I need to prepare a lesson or two about the upcoming Olympics, and thought it would fit into my “The Best…” series. However, I have to admit I didn’t spend a whole lot of time preparing it, so I might be missing some excellent resources out there that are accessible to English Language Learners.
If I did, please share it in the comments section.
Here are my picks for The Best Sites To Teach & Learn About The Olympics:
I think the CBBC Newsround Special Report on The Olympics is the best website out there for accessible resources on the Olympics.
CNN’s Special Report on the Olympics comes in a close second.
Third on my list is the History Channel, which has a nice collection of very short video clips from different historic Olympic events.
Fourth is Summer Olympics Lesson from the fine EL Civics For ESL Students site.
Fifth is the BBC’s animation on the ancient Greek Olympics
The remaining sites on my list are, I think, fairly equal in quality, so they’re not in order of preference. They include:
* The History Of The Marathon, a “talking story” from the British Council.
* A short vocabulary quiz from Learn English, Feel Good.
* A simple history of the Olympics from Enchanted Learning.
* A Voice of America Special English piece on Tibet and the Olympics. It has audio support for the text.
* Short animated tutorials about different sports at the summer games, and videos of Olympic moments — both from the International Olympic Committee.
(Editor’s Note: I just learned about a nice resource offered by PBS’ Online News Hour called China Prepares For 2008 Olympics, and I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Teach and Learn About the Olympics. It has several good features, including some interactives and lesson plans.)
(I’m also adding What Is This Sport? to this list).
(I’m adding the BBC’s Learning English’s I Olympics 2008 feature, too)
(One more addition: Pat Elliott’s Olympic Page)
(Here’s another one — “Ever Wonder…?”)
(Go For The Gold is Scholastic’s site for many Olympics resources.)
(Sporting English is another one)
(Enchanted Learning: The Olympic Games is another one)
The New York Times has put all the excellent interactive presentations they’ve developed during the Olympics on one page. Many of them are accessible to English Language Learners.
On Your Marks is a website set-up for teachers and students in anticipation of the 2012 Olympics in London. It has a wide variety of resources, including images, updates, and lesson plans.
CBBC Newsround has a very accessible Guide To The Paralympics, which take place every four years just after the Olympic Games.
London’s Olympic Park progress is an interactive from The Guardian showing progress being made on facilities for the 2012 Olympics.
The Olympic Museum has a great multimedia virtual exhibition of Olympic Heroes from ancient and modern times. It’s quite accessible.
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Larry, here’s a good one…
The Olympic Museum (in Lausanne) has a wealth of educational resources. Just click and download.Here is the education page…
Here is one for Bejiing but lots of history. It is a dud to visit though …. I’ve spent a lot of time in Lausanne and everything about it is great EXCEPT this museum.
Lots there but I’d also get students choosing countries and modifying the country project materials on EFL Classroom 2.0 . Instead of the regular country report — they have to report on a countries athletes….
I’ll be making a post about it on EFL classroom shortly, as soon as the enthusiasm mounts! I also have a super slide show forthcoming….
Thanks a lot for sharing these wonderful resources! I am now preparing a Webquest about the Olympics for my lab students.
Let’s keep in touch!!
A wonderful collection of resources. Thank you for sharing them!
I’ll second that — I’m really getting excited about these games!
I created an Olympics page on EFL Classroom 2.0. http://eflclassroom.ning.com/wpage/olympics
Public, no registration required but if you do want even more resources, you’ll have to join to get to our Olympics resources in our Resources – Share area (under general teaching). Jeopardy/BAAM/slideshows/worksheets/projects/bingo/crosswords and more….