#technology – Dr. J's Education Blog

Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Digital Technologies, and Blockchain: Musings on Education and Language Acquisition in the Digital Age by Dr. Jasmin Bey Cowin

Gen Z and Gen Alpha continue to drive the expansion of augmented reality digital technologies (ARDTs) into all industries from corporate environments and marketing to health care, from gaming to language acquisition. Location-independent virtual environments hold the promise of exponential expansion beyond the brick-and-mortar presence of schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions of learning, such as virtual schools and universities.

It is my great pleasure to share my newest publication “Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Digital Technologies, and Blockchain: Musings on Education and Language Acquisition in the Digital Age”, JAN 16, 2020by LONDON-TVin BUSINESS

Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Digital Technologies, and Blockchain: Musings on Education and Language Acquisition in the Digital Age

Infographics by Touro TESOL Candidate Evelyn Ramos EDDN 636 Linguistic Structure of the English Language

As a Professor preparing my teacher candidates for the 21st Century technology integration comes up often. Yet, what does that really mean? For the EDDN 636 Linguistic Structure of the English Language, I had my teacher candidates complete a project: design an infographic and incorporate this into their required SIOP lesson plan. My candidate Evelyn Ramos delivered an innovative, well designed bilingual infographic. Once she laminated it and used it in her class, several other teachers in her school approached her to also receive a copy for themselves. In addition, her students now want to create their own infographics.

Evelyn Ramos: I am a Brentwood High School graduate and graduated 11 out of my class of 450 with honors in 2009. I started my bachelor’s degree in Queens College and later transferred to SUNY College at Old Westbury earning a dual bachelor’s degree in Adolescence Education Spanish (7-12) and Spanish Language, Hispanic Literature and Culture; I graduated in 2016 with Cum Laude honors. My teaching career started two years ago in 2017 at Brentwood Union Free School district as a bilingual language teacher. Currently, I am teaching Home Language Arts to 7th & 8th graders at East Middle school, choosing to return to Brentwood to give back to the community that gave so much to me. I started my graduate degree at Touro College, TESOL and Bilingual Department in 2017 and will graduate in June 2020 with a Master’s degree in TESOL. I have accomplished all this being a mother to two beautiful girls, a wife, daughter, and granddaughter.

Evelyn Ramos EDDN 636 Infographics

State your target audience (group of learners) for the project.

The target audience for this project are 7th grade ELA/ENL class. Students are in a Bilingual/ENL program. Class size is 18 students; 10 students are transitioning and 8 are emerging. The class is a stand-alone ENL/ELA class. Students receive two 45-minute periods of ELA/ENL.

State your topic for the infographic.

The topic of the infographic using the different parts of speech: Noun, Verb and adjectives. There will be a focus on using adjectives to describe people and place using color, size and appearance.

State your intended learning outcome for the project.

The intended learning outcomes for this project are the following:

Students will be able identify adjectives orally and label the parts of speech in a sentence. Students will be to write a description of a monster or spooky place using adjectives. Students will be able to identify an adjective in a sentence. What type of infographic will you create (comparison, flow chart, timeline, etc.)?

What type of infographic will you create (comparison, flow chart, timeline, etc.)?

The infographic I created is a flowchart to help the information flow one from another.

What design decisions did you make in terms of:
1. Text – font, colors, white space, and so on, Text reduction – how did you translate text into a graphic form? Color & Pictures/graphics

At first it was hard to choose a background because I did not want to a background or template that had to much. I choose bright colors and the color code I will be using in my lesson is a color code used within my department to teach the parts of speech. Blue for nouns, green for verbs and red for adjectives. I also used different fonts for each part of speech. As I introduce the different groups of adjectives, I used a different font for each but kept the color red to show that they are all adjectives. When it came to the writing, I kept it simple and comprehensible for my ELL learners. I also used pictures that provided clear written and visual examples of each topic mentioned. I also translated the infographic into Spanish.

How is the topic relevant to learners? State how it relates to curriculum professional development, training goals, or other learning context for your intended audience. Please note that you are creating educational materials in this and all of your assignments for the course.

The infographic allows students to review the parts of speech. Students need to understand how each part of speech is used in a sentence. Learning the basic parts of speech will help ELLs in their writing. Students do not only see parts of speech in ELA, this is a concept that will be used throughout all content areas and across curriculum.

Reflect on the process of creating your infographic. You should be reflecting on pedagogical benefits and challenges of creating and using infographics. Maximum 250 words on this section.

