Mark Dorr
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                                                 Internet Resources

Please check out the latest additions:
   
Writing 101 from Writer.com A solid starting point for beginners or great reminder for seasoned writers.
Grants for Seniors This has important information for seniors or teachers of seniors to support them in many ways.


General EFL/ESL Resources

  • US State Department English Language Programs Office
    • http://exchanges.state.gov/education/engteachingThe English Teaching Forum, Electronic Journals and links to many sites
  • The Internet TESOL Journal
    • http://iteslj.org
    • Reference material for teachers, lesson plans, student activities
  • ESL/ELL Resources to Succeed in School
    • https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/esl-ell-resources-for-teachers-parents-and-students/
    • The beginning has general info with many links below.
  • The College Transition Guide for ESL Students: How to Prepare for College, Get into College & Thrive as a Student
    • https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-resource-center/college-transition-guide-for-esl-students/
    • The beginning has general info with lots of links after that.

Lesson Plan Repositories
 
  • Eduref https://eduref.org/ The National Council for Open Education. Great site!
  • 51 Free Lesson Plans  https://eslauthority.com/resources/free-esl-lesson-plans/
  • Britannica
    http://www.britannica.com/
    You don't need to log in to use the search box. Enter the phrase "lesson plans" (or any other keywords that interest you) in order to pull up a wealth of good information.
  • Discovery
    http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/
    Adaptable lesson plans in many topic areas for elementary and secondary learners.
    Also see:

    Discovery Tools Worksheet Generator
    http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/worksheetgenerator/
    Formerly the M-tech generator, now housed in good company at Discovery. Choose from several vocabulary and math worksheet templates in the "Create a Worksheet" area, or just use a teacher-created worksheet in the library of "Worksheets to Go."
    And, if you like this style of generator, also visit:

    Teach-Nology.
    http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/work_sheets/
    The generators allow you to make worksheets by filling out a simple form. The materials are made instantly and can be printed directly from your computer. Your creations are exclusive to you. If you would like to keep your creations, save them when you make them.
  • Education Place
    http://www.eduplace.com/
    From Houghton Mifflin, Resources for elementary-school teachers, students, and parents. Includes Reading/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies Centers, Intervention, Professional Development, searchable activity database, educational games, and textbook support.
  • Encarta Schoolhouse
    http://encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/default.asp
    Lessons sorted by topic area and linked to the online Encarta encyclopedia resources.
  • Everything ESL
    http://www.everythingesl.net/
    Content-based lesson plans for ESL/EFL.
  • I-TESL-J, Lesson Plans
    http://iteslj.org/Lessons/
    Lesson plans for ESOL from Internet TESL Journal organized by skill area
  • A College Student's Guide to Ergonomics
  • https://unbreakyourself.com/students/
  • Microsoft Lesson Connection
  • http://www.k12.msn.com/
    A searchable collection of lesson plans.
    Also see:
    Microsoft Productivity in the Classroom
    http://www.microsoft.com/education/?ID=Arts
  • NY Times, Lesson Plan Archive
    http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/archive.html
    Teaching ideas based on news items from the NY Times.
  • TeacherLink
    http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/TLresources/longterm/
    Teaching resources in English from NASA that can be adapted to ESL/EFL settings.
  • Word Practice: English Grammar Skills
       https://word.tips/word-practice-esl-grammar-games/

Skills: Grammar and Vocabulary

  • Dictionary: Cobuild
    http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/index.html
    Check out the various sections for Idiom a Day, Wordwatch and Definitions Game.
    Also see:

    Dictionary: Merriam-Webster
    http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
    Another resource from a dictionary company with Word of the Day, Word Games, and Word for the Wise.
  • Grammar Guide created by AustralianHelp  http://australianhelp.com/grammar
  • Dictionary: Your Dictionary, A Global Language Resource
    http://www.yourdictionary.com/
    A multilingual resource with Dictionaries, Grammars, Language Identifiers, a Gameroom, and a section on Endangered Languages.
  • ESL Quiz Center
    http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/
    Dave Sperling's web site with quizzes from other EFL and ESL instructors for Geography, Grammar, History, Idioms, Slang, & Words, People, Reading Comprehension, Science, World Culture, and Writing.
  • English Language Centre Study Zone
    http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/grammar.htm
    Includes grammar presentations, interactive practice exercises, and help pages for basic writing skills.
  • Grammar Bytes, Interactive Grammar Review
    http://www.chompchomp.com/
    Click on the green monster to get started. Inside you will find an Index of Grammar Terms, Interactive Exercises, Handouts for Students and Teachers, and a section on Grammar Rules.
    For another compilation of grammar rules, see:

