Category: Technology Resources

Technology Resources

Theme-Overcoming Obstacles and Teaching Grit

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The first unit I teach every year is Overcoming Obstacles. It sets the stage for a growth mindset and is a great way to motivate the students to try hard and never give up. I have included some resources that I use for the unit, including links to videos, song lyrics and questions, a parent article, and a vocabulary power point. I have described how I launch the unit with the “Think in Threes” formative assessment.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1UFt3BZE3DmrG7OkTbyO1cGKUdxxRpFXx

Think In Threes Formative Assessment

I use this to launch the theme of Overcoming Obstacles. We usually view a video, listen to a song, and read an article, all related to the theme. The article “Malala The Powerful” , from Storyworks magazine is a great one to use, Grit: The Key to Your Success is a great video, and I love using the song “Am I Wrong?”. After we listen, view, or read, the students discuss how each of the three things is related to the theme, then jot down their ideas in one of the three parts of the triangle. The big question that we always come back to throughout the unit is listed at the bottom.

Technology Resources

ICB- Integrated Content-Based Instruction-Thematic Units

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The ICB method is a way to provide content-based language learning through the use of academic thematic units. This website provides sample topics for thematic units, each of which is loaded with resources, including a variety of media.

https://thematicunits.theteacherscorner.net/

Good Reads, Technology Resources

Using Language Objectives with CLD Students

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Using Language Objectives, in conjunction with Content Objectives is a great strategy that is part of the SIOP model. This article discusses the why and how of language objectives, and the accompanying document is a teacher cheat sheet/reference for teachers when writing language objectives. I find the cheat sheet very helpful when writing language objectives.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Af6CCOoGhS27OvigmSHO63nCc0JZwNnj/view?usp=sharing

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-objectives-key-effective-content-area-instruction-english-learners

Technology Resources

Some Go-To Websites for Planning

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Technology Resources, Videos

Flocabulary-If you haven’t tried it, YOU MUST!

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https://www.flocabulary.com/

Flocabulary is a website that I use in my classroom every day. My kids LOVE it and beg for me to play their favorite songs all the time. When you put content to a catchy tune, along with visuals in the form of a video, you not only have your audience engaged, you are tapping into multiple parts of their brain, increasing the likelihood that the content will be remembered and stored for later use. Flocabulary covers multiple subject ares in grades K-12, and it is full of resources such as CLOZE activities with lyrics, vocabulary activities, comprehension checks, and more. It is something that you have to pay for, but they offer free trials, so you can test it out in your classroom.

One of the features that I love the most is “The Week in Rap”. Every Friday, a video that summarizes the top, current world news events for the week is created, all to a catchy rap beat and accompanying literacy activities. I found that this was such a great way to build cultural awareness in my classroom, and to inform my students of what is going on in the world around them. Some of the best discussions that ever took place in my classroom between my culturally linguistic students and their peers took place after viewing the week in rap. There is also a “Week in Rap Junior”, which is targeted to grades 3-5. I normally showed my 4th graders the regular week in rap though (after previewing it).

https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/week-in-rap-april-26-2019/