WEBSITES ESL

Below are some valuable resources for ELL and ESL teachers. With these resources, you can find great ways to communicate
more effectively, explore lessons, and be a great ELL teacher.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/
Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon:
Check out this lexicon that offers images demonstrating the true meaning of the word, making it easier for English language
learners to understand.
ManyThings:
On this website, youll find quizzes, word games, puzzles, and a random sentence generator to help students better grasp English
as a second language.
bab.la:
Bab.la is a really fun site for ELL learners, with reference tools like a dictionary and vocabulary, supplemented with quizzes,
games, and a community forum.
ESL Basics:
On this site, youll find free English videos for both students and teachers.
English Pronunciation:
Okanagan Colleges resource offers 13 different unit lessons for learning and teaching English pronunciation.
BBC Learning English:
In this website from the BBC, students can find help with grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, with plenty of references to
current events. Plus, youll find a special section for ELL teachers.
ESL Gold:
ESL Gold is, no joke, golden, with seemingly endless learning resources for English. Students can practice pronunciation, find a
book to study, and even talk to someone in English on this site. Plus, teachers can find a job, search for textbooks, discover
games, and so much more.

Real English:
Check out this free site for learning English, with loads of videos from real English speakers, plus quizzes and community
support.
Repeat After Us:
In this online library, students can get access to a huge collection of English texts and scripted recordings.
Google Translate:
An awesome resource to use for simple translations, Google Translate can help your students see how its done and better
understand translations between two or more languages.
ESL Cyber Listening Lab:
Direct your students to this ESL cyber listening lab with study guides, quizzes, and even teacher features.
Vocabulix:
This online tool is designed to help jumpstart students vocabulary skills, with more than 90 vocabulary lessons, and the option to
create lessons of your own.
Wordsteps: Wordsteps makes it easy for students to build their own vocabulary collection, and even access their vocabulary
through a mobile device for English language learning on the go.
Utah Education Network English Language Learner Resources:
Check out this list of great resources for ELL, with teaching ideas, forums, and even news and research.
One Stop English:
Specially designed for English language teachers, One Stop English has a monthly topics series, news lessons, and even an app
for on the go ELL teaching.
Casa Notes:
This ingenious tool allows ELL teachers to effectively communicate with non-English speaking parents. Youll be able to quickly
make and customize notes that you can translate and send home to parents, effectively communicating information about field
trips, conduct, homework, and more.

ESL Party Land:

A great site for ELL teachers, ESL Party Land has lesson plans, strategies, worksheets, flashcards, quizzes, games, and even
vocabulary resources to help you be a better ELL teacher.
Clip Art Collection:
Check out this collection of royalty-free, language-neutral clip art designed to be used for foreign language instruction.
Activities for ESL Students:
Thousands of teacher contributions can be found on this site full of quizzes, exercises, and tests for teaching English as a second
language.
Szoter:
Using this online annotation tool, ELL teachers can write directly on images to explain their meaning to students.
Oxford University Press Learning Resources Bank:
A service of Oxford University Press, this learning resources bank for English language teaching has courses, titles, and
interactive English reading tools.
English-Test.net:
Encourage students to self-test with this website, offering free English tests, grammar exercises, and worksheets.
EduFind English Online Tests and Learning Games:
Check out these test and games that offer a great way for students to test and improve their English language skills.
Adapted from 50 Incredibly Useful Links for ELL Educators.

Top 10 Websites for the ESL Teacher

1.

Englishgrammar.org

Every ESL teacher has to teach grammar, even if that is not one of your course names. This
site lists the grammar rules of English alphabetically, and they are easily accessible. Not only
that, they provide PDF files of lessons on these rules that you can use with your students.

2. 2
ESLpartyland.com

Are you looking for some out of the ordinary materials to use in your classroom? This site
includes materials for teaching with film and video, the internet and music.

3. 3
iteslj.org/questions/

What is the point of language study if it is not to speak the language in question? Give your ESL
students something to talk about with this compilation of discussion questions you can use in
class. Click on the topic you are planning on studying and find more than enough questions to
keep your class in conversation for as long as you want to let them talk.

4. 4
ESLvideo.com

While you are at it, why not make up your own quizzes from your favorite videos on
YouTube? With ESLvideo.com you can create your own quizzes and even have your students
search by teacher to find them. If you are looking for comprehension activities that are ready to
go, this site also has videos and quizzes from other teachers sorted by fluency level that your
students can access anywhere and anytime.

