Bilingual, ESL and Multicultural Resources

Here are some collections of bilingual and multicultural online resources that you can use with your students. They are organized by category; resources are alphabetized within each category.

• Bilingual and ESL Resources
  These sites are particularly useful for teachers of English to speakers of foreign languages.

• Geographic and Multicultural Resources
  These collections of online resources contain a great deal of information about foreign countries, cultures, and world religions.

• Native American Sites
  These are the most active sites for Native American studies.

Bilingual and ESL Resources

• A Crash Course in Classroom Technology
  This narrative by by Tamara Van Hooser presents some strategies for using technology with ESL learners in the primary grades, along with some of the lessons that Tamara learned as she infused technology into her classroom teaching and student activities.
• Activities for ESL Students
  There are over 1,000 activities on the a4esl.org website to help you study English as a Second Language. This project of The Internet TESL Journal has contributions by many teachers.
• Dave's ESL Cafe
  Where Learning English is Fun! For ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World.
• English Naturally: teaching English through projects in the natural environment
  This site provides authentic English practice in academic skills such as note making, labelling, classifying, referencing, and the like. You develop projects that take place in a natural setting, linking disparate content areas such as art, geography, history, biology, etc. The theory-into-practice has many excellent ideas for elementary ESL teachers.
• Two excellent ESL Web sites by Marty Levine. All links are carefully annotated.
  • ESL Lesson Plans and Resources
  • Bilingual Education
• ESL page from Educational CyberPlayground
  This contains links to excellent sites specifically for ESL/EFL teachers.
• Foreign Language Database
  From the Educational Cyberplayground.
• Foreign Language Resources Center
  Compiled by: Carolyn Kotlas at UNC-Chapel Hill. Contains a host of links to literature, dictionaries, glossaries, pictures, maps, and lots more. Languages include Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
• Kentucky Migrant Technology Project ESL Page
  This site contains a good collection of ESL Links.
• Kidlink
  Kidlink is an award-winning telecommunications organization for K-12 students. It has a Spanish language forum. Students could join projects where other students communicate in Spanish.
• Library in the Sky
  NWREL's ESL Department contains 24 links to Web sites that focus on ESL resources and activities.
• Little Explorers
  This site has a pictorial dictionary with a Spanish/English alphabetized vocatulary. It offers a selection of activities to pre-K through elementary school students, including a rebus nursery rhyme page with excellent graphics.
• Mexican Newspaper Site
  Current Mexican newspapers are posted to this site, including full-text articles posted in a PDF format. It also includes a chat area for students who wish to practice their Spanish.
• OELA's National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs
  This is a news and information site with resources about curriculum and instruction for English Language learners. The NCELA Home Page has a lot of resources concerning English language acquisition, programs, grants, resources, accountability, and the like.
• Spanish General Resources
  From The Viking Treasure Chest of Technology Resources, this page currently contains nine resources for teaching Spanish, including Business Spanish, Spanish grammar exercises, Spanish language exercises, a link to a Spanish newspaper, and more. Keep checking this site as new resources are added.
• Spanish Resources Web Page
  This page contains a list of Spanish resources collected and maintained by Jerrie Cheek of Kennesaw State University.

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Geographic and Multicultural Resources

