Suzan's "Cheat Sheet" for Daily Lesson Planning.

This is a check list I use to remind myself to incorporate educational psychology or“how students learn” into lesson design and my teaching methodology. I hope you find it useful.

STRUCTURE OF LESSONS

 Clear Goals – specific learning outcomes for this lesson

 Warm Up

 Presentation

 Controlled Practice

 Freer Practice

 Follow-up

WARM UP

 activate schemata

 what do students already know?

 a two to five minute introduction to a learning goal or theme

INDUCTIVE vs DEDUCTIVE LEARNING

 let the students figure it out

 then present the rule

TALK TIME

 increase student talk time

 decrease teacher talk time

 work in pairs

 work in groups

MULTI-SENSORY TEACHING / LEARNING

 use all the senses in lessons whenever possible:

 seeing, hearing, speaking, smell, taste, touch, emotion

 visual aids, realia, videos, music, reading, speaking, games, moving around, not sitting all day, cooking...

Happy teaching !!!

Susan Howard-Azzeh, B.A., TESL

Internet Links

Apologies - Some of the Internet links on this blog have expired. As time permits I will refresh them. In the meantime, if there is a link that you are interested in but is not working please Google it. Thanks.

Mind Map - Equity and Diversity

Mind maps are a creative brainstorming tool used to conceptualize content when designing a course.

This mind map was used to design a specialized Level 5 integrated skills ESL course. The course covers all of the linguistic skills - listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation and grammar. Discourse skills and vocabulary specific to the field of Equity and Diversity are also covered.

The course flows through three units, each unit represented by a yellow flower - the history of multiculturalism in Canada; Equity Legislation both federally and in an academic setting; and various communication skills using diversity and self-advocacy themes. The student centered philosophy of this course in reflected by the orange tulips with activities such as exploring student cultures in class, personal comparisons between the ESL students' home culture and Canadian culture, the pros and cons of diversity, and an exploration of the advantages of diversity at school, in employment, in society, and in social justice.

Some of the expected outcomes of this course, represented by the soaring birds are - communicative competence, academic achievement, fun, self-advocacy, empowerment, social comfort and integration.

The course would use a variety of learning strategies and learning styles, a multisensory approach and teaching with technology.

Designed by Susan Howard-Azzeh for Charles Voth's Curriculum class at Niagara College, Ontario.

Enjoy !!

Mind Map

Mind maps are used as a brainstorming tool when designing course context.

Here’s one used to conceptualize content for an ESL reading course for students preparing to enter the general stream of a college or university.

Designed by Kim Lester, Carrie Ann Penner and Susan Howard-Azzeh for Charles Voth, Curriculum Design, Niagara College.

#8 Listening Websites

On-Line Authentic Listening Sites.

1. Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab
http://www.esl-lab.com/
Online listening quiz site created to help ESL/EFL students self-test and improve their listening comprehension via interactive Web pages (semi-authentic).

2. CNN
http://www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/,
The Learning Resources site offers web-delivered instruction using current and past CNN Stories Each module includes the full text of each story and interactive activities to test comprehension. The learner can choose to read the text, listen to the text, and view a short video clip of the story. Each module is designed for ease of use so the learner can use it independently. The instructor can also incorporate any story into class activities and lesson plans.

3. Brain Tracks
http://braintracksaudio.com/sound_bites.htm
Authentic voiceover demos containing bits of 4 or 5 advertisements spliced together. Speech is lightening fast and truly authentic. Good test for advanced listening students, or a method of exposing students to popular American culture regarding radio advertisements.

4. CTV
http://www.ctv.ca/
Canadian News, Entertainment and sports.
(Canadian AM has great video/audio)

5. Hollywood Online Movie Talk
http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/
Short interview clips with movie personalities.

6. Brain pop
http://www.brainpop.com/
This site is aimed at kids, but the science related animations have real possibilities for the ESL classroom.

7. National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/
U.S and World online Information Source. Comprehensive web site for news, entertainment, sports, business, and a complete guide.

8. Friends Scripts
http://www.eigo-i.com/friends/
Complete scripts from the sit-com Friends.

9. Simply Scripts
http://www.simplyscripts.com/unpro_all.html
Original movie scripts and fan fiction for you to read on line, free. Unbelievable!

10. ESL Independent Study Lab
http://www.lclark.edu/~krauss/toppicks/listening.html
Links to authentic and semi authentic listening material. Divided by level.

