These materials were assembled by the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning. The featured school in Honolulu, HI, teaches students from Micronesian backgrounds English through a variety of different strategies. Through the use of drama, multimedia presentations and software, books, websites, and language materials, these teachers share with others effective ways they have developed to teach ESL students from all different backgrounds. The skills targeted are basic skills in language arts and higher order thinking skills. The teachers use dramatic storytelling, movie-making, PowerPoint presentations, and online storybooks to teach these skills to the students. The site is full of downloadable movie examples and student projects for teachers to use as ideas and examples for their own teaching purposes. This particular school focuses on students from Micronesian backgrounds and dialects, but the activities can be used across any cultural backgrounds. The technical requirements for this module are QuickTime Player 5.0 (a free downloadable program) in conjunction with your web browser. There are links to outside resources on the Resources link, which contain maps, outside projects, and book titles for educators to explore. This resource can be used in a one-computer (projected image) format, and the movies play right in your QuickTime Player without any downloading.
Type of Material:
Teacher resource
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Teacher resources
Target Student Population:
ESL/EFL
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
There are many features of excellence in this module. There is a great deal of material on this particular subject, with many short movies and presentations that educators can watch immediately on their computers. The languages are represented in context, and there is a great deal of native language mixed into the student projects. Much of the work in this module is student created and produced, which opens the eyes of educators as to what learners of English can do. Each section has a clear and succinct purpose outlined, and one can click on links to learn more about each area. The external links are very relevant to educators wanting to learn more about the Pacific Area Languages, and how to include students who speak these languages in class activities.
Concerns:
The movies are very small when they appear on the computer. There is no way to make them larger, and it would be hard to show these movies to a large group on a projected image display.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
These materials can potentially serve to support and expand a teacherÂ’s repertoire of methods for teaching ESL. The activities and ideas are very easy to duplicate in a classroom setting and are engaging for students to be a part of. The materials are all based on language learning, and the projects the students completed on culture, diversity, and culture conflict are informative. These materials can be used to practice speaking, listening, reading, writing, and technology goals. Each of the teachersÂ’ goals is outlined next to each of the movies and presentations facilitating other instructors turning these activities into their own lesson plans and assignments for their students across the K-12 curriculum.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The material is very easy to navigate. There is no downloading involved in viewing any of the materials, unless you needed to download the QuickTime Player to view the movies. There is no response/feedback option within the module, for it is a presentation based website from which educators can learn. There is a great deal of flexibility for teachers can choose which movies and presentations to watch or download. There is very little technical support needed for this website.The information is presented for teachers and educators to gain ideas for their teaching, but because much of the work in the website is student-produced, students would be familiar with the ideas involved, and could gain quite a bit of knowledge from viewing the student projects.
Creative Commons:
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