Links for Geneva English Teachers

To help you cater to those most important people - your students.

Be sure to visit the sites recommended to the students too!

Their page has been revised. . .

Grammar

Writing

Literature

Other

Colleagues

Do-it-yourself!

	Projects appropriate for students of all levels:

	Volterre - Projects for Teachers of English This site was created and is maintained by Linda Thalmann, and you will find lots of places to explore, in particular the activities for Learners and Teachers of English.
	If you want to do an e-mail project , for instance, visit the Volterre page for Keypals and Penpals .
	Be sure to visit IEARN ( International Education and Resource Network) page. Educators need to think about the educational designs that follow from technical capabilities *. You are bound to learn something interesting here!
	The Learning Circles' Teachers' Guide is where you can go to learn how to use the AT&T Learning Circles, or how to create your very own Learning Circle.
	John Higgins , at The University of Stirling, also has a very interesting web-site, with software to download.
	Judi Harris (of Mining the Internet fame), has a very interesting Network-Based Educational Activity Structure which is an exemplary collection of network-based educational activities. I recommend that you visit her Virtual Architecture site.
	The Virtual Classroom is a site where you can sign up your classes to take part in a number of projects. This link will take you to the Teachers' Area.
	A WEB-Quest is a type of activity which allows you to use the WEB at its most powerful. Take a look at the Web-Quest search engine which will allow you to choose sample web-quests for all levels and all topics. Students can take part in a group-centred project on almost any topic, and present the results to the rest of the class.
	Try TeleCollaboration , with NickNacks, where you will be able to feast your eyes on the huge Projects Page . If you don't like following other people's ideas, why then - you might want to start your own project. NickNacks tells you how .
	Take your students to The Tower of English . Encourage them to listen to Takako's Great Adventure , but make sure that you have Shockwave installed on your computer first. . .
	The English Maze , to quote the authors, is a British-Australian web-based learning system for ESL students, teachers and schools in South Korea and worldwide. It combines leading language learning theories with cutting edge technology to bring users a unique approach to learning English. With the English Maze, students can improve their pronunciation, speaking, reading, listening and writing skills. The site contains hundreds of hours of material, much of which is free. Comprehensive free lesson plans are also provided for ESL teachers.

Sites for grammar practice:

Grammar Points , by Anne Salzmann, is another interesting site for students, with a complete list of links for grammar practice.

Pearson Brown has created a multitude of different exercises (all excellent)! Visit his site, but more particularly see his Grammar Exercises , or his Multi-Word Verb (Phrasals, anyone?) exercises. There are lots more, so be sure to explore the site. . .

Have your students pay a visit to the University of Victoria's English Language Centre's Study Zone . They will be able to choose exercises appropriate for their level.

ESLGOLD.COM has some very interesting activities for your students. You can have them work on the following skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar or vocabulary. For each of these sections (and there are more!) you can help them choose the level you want them to explore.

The Guide to Grammar and Writing (by Professor Charles Darling, sadly now deceased) now has some very exciting material: wonderful animated PowerPoint slides to help you explain grammar (You can choose the file you want at the link I give you here). The OHP and the blackboard can't hold a candle to the visual power of these slides! You can download the slides to show them to your students.

The On-line English Grammar is exactly that - a web-site where you can point your students in the right direction for improving their grammar. You will see this encouraging sentence: "This grammar has been put on-line by Anthony Hughes and is available free of charge for anyone to use" but don't forget to read lower on the page:. . . "This and all associated pages of the grammar are copyright (copyright Anthony Hughes 1995)." Be SURE you obey the copyright injunctions!

Sites for help with writing:

The first site you will want to visit is the OWL Virtual Tour page at the Purdue Online Writing Lab , where, in particular, you will be able to get over 120 handouts on writing skills - just for students learning English as a foreign language.

