EL Civics Curriculum - Fairfax County, VA

Appendix C: Additional Recommended Websites for Instructors and Learners

The list of web sites in this appendix is provided as an additional resource to instructors. This is a small sampling of what is available for civics topics and computer assisted instruction on the Internet. Websites that have been selected give information on incorporating computers into lessons, give background information for instructors to increase their awareness of topics covered in the curriculum, or provide information and activities that are of an appropriate level of difficulty for intermediate and advanced students. The sites including activities could be used in place of sites listed in the curriculum, as supplemental material for students who finish their work faster than others, or for students who want to do extra work on a topic. The websites may also be used as links to other sites if they do not meet the needs of your learners. Space is provided to write additional useful website addresses as you find out about them.

Sites are categorized as follows:

Information on Using Computers and the Internet

All Civics Subject Areas - These are sites that contain information or activities on consumer awareness, government and health. They are not listed again under the separate subjects.

Consumer Awareness

Government - These include sites with information or activities on US or state government, history, diversity, and community.

Health

Project-Based Learning - These include sites that give explanations, ideas and examples of project-based learning.

Miscellaneous Learner-Friendly Sites - sites on grammar, listening and life skills that are interactive and learner accessible. For those students who finish assigned work early and need some extra work in these areas.

At the end of the description of each site, there is a designation as to what kind of help they offer. These are:

Instructor background information - These sites give the instructor more basic information on the topic being taught.
Instructor lesson ideas - These are lesson plans and materials the instructor can use or adapt.
Learner accessible - On these sites learners who have some basic Internet navigation skills can work more or less independently once the teacher has set them up on the activity. It's a good idea to have students keep a record of what activities they finish so they know where to begin the next time.

As with any teaching resource, instructors should browse through each website to determine if it is level- and content-appropriate before using it in class.

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Information on Using Computers and the Internet

http://literacytech.worlded.org/docs/cesol/lessons.htm. Computers and English for Speakers of Other Languages (CESOL) site, by the New England Literacy Resource Center. Contains links to computer literacy lessons for students and sites for teachers with ideas for integrating computers into lessons. Instructor lesson ideas.

http://www.miyazaki-mic.ac.jp/academics/arc/websurveyskills/ A good interactive site for intermediate and advanced learners to study basic internet terminology and navigation. Learner accessible.

http://home.earthlink.net/~eslstudent/ez.html#computer. Games and tutorials to learn how to use the mouse, typing and other computer skills. Learner accessible.

http://www.ctcnet.org/americaconnects/panel6/index.htm. America Connects Consortium. Informative archive of a list-serve panel discussion. The panelists are experts on using technology in adult education. Instructor background information.

http://www.doi.gov/octc/web.html. The U.S. Department of Interior's official website. Contains an online Internet Browsing mini-lesson that includes a quiz and glossary of vocabulary. Too complicated for students but may be helpful for teachers who want to know more. Instructor background information.

www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/bones.html. A University of South Carolina library website on how to use search engines to get information you need. Very detailed. Helpful for research. Instructor background information.

http://www.literacynet.org/nvesl. Curriculum from Truckee Meadow Community College's web site. Contains instructional ideas for teaching Computer Literacy. Includes ESOL lessons with technological illustrations. Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

http://www.btinternet.com/~trifonovs/whatisemail.htm An easy-to-read site explaining what email is and how to get free email. Learner accessible.

Other:
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All Civics Subject Areas

http://www.susangaer.com. Website of Susan Gaer, expert on incorporating computer into the adult ed classroom. Contains a lot of information and ideas for implementing learner-generated projects and using the Internet in class. Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

http://www.cityfamily.com. City Family Magazine's very teacher and learner friendly web site. An easy-to-use, free online magazine written on life skills topics for limited English proficient immigrants. Covers many topics including government, health, and consumer awareness. Especially good articles on finances and credit. For intermediate and advanced readers. Learner accessible.

http://www.caliteracy.org/education/esl-civics/curriculum.html. A civics curriculum containing topics on community and consumerism. Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

http://www.tv411.org/ Interactive lessons that parallel the show TV411. Includes learner-accessible, life-based lessons on health, money, family, math, vocabulary development, life skills writing and reading. Suitable for a variety of levels. Learner accessible.

http://www.workers.gov First Gov for Workers, published by First Gov, official web portal of the U.S. Government. Comprised of links to information on Government, Health, Consumer Awareness and many other civic related topics. Instructor background information.

