Where is cognition if we talk about the teaching of English as an international language?

María Eugenia Falabella

FUNIBER – Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana

Abstract

This current piece of writing –placed, in disciplinary terms, between Psychology of learning and Methodology/Didactics- aims mainly at showing, in the light of present and updated authorized works, the unequivocal relation that is existent between the concept of distributed cognitions and task-based learning.  The former was coined by Hutchins (1980’s) and thoroughly developed by Salomon (1993) in his articles, among others. The latter is based on the claims put forward by Prabhu (1987) and Graddol (2006), and outlined in purely Vygotskian conceptions. Here, task-based learning is also analyzed within the framework of collaborative project work when dealing with the process of teaching-learning English as an International Language.

Key words: distributed cognitions, task-based learning, project work

Distributed Cognitions and Constructivism versus Cognition

In order to begin this article, it is required to assume that current methodological models should be understood as broader conceptions of more classic theories. It is in this way that we are setting ourselves in clear opposition to certain ideas put forward that claim that all trendy contributions substitute former beliefs.

To analyze how the latest theoretical models are related to, as well as based on central constructivist ideas, set forth classic theories, does not mean to assimilate them. On the contrary, it let us picture them more meaningfully and, in consequence, situate them within a scientific tradition.

Many are the authors that have dedicated their time, and many are the books that have been written to study the topic of cognition and its place of location.  If we bring up data edited nearly thirty years ago, we will come across beliefs that affirm that cognition only exists in the mind or brain of each human being. As Salomon plainly states in one of his treatises when trying to shed light on  these controversial appreciations, for those academicians:  «…(cognition) is a localized phenomenon that is best explained in terms of information processing at the level of the individual…» (Salomon, 1993:154) However, after profound and time-consuming investigations, nowadays, we come by a deep-seated change of perspective, and it is that change the one that has been labelled as “distributed cognitions”. What does this term involve? Why are these cognitions distributed?  And, where are they distributed? This paper seeks to address these questions along the subsequent passages.

Para ver el artículo completo, clicar aquí.

Autora: Eugenia Falabella.

British Council: The 46th Annual International IATEFL Conference & Exhibition

The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language presents the 46th Annual International IATEFL Conference & Exhibition: Glasgow Online.

The Conference & Exhibition will take place in the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, from the 19th until the 23rd March, 2012.

For more information, please click here.

María Eugenia Falabella

Teachers Education Area Tuto

BUILDING BLOGS AS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

PROMOTING AUTONOMY UNDER CALL ENVIRONMENT

By Patricia Irma Varela Piñon

Divina Margarita Gómez Alvarenga

Denizia Cecilia Rocha Pinto

INTRODUCTION
Traditional language teaching has faced new challenges in order to develop more flexible learning approaches. At present, the learner-centered approach in English teaching has replaced the traditional teacher-centered one. As a result, the approach of leaner autonomy in learning EFL has gained more attention.
As with the seminal studies on self-access some articles emphasize the importance of the integration of self-study into any language program, while repeating again that it has often been argued that the classroom setting poses various obstacles to the development of learner autonomy and that these obstacles are closely related to the lack of opportunities allowing the learner to make decisions regarding the learning process Levy’s (2000) thorough investigation suggests that CALL (computer-assisted language learning) research has often focused on the effectiveness of technological resources, such as CALL tasks. Levy and Stockwell (2006) include CALL tasks under the umbrella of CALL materials, which they define as “the wide range of CALL artifacts or products that language teachers and designers create using technological resources” (Levy and Stockwell, 2006, p. 3).
Nevertheless, CALL artifacts can focus more on providing an abundance of learning material and technological support for the user rather than on actually providing guidance for learners to manage and direct their learning process so that they might eventually reach a certain or full degree of autonomy.

Learning to learn material
For most individuals certain knowledge about learning strategies would be required in order for them to understand how they can learn a language on their own. Barnett and Jordan (1991: 307) make a distinction between cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies that is quite relevant to our concerns here. The former provide learners with the skills necessary to work with learning material and thus enable learning to take place, and the latter aid learners in planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning process.

