Resources
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Teaching To Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
This book offers educators tools to increase democratic participation in the classroom and to think about education as a practice of freedom. From the back cover: "Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve the gift of freedom is, for the author, the teacher's most important goal."
Project-Based Learning: The Online Resource for PBL
This website contains links to numerous PBL resources, including guides for designing projects, a project library, teaching and learning online strategies, and articles about PBL.
Project-Based Learning: Explained
This short video explains the essential elements of Project-Based Learning (PBL) and how they enable collaboration, critical thinking, and communication to develop.
Starting Small with Project-Based Learning
This article from Edutopia gives teachers three tips for starting to implement Project-Based Learning (PBL) in their classrooms.
Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning
This article from Educational Leadership describes seven elements the authors have found every meaningful project needs to have: (1) A "need to know," (2) a driving question, (3) student voice and choice, (4) 21st century skills, (5) inquiry and innovation, (6) feedback and revision, and (7) a publicly presented product.
Getting Started with Effective Math Talk in the Classroom
Using mathematical discussions in the classroom is a powerful way to increase our students’ critical thinking and communication skills. This article explores ways to get your students thinking and communicating mathematically from the very first days of school. The article is written for K-12 teachers, but the language and strategies work well with adult learners.
PowerUp: What Works – English Language Arts Teaching Strategies
This website was built for teachers with a variety of learner levels in their K-12 classes and offers resources, strategies, and practical tips to personalize instruction to meet the needs of struggling students. The teaching suggestions and instructional suggestions can easily be applied to adult ESL classrooms where English Language Arts CCRS are being applied. This page provides information on topics such as teaching context clues, self-questioning, visualizing, and semantic mapping.
Teaching the Skill of Self-Correction
This article offers several suggestions on how teachers can help students to take ownership of their reading, monitor themselves while they are reading, self-correct when they need to.
Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning
This resource repository contains videos, articles, and handouts on the topic of culturally responsive teaching. The executive director of CCRTL, Dr. Sharroky Hollie, is a nationally recognized leader in the field of culturally responsive education.
Curriculum as Encounter: Selves and Shelves
In this article by Emily Jane Style, "a veteran teacher expresses the importance of drawing on the life-texts of students and recognizing the ways that personal experience influences a student’s perception of the world."
Global Oneness Project
According to their website, “We aim to connect, through stories, the local human experience to global meta-level issues, such as climate change, water scarcity, food insecurity, poverty, endangered cultures, migration, and sustainability. Through featuring individuals and communities impacted by these issues, our stories and lessons provide opportunities to examine universal themes that emphasize our common humanity... Our lessons facilitate the development of students' critical thinking, inquiry, empathy, and listening skills."
Economics and Budget Creation
In this unit, students explore concepts and vocabulary that are important to the study of economics, think critically about wants versus needs, and engage in exercises to help them prioritize spending and make financial decisions. Students also begin to learn about credit and how credit scores are determined.
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.
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.
ReadWriteThink
Search the extensive classroom resources section of the ReadWriteThink website to find a wide variety of writing lesson plans and activities. All activities were written and reviewed by educators, and many align to standards-based teaching practices.
Project-Based Learning for Adult English Language Learners
This article provides a rationale for using project-based learning with adult ELLs, describes the process, and gives examples of how the staff of an adult ESL program have used project-based learning with their adult learners at varying levels of English proficiency.
Project-Based Learning: Buck Institute for Education
The Buck Institute for Education (BIE) website was created to show teachers how to use Project Based Learning (PBL) in all grade levels and subject areas. The website provides articles and books, research summaries on PBL, videos, a library of sample projects, downloadable teaching tools, and more.
Looking at the Bigger Picture: 7 Tips for Using Project Based Learning in the ESL Classroom
This article gives an overview of project-based learning, including why it is good for ESL students and what the teacher's role is. It also provides seven tips for successful project-based learning implementation in the ESL classroom.
New Resources
Employer Engagement Toolkit – Workplace
This Employer Engagement Toolkit contains flyers designed to assist Adult Education programs connect with local employers regarding workplace education programs or more generalized collaboration strategies. All flyers describe the short and long term return on investment (ROI) that is possible through collaborations with ABE. Customize each flyer with your ABE program’s contact information, logo, and preferred wording. A free Canva account is required to copy and edit the view-only files. New to Canva? A brief tutorial is included.
Employer Engagement Toolkit
The Employer Engagement Toolkit contains flyers created to assist Adult Education programs connect with local employers regarding workplace education programs or more generalized collaboration strategies. All flyers describe the short and long term return on investment (ROI) that is possible through collaborations with ABE. Customize each flyer with your ABE program’s contact information, logo, and preferred wording. A free Canva account is required to copy and edit the view-only files. New to Canva? A brief tutorial is included.
The Literacy Centre of Expertise
This is a collection of customized materials, practical tools, and effective research-based strategies for teaching adult English as a New Lanugage (EAL) learners. The resources are created to strengthen language skills, address literacy barriers, and boost learner confidence. Materials are geared towards helping students develop the essential skills needed for daily life and active participation in their communities. There is a curated list of useful websites and teacher training. Additionally, view internally developed content such as Adults Learn to Print. Developed by The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) in Canada.
Presenter Information
Get information about stipends, reimbursements, the MN Adult Ed policy on use of images in presentations, and other instructions for presenters.
MN Adult Ed YouTube Channel
The MN Adult Education 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.
ATLAS Announcements & Future PD
Check out the latest list of ATLAS professional development announcements and opportunities! This is the document that is shared at all ATLAS events.
Virtual Meeting Resources
Find resources for conducting online meetings/events/presentations! You are welcome to use and adapt these materials to fit your own needs and context.
Upcoming ABE Events
December 8, 2025
2:30 pm–4:00 pm
Online
Holding Space: Healing-Centered Routines and Practices for Classroom Instruction
Online
Registration Deadline: MON. 12/8/25 For many learners and teachers, stress and trauma can seem like insurmountable barriers to developing academic skills. However, the resilience and empathy that many people in adult education have developed can form a foundation for a learning community grounded in curiosity and compassion. Incorporating… Learn More
Online
December 9, 2025
1:00 pm–3:00 pm
Online
Getting Started with Workplace Literacy
Online
Registration Deadline: TUE. 12/9/25 Getting Started with Workplace Literacy is a two-hour webinar designed to introduce the foundations of Workplace Education, including key terms such as program definitions, milestones, and MSGs. Participants will hear from a panel of local ABE managers and workplace literacy partners who will share… Learn More
Online
December 10, 2025
2:30 pm–3:30 pm
Online
Ellii December Webinar: Keepin’ It Real: Examples from Your Minnesota Colleagues
Online
Registration Deadline: WED. 12/10/25 Venue: Online (see details below) In this session, we’ll showcase examples of how Minnesota adult education teachers are using Ellii in their classes and for distance learning. Come learn from your peers about the activities and resources that they and their learners have… Learn More
Online