    Grammar Handbook from the UIUC Writer's Workshop.
    http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/
  • Grammar and Multi-Skill Sites
    http://www.lclark.edu/~krauss/toppicks/grammar.html
    Michael Krauss has gathered together many web sites and ranked them beginner through advanced. Do you agree with his rankings? Is there anything you would change?
  • Grammar Safari from LinguaCenter
    http://simsim.rug.ac.be/staff/elke/ltolpres8mei/safari.html
    This is a teacher resource with an innovative idea for incorporating authentic materials into the Grammar classroom.
  • Guide to Grammar and Writing
    http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
    Guides and quizzes for grammar and writing from Comnet.
    More grammar guides are also available through Purdue's Owl
  • The Most Common Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation Mistakes (a suggestion offered by Keira Brennan)
    http://bid4papers.com/blog/spelling-grammar-punctuation-mistakes/ 
  • Homophones Quiz
    http://hobbes.ucsd.edu/quiz.html
    A 111-question quiz for advanced speakers of English on pairs of homophones and near-homophones in American English (e.g. patted ~ padded).
  • Internet-TESL-Journal (ITESL-J) Quizzes
    http://a4esl.org/
    Interactive quizzes for Grammar, Places, Vocabulary, Idioms, Homonyms, Scrambled Words, and more.
  • Karin's ESL Partyland Quiz Center
    http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz%20center/quiz.htm
    Quizzes for Grammar, Idioms, Slang & Phrasal Verbs, Reading, TOEFL, Trivia, Useful Expressions and Vocabulary.
  • Word a Day
    http://www.wordsmith.org/awad
    The music and magic of words -- that's what A.Word.A.Day (AWAD) is about. They are a community of more than 500,000 linguaphiles in 210 countries. You too can subscribe and be a linguaphile. The subscription is free.
    If you like this sort of resource, also see:

    Cool Word of the Day
    http://www.edu.yorku.ca:8080/wotd/

Skills: Listening and Speaking

  • BBC World English, Learning English
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml
    Language study modules based on news events from radio. Support is available in many languages.
  • English Listening Room
    http://www.manythings.org/el/
    Listen to songs and fill in the blanks
  • History Channel Speeches
    http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/
    Hear the words that changed the world. From Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech to Lou Gehrig's farewell to baseball, this collection is drawn from some of the most famous broadcasts and recordings of the twentieth century. To listen to these files, you must have RealPlayer installed.
    For more speeches, see:

    Gift of Speech, Women's Speeches from around the World
    http://gos.sbc.edu/
    Women's speeches from around the word.
  • Interactive Listening Comprehension
    http://deil.lang.uiuc.edu/LCRA/
    Interactive listening comprehension exercises based on fairly advanced level news stories. These pages require JavaScript 1.1 and RealAudio Player.
  • Jukebox
    http://www.jukebox.com/
    Now part of Yahoo's directory, this site lets you find news, music, and spoken word (stories, poems, speeches) sound files.
  • Listen to Stories, Mat Doyle
    http://www.wonderbox.org/samples.html
    Lovely harp music and original tales.
  • Lyrics.com
    http://www.lyrics.com/
    Note: This web site can be fairly ad-intensive. Find lyrics to songs to want to use in class (this can save you lots of listening and typing time).
  • PBS Online News Hour
    http://www.pbs.org/newshour/
    Offers news stories, news summaries, video footage, discussion forums and essays. Elementary and high school teachers may also want to check out "PBS Teacher Source, Technology and Teaching"
    http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/teachtech.htm for tutorials and subject-specific topics (math, science, art & literature, social studies, etc.).
  • Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
    http://www.esl-lab.com/
    Mostly conversational-style dialogues. Especially good for beginning ESL/EFL students.
  • Shaggy Dog Stories
    http://www.antimoon.com/other/shaggydog.htm
    This web site has authentic stories in mp3 format.
  • Voice of America
    http://www.voa.gov/stream/stremlst.html
    Radio news, music and program broadcasts in many languages.
    Also see:

    National Public Radio (NPR)
    http://www.npr.org/
    Current and archived news stories from around the world with accompanying sound files. You can search for specific news topics, too.

    World Radio Network (WRN)
    http://www.wrn.org/
    WRN carries live audio newscast streams in RealAudio, WindowsMedia and StreamWorks 24 hours a day from 25 of the world's leading public and international broadcasters.

