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Free tools that you might find useful to make your class interact in Italian.

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This is a guest post from Roslyn Green who is a secondary school (high school) teacher from Melbourne, Australia.

Roslyn uses Edublogs and CampusPress to blog with a number of her classes a variety of ways which she explained in a popular post on The Edublogger in 2018.

Since her last post, Roslyn has been investigating different ways to embed eLearning options on her blogs. She has tried out a number of free websites that allow the development of interactive activities for students (online worksheets, games, and so on).

In this post, Rosyln goes through six different free tools that you might find useful to make your class blog or website more interactive. They are:

Back To Basics!

If you're new to blogging, you might need help with the basics before diving into these tools.

Don't have a class blog or website yet? This free self-paced course will walk you through the process of getting started!

Don't know how to embed content on your blog? It's simple once you get the hang of it. This tutorial will show you what to do. Note: Embedding can't be allowed on free blogs due to misuse by spammers.

Don't know how to add links to your text on your blog posts or pages? Check out this tutorial.

Now on to Roslyn's post...

A Message From Roslyn

Dear Colleagues, Teachers, and Fellow Bloggers,

The six activity options that I have introduced below are relatively easy for teachers to develop, yet engaging and absorbing for students to use. Furthermore, they can all be embedded or linked in your blog posts in order to vary classroom work, consolidate student learning and facilitate differentiation where necessary.

Some of these activities are almost guaranteed to transform even the most dreaded afternoon class into a walk in the park.

I hope you will find the websites as useful, varied and intuitive as I have.

All the best from Roslyn Green

My own blogs: History | Psychology | German

The Flippity site is a treasure trove. It allows you to serve up interactive activities with limited time outlay on your part.

With its support, you can make flashcards, provide matching games, generate bingo cards, print crosswords and try many other options. All you will need to get started is a Gmail account and access to Google Docs.

Essentially, you can make a set of flashcards on any topic and then, from this single data set, generate several other activities. Here is a clickable example:

Once you have created your flashcard set by following the instructions at https://www.flippity.net, you can generate a number of exercises and games to consolidate learning of vocabulary and understanding of concepts.

For example, you can get your students to play a matching game on their devices. It looks like the screenshot below and is dangerously addictive.

There is a host of other options, but my favourite one is the bingo card generator which allows you to print a set of randomised cards OR give your students a link that brings up a bingo screen on their own devices.

Here is a bingo link for the set above, along with a screen capture to show how this looks on students' screens.

Students always ask to play bingo games "one more time".

The advantage of this option is that the teacher can go beyond the factual information in the cards and begin to focus on concepts. For example, "Mark a picture that demonstrates the Renaissance fascination with the human body" could lead to several choices, as could "Find an example of the Renaissance interest in realistic depictions of nature".

In this way, students can choose whichever option brings them closer to BINGO! - and scarcely notice that they are learning.

This site was my best find in 2018. It is free, interactive, modern-looking and intuitive.

In a single presentation or quiz, you can introduce multiple choice questions, fill-the-blank texts, drag the answer to the blank and various other question types.

An online presentation can include embedded questions of various kinds.

Below is an embedded example of a presentation quiz. Click on it to try it out.

As you can see, this embedded quiz looks like part of your page or post.

A particularly addictive type of question is drag and drop. This allows you to create matching games in which students are required to classify or match up answers, pictures, words or statements.

Once you've mastered the process of creating these questions, which is a little tricky at first, you can create:

Diagrams to be labelled

Timelines with pictures, dates, and descriptions of events

Scientific classification puzzles

Vocabulary lists

In short, you can create whatever inspires you and engages your students.

The H5P option is much more complex and cerebral than Flippity. It is ideal for presenting more challenging written material and consolidating vocabulary through "cloze" questions. It is even useful for introducing new content.

For instance, I like the idea of an "either-or" introductory quiz, in which students have to do a fair bit of guessing and receive feedback on each answer - followed by a quick vocabulary check, as in this example:

You can see all my quizzes at this link (and clone them if you wish in order to speed up your own quiz-making).

The Playbuzz site allows you to create an interactive story for your students by presenting information with pictures and text and posing questions with built-in feedback for readers.

In the process of creation, you can choose from a range of presentation screens, such as:

A quotation screen

Your own text

Embedded videos

"Trivia" screens that permit you to include questions for students to answer

"Convo" screen through which you can present a range of different viewpoints

Below is a screenshot of a "convo" screen at the end of m y Playbuzz story about the Mongol attacks on Japan in the 13th century.

Playbuzz could, therefore, be used not only by teachers but also by students as an alternative to a more traditional assignment format or as an idea for students' own blogs.

It provides a multimedia story-telling program which would be engaging for students to use, although it requires time and concentration to try out and master all the options available.

I used the "convo screen" above as a springboard for students to write comments from 3-4 different perspectives. This worked well as a prompt for student blog comments on this post.

As you can see from the collage of screens from my story below, a Playbuzz story can be part text, part video, part quiz and part revision: whatever you want it to be.

Note: It is possible to embed a Playbuzz "story" into your post or page. Since its full length is displayed, however, I have avoided doing so here.

I mentioned the next three options briefly in my blogging story, published by Kathleen Morris in early 2018. Each one deserves a closer examination.

The LearningApps site is free, varied, fairly intuitive and very reliable. You will find a variety of "apps" or quiz styles there, such as crosswords, label the diagram, multiple choice, fill the gap and so forth.