Learner autonomy and the Use of Tic´s

Learner Autonomy is a need we want to cover, it is a knowledge we want to achieve, and it is the best way to have success in the learning process. Successful Students get autonomy in a long term by discovering for themselves. The autonomous student learns reading, listening and sharing experiences with other students or professors.

As teachers, we are guides and models in English classroom so we must introduce the idea of autonomy in our classroom in all levels we teach; we can provide students the tools to express themselves in an individual way.  Otherwise, we have to create a learner-centered environment in order to have students responsible in their learning encourage them to have initiative in any task we could give them. Teachers must look for the approach that could have success in learner training.

Teachers can give students on-line resources with the proper feedback and plan for their learning so we are implementing autonomy and to provide them useful tools for facing the language.

According to Marc Prensky, “our students have changed radically. Today´s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach”. So we have to adapt our way of teaching, to their way of learning. But, how can we do that? Taking in consideration several factors, such as:

* the students’ background: Our students today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. (Prensky, 2001).
* According to Healey & Johnson (1998), the following aspects:

a) Who are the users you are targeting?
b) What are the goals of the students you are targeting?
c) What setting will the software be used in: independent study lab with no teacher available, lab associated with a class, a teacher-led class with one or a few computers?
d) How much do the teachers/lab assistants who will work with the students know?

e) What do you have now in the way of hardware and technical assistance?

So, having in consideration the aspects mentioned above, some of the tools, that I can suggest, based on my teaching experience at university level, are:

* blogger.com (the use of blogs in education)
* quizstar (to create online exams, free tool)
* animoto
* youtube.com
* google circles
* the use of platforms such as moodle, e-ducativa, blackboard, etc.
* mp3 audios
* different applications in cellular phones, such as dictionaries, etc.
* voki
* twitter, facebook, etc.
* virtual portfolios of evidences
* etc.

Teachers and students roles in developing autonomy in the classroom

When talking about developing autonomy in the classroom we cannot forget to mention the teacher and students roles.

Both the teacher and the students have an important role in teaching and learning process. They have to be aware of their responsibilities in order to raise the motivation for what they are doing in the classroom and to promote best results and be more autonomous.

Additionally, the world is becoming more and more competitive and to follow it’s pace and the development of the new technologies we need to become more autonomous and independent.  The most autonomous and independent we become the better results will get. We need to pay attention in ourselves and try to figure out which is the best way for us to learn, be creative and up to date. In this world where people have a greater access to computers and Internet we need to develop strategies to fulfill our goals.

What role does a teacher play on developing autonomy in the classroom?

-The teachers have to be a guide and a facilitator and encourage the students to take charge of their learning by giving them the opportunity to evaluate the learning process.

Besides that as facilitators, teachers have to work with the students to get to know their preferences and ask them for suggestions, so that they raise the motivation in the classroom. Furthermore the activities made in the classroom have to promote critical thinking and decision making in the students.
What role does a student play on developing autonomy in the classroom?
Having in account the so called “learner centered learning”, the students play a very important role in the classroom. They have a greater responsibility in their learning, especially if the goal is to develop lifelong learning skills.
In this sense, the students have to learn how to learn and together with the teacher find the learning strategy that works best with their learning styles.

There are a lot more that teachers and students can do to develop autonomy in the classroom. For that to happen it’s needed a positive relationship between both teacher and student based on communication, collaboration, confidence and responsibility.

Factors that influence on learners development of autonomous learning abilities trhough CALL activities

1.- Opportunities for the development of metacognition.

Students need to analyze the world by the interpretation of the accessed information according to their knowledge. Those CALL activities are useful in the development and improvement of different skills by an increased of the students’ metacognitive awareness such as being more self aware, planning and goal setting, being able to reflect and self-acces.

2.- Opportunities to become self-reliant.

