Listening Resources:

TEXT TO SPEECH: 

ELLs in Step 2 and 3 often comprehend spoken English better than written. You can help students get more out of content by using a text to speech app like:

Read & Write for Google Chrome: video tutorial for free version for Chrome

Balabolka: free to download on a PC, able to save audio files

​iPad and iPhone have accessibility features that provide text to speech- just go to your general settings!


Stories for students to Listen to and Enjoy!
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Robert Munch:

Listen to Munch read his classic stories online!

Storyline Online:

Members of the Screen Actors guild read popular children's stories aloud: also has Reader's Theatre scripts and activities

http://www.storynory.com/ : audio with text stories. The site offer translation as well as comprehension supports.

http://abcya.com : free read aloud short stories with highlighted text. Includes free resources.

STORIES IN MULTILANGUAGES ONLINE:
text can be translated page by page into a variety of languages

Multilingual Children's Library
LISTEN/READ ALONG  STORIES ONLINE:read by author in English Phil Cummings & Amanda Graham
the Storybook Wilbur read in Arabic with video
the Storybook Wilbur read in Dinka with video


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Vocabulary Resources:

ELL Voices in the Classroom
Oral Language Strategies for English Language Learners

BICS and CALP: 
Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
-vocabulary needed to speak about self and personal environment, engage in social interactions, and pursue interests

-vocabulary for the classroom cards and signs: resources from autism and speech language experts may fill your needs

​Cognitive Academic Language Skills
-vocabulary needed to participate in educational tasks, subject specific vocabulary, the language of research and inquiry

Learning Chocolate: an interactive website that allows students to match  pictures and words to audio on a wide variety of useful topics.

The Internet Picture Dictionary

Free pic dic in a few different languages: English,Spanish, French, German.


My English Dictionary

Pictures and audio from Learn English.com

Translation Tools:

Google Translate :  excellent app with scan and translate features as well as talk and translate....website translate
​YANDEX   : this site may offer better translation than Google for Chinese and other Asian languages
Using Videos with ELLs:

Step 1-2 short videos without words are great for early language learning; they provide an opportunity to respond using simple words and phrases. Give your students a graphic organizer or key visual to use while watching; these can be focused on the elements of a story, characterization or simply sequencing events. Allow them to use their first language to make notes. My favourites are shorts from the National FIlm Board of Canada and the popular children's series Pingu.
Here is a list of some silent shorts that I use and ideas for what to do with them!

Step 3 -  I love to have students at Step 3 compare and contrast movies and novels we read in class. Giving dramatic scene presentations, video movie synopsis, tableaus, writing opinion paragraphs, summaries, and movie reviews are also a fun ways to respond to films.

Step 4-6 students are looking at film and messages more deeply and trying to learn about more complex facets of English speech; this is an excellent source for finding good movies to watch and resources for helping students to dive deeper: http://www.eslnotes.com/index.html
ESL resource site for AMDSB and Ontario schools