This site is handy for revision of material already covered and ideal for promoting reading and comprehension of key terms. Your "apps" can be embedded in your site or provided to students via a link or a QR code.

It is important to provide HELP options so that students can click on the "lightbulb help button" if they get bogged down, especially when completing crosswords. In this way, they have a chance of figuring out the answer if it doesn't come to mind immediately, which provides another independent learning step.
Example of a Crossword:
Students often work well together to solve a crossword and I find that this is an enjoyable way for them to focus on keywords and consolidate new vocabulary.
Here are examples of some other types of apps that can be created and embedded in your site via LearningApps:
This site is based on multiple choice questions, like Kahoot!, but with some valuable additional options.

One option is that students can play alone or against each other. I usually get them to play alone before they play competitively and I make the competition optional.

The games can also be set up with or without a time limit. Questions may be viewed as a presentation or as flashcards before the quiz is attempted, which provides an extra step to learning and mastery for weaker students.

After the game, students can review their answers.

Finally, it is possible to print the questions, which can also benefit students who need extra thinking and reading time.

An added feature is the "memes" sets that you can either choose or create yourself. In this way, students receive encouraging and amusing feedback after each question.

As you can see from the screenshots above and the memes below, this site is visually engaging, as well as providing an entertaining challenge for students.
My example of a Quizizz for a unit on Ancient Rome: Vesuvius and Pompeii.
This flashcard-making platform is based on the Duolingo language learning concept.

The option of adding diagrams and pictures, the sheer intuitive simplicity of the interface and the interactivity of the "lessons" that are generated are all reasons to consider using this website and placing links to your sets on your blog.

Students can also join up and create their own sets of flashcards. Consequently, Tinycards can be useful as an introductory task (you make a set for the students), as a challenge (the students create a set themselves) or as a revision strategy for older, more independent students.

I favour creating cards with a "cloze" style of task in which the student supplies a single key term (or selects it).

My Tinycards example: Psychology: Sensation and Perception

Conclusion

We thank Roslyn for sharing these six tools and generously providing us with her own examples.

We know that practical and free online tools are so useful for teachers who are always looking for new ways to engage students and help them learn.

The great thing about a blog is that it is simply a blank canvas and web tools can really bring it alive!
If you try any of Roslyn's suggestions be sure to let us know in a comment. If you have any more suggestions to add or if you have a question for Roslyn, please let us know. Scroll down to find the comment box.

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Six Tools To Create Interactive Learning Content On Your Blog

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This is a guest post from Roslyn Green who is a secondary school (high school) teacher from Melbourne, Australia. Roslyn uses Edublogs and CampusPress to blog with a number of her classes a variety of ways which she explained in a popular post on The Edublogger in 2018.

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Take a Peek

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Live Cams in Italy, Live Cams in Abruzzo, Live Cams in Aosta Valley, Live Cams in Apulia, Live Cams in Basilicata, Live Cams in Calabria, Live Cams in Campania, Live Cams in Emilia-Romagna, Live Cams in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Live Cams in Lazio, Live Cams in Liguria, Live Cams in Lombardy, Live Cams in Marche, Live Cams in Molise, Live Cams in Piedmont, Live Cams in Sardinia, Live Cams in Sicily, Live Cams in Trentino-Alto Adige, Live Cams in Tuscany, Live Cams in Umbria, Live Cams in Veneto

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Take the Tours

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Interactive Italian Map/Poster/Art Work ... Multimedia

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Introduction: Interactive Art With Scratch and Makey Makey

When is art most fun? When it's interactive! Make artworks that sing, talk, or play sound effects when they're touched. Makey Makey allows you to control your computer using simple circuits you complete with your body. With Scratch, you can program your computer to make any sound on command.
Materials:
Makey Makey

Computer with internet access and usb port

paper

drawing materials

aluminum foil

scissors or X-acto knife

tape

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Step 1: Prepare Drawing

Draw something.

When your drawing is complete, cut out the sections you want to be interactive.

Step 2: Conductivity

Add strips of a conductive material like aluminum foil to the back of the holes you cut in your artwork. I find it works best if you fold the foil a few times to make it thicker and stronger.

To attach them to the artwork, a bit of tape is all you need. Make sure all your strips run all the way to one side of the artwork.

If you have some pieces that are very close together like mine, apply strips that don't touch first. Apply a layer of tape over the areas where the rest will overlap before adding additional strips. None of the strips can touch and you need a separate strip for each sound you want the art to make.

Because of the limitations of Makey Makey and Scratch, I wouldn't use more than 11 touch points/strips.

Step 3: Trim to Frame

Cut a paper frame for your artwork, and cut or fold your artwork to fit within it.

Step 4: Grounding the Frame

Cut a hole in the frame to act as your ground.

Add foil just like you did with the artwork.

Step 5: Connecting the Makey Makey

Connect an alligator clip to the end of each foil strip.

Connect the clip you attached to the ground on the frame to the "earth" section of the Makey Makey.

Connect the others to the arrow and space keys on the front of the Makey Makey.

If you have more than 5 foils, use the white wires included with your Makey Makey kit to connect the other alligator clips to the letter keys on the back of the Makey Makey.

Step 6: Programming With Scratch

Go to https://scratch.mit.edu/ and click "create" in the top left corner.

The Makey Makey tells your computer to press certain buttons, so Scratch is what you use to tell the computer what to do when those buttons are pushed.

In the center, you'll see tabs for different types of scripts. Click on the "events" tab.

All the scripts work like Lego and connect together, so first drag the event "When space key is pressed" over to the workspace on the right.