In this sense, the teacher’s role is minimized (Sullivan and Pratt, 1996). The ability of making decisions about learning is promoted.

3.- The learning context is extended.

It incorporates activities that include the outside world into the learning environment.

TABLE 1: Dependent and autonomous learners adapted from Mynard ans Sorflaten (2003)

CONCLUSIONS
There are important factors that promote learner autonomy with the use of CALL. Students are provided with opportunities to develop important abilities focused on taking control of their own learning such decision making planning and self-regulation. With the use and application of CALL activities “individual learners are given the opportunity to move out of their individual comfort zones in order to participate productively and effectively in the learning process” (Hoven, 1999, p.157)

REFERENCES

Barnett, L. and Jordan, G. 1991. “Self-access facilities: what are they for?”.
ELT Journal, 45 (4): 305-12

Healey, D. & Johnson, N. (1998): “A place to start in selecting software”. CAELL Journal, 8/1, Winter.
Levy, M. (2000). Scope, goals and methods in CALL research: questions of coherence and autonomy. ReCALL 12(2), 170-195.
Levy, M., & Stockwell, G. (2006). CALL dimensions: Options and issues in computer assisted language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Mynaed, J & Sorflaten R. (2003) Learner independence in your classroom. Teachers a, Learners and Curriculum 1(1) 34-38

Prensky, Marc. (2001): “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. On the Horizon, MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Sullivan, N. & PrattE. (1996) Acomparative study of  two ESL weiting environments: A computer-assisted classroom and a traditional oral classroom. System 29(4) 491-501

BIBLIOGRAFIA

Education and Culture.Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. Official Journal of the European Union on 30 December 2006. from http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/pdf/ll-learning/keycomp_en.pdf

Funiber study material. Autonomy

Montoro, C., & Hampel, R., (2011). Investigating language learning activity using a CALL task in the self-access centre. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 2(3), 119-135. SiSAL Journal. Studies in Self-Access Learning from http://sisaljournal.org/archives/sep11/montoro_hampel/

Tesol Technology. CALL and Autonomy.  from https://sites.google.com/site/technologyintesol/ma-in-tesol-reflections/call-and-autonomy

TTV: a video-training site for teachers by ELTons 2010 awarded writer Russell Stannard.

By Nicolás Dantaz Rico, María Cecilia Bonavetti and Ana María Larramendy

Introduction

The English Teaching profession is one where change and innovation have been present all throughout its history. No wonder why we teachers are always looking for new — and better — ways to help our students learn. In this constant quest, we have an all-present ally: technology.

If there is one thing English and technology have in common is this: they bring together people from around the globe. Both of them are means people have to be in touch, to share, to entertain themselves, to learn.

We should take full advantage of the tools technology is offering us.  And, what is more, we should take advantage of the very useful tips and suggestions that Russell Stannard has put in one place: TTV.

About the author

Russell Stannard is an EFL teacher with more than 20 years of experience in the field. His main area of interest is ICTs. He is a professor at Warwick University in the UK, where he teaches Information Computer Technology at the MA in ELT with emphasis on ICTs and at the general MA in ELT. He is also an IATEFL member and writer for the Voices newsletter, having his own columns to update IATEFL members on new developments. He is also a regular columnist for the English Teaching Professional, the Modern English Teacher journals and the TESOL Spain quarterly.

An overview of the site

Teachertrainingvideos.com is not only aimed at providing teachers with access to the many gateways available online to facilitate the implementation of ICTs in their classrooms, but also to assist them in the understanding of how to use each and every site linked.

Teachertrainingvideos.com is a very user-friendly website with clean layout, little advertising and information suitably classified in categories such as “Videos for learning ICTs”, “Top 20 videos”, “Videos for other languages”, etc. The listing under each category comes along with a brief but illustrative description of the websites and, as you click on the links, you are immediately faced with the tutorial videos especially made by Stannard himself.

