I know a lot of money and effort has gone into the materials produced by the Annenberg Media Learner.org company, but I have to say I’ve generally been unimpressed with how accessible their materials have been — to either English Language Learners or mainstream students.
However, they do have two good online interactive activities I’ve recently added to my website and that I’d like to highlight here.
One is called Elements of a Story. It has an audio and text version of Cinderalla, and presents a very accessible description of literary elements. I’ve placed that link on my English For Beginners page under Reading.
The other is Spelling Bee. This exercise provides text with audio support of simple passages, and then students have to type in the correct words that go into blanks. I particularly like this interactive because there are various grade-levels to it, and, unlike in most online spelling activities, this one uses words in context. I’ve placed it on the same English For Beginners page and under the Spelling section.
I hope Annenberg will produce similarly engaging online activities in the future.