I really enjoyed creating my infographic. On a pedagogical point of view, infographic is great to use with all learners, especially ELLs. They are effective because you are able to provide the content in written form with visuals packing the big ideas into a small space. Students will become engaged in learning with this mean of presentation. An infographic presents information in a compelling way that catches the learner’s eye. Also, infographics are much easier to read and follow. This allows for information to be more comprehensible to the learner. Students will be able to retain the information easily because it captures their attention and none of their teachers are using infographic in the classroom. Allowing the students to create their infographic in class would be a way to incorporate technology and in the classroom. However, making an infographic can be challenging and time-consuming. Creating an infographic can be an end of the unit project. I am able to use the infographic in a bilingual classroom by creating the graph in both languages. By providing a translated version to an Entering or emerging students I am scaffolding the content to meet their needs.

What did you learn relating to teaching and learning with digital content?

I learned that using a digital resource limit the amount of copies needed in the classroom. The infographic can be displayed on the smart board. Shared with the students through remind or class dojo. Also, I am able to share the infographic not only with my students but my parents and colleagues. The resources are endless. Students really love and enjoy using infographics.

Evelyn Ortiz’s infographic on Bilingual Education vs ESL Education EDDN 639 – Trends and Current Issues in Second Language Acquisition

Touro TESOL Candidate Evelyn Ortiz is a certified bilingual teacher (Spanish speaking) working in the Wyandanch school district. She has worked for more than three years as a third-grade bilingual teacher in Wyandanch. Ms. Ortiz states that: “I love working with ENL, CLD students and I pursuing my master’s in TESOL at Touro College so that I can better support my students with new strategies and methods.”

The assignment guidelines: Infographics

CAEP: Standard 1: CONTENT AND PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 1.5 Providers ensure that completers model and apply technology standards as they design, implement
and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; and enrich professional practice. CAEP

For this assignment, you will create an infographic for a specific group of learners (your audience). I highly recommend that you create your infographic for the learners that you are currently teaching, or typically teach. You will know more about this group than other groups of learners and are likely to have an easier time designing instruction for them.

Here Ms. Ortiz’s assignment submission and infographic:

Infographic Documentation

Identify your audience

The intended audience for this infographic are parents. In the Wyandanch school district we have both Bilingual education and ESL education. I think that it is important for parents to know the differences between the two programs so that there aren’t any misconceptions for the program expectations that their child may be enrolled in.

What is the learning objective(s) of the presentation

I can identify the differences between Bilingual and ESL education.
I can identify the instructional expectations of a Bilingual one way program versus the two-way program.
I can identify the differences between a Push In / Pull out and ESL class period.

What type of infographic did you create? If your infographic falls into more than one category, please list them.

The infographic created falls into the category of educational. It can also be a compare/contrast infographic.

What content did you decide to include in the presentation (point form or outline is fine)?

I decided to include bullet points of sentences so that the information is short and concise.

5. What design decisions did you make in terms of: Text – font, colors, white space, and so on – I chose three different fonts: Oswald, Arvo and Advent Pro Medium. The top of the page there is white margin and then there are two colored columns, the left side is magenta and the right side is purple. The left side has font colors in yellow, white and black. The right side has font colors in light blue, white and black. The left side represents Bilingual Education and the right side represents ESL education.

Text reduction – how did you translate text into a graphic form? I took the most important points and created short and simple sentences and organized it by bullet points.

Color – The main background color is magenta and purple. The fonts are yellow, light blue, black and white.

Pictures/graphics – I chose a picture of child that is surrounded by educational images. The child looks happy and excited. The books below her say “never stop learning” on the bind. I like that there is a clock, a globe and a lightbulb in the background. The clock represents time, the globe represents diversity and the lightbulb represents innovative ideas and learning. There is also a question mark and a music symbol. The students should be curious with their learning and encouraged to ask and answer questions to gain a better understanding of academic content and the world around them. The music symbol represents harmony and music. The students can learn content through rhythm and music.

Reflect on the process of creating your infographic. You should be reflecting on pedagogical benefits and challenges of creating and using infographics. Maximum 250 words on this section.

The pedagogical benefits of creating and using infographics and that it can be used to summarize a topic. The infographic can be used to organize information that makes it more meaningful and comprehensible to understand. The audience is able to get the gist of a topic and learn important facts by reading an infographic. Infographics are also very colorful and can be a visual aid to comprehend a topic. Not only can an infographic be used to education, it also could be used to persuade and used for advertisement. Infographics can also be incorporated into the classroom, especially at the Middle School and High School level. I chose to give the students at the HS level during my practicum hours, an infographic to represent what they have learned about the topic, which was Selena.