The training videos are very detailed. They are divided in sections such as “Introduction” and then the most important aspects of the sites and a conclusion. The videos include both voice and visual explanations. One of the highlights of these clips is that they are made to cater for different learning styles. As the author explains a certain feature of a website, you can see how it works in his own screen.

Fig. 1: a screen capture of TTV

Other sections in the site are “Russell’s podcasts”, where teachers can find varied interviews and recordings of lectures, “My sources”, the author’s blogroll, or “Russell’s Feedback Research”, which provides a selection of journal papers, interviews, articles and even TV appearances about Video Feedback.

Outstanding features

Apart from the characteristics mentioned above, we also like that the author shows teachers how to make their own videos. This is particularly interesting in case they would like to do some distant teaching and to us such type of resource. Another major feature is that  people can be updated on Strannard’s research for free via RSS. Worth mentioning is the section called “Videos to recommend to students”, where useful tools for students’ practice and review are listed.

Conclusion

To put it in a nutshell, it is only fair from us to say that Russell Stannard’s website is a must-see for those teachers who wish to bring change and innovation to their practice. Our recommendation is based on a two-fold reason. On the one hand, Teachertrainingvideos.com  fosters professional development for teachers while, on the other hand, it also provides students with the opportunity to work autonomously to grow in their development as language learners due to the careful selection of materials available the author presents.

TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS

Posted by Erika Room and Yovana Lázaro

In recent years, schools have invested heavily in putting technology—especially computers and their associated infrastructure—in the hands of students, teachers, and administrators. Many people involved in education, from legislators to teachers to parents, as well as the general public, want  to know what technology exists in schools and how that technology is being used. These are a few  of the questions that are typically asked:

❚How can technology support the educational vision ?

❚What are our technology needs?

❚Are our technology goals right for our needs?

❚Reasons For Bringing Technology Into Schools

The teachers and administrators at our case study sites expressed different reasons for bringing technology into their schools.

Support Thinking Processes

Many teachers at case study schools cited a belief that computer-based technologies could provide support for thinking processes.

In fact, teachers can undergo different situations in class. In more that one opportunity online dictionaries and encyclopedias have been very useful for me when an unexpected word appeared in texts of different styles and even if the context helped you getting the idea, it was definitely better to know the exact definition of the term.

Stimulate Motivation and Self-Esteem

A second frequently cited rationale for introducing technology was to stimulate motivation and self-esteem. Through either personal experience or a review of the literature, many innovators perceived the dramatic effects that technology can have on students’ interest in class activities and their sense of their own capabilities.

Promote Equity

In the case of ShareNet, the districts recognized the wide disparity in the resources available to them and felt that a unifying network could promote a more equitable use of those resources.

In the case of several schools serving students from low-income homes, technology innovators stressed the importance of giving these students the technology tools that would equip them to compete with children coming from more affluent homes where technology is commonplace.

Prepare Students for the Future

Students in our country don’t have an egalitarian access to education. This means that the same happens when we talk about reaching technology opportunities. Thus, one of our missions is to be well prepared to teach students effectively not only to learn with technology but to use it skillfully .

Support Changes in School Structure

Researchers have argued that technology has the potential to dramatically change the way in which our schools are structured–providing pressure to do away with the division of instructional time into small blocks and discrete disciplines and to rethink the way we use physical classrooms and teaching resources (Collins, 1990; Newman, 1990). A number of our sites reported consciously deciding to use technology in order to support changes in school structure. Several district administrators expected technology to free up teacher time by taking over or supporting administrative and routine teaching tasks. The administrators setting up ShareNet expected it to lower boundaries between schools, districts, and even states.

Explore Technology Capabilities

Finally, in several cases, there were individuals who were simply intrigued by new technologies and wanted to explore what they could do. Not surprisingly, the desire to explore technology capabilities was most likely to be a factor in cases where there was an external partner involved in the design, manufacture, or selling of technology products. Although we felt that technology push was one motivation for some implementations, in no case was it the sole motivation.

