Website Evaluations

www.starfall.com,
Target Group: Elementary Students, Skill: Vocabulary


Starfall.com is a website professionally developed by educators, artists, designers, musicians, and overseen by engineers and quality assurance. The goal of the site is to “develop skills that will transition from learning to read to reading to learn.” This site offers activities that deal with letter-sound relationships and is a great way to use phonics to help teach students words and reading. With its easy to navigate screens, Starfall lets children explore various topics which are colorful, engaging, interactive and fun. The stories are exciting and children get to create their own character as part of some stories. Each word is clickable which gives students the option of hearing the story or reading it.

Reading is a great way to build vocabulary and see it in context. This site develops children’s reading skills and teaches vocabulary through an array of activities that include stories, songs, poems and games. I would have students use this site when they visit the English Lab for independent study or for homework to have them learn new vocabulary.



www.vocabulary.co.il by Jacob Richman
Target Group: Elementary Students, Skill: Vocabulary


Vocabulary.co.il is a website whose purpose is to create fun and engaging activities that will help develop English vocabulary and can be used for grades K-12. These activities can be used either individually at home or in the classroom. This site is owned and operated by a small family who believes vocabulary is essential for language development and learning should be fun.

The games are categorized by grades and offer a wide array of activities from memory match, unscramble to story blanks. Students must interact with the site to respond to the questions or demands of the games.

I would use this website in class to offer a change of pace and a break from the textbook. Students enjoy games because they are fun, but these games are also educational. To add even more excitement, pair the class off into teams and provided a reward for the team that wins. This not only stimulates interest but competition.



www.esl-kids.com by Nick Ramsay
Target Group: Teacher
Resources/ Vocabulary


ESL-Kids.com is a teacher’s resource website that offers worksheets, flashcards, and song lyrics for use in class. The best part about it is that most of the resources are FREE!
Although the site is small, it is expanding. The worksheets are colorful and you can use the ones provided or customize the worksheets by using the worksheet generator.
There is a nice variety of worksheets and you can even make board games and customize it to fit a particular topic. This website not only provides these products, it also provides links to other sites and has an ESL bookstore. Teachers are always looking for new ideas and I think this site offers plenty. I would definitely use the worksheet generator to create worksheets specific to my students’ needs especially in creating interesting vocabulary lists and spelling tests. The flashcard section is another area I would use to help my students with building their vocabulary. The cards are already made and are in PDF format listed by category.


http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org
Target Group: Elementary Students
Skill: Vocabulary


LearnEnglishkids.britishcouncil.org is an excellent website that focuses on all four language skills and developed by the British Council for the purpose of promoting English language learning in a fun and exciting manner. Games, stories, songs, pod casts and video clips are offered in this multimedia site. The design is colorful, well organized and eye-catching. No matter what activity students choose to do, they will surely encounter vocabulary and learn how to use those words in authentic situations. These activities will rouse the senses and motivate students to investigate the abundant resources they have at their disposal. Practical exercises are incorporated and they provide timely feedback, both positive and negative. Children will enjoy exploring this website whether they are playing games, practicing listening skills or learning new words.
This site would be useful in class as an extension of the lesson. Instead of just focusing on the textbook, have students work in small groups (3 or 4) and read and listen to a story while noting any words they do not know. This website could also be used for homework.


www.learningchocolate.com by Wilson
Target Group: Elementary Students
Skill: Vocabulary


LearningChocolate.com is an interactive website designed to develop vocabulary. Specifically, the website is aimed at helping students memorize their vocabulary using fun activities like games, pictures and sounds. Like the name implies, chocolate is enjoyable and so should learning. The vocabulary is grouped into categories that provide an introduction to the words followed by matching, gap filled, and dictation exercises. The words lists include pictures with audio that allows the listeners to pronounce the words correctly and use it to answer listening questions.

Although this site is well designed, there are several missing elements. First, the words are not used in a sentence or shown in context. While the feedback is external, it does not provide correct responses for the incorrect answers. This does not benefit the learner and they may walk away without knowing the correct answers.

I would use this in class to augment the lesson particularly using the introduction and the gap filled exercises. This site would also be useful to review words and practice spelling them as homework. Struggling students may find this site helpful because of the pictures and exercises to help memorize the words.

