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Improving Adult Literacy: Developing Reading and Writing
This booklet presents an overview of what is known about how literacy develops, the component skills of reading and writing, and the practices that are effective for developing them. It also describes principles of reading and writing instruction that can guide those who design and administer programs or courses to improve adult literacy skills. Read More
ESL Literacy Readers
This collection of beloved theme-based readers for beginning levels of ESL literacy has been discontinued (in late 2024). They are no longer available at the Bow Valley College site. However, colleagues at the Immigrant Welcome Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, have a number of the readers posted (with permission) on their Adult ELL Pathway to Literacy website. This document outlines the changes and how to find these materials. Read More
Depend on the Text! How to Create Text-Dependent Questions
In this video from ReadWriteThink, a first-grade teacher demonstrates the process she uses to create text-dependent questions around a reading text. The strategies that are described are easily adapted to adult EL classrooms. Read More
Text Analysis Tools
ATOS for Text is used to calculate the readability level for shorter text passages such as magazine and newspaper articles, test items, and other classroom materials. Results that you will receive from this analysis include: ATOS Level, Word Count, Average Word Length, and Average Sentence Length. The Academic Word Finder from Achieve the Core (found in the Reading library) is a text analysis tool that pulls the most useful academic vocabulary words from a given text that is copied and pasted onto the homepage. Read More
Beginning and Literacy Level Adult ESL Students
This online collection from the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition contains links and citations for multiple articles, guides, and handbooks focused and adult literacy level readers. Read More
Breaking News English
This website is a long-time teacher favorite, featuring readings from news stories around the world in seven different levels. Each article is written in three to four different levels and contains printable activities and handouts. Read More
Choosing Complex Text
This video from ReadWriteThink features a first-grade teacher talking through the steps that she uses to select a complex text for her class. The strategies that are described are easily adapted to adult EL classrooms. Read More
Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers
The Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers website helps learners explore the field of healthcare. The website contains 175 readings, including pre-reading questions, target vocabulary, a text-dependent question set, and two prompts for writing practice. Read More