Content

Site Name

Description

Level

URL

Why selected

vocabulary

Learning Vocabulary Can Be Fun

Offers six main categories of: Word Search, Crosswords, Hangman, Quiz, Match Game, and Jumble. Simple yet attractive layout, with numerous options for students of various levels and with varied interests.

Crossword Puzzles-53 topics

Jumbled words-73 topics

Hangman-180 topics

Matching Game

Word Search

Quiz-16 topics

all

Various levels and amounts of questions; this is a pretty amazing site and the author has other sites as well.

http://www.vocabulary.co.il/

Note: I interpret ''Why selected'' to mean "Why I might select these pages to use with students” since these pages were assigned to me.

The vocabulary quizzes are particularly attractive and particularly useful for a variety of topics and teaching situations. I (John) plan to try it with students soon.

grammar, vocab, reading, miscellaneous

Online Exercises

There are four categories on the homepage: grammar, vocabulary, reading, and miscellaneous. The grammar link has numerous activities at various levels of difficulty. Some of the higher level choices get pretty picky in choosing the right answer, perhaps detracting from the effectiveness. And the  Reading section only has a single article: Inflation in Russia. The pages are pretty plain-looking, but certainly most of the exercises can be effective.

Multiple choice/gap fill activities on a wide range of grammar topics

all but true beginner

Mostly two stars (intermediate?) but some three, four and five (advanced?) I like this site but sometimes it does not let you see the answers and your answers at the same time.

http://www.smic.be/smic5022/ exercisesgrammar.htm

I might point students to some of the grammar activities, but I can't get too excited about the vocabulary. First, there is a strong bias for business vocabulary. Second, some are strange. For example, the first question under idioms is about ''sharp practices'' which supposed means dishonest business. That’s so specialized I’ve never heard of it, and hence I can't help but feel it's of no value to my students.

spelling, vocabulary, word roots (more on homepage)

ED Helper

To access most of these activities, a paid subscription is necessary, which of course limits its availability. There's a way, at the bottom of the screen, to build vocabulary Word Search games, which is kind of nice. Also, the Word Roots links has some activities that do not require subscription.

Vocabulary and other activities.  This is basically a commercial program that seems to provide worksheets.  I am not sure how much of it is used online.

beginner to intermediate

A wide range of levels (grade 1 to 12) but seems geared toward L1 users of English.  I do not really like this site too much as it costs to use and it seems geared for a different audience than the students I work with.

http://www.edhelper.com/spelling.htm

I probably wouldn't use this because the layout is confusing and it's slightly annoying to keep finding oneself on the subscription page (which costs money). With all the great, free online activities out there it's hard to imagine a site can make money by charging, especially one as plain looking as this one. Compare to BBC's Spanish study pages, which are truly slick (and free).

reading, writing, vocabulary, math, learning

TV 411

This flash website—which also happens to use flash, offers activities in the five areas listed at the left (with "Learning" being more or less "Miscellaneous"). Each activity is preceded by a short, catchy introduction of the point, which is very effective. The exercises themselves are well done and effective.

Vocabulary and other activities

all but true beginner

Geared toward adult literacy students but it could be used with advanced students.  It does a very nice job of recycling material. I like this site.

http://www.tv411.org/index.shtml

I'm keen to try these activities with students, starting with the Writing section, which includes ''Grammar and Punctuation,'' ''How to Write Your Autobiography'', and ''Preparing to Get a Job'', among several others. They are probably a little too business-oriented for my purposes (Japanese students generally don't need to learn how to fill out a job application), but still, these pages are attractive and look effective.

vocabulary, reading, grammar, games

Fact Monster

This educational website was created for native English speaking grade school students. The layout is "fun", (or it might negatively be perceived as childish) and contains links to categories of learning including, "World", "United States", "People", "Sports", "Science", "Math & Money", "Word Wise", "Cool Stuff", "Homework Center", and "Games and Quizzes". It’s a good chance to learn reading relatively understandable English.

False Beginner to Advanced

http://www.factmonster.com/

I've used this website before with students and they seemed to like it. There are many more options than meet the eye. For example, after choosing ''Science'' one can choose ''The Environment'' which eventually leads to numerous other links, each one a very reasonable length (read relatively short). Students can be assigned to find the answers to specific questions, or simply peruse the entire site. The material, about a variety of topics, is presented in a variety of formats.

grammar, writing

The Writing Center UNC (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill)

While this website was principally created for the purpose of aiding UNC students writing, as has links (such as information about the Writing Center) that is not of use to those not attending UNC, there are some nice worksheets and explanations, specifically geared towards high level EFL/ESL students but also useful to others. For example, five of the many links in the "Grammar & Mechanics" list of links include: "APA Citation", "Fragments & Run-ons", "Passive Voice", "Proofreading", and "Word Choice". Written conversationally, these explanatory worksheets can help intermediate and advanced level students, particularly with their writing.

intermediate to advanced

http://www.unc.edu/depts/ wcweb/handouts/index.html

This site has a nice layout and offers something different from most of the links that our TESOL course has provided. That is, it focuses on writing. This year, I have only taught Academic Writing courses at my university so it (and others like it) are of particular interest to me at the moment. I would be interested in creating a similar page for my own institution, if it were appropriate. In fact, I found this page because of a job ad for a teacher to run the writing center!

Grammar

OnLine English Grammar

This is a commercial site with an extensive grammar reference that is free.  It is not one of those sites that does not provide much free material.  Althought it does have a quiz/testing section, the one I looked at was hard to use (articles) and seemed to have wrong answers.

The range of grammar points run from beginner to advanced.

http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar/index.cfm

I like the amount of grammar points covered and also the explanations it provides

Vocab

Univ Vic English Language Centre Study Zone

This is a site that has different levels (connected I suspect to the University's Lang Center levels.  The one I am looking at for this assignment is vocabulary.  It gives basic vocab such as animals, food, furniture, house hold utensils, etc. And it gives two or three different activities (matching, multiple choice, type in the word, etc.)

Vocab is basic but there are other areas (grammar, reading, etc.) that run from basic to advanced or high interemediate.

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/200/index.htm

I was drawn to this site for its reading work but find this section of the site works on very basic vocabulary but recycles it  in a couple of different ways.