Some of the challenges of using infographics is that it is sometimes difficult to compact the information into a one page infographic. In addition, creating an infographic is not difficult however, people who are not tech-savvy may find it a bit challenging to create one at first. When I assigned an infographic as an assignment I had to show the students step by step how to sign in, edit text/images and how to choose a template. The beginning stages takes a lot of patience but then it eventually gets easier to create. The activity may be challenging but the students eventually enjoyed it.

What did you learn relating to teaching and learning with digital content?

I learned that teaching with digital content could be appealing to the intended audience. Looking at an infographic can be more captivating than looking at a worksheet of information. An infographic can be accompanied with visuals and the most important points and or information which would not be overwhelming for ELLs.

When might you use this infographic with your students, parents or audience?

I might use this infographic with parents and colleagues. There are parents who believe that their student is a bilingual program that is an additive or maintenance program when indeed, it a transitional program. The priority of the program is to get the students to “test out of bilingual” program which means to get them to reach commanding. Many students who do not have phonics base in Spanish do not get the opportunity to build those skills in their native language, the goal is to start in English even though there is evidence to support the idea that teaching both may aid L2 acquisition. By the third to fifth grade, it is difficult to start teaching them sight words and phonics in their language when they have entered such a rigorous grade. The parents think that the bilingual program teaches Spanish, however, we teach content in Spanish it is not intended to build them up from scratch like the dual language and or two-way program does.

References

YourDictionary. (2016, June 2). ESL vs. Bilingual Education. Retrieved from https://esl.yourdictionary.com/about-esl/esl-vs-bilingual-education.html.

Touro TESOL Teacher Candidate Christine Agnello’s website review for EDDN 639 – Trends and Current Issues in Second Language Acquisition

Christine Agnello is currently a TESOL candidate at the Touro College TESOL graduate program. She has worked with children for over fifteen years and looks forward “to becoming a classroom teacher who can help my English language learners succeed in their academic career.”

Ms. Angelo’s submission is exemplary as it focuses on 6 websites or applications featuring:

The Common Core Standards as they relate to ELLs
The New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT)
The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), the Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English Protocol (SDAIE), and the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach Protocol (SIOP)
NCLB & AYP requirements and RTTT
Bilingual Education

Website 1: Common Core

http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed/parents-guide-common-core-state-standards-ccss

This website is about the New York State common core standards and how they apply to English language learners. This website offers a wide variety of information to help guide parents and guardians in understanding the common core standards and how they apply to ELLs. When you first click on this link, you are brought to a page that showcases a video of a bilingual classroom; from there, you will find information regarding the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It is explained that the CCSS are meant to make sure that all children succeed once they graduate from high school. This website explains that the CCSS are essential because they help all children, regardless of their age, race, gender, or background. The website offers a description of the CCSS, which states clear expectations for what each student should know in key critical areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This website is meant to provide parents and guardians with the standards as a way to help them work along with their child’s teachers in guiding their children to be successful.

A positive aspect of this website is that it provides a ‘Parent Workshop Backpack Guide’ in multiple languages. This will allow all families to become familiar with the CCSS, regardless of their home language. The backpack guide is a two-page information sheet, which details the CCSS and what they should expect to find in their child’s backpack in regards to learning. This information is vital to helping parents keep up to date on what is going on in their child’s academic learning. This website also offers a wide variety of information about ELLs regarding their education. Parents and guardians can navigate the website and view extra details by clicking on the links located on the left side of the screen. While it is significant that the website offers so much information, I do believe a negative is that there might be too much information which will cause parents and guardians to become overwhelmed.

In the future, I would use this website to help guide the parents and guardians of my English language learners. I may reference this website during parent/teacher conferences, and use it as a guide to show parents and guardians where their children are in terms of their academics and what steps we could take together to get them on the level they need to be in regards to the common core standards.

Website 2: NYSESLAT

https://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-english-a-second-language-achievement-test-nyseslat-resources

This website is designed to detail The New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT). This website offers a wide variety of information in regards to the NYSESLAT, such as a description of the exam, how the exam is measured, and a checklist for review. This website provides a lot of information regarding the exam, and on the left side of the screen, you can view resources and materials that will be used to assess the exam.

While this website is full of a lot of information, I do believe that it could be overwhelming for English language learner parents and guardians. The website is only in English, which will make it difficult for others to read and understand. At the bottom of the screen, this is another link which brings you to a ‘Parent Brochure.’ Once you click on this link, you are brought to another website which provides a brochure detailing the exam in a variety of languages.