The Paradigm Writing Assistant is an interactive site where students will be able to get help with many topics: Discovering what to Write , Organising your writing, Writing Informal Essays, Revising , Editing , and more.

The Writing Resources for Teachers at Ohio University is your doorway to the a very rich collection of sub-pages with all sorts of information on writing.

If you want to help your students with vocabulary while they're reading, lead them to the VoyCabulary ^(tm) site. This is a site that allows one to enter a url or a text, and all the words at that url or in the text become hot-linked to a dictionary or thesaurus. (As for translation, there are ten languages provided for, so far). I suggest that you visit the site first, though, so that you can help your students with it. Many thanks to Ruth Vilmi for asking the right question and to Vance Stevens for sharing the right answer!

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Literary Links:

William Shakespeare Home Page at the Internet Public Library (you will see his works on bookshelves and you need to click on the work you want to reach it). A Google search on William Shakespeare gave me the message: "Results 1-10 of 29,600,000 for William Shakespeare". I didn't think you needed quite so many links, so I only included this one, with the complete works. Let this be your starting point.

Teaching the American Literatures is a web-page with articles, lesson plans, etc., which could help you better plan your teaching of these literatures. I have purposely NOT included a particular author, because the choice should be yours.

This Literary Resources on the Net link will take you to a search page, where you will be able to search for the author of your choice. Just type his / her name in the box provided and click on the search button. You can also click on one of sixteen (16!) categories to go to other areas of search. I find this impressive!

English and American Literature (compiled by Arthur Buell of California State University Stanislaus) is a page full of links to other sites, but you might still want to check it out. You should also take a look at his World Literatures .

There is one really great site in Switzerland which you might want to visit: The SwissEduc page. Of particular interest is their list of books which can be read with Upper Secondary classes. There is supplementary material available, and you can contribute if you so desire! Their choices range from Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart ) to John Wyndham (The Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids), with over seventy other authors in between, as of this writing (05/05). Be sure to visit the main SwissEduc page, though, because there is a great deal more than just lists of books. It's a must-see site!

If you wish to discuss / teach poetry, some use of prosody will be included, right? Well, take a look at Some Terms for Talking about Poetry . Even more elegant is the page from The University of Pennsylvania on Rhythm and Meter in English Poetry .

Other sites well worth a visit:

Dave's ESL Cafe This site was created and is maintained by Dave Sperling. He describes it as being For ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World. If you click on stuff for teachers, you will find LOTS of material and ideas from teachers all over world; there is also a place where you can sign up so as to be able to answer questions from students from around the world; you can also visit the Slang Page , if you want to sound "cool" and "with it" when you talk to your students.

If you want to buy software, but don't know what to buy, there is help at hand! Whether you use a PC or a MAC, you ought to visit the TESOL CALL Interest Section's Software List . The authors (Deborah Healey and Norman Johnson ) are still working on it, but they promise us that * soon * we will be able to search the list.

Professor Paul Brians' Common Errors in (American) English will give you a list of commonly made errors. You will even be able to get the entire list (which is humongous!) as a single plain-text (or ASCII) file. Click here to get the file ERRORS.TXT. Then you can save it to your hard disk... Inveterate Anglophiles, take note: these errors are for American English!

Deborah Healey has prepared some wonderful Technology Tips to help us out. If you want help on topics - from "Backing Up" to "Web Search Tools", and many, many more, please visit this page.

Some teachers like to use Graphic Organizers (something like "mind maps"). You can find some varied samples at the Activity Bank site.

Get ideas from your colleagues:

Here are some vocabulary lists available for Wordstore (version 2.0). To see what is available, and to download the files (which you will only be able to use WITH Wordstore, by Wida Software), click here .

Over the years I have created some worksheets for use in the study of various works of literature. Many of the ideas were adapted from the wonderful book by Joanne Collie and Stephen Slater , Literature in the Language Classroom (which I recommend very highly). To go to the area where you can get the worksheets, click here . By the way, I hope to transfer all of these sheets to an Adobe Acrobat format as soon as possible, so as to cater to those who use Macs in their work. Please be patient. . .

