cue 2011: best websites and multimedia for teaching english language arts

Tech It to the Limit: Use the Web and Multimedia to Teach

Language ArtsLambrina Mileva & Brady Wood

CUE Annual ConferenceMar. 18, 2011

Shmoop University, Inc. Confidential 1

What We’ll Cover Today

• 21 Resources for Students and/or Professional Learning

• Using Shmoop in Your English Classroom– Overview of Shmoop’s Free Learning Guides– Teacher’s Editions– Best of the Web (BOTW)– Writing Lab– Test Prep: AP, SAT, PSAT, ACT, CAHSEE


CartoonStock.com


Poets.org and Poetry Foundation

• Academy of American Poets– http://www.poets.org/ – Full texts of poems, close readings, poet biographies,

glossaries, writing and reading tips, local poetry events, mobile phone apps

– National Poetry Month (April) – “Poem in Your Pocket Day” collection for young poets– “Poem in Your Pocket Day” is April 14, 2011

• Poetry Foundation– http://www.poetryfoundation.org/– Articles, news, events, multimedia,

Poetry magazine– Poetry Tool allows you to find poems by poets,

categories, occasions, use of literary devices, genres, title, and first line


Poetry 180

• http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180

• One poem per day for American High Schools

• From the Library of Congress


The Victorian Web

• http://www.victorianweb.org/

• Rich resource for Victorian literature, poetry, & history

• Texts, short articles, book reviews, suggested readings, links

• Biographies, historical, economic & social contexts, science, technology, religion, visual art


Reading Multimedia Texts

• Teen Diaries– http://www.radiodiaries.org/

teenagediaries.html– Teens record diaries of their lives.

Edited by NPR and presented on “All Things Considered”

• This American Life– http://www.thislife.org– Podcast available on iTunes– Quirky, funny audio essays from

NPR– Now also on TV (Showtime)


GoodReads

• http://www.goodreads.com

• Online community for readers

• Reviews and discussion forums

• Help students discover other books they might like

– YA book lists– Books by categories and

themes– Recommends other books you

might enjoy


Our Favorite Professional Learning Resources for English Teachers

PBS Teachers

• www.pbs.org/teachers

• Great lesson plans

• Guide to PBS video

• Educator community

• Widgets for your classroom website


The English Companion

• englishcompanion.ning.com • www.englishcompanion.com

• Thriving online community of 1,000s of English teachers

• Discussions and mini-groups devoted to specific topics

• Teachers share advice and lesson plans

• Led by Jim Burke, HS English teacher from Burlingame, CA


Blogs & Webcasts

• Blog: Free Technology for Teachers– www.freetech4teachers.com– Reviews of free instructional resources. – Each review includes suggestions for

classroom applications

• Video Webcast: Palm Breeze CAFE– www.youtube.com/user/PalmBreezeCAFE – Podcast: search iTunes Store for “Palm

Breeze Cafe”– Software & website reviews and tutorials

• Twitter, Diigo, Delicious, Facebook, Flickr, Wikimedia Commons…


Using Twitter as a Professional Learning Network

www.twitter.com

@username

# = “hashtags”

Some popular hashtags for English Teachers:

#edtech#edchat#yalitchat#tlchat#gtchat#ntchat#ellchat


Many more! cybraryman.com/edhashtags.html

Arts Edge from the Kennedy Center

artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

• Standards-based lesson plans for theater, music, visual arts, dance


The Center for Digital Storytelling

• www.storycenter.org

• 3-5 minute digital stories

• First-person narratives, collect still images, video, and music

• Teacher workshops, certificate programs, textbooks, online resources, and custom program development


NPR’s In Character Series

• www.npr.org/series/17914370/in-character

• Short (5 min) audio discussions of important characters from American culture

• Includes video clip links

• Also has lots of fun pop culture characters, like Darth Vader

Poetry Anthologies

• www.rewardinglearning.org.uk/microsites/poetryanthologies

• 2 anthologies of English language poetry (Shakespeare, Keats, Blake, and others)

• Full text, “points to ponder,” and 2 professional readings of the poem

Daily Routines

• dailyroutines.typepad.com/daily_routines/writers/

• Interviews asking authors about their writing routines

• Great writing snippets

• Includes Kafka, Auden, and CS Lewis

iTunes U: Literature

• www.apple.com/education/itunes-u

• Lots of great audio and video courses

• Tolkien, Oedipus, and Hamlet, among others

Google Lit Trips

• www.googlelittrips.org

• Use Google Earth to explore great works of literature

• Includes The Kite Runner and The Odyssey

• Interactive maps and journeys

The Writer's Almanac, from Garrison Keillor

• writersalmanac.publicradio.org

• Great resource for “today in literature” type topics

• Includes a poem a day

• Can read or listen to 5 minute podcast every day

Favorite Poem Project

• www.favoritepoem.org

• Collection of favorite poems from all sorts of people

• Each poem is accompanied by a video with an explanation of why the poem is a favorite

• Individuals read their poems

Shakespeare: Subject to Change

• broadband.ciconline.org/shakespeare/

• Extremely interactive website

• Explores Shakespeare through the lens of “Pen to Print” and “Stage to Screen”

Modern American Poetry

• www.english.illinois.edu/maps

• Great scholarly information, interviews, and criticism

• Site is hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Experts Say…


“Smart and consistently humorous” – Academy

of American Poets

“Smart and consistently humorous” – Academy

of American Poets

“Best of the Internet”

- PC Magazine

“Best of the Internet”

- PC Magazine

2009 & 2010 Webby Award Honoree

2009 & 2010 Webby Award Honoree

”A nice balance of rigor and fun.”