Although this website may be more geared towards teachers, I believe it is helpful for parents and guardians to view the information provided here. This information can help parents and guardians understand what the NYSESLAT is and what it entails for their children. In the future, I would love for my school’s main office to provide the information regarding this website to newly registered parents, as they can view the data before their child takes the exam.

Website 3: The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)

http://shelteredenglish.weebly.com/

This website is designed to offer you information regarding The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP). As stated on the homepage of the website, it is understood that The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol approach is for teaching content to English language learners in a strategic way which will make the subject matter and its concepts comprehensible while promoting student’s English language development. This website provides information on the eight components of SIOP, as well as resources that can be used to implement.

This website is very clean; there aren’t many areas to explore, which makes it easy to navigate. When you view the eight components link, you are brought to a well thought out PDF that details the eight components that you can use. This information can be useful for future teaching and is easily accessible. A negative to the website is that unfortunately, some of the links do not work, and you are brought to a website that is not helpful.

In the future, I would use this website to help reference how I could use the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) in my classroom. With its clean interface, I feel like I would access it more often, as all the information easily laid out for me.

Website 4: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act

https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/no-child-left-behind-and-english-language-learners

This website provides an article detailing the information regarding the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, and how it especially applies to English language learners. The article explains that the NCLB act requires all English language learners to receive quality instruction for learning English and grade-level academic content. This act allows flexibility for choosing programs of instruction, especially for ELLs. The article explains that states are required to develop standards for English language proficiency, and to link those stands to the state’s academic content standards. The article goes on to list the requirements of the NCLB act in correlation to English language learners.

This website provides short but very insightful information regarding the No Child Left Behind act and its relation to English language learners. It gives details that I believe would be beneficial to parents and guardians of English language learners. The website provides alternative links to some terms which are not easily understood by parents or guardians unfamiliar to the act. While I find the site useful, I do find it disconcerting that the information is only provided in English.

In my future, as an educator, I would use this website to inform parents/guardians about the No Child Left Behind act. I think this website would be excellent if it were used during a parent/guardian workshop, which could be set up for the beginning of the school year. This workshop could be conducted during the parent/guardian outreach time, which is mandated by the Department of Education for all teachers on Mondays and Tuesdays. I think it would be beneficial for there to be translators available, as each translator could assist in helping parents and guardians of a variety of languages understand what is being discussed.

Website 5: https://www.nysut.org/resources/all-listing/research/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-nys-requirements-bilingual-education-and-english-new-language-programs

This website provides information regarding the requirements for bilingual education and English as a new language program. This website offers a fact sheet, which gives you an outline and guide on these requirements. The website starts off by providing a background in bilingual education and English as a new language program and explains the amendments that are required of school districts in order to provide English language learners with opportunities to achieve the same educational goals and standards established for all students. The website also contains resources for English language learners, as well as definitions of key terms regarding English language learners.

This website provides a lot of information and has it broken down into easy to follow sections. I believe that this information is vital for any teacher of English language learners, and it is essential to be knowledgeable of this information to reach your students. The definitions of the key terms are a positive aspect of this website, as they can be referenced frequently for clarification. Along the top of the site you can find resources that lead you to another page that has more information regarding educational news. The website itself is self-explanatory and easily accessible. There is also a PDF fact sheet, which is beneficial for understanding the information.

In my future endeavors as an educator, I will use this website to reference the NYS requirements for bilingual education and English as new language programs. I think it is essential to keep yourself abreast of any new information regarding these programs, as that knowledge will help me better understand the opportunities available for my English language learners, and how I can apply them to my teachings.

Application 6: NY State Learning Standards, developed by MasteryConnect, for ios.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.masteryconnect.ny&hl=en_US

This application provides you with an overview of the New York State Common Core Standards. Upon opening the application, you are brought to a straightforward screen which states the standards and information regarding the developer of the application. Once you click on standards, you are brought to a screen that allows for a personal search, or you may click between standards for mathematics, language arts, social studies or science. Each standard provided you with a list of kindergarten through high school, and as you further explore the application you will be brought to the common core standards for each grade in each subject area. You can change the font, and you can make notes that can be referenced at a later time.

I believe that this application is extremely beneficial to teachers. This application provides you with all the information you need regarding the New York State Common Core Standards, at the tips of your fingers. They are easily accessible, and the design of the application is clean and clear. There isn’t much to get confused by, even there are a lot of standards to reference. I believe that the ability to add notes and providing the user to do their own search is especially helpful. The only negative that I found was the lack of a bookmark of some sort just so it is easier to find the next time.