Software Package Evaluation: The Interactive Picture Dictionary

Software Package: The Interactive Picture Dictionary (1995-1999)
Produced by Protea Textware Pty Ltd
Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia

Context: Elementary (between A1 and A2) for ESL students in elementary school in South Korea.

Skills: Vocabulary, Spelling

The Interactive Picture Dictionary CD-Rom is designed for classrooms, libraries or home study. It provides content rich topics that teach vocabulary and spelling. There are six main groups with over 40 topics. It is self-paced so it allows the students to explore the areas that interest them the most. The software is simple to navigate from activity to activity and provides instant feedback when necessary. This is a solid instructional tool that is highly interactive.

This program is mostly intended for beginners to intermediate language levels but would suite special needs students as well. Use of the dictionary would best suit individual or pair-work study and would encourage autonomy. The activities engage learners in the learning process and provides for both visual and aural learners. The activities range from three types of spelling games to gap filled exercises using the vocabulary words studied. There is a picture for each word that not only provides an audio to help with pronunciation but it also puts the word in a sentence so students can see it used in context. After all the fun, this program enables students to test their knowledge and gives them feedback immediately. However, it does not explain mistakes made during the test. This could potentially be problematic for students who cannot figure out their mistakes on their own.

This software would benefit students, particularly those who are struggling with vocabulary. The exercises are intended to familiarize students so they can recognize words by sight. The self-paced study ensures students only advanced when they feel ready and want to be challenged a little more. One of the greatest features for teachers is being able to create their own vocabulary lists for students. Even better, the program will develop activities using those words so there is no extra work for the teachers. Now that is AWESOME!!!!

Although there are some great aspects, there were a few disconcerting points as well. For instance, there is not a variety of media content. The categories are organized in the same manner, which is great for consistency but not very exciting.

Overall, The Interactive Picture Dictionary would be useful software to use to supplement other teaching materials used in class. It consistently teaches vocabulary through practical exercises and games.

COURSEBOOK EVALUATION: New Headway Elementary

Course Book: Soars, L and Soars, J 2006, New Headway Elementary, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Proposed Context: ESL Elementary School Students

The New Headway Elementary course book is innovative, compelling and interactive. Based on the traditional and communicative methodologies, it offers students the opportunity to learn grammar in a structured manner while allowing students to interact with the language features during authentic-like activities. This is a comprehensive textbook that is well written, engaging, and provides exposure to authentic situations.

This book was written by professionals and published by Oxford University Press, a reputable company in the publishing sector. Since the inception of the Headway Series over 20 years ago, it has grown in popularity to become one of the top sellers in the ESL industry. Don't let this tempt you. This book is not only well organized but also superbly designed to incorporate all the English language skills. Another feature is the suggested syllabus included in the student's book that details what will be studied in each unit. It is divided into the following areas: Grammar, Vocabulary, Everyday English, Reading, Listening and Speaking. The overall intention is to direct students to build on prior knowledge that leads them to constantly develop their English skills. This is made possible through the interactive and communicative nature of each lesson where the language is more than an arbitrary skill. Illich, cited in Harmer (2007, p. 52), believed that “most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting.”

This is a complete course book that offers other resources to aid in student’s learning such as the audio CD, student workbook, workbook CD, the interactive practice CD-ROM, and the teacher’s resource book. Once again, Headway sets the bar high by providing both a teacher’s website that offers multifarious materials and an interactive student’s site that allows them to practice or play games. Learning doesn’t stop when the bell rings. These materials provide opportunities to take the learning outside the classroom.

With topics that have relevance and meaning to students, it enables them to explore the language with active participation and curiosity. Hinkel (1999) believed engaging students in the learning process not only gives students a sense of purpose but it also helps them to take control of their own language learning. Headway succeeds in making language study purposeful and meaningful and supports independent learning.


References:

Harmer, J 2007, The Practice of English Language Teaching, 4th edn, Pearson Education, London.

Hinkel, E (ed.) 1999, Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning, Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series, Michael H Long and Jack C Richards, eds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Solitude

Here is my picture finally! Yeah!!!!!!