Fill in the blanks with the words in the box.
Martin Luther King Jr.: An American Leader
Martin Luther King Jr. _________ a great American leader. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a _____________ and his mother was a teacher. He _________ to play baseball and sing in his father’s church. He was an excellent student. He _____________ from college in 1948. On June 18, 1953, he ____________ Coretta Scott. In 1954, he started work as a minister.
Dr. King lived at a time when black white Americans did not have _________ rights everywhere. Dr. King _________ all people to be treated the same. Dr. King organized peaceful ___________ against unequal ______________. He did not fight. He wanted to change the laws peacefully. He was successful. He helped bring equality and understanding to all Americans. In 1964, he ____________ the Nobel Peace Prize.
On April 4, 1968, someone __________ Dr. King with a gunshot. In November 1983, the United States Congress created Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This national holiday honors Dr. King and his work. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the third Monday in January.
Was minister liked graduated married equal
Wanted protests treatment accepted killed
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Podcasts
Podcasting is one of the key features of web 2.0 that can be used by language teachers and students.
I found this podcast on betteratenglish.com. The podcast tells ESL /EFL students how to find English idioms that cannot be located in the dictionary. The webpage where it is featured also gives a transcription of the podcast for students to use as a read-along, or a pre-or post- listening aid.
The topic addressed in this podcast would be especially useful to students who are at the intermediate level or higher who are beginning to wonder about idioms, which are notoriously difficult for language learners.
In my future classroom, I would love to have my students listen to this, as it gives them the tools that they need to discover the meaning of idioms for themselves. This is a theoretically sound idea, as learners retain information better when they have put in the mental effort to obtain it. Rather than simply list off the meanings of various idioms, the podcast gives the students the ability and motivation that they need to find out the meaning of any idiom on their own. Wonderful!
I found this podcast on betteratenglish.com. The podcast tells ESL /EFL students how to find English idioms that cannot be located in the dictionary. The webpage where it is featured also gives a transcription of the podcast for students to use as a read-along, or a pre-or post- listening aid.
The topic addressed in this podcast would be especially useful to students who are at the intermediate level or higher who are beginning to wonder about idioms, which are notoriously difficult for language learners.
In my future classroom, I would love to have my students listen to this, as it gives them the tools that they need to discover the meaning of idioms for themselves. This is a theoretically sound idea, as learners retain information better when they have put in the mental effort to obtain it. Rather than simply list off the meanings of various idioms, the podcast gives the students the ability and motivation that they need to find out the meaning of any idiom on their own. Wonderful!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Global Collaboration
Tokbox.com, Yackpack.com, Skype.com
I was most interested in the global collaborative activities that include the exploration of how our various classrooms and societies resemble and differ from one another.
I think that it would be a very motivating and informational activity if, in our class study of society, government, civilization or history, the students brainstormed a list of relevant topics that they would like to learn about from their e-pals.
For example, if we were studying the US government, the students might be interested to know about the governmental system in their e-pals country, including system, elections (or lack thereof!) representation, or citizen involvement.
Since my students would most likely be from a country other than the US, we could incorporate a research section to the project where they would research these topics based on their home country.
We could give our e-pals the list of topics, so that they could prepare answers, and then we could conduct real-time voice interviews using any of the programs above: tokbox.com, yackpack.com or skype.com.
This project would allow the students to form their own conclusions about the benefits and drawback of up to three different governmental systems, while they practice theri research and communication skills.
I think that it would be a very motivating and informational activity if, in our class study of society, government, civilization or history, the students brainstormed a list of relevant topics that they would like to learn about from their e-pals.
For example, if we were studying the US government, the students might be interested to know about the governmental system in their e-pals country, including system, elections (or lack thereof!) representation, or citizen involvement.
Since my students would most likely be from a country other than the US, we could incorporate a research section to the project where they would research these topics based on their home country.
We could give our e-pals the list of topics, so that they could prepare answers, and then we could conduct real-time voice interviews using any of the programs above: tokbox.com, yackpack.com or skype.com.
This project would allow the students to form their own conclusions about the benefits and drawback of up to three different governmental systems, while they practice theri research and communication skills.
Epals
I was enchanted when I was looking through the epals.com site.
There are so many useful and innovative ideas and projects all available in one place, for free! I love the easy interface, and I found it a breeze to navigate. It is rather difficult for me to pick a favorite feature, as I haven't actually had the opportunity to use any of them yet, but during my exploration, I found a few things I am excited to explore further.
The projects section is great. It gives you great ideas on how to incorporate global collaboration and communication into your lessons. This is especially helpful for teachers who are new to this type of thing! My two special favorite projects are "Habitats" and "The Way We Are."
The "Habitats" project would be an awesome way for a science teacher to incorporate more language , communication and global knowledge into their curriculum. It would also be wonderful for an ESL teacher teaching through content based instruction to incorporate some of the science curricula into her language teaching.
