These are really interesting videos that you could assign. Students have the option to read subtitles (sometimes up to 30 or so languages in subtitles). They could listen and read in their language and then in the target language. Comprehension could improve because students already know the content. Good listening exercise, too. This video is called "What adults can learn from kids." One of my favorites is about dance - of course, it's called "Dance vs. powerpoint…." That title makes me smile! http://www.ted.com/talks/john_bohannon_dance_vs_powerpoint_a_modest_proposal.html Another one on teaching: http://www.ted.com/playlists/11/the_creative_spark.html

Subtitles could help enhance popular shows for language learners. Most of the shows on the PBS website had subtitles, but when I pushed pause the words disappeared. ELLs would have a difficult time checking their spelling and reading at fast speeds. PBS could be a good tool for advanced language learners.

Some reminders and tips for teaching children.

This is a great site for borrowing ideas that could help develop and supplement lessons. From the site: "These lessons are designed for adult ESL students at the intermediate and advanced levels. Students learn new vocabulary, and practice using it by looking at and describing portraits, landscapes, and narrative works of art."

This site offers on-line instruction for ESL students moving into academic writing. Most of the information is free, but you can also take an on-line class and get feedback from the teacher/website owner. There are quizzes and examples for self-instruction. From the site: "This web site is for non-native speakers of English who want to write in English for academic purposes. The material in this site is aimed toward high intermediate or advanced English learners who have never taken a formal English writing course and whose TOEFL score is about 500 or more. The main objective of this site is to help non-native English speakers write for an English speaking academic audience which necessarily includes organization of ideas, the single greatest weakness among many non-native English speakers."

When you click the American English option, you can select consonants' manner, place, voice, or the vowels' monopthongs and diphthongs. Then, you can see an animation of the sound, or you can see a person using the sound in a word. The home page says it has libraries of the phonetic sounds of English, German, and Spanish.

I opened the Pizza Restaurant "Community" topic. Part 1 is a Listening (using an optional audio segment), and read along section. I didn't see an option for speed and I found the reading to be fast for a language learner, but they can repeat it for multiple readings. Part II is a discussion with a couple of questions, "What kind of pizza do you like and what toppings do you like on it? And "Are there any unique toppings that people put on pizza in your country that reflect your local foods?" Part III is an online investigation with a link to a practice. From their Website: "One of the best ways to improve communication skills is to become familiar with the language by reading, building vocabulary, and discussing what you study in daily conversations. Too often, ESL/EFL students spend time reading about topics that they normally wouldn't use in daily conversation. This site presents short conversation starters or readings that you can study and then try to apply in everyday situations Before anything else, be sure to read the page, Using This Site, to understand the purpose of these materials and how to best use them. The table below outlines current and future topics. Those with links are now available. Write me if you have an idea for a new reading topic."

When I opened a lesson on grammar, it had a lesson with a Q & A section below it where students can check their own answers. A daily vocab word is also on the page. Lessons include grammar, reading, vocab, listening, pronunciation, slang/idioms. From the Website: "Learning English as a second language (ESL) is not always easy, but it should be fun. 5 Minute English has been designed to give you short and easy explanations and exercises. You can also find answers to questions that other students have had about confusing things in English. This is under the Question and Answer section. Take your time and come back to 5 Minute English often. You'll be surprised at how much English you can learn with a little dedication."

Something a little different to talk about in your listening and speaking classes, an App for Dance free at iTunes (Clips at YouTube). Volume 1: http://bit.ly/fcvYmV (Carmen DeLavallade, Deborah Jowitt, Regina Larkin, Christine Redpath and Megan Williams) Volume 2: http://bit.ly/ygu9R9 (Molissa Fenley, Margie Gillis, Miki Orihara & Stephen Pier, Risa Steinberg and Christine Wright) Volume 3: http://bit.ly/NdZiVA (David Leventhal, Jason McDole, Barbara Mahler and Christine Wright) From their site: "Dances for an iPhone is an App that features short dance movies by Richard Daniels for a stellar roster of dance artists… The Baryshnikov Arts Center named Mr. Daniels an artist in residence in 2009 (and 2011) in order to create these pieces… For more on Richard Daniels: http://www.DancesforaniPhone.com/… All are short, 3-5 minutes in length."

At ESL Video, you can create your own quizzes and use other peoples quizzes. You can access beginning, intermediate, high Intermediate quizzes for videos. It was free to sign up, but it is a limited source for borrowing quizzes. These are the guidelines for making quizzes: - If you suspect the video or thumbnail-image violates copyright law, don't use it. ( - Read the "Top 10 Distractors" article by Sharon Yoneda. ( - Read the "Real (Teacher) World Application of ESLvideo.com" article by Sharon Yoneda. ( - Base your quizzes on shorter videos rather than longer videos. ( - Create your quiz first in a Word or text document, then copy / paste into the quiz builder. - Create quizzes with more than five questions. - Check your questions and answers for typos. ( - Music video quizzes - don't skip lines in the lyrics and be sure to add the transcript (often easily found with a Google search). ( - Design distractors that demonstrate mechanical, structural, phonological or othographic relevance. When you create your quiz, you add title, description, tags (past tense, WH questions, Directions), Question for Comments, Thumbnail Image, Video Embed code, level, language, and quiz type.

This site has ideas, printable materials, discussion forums, and employment opportunities. It shows how to teach Film and Video, teach with the Internet, and using songs and music. You can sign up for free and download a limited amount of worksheets per month from www.education.com/worksheets. You can select by Grade or Subject. These are mostly useful for homeschoolers or in regular children's classrooms. It offers content-based ideas with integrated skills including conversation, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and Vocabulary. The Grammar is practiced in communicative settings. ESL PartyLand is a nice home base for Internet tools including up-to-date addresses for Dave's ESL Café, EF Englishtown, Kent's ESL Wonderland, On-line TOEFL Materials, and Randall's CyberListening Lab. It funnels all these sites into one page for easy reference. Other sites it observes as interesting include The All Music Guide, The Discovery Channel on-line, Earth Alert, and Lonely Planet On-line.