Dear all, my experience at the TESOL conference in New York has been equally exciting and productive. I have learned how to use a couple of online tools and I think any ESL/EFL instructor could use them to engage language learners in creative mini projects. I would like to share these with you:

1. Dvolver: http://www.dvolver.com/live/home.htmlallows teachers and learners to create and direct their own mini-movies. There are a few easy steps to follow - you can choose your characters, scenes and backgrounds, add text and music and your movie is ready! You can see the one I created for my American Culture students below

2. Online Comics Generator: http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Choose as many characters as you want, give them a "mood", add a thought or a talk balloon and your comics is ready for printing and using in class (great with elementary students).

3. Screen-o-Matic: http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/Need to create a tutorial for your students? Do you want your students to create online projects where they would use their own voice? Try this tool - it's easy and it's free!

Welcome to our Food for Thought iEARN Project

Welcome to our Food for Thought Project!
My dear EFl students! Welcome to our Food for Thought Online Project ! We will be using this blog as our common interactive space to post our best pictures, essays, recipies, videos and power point presentations. Your first task for this week will be:
1) Post an introductory message with the following information included:
- your name
- where you are from
- what your favourite food is
- why you would like to participate in this project
- any interesting hobbies or special talents

We will join many other students from around teh world to study about food as part of the iEARN community - I will register you as iEARN participants, so that you can access the Project Webpage and tell us more:- how many countries participate in this project?- what kind of recipies do they publish online?- can you find an unusual recipe posted by a participant from a different country?Go to the Forum and explore it and be ready to talk about your findings in class!
All the best - see you online,Olga Ahramenco

Moldova in the Next Vista for Learning Video Online Library

Last semester my students and I worked on the iEARN / Next Vista for Learning Video Introduction to Communities Project - which aims to create an online library of free videos for learners everywhere - to help them find resources to learn just about anything, meet people who make a difference in their communities, and even discover new parts of the world. We are working on a series of slideshows and short videos which aim to introduce our country Moldova to the world. Have a look at my students' work and tell us what you think!I believe this is a great idea for teachers who want to involve their students in online collaborative projects involving image, slideshows and videos as means of communication. More info on the project here: http://dvmuncaesl.wetpaint.com/page/Video+Introductions+to+Communities

EFL FLEX in Moldova

This summer ACCELS Moldova in collaboration with ALC (American Councils), where I am currently working as an EFL instructor, have organised a summer immersion program for the FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange Program) finalists from all over the former Soviet republics, who came to Moldova to improve their English, study about US culture and get ready to face an academic year in the States. This is a short video we put together with the activities we enjoyed the most: the first part is just a slide show of pictures and comments, the second represents a series of short videos with the FLEX students sharing their experience in Moldova. A couple of students have visual and hearing impairments. These interviews were taken during our last EFL Conversation class, when the students talked about what they liked doing during these 5 weeks and is they are ready to leave for US.

Check on our Voicethreads!

My students and I have explored Voicethread - and created a couple of presentations on different topics you might find interesting and fun to watch! For teachers: I have also uploaded a lesson plan you can find on my TeacherWeb page ("Lesson Plans" section).
Check on the following links if you want to find out more about:

1. Beyonce and her career as a singer and actress: http://voicethread.com/#q.b106050 and http://voicethread.com/#q.b106194 (or type in "Beyonce" in the Browse section of Voicethread);
2. My experience in NY by Gabi Lu http://voicethread.com/share/103345/

3. Advantages of Travelling http://voicethread.com/#u75245.b89426

4. Past Perfect -http://voicethread.com/#q.b90651 and http://voicethread.com/share/89461/
5. Modal Verbs: http://voicethread.com/#u64820.b89478.i455697

6. Niagara Falls: http://voicethread.com/#q.b105995 and http://voicethread.com/share/106041/

7. Rodeo Superstitions https://webmail.olemiss.edu/cgi-bin/webmail.cgi?cmd=url&xdata=~2-dc582f0887a4d72d3a1cc428f64397b3f88ca4f4e19dd9c7dd00&url=http!3A!2F!2Fvoicethread.com!2Fshare!2F106194!2F
8. The sttue of Liberty http://voicethread.com/#q.b105979

9. Yosemite National Park http://voicethread.com/share/106629/

Don't forget to create an account or sign in first to watch them.

What is a "Tornado" ?

What you need to know about tornados:

1. Scientists don't know exactly how tornadoes form, but that they usually occur in the United States when cool dry air from the north mixes with warm moist air from the south.

Find out by yourselves:

- What is a twist? - What is a tornado alley?

2. Watch the following National Geographic Videos. What did you notice about tornadoes?

3. Tornados are found most frequently east of the Rocky Mountains during the spring and summer months. Find out how tornados form here.
4. In an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and over 1,500 injuries.
5. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of 250 mph or more. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long. Once a tornado in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, carried a motel sign 30 miles and dropped it in Arkansas!

Having fun with Cartoons!

Fun Facts about Niagara Falls!

Have a look at Niagara Falls, one of the most beautiful places in USA. Although they aren't the highest waterfalls in the world, the volume of the water that flows over the falls combine with their height to make Niagara Falls exceptionally spectacular. Find out who survived a trip down Niagara in barrel, how the Falls froze almost completely one year, why they "stopped" the water and what are Niagara's best attractions.

General Information

Niagara Falls at Night

Attractions and Tours

Niagara Movie

Crazy Adventures!

10 Niagara Falls Attractions

Niagara Falls Frozen in 1911!!!

Interesting Facts about the Falls.

Teachers can survive anything (even Niagara!)

Let's learn more about the Grand Canyon

1. This week we will be learning about Grand Canyon. I have put together some interesting sites we could explore and find out more information about this wonderful site.

Grand Canyon facts at El Civics for ESL Students

2. Find out what a Skywalk is from this slideshare presentation : Skywalk in Grand Canyon

3. Watch this amazing video and feel free to share comments: Grand Canyon on Youtube

4. Learn about the Indian Tribes from the Grand Canyon: Navajo People

Atomic Bomb Testing in Vegas

How did Atomic Bomb Experiments change Las Vegas? Was it safe to watch those explosions? What do you think about that?

The History of Bugsy Siegel and Las Vegas

You know that Bugsy Siegel was the first person to build a casino in Vegas. What else did you find out about him from this video?

Wedding in Las Vegas

What do you think of this wedding? Would you get married in Vegas? Would you like to invite Elvis to your wedding?

Elvis singing about Las Vegas!

Have you ever been to Vegas? Would you like to go there one day? What would you like to see or to do there?

Dresses on the Oscar Red Carpet

Did you like the dresses the actresses wore at the 2008 Red carpet Ceremony? which one was the best and which one was the worst?

More about Al Capone - History project

This is a short history project on Al Capone - did you find anything new? Tell us what you think about this man - did he deserve to go to Alcatraz?

The City of San Francisco

San Francisco

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This is a presentation about the City of San Francisco Heidi and Gabi worked together on. What did you like about it? What was new for you? Would you like to go there some day? What would you like to see there?

Alcatraz - a very interesting island in San Francisco Bay

Cowgirls - and the Rodeo

A Quiz about Oscars

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Let's see how much you know about the Oscars!

http://www.classmarker.com/m_test.php?id=7774

American Culture Quiz!

I have just created a really nice quiz on American Culture based on the texts we read and the videos we watched so far. Let's see if you can make 100%! Good luck!

http://uk1.hotpotatoes.net/ex/26942/PTYGFFQF.php