Teaching is an incredibly rewarding activity but at the same time it is no easy feat. I know, I didn’t say anything new here. Teaching ESL (or English to speakers of other languages), on the other hand, brings the rewarding and complex parts of our honorable profession to a whole new level. In simplified terms, any teacher – math, language arts, science – evokes the idea of an adult in a classroom full of children who all speak the same language and are learning the same subject. An ESL teacher, however, can be anyone with a self-contained classroom of students of roughly the same level of English proficiency, or someone in a one-on-one teaching situation, or teaching to small groups at one or two schools, or someone who travels between six schools and experiences a mixture of classroom, small group and one-on-one instruction in one day. Most of the time, the level of English language proficiency of students varies greatly and you have to be quick and think on your fee to adapt any and all materials so that your students understand them. And chances are, you may be working with little kids, pre-teens and teens all in the same day.
No matter what your situation, though, jut like for any teacher, planning time for an ESL educator is at a premium and quick resources that actually would “hit the spot” (how’s that for an idiom for your students?;) are a must. In one of my other posts about resources, I mentioned books that are great for professional development and ongoing education for an ESL teacher. Today, I share a few of the resources that are implementable and truly life-saving when it comes to planning. The best part, these are the sites and apps that you can use with your older students (middle and high school) as well.
Websites
islCollective
I came across this website by accident, when I was looking for some grammar worksheets because I noticed that my students could use a refresher on how to use comparative and superlative adjectives. As usual, and probably like many other teachers, I scoured Pinterest and several worksheets from islCollective popped up. It was great! You can pick a worksheet by what kind of grammar or vocabulary item you are looking for, by type of activity, student level and best of all, it is all free and at your fingertips. No need to create a separate account with a password you will forget five seconds after you’ve confirmed it. Just login with Facebook or Google and you’re good to go!
You may have known this as a resource for mainstream classrooms, but it also contains quite a large library of activities and ideas for ESL students. They have great infographics, too, which will not require you clicking through multiple pages trying to get to where you want to go but giving you implementable ideas on how to teach, say, idioms.
Newsela.com
Gone are the days when you’d find an interesting article but it would be either too difficult or too easy for your kiddos. Newsela to the rescue! This site is a gold mine for current news articles as well as those categorized by subjects and interests in general. You can pick a reading level for your students and then give them the quizzes that are provided on newsela.com or make up your own. You can also create your own classroom on the website, assign articles and follow progress. I have mostly used this site for vocabulary building, reading comprehension and discussions in the classroom.
Larisa School of Language
This is something I just found a couple of days ago when I was looking for something to help my newcomer practice English basics. It was a life saver for me! Larisa School of Language is just that – a school where you can learn languages, including English. It is based in the Ukraine and on their website, they offer different packages and online language learning. The site is in English and Russian, but finding what you need is not difficult, even if you don’t know Russian. What I found most useful, and I am sure you will too, is a free .pdf grammar e-book download. Everything from days, months and numbers in English to the subjunctive mood and gerunds. The link above will bring you to the slideshare, but if you click the “download” button below, it will take you to the .pdf version of the same and you will be able to print it. A great filler for those times when you have to really rack your brain on how to make your lesson – with a newcomer, low intermediate and advanced student in one – actually useful.
Apps
What’s a modern teacher without an iPad?:) Although language learning apps are not all created equal and a lot of them are hit or miss (another idiom for your classroom!) but I have found two that have added value to my teaching.
The Speech Journal
This app allows you to upload a picture and talk about it and record yourself. Perfect for vocabulary development, speaking practice and truly builds motivation. Students sometimes are apprehensive about recording themselves and listening back to their own speech, especially those who are in the beginning stages of their language journey. On the other hand, The Speech Journal has not failed me once – even the most cautious ones open up and enjoy practicing.
Explain Everything
This is a very versatile app that allows you to create your own projects or upload existing pictures, PowerPoints or worksheets as well as create videos and manipulate them to best explain the material to students. I’ve explained geography of the USA with this app, as well as different parts of a human body. The possibilities are endless!
And there you have it! Resources that have been tried and verified. I am sure I will be updating this list in the future because let’s face it, a teacher’s job is never over and when we find something worth sharing, we totally do it:)
What are your favorite resources for teaching English learners?
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Note: it is always a good idea to preview the worksheets. Some of them may contain instructions in other languages or use British English vocabulary which many not be familiar to your students in the USA.