Other:

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Consumer Awareness

Note: Other useful consumer websites can be found within the Consumer Awareness lessons.

http://www.nelrc.org/changeagent/economy/begin.htm. The Change Agent, published by the New England Literacy Resource Center. Contains a lesson on Economic Security that explains "Budgeting and Understanding the Poverty Level." For advanced ESOL readers. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

www.consumer-action.org Consumer Action. A California organization's consumer resource that provides much information on consumer protection issues such as using credit. Much is available in translations also. Instructor background information, lesson ideas, learner accessible for higher readers.

Other:

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Government

http://legis.state.va.us/CapitolClassroom/Printables/Printables.htm Virginia state government webpage with printable classroom materials for teachers, including a civics IQ test and trivia games. Also go to link for grades 9-12 or 6-8 for more activities that may be interesting for your students, like "A Day in the Life of a General Assembly Member." Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

http://hub1.worlded.org/docs/vera/index1.htm Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook by the New England Literacy Resource Center. Contains lesson plans on civics topics and advanced reading selections. Includes ideas for community action. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

http://www.cdlponline.org/news.html California Distance Learning Project Interactive Learning Resource by the California Department of Education. Contains an assortment of civic reading lessons on current news stories. Includes interactive activities for intermediate and advanced ESOL learners. Learner accessible.

http://www.crf-usa.org Constitutional Rights Foundation's web site. Contains online lessons for learners and instructional ideas for teachers on current events, history and other civics issues. Lessons are for advanced readers. Instructor background information, lesson ideas, learner accessible.

http://www.themlc.org/citizen.htm The Minnesota Literacy Council's website. Contains instructor and learner resources on citizenship. Contains practice dictation sentences for the INS interview and a section on the U. S. Census with easy-to-follow ESOL lessons. For intermediate and advanced ESOL readers. Instructor background information, lesson ideas, learner accessible.

http://www.nelrc.org/cpcc/elcivics.htm Civic Participation & Citizenship Collection by the New England Literacy Resource Center. Includes helpful links to many EL-Civics topics, such as government, civil rights, and immigration. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

http://www.nwlincs.org/NWLINCSWEB/Lessons.htm. Northwest Lincs, a service of the National Institute for Literacy. Comprised of a low level civics curriculum with downloadable handouts, links for instructors to lessons, materials, and other resources for many civic topics. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

http://www.esc20.k12.tx.us/etprojects/formats/scrapbook/spring2000/baldoni/default.html. The Immigrant Experience. A lesson complete with links on diversity and immigration. Links categories include pictures and audio about immigrant experiences that could themselves be the focus of less complex lessons. Instructor background information, lesson ideas, learner accessible for higher readers.

http://www.literacynet.org/cnnsf/week.html. This site from Literacy Net contains abridged CNN stories and reading comprehension activities. For advanced ESOL readers. Learner accessible.

http://web66.coled.umn.edu/new/MLK/MLK.html. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Learner accessible for higher readers.

Other:

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Health Resources:

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~ncsall/fob/2002/wel_feb.html. An issue of the adult ed journal Focus on Basics that is devoted to the topic of health literacy. Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

http://www.cal.org/ncle/health/. Picture Stories for Adult ESL Health Literacy, National Center for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE). Contains easy-to-follow picture stories and complete lesson plans on access to affordable health care, language barriers in health care, domestic violence, and stress. For all levels of ESOL learners. Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

http://www.cal.org/ncle/digests/healthlitQA.htm. "Health Literacy and the Adult ESL Learner." An ERIC Digest that defines health literacy as it relates to limited English proficient learners. Gives lesson ideas and suggestions for approaching sensitive health topics in class. Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

http://medlineplus.gov. Health information from the National Library of Health and the National Institute of Health. Has easy-to-read format and language, which gives simplified information on drugs, diseases, health dictionaries, etc. Instructor background information.