I know that I will be able to implement this application in my future teaching practice, as it will provide a guide for myself to ensure that my lessons are aligned with the New York State Common Core Standards. I will be able to reference this application when designing my lessons and use the information provided to me to confirm that I am indeed teaching the information I need to help my students become successful.

Touro TESOL Teacher Candidate Lissette Lara’s website review for EDDN 639 – Trends and Current Issues in Second Language Acquisition

Assignment Purpose TESOL STANDARD 3: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING INSTRUCTION 3.e. Candidates use and adapt relevant materials and resources, including digital resources, to plan lessons for ELLs, support communication with other educators, school personnel, and ELLs and to foster student learning of language and literacies in the content areas. Analysis and implementation into teacher practice of websites specific to TESOL Field.

Lissette Lara earned her Bachelor Degree from City College of New York in Bilingual Childhood Education. Currently, she pursues her Masters in TESOL at Touro College. This is her third year teaching 5th grade in a bilingual class.

Assignment Purpose TESOL STANDARD 3: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING INSTRUCTION 3.e. Candidates use and adapt relevant materials and resources, including digital resources, to plan lessons for ELLs, support communication with other educators, school personnel, and ELLs and to foster student learning of language and literacies in the content areas. Analysis and implementation into teacher practice of websites specific to TESOL Field.

Lissette Lara’s website collection and description for classroom activities:

Website – Go Noodle – https://app.gonoodle.com/

This website provides SEL and Mindfulness, Sensory and Motor Skills, Curricular, School Life videos that usually last about two to four minutes. These videos require exercising or dance and sing along with the songs. Or help the students with skip counting are reading strategies. The students can take a yoga or breathing break. Gonoodle offers kids an opportunity to act silly or learn the coping skills they need in life. The bottom line is that it helps the students relax and focus on classroom lessons.  “The benefits of physical fitness and relaxation on learning are well documented, and GoNoodle provides teachers with a fun, interactive way to get students moving” (Common Sense Education). One of the weaknesses of Gonoodle that if you don’t have steady internet connection it won’t work.

I use these videos early in the morning when students arrive from lunch or any time the schools need a mental break. When I play the videos, I turn on the closed caption so that my ELL are able to read along with the song. I have also noticed that this helps them understand what is being said. After several times of listening to the song, they can sing along with the song. I believe this activity helps students because they practicing different parts of language such as speaking, reading and listening. It is stated that “watching short videos on art, music, dance, science or other relevant themes reciting rhymes, jokes, and poetry using music, rhythm, songs, tongue twisters, or a mnemonic device that reinforces the meanings of challenging words” help develop language skills for Entering and Emerging students (Best Practices for Teaching ESL: Speaking, Reading, and Writing). These practices are beneficial for all students who would need to take The New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) because there are listening and speaking components on the test.

Flocabulary – https://www.flocabulary.com/

Flocabulary is one of the websites I use the most in my classroom. Flocabulary videos are “hip-hop videos and creativity tools give teachers new ways to captivate students while engaging them in academically rigorous content” (Flocabulary.com). The website includes learning videos in different areas of content. Teachers can find lessons on math, reading, writing, science, social students and vocabulary content. These videos are a great tool to connect with prior knowledge or to reinforce topics covered in class. Along with the video lesson, the website a list of vocabulary, a reading passage related to the video lesson and lyrics to the songs, which could be printed for students.

I utilize these videos during my lesson to build understanding or connect with students’ prior learning. For example, in 5th grade, our first unit in math is place value. The student have prior experience with place value (one, tens, hundreds, thousands…) but not right of the decimal (tenths, hundredths thousandths). Before my lessons, I would hand out the vocabulary words to my ELL and struggling students, review with them to ensure they understand. Then I would play the video reinforcing what I just taught my small group students. By using these strategies of pre-teaching vocabulary, I’m setting up my students for success. “SIOP teachers increase attention to vocabulary instruction across the curriculum so students become effective readers, writers, speakers, and listeners. My students who are learning the language will have an entry point because they will able to use the vocabulary words in their writing and speaking with peers. In addition, prior visual support for students who may different learning styles and need another point of view of the content being taught.