Skills: Reading

  • CNN News FYI for Teachers
    http://fyi.cnn.com/fyi/teachers/
    Activities of all kinds based on news articles.
    If you'd like articles on culture topics, also see:

    Wired
    http://www.wired.com/news/culture
  • Comenius
    http://www.comenius.com/
    Fables and idioms activities for English learners.
  • English Club: Reading
    http://www.englishclub.net/reading/index.htm
    Reading activities for ESL and EFL learners, including: Classics, Short Stories, Jokes and Proverbs.
  • International Reading Association
    http://www.reading.org/positions/
    As an advocate of excellence in the teaching of reading, the International Reading Association participates actively in the process of shaping sound public policy in education. Research-based positions on critical issues are disseminated through a series of policy statements, resolutions, and other publications.
    For more information on reading in an ESOL context, see:

    I-TESL-J, Reading
    http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/links/ESL/Reading/
    Articles and lesson plans for teaching Reading from educators worldwide.
  • Learning Network
    http://www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/
    The Western-Pacific Literacy Network offers web-delivered instruction using current and past CNN San Francisco bureau news stories. Though the intended audience is adults, instructors and learners (of all ages) are encouraged to use this material to promote better literacy. Each module includes the full text of each story and interactive activities to test comprehension. The learner can choose to read the text, listen to the text, and view a short video clip of the story. Each module is designed for ease of use so the learner can use it independently. The instructor can also incorporate any story into class activities and lesson plans.
  • The Maze
    http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/holt/books/maze/index.html
    A "branching" story that lets you choose your direction as you read.
    For more on action mazes, see Martin Holmes'

    Quandary Materials
    http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/
    Action mazes can be used for many purposes, including problem-solving, diagnosis, procedural training, and surveys/questionnaires.
  • Project Gutenberg
    http://promo.net/pg/index.cgi
    A large repository of texts in the public domain.
    If you like this sort of resource, also see:

    Online Books
    http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
  • This Day in History
    http://www.historychannel.com/thisday/
    A daily look at events from history. Often euro-centric, this can make a nice springboard for researching alternative points of view and parallel events.
  • Travelers' Tales
    http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/traveltales.html
    A collection of folktales.
    For more on folktales, also see:

    iEARN Folktale Project
    http://www.nsc.ru/folk/

Skills: Reading, Genre, Mystery Stories

  • Candlelight Stories
    http://www.candlelightstories.com/
    Check out "Online Storybooks" in the free section of this web site.
  • Directory: Google's Mystery Stories
    http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Online_Writing/Fiction/Genres/Mystery/Short_Stories/
    An online directory of mystery stories from Google. For another directory, see:

    Directory: Yahoo's Online Stories
    http://www.yahooligans.com/school_bell/language_arts/Online_Stories/
    This is a directory with links to collections of Folk and Fairy Tales, Ghost Stories, Holiday Stories and Interactive Stories, with younger audiences in mind. Some sound files also available.
  • Holiday to Murder, An Online Novella
    http://www.hopcott.freeserve.co.uk/holiday-murder/chapter01/
    One of Rob Hopcott's murder mystery stories is published at this web site as a free short online novel (novella) featuring the popular character Alice.
    Also see this site for ghost stories:

    The Moonlit Road
    Listening files also available.
  • MysteryNet.com
    http://www.MysteryNet.com/
    Online mysteries, information about famous authors such as Agatha Christie, Clue-A-Day game for solving a crime, and much more. It's great fun! Also see MysteryNet for Kids at
    http://kids.mysterynet.com/.
  • Mystery Short Fiction
    http://users.ev1.net/~homeville/msf/0start.htm
    Mystery Short Fiction is a work in progress. The goal is to list all mystery short fiction published in English since 1990. There are books and magazine issues that haven't been tracked down yet, and new ones appear every month.
  • Ongoing Tales Mystery E-Magazine
    http://www.ongoing-tales.com/SERIALS/mystery/
    Mystery stories in serial format. A detailed Table of Contents is available at
    http://www.ongoing-tales.com/contents.html.
  • UptownCity's Online Mysteries
    http://uptowncity.com/mystry/storys/Myst1.htm
    Short mysteries in simple English. You can email them to guess or get the ending!
  • Web Companion to Agatha Christie
    http://www.nd.edu/~rwoodbur/christie/christie.htm
    A complete listing of novels and publication dates in which it gives the information for each novel:
    *A complete list of major and minor characters.
    * A brief synopsis of the plot.
    * Spoiler (for those who want to know "whodunit" and how).