- School Library Journal

”A nice balance of rigor and fun.”

- School Library Journal

“Makes the learning process fun.”

- San Francisco Chronicle

“Makes the learning process fun.”

- San Francisco Chronicle

Best in Tech 2011

- Scholastic Administrator

Best in Tech 2011

- Scholastic Administrator

What is Shmoop?

• Fun digital curriculum & test prep– 600+ FREE Learning Guides in 10

subjects– SAT, ACT, PSAT, AP Exam Prep

• Written by master teachers and Ph.D. students from Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley

Shmoop (v): to push something forward (Yiddish slang of our founder’s grandmother)


Things You’ll Learn on Shmoop


The Portrait of a Lady (written in 1880) shares a lot in common with TV’s “Gossip Girl”

The Portrait of a Lady (written in 1880) shares a lot in common with TV’s “Gossip Girl”Emily Dickinson was a

packratEmily Dickinson was a packrat

Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce picked bar fights together in Paris

Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce picked bar fights together in Paris

Albert Einstein's 7th-grade teacher told him he "would never get anywhere in life." True story.

Albert Einstein's 7th-grade teacher told him he "would never get anywhere in life." True story.M.I.A.’s 2008 hit “Paper

Planes” borrows its chorus line from the early 90s rap hit “Rump Shaker”

M.I.A.’s 2008 hit “Paper Planes” borrows its chorus line from the early 90s rap hit “Rump Shaker”

600+ FREE Learning Guides on Shmoop


2. Pick Your Subject

2. Pick Your Subject

3. Find In-Depth Analysis

& Resources

3. Find In-Depth Analysis

& Resources

1. Go to1. Go to www.shmoop.com

Our Shtick: We Speak “Student”

Why Should I Care?

The Great Gatsby is a delightful concoction of Real Housewives, a never-ending Academy Awards after-party, and HBO’s Sopranos. Shake over ice, add a twist of jazz, a spritz of adultery, and the little pink umbrella that completes this long island iced tea and you’ve got yourself a 5 o’clock beverage that, given the 1920s setting, you wouldn’t be allowed to drink.


Ocean-deep analysis. Lots of questions. No such thing as THE answer


Close Readings that Inspire Deep Engagement with Texts


Meet Prufrock. (Hi, Prufrock!). He wants you to come take a walk with him through the winding

He’s going to show you all the best sights, including the "one-night cheap hotels" and "sawdust restaurants." What a gentleman, he is!

Also, he has a huge, life-altering question to ask you. He’ll get to that later, though.

Meet Prufrock. (Hi, Prufrock!). He wants you to come take a walk with him through the winding

He’s going to show you all the best sights, including the "one-night cheap hotels" and "sawdust restaurants." What a gentleman, he is!

Also, he has a huge, life-altering question to ask you. He’ll get to that later, though.

Best of the Web


Hand-picked links to the best audio, video, books, movies, primary sources…

Writing Lab: A Squirt of WD-40 for the Writing Process


Photo Slideshows

• Paintings• Photos• Actor portraits• Setting


Bestsellers: If Students Read it, We Help Teachers Teach it


Music as Poetry


Shmoop Teacher’s Editions

• 100 Teacher’s Editions

• ($7 per T.E. per teacher, also available via Site License)– Classroom Activities– Homework Assignments– Quizzes– Essay Questions– Current Events & Pop

Culture


Click “Teacher Resources”

Click “Teacher Resources”

Assignments and Activities: Fahrenheit 451

• shmoop.com/fahrenheit-451

• Students - Consider the challenges in adapting text to other forms- Listen to NPR piece- Create their own graphic novel

Current Events and Pop Culture: The Great Gatsby

• shmoop.com/great-gatsby

• Gatsby vs. the Obama Age

• 2009 article in The Atlantic compares recent anxieties about race in the Obama age to Tom Buchanan’s racism against minorities in the 1920s

TEST PREP SHOULDN’T BE ROOT CANAL


Shmoop Online Test Prep: ACT, SAT, PSAT, AP Exams

• In-depth content review• 100s of online practice problems• Full-length timed online practice exams• Access anywhere you have Web access• Saves your progress

AP Exam Prep Courses:

English Language, English Literature, US History, US Gov’t, Calculus AB & BC, Microecon, (coming soon: Psych, Macroecon

CAHSEE Coming This Spring


AP English Language & AP Lit


In-Depth Content Reviews


Lifelike Exam Simulation


Immediate Feedback: How to Get the Question Right


Vocab, Less Dry


Highest “Shmoints” scorers in the country win Shmoop t-shirts


Teacher Resource Center: www.shmoop.com/teachers

On Twitter: @helloshmoop

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/shmoop

© 2009, Shmoop University, Inc.http://www.shmoop.com

cue 2011: best websites and multimedia for teaching english language arts

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