Reading A-Z – https://www.readinga-z.com

Reading A –Z that offers leveled text for students. This program offers on-line text with comprehension questions. Students are able to read along with the text using the audio feature the program provides. Teacher enter their students’ name and assign them with a user name and password. Students can log on at school or at home. Teachers can track students’ progress, review the comprehension question scores. Once have read and pass test, the program automatically levels the student to the next level. One of the benefits of this program is that they can use a range of device to use it, for example, it can be downloaded to PC and Apple computers, tablets and phone. One disadvantage of the program is that the student needs internet at home to access the program.

As an educator of ELL and different levels, using this program during reading ensures that every student is reading. Most of my students are reading between M-U reading levels, however I have two students that are entering student and are reading at D and K levels. In my school, we dedicate one hour for independent reading. During this time, I designate a place in my room where they can go with a computer (each) log on and read. Students are encouraged to read English text, but they can also read text in Spanish. I believe that listening to the text more than once and reading the text to each helps with comprehension, pronunciation and development of language. I also use this program because it prepares to for future assignments and test they will need to take in the future. “Audiobooks also help students engage in text and gain exposure to more words, ultimately improving vocabulary, comprehension and critical thinking skills.” (Moran). In addition to practice their reading, this students begin to develop independency and ownership over their learning.

CommonCore Lit – https://www.commonlit.org

I accidentally found this website late last year when looking for text for my small groups. I believe its’s a new website. This website offers different types of text such as essays, poems, short reads at grade level. One of the features of the website is that you can select text based on grade, genre, and common core standards. Teachers decide whether to assign text to the whole class or to individual students. The time I’ve used it, I search for text that address standards my students are struggling. The website also offers text in Spanish for ELL students. A weakness of the website the need to add more text for 5th and 6th level.

Like I mentioned earlier, texts are accompanied by common core aligned questions. The main reason I use it is that my students will be taking the ELA State Exam. The structure of the questions are similar to the ones on the state exam. I believe that if the students have opportunities to practice these questions and become familiar they will know how to answer the question on the test.

I try to incorporate text during science, social studies, read loud and small groups. I model for the class how I close read the article, keeping in mind what the question is asking me to answer. I give the students the opportunity to discuss and explain their thinking with their partners. I believe that giving children a chance to discuss because answer allows them to explore answers.

Brain Pop – https://www.brainpop.com

Brainpop is a website that offers animated video on a range of topics which include quizzes, games and additional activities. The topics are geared for grades 3-12 in areas of ELA, math, science, social studies, health, art and technology. The main characters of the videos are Moby and Tim. Teachers or students search a topic and an animated video (three –five minute) explains describes or analyzes the topic. Some of the activities Brainpop offers are sorting tasks, vocabulary review and interactive games. Just like many of the websites mentioned earlier, teachers can search video using state common core standards. Brainpop has several subgroups that are more specific to students’ needs. For example, Brainpop Jr, Brainpop Espanol, BrainPop ESL.

In my class I usually utilize Brainpop to provide additional information for my students on a topic we are learning in class. I usually play the video three times to ensure we understand the topic. The first time, I tell the class we are just watching to get an overview on the topic. I put prompts that promote discussion (What was this really about, what makes you think this, What in the video makes you think this?) The second time, I have the students take notes on certain parts of the video, during this time the students are practicing their listening and writing skills. Once they have finished the video, I ask the students to turn and talk again. However, this time around they need to share what new information have they learned. Again, displaying prompt to encourage discussion (Before I thought,______ now I know _______, I realized that __________). The last time we watch we try to make connection throughout the video, or practice summarizing skills. I would send the students back to their seats have them writing about the topic. I believe the more opportunities ELL practice reading, writing, listening and speaking language the higher chances they will have to develop L2.

Kahoot – https://kahoot.com/

Wow, finally my favorite website to use with my students. Kahoot is highly engaging and interactive. This program offers quizzes or teacher-specific made quizzes in which students compete one on one or in teams. Teachers create a free account and search through quizzes on related topic or standards. Once teacher selects the quiz, teacher displays quiz pin. Students need a laptop or tablet to join the online quiz. Next, students create a username and enter the game. Teacher begins the game when all students have logged on. The question is displayed on the smartboard for all students to read with four possible answers. Students use their computers to enter their response. Once all students have answered, the score board displays who is in the leading, and shows the correct answer. If I were to say the only negative thing about Kahoot is that teacher needs to have enough laptops or tablets for all students or enough for students to share.

I use Kahoots during all content area, but mostly in math. Using Kahoot is a quick assessment that I can use to identify who are my students who need extra help. For my entering and emerging ELL I have them work with partners at the beginning, but usually by the end of the year they are playing independent. I choose quizzes which address heavily tested standards in math and ELA.