11.Cultural Debates On-line
http://www.teachtsp2.com/cdonline/
This online activity makes multicultural studies come alive! You'll watch video, learn about issues, read and write opinions, and see what others think too.

12. Moonlit Road
http://www.themoonlitroad.com/welcome001.asp
Ghost stories haunt the moonlit back roads of the American South. Their roots in Southern culture and folklore are deep. Each month, The Moonlit Road brings you these ghost stories and other strange Southern folktales, told by the region's best storytellers.

13. NewsHour with Jim Lerer
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/newshour_index.html
Listen to the daily news from this respected show on PBS (the Public Broadcasting System). Some of the stories have only audio and others have the written text so you can read along as you listen. Also, on the left side of the screen is a subject index of over 30 topics. Each contains the past NewsHour stories, again with text and audio.

14. National Geographic
http://pulseplanet.nationalgeographic.com/
Listen to short audio segments on nature, culture and science from National Geographic. In the Archives section, you will find short audio clips that have text you can read as you listen.

15. Radio Diaries
http://radiodiaries.org/radiodiaries.html
More than 30 stories - people document their own lives for public radio: teenagers, seniors, prison inmates and others whose voices are rarely heard, includes transcripts) .

16. CBC Home Delivery
http://www.cbchomedelivery.com/archives/
CBC Home Delivery is part TV, part radio, part magazine photo essay, with just the right amount of interactivity. The result is great storytelling.

17. Songs and Lyrics
http://english.baladre.org/sedaviwebfront/listenings.htm
Collections of popular songs and with exercises.

18. English Listening Lounge
http://www.englishlistening.com/
Great for authentic listening practice for lower to advanced learners.

19. Yahoo Launch
http://launch.yahoo.com/
Links to news, music and music videos.

20. ELLO
http://www.elllo.org/
The site is for students and teachers of English. In my opinion there is a huge need for authentic, graded listening for learners, especially new learners of English. Also, this site is for teachers around the world who are looking for alternative listening materials for their students.

21. Virtually American
http://www.virtuallyamerican.com/
Excellent site for advanced students. Streaming audio of radio programmes including: comedy, drama, suspense, social satire, science fiction and classic radio. Not specifically for ESL.

22. English Pronunciation
http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/

23. Christmas: History
http://pulseplanet.nationalgeographic.com/ax/archives/01_culturetemplate.cfm?programnumber=2562
Just what the name says….

24. The Internet TESL Journal's
http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Quizzes/Quizzes_with_Sound/index.html
ESL : Quizzes : Quizzes with Sound (lower Levels).

25. Movie Trailers
http://www.english-trailers.com
Watch English movie trailers. Includes variety of ESL activities including cloze and quiz questions.

26. Real.com The best of interviews, previews & Hollywood headlines.
http://celebs.guide.real.com/?rnd=1114696622684&has-player=true&flash-version=7&version=6.0.12.857
Clips of celebrity interviews.

27. Lyrics Universe
http://www.azlyrics.com/index.html
Lyrics to popular songs.

28. ESL News (1-A Lanuage.com)
http://www.1-language.com/eslnews/indexnew.htm
News reports from around the world. Most of these news articles use streaming audio. Includes gap-fill and multiple choice questions.

29. English Language Learning Materials and Teaching Resources
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phono.html
Common Pronunciation Mistakes in English by Language Background.

30. StoryCorps
http://www.storycorps.net/
StoryCorps is a national project to instruct and inspire people to record each others' stories in sound. Offers a variety of authentic interviews about a variety of social and humanitarian issues.

31. Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/index.html
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is NPR's weekly hour-long quiz program. Each week on the radio you can test your knowledge against some of the best and brightest in the news and entertainment world while figuring out what's real news and what's made up. On the Web, you can play along too.

32. ABC Asia Pacific
http://abcasiapacific.com/livingenglish/
ABC Asia Pacific is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s free to air international satellite television and online service, offering a rich and diverse range of information and general programming.

33. Authentic American Pronunciation
http://evaeaston.com/pr/home.html
Pronunciation practice with real audio.

34. English Baby
http://www.englishbaby.com/community/index.htm

35. Advanced Listening Students Homepage
http://www.actionenglish.com/Advanced_Students/Advanced_Students.htm
Links to advanced listening websites and excercises.

36. PBS News Video Search
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/index.html
Provides on-line audio and video latest news stories. Search by news category. Good site!

