Welcome!

notebook.jpg (300×300) Welcome to my Electronic Notebook of Resources for English Language Learners (ELL). I created this site as a pre-service teacher; and, I hope it is a resource that may be valuable to all educators. An educator does not have to be a teacher--an educator may be an administrator, a parent, or even a student. One of my primary goals is to assist students in becoming self sufficient, boldly independent--to become self-educators. After all, one of the greatest lessons I have learned is understanding the methods and styles of learning that suit me best, including how to seek out information and people who possess it. In my search for online resources, I found ten websites that are provide many learning opportunities, especially for students studying English language.
I have included a rating system for each resource on a 1-4 star scale, a brief description, a brief impression, a url link, as well as a screen shot for each website. Enjoy!



Thursday, June 30, 2011

Grammar Gorillas

Grammar Gorillas ★★
http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html

The website uses a gorilla theme to teach grammar. Divided into two parts, nouns/verbs and all parts of speech, this site uses the scenario of get the answer right and the gorilla gets a banana. It is a great intrinsic take on an extrinsic concept for rewards. The game itself is a progressive, a or b game where the player accumulates bananas. If the answer is wrong, the number under incorrect increases by one and an explanation of the right answer is then provided including the question itself. It is flash based as well, so no downloads are required. Beneath each game is a help section. Here all the parts of speech are listed and defined so the user has a quick reference.

This is a great game that can bring some levity to a subject that some students find very dry. The gorillas are novel but not distracting. The game duration is ten questions and students do not lose any bananas they have accumulated. This is aligned with a philosophy of behavior management in a token economy--that tokens awarded are never taken away. The scaffolding provided by the help section promotes learning through mastery. My only criticism of this site is the fifty-fifty odds. For the unmotivated student, this game has the potential to be a click-through exercise with a lack of engagement. However, as student progress from noun/verb to all parts of speech, progress may be charted to show change over time. Also, this is a great template for students to create their own questions and tests.

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