Citation

Gonoodle Review For Teachers, Ericka D https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/gonoodle

Best Practices For Teaching Esl: Speaking, Reading, and Writing, https://www.mastersinesl.org/teaching-esl/best-practices-for-teaching-esl-speaking-reading-and-writing/

Components Of the Siop Model, https://www.janaechevarria.com/?page_id=55

7 Ways Audiobooks Benefit Students Who Struggle with Reading, Kimberley Moran – https://www.weareteachers.com/audiobooks-benefit-students

Touro TESOL Teacher Candidate Elcidana Camacho website review for EDDN 639 – Trends and Current Issues in Second Language Acquisition

Elcidana Camacho is a graduate student at Touro College majoring in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). As an immigrant student herself, she recognizes the value in providing high-quality education to English Language Learners. Currently, Elcidana teaches second-grade bilingual education at a New York Public School.

As a TESOL Professor, I thought about the Blueprint for English Language Learner/ Multilingual Learner Success when designing this assignment. On page 3 in the Blueprint it states that: Districts and schools engage all English Language Learners/Multilingual Learners in instruction that is grade-appropriate, academically rigorous, and aligned with the New York State Prekindergarten Foundation for the Common Core and P-12 Common Core Learning Standards by anchoring instruction by strategically using research-based practices (e.g., multimedia, visuals, graphic organizers, etc.). The question was: How can technology and its applications be folded into a course sequence with practical application to TESOL teacher practice?

Assignment description: Course participants will find at least 6 websites or applications. The submitted assignment should include 1) links to the websites, 2) a brief description of each site and its weaknesses and strengths,  and 3) how you will implement or apply them in your own professional teaching practice including parent outreach, and ELL advocacy. The writing must be graduate-level and authentic.  12 fonts, double space, minimum 6 pages – 1 page per website.

Website Review

Starfall: https://www.starfall.com/h/

Starfall is a free website appropriate for children from preschool through second grade. It is an outstanding resource for special education students and ELLs to improve their language. Some benefits of this website are the ample variety of interactive games, activities, songs, and stories for readers in the beginning stage as well as a variety of downloadable materials, educational products, and a kindergarten curriculum for parents and educators. The website is centered around activities that address phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary.

Another benefit of this website is that it is easy for students to navigate at their own pace, permit learners to involve in varied activities, games, and materials independently, in pairs, or with the whole class. Teachers can also project the site on an interactive whiteboard to introduce new concepts (letters, letter sounds, phonemes, blending sounds, and more) to the whole class. For teachers who are ready to go all in, the Parent-Teacher Center is a must. It offers an impressive amount of additional ideas, printable worksheets, and pre-K and kindergarten curricula. Beware, however, that a lot of these extras are behind a paywall.

One weakness found it’s that the website only encompasses from Pre-k to third grade. I think older learners will benefit from this amazing website as well. I am already planning to use this with a newcomer student that I have. She is now learning the letters the alphabet and I have been introducing some of the sound. As I was exploring the website I found a game that focuses on each letter using it different words.

Colorín Colorado: https://www.colorincolorado.org

Colorín Colorado is a website that serves educators and families of ELLs from Grades PreK-12. It is a bilingual website basically in English and Spanish, but it offers basic parent content in thirteen languages, comprising Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, and Hmong. The website provides free research-based information, classroom videos, toolkits, multilingual tip sheets, newsletters, featured book, activities, as well as advice to parents, schools, and communities in supporting ELLs in the process of the language acquisition.

The Colorín Colorado website is easy to navigate, the homepage has a bar of choices that includes ELLs Basics, school support, includes teaching ELLs, for families, books and authors, videos, audience, and resource library. The resources are included by grade, state, special education. It also offers resources and guidance for new ENL teachers, how to create a welcome environment, strategies for teaching ELLs, vocabulary instructions, how to support ELLs successfully meet the common core standards, as well as information about topics such as reading together at home.

As we see, this is not a website for the students, however, it is a great resource for parents and educators getting informed on how they can best support English Language learners. The only disadvantage that I find is that not all parents are skillful readers, I think the section for parents should include more visuals for them such as videos that includes the information in the articles. This is a website I have used before many times. I have applied information learned on this website in my classroom such as strategies for differentiated instructions and making content comprehensible for ELLs.

