Because of the Coronavirus, which is affecting us all worldwide, many schools face either potential closures or have already been closed. What are teachers to do? Enter remote learning.
While online teaching and virtual schools are nothing new, they are not the main bread and butter of public education. Therefore, a remote learning model in a traditional public school might require a learning curve.
And with the situation changing every day, if not the hour, many teachers – including those who work with English learners – are scrambling to collect resources for their students.
Here is a list of helpful free resources that will allow you to get organized – by language domain – and decide how you can help your English learners at any proficiency level during this difficult time.
Remote teaching tools
A video-conferencing application, which allows you not only to conduct video calls with multiple people but also to record your video, voice and share your screen. You can host up to 100 participants in each of the meetings.
A simple screen recording tool, which allows you to record your desktop, your screen or yourself. You can record yourself teaching a lesson or share a PowerPoint. When you are done, you will receive a shareable link which you will be able to give to your students.
As part of the G-Suite, Google Hangouts provide an opportunity not only to have a group chat, but also have video calls, when necessary.
Read and Write Google Chrome extension
This great extension allows your English learners to hear the text read aloud to them while the app highlights it. Even more, you can create voice notes directly inside the Google docs and then listen to them. These are just a couple of features, and they are super helpful for English learners.
Remote learning – a list of companies that offer free resources
Unite for Literacy – online books for elementary students. Students can read themselves, or listen to the recorded reading of the book in both English and a different language!
NewsEla – online news articles that allow students of different proficiency levels to access the same information. Comes with built-in quizzes and writing assignments.
Kahoot! – both you and your students can utilize this to present a lesson and to demonstrate learning.
Peardeck – create slides, quizzes, presentations and more. Students also love their Flashcard Factory game!
StoryBoardThat – a place for you (or your students) to create visuals, timelines and to simplify whatever you are reading as a class so your new English learners can access the information.
Portions of it may be paid, but there is a TON of free premade resources on there as well.
Flipgrid – video recording for student responses
Quill.org – a great tool to get your students practicing grammar and writing. It has a built-in ELL section, where your students can take a pre-test which allows tailoring the assignments to their level.
Those who need to practice typing – https://www.typingclub.com/
And last but certainly not least – virtual tours offered by world-class museums.
These are just a few that I’ve tried with my English learners and that have worked really well in the past. For more ideas on how to help your students, I wrote a separate blog post (you can read it HERE).
The words like “uncertain” and “stressful” cannot even fully describe the current situation. But just know that this might be a chance for all of us to regroup, refocus, and finally live by the words we teach our students – let’s be kind and compassionate. And thankful for the wonderful resources we get for our teaching.
What tools are your favorite to use online with your English learners? Share in the comments with us!
If you are a new teacher or one that works ESL newcomers and has limited resources, check out The ESL Teaching Roadmap, a membership community for ESL teachers that helps you reclaim your time, sanity and confidence.
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