• 100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans
  The Detroit Free Press has put together an excellent primary source of information for students who are discussing the September 11th World Trade Center tragedy. Like all people, Arab Americans are too often described in simplistic terms. Although the Arab culture is one of the oldest on Earth, it is, in many parts of the United States, misunderstood. There are no easy, one-size-fits-all answers. Culture, language and religion are distinct qualities that act in different ways to connect Arabs, and to distinguish them from one another.
• AskAsia Instructional Resources
  AskAsia offers a wide variety of educational resources for the classroom, including lesson plans, readings, and resource center locator. All lessons, images, and maps in this area have been copyright-cleared and can be downloaded to use in the classroom. Suitable for K-12 Asian studies curricula, the materials and guidance available here can foster an appreciation of Asian culture that will last throughout your students' lifetime.
• Celebrate Black History Month
  Welcome to the Black History Month free resource site. Gale has assembled a collection of activities and information to complement classroom topics. Content includes biographies, Black History Month quiz, timeline of events, a resource book, and literature by prominent Black authors.
• China: Dim Sum: A Connection to Chinese-American Culture
  This site is a thematic, cross curricular, integrated resource for elementary classrooms that enhances awareness and understanding of Chinese-American culture while building basic academic skills. It is full of ideas about the cultural diversity of China, with links that include math, social studies, language arts, science, the arts, celebrations, holidays, and customs. It was researched and developed by students at the Angier School in Newton, Massachusetts, and is suitable for students in grades K-5.
• China Today
  The most comprehensive information base on today's China.
• Culture Quest World Tour
  This is part of the Internet Public Library's Kidspace. "Join Ophelia Owl and Parsifal Penguin on their worldwide tour" - as they sample the delicious cuisines, play the games, see the museums full of arts, crafts and history, hear the folk tales, and learn about the holidays and festivals of many of the world's cultures.
• Geographia
  This site contains information about foreign countries, some written in a style similar to a National Geographic report (Borneo), some more like a travelogue (Malaysia).
• International Children's Digital Library
  This is the result of a research project of University of Maryland, Human Computer Interaction Lab, and Internet Archive, called the International Children's Digital Library, ICDL. It has 262 books from 23 languages right now, and eventually it will have 10,000 books from 100 languages. Although many of the books are written in foreign languages, there are summaries in English of each book.
• Karamjeet Singh's Himalayan Home
  This is a very comprehensive travel site with information on the Himalayas.
• Journey to Jo'Burg
  This Web site contains lessons based on Beverly Naidoo's novel, "Journey to Jo'Burg", designed to supplement an interdisciplinary unit on life in Sub-Saharan Africa, past and present for seventh grade language arts and social studies. The activities of this CyberGuide focus particularly on the cultural and political themes of the novel. For background on South Africa, see also Lonely Planet: Destination South Africa.
• Latin America: Maps
  This collection of clickable maps from the University of Texas at Austin covers Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.
• Mexico: Classroom Activities
  Lacey Hogue's Web site for 5th-7th grade geography has an excellent set of activities aligned with the National Geography Standards.
• Multicultural Pavilion: Resources for Educators, Students and Activists
  This site was created and maintained by Dr. Paul Gorski at the University of Virginia. This comprehensive Web site contains a wealth of resources (articles, Web links, discussions, songs, listservs, and so forth) related to multicultural education.
• Muslim Life in America
  This new pamphlet from the State Department offers a basic introduction to some aspects of Muslim-American life. The front page takes care to emphasize the diversity among Muslim-Americans, and the links from this front page further amplify these differences. The site features a number of Photo Galleries, including Faces of Islam, Family Life, and Mosques and Prayers, among others. Users will also find related articles, a page of demographic facts, a bibliography with selected readings, links to Internet resources and nongovernmental organizations, along with other resources.
• Recursos en espanol/bilinges y de interspara la comunidad hispana
  Resources for the Hispanic or Latino community
• Russia on the Net
  This official Russian site (in English) contains a database of information on arts, culture, business, science and education, politics, and more.
• The Samurai's Tale
  An Internet WebQuest on The Samurai's Tale, by Erik Haugaard, Bonita Vista Middle School. Japan is one of the most fascinating countries in the world! People who visit this island nation come away intrigued by its history and culture.
• South America
  Lonely Planet's Web site contains clickable links with its "Destinations" travel guides to the major countries of South America, with resources such as maps, travel information, parks, rainforests, and the like.
• Taiwan Resources - including some fun resources and lessons for those interested in studying Taiwan.
  • University of Texas at Austin: Taiwan Resources
  • AskAsia Lesson Plan: The U.S.-Taiwan Textile Trade Case
  • N.Y. Times Lesson: Taiwan on Shaky Ground
  • Taiwan's 400 Years of History
  • Taiwan Timeline
  • Taiwan (Multilingual)
  • Taiwan Resources - part of the University of Redlands East and Southeast Asia resources
• Virtual Religion Index
  This Virtual Religion Index from Rutgers University is a tool for students with little time. It analyzes & highlights important content of religion-related websites to speed research. Hyperlinks are provided not only to homepages but to major directories & documents within.
• Xpeditions
  This site is sponsored by National Geographic. Check the Standards and Lesson Plans directory.
• World Cultures Site
  This scholarly resource site entitled 'Exploring Ancient World Cultures' offers essays and other resources about world cultures. It is organized into five different indices, including a chronological index, an image index, and an Internet site index. The image index provides links to museum pieces from the various ages and cultures and offers valuable information about the selected displays.

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Native American Sites

• A Critical Bibliography on North American Indians, for K-12
  This bibliography, compiled by the Anthropology Outreach Office of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, is a response to teachers' concerns about choosing culturally sensitive and historically accurate books for children about American Indians and Alaska Natives.
• Canku Ota: "Many Paths"
  This is an online newsletter celebrating Native America, with searchable resources. It is constantly being updated by tribal elders to include important information about Native American languages, stories, and other features of their oral tradition.
• Teaching with Historic Places: American Indian History
  To celebrate American Indian Heritage and generate public appreciation for diverse cultures, Teaching with Historic Places has posted on the WWW a set of seven lesson plans that consider important aspects of American Indian history. These lessons, based on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, are free and ready for immediate classroom use by students in history and social studies classes.

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