Tech Tools for ELLs - Part 3: Speak Now... Don't Forever Hold Your Peace!

Tech Tools for ELLs:

A Three Part Series

Part 3: Speak Now... Don’t Forever Hold your Peace!

If we don’t give our ELLs the opportunity to practice using academic language, how will they ever be able to take part in an academic discussion?  We all know that speaking is a crucial skill for ELLs to develop.  But how can we provide opportunities to speak that are non-threatening and engaging? I’ve got three resources to highlight here that you can start using in your classroom today!  

The first resource we’d like to highlight is FlipGrid.  This program allows teachers to pose a question (either written or in a video) and then students video-record themselves verbally answering the question.  This is a super-simple tool that I've seen used in elementary classes up to college classes.  All students have to be able to do is push a button, type their name, and talk.  They can then add stickers to their posts (similar to Snap Chat) to make it more engaging and fun.

The next tool to spark conversation is the Schoology discussion resource.  Did you know that not only can students type responses to a discussion question, but they can record themselves too??  When your students go to post a comment, they simply just click on the microphone (see image below).

This will let them create a video or audio recording of their response!  They can also do this to reply to their classmates’ comments.  Get a discussion going and let your students use their individual voices in the safety of a recording!

Last, but not least is again, the Read & Write extension.  I mentioned in the last post of this series that Read & Write allows students to have text read aloud to them, will translate text, and the premium version (which teachers get for free!) has a picture dictionary.  What I’d like to highlight in this post is the “practice reading aloud” feature.  To use this, a student chooses an online passage to read and clicks the Practice Reading Aloud icon (see below).

When they do this, it will take them to a screen with ONLY the text on it, and then they can click the microphone and record themselves reading aloud.  They then have the option of emailing the recording to you (the teacher) so you can monitor the progress of each student.

I hope the resources highlighted in this series will help you differentiate for your ELL students so all students in your classroom have the tools to succeed!