Adobe Acrobat format worksheets for Cal by Bernard McLaverty.

Here are some evaluation grids which I use for my students' written and oral work. To go to the area where you can read about them and download them, click here . You will now also find a grid with which my students evaluate my teaching.

For those of you still hesitating to use IPA fonts in handouts for students, here is a little bit of assistance in setting up the fonts for use on your PC. This document is a co-production by Florence Durand and Lilliam Hurst. You can download the fonts via ftp (=file transfer protocol) from SIL International. Click here .

Do you want to see what other colleagues in Canton Geneva have done? Click here . If you are an English teacher in Canton Geneva , and would like to see your work described, click here to send me a message telling me so.

The instructions below are specifically for colleagues and students who work in Geneva, Switzerland

Using DIP E-mail: Step-by-Step instructions for your students who have been instructed to use the DIP e-mail in Geneva.

Sending attached files (via DIP e-mail in Geneva)

Saving documents in Rich Text Format prior to sending them as attached files

Do you prefer to do it all yourself?

You might want to learn how to write HTML (hypertext markup language) documents so that you can make web pages of your own! If you want to learn on your own, be sure to visit Joe Burns' HTML Goodies Primers ! And, once you feel comfortable with the first seven steps (Joe expects you to do one lesson per day), then stop by to visit Joe Burn's other HTML Goodies pages (including more than 98 different lessons!), which you can reach by clicking here .

I have just discovered Blackboard.com , and couldn't wait to share it with you. As their blurb says: "This is a FREE service that enables instructors to add an online component to their classes, or even host an entire course on the Web. Without knowing any HTML, you can quickly create your own CourseSite^TM - a Web site that brings your learning materials, class discussions, and even tests online." I intend to try it out!

Listes de Discussion / Discussion Lists - different languages (Deutsch, English, Español, Italiano, etc).Click here .

There are now some online exercises on the Students' Page. You can see what they look like by clicking here . If, after seeing them, you want to download any of the authoring modules for your own use, press the back button to come back here for a visit to the page for Language Teaching programs by Martin Holmes There you will find many different programs, both for teaching and learning; each program has its own download page, with instructions for you to follow.

After you have looked carefully at both the exercises and the software, you might want to learn how to use it on your own. Visit the course page from the CPTIC 165 -Hot Potatoes seminar , and follow the tutorial in your language. To be perfectly honest with you, you don't need a "face-to-face" seminar to learn how to use the wonderful Hot Potatoes software! You can have a personal, ever-present, ever-patient instructor right at your elbow in your own home...

There are also other types of authoring software that you can use, and a lot of it is free. Look at E. L. Easton's site for a very useful list.

Page created on 4.10.97 - by Lilliam Hurst
Last edited on 20.04.2008 Using Nvu

Teacher of EFL & English Literature at Collège Claparède, Geneva, Switzerland
Former CALL Facilitator at the recently renamed CPTIC
(Centre Pédagogique des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication)
Formerly known as Centre EAO, CIP
Currently known as SEM [Service Ecole et Médias]

	Sites for grammar practice:

	Grammar Points , by Anne Salzmann, is another interesting site for students, with a complete list of links for grammar practice.
	Pearson Brown has created a multitude of different exercises (all excellent)! Visit his site, but more particularly see his Grammar Exercises , or his Multi-Word Verb (Phrasals, anyone?) exercises. There are lots more, so be sure to explore the site. . .
	Have your students pay a visit to the University of Victoria's English Language Centre's Study Zone . They will be able to choose exercises appropriate for their level.
	ESLGOLD.COM has some very interesting activities for your students. You can have them work on the following skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar or vocabulary. For each of these sections (and there are more!) you can help them choose the level you want them to explore.
	The Guide to Grammar and Writing (by Professor Charles Darling, sadly now deceased) now has some very exciting material: wonderful animated PowerPoint slides to help you explain grammar (You can choose the file you want at the link I give you here). The OHP and the blackboard can't hold a candle to the visual power of these slides! You can download the slides to show them to your students.
	The On-line English Grammar is exactly that - a web-site where you can point your students in the right direction for improving their grammar. You will see this encouraging sentence: "This grammar has been put on-line by Anthony Hughes and is available free of charge for anyone to use" *but don't forget to read lower on the page*:. . . "This and all associated pages of the grammar are copyright (copyright Anthony Hughes 1995)." Be SURE you obey the copyright injunctions!