You'll need one of these for each sound/foil/button you're using. My artwork has 5 interactive teeth, so I have 5 of that particular script.

Next, choose the sound scripts and connect a "play sound meow until done" script to each of your event scripts.

Step 7: Adding Sounds

To add more than the "meow" sound effect, click on the "sounds" tab next to the "scripts" and "costumes" tabs.

Above the "meow" sound effect, there are three buttons that allow you to add a sound effect from their library, record your own, or upload a sound file.

If you're adding sounds from the library, double click on the sound's icon to add it to your project.

Step 8: Assigning Sounds to Buttons

Now that you have all your sounds in your project, you can use the drop down menus in the even and sound scripts to assign a sound to a button.

Look at your alligator clips to see which button on the Makey Makey goes to which part of your artwork in order to assign the proper sound to the proper key.

Step 9: Connect

Plug the USB cable into the Makey Makey and your computer.

If a keyboard setup window comes up, close it. In my experience, you don't need it, and it usually won't setup properly. The Makey Makey is designed to work with no setup.

Step 10: Have Fun

Touch one hand to the ground button on the frame and the other hand on your interactive touch points and the sounds will come from your computer.
Troubleshooting:
When you successfully complete the circuit and send a signal to the Makey Makey, a light next to the button it's connected to will come on. If that light doesn't come on, something is wrong with the art or Makey Makey. Check to see that your alligator clips are firmly attached and you're touching both the ground and one of the other touch points. If the light comes on, check your volume and your Scratch programming.

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Interactive Art With Scratch and Makey Makey

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Interactive Art With Scratch and Makey Makey: When is art most fun? When it's interactive! Make artworks that sing, talk, or play sound effects when they're touched. Makey Makey allows you to control your computer using simple circuits you complete with your body. With Scratch, you can program ...

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Create an Italian Greetings News/Weather/Sports Report for a Makey Makey Radio

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In this lesson, you will use a Makey Makey and the Scratch programming environment to build a device that acts as a historical radio.

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On June 30, 2021, we deactivated the Expeditions and Tour Creator apps.They'll no longer work on your devices, and tours can't be downloaded again after they're gone. You can find many of the tours from Expeditions at g.co/gacexpeditions.

Find Expeditions tours on Google Arts & Culture

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Expeditions & Tour Creator are no longer available

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On June 30, 2021, we deactivated the Expeditions and Tour Creator apps. They'll no longer work on your devices, and tours can't be downloaded again after they're gone. You can find many of the tours f

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Make an Expedition

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Bring your lessons to life with Expeditions | Google for Education

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Make penpals in All countries : penfriends for kids, students, age 0-24

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penpals from All countries - Students of the World.

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Bentornato Topo Gigio - 01- Topo Gigio arriva sulla Terra

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Free Stock Videos – Italy flag waving on green screen 3D animation

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Work the Green Screen

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Animation & Drawing by Do Ink is the fun, creative way to make animations on your iPad. The app was designed to be easy for beginners and young animators, but with powerful tools for creating advanced animations. Use the drawing editor to create vector artwork and frame-by-frame (flip book) animations. Use the composition editor to combine your artwork - along with props from the Do Ink prop library - into more complex and sophisticated scenes. Save to the camera roll, then share your creations with friends, classmates, or the world!

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Do Ink provides Creativity Apps -Green Screen by Do Ink and Animation and Drawing by Do Ink for students to show what they know in education.

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create stop animation year 1 - Google Search

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1 thought on "7 Tips for Creating Stop Motion Animation with Kids". Pingback: A Year of the Best Engineering Projects for Kids - Lemon Lime Adventures.

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Voice Thread Tutorial

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Using a screen reader? Visit VoiceThread Universal

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Create and share a VOICETHREAD conversation around camera roll images You can talk, type, and draw right on the screen.

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Book Creator

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Thinglink

Make your images come alive with private video, notes, or even music from YouTube

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Export an image eg from camera roll to  Chatterpix and use 5Ws  Mind Map to creatively share the information by making the image "talk".

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by Andrei Zakhareuski 75,734 views

Technology can be a great asset in ESL classrooms, offering authentic writing activities and endless resources on grammar instruction, lesson plans and other central topics.

Computers, tablets and e-readers can all be instrumental in learning English, offering interactive and motivating activities for students of all ages. The following are 10 different ways that ESL teachers can use technology to teach English in a way that will make lessons more engaging and appealing:

10 Ways to Use Technology in ESL Instruction

1. Film and Video

Using short and feature-length videos is an engaging way to work on skills like vocabulary and comprehension. Videos help to expose students to the use of natural English. Young children really enjoy short cartoons and animated movies, and older students can learn about current events through news broadcasts.

ESL Partyland has free resources that include vocabulary worksheets and discussion questions to accompany films like 'Bonnie and Clyde', 'Vertigo' and 'Dead Man Walking'. The site also offers a film survey to assess your students' interests before choosing films, and film reviews that can be adapted for any level of instruction.

2. Apps

Learning English can be very difficult and frustrating at times. Apps on iPads and tablets are great ways for students to practice English and have fun while doing it. For practicing grammar rules, apps like Grammar Up allow students to test their knowledge on specific topics (verbs, prepositions, etc.). The app also keeps track of students' progress and allows them to skip questions by shaking the tablet. Best Colleges Online offers a list of 16 apps for ESL students, ranging from basic letter instruction to pronunciation guides. Students can also play classic games like Scrabble and Boggle on mobile devices.

