Reading





[|Walkie's Literacy Page]

Go to:[|http://vozme.com] 

The interface is very simple and doesn’t even require a login. Just type or paste some text (English, Spanish, or Italian) and click the “Create MP3” button.

A new window will open and will provide two options:

 [|**//Clifford Activities//**]Scholastic’s well-known series of online [|**//Story Place//**] from the Public Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has a number of excellent interactive and animated talking stories and follow-up activities. [|**//Childtopia//**] is a site from Spain that has over a thousand great literacy activities in multiple languages, including English.  [|**//Kiz Club//**], a Korean site that has a ton of talking stories on a wide variety of topics. [|**//BBC Bitesize//**][| Literacy]  is one without any talking stories. However, it has a number of great activities related to basic literacy. [|**//CBeebies//**] is from the BBC, and here is where their talking stories come in. has a large collection of these types of stories. In addition, if you look at the bottom of the page, you’ll see links to a bunch more BBC sites that have even more. [|**//Literactive//**]  has hundreds of talking stories and other interactive activities. It’s free, though you have to register (it only takes a minute to do so). My students really enjoy this site. [|**//Starfall//**] has been helping people learn to read for years, and it’s still the best. Its scaffolding is great, and its stories — both fiction and nonfiction — are engaging. I’d particularly recommend its [|I’m Reading] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> section for older students. <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; msobidifontsize: 9.0pt; msospacerun: yes;"> [|**//Speakaboos//**]<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> provides excellent quality “talking stories” on video with closed-captioning — often read by “celebrities.” They say they are also going to add the ability to record stories, as well as offering other online activities. You can watch the stories without registering, though it appears like you will have to sign-up (for free) in order to record stories. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">The other site I want to write about is an “oldie” — [|**//Storyline Online//**]<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">. This site has been around for quite awhile, and has had celebrities also reading stories. I never used the site, or wrote about it, or even added it to my <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">[|website for student self-access] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> because, as nice of a service as it was, it didn’t have closed-captions. That absence really limited its use for English Language Learners. [|**//Tar Heel Reader//**]<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> basically provides two great services to beginning readers: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">* It has 1,000 simple books with audio support for the text immediately accessible to Beginning English Language Learners. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">* It makes it as simple as you can get for students to //<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">create // their own “talking” books using images from Flickr. [| **//Quiz Tree//**]**//<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">. //**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> I’m not a big fan of sight word memorization out of context, but this is a decent way for students to be introduced to, and practice, some of the basic English sight words, also known as the Dolch Word List. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; msospacerun: yes;"> [|**//Basic Sight Words List//**]<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">[|One] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> from Adult and Family Education. The words are taught in context and have great follow-up activities. However, it’s only a small list of sight words. [|**//Reall Languages//**]**//<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">. //**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> I bring my same reservations to learning words out of context, but this site at least provides a variety of exercises and games that students can use. [|**//Learning Line//**]<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> it may be a little out of reach for very, very Beginning English Language Learners, but it has high-interest accessible content on employment, health, and basic communication issues. [|**//Story By Story Phonics Lessons//**]**//<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">. //**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> It’s sponsored by the Learning Disabilities Association of Minnesota. [|**//Embedded Learning Portal//**]<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">in the United Kingdom has one hundred exceptional step-by-step literacy (and math) lessons designed for adult learners. [|**//REEPworld Family English//**]<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> it’s a series of stories about recent immigrants and includes excellent online follow-up activities. REEP’s <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">[|English For Health] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">section is also a very good literacy resource. [|**//Reading Skills Stories from Marshall Adult Education in Minnesota//**]**//<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">. //**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">They have <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">[|Reading Skills Stories 2] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">. There are many leveled, high-interest accessible stories with several follow-up activities for each one. They also have a great <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">[|Student Lessons] <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">section, too. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
 * 1) 1)  <span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">To listen, click the green play button.
 * 2) 2)  <span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">To download the file, click the “Download mp3” link



<span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">

<span class="style_2" style="line-height: 15px;">Instructions: <span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">

Go to: [|http://vozme.com]<span class="style_3" style="line-height: 14px;"> <span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">

The interface is very simple and doesn’t even require a login. Just type or paste some text (English, Spanish, or Italian) and click the “Create MP3” button.

A new window will open and will provide two options:

<span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">
 * 1) 1)  <span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">To listen, click the green play button.
 * 2) 2)  <span class="style_1" style="line-height: 15px;">To download the file, click the “Download mp3” link.