5. 5
PinkMonkey.com

If you teach literature in any of your ESL classes, PinkMonkey.com has seemingly limitless
resources for you. Here you can find book notes and activities for you and your students for
free. With over 460 books listed, you will never need another set of Cliffs Notes again.

6. 6
BrightHub.com

This site offers a bounty of information to the ESL teacher. Here you can read articles about
teaching ESL as well as find lesson plans for different times of the year. Are you out of ideas
for games, vocabulary or activities for your students? Get some inspiration here.

7. 7
Dictionary.com

Neither you nor your students wants to carry around a ten-pound English reference dictionary,
but you likely already carry something that gives you internet access. If so, bookmark
dictionary.com for easy reference. This site will give you definitions of English words as well
as thesaurus entries and a word of the day. There are also many other helpful resources this
site offers.

8. 8
UsingEnglish.com

Looking for something a little more intangible than simple definitions? Check out the dictionary of
idioms available from usingenglish.com. There are hundreds of idioms listed on this site as
well as phrasal verbs and other grammatical irregularities your students may need help with.

9. 9
Ets.org/toefl

If you are a teacher of English, the odds are that you probably have not taken the TOEFL. Your
students, on the other hand, will be working towards a proficient score on that test to prove their
English skills. Familiarize yourself with the test and what your students will have to know to
succeed on it with the information here on the official TOEFL site.

10. q
BusyTeacher.org

11 Free Websites to Practice English at Homeby Hilary

SchenkerNovember 28, 2012
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RTlibrary on Flickr At the New York Public Library's Adult Learning Centers, where adults

work on basic English and literacy skills, we're often asked for recommendations of websites for adults to practice English at
home. Below you'll find eleven sites, some with a focus on listening, some on vocabulary, others on grammar, and some with a
range of activities. Happy learning!
Easy World of English
easyworldofenglish.com
An attractive, user-friendly website including grammar, pronunciation, reading and listening practice and an interactive picture
dictionary.
Many Things
manythings.org
This website includes matching quizzes, word games, word puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, a random-sentence
generator and other computer-assisted language learning activities. The site also includes a special page on pronunciation,
including practice with minimal pairs. Not the fanciest or most beautiful website, but with lots to see and use and no advertising.
Dave's ESL Cafe
eslcafe.com

A forum for both ESL teachers and students around the world. Includes quizzes, grammar explanations, and discussion forums for
students. For teachers, includes classroom ideas on all subjects as well as discussion forums.
The California Distance Learning Project
cdlponline.org
Read and listen to a news stories on topics including working, housing, money and health, then work on activities based on the
stories including matching pairs, vocabulary, and quiz questions. Some stories also include videos.
BBC Learning English
bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
An array of wonderful activities for practice, some relating to current events. Includes videos, quizzes, vocabulary practice,
idioms, crosswords, and much more, though all with British accents.
Activities for ESL Students
a4esl.org
Grammar and vocabulary practice for all levels, including many bilingual quizzes for beginners. Also includes a link for teachers,
with conversation questions, games, and many other ideas to put to use in the classroom.
ABCYa
abcya.com
This is a website for kids, but who says adults can't use it, too? The site includes educational games organized by grade level,
from 1st to 5th, and is particularly good for spelling and phonics. There are games to practice vowels, uppercase and lowercase
letters, Dolch sight words, synonyms and antonyms and more.
TV 411
tv411.org
This site includes videos with native speakers explaining key reading concepts like critical reading, summarizing and scanning,
and key life skills like signing a lease and reading a medicine label. Following each video is a comprehension quiz. Click on the
blue tabs across the top lead for lessons on reading, writing, vocabulary and finance.
GCF Learn Free
gcflearnfree.org/everydaylife
A well-designed site with interactive tutorials for everything from operating an ATM machine to reading food labels. If you click on