3. Digital Field Trips

Students absorb a great deal of information through experiential learning, but field trips are not always an option with limited school budgets. Digital field trips provide more authentic ways for students to absorb new information. Young children can learn vocabulary through fun virtual trips via 4-H Virtual Farm, while older students can learn about the government on sites like Inside the White House. There are many options on the Internet to learn about virtually any topic. Middle School Net offers links to a wide array of digital field trip possibilities.

4. Podcasts

Students can listen to podcasts to improve their comprehension. They can also create podcasts to practice their English speaking abilities. A free download of iTunes gives teachers access to hundreds of free podcasts on a range of topics. There are multiple podcasts tailored specifically for English language learners. Teachers can also have students create podcasts to give them opportunities to practice their speaking skills. With just a microphone and a computer, students can create reports and presentations. Video podcasts are an attractive option for students, and some classes even have their own YouTube channels.

5. Pen Pals

Since snail mail is becoming a thing of the past, students can have pen pals that they email or write to on a discussion board. Make an arrangement with an English-speaking class in another state or country and have students write to their pen pal on a regular basis. This is a great way for them to practice their English writing and reading comprehension skills, while making friends in the process. Connect your classroom for free today with ePals!

6. Web Quests

Web quests are a fun way for students to use the Internet to build English proficiency. Students are given a task and rely on their content knowledge and grasp of English language to complete it. Teachers can create their own or visit Web Quests to access tutorials and databases of pre-created web quests.

7. Online Games

Students can master spelling, grammar and other English skills by playing games on the computer or mobile devices. Funbrain has educational games and books for Pre-K to eighth grade students. StarFall has multiple games for younger students to increase English literacy skills. Digital versions of hangman, Scrabble and Boggle are also entertaining for all ages of students. Many of these games can be put up on interactive white boards to get full class participation.

8. Blogging

Class blogs provide great forums for students to practice their writing skills. Live Journal, Edublog and Blogger allow you to create blogs for free. One of the reasons that students find blogging appealing is that it is more of an authentic writing experience, as a wider audience typically has access to read posted entries, which means students tend to put more effort into their blogs. Teachers can get students to write about specific topics that they find interesting, or students can provide commentary on current events and social justice issues. The more they practice their writing skills, the more proficient they become, so regular blogging (weekly or daily) is recommended. Blogs also provide good opportunities for family members to see what their children are working on in class!

9. Skype

Skype is a great way for students to practice their speaking and listening skills with other people from any location. Teaching Degree offers 50 suggestions on how to use Skype in the classroom. Students can have question-and-answer sessions with authors of books, attend video-conferences and virtual field trips, interview professionals, and connect with students from other cultures and countries. Skype can even be used to conduct parent-teacher conferences or connect with students' family members who may be abroad!

10. Other Resources

Dave's ESL Cafe has a page for students that provides easy-to-understand explanations of different grammar concepts, like tenses and verb forms. It also has an Idea Cookbook, which is full of resources for teachers to improve ESL instruction. Audio books can be used to supplement reading instruction and improve comprehension. Since technology is something that students interact with regularly outside of school and students need 21st century skills to be successful in college and their future careers, the more that technology can be integrated into instruction, the better.

This is a guest article by Sarah Fudin. Sarah currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education's online Masters of Education programs, which provides current and aspiring teachers the opportunity to earn an Masters of Education or MAT online. Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English.

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Teaching a new language to non-native speakers may be one of the most challenging educational jobs out there, so ELL teachers can use all of the help they can get! Thankfully, many excellent resources for ELL and ESL exist online, from full-service websites to reference tools and communities, all designed to make the task of educating ELL students just a little bit easier and more effective. We've scoured the Internet to share 50 of the best of these resources, and we hope you'll find lots of valuable content and tools through these incredibly useful links for ELL educators.

Websites

Resource tools, printables, and other great stuff for ELL educators are all available on these sites.

1. UsingEnglish.com: On UsingEnglish.com, you'll find an incredible collection of tools and resources for learning and teaching English as a second language, including a grammar glossary, printables, and teacher handouts.

2. EverythingESL: EverythingESL is an awesome place to find ESL teaching resources, from lesson plans to teaching tips and resources.

3. Colorin Colorado: Colorin Colorado is full of useful information, activities, and resources for ELL teachers, especially those at the Pre-K to third grade level. However, most activities can be adapted all the way up to high school, making this a diverse and useful website.

Articles & Advice

Check out resource lists, journal articles, and ideas for best practices in ELL on these links.

1. Preschool English Language Learners: This resource list from the state of Illinois has a variety of support resources for preschool English language educators, with scholarships, journals, books, and more.

2. Doing What Works: Visit Doing What Works to find best practices for teaching Literacy in English to kindergarten through fifth-grade learners.

3. What Works Clearinghouse: In the What Works Clearinghouse, you'll find scholarly publications for effective outcomes in English language learning.

Organizations

Take advantage of the great opportunities and resources available from these organizations that benefit ELL teachers.

1. National Council of Teachers of English: This professional association for educators in English studies, literacy, and language arts offers plenty of benefits for bilingual teachers.

2. National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition: Find data, grants, even professional development resources for ELL educators from the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition.

3. TOEFL: As the official language test for education, TOEFL's website is incredibly useful for sharing test-taking and studying information with students.

4. International Reading Association: This association of literacy professionals has excellent resources for literacy educators, including journal articles and an educator community.

Learning Resources

Enrich your students' learning by sharing these excellent English resources that they can check out in the classroom or on their own.

1. Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon: Check out this lexicon that offers images demonstrating the true meaning of the word, making it easier for English language learners to understand.

2. ManyThings: On this website, you'll find quizzes, word games, puzzles, and a random sentence generator to help students better grasp English as a second language.

3. bab.la: Bab.la is a really fun site for ELL learners, with reference tools like a dictionary and vocabulary, supplemented with quizzes, games, and a community forum.

4. ESL Basics: On this site, you'll find free English videos for both students and teachers.

5. English Pronunciation: Okanagan College's resource offers 13 different unit lessons for learning and teaching English pronunciation.

6. BBC Learning English: In this website from the BBC, students can find help with grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, with plenty of references to current events. Plus, you'll find a special section for ELL teachers.

7. : ESL Gold is, no joke, golden, with seemingly endless learning resources for English. Students can practice pronunciation, find a book to study, and even talk to someone in English on this site. Plus, teachers can find a job, search for textbooks, discover games, and so much more.

8. Real English: Check out this free site for learning English, with loads of videos from real English speakers, plus quizzes and community support.

9. Repeat After Us: In this online library, students can get access to a huge collection of English texts and scripted recordings.

10. Google Translate: An awesome resource to use for simple translations, Google Translate can help your students see how its done and better understand translations between two or more languages.

11. ESL Cyber Listening Lab: Direct your students to this ESL cyber listening lab with study guides, quizzes, and even teacher features.

12. Vocabulix: This online tool is designed to help jumpstart students' vocabulary skills, with more than 90 vocabulary lessons, and the option to create lessons of your own.

13. Wordsteps: Wordsteps makes it easy for students to build their own vocabulary collection, and even access their vocabulary through a mobile device for English language learning on the go.

Teaching Resources

With these resources, you can find great ways to communicate more effectively, explore lessons, and be a great ELL teacher.

1. Utah Education Network English Language Learner Resources: Check out this list of great resources for ELL, with teaching ideas, forums, and even news and research.

2. One Stop English: Specially designed for English language teachers, One Stop English has a monthly topics series, news lessons, and even an app for on the go ELL teaching.

3. Casa Notes: This ingenious tool allows ELL teachers to effectively communicate with non-English speaking parents. You'll be able to quickly make and customize notes that you can translate and send home to parents, effectively communicating information about field trips, conduct, homework, and more.

4. ESL Party Land: A great site for ELL teachers, ESL Party Land has lesson plans, strategies, worksheets, flashcards, quizzes, games, and even vocabulary resources to help you be a better ELL teacher.

5. Clip Art Collection: Check out this collection of royalty-free, language-neutral clip art designed to be used for foreign language instruction.

6. Activities for ESL Students: Thousands of teacher contributions can be found on this site full of quizzes, exercises, and tests for teaching English as a second language.

7. Szoter: Using this online annotation tool, ELL teachers can write directly on images to explain their meaning to students.

8. Oxford University Press Learning Resources Bank: A service of Oxford University Press, this learning resources bank for English language teaching has courses, titles, and interactive English reading tools.

9. English-Test.net: Encourage students to self-test with this website, offering free English tests, grammar exercises, and worksheets.

10. EduFind English Online Tests and Learning Games: Check out these test and games that offer a great way for students to test and improve their English language skills.

Reference

From reference books to a pronunciation guide, you and your students will get a lot of use out of these links.

1. Dictionary.com: This site isn't just for looking up words, although it's quite useful in that function. Dictionary.com also offers a word of the day, games, quotes, translation, and much more.

2. Thesaurus.com: Like Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com goes beyond simple reference, bringing inspiration and fun in the form of synonyms, fun word facts, and even search trends.

3. Common Errors in English Usage: Read Paul Brian's Common Errors in English Usage on this website, and even get links to the book's blog, calendar, and entry-a-day Facebook page.

4. Play & Learn English: Through the Early Childhood Education Network's Play & Learn English resource, you can share letters, print, shapes, writing, and other relevant images for learning the English language.

5. Idiom Site: With the help of this site, English language learners can make sense of common idioms.

6. Fonetiks: Direct students to this incredibly useful pronunciation guide with instant sound and samples by native speakers.

Communities & Blogs

Get help and regular feedback for ELL education from these communities and blogs.

1. Learning the Language: On Education Week, Lesli Maxwell covers educational policy and social issues relating to English language learning in the US.

2. Dave's ESL Cafe: Check out Dave Sperling's ESL cafe, where ELL teachers and students alike can enjoy a great community of English learning, plus job resources and stuff for teachers.

3. Englishtown: Join this community of English learners from around the world to gain insight for your ELL students.

4. Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day: Want a regular dose of ELL resources? Check out Larry Ferlazzo's blog that shares news, learning resources, and other great links for ELL teachers.

5. ESL Podcast: Follow this podcast to share English language learning opportunities with your students on a regular basis.

6. ESL Resource Center: The ESL Resource Center is "where English and people connect," offering live chat rooms and forums for English practice. There are even ideas for drama and role plays, teacher development, and story telling resources.

7. Teacher Talk: Several ELL teachers contribute to this blog, sharing teaching practices, materials, ideas, and guides.

8. Pain in the English: This fun blog is a great resource for explaining gray areas of the English language to your students.

9. TEFLtastic with Alex Case: Follow Alex Case's blog to find news, views, and reviews for English language teaching.

10. The English Blog: Visit The English Blog to find resources, reviews, and much more for both learners and teachers of English.

11. Inspiration Lane: Inspiration Lane is designed to be an interactive reading activity to share with your entire ELL classroom with new learning content each day.