We as teachers know that technology has become a powerful and useful tool to facilitate our students’ learning not only that but it also has many advantages as well , that is why we consider very important to be updated and do not stop searching about the new tendencies in technology for schools and make our students aware of the new tools too so that they feel more comfortable and secure.

http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/reasons.html

HARD OR SOFT SKILLS

Posted by Yessica Elizabeth Garcia Sanchez

First up, we will talk about teaching matters and how to teach and how to learn, in our blog we would like to give you some ideas on teaching and reflecting, above all what to do in Summer if you are preparing for the classes again.

This is the season for a nice long break from school or university, and, for some kids, teens, that means too much playing video games, watching TV, spending time on social nets and moaning, “I’m bored”. When they will have to start their duties on school or university soon, they come or seem blind to the school every year. This has been a challenging task for us all.

However, they get excited when they do a good job, they enhance and encourage each other, and, they feel their work is rewarding. We have been talking about skills, but you know what about skills mean. A well-balanced education includes more than just the basic “core” subjects, such as reading, science, computing, foreign languages and math.

It includes social skills – the knowledge and practice of appropriate conduct, manners, and group interaction. In fact, according to several studies by prestigious educational research institutions, up to 85% of a child’s future success depends on these “soft skills.”

Soft skills are people’s abilities to communicate with each other and work well together. Meanwhile, hard skills are people’s skills set and ability to perform a certain type of task or activity. Briefly, soft skills are interpersonal and broadly applicable.

What will ‘soft skill or hard skill’  be more suitable?

Soft skill teacher “To develop needs based on curriculum, it is a new concept for government schools”.

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/soft-skills

We have lost these skills in the past decades however, they have been recognized as vital in order to become good, productive citizens; and as teachers we need to ensure the future success of the children we are accountable for.

While most educational institutions today are very focused on academic performance, not many are proactively including social skills and character development in their lesson plans.

Schools and government are spending billions of dollars every year trying to deal with the effects and consequences of bullying and harassment, and recent reports indicate that one out of four kids will be a victim of a significant violent incident before they reach high school.

It is important to recognize that the lack of civility in the classroom (and beyond) is a systemic problem, so we to addresses this problem from all angles: in the classroom, with peers, in the home, and through the community. There is a need to support educators and parents in their efforts to develop socially adept and considerate children.

Why teach them?

Soft skills include concepts such as problem solving, team work and adaptability to change and they are simple to include in many lessons. These skills are not necessarily graded in a traditional sense but might be assessed with analytical rubrics. These skills may already be present in lessons and may only need to have a slight emphasis added so students see the skills’ importance.

Problem solving

Problem solving goes beyond math skills. It is the higher order thinking necessary to find an answer. This can take the form of questions such as, “draw what you will look like when you are an adult” to “write a new ending to the given story.” In both cases students need to think critically about what they already know and then draw a conclusion before producing the requested result.

Team work

Team work is the ability to effectively solve a problem or work within a diverse group. It requires good communication skills and the ability to both support and compromise with others. This requires students to learn to work with different people of differing skill sets while trying to successfully solve a problem.

Adaptability

Being able to adapt to changes in technology and the workplace itself is critical in today’s businesses. Ways to include adaptability in the classroom are diverse, flexibility to accept new ideas and the ability to simultaneously work on multiple projects.

http://schoolofeducators.com/2009/02/importance-of-soft-skills-development-in-education/

Contratación de profesores de inglés en Costa Rica

Sistema Educativo Los Delfines

Ubicado en Quepos, Costa Rica

Requiere contratar para el curso 2012

Profesores en la enseñanza del inglés como segunda lengua.

Profesor curricular en el área de inglés.

Tiempo de contrato. De febrero 2012 a Diciembre 2012.

Requisitos, título universitario que lo acrediten para el puesto, mínimo dos años de experiencia en el puesto.

Información, por correo electrónico, ana@colegiodelfines.com o al teléfono 8828  7904.

