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Listen in English
On this website, find short clips of TV shows, movies, news, and academic stories accompanied by vocabulary building activities and listening comprehension questions from beginning to advanced levels. Learners and teachers can make free accounts in order to access expanded discussion activities.
Additional Comprehension Resources
ESL Literacy Readers offers 40 theme-based stories, a learner page, and a teacher's guide with ideas for reading activities and extensions. ESL Yes! offers 1600 stories intended for Beginning and Intermediate level ESL students, supplemented with audios and various kinds of exercises.
The Times in Plain English
This website contains free "Plain English Version" articles about current world and national news or events. All of the articles are edited by Arthur Schiff and grade-leveled according to Flesch-Kincaid. In addition to articles, the website offers Tips for Teachers, which provides text-dependent questions.
The Role of Vocabulary Instruction in Adult Basic Education
The author of this chapter analyzes research and theories about vocabulary acquisition, reading comprehension, and their inter-relationship. She presents proven practices for vocabulary instruction and makes other recommendations for research and policy.
Additional Fluency Resources
These Comprehension resources are also useful for Fluency instruction: * Britannica School Elementary offers non-fiction articles related images, videos, maps, and learning games * The Change Agent includes leveled student-written articles, discussion topics, and lesson plans * The Times in Plain English contains free, leveled articles about current world and national news or events * Center for Adult Literacy Text Library offers over 1600 leveled texts on a range of topics
Reading Skills for Today’s Adults – Fluency
This website is a source of passages (Levels 0.7 to 8.0) and audios intended “to help adults become better readers and more informed consumers, parents, employees, citizens and community members.” It is useful for Beginning and Intermediate level students.
Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers – Comprehension
This website provides 175 CNA (certified nursing assistant) and general healthcare passages and audios for adult readers at grade levels 5.5 to 8.5 (Intermediate level). All are CCRS aligned and include pre-reading questions, definitions of healthcare or high-frequency vocabulary, and text-dependent questions.
Comprehension: Research and Teaching Strategies
Research Digest No. 8 defines comprehension, provides suggestions for assessment and instruction, and lists additional resources and references.
Comprehension Instruction for STAR/EBRI Volunteers
This handout describes what STAR/EBRI volunteers need to know about evidence-based and explicit comprehension instruction. It focuses on teaching five strategies: 1) asking and answering questions, 2) finding topics, 3) identifying main idea sentences, 4) identifying key details or important steps, and 5) writing summaries.
Comprehension – Challenges & Possible Solutions
Common comprehension strategy instructional challenges and solutions developed by Minnesota STARs and Trainers.
Reading Skills for Today’s Adults – ESL
This website was designed to provide an online repository of leveled reading selections that are appropriate for and valued by adult learners. The readings being posted correspond to CASAS 200 - 235, focusing on topics such as Civics, Employment, Housing, Health, School, Money, and Government.
- CCRS
- Comprehension
- Curriculum Design
- ESL
- Fluency
- Formative Assessment
- Text-Dependent Questions
- Vocabulary
ReadWorks.org
ReadWorks provides a large, high-quality library of curated nonfiction and literary articles, along with reading comprehension and vocabulary lessons, formative assessments, and teacher guidance. Through this website teachers can access curriculum, lesson plans, and free training.
Rong Chang Listening Collection
This is a collection of online listening tracks for ESL learners. There is a wide range of topics and levels featured, and all of the sites include an audio track and a reading text.
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab is an online, multimedia listening website designed to help ESOL students improve their listening comprehension skills in English. The website contains over 300 original learning quizzes and activities that cover functional language topics.
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.
New Resources
IET Single Set of Learning Objectives (SSLO) – Template
An integrated education and training program (IET) has a single set of learning objectives (SSLO) that facilitates the contextualization of basic skills and workforce preparation into training skills. However, developing these objectives is not easy! Use this template, which includes ParaPro and Manufacturing practice examples, as a resource to create your own SSLOs.
Designing IET Programs: The Single Set of Learning Objectives
Join us to explore approaches and strategies for the planning integrated education and training programs! This webinar will focus on an overview of the IET design process and creating standards-based IET curricula with a Single Set of Learning Objectives (SSLO). Guest presenters KayLynn Hamilton, M.Ed. and Blaire Willson Toso, Ph.D. will guide us through the process of creating SSLOs for your IET.
IET Webinars – MN Adult Education
This playlist on the MN Adult Education YouTube channel houses a variety of webinars related to Integrated Education & Training (IET).
Presenter Information
Get information about stipends, reimbursements, and other instructions for presenters.
MN ABE YouTube Channel
The MN ABE YouTube Channel is a free online PD resource that you can use to explore teaching techniques and classroom ideas in action! Find out more in this MN ABE Connect newsletter article.
Upcoming ABE Events
September 7, 2022
6:30 pm–8:30 pm
Online
Core Training Module 1: Overview of Minnesota Adult Education and Program Accountability
Online
Registration Deadline: WED. 9/7/22 Participants learn about Adult Basic Education programming in Minnesota, demographics of learners, instructional content standards as well as initial and on-going assessment. This session wraps up with learner motivations, barriers and persistence. Learn More
Online
September 13, 2022
9:00 am–3:00 pm
Hamline University – Anderson Center
774 Snelling Ave. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55104 United States
774 Snelling Ave. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55104 United States
Integrated Education and Training (IET) Academy Kickoff
Hamline University – Anderson Center
774 Snelling Ave. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55104 United States
774 Snelling Ave. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55104 United States
Cohort Description Are you looking to begin an IET in your program? Or do you have an IET already, and want to strengthen or expand it? Consider joining the IET Academy! This professional development cohort from ATLAS is for IELCE grantees and other programs who are actively pursuing IET work. Learn More
Hamline University – Anderson Center
774 Snelling Ave. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55104 United States
774 Snelling Ave. N.
Saint Paul, MN 55104 United States
September 13, 2022
12:30 pm–1:15 pm
Online
Burlington English Lunch and Learn: Strategies to Teach to a Multi-Level Classroom
Online
Registration Deadline: TUE. 9/13/22 In this session, we will explore the challenges and advantages of teaching a multi-level classroom, share ideas on how to overcome these challenges, and brainstorm other strategies that we can use in the classroom. Learn More
Online