37. Traveller’s Journal
http://www.travelersjournal.com/stations.html
Interesting audio recording from travellers around the world.

38. Voice of America Special English
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/
News for ESL learners (in slower English).

39. Podcast.net
http://www.podcast.net/
Podcasts on a variety of subjects.

40. Podcast.com
http://www.podcast.com/
Podcasts on a variety of subjects.

41. Script-o-rama
http://www.script-o-rama.com/snazzy/dircut.html
Great Links to TV and Movie Scripts.

42. Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/
Personal video broadcasts.

43. Slang City
http://www.slangcity.com/songs/index.htm
Songs with the slang explained.

44. All About ESL Podcasts
http://esl.about.com/od/englishlistening/a/intro_podcasts.htm


Suzan's rating: ***** stars.

#7 Pronunciation Websites

Many thanks to Frank Bieri, TESL and ESL Instructor, Niagara College, Ontario, Canada for recommending the following pronunciation links ~ a wealth of information. Check it out !

1. Merriam-Webster Talking Dictionary
http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm

2. *Okanagon College English Pronunciation and Listening http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/

3. EnglishClub.com
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/index.htm

4. Authentic American Pronunciation
http://evaeaston.com/pr/home.html

5. Minimal Pairs
http://www.manythings.org/pp/

6. *Universite' de Franche-Comte'
http://cla.univ-fcomte.fr/english/sites/pron.htm

7. Workpage University of Florida
http://www.e-pron.com/

8. Various English Dialects
http://www.fonetiks.org/

9. Mouth Manglers
http://www.elfs.com/MMz.html

10. ESL Mania http://www.eslmania.com/students/accent_reduction/Tongue_twister_with_audio.htm

11. Video Podcast B and P, L and R...
http://www.ugoeigo.com/

12. Clifford the Big Red Dog - Interactive Storybooks http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/flash/vowels/index.htm

13. Songs
http://pbskids.org/lions/songs/

14. *IPA Chart, Vowels and Consonants with Sound http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/vowels/contents.html

15. IPA Vowels
http://faculty.washington.edu/dillon/PhonResources/newstart.html

16. IPA Consonants
http://faculty.washington.edu/dillon/PhonResources/consframe2.html

17. Common Pronunciation Mistakes by Language Background... http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/teflindex.htm

Suzan's rating: ***** stars :)

Web Review #6

Fahrenheit 451: Banned Books Reading Campaign.

http://www.pelhamlibrary.blogspot.com/

Freedom to Read Week

February 23 - March 3

Fahrenheit 451: Banned Books website hosts a discussion on censorship through the Pelham Public Library in Fonthill, Ontario, Canada http://www.pelhamlibrary.on.ca/ . Readers can take the "Banned Book Challenge", scan lists of banned books, explore a comprehensive list of banned books websites and resources, read reviews of banned books or write their own reviews !

Freedom to Read Week is an annual Canadian event that encourages everyone to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed to all Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Freedom to Read Week is organized by the Freedom of Expression Committee of the Book and Periodical Council.


Although the Fahrenheit 451: Banned Books reading program and website are not designed for ESL students in particular, Freedom to Read is an important campaign and concept to introduce to Advanced ESL students. Whether at Niagara College or across the border, the program is accessible to all. There is an abundance of materials available on the website; and readers, can tell others on-line which books they plan to read, why they thought the book was banned, and what they felt about the book after they had read it. Libraries all across Canada are participating in the Freedom to Read Campaign. ESL students and others anywhere in Canada can visit their local libraries, browse the banned books lists, borrow and read a banned book.


For ESL students at Niagara College - Welland Campus, Ontario, the Pelham Public Library is 5 minutes down the road at 43 Pelham Town Square in Fonthill. For more information, e-mail Elaine Anderson through the Fahrenheit 451: Banned Books website or at fahrenfeit451moderator@gmail.com or phone the library at 905-892-6443.


My favourite banned book, "Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak" by Niagara authour Deborah Ellis is featured on the website. Deborah spoke at Pelham Public Library this past year and is participating in the Banned Book Reading Challenge.

Catch an interview with Deborah Ellis at http://pelhamlibrary.blogspot.com/227/02/deborah-ellis-to-take-banned-book.html

Read about a Grade 5 student who became the first child to receive the Writers' Union of Canada's Freedom to Read Award for her defense of "Three Wishes" at http://www.thestar.com/article/186441 . Reproduced with permision - Torstar Syndication Service.

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Suzan's rating: ***** stars