Elena Caixal

Coordinadora del Área de Idiomas

Tutora del Área de Formación del Profesorado

Seminario: “Palabra por palabra. El impacto social, económico y político del español y del inglés”

Elena Caixal

Coordinadora del Área de Idiomas

Tutora del Área de Formación del Profesorado

Useful Links

Useful Links

By María de Jesús Pérez García, Carolina Rivero Inclán , Alejandro Torres Melo and Zammantha Calderón.

Introduction:

This document has the intention of giving a sort of links that could be useful not only for teachers and learners, but also for parents who are interested on helping their young children learners with their commended homework or tasks or when they have to improve their level by means of working with extra activities. Some of the links’ description come directly from their site because we consider that in this way they are introduced to the users in a perfect way.

According to the above mentioned, this document is divided in sections for the users to locate easily the best section to solve their problems.

Analyzing the different situations the users might face, here is a list of solving problems areas:

Vocabulary

This section is helpful when the objective is to find the meanings of vocabulary words in different ways, translation to the mother tongue, definitions in English, synonyms, examples in context, among others.

Grammar

Problems related to grammar rules, explanations, examples in context can be solved by using the links in this section.

Writing

These links are concerned in helping the users with punctuation, formats, politeness, distribution, among others, needed when writing is the problem or issue to solve.

Reading

Learn to read can be something easy for some students but really hard for others. Reading is one of the hardest skills to learn but it is really useful because through reading we can get vocabulary, expressions in contexts. This section offers some useful links to get the help you might need.

Listening

Listening is one of the hardest English skills, it is common to hear people saying they understand their English teacher but they hardly understand native speakers. People face this problem as a result of the different accents the people have according to the region they are from, for that reason it is necessary to practice and listen to different people in order to become an effective listener. You might find this section interesting because it provides a list of links where you might practice and improve your listening skill by choosing different people talking with different accents and intonations.

Phonics

(Pronunciation)

This section provides a guide in order to know the phonetics symbols, those funny little symbols that appear in the dictionary when you look for a word. These symbols are the phonetic symbols; they are a guide to pronounce the words. But it is important to know how to pronounce each symbol.  Here you can find some useful tips in order to learn rules related to pronunciation, stress, intonation. You can also find the phonetics alphabet, so that you can develop your pronunciation skill in English.

Graphics

This section is intended to offer useful links with illustrations needed to enhance a presentation, illustrate word meaning, make a task friendlier to work with and for the others to read and understand.

Science

Science is an impressive part of knowledge, but sometimes hard for some people and if in addition one has to manage it in a second language, it becomes harder. Here, in this section, you will find some links with the intention of making this task easier and sometimes even funny.

Literature

The reading section is complemented here with some links that go deeper into knowing not only about classicals in literature, but also about famous writers, their lives, styles and other concepts.

Video

There are some useful videos that can help you to learn. They are not only used by visual learners but also for listeners. They are a useful way to learn pronunciation and also to improve the listening skill and to learn how to do things. Teachers are going to worth it as a source to enrich their classroom activities.

Reference Guides

The links, in this section, are guides to help parents and their children to find help to do their homework and they comprise reference works, research tools, other links, and a great variety of activities and subjects.

Vocabulary

• http://wordreference.com

Spanish Dictionaries

There are two free Spanish-English dictionaries, one from Espasa Calpe and another from Oxford. Each has its own strengths and the combination of the two plus the WordReference supplement is an unbeatable combination.

French and Italian Dictionaries

In addition to the Oxford dictionaries, WordReference has two of its own dictionaries. The French dictionary has over 250,000 translations and the Italian dictionary has nearly 200,000. These dictionaries continue to grow and improve as well. If you don’t find what you are looking for in any of the dictionaries, search or ask in the forums.

Language Forums

Supporting the translation dictionaries, we also have the Internet’s premier language forums. If you have a question about language usage, first search the hundreds of thousands of previous questions. If you still are not sure, then you can ask the question yourself. Native speakers from around the world will be happy to assist you. You may soon find that you are able to help others as well.