www.otan.dni.us/webfarm/emailproject/rem.htm. ESL students have sent in stories on home remedies to this site. Your students can talk about the ones they read there and send in their own. Materials are for a variety of reading levels. Learner accessible.

www.esl-lab.com Randall's ESL Cyber-Lab. This site has a large and diverse collection of online listening activities. Look through the list for several selections on health and communicating with the doctor. A very useful resource for students who finish other work early. Learner accessible.

www.vbgov.com/dept/ems/firstaid/ Virginia Beach Emergency Medical Services site on first aid. Some topics are easier than others, but pages contain useful charts on what questions to ask in different emergency situations, and some pages have simple steps and illustrations that can be used with discretion in class. Sometimes to find these helpful parts you have to scroll down past a lot of dense text! Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

http://www.alri.org/esquare/health/feelgood.html This site by students in Massachusetts contains stories about stress and relaxation. Could be a conversation starter or generate writing ideas. Learner accessible.

www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/questions/health.html Internet TESL Journal site. Conversation topics for the whole class or small groups. Instructor lesson ideas.

www.dvsheltertour.org/ Gives easy-to-read tour of domestic violence shelter so viewers will understand what is offered in a shelter and what people go through who leave a domestic violence situation. Instructor background information, lesson ideas, learner accessible.

www.worlded.org/us/health/lincs/teacher.htm#variety Links to a variety of teacher resources, "easy-to-read" online health materials, and student-generated materials. Instructor background information and lesson ideas.

www.fhradio.com Family Health Radio. This site was undergoing maintenance at the time of publication. Reportedly will have assorted 2½ minute stories on health topics.

www.worlded.org/us/health/lincs/learner.htm#health Written for low-literacy native speakers of English. Many links to "easy-to-read" health information and learner-generated materials. Instructor background information.

http://www.umass.edu/nibble. University of Massachusetts's web site. Comprised of user-friendly fonts. Includes many quizzes on nutrition. For intermediate and advanced ESOL readers. Instructor background information, lesson ideas, learner accessible for higher readers.

http://www.innerbody.com Interactive lesson on internal human anatomy. Learner accessible.

http://www.sabes.org/health/teachers.htm. System for Adult Basic Education Support's (SABES) website. Addresses teachers' concerns on how to incorporate health education into ABE and ESOL classrooms. Contains a reading assignment on cancer for advanced ESOL Learners. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

http://www.worlded.org/us/health/lincs. National Institute for Literacy Special Collection by World Education Staff. Contains links and resources to health literacy materials. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

http://iteslj.org/quizzes/holidays.html Click on html - only quizzes - misc. Look under Reading Comprehension for 2 activities on HIV/AIDS. Learner accessible.

www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/cw/1/vm-medical.html Internet TESL Journal site has crossword puzzle on medical terms. Learner accessible.

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Project-based Learning:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/frameworks/health.doc Massachusetts Adult Basic Education Curriculum Framework For Health. A rich resource on teaching health literacy through project-based learning. Designed for ABE, this framework lists many resources that can be helpful for advanced ESL classes, and it gives examples of learner-generated projects. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

www.cal.org/ncle/digests/ProjBase.htm ERIC Digest: Project-Based Learning for Adult English Language Learners. Explains rationale of project-based learning, the project process, and gives examples. Lists other resources on the topic. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

http://hub1.worlded.org/nelrctech/projects/examples.html Literacy Tech. This site catalogs and links to learner-generated projects on the Web. Instructor background information, lesson ideas.

Other:

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Miscellaneous Learner-friendly Sites:

http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/toc.cfm Gives clear explanations of common English grammar.

www.csun.edu/~hcedu004/ Korean folk tales in English.

www.rd.com/index.jhtml Readers Digest online.

www.eslcafe.com Dave's ESL Café.

http://www.life.com/Life Learners can choose a picture from the archives of Life Magazine to write or speak about.

www.esl-lab.com Listening galore.

http://www.tv411.org Interactive lessons that parallel the show TV411. Includes self-accessible, life-based lessons on health, money, family, math, vocabulary development, life skills writing and reading. Suitable for a variety of levels.

Other

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