More information:

There are more highly recommended resource links in Resources for Teaching Language Arts.

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50 and More Recommended Links for ELL/ESL Educators

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by Angelita Williams, onlinecollegecourses.com Teaching a new language to non-native speakers may be one of the most challenging educational jobs out there, so ELL teachers can use all of the help they can get!

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Immersione totale, divertimento assicurato! con Hello-World:

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Main index for hello-world: links to login and all of the languages

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Cartoon Story Maker

A quick look at the Cartoon Story Maker

File Options: You can open and edit stories aswell as preview, print and save.

Frame area: Drag and drop items here to compose each frame of your story.

Image Libraries: These include different characters with different expressions.

Picture tools: Enlarge, rotate, flip or delete images.

Frame controls: Add, delete, copy and paste frames.

Text tools: Change text colour, make bold, italics or underline.

Audio bubbles:Add your own voice recording using the built in voice recorder. Also add pre recorded sounds.

Background library: Aa range of common scenes

Import You can add you own foreground or background images.

Text bubbles: Add text to your story. Use the 'drag handle' to move bubbles or to apply text formatting

Features

Make 2D screen based cartoon stories to illustrate conversations and dialogues. Stories can include an unlimited number of frames and are view frame by frame. Each frame can include:

Images: Drag and drop library items onto the frame, or import your own digital photos or images saved from the web.

Text bubbles: Select from a range text bubbles and information boxes. Drag and drop onto the frame and start typing! Text can be in any language and any script.

Voice recordings: Add new voice recordings using the simple built in recording panel. You can also add recordings already saved on your computer.

Stories are saved on your computer as HTML page (webpages), and can easily viewed by others on any computer using a web browser such as Internet Explorer. Stories can also be printed. Completed stories can also be loaded back into the Cartoon Story Maker and edited or added to.

A character from the image library sits infront of an imported background image found on the web.

Features list

character and background libraries

import your own images

text bubbles and information boxes

accent key panel

import voice recordings

built in recorder to add your own voice recordings

unlimited number of frames

copy and paste frames

preview

print function

saved stories can be opened and edited

copy and paste text from other documents

help files (available online and included in the program)

See the Help files for more details.

Cartoon Story Maker in the classroom

Teachers can make cartoon stories to model language and cultural conventions.

Students can make them as a stimulating and engaging way to practice their language skills.

The Cartoon Story Maker has been designed with a focus on applying language learning. It is easy to use with simple controls so students spend less time manipulating tools and more time on the language. Within a few minutes of opening the Cartoon Story Maker students can be typing text or adding their own voice recordings.
Students can:

create dialogues with their own text or voice recordings to demonstrate proficiency

create using digital photos of themselves acting out a situation and add either text or voice recordings to the photos

search the web for culturally authentic images and import them into the Cartoon Story Maker as backgrounds to a story.

Students can place pictures of themselves in front of culturally authentic images: they can imagine they are really there!

Teachers can:

provide a script or storyboard which students use to create a story

create partially completed stories which students can then open and complete

provide text only and students must add their own matching voice recordings

provide text in English for students to translate into the LOTE

provide questions to which students generate appropriate answers in the story

use Cartoon Story Maker in other subjects!

Cartoon Stories can be used:

as a medium for students' writing in a number of modes: conversation, narrative, persuasive or informative.

to revise a language topic

as an assessment task

to practice pronunciation and spelling

as a collaborative task

as a window into culture

back to top...
Installation and operation

Installation

To install and run the Cartoon Story Maker the computer must have the following:

Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 (all require '.net framework 2.0'. This is standard on 'Vista' and Windows 7, and common on XP. If it is not installed on the computer, a prompt will appear allowing the download and installation of the file. It is free.)

a sound card

screen resolution of at least 800 x 600

256 colours or greater

Installation in schools
Installation of software in school systems is often restricted. This may mean that only your IT technician is able to install software. Talk to your IT support about how the software is best installed in your school.

When a cartoon story is saved a new folder will be created with the name and in the location specified by the user. The folder will contain:

A html page (with the same name as the folder). Open this file to view the cartoon story.

A 'data' folder which contains all support files:
- two swf files; the player and a shared library
- an xml document
- a 'media' folder with any imported images (jpg, gif or png), or any voice recordings (MP3) used in the story.

Some schools' IT systems prevent students from saving these files. Check with your IT support that students are permitted to save these files in their folders on the server. If not, it may be possible to create a new folder without these restrictions where students can save their games.

The default save path for completed games is 'My Document'.

Further Information and help

See the Help files. (these are also available by clicking on the 'Help' button in the top bar of the program.)

For further assistance contact the Languages Online Team ( languages.online@edumail.vic.gov.au)

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Cartoon Story Maker File Options: You can open and edit stories aswell as preview, print and save. Frame area: Drag and drop items here to compose each frame of your story. Image Libraries: These include different characters with different expressions. Picture tools: Enlarge, rotate, flip or delete images.

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Duolingo: Impara l'inglese, il francese e altre lingue gratis

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Duolingo è il modo più famoso al mondo per imparare una lingua. È gratis al 100%, divertente e a base scientifica. Allenati online su duolingo.com o con le app!

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Italian Language Online, learn Italian Language online free, Italian courses online, Italian language online test

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Free Italian language resources, learn Italian online free, learn to speak Italian free, Italian language free, free Italian languege course, free Italian, easy Italian lessons, free interactive exercise, Italian lessons for beginner to advanced level free, free italian learning

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The Italian language is a vast world to explore.

