What is ELLville?

 

ELLville is a colorful ESL/ELL game system designed to be engaging, friendly, and fun for newcomer ESL/ELL students!  The friendly town of ELLville represents a verbal and visual program filled with with diverse and relevant images ideal for teaching language.  Structured as a game, the ELLVille system uses illustrated cards and placemats to teach important concepts and words.   Newcomer students often appear overwhelmed about learning a new language or adjusting to a different school.  ELLville's intent is to relieve student anxiety with a fun and accessible platform that strictly focuses on verbal communication and identifying words...in a fun way!

 

What is the goal of ELLville?

 

The ELLville program aims to ...

• offer ESL/ELL language "lessons" in a fun and colorful way (as games!)

• provide an enjoyable experience for  both teacher and student

• offer teachers an organized yet flexible approach to teaching spoken English

• relieve newcomer students of the stress and anxiety associated with a learning a new language and overwhelming objectives

• provide ESL/ELL students with a foundation of verbal understanding

• offer lessons that use relevant words, objects, and visuals that are important to students today

•  show characters that represent the diversity of ESL/ELL students

•  use a friendly illustration style that appeals to students

•  allow adaptability and flexibility with program use, time constraints, and choices

•  encourage newcomer students to gain confidence in basic English and begin interacting with educators and peers!

•  allow teachers of other languages to use visuals and modify games for mainstream classes!

 

 

 

How was ELLville created?

 

Accustomed to the usual classroom routine and responsibilities of an assistant teacher, Anthony Robert was suddenly faced with an unexpected task;  helping shell-shocked ESL/ELL students who did not know a word of English.  Although Anthony embraced the new challenge, he encountered a variety of obstacles that hindered progress;  multiple language barriers, student anxiety, and a lack of relevant materials affected student engagement and learning.  Finding appropriate resources was difficult enough, as the available programs were overwhelming, outdated, or did not offer imagery or diversity that represented his students and their interests. With a little imagination and a lot of work, Anthony developed the system that would become ELLville.  Structured as a verbal card game, the program was loaded with pictures that students of different backgrounds and languages could relate to and appreciate.  Soon, students were not only learning from the games but enjoying them.  As the lessons progressed, Anthony noticed his students were beginning to talk to teachers, staff, and each other!  With newfound confidence, students began to participate, ask questions, and make friends.  After observing the incredible results of the program, the head of ESL said, "this is the type of program we always wanted.  We have been asking for something like this for years.  You need to sell this and make it available for other schools."  After some time, Anthony and his wife reorganized and illustrated the game system and reinvented it as the ELLville program, making it possible to share with educators and students all over the world.

 

 

 

Who is ELLville for?

 

ELLville was designed for ESL/ELL students who are new to English or struggling with language and adjustment.  The game structure and visuals are ideal for students in grades 3-8, however it may be modified for students in lower or higher grades.  

While ELLville was designed as an English-learning platform, the highly visual and verbal nature of the game allows it to transfer well to other languages! Teachers of Spanish, French, Chinese, German, etc. may find that can use the visuals and modify the game system to teach to mainstream world language students as well! 

 

ELLville's focuses on highly interactive, verbal, and visual content.  While there are some written elements, learning and speaking words is the primary objective.  This element makes the game highly adaptable and flexible.

 

Why choose ELLville?

 

ELLville is FUN!  Students respond well to the game structure and image-heavy content.  Assessment is optional and discreet (for teacher progress recording), allowing educators to teach students without homework or tests.

 

ELLville is diverse!  ESL/ELL students come from countries all over the world.  Students love to see themselves and their family in educational content.  ELLville's characters intend to reflect the diversity of the student (and community) populations.

 

ELLville is flexible!  ELLville was designed to be modified.  Parts of lessons and units can be switched, swapped, omitted, or replaced based on student needs.  Ideas for 30 minute and hour-long sessions are provided.

 

ELLville is adaptable!  While EllVille was designed for ESL/ELL students, it can easily be adapted by teachers for classroom use … in other languages!  Use the same concept of the game or come up with different ways to utilize the visuals to teach Spanish, German, French, Russian, Chinese...and more!