Language Arts

“A book is a device to ignite the imagination.” - Alan Bennett

Students need context and inspired to engage with literature! Below are tips and resources. For more ideas, check out the slides, How to Animate Novels for Digital Learners and Teaching the Language Arts. Keep scrolling to access the bookmarks.

Get your copy of Hacking Digital Learning, The 30 Goals Challenge, or Learning to Go. Ask me about training your teachers, [email protected]!

Blending Language Learning with the Language Arts from Shelly Sanchez Terrell

Tips

• Teachers often share resources with these hashtags- #Engchat, #ELTChat, and #ELLChat.
• We tend to get too caught up in teaching with books or slides. Instead, get your students interested in the lesson through any of these types of instructional methods: multimedia, visual aids, screencasts, hands-on learning, sensory learning, TPR- total physical response, graphic organizers, role-plays, visual aids, realia, flashcards, pair work/group work, storytelling, diagrams, foldables, gamification, flipped learning, labeling, games, problem/project based learning, mindmapping and notetaking.
• Consider the choice of reading materials! Books should be visually accessible for struggling readers. Harper Collins has iPad books available free that allow highlighting text and other helpful features. Try graphic novels, comics, emoji literature, or multimedia versions of the books you are reading
  
• Let them pick the book!
  • Literature-map.com- type in your favorite author’s name and a list of other authors appears.
    
  • Slime Kids- video book reviews by students
  • 60 second recap- video book reviews in 60 seconds
  • Book Trailers for Readers- book trailers by learners
  • Digitalbooktalk- book trailers, summaries, and has a list of books searchable by grade level and genre
• Websites with reading strategies- ​Ad Lit and Lit2go
  
• Digitizing literature circles- Digitizing literature circles, Digital Literature Circles, Almost Paperless literature circles,  Literature circles meet the iPad, and  ARC, Fourc.ca/the-evolution-of-arc by Tyson Seburn
  
• Literary websites with quizzes and more! Commonlit, Rewordify and Goodreads
  
• Digital book clubs- Kudos Reading
• Virtual Trips, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality- Try any of these websites and tools! Google Lit Trips, Google Earth, World Wonders Project, Google Expeditions, Skype in the Classroom Virtual Trips, and History View
  
• ​Create a virtual world- Sandbox games like Minecraft, Minecraft for Education, and Cospaces.io to create worlds with virtual reality technology
• Annotate- Owl Eyes and Book Snaps
• ​Book trailers instead of book reports
  • Booktrailersforreaders.com/How+to+make+a+book+trailer
  • Read Write Think lesson
• Visualize with a comic
• Character texts
  • In pairs, students text to each other a conversation characters from the chapter might have
• Book discussions on VoiceThread
• Check out the Trading Cards iOS/Android app by Readwritethink.org
• Check out my post with more activities and mobile apps! Once Upon a Device: 20 Reading Activities & Apps

Bookmarks

Find the tools listed above and many more resources in the bookmarks below.

Language Arts, by shellyterrell