Fortunately for learners, you can stuff it in your pocket.

It's easy to access all kinds of tools that make Italian more manageable, and you can find them online as well as download them in app form.

So, instead of scrutinizing ads on your next bus ride, why not listen to some fabulous Italian music?

Instead of glaring at the people in front of you in line, why not connect with a native video that's geared to your level?

But a search for Italian language learning apps will give you a bewildering array of options.

Which are the best?

In this post, I'll present nine favorites that I think should be considered for a spot in any Italian language learner's pocket.

Some of them are quite traditional language learning apps, but a few are herewith creatively re-purposed for Italian learners.

In any case, they each serve their own unique and important purpose, so you can rest assured you'll have all your Italian-learning bases covered.

Why Use Apps to Learn Italian?

Traditional textbooks and self-teaching guides are great, and should even be a main focus of your learning program. But apps can supplement your learning in powerful ways.

As alluded to above, you probably always have your smartphone with you, and you can thus add to the total amount of time you spend studying Italian by capturing that otherwise lost time.

Many of the apps below are multimedia; they allow you to connect to audio or video as well as text, giving you a fuller experience of the language.

A few of them even offer the opportunity to connect with native speakers. For most learners, this kind of experience is key; you're likely not just learning Italian so that you can read more books!

Apps get updated all the time, and new features are continuously added. So use the descriptions below as a general guide, and check for the latest information in the app stores by following the links.

FluentU (iOS, Android in progress)

FluentU is unique in the language app universe in that it's based on authentic, native videos, not scenarios or programs that teach every language the same way. FluentU takes real-world videos-like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks -and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

As of this writing, a learning platform for Italian learners, featuring video content made by and intended for native speakers, is in the works and soon to be launched.

FluentU offers a wide range of videos at any level and for any interest. The videos are all accompanied by interactive transcripts, meaning you can tap on any word you don't know and get an instant definition. It also keeps track of all the words you've learned and provides ways for you to review your vocabulary and quiz yourself. When you're ready for your next video, it makes suggestions based on the vocabulary that you've already learned.

This way, you get a completely personalized experience, and your interaction with the app is unique to your interests and needs.

Duolingo is a good resource for boosting your Italian vocabulary. It includes a variety of units for different levels of learners and based around various themes, such as education or work environments. Instead of focusing on grammar, the app helps you learn vocabulary and structures that allow you to communicate in particular situations.

The exercises that get you there include repeating audio (and recording yourself!), phrase translation, matching photos to words and other quiz-type features. The app is cheerful and each lesson is designed to be short enough to fill in your spare moments with Italian learning.

Like Duolingo, this app offers cheerful, quick lessons on a variety of topics and at different levels. The Italian lessons are not particularly culturally specific, but are an interesting resource to be used in conjunction with other methods that give you more access to Italian culture.

One of the great features of the app is its opportunity for interaction; you can write short texts using the vocabulary that you've learned in lessons and then have them corrected by native Italian speakers.

I know, I know, this is not a learning app. But entering into the bizarre and compelling world of Italian romance will certainly get you practicing the language! Not only is this a way to practice written Italian, but the romantic intrigue may well motivate you to pay closer attention to details, such as your verb conjugations.

If you're not in Italy (sad! move already!), you can buy the paid version of the app and change your geographical location to the area whose accent most interests you. Also, in your profile, you can (and really should) be upfront about your intentions, so that you don't lead people on if your goal is really just to chat and practice your Italian.

What is that Italian song? It used to be that if you heard something intriguing on the radio or in a film, it might take a bit of work to track it down. With SoundHound, you can identify a song from its audio in a single tap, and from there have an easy path to the full song lyrics, so that you can follow along even if you don't quite grasp a few crooned words. It also provides some basic information on famous Italian artists.

Speaking of radio, this app gives you access to a whole world of native videos, podcasts, music and interviews from Radio Italia. The app is in Italian only, so this is best for learners with an intermediate to advanced level who want to find more material to study, or just interesting programming to listen to.

There are lots of great Italian podcasts out there ( which we explore in this post), and this is the app that I think Italian learners should be listening to them on. You can use any podcasting app, of course, but this one offers the ability to significantly slow speech down, easily skip back ten seconds and synchronize what you're listening to across devices, including in a web app.

WordReference (iOS and Android)

If I had to choose just one Italian dictionary app, WordReference would be it. It contains an excellent professionally edited Italian-English dictionary and, of often even greater utility, a vast Italian-English forum.

At the bottom of any dictionary lookup in the app, you'll get a link to any relevant discussions of the word or phrase in the forum, and generally discussions there tend to be quite to the point and useful. If whatever you're looking for still can't be found, you can create a free account and ask a question yourself.

The app also provides helpful conjugations of any Italian verb as well as a link to Google Image searches for terms at the bottom of entries.

Paper flashcards are lovely for learning, but you may not want to lug around a deck of them all of the time. Anki puts the flashcards right in your phone.

Another advantage of Anki over paper is that you can add media to your flashcards-in particular, you can get your language teacher or Italian exchange partner to record a word or phrase that you want to remember, and then quiz yourself on it later.

There are dozens of user-submitted decks out there already for Italian but I encourage you to create your own. That way you'll study the vocabulary that's most important to you, and likely the process of making the cards will itself be useful for memorization.

Once you've got these apps in your pocket, I'm quite confident you'll be improving your Italian in a variety of ways, both in study sessions and in spare moments.

