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"Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day…" - 5 new articles
Today Is “World Book & Copyright Day,” “World Book Night” & “UN English Language Day” – Here Are The Best Resources For Them LubosHouska / Pixabay
The UN and UNESCO say today is both “World Book & Copyright Day” and “UN English Language Day.” It’s also celebrated in some countries, particularly in the UK, as “World Book Night.” Here’s an explanation from My English Club about UN English Language Day: English, along with French, is one of the two working languages of the United Nations, and one of the Organization’s six official languages. Because it is so widely spoken, English is often referred to as a “world language”, or the lingua franca of the modern era. English Language Day at the UN is celebrated on 23 April, the date traditionally observed as the birthday of William Shakespeare. The Day is the result of a 2010 initiative by the Department of Public Information, establishing language days for each of the Organization’s six official languages. The purpose of the UN’s language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization. Under the initiative, UN duty stations around the world celebrate six separate days, each dedicated to one of the Organization’s six official languages. The days are as follows: Arabic (18 December)
Here are some resources on both of these days: World Book Night: Leading authors line up for ‘sacred’ celebration is from The Guardian, which also has a whole collection of resources. Southern Californians ready for latest chapter of World Book Night is from The LA Times. The Best Videos Documenting The History Of The English Language Here’s the UN’s official announcement of language days. “Best” Lists Of The Week: Resources For Reading Instruction The Joy of Books is from Film English. Additional suggestions are welcome.      Classroom Instruction Resources Of The Week
Each week, I publish a post or two containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here. You can also see all my “Best” lists on instructional strategies here. Here are this week’s picks: Native Words, Native Warriors is from The National Museum of the American Indian. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About The Code Talkers. How to study using the Production Effect is from InnerDrive. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Helping Students Learn How Best To Study.
The visual rubrics discussed in this video seem very interesting, but it also appears like it would be a lot of work for the teacher:  I’m adding it to The Best Rubric Sites (And A Beginning Discussion About Their Use). Overcoming Student Fears Surrounding Class Discussions is from Edutopia. I’m adding it to The Best Resources Sharing The Best Practices For Fruitful Classroom Discussions.
 Infographic On ELLs In California – Here’s The Prompt I Used If You Want To Create One For Your Own State
Tan Huynh recently shared an infographic he created with AI help on English Language Learners in Virginia. It inspired me to see if I could do one for California. Here’s the prompt I used to create the above infographic: Can you create an infographic displaying information about English Language Learners in California? Include total numbers, how many are long term English Language Learners, and how many are in urban and rural areas.
Caution: I did not double check the numbers on this infographic. In fact, this is the second version it created. In the first one, it used numbers saying the ELL population was continuing to increase. I knew it had recently gone down, so I asked it to double-check.  Duolingo Opens Up Premium Content For Free, But It Won’t Help Schools Since They Won’t Sign Student Data Privacy Agreements
Duolingo is great, and students love it to practice on their own. Duolingo is now giving free users access to advanced learning content. Unfortunately, most teachers still can’t incorporate using it in their classroom since the company won’t sign Student Data Privacy Agreements. That’s a deal-breaker for most districts in the United States. But it does open up greater learning possibilities for the most motivated students who’ll use it on their own time.  I Really Like This Game Called “Ripple” Where You Have To Connect Historical Events With Their Consequences
I’ve previously posted about many online games that challenge you to put historical events in the correct chronological order. Those can be a lot of fun to play in class, and reinforce memorization of events and dates. The game Ripple, though, challenges players to think. Its instructions shown in the above image tell you how it works. It seems to me it could be projected on a front whiteboard, and then students could play in teams with mini-whiteboards.  More Recent Articles
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