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Topics - Mai Mohamed

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Learning L2 Reading & Writing / Storybird for Beginner L2 writers
« on: March 03, 2020, 01:01:54 PM »
Learners can use https://storybird.com/ to create their own small/short animated stories and poetry. For learners that are still learning how to read and write. The teacher can use this tool through different parts of the semester, and that is why familiarizing students with how to use this is important. They can learn about literature, analyze it, write their own version and apply what they learn by illustrating a story using story bird!

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Reading/Writing Humor / Speed reading/Speed writing
« on: March 03, 2020, 12:43:23 PM »
Students can use both of the following websites to challenge themselves on their reading and typing skills. You can adjust both websites for the speed whether it is slow or fast. Reading one word and a sentence at a time instead of seeing the entire text helps the student become less anxious on what they have to read after looking at the whole page if they are not comfortable with reading in the L2. It also helps them read in chuncks for later on, and it works really well for fun reading. https://www.spreeder.com/app.php?intro=1 The same is applied to the writing, so they can read and write at the same time using this website https://www.livechatinc.com/typing-speed-test/#/

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Vocabulary / VoScreen and Reading/Listening
« on: March 03, 2020, 11:10:13 AM »
Voscreen is a website that introduces snippets of 10 second videos taken from famous TV shows, movies, TV programs, cartoons, etc. with the purpose of enhancing the users English listening skills. They watch a 10 second video, then they choose the correct subtitle that matches a paraphrasing of what was said in the video. I think it could also be used a reading skill, not just a listening skill and both can go hand in hand. When students have begun to become better readers in the L2, the teacher could introduce them to this site a part of extra work outside the classroom, or even give class time for this as a game with rewards they could play as teams. After selecting the correct subtitle, each team will select one vocabulary word to define with the class each time. This was students work on interpreting idioms, slang, and other features of spoken language.


https://www.voscreen.com/pg/voStep/beginner/1764/6ecv72rml6crhsia2/en
https://www.voscreen.com/life/1754/8r6d3yfkno6dji1a2/en

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Using Literature / Literature Circles and the Hobbit!
« on: February 13, 2020, 04:05:54 PM »
As promised, here are our resources from the presentation day. These resources help understand what literature circles are and how to use them to teach extensive reading. PPT: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XaYDioZYlAKjTAkoGFwfp7gufHgElFgPp7d64zYwG7U/edit?usp=sharing

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The Hobbit stuff / Literature Circles and the Hobbit!
« on: February 06, 2020, 07:54:02 AM »
Literature Circles can be used to teach The Hobbit in a collaborative and engaging way. Attached is a handout that customizes the different roles to better suit the hobbit. Here is an online blog that I found that shows how a class used to share ideas after they read their chapters, presenting the possibility of electronic literature circles. I believe this blog is not as organized as I'd like it to be, but it is interesting as a start. http://litcircleshobbit.blogspot.com/2016/04/all-about-us.html


For more on literature circles, this book has a full chapter that encompasses the basics of literature circles:


 DaLie, S.O. (2001). Students becoming real readers: Literature circles in high school English classes, in Ericson, B.O. (Ed.), [/size]Teaching Reading in High School English Classes[/color][/size]. Urbana: NCTE, 84-100.[/color]



Here is another blog that provides different ideas to use when teaching the Hobbit based on the subject it is incorporated in (mostly helpful for bilingual schools) [/size][size=78%]https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/library/books/the-hobbit[/size].

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Technology and Teaching Reading & Writing / Starfall.com for Reading and Writing - Pre-school/Primary school resource
« on: February 04, 2020, 11:15:06 AM »
Teaching in an ESL/EFL context in a school setting is most likely to be confined by a certain syllabus/book. However, teaching reading/writing will most likely be a part of the syllabus and Starfall.com could be used as an alternative resource for this process if the school provides resources the teacher deems unsatisfactory (and by teacher I mean ME). It is a HUGE resource, however, I outline below certain sections of this website and how it can be used in the classroom:
  • https://www.starfall.com/h/abcs/ teaches students about phonics in a very fun way. They will copy the sounds and recognize the letters through this resource, and focusing on one to two letters per class, and after covering 5 letters taking a class just to recap on the letters they have covered is extremely helpful and an exciting 15 minutes at the end of the class. It keeps the students involved and excited.
  • Accompany the above resource with its corresponding letter worksheets to encourage writing. The website had free worksheets available, but you can always find other worksheets on the internet that help students trace the letter and colour the animals.
  • https://www.starfall.com/h/ltr-classic/ I also worked with this as a story to present after introducing letters. I would ask student to find the letters we discussed in class, and give me the corresponding sounds before we moved on to the remainder of the story. 
This doesn't take more than 20 minutes of classroom time, and my students really looked forward to this part of the class because it involves technology. It provides the letter in an interactive and colorful way, and always in a context rather than in isolation.

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