netTrekker Blog

ELL Resources: Inspired testimonials from NT101 Participants

No two children, like the beautiful butterflies that open this blog, are identical.  And like butterflies, netTrekker’s ELL Channel and differentiated instruction features help each learner to take flight. As the school year is quickly coming to close, I’m reminded that it’s IEP and 504 plan time. These very important meetings dedicate time to students with special learning needs to have their plan re-evaluated and decide what should be included for the following year.

As the netTrekker 101 online course facilitator, I just wrapped up module six on using netTrekker with English Language Learners. The course participants filled the discussion forums with very thoughtful content which may be helpful to those of you who are writing IEP and 504 plans.

I am delighted to share with you several of the participants’ comments from the discussion board about the Dictionary Hot Key, Read Aloud, Readability, and other refinement features in netTrekker.  Enjoy these testimonials from passionate educators.

“ I love these features!!  What a wonderful service for students!!  First of all, the students LOVE to use earphones—I KNOW they are not just skimming over the information because they are sitting there listening to the netTrekker article…in TOTAL!!

It’s also a great feature for one of my teachers who is legally blind.  He loved it because he could listen instead of using his super magnifiers & putting his face up to the screen.

I loved the dictionary hot button when I went to some science related websites via netTrekker.  There were words that I didn’t know & instead of moving ahead, I stopped to find out the meaning of the word.

Wonderful Service to students and teachers alike!!!”
Gina Lunsford, Woodlands Christian Academy, TX

“As a high school English teacher, I think the best feature from this week is the read aloud button. In my classroom I have so many different levels (especially reading levels). Many students struggle with reading on their own. This button makes it an even playing field.

I look forward to utilizing this to help the students grasp concepts better in my classroom.”
Carrie Brisbane, Charter Tech High School, NJ

“Even as a regular education teacher my students can benefit from the readability tab and read aloud feature. There are low-level readers in our classrooms as well and it can provide that extra support that the student may need.

I love the dictionary hot key feature because it provides not only a definition but word origin as well.  It is always fun to discuss with students where words originate from and how they came to our country.”
Kalin Wilburn, Mansfield School District, OH

“The read aloud feature allows students to explore and learn on their own even if their English reading skills are not particularly strong. Many second language learners learn spoken language much faster than written language because they are immersed in the spoken language of their second language in their new country. Read Aloud provides these learners the opportunity to strengthen their reading skills because the see the words as they listen to the reading.”
Sarah Garrett
Glacier Hills Elementary, MN

To take full advantage of the many resources to support ELL students and to customize enrichment resources for all of your students, visit the ELL Channel in netTrekker.

A few spaces are still available for the Summer 2010 session of NT101. TO REGISTER: Contact your Account Manager.  If you have questions or need additional information, please e-mail Amy Ellisor, the NT101 Course facilitator, aellisor@nettrekker.com.

Tags: ELL, ELL Channel, ESL, netTrekker, read aloud, refinement menu

Ethnic Identity in a Multicultural World …

The importance of ethnic identity in coping with a variety of life situations has been a major focus of current literature. While identity development is a difficult task for all adolescents; it is particularly complicated for adolescents belonging to ethnic groups. Teens feel a pull between their “home” and “school” identity – caught between parents’ ethnic beliefs and values, and that of the mainstream society.

To help your students understand our multicultural world, you may want to use a story to provide context and understanding.  A great example of such a story is a semi-autobiography by Julia Alvarez titled, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.

This story spans 30 years in reverse chronological order of four sisters that fled from the Dominican Republic with their family.   They were forced to adapt to American life which proved to be difficult and embarrassing as they met friends, and tried to fit in.  They experienced identify confusion as they adjusted to life in New York and trips back to Dominican Republic. The story is told in a series of episodes beginning in adulthood and moving back to their early life as a wealthy family on the island.   Themes on family life, character, and love are intertwined in the story as topics of immigration and ethnicity are addressed through Hispanic eyes.

To extend these topics in the classroom check out netTrekker’s Multicultural Pavilion
It provides geographic and cultural information on continents, countries, and regions. Resources on ethnic identity, acculturation, cultural sensitivities, diversity, cultural heritage, and social justice issues are also included here.

To provide a multicultural experience for your students, check out these netTrekker resources:

PBS: Beyond the Border
A companion site to the PBS site that explores the story of 4 brothers who leave their family in Mexico to seek a better life in Kentucky – and find a different version of the American dream.

BrainPOP: Faces
Face the facts as Tim and Moby introduce you to the wonderful world of the human face! In this BrainPOP movie, you’ll learn about some of the many roles the human face plays in your life, and you’ll find out how faces differ from each other. Discover a few reasons that facial features vary from person to person, and why where your ancestors came from might affect how your face looks. Finally, you’ll see why the face is so important for communication, and you’ll find out which emotions look the same on faces all over the world. Are you ready to put your best face forward?

Lower East Side Tenement Museum: We Are Multicolored
Explore the multicultural influences on your life by creating a flag that combines flags of different countries. Also learn the symbolism of colors and shapes in the flags of the world.

Education World: Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!
Lots of activities that can be done in a classroom to celebrate the month. Includes biographies of Hispanic Americans in History, graphing from the US Bureau of Census, trivia questions, and more. Site also provides a long list of related sites about Hispanic Heritage on the Internet.

Tags: ELL Channel, literature, Multicultural Resources

Time for a Theme

‘Tis the time of year where kids are getting excited about the holidays, whether it’s because they believe in Santa, are expecting gifts, or just because they will enjoy two weeks off from school. I remember my days in the classroom of planning lessons around the theme of the winter holidays to keep my students interested and on task. netTrekker d.i. has some wonderful resources if you are planning lessons for this multicultural season.

We’ll start our exploration in the Elementary Tab. How many of you knew that you could do a search by theme in netTrekker d.i.? If you scroll to the bottom of the Elementary page, there is a section to either type in a keyword or to browse themes. With over 100 themes, we’re sure to have a topic for you. If you have a multi-cultural classroom, or are teaching on a multi-cultural theme, you can find resources on Hanukah, Kwanza, and Christmas. There are other holidays to explore too, for later.

When I taught middle school, I used the holidays to teach technology skills. We created spreadsheets on how to celebrate the three major winter holidays, a team PowerPoint on a selected holiday, and other computer activities centered around the holidays. We even divided Christmas up with regions because Christmas is celebrated different all over the world, and within our own country. With netTrekker d.i., your students can click on the ELL Channel and explore the holidays in the Multicultural area. This is a perfect starting place.

 

Happy holidays, and may this season of cultural celebration exploration be even more engaging and enlightening with netTrekker d.i. Share with us how you plan to teach with the holiday season by leaving a comment below.

Tags: ELL Channel, Holiday, theme