"The Way We Are" is a super way for classes to explore and discover how the global community can be different and similar to the way "we" are. It also encourages students to think about the "we" as a member of the global community. I think t is especially important for students to learn that "their" way is not necessarily the global norm, that there are people in the world who think that they are the different ones!
I am also thrilled that epals is so focused on internet safety. I remember that I and many of my peers expressed concerns with keeping our students safe in the online community. Epals may be a great starting point for introducing your students to the safe use of the internet.
In my own (hypothetical) classroom, I think I would be most likely to use epals for the projects aspect. I need help thinking of ways to use some of these great technological tools for instruction, and the projects are like lesson plans that really help me to visualize 1) how my students could benefit form such global communication and 2) how I could actually implement it in my classroom.
The digital storytelling and the way we are projects would be great additions to my content based ESL instruction in the content area of social studies. In addition to my local curriculum, I could expose my students to a more global point of view.
The habitats, natural disasters, global warming, water, and weather projects would benefit my science content instruction. Again, in addition to a more localized curriculum, my students would be able to listen to the viewpoints of their world-wide peers.
In both cases, the projects inherently combine content development with communication. My students, as English language learners, need English communication skills, and this would be a great motivating tool!
There are so many useful and innovative ideas and projects all available in one place, for free! I love the easy interface, and I found it a breeze to navigate. It is rather difficult for me to pick a favorite feature, as I haven't actually had the opportunity to use any of them yet, but during my exploration, I found a few things I am excited to explore further.
The projects section is great. It gives you great ideas on how to incorporate global collaboration and communication into your lessons. This is especially helpful for teachers who are new to this type of thing! My two special favorite projects are "Habitats" and "The Way We Are."
The "Habitats" project would be an awesome way for a science teacher to incorporate more language , communication and global knowledge into their curriculum. It would also be wonderful for an ESL teacher teaching through content based instruction to incorporate some of the science curricula into her language teaching.
"The Way We Are" is a super way for classes to explore and discover how the global community can be different and similar to the way "we" are. It also encourages students to think about the "we" as a member of the global community. I think t is especially important for students to learn that "their" way is not necessarily the global norm, that there are people in the world who think that they are the different ones!
I am also thrilled that epals is so focused on internet safety. I remember that I and many of my peers expressed concerns with keeping our students safe in the online community. Epals may be a great starting point for introducing your students to the safe use of the internet.
In my own (hypothetical) classroom, I think I would be most likely to use epals for the projects aspect. I need help thinking of ways to use some of these great technological tools for instruction, and the projects are like lesson plans that really help me to visualize 1) how my students could benefit form such global communication and 2) how I could actually implement it in my classroom.
The digital storytelling and the way we are projects would be great additions to my content based ESL instruction in the content area of social studies. In addition to my local curriculum, I could expose my students to a more global point of view.
The habitats, natural disasters, global warming, water, and weather projects would benefit my science content instruction. Again, in addition to a more localized curriculum, my students would be able to listen to the viewpoints of their world-wide peers.
In both cases, the projects inherently combine content development with communication. My students, as English language learners, need English communication skills, and this would be a great motivating tool!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Videos
I linked to a video to teach you how to knit a simple scarf in case you were interested in that.
The other video I added to my link list is one that deals with "wh" question words in English as a Second Language. These are words like who, what, where, when, why, and how. My adults students are having not a little difficulty distinguishing these words in speech and meaning. This video might be a good introduction to a lesson focusing on these words. It is very useful that the video has the words appear in text at the bottom of the screen when they are used in the dialogue.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
:: PIMPAMPUM :: Bubblr! .:.
:: PIMPAMPUM :: Bubblr! .:.
I used the Bubblr Application to create a one panel comic with a photo that was posted with creative commons license.
Bubblr lets you search for photos on Flikr by either tags or usernames. You can then add speech and thought bubbles to the photos and type in text. You can merge a few photos together to create a comic strip.
This is a really cool application for use with English language learners. It would be really fun to have the students role play short skits and take four or five pictures of the skit. The students could then work together or individually to create dialogue and text for the characters. The language uses are endless, in my example, I modeled giving directions.
I used the Bubblr Application to create a one panel comic with a photo that was posted with creative commons license.
Bubblr lets you search for photos on Flikr by either tags or usernames. You can then add speech and thought bubbles to the photos and type in text. You can merge a few photos together to create a comic strip.
This is a really cool application for use with English language learners. It would be really fun to have the students role play short skits and take four or five pictures of the skit. The students could then work together or individually to create dialogue and text for the characters. The language uses are endless, in my example, I modeled giving directions.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
My knitting company!!
ChickpeaKnits.etsy.com
My new knitting company finally had its first sale!! I was excited like a little kid until I shipped the item, and now I'm nervous that the buyer will think it is a piece of junk.
I'm still excited though!!
If you know any environmentally-friendly fashionistas, please let them know about the site!
thanks!
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