abc English: Resources for Beginning ESL Literacy

Exploring abc English

In February of 2024, ATLAS ran a Low-Literacy ESL Professional Development Task Force to find out which pressing challenges educators serving Beginning ESL Literacy students could be addressed with professional development (PD). The task force also generated ideas for PD projects ATLAS could take on which would enhance teaching and learning of adult students in Minnesota who are learning English and acquiring alphabetic print literacy for the first time.

As a result of this collective work, abc English, created by Jennifer Christenson, was identified as a valuable resource for teachers of these Beginning ESL Literacy students. Jennifer was invited to present on abc English, a collection of resources for teachers who work with adult beginning ESL learners, at Language and Literacy Institute in January 2025. As a follow-up to this full day session, a group of educators came together during the Statewide Conference in April to share their feedback on using the curriculum. Additionally, they delved deeper into the resources and discussed what they want to know more about.

Teachers in the session at the Statewide Virtual Conference in April 2025 shared that their students enjoyed using the Reading Skills Stories (see a sample here) from the abc English Library; students reported reading out loud is their favorite part of class. Teachers noticed their students are more confident when reading aloud.

Additionally, students have been extremely engaged with the abc English material. Teachers who are implementing this curriculum are seeing positive feedback from their learners.

Teachers shared that the abc English materials are easily adaptable for online classes. The abc English website includes several free Teacher Training Modules that include useful tips for teaching literacy and video samples of teacher/student interactions.

Additionally, some Minnesota educators are specifically using the Fast Track Phonics resources for their learners who know how to decode in another language, but are learning common English phonics patterns.

The notebook setup in Fast Track phonics demonstrates student writing routines and notebook organization. Minnesota teachers described online student success with note taking and in-person student success with organizing their materials.

Teachers who participated in this session are beginning to use the ABLE tests to supplement CASAS Steps testing for Beginning ESL Literacy learners. These teachers are excited to use these assessments as a growth progress tool which will allow learners to see their own growth in learning. Many are eager to hear how this goes and we hope to have an opportunity to report back during Summer Institute this August.

Accessing abc English

Read more about these resources in the ATLAS Beginning ESL Literacy library. Although the abc English Online Library is a paid resource, there is an option for a free one-month trial. The abc English Teacher Training resources are free to you on the website.

We hope these new tools and resources will help you better serve your Beginning ESL Literacy students! Please reach out with any questions about the materials and resources.