There's a mountain of Italian vocabulary and grammar out there, but having it all just a tap away and ready for you to practice can make your learning seem much more approachable.

When not flubbingly flirting in nearly flawless Italian, Mose Hayward reviews the best gear for digital nomads.

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn Italian with real-world videos.
Experience Italian immersion online!

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The 9 Hottest Apps for Learning Italian Like a Boss

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The Italian language is a vast world to explore. Fortunately for learners, you can stuff it in your pocket. It's easy to access all kinds of tools that make Italian more manageable, and you can find them online as well as download them in app form.

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​ This piece is an extensive Virtual Tour of the Roman Colosseum with views from one of the main entrances, of gladiators fighting, ships portraying naval combat, views from the upper gallery and from the rooftop.

The Colosseum could hold over 50,000 people. It was segregated by class with the patrician class seated in the lower tier, while the common people sat in the upper tiers. On the roof of the Colosseum, Roman sailors were employed to extend tarps to protect crowds from the sun and rain.

Gladiators fought either animals or each other in elaborate games, with some game events lasting weeks and thousands of participants. Some gladiators became famous and were followed much like sports teams today.

Roman scribes claim that at some of the Colosseum games, the arena was filled with water to stage naval battles. The building and it's basements have been altered extensively since, so it is unknown how water was pumped into the main arena. In later years, a network of passages ran under the arena to channel wild animals from cages with ramps and elevators lifting them to the arena floor.

It is estimated that over a half million people and over a million animals died in the games over the course of 450 years. Over the years, the Colosseum has decayed from earthquakes, erosion and citizens taking stones for new buildings.

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​ This piece is an extensive Virtual Tour of the Roman Colosseum with views from one of the main entrances, of gladiators fighting, ships portraying naval combat, views from the upper gallery and from the rooftop. The Colosseum could hold over 50,000 people.

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Explore Rome in virtual reality or online in a 360 experience.

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Make your glasses for 3D viewing

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We spoke to Chris O'Donnell to give us a brief summary of the project.
What is Invisible Italy?
This experience allows viewers to travel through three stunning reproductions of three of the most famous historical sites in Italy.

Each historically significant location (Naples, Venice and Florence) has it's own 360° video that you can explore as a 3D digital model and experience it as our presenter, Alexander Armstrong, does in Virtual Reality for the BBC One show.
How were the 3D models of the locations made?
The models were created using the latest laser scanning technology to capture billions of data points mapping the real locations. These scans are then stitched together to make the most accurate virtual representation of these stunning locations ever created.

Alexander Armstrong narrates the journey as our virtual 360 camera navigates through these complex digital models, stripping away façades, bursting through walls and even beneath the waves to reveal their hidden historical secrets.
What can we expect to see?
In Naples, you can visit the ruins of the ancient Roman holiday resort of Baiae with its reputation for vice and debauchery. In Venice you can explore the Doge's palace in its stunning setting on St Mark's Square. And in Florence you can fly above the river Arno and discover the secret passageway Florence's rulers built to travel around their city unseen.
What are you hoping to find out by doing this?
Allow the audience to see the beauty of the 3D pointcloud models for themselves as demonstrated in the show and see how they can be used to uncover hidden historical secrets.

We want to see how much appetite there is for 360° video content. It would be useful to see the difference in engagement between this content on a more accessible platform and the Rome VR taster project which is also going to be live and promoted in the same place during this transmission run.

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We spoke to Chris O'Donnell to give us a brief summary of the project. What is Invisible Italy? This experience allows viewers to travel through three stunning reproductions of three of the most famous historical sites in Italy.

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PIONIERI

CAPWARE nasce nel 1984 e si specializza nella computer grafica e nella realizzazione di motori grafici per la realtà virtuale. Oltre 30 anni di storia di progettazione multimediale, computer grafica e valorizzazione dei beni e attività culturali.

INNOVATORI

Capware ha inventato l'idea stessa di "Museo Virtuale", spostando il fulcro della rappresentazione museale oltre la semplice "collezione", ampliando il concetto di narrazione grazie ad inediti strumenti multimediali interattivi.

CREATIVI

Capware è attualmente impegnata nella progettazione di nuovi musei di narrazione multimediale in diverse zone d'Italia con un mix di installazioni immersive, realtà aumentata, computer grafica, sofisticate animazioni virtuali e ricostruzioni grafiche 3D.

VISIONARI

Considerata l'esperienza maturata sul campo, gli spazi multmediali e le oltre 200 ricostruzioni virtuali archeologiche ci auguriamo di poter contribuire alla rinascita culturale del Paese con nuovi progetti innovativi, unici e riconoscibili a livello internazionale.

Capware immagina, trasforma e valorizza le tue idee.
Contattaci oggi per realizzare insieme il tuo progetto.

Computer grafica e realtà virtuale. Progettazione di Mostre e Musei multimediali. Realizzazione di filmati, prodotti multimediali per CD per l'editoria e internet, scenografie per studi virtuali. Ideazione di Format per la comunicazione.

CAPWARE Tecnologie per la Cultura
Napoli via Cavallerizza a Chiaia 8
Milano Piazzale Brescia 13
Roma via A. Macinghi Strozzi 18
Torino Piazza della Consolata 1
Ottaviano via FF/SS 27

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PIONIERI CAPWARE nasce nel 1984 e si specializza nella computer grafica e nella realizzazione di motori grafici per la realtà virtuale. Oltre 30 anni di storia di progettazione multimediale, computer grafica e valorizzazione dei beni e attività culturali.