the main page icon and then click on reading, the site has resources for English language learners as well, including stories to
listen to and read along, and picture dictionaries.
Language Guide
languageguide.org/english
This is an online picture dictionary, with everything from the alphabet to parts of the body to farm animals.
Oxford University Press
elt.oup.com/learning_resources
Here are 10 sites that have stood the test of time and are super easy to use:
1. NewsELA
While you do have to sign up the first time you use it, the site is free and you can turn off emails. NewsELA is a source for articles on many
kid-friendly subjects. The great thing about the site though, is that you can search by grade level to make sure the article is targeted to your
kids reading level. Often you can find the same article with several different reading levels perfect for differentiating. I use it all the time
for my ELL/ESOL kids. Just save or print, and youve got what you need for your lesson.
2. Epic Rap Battles of History
Exactly what it sounds like and just as awesome a website with videos in which famous people have rap battles against each other. You
can even vote for who won. For example, Dr. Suess vs Shakespeare, Stephen King vs Edgar Allan Poe, and Romeo & Juliet vs Bonnie &
Clyde. HOWEVER, after you have a great laugh at these with your teacher friends during lunch, youll need to search YouTube for Epic Rap
Battles of History Clean Versionif you are thinking about showing them to your class. Even then, watch them first to make sure they are
clean. Consider yourself warned.
3. The History of English in 10 Minutes

A super cute cartoon drawing video with, well, the history of English in 10 minutes. Its divided up into chapters, so you can play just the
piece that matches what youre discussing in class, like Shakespeare The History of English or American English. My kids always love
this, and there are some fun factoids that catch students attention when youre introducing a lesson.
4. Puzzlemaker from Discovery Education
SO, this is how you make your own crossword puzzles. (On the site they call it a criss-cross puzzle but whatevs.) Its ridiculously easy. You
can also make word searches and scrambles and hidden message puzzles. You might have already known about this one, but if you didnt,
you probably love me right now.
5. Teacher Tube
Like Puzzlemaker, Teacher Tube is not some big secret, but its a huge help for classroom teachers. Its basically YouTube with a filter, so you
dont have to worry about the video having a commercial for Viagra at the beginning. Because that is pretty much the worst thing that could
ever happen to a middle school teacher, no? Its also great for if you want students to find their own YouTube clips without stumbling upon
something scary. Plus, Teacher Tube is not usually blocked even if your school blocks YouTube.
6. Ted-Ed
The educational site built by the Ted Talks folks, Ted-Ed is a site where you can search for videos complete with lessons you can use
alongside them. They are polished, detailed, and fun. You can also search by categories, like Literature and Language. So much good
stuff! (I also love using plain old Ted Talks in the classroom, and once we did an entire Ted Talks unit where we watched a Ted Talk each day
and then the kids had to deliver their own. It rocked.)
7. Teachers Pay Teachers

As the name implies, you do have to pay for much of the material on here. However, there are some great free resources, and the paid
materials are top-notch. You remember when you started teaching and that awesome teacher down the hall gave you an entire CD with all
her Power Points, handouts, quizzes, and links for her unit on The Scarlet Letter? Its basically that. Its the place you go when you realize that
you have to teach The Givernext week and you havent even read it yet. True story.
8. Free Rice 2.0
This vocabulary site asks kids to find the synonym for SAT-type vocabulary words. You can set it to 60 different levels, and for each correct
answer, the site donates 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme to end hunger. When I taught high school, I gave my
students 1 bonus point for every 100 grains of rice donated they just had to print out the screen shot of their final tally and turn it in.
Many of them liked the game aspect, and even more of them liked the idea of donating to those in need. Easiest extra credit solution ever.
9. Poetry 180
I have loved this site since I stumbled upon it during my first year of teaching back in 2004. Billy Collins, former poet laureate of the United
States, created the site with the idea that a teacher could read aloud one poem each day for the entire school year usually 180 daysto
allow students to hear great writing and gain an appreciation for poetry. The poems on the site are short, targeted to teenage interests, and
perfect for reading aloud. Although I love that idea of reading poetry daily, I havent yet been able to carry it out. I use the poems for all
kinds of things in my classes, though. Find the list of all 180 poems here the first one is my favorite.
10. Values.com
This is the site where you can order those awesome free posters. I always have at least three hanging in my classroom. You can also sign
up for them to send you a quote of the day (perfect for a bell ringer in an English class), search one-minute videos about different values
(sportsmanship, making a difference, character), send inspirational eCards, or download Values bookmarks. If you have a mentor class or
homeroom, this site is perfect, and Ive used many of the resources for language arts as well.

Teachers out there any favorites I should add to my list? Leave em

ReadWriteThink
NoRedInk.com