Listening activities

http://www.eslreading.org/index.html This site is called ESL reading and offers unusual stories and events for ESL learners. An example of one of the activities may be found in the following link:

http://www.eslreading.org/strange/strange/lawnchairlarry.html This particular link involves a reading selection about a true event with a short video. As a reading resource, I would use the suggestion in the link to begin a discussion of what the following headline might mean: Larry's Flying Lawn Chair. Then as a pre-reading activity, I would show the video clip of Larry, where they would listen to a news account of the story. After a discussion of their opinions of the story, the class would see a list of vocabulary words found in the story and as a class come up with the definitions. The class would then read the story and discuss what more they learned from the article.

There are multiple options for a lesson from this link. I like that the story is from the news, but is rather quirky. I also like how there is a listening activity as well as the reading, so that multiple skills are being used by the student. The site includes a crossword puzzle as well, to reinforce vocabulary learned from the story.

Other items found on this site might be more appropriate for younger learners. Also be advised that this is a site using British English, so not all vocabulary is the same as found in America: ie. bonnet for hood of car!

http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/esl_reading.htm

This is another site I found that has all kinds of possibilities for reading resources. I will be delving into it in more depth for many hours to come to check out what I might be able to use in the future. One site in particular that I could imagine using is:

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/index.cfm

This news program site has multiple opportunities for L2 learners to listen to all kinds of current and historical events, but in a much slower speech. It originated from Voice of America in 1959 and is still popular with English learners today. The following link is a specific portion of this site, which explains idioms using 'cat' phrases by giving some history to the terms. Viewers can click onto a link to listen to the text while viewing it at the same time. I think it would be a wonderful resource to pass along to adult learners in our classrooms. It also covers so many topics that most students would be able to find something of interest to listen to. The criticism which could emanate from skeptics is that this is not normal speech, which learners want to be able to understand. However, I think it is a nice interface for those beginning to listen and wanting to understand what they are hearing.

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2009-09-25-voa3.cfm

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

This looks like another great resource for ESL teachers, who are interested in bringing current events into the classroom. There are an incredible number of past stories, all complete with lesson design, handouts and quizzes, if the teacher would want to use them. One example from this site, which I just read about in the paper this past week, is the following link:

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0910/091019-balloon_boy.html

As you can see from this example from something that just occurred in the news, there is an abundance of materials through which to bring the story. Applicable to our week's assignment, there is a listening exercise during which students fill in gaps in a text. I like the enormous array of possibilities of what can do with just one item from the news. Not only does this site offer one resource for the classroom, but it offers the possibilities of what any teacher can do with any material. I was very impressed to see how much was created for the classroom in such a short time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APOLkUEw8p0&feature=related

This youtube video is a mini lesson for ESL learners. I like how the lesson is presented in that the student is asked to listen to the dialogue several times, each time listening for a different aspect of language. After this point, the dialogue is played again, but this time so that the learner can see the text. The remaining portion of the video goes through the idioms in the speech, as well as the informal grammar and pronunciation used. I could imagine using this in the classroom and stopping it to go through the points made and answer questions. As one follow up idea, the students could pair up and speak the dialogue reading the text in front of them.