Fun Brain https://www.funbrain.com

Fun Brain is a very colorful, energetic, and interactive website. There are over 100 interactive activities to support students from preschool to grade eighth developing skills in English literacy. The website offers the following choices: games, reading, videos, playgrounds, and math zones. The website provides an extensive variety of books children can read directly on the website. As I was navigating, I was excited to find books we read in class such as those from Kate DiCamilo. Having them available online, seems to be a great visual aid for ELLs. Fun Brain’s games allow children an opportunity to practice their reading skills in order to play games effectively. All the games are safe for kids, and they encourage children to manipulate the keyboard and mouse so they can learn to be independent on the computer. However, these educational games allow students to practice but never show them why they get an answer wrong or how to improve it.

One disadvantage I found is that when clicking to read books from first to fourth grade, it shows a book that we read at the end of second grade which I think will be very difficult for a first-grade student. Another disadvantage is the section called playground. This is not an educational activity, it is more like entertainment for kids.

I will use this website in both reading and math. I will use the math zone during independent math where students can practice skills related with the concept being taught. Similarly, during independent reading, my students can read books online.

English 4 Kids: http://www.english-4kids.com/lessons.html

The English 4 kids is an ESL website mainly for families and teachers that are trying to help children and students learn English. In the section of the parents and teachers, there is a guide to the materials needed. According to the website, the resources provided have been created by ESL professionals with at least 5 years of teaching experience. The website provides lesson plans, worksheets, fun game, powerpoints for the lessons, flashcards, and more.

Some strengths of this website are that it offers complete English Curriculum for ELLs who are at different stages in English proficiency with fully developed thematic units Each lesson features animated ESL videos to learn new vocabulary words and grammar. Furthermore, there are engaging English learning games for children and learner-driven interactive tests for every lesson. When reading the lessons, I noticed they follow the template of the SIOP Model. Each lesson includes learning objectives, language objectives, vocabulary, sentence structure, visual aids, interactive activities, and more. I personally like that the content is connected with daily life activities. For instance, there is a whole unit about greetings, another about colors, and so on. This units will help ELLs build and expand their vocabulary because they are exposed to read, listen, speak and write using the vocabulary. Moreover, there apps that parents can download for ELLs to practice phonics. One disadvantage I found it’s that the website doesn’t have an option for languages. Since the website is designed for teachers and parents to help their children improve their English, I think the instructions for the options in the website should include parent’s native language because not all of them understand English.

I will definitely use this website with my students, not just with the newcomers, but with the whole class as well. There are interactive videos we can do together specially when teaching phonics, vocabulary, even grammar. I have to say that this is my favorite website so far. I can’t wait to use.

Literacy Center Educational Network: http://www.literacycenter.net

The Literacy Center Education Network is a website created for parents, teachers and younger students. It provides great resources for students, educators and families of English Language Learners. The website includes beneficial pages such as Play and Learn, Print and Practice, Parents and Teachers, and Resources. The Play and Learn page contains activities that help ELLs practice their writing, spelling, uppercase, lowercase, word matching, spelling and more. Lessons are colorful and very interactive which makes teaching and learning more engaging. Furthermore, the different activities promote the development of the four language skills, Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking.

The website is very accessible for parents because it provides an ample variety of language such as Spanish, French, and German. I think this is an advantage. Moreover, when young learners are navigating, it is easy for them to go from one page to the other because the page does not heavy with too many visuals. On the top it shows numbers that indicate a different page. Students just have to click and the page will pop out. One disadvantage I found is that there are not many activities. I wish it had more variety. Since this is a website for young learners, I will use this with students who do not have a strong foundation in their native language as well as newcomers.

BrainPop ELL: https://ell.brainpop.com

BrainPOP ELL is a web-based English language learning program that encompasses animated videos as well as interactive games and activities. In the activities, the website includes the four language skills; reading, writing, listening, and speaking. BrainPOP website was mainly created to support English Language learners acquiring English in all their English proficiency levels (Entering, merging, Transitional, and Expanding.

I believe this website is very beneficial for ELLs since it provides an important visual aid which is movies. Children love the two main characters in the videos Moby and Ben. All these short movies are directly aligned with the common core standards which support students learning the content, practicing their language skills, and developing not just their English language, but also the academic language. Some of the topics students study present progressive, present simple, pronouns & be and so more.

I always use BrainPOP with my class especially in Science and Social Studies; however, I did not know there was one BrainPOP designed for ELLs. One disadvantage I found is that since the website is not free, students will not have access at home to this resource. I will use this website for whole and small class discussions. After showing the video, I will encourage students to have an accountable talk with their partner related to the topic in the vide. As the video is playing, I will stop for students to take notes highlighting the main topic and key details. They will have to support their answers with details from the video.