This is the 24th post in the “30 days to using the best of the web’s free tools for educators” series. Be sure to subscribe to the Teacher Challenge blog by RSS, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter to keep up with future challenge posts as they are published.
This guest post was written by Dierdre Shetler.
In this post, you will explore:
- The benefits of using Wikipedia’s Simple English section
- How Simple English works
- Ways you can use it in the classroom
In this day and age, the vast majority of teachers have had a student who was an English language learner. Oftentimes, this creates a situation where teachers need to work double-time to assist these students in accessing the grade-level content in language that is meaningful to them.
Wikipedia’s Simple English feature is one of a number of solutions for this challenge.
This is a side project of Wikipedia, focusing on those learning English. Standard Wikipedia articles don’t run through a translation “engine” for this (which can create many headaches), but users submit their versions of articles in basic English.
Having taught middle grade English-learning students for several years, I was always on the lookout for texts that were about relevant content, but that were written at a lower level. Too often, teachers are forced to either give these students relevant texts that are way over their head so all meaning is lost or to give them books that are at their reading level, but that are five years below their developmental level and not content-related.
Simple English Wikipedia (simple.wikipedia.org) is the beginning of a solution to this problem.
According to the Simple English homepage,
“Simple does not mean short. Writing in Simple English means that simple words are used. It does not mean readers want basic information. Articles do not have to be short to be simple; expand articles, add details, but use basic vocabulary.”
Not only does Simple English address the needs of those learning English, it functions as accessible content for students with learning disabilities who may need simpler wording and syntax to grasp the content. In addition, it can function as a comprehension tool for students with a more complete understanding of English, since they can submit basic articles to add to Simple English’s collection.
How To Use Simple English Wikipedia
Wikipedia has articles in dozens of languages, which you can see as you scroll down the left side of any article on Wikipedia. As you go down the list, many times you’ll see a “language” listed as “Simple English.”
While it doesn’t have a simple version for every article on Wikipedia, it has over 70,000 articles, which is a good starting point. You’ll find many basic topics covered, including things like the desert, Michael Jackson, World War II, and Jupiter.
You can get to the Simple English Wikipedia by either “translating” the article from the standard Wikipedia with the link in the language list, as depicted in the image; or you can go to the Simple English homepage to search for a particular topic.
Again, this can be useful in both respects, depending on who is looking for the information. I had 7th grader looking for information on World War 1, and was just overwhelmed by the technical description of war strategy and it’s impact, and the Simple English version literally had him breathing a sigh of relief at something that was much more comprehensible to his English-learning brain.
To help your students who have a higher comprehension of a topic, submitting an article to the Simple English Wikipedia is an excellent extension activity. Entire classes could even participate, all researching an animal, a historical event, or just editing/lengthening existing articles.
I created this article on the rock cycle, which my 7th graders were learning about. It’s not particularly in-depth, but it gives a basic understanding of the concept, without using too many big words or overly-complex syntax.
When you click the “Schools Gateway” link under the search bar on the homepage, it directs you to create an account from an IP address that should be acceptable to most school web-blockers.
It then points you to a brief set of kid-friendly instructions on how exactly to create an article. Should you want to include formatting such as bold, italics, links, etc., there are a few rules to follow, which may seem a bit intimidating, but are as basic as adding a few punctuation marks (i.e., to add a link to a Wikipedia article, put the [[word]] in double brackets).
In addition, if you’re a bit nervous about trying your hand (or your students’) at creating/editing articles, they can try it out first in the “Sandbox” mode, which allows you access to all the editing features which can show you the final product (and any potential errors), before actually publishing it to the web.
Try writing a Simple English Wikipedia article about a new topic that isn’t covered already on the site as follows:
Step 1: Create an account in the upper right corner of the homepage. (You will have to verify the account through an email link.)
Step 2: Choose a topic to search. If no article exists, you’ll see this: Click the red link to create the new article.
Step 3: Research and write your article in the text box. Use original words, a neutral point of view, and of course, simple vocabulary and syntax. Use the student tutorial for basic instructions. Try the Sandbox first, if you’re unsure of yourself.
Step 4: Click “Show Preview” to check what the article looks like. When you’re satisfied, click “Save Changes.”
Step 5: Share the link to your finished article in a blog post, describe your experience, and explain if it could be useful in your classroom.
Can you think of a student that you have had at some point that could have benefited from the Simple English feature? Leave a comment on this post describing the circumstances.
Help and Tips
- The formatting/link tools can be a bit scary, but if you bite the bullet and do it following the directions, it’s no harder than learning the keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste. Here’s an excellent set of starter links for help.
- A simple way to get started might be to have students edit an existing article by adding more information.
- Be aware that any work submitted to Wikipedia is a wiki, and is therefore available to be edited by others.
- Have students create pages for various places (cities, landmarks, etc.) They could be local or distant. If they are unknown to students, they could write business letters to the places requesting information.
- Have students compare and contrast a standard wikipedia article and a Simple English version. With older students, have them discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
- Have students write articles on related topics (e.g., important people, places, events, etc. from the Civil War) and then have them complete a scavenger hunt about the information from the articles they wrote.
- Have students create or add to existing articles about authors. This could be a good place to practice the “neutral point of view” that Wikipedia encourages it’s authors to use.
Extending the Discussion
Wikipedia is sometimes considered an “invalid source”. Yet educators and students can gain from using it.
Please leave a comment so we can all reflect on our feelings about Wikipedia:
- Why is Wikipedia sometimes considered an “invalid source?”
- How is it that studies show that Wikipedia is just as reliable as a print encyclopedia?
- When is it appropriate to use Wikipedia? When is it not?
- How can we have this discussion with students?
About the Author
Dierdre Shetler is a traveling middle school technology teacher in Phoenix, Arizona.
She took on this job after five years in the regular classroom with 6th and 7th graders.
She completed a Master’s of Educational Technology last year at Northern Arizona University and is passionate about helping teachers find ways to integrate technology into the content and online learning. She tweets at @dierdreshetler and writes the Lessons Learned blog.