Skills: Writing

  • Writing 101 from Writer.com A well-constructed page with many basic, useful tips for writers.
  • State of Writing A wonderful list of many links for English as well as other languages
  • 28 Boring Words and What to Use Instead A vocab/writing thought provoker
  • IECC
    http://www.iecc.org/
    IECC is a free teaching.com service to help teachers link with partners in other cultures and countries for email classroom pen-pal and other project exchanges.
    For another keypal service, see:

    Mighty Media Keypals
    http://www.teaching.com/keypals/
    This site is easy to use as the student, when registering, chooses a number of qualities s/he would like to find in their key pals. Students can also choose the country from which they would like to have their key pals if they want to get information about specific countries. They can also specify a fixed range to age to deal with as well as if they would prefer males, females or both.

  • I-TESL-J, Writing
    http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/links/ESL/Writing/
    Articles and lesson plans from English language educators around the world on the topic of writing.
  • National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE) Research Reports
    http://www.ncte.org/
    Many reports on the integration of various computer-based tools and resources in writing and reading-related activities. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open these PDF reports.
  • http://bid4papers.com/blog/spelling-grammar-punctuation-mistakes/  A useful cheatsheet for some of the most important spelling, grammar and punctuation rules. (Thanks, Keira!)
  • For some OWL resources, see:
    Writing Help, HUT
    http://www.ruthvilmi.net/hut/LangHelp/Writing/
    Help resources for teaching academic writing from Ruth Vilmi.

    Writing Help, Wooster
    http://www.wooster.edu/writingctr/help.html
    Composition and grammar advice, for example: MLA and APA documentation, punctuation, plagiarism, thesis statement, etc.)
  • PIZZAZ, Creative Writing Activities
    http://www.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/pizzaz.html
    A web site for educators with ideas and step-by-step instructions for incorporating creative writing ideas in the English classroom.
  • Punctuation Made Simple
    http://www.cas.usf.edu/JAC/pms/index.html
    A small, simple site with some rules and examples for problematic forms of English punctuation.
  • Researchpaper.com
    http://www.researchpaper.com/
    A collection of topics, ideas, and assistance for school related research and writing projects.
  • Student Lists
    http://www.latrobe.edu.au/education/sl/sl.html
    The Student Lists were established in February 1994 to provide an email forum for cross-cultural discussion and writing practice for college, university and adult students in English language programs around the world. There are currently ten student lists.
  • Writing Techniques Handbook, UIUC
    http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/
    Practical writing advice plus genre-specific information on:
    Tips on Taking an Essay Exam Writing About Film
    Writing Abstracts
    Writing About Poetry
    Writing Cover Letters
    Writing a Literature Paper
    Writing a Thesis for a Literature Paper
    Writing a Philosophy Paper
    Writing Personal Statements
    Writing Resumes
    Writing Proposals
    Writing Standardized Essay Exams
    For another resource specifically on essay writing, see:

    English Channel
    http://www.hio.ft.hanze.nl/thar/essay.htm
    A guide for academic writing, giving clearly cut definitions of what essay, thesis, report is, dealing with pre-planning, gathering material, structuring, , making paragraphs, writing introduction and conclusions and other essential things, which are followed by exercises aimed at consolidating the material.

Web Quests

  • Web Projects, Quests and More
    https://www.tomsnyder.com/profdev/web_projects.asp
    A great collection of web sites with accompanying projects and tasks.
  • Multiverse: Web Quests, Science and the World
    http://www.ardecol.ac-grenoble.fr/english/multiverse-science.htm
    From Dafne Gonzalez. She especially likes the science quests.
  • WebQuest Page at San Diego State University
    http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html
    Start with the Overview and FAQ link. Then, visit training materials and Examples.
    Also see:

    Why WebQuests?
    http://www.ozline.com/webquests/intro.html
  • WebQuests from Discovery
    http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/webquest/webquest.html
    More examples of webquests. See, in particular, the template link for webquests.
    You can find another very simple template for offline or online use at

    Tech-Niques
    http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/templatetogotodo.html
WebQuests from Spartanburg
http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests.html
Examples of webquests for elementary and secondary aged students.
Additional examples for ESL/EFL are available:

International AIDS Awareness Day
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/CALL9.html
U.S. Thanksgiving, Sites to be Thankful For
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~leslieob/RW5Thanksgiving.html

Special Section
Grants for Seniors
https://grantsforseniors.org/


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