Annotated List of Online Resources that

Support English Learners in California

There are so many resources available to English Learners in California and around the
world via the internet. Below is an alphabetized list of just a few EL websites that I found
and reviewed. The following websites include a variety of information and activities.
Some are geared toward teachers, but most target both child and adult ELs. Current
news and legal information are provided on several sites. Most sites have activities,
games, vocabulary quizzes, and lessons to improve languages skills. Some have
programs to sign up for and attend. Almost all of them have links to even more
resources. Along with each link, I provide a brief description of some of what the site
includes.
BrainPop ESL
Designed for students, this site starts by assessing the level of English a
child understands. The site then has instructional videos, flashcards, audio
clips to learn to speak words and sentences and a way to record your
voice mimicking it, worksheets to print out to practice writing English, and
more. The site also has the ability to be in several different languages.
California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE)
CABEs vision is biliteracy, educational equity, and 21st century success
for all. There are resources for educators like consultations, different
types of literacy programs, strategies for teaching ELs, and more. For
parents, resources include an in-depth program called Project 2-Inspire
with curriculum to inform parents about educational options and how to
best help their students succeed. There are also more links to other
websites and resources.
California Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
(CATESOL)
While this website targets teachers, there are some resources for parents
and students. For teachers, there are conferences, workshops, and
journals.
California Department of Education
This government site has legal and policy information including standards
for English Language Development
Facts About English Learners in California
Title III Information

Resources and FAQs

The California Foreign Language Project (CFLP)
CFLP challenges professionals to improve and expand their language
programs in California. There is information about the project and links for
students and parents to more resources.
Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
The goal of CAL is to promote access, equity, and mutual understanding
for linguistically and culturally diverse people around the world. There is a
lot of information about current news regarding immigration, refugees, and
language. The site has multiple projects designed to promote language
acquisition. Workshops, classes, and programs to help educators,
students, and parents are available. Assessment tools, cultural
information, articles, statistics, online courses, additional resources, and
more are provided.
Two-Way Immersion Programs
Center for Multilingual Multicultural Research
This website has links to many different resources for ELs. It also has links
to full text articles and resources about bilingual, ESL, and multicultural
education. Some of the links are included in the following list.
The Bilingual Families Web Page
The University of Colorado, Boulders BUENO Center for
Multicultural Education
Center for Immigration Studies
Colorin Colorado
This bilingual site is full of information, data, resources, programs, books,
videos, advice, and more. There is legal information, definitions of terms
and acronyms used in education, and tips about raising children, internet
safety, and school days to name a few. Everything a parent would want to
know about how EL instruction works is included on this site. There are
also links to many other resources.
Dave's ESL Cafe
This site has short lessons with examples on topics like grammar, idioms,
and slang. The grammar section covers adjectives, confusing words,
adverbs, conversational language, English sounds and spellings,
vocabulary, verbs, prepositions, pronouns, and more.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning
This site has a list of 23 Useful Websites for Teaching and Learning
English that includes some of the following.
Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon

 Many Things
Interesting things for ESL students like videos, podcasts,
games, and quizzes.
ESL Cyber Listening Lab
Activities for ESL Students
Edutopia
While this site targets educators, there are links to literacy games about
vocabulary and literature study guides and notes. There are also other
links to multiple sites full of resources.
English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLO)
This site has many short videos that include a script and a quiz about the
video. It is designed to teach ELs language acquisition.
Ethnologue: Languages of the World
This site provides information and statistics about languages spoken
around the world. It also describes the development of language.
Everything ESL
This site provides a list of Elementary Web Sites for English Language
Learners organized by grade levels. There are sites for brain teasers,
puzzles, riddles, audio comprehension, vocabulary, poetry, multicultural
books, games, and more.
Kids.gov
While this is not specifically directed at ELs, there are still fun learning
activities, worksheets, games, and videos that can be additional
reinforcement for learning English.
The Latino Family Literacy Project
This project involves training educators and parents to help their children
with literacy. There are workshops and curriculum for all ages of children.
The site promotes including the entire family in the learning process.
Open Education Database
This site provides 50 Essential Resources for ESL Students about
grammar and usage, spelling and pronunciation, vocabulary and writing,
quizzes and worksheets, podcasts, and YouTube channels. Some of the
resources are included in the following list.
Purdue Online Writing Lab
The English Learner Movie Guides
Learn That Word
Flash Card Exchange
Vocabulary Quizzes
ESL Aloud

 Listen and Read Along

StarTalk
This is a program designed to increase the number of U.S. citizens
learning, speaking, and teaching critical need foreign languages. There
are programs for students to enroll in to learn languages and cultures,
instructional videos, and links to more resources.
StudentGuide
This site provides 43 Excellent ESL Resources for Students including
common errors in English usage, ESL podcasts, twenty-minute ESL
lessons, illustrated vocabulary, ESL writing wizard, and more.