WordReference Mini

A miniature version of the site is now available for embedding in other sites, such as language learning websites.

• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Online Language Dictionaries

The world’s most comprehensive dictionary: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, Arabic, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Medical, Legal, and Financial Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Acronyms and Abbreviations, Idioms, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one!

• http://www.ardictionary.com/

ARD is an English-English online dictionary which is free to use. We are a non-profit organization and running this online dictionary to help those people in need of an online electronic dictionary.

Go to “solving problems areas”

Grammar

• http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

• http://learningandteachingenglish.blogspot.com/2009/04/comparatives-and-superlatives.html

Go to “solving problems areas”

Writing

• http://www.writershelper.com

Writer’s Helper site gives you

• a helpful second set of eyes.
• writing tips so you, the author, can create the most compelling writing.
• a sample edit of a piece of your work and a quote based on the services you want for your book.
• information on editing, publishing, and marketing.
• a free newsletter delivered directly to your in-box.
• free writing courses.

• http://www.writershelper.com/writingtips.html

Writing Tips

Writer’s Helper offers these writing tips so your book will be the highest quality possible.

People respect high quality writing. If you deliver your work in a strong and error-free package, people take you seriously. Your message comes through clearly.

• http://www.infoplease.com/homework/writingskills1.html

Go to “solving problems areas”

http://www.write-better-english.com/?gclid=CNOD8efZ2ZgCFRJexwodYya3dw

This website helps you to improve you writing skills but also your vocabulary, spelling and grammar, among other skills.

Reading

• http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/recount/main.html

In this site, you can find some short stories with interactive exercises and also printable for teachers.

• http://www.saberingles.com.ar/reading/index.html

This site offers texts on interesting subjects, in order to practice reading comprehension and at the same time help you to learn new vocabulary in context.

There are different proficiency levels in order to give the user the opportunity to select their correct level. After the readings there are some comprehensible exercises and giving double click on a word there will appear the definition of the word in English or the word in Spanish. And also it is possible to print not only the readings but also the exercises.

• http://www.refdesk.com/homework.html

• http://www.rong-chang.com/reading.htm

This website is a guide to many links and topics related to reading, like short stories, English for beginners, history and culture, quotes, public domain books, etc.

Go to “solving problems areas”

Listening

• http://www.esl-lab.com/

In this site, it is possible to listen to everyday conversations with adults and children’s voice; conversations are also divided into proficiency  levels in order to make it easy to choose the best one.

• http://www.saberingles.com.ar/listening/index.html

This site offers some listening comprehension exercises in American English. There are not just common conversations and videos in real situations but also there are songs and there is a section where you can make an analysis according to the vocabulary from the listening sections. All the listening in any of the sections is divided according to the proficiency level.

• http://www.englishmedialab.com/listening.html

This site was designed to children, they can practice not only the listening skills, but also they can make some interactive games where they can practice listening and vocabulary. The listening exercises are designed so that kids can learn communicative expressions or phrases. Another useful section in this site is the video lessons, that is composed by the video, the exercise and also it is possible to find self-grading quizzes put according to topics and the developmental stages of the students.

• http://www.world-english.org/listening_exercises.htm

In this site, it is possible to do interactive listening comprehension exercises in British English. This site has a collection of some recorders about the National Public Radio and National Geographic documentary, between others.

• http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/eslvideo

In this site it is possible to learn and practice the listening skills through media like movies, music, videos, etc. this is one of the best ways to learn a new language. In this site you will improve your listening comprehension skills because you have the opportunity to practice English as spoken by normal people so you have the chance to learn vocabulary, colloquial expressions that are use in common situations.

Go to “solving problems areas”

Phonics

• http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-and-app/interactive-phonemic-chart/

Interactive phonetic chant: This is an excellent teaching tool that can be played full-screen and gives clear audio examples of the English phoneme set.

