, responses are reviewed.

Readworks is a free, non-profit site focused on improving teacher effectiveness and student achievement in reading comprehension by providing free standards-aligned content, curriculum, and tools based on the highest quality cognitive scientific research on how to learn to read.

Source: Vocabulary for Separate Activity on Wakelet (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This activity teaches students how to separate food for safety.

Source: Screenshot of Mote extension (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Mote is a Chrome Extension that makes it easy for anyone to add voice notes and feedback to documents, assignments, and emails.

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: TV411: Reading Medicine Labels (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This activity includes a video, printable worksheet, and online Web lesson on reading medicine labels.

TV411's mission is to help adults gain the basic reading, writing, math, and science skills they need to achieve their educational, career, and personal goals. They create educationally sound and entertaining multimedia learning materials and distribute them through television, the Internet, and literacy and community-based programs across the country. TV411 is a project of the Learning and Teaching Division of the Education Development Center, a non-profit organization that addresses challenges in education, health and economic development.

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

In this activity, students identify foods and categorize them according to food group, discuss the MyPlate image, draw a MyPlate image showing how much of each food group they typically eat, write sentences about their eating habits and what they should change, compare their eating habits with other students, and research key consumer messages for each of the food groups on the ChooseMyPlate Web site.

This activity aims to develop student understanding of healthy, balanced eating and provides practice of basic food vocabulary, the present simple tense, comparatives (more than/less than), and the modal "should."

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. 

                                                        

Source: magicschool.ai (License: CC0/Public Domain)    

 

 

Use an AI enhanced program such as magicschool.ai or web.diffit.me to level text to match the reading levels of your students

Source: Diffit for Teachers (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 Use the same AI enhanced software to select other tools to assist in teaching students reading comprehension skills.

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

Students describe clothing in a prepared oral presentation and explain how an outfit is appropriate for a particular event or situation.

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.

In this lesson, students will explore savings by reading a comic book and discussing their reading. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will see how savings affect the economy and perhaps, start saving.

Source: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/raisin-sun-quest-american-dream#sect-introduction (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students read the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and explore how the social, educational, economical, and political climate of the 1950s affected African Americans' quest for "The American Dream." The critical reading and analysis of the play are complemented by a close examination of biographical and historical documents that students use as the basis for creating speeches, essays, and scripts.

Read the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry with your students and you can enhance your discussion of "The American Dream" even while you and your students explore how the social, educational, economical, and political climate of the 1950s affected African Americans' quest for "The American Dream."

Source: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/story-epic-proportions-what-makes-poem-epic#sect-introduction (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This lesson will introduce students to the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition. Students will learn about the epic hero cycle and will learn how to recognize this pattern of events and elements- even in surprisingly contemporary places. Students will also be introduced to the patterns embedded in these stories that have helped generations of storytellers remember these immense poems.

Source: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/animal-farm-allegory-and-art-persuasion#sect-activities (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students are introduced to the concept of allegory by using George Orwell’s widely read the novella, Animal Farm. This lesson consists of the following four activities: Animal Farm and Allegory, The Collective Farm and the Communist State, What’s in a Name, and Tyranny by any other Name…

Source: https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/anne-frank-one-hundreds-thousands#sect-thelesson%22_blank%22 (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This lesson invites you to supplement your students' reading of The Diary of a Young Girl by connecting the diary to the study of history and to honor the legacy of Anne Frank, the writer, as she inspires your students to use writing to deepen their insights into their own experiences and the experiences of others.

In the class activity, students look at a series of maps to gain an idea of the territorial changes in Europe after World War I up to the beginning of the defeat of Germany. They complete a map intended to show the speed and reach of Germany's wartime expansion. Then students share information about the German occupation in some European countries, which they then compare to the situation in the Netherlands. Lastly, students analyze a map.

 

Source: http://annex.exploratorium.edu/imaging_station/activities/classroom/characteristics/ca_characteristics.php (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students learn to recognize and describe the characteristics of living organisms. Students view several different short videos and complete a worksheet identifying the characteristics of life observed in each video.

In the microscope imaging station (see link in the Example Web Site above), you will introduce students to unique life science activities that let them work with research-quality microscopic images and videos. In the Flipbooks section, you can use printable images from the time-lapse movies to make flipbooks (handheld animations that students can make at home).

 

Source: http://annex.exploratorium.edu/imaging_station/activities/classroom/genetic_crosses/ca_genetic_crosses.php (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students explore genetic inheritance patterns in the fruit fly using Punnett squares to predict the results of genetic crosses and determine the genotypes of the parent flies in a particular cross.

Source: http://annex.exploratorium.edu/imaging_station/activities/flipbooks/flipbooks_mitosis.php (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students use printable images from a time-lapse movie to make flipbooks—handheld animations. This series of images depicts the process of mitosis in the early embryo of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. In this stage of Drosophila development, the nuclei divide very rapidly without cell division, and the divisions are synchronized. The mitosis shown took about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Source: http://annex.exploratorium.edu/imaging_station/activities/classroom/wild_mutant/ca_wild_mutant.php (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students are introduced to genetic vocabulary and learn about the inheritance patterns and genotypes of fruit flies by viewing images of fruit flies and drawing conclusions.

This activity, Wild Type and Mutant from the Exploratorium is an introduction to genetics and should be used before, Genetic Crosses, which explores the topic in greater depth. Genetic Crosses goes on to use Punnett squares to predict the results of genetic crosses and determine the genotypes of the parent flies in a particular cross.

Source: https://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/art-ren/ (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This unit will take students through a process in which they will not only experience masterpieces from the Renaissance, but they will also learn to analyze art, draw conclusions, and, at the advanced level, apply lessons from art to their own lives. In doing so, students will gain an understanding of the characteristics that define the Renaissance.

There are two activity paths. One is traditional with teacher-centered activities. The other is student-centered with project-based activities. This activity takes the traditional approach; however, there are detailed lesson plans on the Web site for both activities.