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How to Use Interesting Photos to Help Students Become Better Writers

Two teachers explain their routine for English language learners to use “What’s Going On in This Picture?” from The New York Times. This routine helps students learn how to create a claim and support that claim with evidence found in a photograph. They also engage in academic conversations that stimulate academic vocabulary development and critical thinking skills. Read More

The 3 R’s: Reaping the Rewards of Routines

Participants in this workout will establish a learner routine that aligns to one or more CCR standards. This workout includes looking at some videos about instructional routines on the Teaching Channel website. Read More

Carringbush Teacher Training Videos

The videos are a series of teacher training resources developed by Carringbush Adult Education for teachers of foundation level adult EL learners. The videos feature systematic approaches to teaching pronunciation, vocabulary, and text, and include error correction techniques as well as other tips and tricks that are based on research findings. Read More

Adult ESL Beginning Level Instruction Videos

Find Low-Literacy Instruction and Classroom Activities videos that feature Minnesota teachers working with ESL Beginning Level learners on a wide variety of activities and skills, including phonics, TPR, speaking skills, and numeracy. Read More

The Value of Reading Instructional Routines

This PDF resource describes the value of instructional routines, recognizes their variability, and provides a model for regular, intentional, and effective lessons. Read More

Sample STAR Instructional Routines

This PDF resource offers nine STAR instructional routines collected from experienced STAR teachers across Minnesota. Each unique routine provides a snapshot of “what STAR looks like” and may offer new or different ideas for scheduling STAR classes and integrating, grouping, and moving STAR students. Read More

Alphabetics Instruction for STAR/EBRI Volunteers

This handout describes what STAR/EBRI volunteers need to know about evidence-based and explicit alphabetics instruction. It also provides a routine for teaching the English letter-sound-syllable patterns that will help students read and spell words alone and in text. Read More

Visible Thinking

Visible Thinking is a flexible and systematic research-based approach to integrating the development of students' thinking with content learning across subject matters. This website provides a convenient way to learn about Visible Thinking as well as thorough descriptions of the ideals, routines and activities that were developed from research in K-12 schools. Read More

Talking Politics: Valuing Different Perspectives

This video from Edutopia demonstrates how high school students learn how to share and listen to opposing beliefs with empathy in the classroom. Read More