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Sight Words

For teachers serving beginning-level adult readers and working on alphabetics, this website provides a FREE source of sight word flashcards, games, lessons, and activities. All are focused on the Dolch Sight and Fry Instant lists; two collections of words that all beginning readers (at GE K-3) should recognize without sounding out letter by letter. Read More

New General Service List Finder and Sorter

EAPFoundation.com offers a free electronic tool for finding, highlighting, and sorting high-frequency words (of general service or everyday use) in texts. It includes 2801 words used frequently in both spoken and written English and serves as a foundational word list for deciding which highly used words are most important to teach. Read More

Making Sense of Decoding and Spelling: An Adult Reading Course of Study

This scripted, ready-to-print, curriculum package is designed to improve accurate and fluent word reading and word spelling. It is useful for Intermediate level students. Read More

Intermediate Word Study (2012)

This ATLAS-supported resource includes: (1) a public domain test for identifying students' approximate grade level performance in word reading or decoding, (2) a series of 'mini-lessons' for teaching multi-syllable decoding with compounds, syllable types and rules, common suffixes, prefixes, and roots, and (3) an appendix of student handouts. Read More

CCRS Reading Standards: Foundational Skills K-5

Free, reproducible student activities aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Reading Foundational Skills (and other ELA standards). They are organized by grade levels (K-5), provide teacher pages outlining objectives/materials/steps, and include student pages without a childish appearance. Read More

Beginning Alphabetics Tests and Tools (BATT, 2015)

Beginning Alphabetics Tests and Tools (BATT) strives to provide a principled system for ABE/ESL teachers wanting to develop their students’ knowledge of Roman alphabet letters, English letter-sound patterns, sight or high frequency words, and transfer of those letter-sound-word skills to text fluency and comprehension. Read More

Alphabetics – Challenges & Possible Solutions

Common alphabetics instructional challenges and solutions developed by Minnesota STARs and Trainers. Read More

CCRS and the Reading Foundational Skills

These resources describe Minnesota's combination of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) + CCRS Reading Foundational Skills 1-4, at Levels K-5. The result is a complete and clear sequence for teaching alphabetics and fluency to adult readers at Beginning and Intermediate levels. Read More

How Should Adult ESL Reading Instruction Differ From ABE Reading Instruction?

A brief from the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA) summarizing the research base on adult English language learners (ELLs) learning to read. It describes how ELLs differ from native English speakers and how these differences should affect reading instruction. Read More