• http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm

This site contains all the sounds related to the American and British English. The chant has British and American phonemes with one symbol, there is also  available the footnotes for British-only and American-only symbols. And it also provides some useful exercises and pronunciation test.

• http://www.learnenglish.de/pronunciation/phoneticpage.htm

This site is a useful tool in order to learn about all the most common symbols and you can listen to individual symbols.

Go to “solving problems areas”

Graphics

• http://www.clipartguide.com/_search_terms/english.html

This site offers a sort of useful illustrations that could be combined when working with vocabulary, comprehension, function, and other tasks to make them bright or be more attractive and demonstrate, in a graphical way, meaning of words and in context.

• http://www.best-of-web.com/search_term_pages/english.html

English Clip Art Images

This site also offers a sort of useful illustrations that could be combined when working with vocabulary, comprehension, function, and other tasks to make them bright or be more attractive and demonstrate in a graphical way meanings of words and in context.

• http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/JapanProj/FLClipart/

Royalty-Free Clip Art Collection for Foreign/Second Language Instruction

This page contains a growing collection of clip art (simple line-drawings) to be used by foreign language instructors. Drawings are designed to be culturally and linguistically neutral as much as possible.

Go to “solving problems areas”

• Science

• http://chem4kids.com/

Chem4Kids.com is one of many free science sites developed by the team that made Biology4Kids, Geography4Kids, Cosmos4Kids, or Physics4Kids. We even have a math site called NumberNut.com.

• http://school.discoveryeducation.com/homeworkhelp/science/science_homework_help.html?campaign=DE&CFID=13035043&CFTOKEN=59227022

• http://mathforum.org/dr.math/index.html Ask Dr. Math®

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Literature

• http://www.refdesk.com/homework.html

Under construction.

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General

• http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/comprehension.html

We have thousands of printables for teachers, homeschoolers, and parents – and it’s all free.

• http://www.abcteach.com/directory/teaching_extras/classroom_helpers/general_elementary/

This link deals with a sort of problem solving items that will be useful; getting a membership could be translated into a worth tool. Some topics are listed below.

• http://jhicks.weebly.com/index.html

Go to “solving problems areas”

Video

• http://www.yappr.com/?gclid=CK_b6bqz9ZQCFSQdagodWVVYrg

In this website you can create quizzes and flashcards using videos and pictures to study, learn, or teach anything.

Reference Guides

• http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/homework.html

Helping Your Child With Homework contributes to increase family involvement in children’s learning. As the handbook points out, children who spend more time on homework, on average, do better in school, and the academic benefits increase as children move into the upper grades.

• http://www.bjpinchbeck.com/

This website is a wonderful guide to encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference works, and other resources on a great variety of subjects.

• http://www.southplainfield.lib.nj.us/homeworklinks/general.htm

This website will help with students´ homework with the following categories: Quick Reference- dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. / online learning materials / search tools and databases / study aids, tips and tools / web directories / audio and video resources / pictures.

• http://www.topmarks.co.uk/

Students can quickly find the best teaching resources, homework help 
and educational websites for use in the classroom in this website

• http://guides.aclibrary.org/content.php?pid=135166&sid=1183295

The Library offers free access to a number of sources that will help with homework assignments.

• http://www.mrshurleysesl.com/homeworkhelp.html

This website helps students between 5 and 15 years old  to practice with their English through lots of links and reference guides.

• http://www.internet4classrooms.com/links_grades_kindergarten_12/parents_homework_help.htm

This website specifically addresses parents to help their children with their homework.

• http://a4esl.org/q/h/

This is a great and helpful website which offers self-study quizzes of grammar, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions and other subjects, for students of English as a Second Language.

• http://www.proteacher.com

This site offers a sort of tools in a wide variety of applications very useful for teachers.

• http://www.lessonplanspage.com

Lesson plans for teachers by teachers. It offers also10 steps to developing a quality lesson plan.

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Google doc created by: María de Jesús Pérez, Carolina Rivero Inclán, Alejandro Torres Melo, Zammantha Calderón.