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.

Accessibility is a requirement to meet the needs of our learners with disabilities, but as we include these features in our lessons, we improve the success for all our learners.

Source: Unsplash by iMin Technology (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

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: 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: https://www.wordclouds.com/ (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Students will create a Personality Poem along with a word cloud which is uploaded to Padlet and commented on by others.

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

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: 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: This I Believe: Do What You Love by NPR (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Use the essays from the NPR Radio program to create speaking/conversation activities, vocabulary learning exercises, listening (main ideas, cloze, details, etc.) activities, and follow up with extension activities in which students speak or write about themselves.

Source: Unsplash by Handiwork NYC (License: Creative Commons 1.0)

 

In this activity, students will use online classified ads to investigate job openings and find housing where they live for someone they know who is hypothetically relocating to their city. Students create a PowerPoint slideshow about the job and salary, the housing and cost, and create a monthly budget.

Source: Microsoft Calendar Templates (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

For student success in school, learning how to organize time is critical. This begins with a calendar to write assignments, projects, deadlines, and tests. In this activity students learn how to use Microsoft Office to create a personal calendar.

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: 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.

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: 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: 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: 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: 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.

This site has many good ideas on study skills for your students. It covers everything from note-taking, remembering, and how to read a difficult book, to writing term papers. It might be a good place to send students at the beginning of the year.

Screenshot of Virginia Tech's list of Study Skills Self-Help Information

Source: https://votesmart.org/education/classroom by https://votesmart.org/education/classroom (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

Students learn about the legislative branch of government in this activity. They learn the number of the House and Senate district where they live, the names of the senator and representative who represent their district, the votes of a senator or representative on current issues in the state legislature, and become familiar with the Vote Smart Web Site and how it can be used to obtain information.

Source: Watch Know Learn Homepage (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

This is a wiki Web site full of educational videos to use in class or send students to for supplementary learning or use in a distance learning setting. Over 50,000 videos have been found, submitted, and categorized by other teachers. They cover many of the basic academic areas, including basic math, algebra, geometry, science, history, social studies, language, physical education, health, computers and technology, life skills (check writing, budgeting), career paths, exercise, crafts, etc. There is not enough room here to list all of the categories, so you will need to take a look for yourself. We are sure you will find something useful, regardless of your program.

WatchKnowLearn also allows members to add videos they find, so this could be a great organizing tool for you. Many of the videos come from YouTube, but somehow they are viewable at schools that normally block YouTube videos.

Source: WebMD (License: CC0/Public Domain)

 

WebMD has a vast database useful in presenting/accessing accurate information on health issues. It is important to get students used to finding the site, navigating the site, and using the information. This can be done through assigning students/groups to investigate health issues. Assign students with lower reading levels to work in mixed groups so they can participate. By working together collaboration and presentation skills can be practiced.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfe-eNq-Qyg&list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9&index=9B1EF80C9 (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])

 

In this activity, students learn about the Silk Road and Ancient Trade. This video is part of a series of very fast-paced, engaging videos (found on YouTube) on various aspects of World History. Currently, there are 42 videos on World History but over 250 including other topics such as US History, Chemistry, Biology, Literature, and Ecology. They might be just the ticket to engage your high school diploma students to learn their world history.

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).