	Sites for help with writing:

	The first site you will want to visit is the OWL Virtual Tour page at the Purdue Online Writing Lab , where, in particular, you will be able to get over 120 handouts on writing skills - just for students learning English as a foreign language.
	The Paradigm Writing Assistant is an interactive site where students will be able to get help with many topics: Discovering what to Write , Organising your writing, Writing Informal Essays, Revising , Editing , and more.
	The Writing Resources for Teachers at Ohio University is your doorway to the a very rich collection of sub-pages with all sorts of information on writing.
	If you want to help your students with vocabulary while they're reading, lead them to the VoyCabulary ^(tm) site. This is a site that allows one to enter a url or a text, and all the words at that url or in the text become hot-linked to a dictionary or thesaurus. (As for translation, there are ten languages provided for, so far). I suggest that you visit the site first, though, so that you can help your students with it. Many thanks to Ruth Vilmi for asking the right question and to Vance Stevens for sharing the right answer!

	Literary Links:

	William Shakespeare Home Page at the Internet Public Library (you will see his works on bookshelves and you need to click on the work you want to reach it). A Google search on William Shakespeare gave me the message: "Results 1-10 of 29,600,000 for William Shakespeare". I didn't think you needed quite so many links, so I only included this one, with the complete works. Let this be your starting point.
	Teaching the American Literatures is a web-page with articles, lesson plans, etc., which could help you better plan your teaching of these literatures. I have purposely NOT included a particular author, because the choice should be yours.
	This Literary Resources on the Net link will take you to a search page, where you will be able to search for the author of your choice. Just type his / her name in the box provided and click on the *search* button. You can also click on one of sixteen (16!) categories to go to other areas of search. I find this *impressive*!
	English and American Literature (compiled by Arthur Buell of California State University Stanislaus) is a page full of links to other sites, but you might still want to check it out. You should also take a look at his World Literatures .
	There is one really great site in Switzerland which you might want to visit: The SwissEduc page. Of *particular* interest is their list of books which can be read with Upper Secondary classes. There is supplementary material available, and you can contribute if you so desire! Their choices range from Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart ) to John Wyndham (*The Day of the Triffids* and *The Chrysalids*), with over seventy other authors in between, as of this writing (05/05). Be sure to visit the main SwissEduc page, though, because there is a great deal more than just lists of books. It's a must-see site!
	If you wish to discuss / teach poetry, some use of *prosody* will be included, right? Well, take a look at Some Terms for Talking about Poetry . Even more elegant is the page from The University of Pennsylvania on Rhythm and Meter in English Poetry .

	Other sites well worth a visit:

	Dave's ESL Cafe This site was created and is maintained by Dave Sperling. He describes it as being For ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World. If you click on stuff for teachers, you will find LOTS of material and ideas from teachers all over world; there is also a place where you can sign up so as to be able to answer questions from students from around the world; you can also visit the Slang Page , if you want to sound "cool" and "with it" when you talk to your students.
	If you want to buy software, but don't know what to buy, there is help at hand! Whether you use a PC or a MAC, you ought to visit the TESOL CALL Interest Section's Software List . The authors (Deborah Healey and Norman Johnson ) are still working on it, but they promise us that * *soon* * we will be able to search the list.
	Professor Paul Brians' Common Errors in (American) English will give you a list of commonly made errors. You will even be able to get the entire list (which is humongous!) as a single plain-text (or ASCII) file. Click here to get the file ERRORS.TXT. Then you can save it to your hard disk... Inveterate Anglophiles, take note: these errors are for *American* English!
	Deborah Healey has prepared some wonderful Technology Tips to help us out. If you want help on topics - from "Backing Up" to "Web Search Tools", and many, many more, please visit this page.
	Some teachers like to use Graphic Organizers (something like "mind maps"). You can find some varied samples at the Activity Bank site.

