For the first 5 years of my teaching career, I taught in classrooms where there was no Internet access, computers, tablets, Smart Board, or any other technology available. A Teaching in a tech-free context presented me with really valuable opportunities to think outside the box, and to use everyday items and objects I could find around the school such as old newspapers, food labels, catalogues and magazines in creative and innovative ways to facilitate language and literacy development. In my next blog post, I will be sharing with you some ideas for tech-free language learning activities that your students can engage in either the classroom or at home.
In the wake of COVID-19, the classes I teach have now gone fully online and will probably remain online for the rest of the year, which means that I have to find creative ways to use the technology at my disposal to create effective language learning moments for my students. Thankfully, I have found some really great free apps and websites that have supported my students' language and literacy learning.
Here is a list of some of my favourite apps and websites, which I either use synchronously in my online classes, or assign to my students to use asynchronously. The best thing about them is that they're all free!
http://readwritethink.org/(lesson plans, student interactives and mobile apps for reading and language arts instruction)
https://www.tesol.org/connect/tesol-resource-center (lesson plans, teaching tips, activities, and assessment tools for English language learning)
https://www.eslcafe.com/ (lesson plans, grammar activities and quizzes, and links to other ESL websites )
https://ell.brainpop.com/ (the free version of this website & app include lessons, videos, vocabulary words, flash cards, and quizzes)
http://www.scribjab.com/ (multilingual app to create, share and read digital stories in 2 or more languages)
https://ipadintheeslclassroom.weebly.com/esl-apps.html (a collection of apps to use for ESL learning)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish (multimedia materials with audio, video and text to learn English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc.)
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/fun-games (games, tongue twisters, jokes, songs, short stories, poems, and other activities for younger learners)
https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/ (award-winning series of games to teach children how to read)
http://bitsboard.com/ (over 35 mini-games for learning language and other subjects in one app)
https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/ (a collection of children's books with audio narration that cover a wide array of topics)
https://www.quill.org/ (writing & grammar activities and lessons)
https://portal.flyleafpublishing.com/learners-resources/ (emergent reader series with homework packets to facilitate online reading instruction and learning; free through the 2020-2021 school year)
https://www.tvokids.com/school-age/wacky-word-show-gr-1-4-language (weekly lessons, videos, games, and apps to learn language and other subjects)
Have you used any of the websites or apps above? Do you have another website or app that works well for language and literacy learning? Please leave a comment below. I'd love to try your resource out, and add it to the list above.
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