30 Websites with Free ESL Teaching Resources

Yesterday, Karen Schweitzer, an experienced freelance writer and copyeditor who also writes for About.com and other education companies, sent me this article with very valuable information about Free ESL Teaching Resources.

Every teacher needs a little help now and then inside the classroom and out. Fortunately, there are plenty of free ESL teaching resources that can be found online. Here are 30 useful sites worth checking out today.

General Teaching Resources

• Education World - Education World is one of the best online resources for teachers. This site hosts information about professional development, lesson planning, and other resources that educators can use.
  
  
• Teachers Network - This non-profit organization was created by teachers for other teachers. The Teacher's Network offers up-to-date research, news, lesson plans, videos, and much more.
  
  
• Teacher Magazine - This online magazine provides news and a collection of blogs for teachers. Other features include polls, interviews, and interactive forums.
  
  
• GEM - The Gateway to Education Materials (GEM) is brimming with free teaching resources and tools. Teachers can choose from more than 50,000 free resources.
  
  
• Teacher Planet - With more than 350 theme based resource pages, Teacher Planet is a good place to come up with ideas and information for themed activities and lessons.
  

General Lesson Plans

• PBS Teachers - This PBS site is an excellent place to find free, standards-based lesson plans for a wide range of subjects.
  
  
• Discovery Education - The online lessons library from Discovery Education includes hundreds of free teacher-created lesson plans.
  
  
• Scholastic - Scholastic provides a number of timely, thematic lessons for teachers. Many of the lessons are free. An additional 10,000 lessons can be accessed for a small fee.
  
  
• Thinkfinity - Sponsored by the Verizon Foundation, this popular site includes free lessons, interactives, and other useful resources for teachers.
  
  
• Lesson Planz - Lesson Planz is an online directory of lesson plans. Using this Internet directory is a great way to find free lesson plans without going from site to site.
  

ESL-Specific Lesson Plans

• The Internet TESL Journal - This site has thousands of free resources for EFL and ESL teachers. Some of the best resources include lesson plans, classroom activities, games, and articles on teaching techniques.
  
• Using English - Using English is an excellent source for free ESL lesson plans and printables. The site also hosts forums, articles, and useful links.
  
  
• English as a Second Language - English as a Second Language is an About.com site with free lesson plans for students of any level. The site also includes printable quizzes, tests, and English learning tools.
  
  
• ESL Galaxy- This site provides nearly 3,000 free worksheets that can be used in ESL lessons. New worksheets and activities are added on a weekly basis.
  
  
• Read Write Think - Although this site isn't aimed at ESL teachers, it does offer reading lessons and materials for English readers at almost every reading level. Read Write Think also includes the IRA and NCTE's standards for the English Language Arts.
  

Worksheets and Worksheet Generators

• Educational Press - Teachers can make and print all of the free educational worksheets, flashcards, game boards, and quizzes they want with the Personal Education Press.
  
  
• TEFL.net - Created specifically for ESL and EFL teachers, TEFL.net has more worksheets, lesson plans, activities, and quizzes than one teacher could use. The site also has a worksheet generator so that teachers can create their own worksheets.
  
  
• Teachnology - Teachnology offers more than 6,000 printable worksheets sorted by category. The site is also a good resource for lesson plans and other printables.
  
  
• Family Education - Family Education is a great place to find printables for almost any reading level. This site also includes a number of other resources ESL teachers can implement in the classroom.
  
  
• Super Teacher Worksheets - This site is an excellent source for ELA worksheets. Specific topics include grammar, printing, cursive, phonics, reading, reading comprehension, and writing prompts.
  

Flashcards and Flashcard Makers

• ESL Flashcards - ESL teachers can download hundreds of free flashcards from this site. Flashcards come in three different sizes.
  
  
• Flashcard Exchange - Teachers can make, print, and exchange flashcards on this easy-to-use website. Flashcards can also be studied online.
  
  
• Scholastic - The Homework Hub Flashcard Maker from Scholastic is great for math and word flashcards. The flashcards you make are printable. Make up to four cards at a time.
  
  
• Kitzkikz - This no-frills flashcard maker is great for making versatile flashcards. Just print, cut, fold, and study.
  
  
• Flashcard Machine - Teachers can create web based flashcards using this free web app. Flashcard Machine also hosts more than 10 million ready-to-use flashcards.
  

Teacher's Blogs

• TeacherLingo - TeacherLingo is a blog community for teachers. Educators can create blogs, read blogs, and network with other teachers.
  
  
• Edublogs - Edublogs hosts thousands of blogs for students, teachers, librarians, and other educators. The site is great for teachers who want to introduce blogging to their students.
  
  
• So You Want To Teach? - This teacher-run blog is a great place to find motivation, teaching resources, and information about classroom management and personal development.
  
  
• My ESL Corner - This teacher-run blog is a wonderful place for ESL teachers to share resources, news, and teaching tips.
  
  
• Online Teaching Degree - The TeachingDegree.org blog is a good place to learn more about teaching education and degree options for ESL teachers.
  

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