	Get ideas from your colleagues:

	Here are some vocabulary lists available for Wordstore (version 2.0). To see what is available, and to download the files (which you will only be able to use WITH Wordstore, by Wida Software), click here .
	Over the years I have created some worksheets for use in the study of various works of literature. Many of the ideas were adapted from the wonderful book by Joanne Collie and Stephen Slater , *Literature in the Language Classroom* (which I recommend very highly). To go to the area where you can get the worksheets, click here . By the way, I hope to transfer all of these sheets to an Adobe Acrobat format as soon as possible, so as to cater to those who use Macs in their work. Please be patient. . .
	Adobe Acrobat format worksheets for *Cal* by Bernard McLaverty.
	Here are some evaluation grids which I use for my students' written and oral work. To go to the area where you can read about them and download them, click here . You will now also find a grid with which my students evaluate my teaching.
	For those of you still hesitating to use IPA fonts in handouts for students, here is a little bit of assistance in setting up the fonts for use on your PC. This document is a co-production by Florence Durand and Lilliam Hurst. You can download the fonts via ftp (=file transfer protocol) from SIL International. Click here .
	Do you want to see what other colleagues in Canton Geneva have done? Click here . If you are an English teacher in Canton Geneva , and would like to see your work described, click here to send me a message telling me so.
	The instructions below are specifically for colleagues and students who work in Geneva, Switzerland
	Using DIP E-mail: Step-by-Step instructions for your students who have been instructed to use the DIP e-mail in Geneva.
	Sending attached files (via DIP e-mail in Geneva)
	Saving documents in Rich Text Format prior to sending them as attached files

	Do you prefer to do it all yourself?

	You might want to learn how to write HTML (hypertext markup language) documents so that you can make web pages of your own! If you want to learn on your own, be sure to visit Joe Burns' HTML Goodies Primers ! And, once you feel comfortable with the first seven steps (Joe expects you to do one lesson per day), then stop by to visit Joe Burn's other HTML Goodies pages (including more than 98 different lessons!), which you can reach by clicking here .
	I have just discovered Blackboard.com , and couldn't wait to share it with you. As their blurb says: "This is a FREE service that enables instructors to add an online component to their classes, or even host an entire course on the Web. Without knowing any HTML, you can quickly create your own CourseSite^TM - a Web site that brings your learning materials, class discussions, and even tests online." I intend to try it out!
	Listes de Discussion / Discussion Lists - different languages (Deutsch, English, Español, Italiano, etc).Click here .
	There are now some online exercises on the Students' Page. You can see what they look like by clicking here . If, after seeing them, you want to download any of the authoring modules for your own use, press the back button to come back here for a visit to the page for Language Teaching programs by Martin Holmes There you will find many different programs, both for teaching and learning; each program has its own download page, with instructions for you to follow.
	After you have looked carefully at both the exercises and the software, you might want to learn how to use it on your own. Visit the course page from the CPTIC 165 -Hot Potatoes seminar , and follow the tutorial in your language. To be perfectly honest with you, you don't need a "face-to-face" seminar to learn how to use the wonderful Hot Potatoes software! You can have a personal, ever-present, ever-patient instructor right at your elbow in your own home...
	There are also other types of authoring software that you can use, and a lot of it is free. Look at E. L. Easton's site for a very useful list.