- Stories from around the world in many different languages. 

- The stories include retold traditional tales and new short stories.
- There are new stories, translations, pictures and sound recordings every week. 

- Tips to build vocabulary

- Weekly language and literacy tips

- Programs for parents 

- Free literacy templates and printables that support instruction

- Free resources including, videos and webinars, articles, newsletter archive, and websites and organizations.

·               the focus should be on how the tools can best support teaching and learning goals rather than on the tools themselves

·               it's best not to introduce too many new tools — otherwise students will spend their time learning the tools rather than learning the content

·               your district may have a list of approved and vetted platforms for distance learning.

 

Decide what tools you want students to use regularly (only pick a few) and set up the dashboard or learning activity page.  For example, you may want to have a calendar with assignments, announcements, discussion board, and a chat room.  Students will know what to do every week because the lesson structure repeats with different content.

For example:

·               open with a video greeting that you have recorded

·               do two readings

·               comment on the discussion board

·               connect with a partner

·               write or record (audio or video) a short discussion of your take-aways from the learning, etc.

 

It is important to keep in mind that if students are isolated in their homes, they are not likely to have much English language exposure. While this is a valuable time for students to deepen their native language skills with family members, it is critical that teachers build in activities that require students to share their thinking in English. 

Look for ways to build interaction, even if you aren't using video. For example, students can post messages via writing, audio, and video and respond to each other.  Recordings should be short - three to five minutes in general.  

 
 4. Scaffold supports

 

Differentiate instruction and activities to accommodate different English language proficiency levels.  This may mean that you have different sections and tasks for identified students.  If you have mainstream students performing closer to grade level, they may interact with the content tasks with minimal support.

For beginning level English learners, however, you will need to analyze the instruction, readings, and activities to provide accommodations such as:

·               native language or simple English explanations through video

·               more visuals

·               native language or leveled English text

·               an activity completed in a small group rather than independently

Get familiar with the online platform you are using. Pairs and groups can be assigned in online learning platforms and it can be helpful for students to collaborate on learning just like in the classroom. Online learning doesn’t mean everything has to be done in isolation. In relation, many young students are used to connecting with each other through electronic platforms and this is no different.

 

 

Many teachers are not going to love online teaching and may grieve the lack of daily interaction with students.  It is important to keep a sense of fun and personalization in the online environment.  This is an opportunity to reconnect with the creative juices that might be dormant!

Students like it when teachers share little personal stories or pictures. They will also enjoy doing more creative projects and sharing them online.  This could be a Voice Thread or Adobe Spark presentation, which allows students to create a slideshow and explain each slide verbally.  Their classmates can respond on each slide with a text or verbal response.  It’s also a good opportunity for a project presentation video or graphic design/artwork assignment. 

Give students choices of how to demonstrate their learning — they may surprise you with the creative work they share.  

 

Look for ways to help provide positive encouragement, continue building relationships, and offer support during a time of anxiety and stress. This is especially important for students who may have experienced trauma and a lot of upheaval, like refugees or students with interrupted education, and most recently, particularly given the abrupt nature of many of the national school shutdowns due to our current pandemic.

Here are some examples of activities for ELLs, with a focus on oral language development and content development.

1. Students can upload videos of themselves reading their favourite books.

2. Students can write and draw responses to a prompt (for example, "What is one way you can be helpful to your family at home?") and then students can leave questions or comments for each other.

3. Students can film themselves solving a math problem or record themselves explaining how they solved the problem, and the teacher can provide feedback.

4. Students can interview someone in their family that is important to them and create a presentation to share. They can present in both English and native language and include photos or short videos with quotes from their important person.  Other students can leave written or verbal comments on slides in English or the student’s native language.

5. Teachers can create a presentation with slides and voice narration on a platform like VoiceThread. Students can respond orally or in writing to questions posed in the VoiceThread.

6. Teachers can provide a slideshow with visuals on a content topic and resource links for students to learn about the topic. Different students are assigned a few slides to narrate for their classmates to learn about the topic. A variation of this is for students to each get a different topic related to the unit (after learning about it from the teacher) and have them create a group presentation on that topic to share with the class.

 

·               Keep your focus clearly on what you want students to learn.

·               Think of a creative project.

·               Use one or two “go to” apps that work for you and your students to adjust to this new learning environment. 

·               Think of e-learning as Emergency Learning — and you are a learner.