Posts on “ ELL ”

Joshua Z. White is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of Motlow College in Lynchburg, TN and Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN. Right now he is currently pursuing a Masters of Educational Leadership with Arkansas State University, and even considering attending law school. Since August 2011 he has been teaching English, Mathematics, and Science to grade four and five students in the Middle East. Greetings from the Middle East! My name is Josh and I am a former educator from Georgia. Three years ago the state cut our budgets to the bare bones, and as the low man on the totem pole I was left without a job! It’s been an adventure that saw me working in a department store and selling cars, to walking the sands of the Arabian Desert! It has been an adventure that by no means I regret, even with all the challenges of moving to a foreign country – which with all due respect to my new home, might as well be a foreign planet! In my classroom I have 50 students between 2 classes. I teach fourth and fifth grade boys from Oman, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia,… Read the Rest»

Wednesday, December 12th at 4:00 PM ET- What’s New on BrainPOP ESL Our award-winning English language learning resource continues to grow and thrive! Bev Fine, BrainPOP ESL’s Editorial and Outreach Director, introduces its newest units and tools. She’ll share her favorite tips and tricks for navigating this powerful resource, and you’ll see why BrainPOP ESL has everything you need to address ESL/ELL student needs.

Have you checked out BrainPOP ESL lately? If so, you may have noticed our new content: Level 3, Unit 4! We are excited to announce the launch of this new unit, which brings BrainPOP ESL up to 80 specific lessons! In addition to exploring higher level grammatical concepts, the movies are also increasingly content-driven – a development that can help all students. Take, for example, “A High Probability” (Level 3, Unit 4, Lesson 3). This BrainPOP ESL topic page focuses on infinitive verbs, but also explains the mathematical concept of probability. Learners essentially get two lessons in one. Beyond the new content, BrainPOP ESL has new features too. “Words to Know,” the all-important word introduction feature accompanying each lesson, now includes “Word Connections.” “Word Connections” explains various verb forms in the classic visual, clear style you’ve come to expect from BrainPOP. Powerful new reading and writing extension activities highlight specific forms of written expression. Within “A High Probability,” the “Read It” activity invites students to explore a persuasive essay, with thoughtful multiple choice comprehension questions that engage readers. The “Write It” section delves further into the art of persuasion by prompting students to write an advertisement within the structure of… Read the Rest»

The NABE conference is the largest gathering of ELL educators in the country and there’s no better place to spread the word about our award-winning BrainPOP ESL.  The 42nd annual conference will be held in Orlando, FL from February 7-9, 2013 and will host more than 2,000 attendees and include internationally renowned keynote and featured speakers.  With more than 200 featured and concurrent sessions it’s the perfect conference to expand your own professional development AND share your teaching expertise with others.  If you’re a BrainPOP ESL superstar who lives in the Orlando area and has some tips and tricks to share, submit a proposal to present at the NABE conference.  Need some help?  No problem!  Just send us an email at BrainPOP Educators and we’ll work together to create the best proposal possible.  All proposals must be submitted but August 15th, 2012 so don’t wait too long to get started!  

Chris Carter’s saga with BrainPOP ESL in Germany continues with week 7… Day Thirty The exercises in BrainPOP ESL Level 2 require more reading and more fill in the blank activities.  We have to help Moby accomplish a goal by choosing the correct word to complete a sentence.  Since not all my first graders can read English with fluency quite yet, so I find myself reading for them.  First, I read the main sentence then the four to ten possible answers.  I think three is more than enough. So much for me being able to sneak into the background for a little covert observation!  I had been drifting to the back of the room to watch my class while they watched Ben and Moby.  A teacher sure can learn a lot about their class from the back of the room!  Student P was not very happy about the last time I did that.  She ended up with a time-out for not being able to keep her hands to herself. Day Thirty Two A visitor from BrainPOP ESL came to our school today.  I gave him a tour of the school.  It must have looked like we do nothing but BrainPOP!  (I… Read the Rest»