MentorMob.com

http://www.mentormob.com/
Target: all teachers developing materials for wider range of students

Summary of site

The short video ‘The Learning play list concept’ on the home page explains the rationale behind the

development of this CALL program.

 The software is an example of an ‘Authoring Tool’  which enables teachers and learners to create their own ‘Play lists’ or a package of selected internet articles, videos, sound files or webpages . The ‘curatorial’ facility avoids the timewasting and unreliability of web searching and enables organising, storing and sharing of material in coherent thematic bundles of resources.

To use the mentormob site you can Browse Playlists and see ‘lists’ on a wide range of themes; Science, Art, English and language learning. Several  of these ‘Play lists’ have the potential to be fantastic resources for a ESL language class and could provide listening thematic material and language to be developed into conversation activities.  The variety is really stimulating and the quality of material high.  The available play lists are guaranteed to be useful if you are developing a thematic lesson plan.  

The site has a few other  resources for ESL teaching worth looking at e.g.  the list of ‘Best websites for Grammar.’  The site also demonstrates and sells the software for creating your own ‘Play list’. This can be set up to provide access to multiple users such as a whole class.

 A teaching idea / speaking and conversation

My favourite Play list on the site was: Weather Science Project for Kids. This consisted of 10 items including great videos on hurricanes and clouds, and  a creative problem solving activity; ‘I can’t take the Pressure’ ( about air pressure), the Kid's book of weather forecasting and weather basics.

After viewing and listening, I would use these to spark a conversation activity after working up the key vocabulary and follow up with a task in which you hand out to groups of students a problem solving activity e.g. envelopes with key weather and geographic  clues, which requires students to discuss and work out the country and season they are in. Or scenarios of extreme weather and direct the conversation to what safety measures people would have to take.