Resources

National Geographic's education resources offer numerous, free, leveled materials on a variety of topics related to geography, the environment, and human migration. The searchable content includes articles, interactives, infographics, maps, and videos. Teachers can customize, print and/or share black line maps and there is also a feature where students can create and view interactive maps. In addition, educators from all over the world can can connect and share with each other through National Geographic's free online courses for educators.

This website saves time when needing an overview or a graphic representation of an event or period in American history. The outlines can serve as a scope and sequence for various topics and the charts consolidate a substantial amount of historical information that can either be projected or printed as a PDF document. The available outlines and charts cover a wide-range of time, from pre-Columbian Americans to recent American history.

Designed and piloted by a partnership between the University of Iowa and an Iowa school district, the Bringing History Home curriculum is comprised of ten sequential units that build student skills and knowledge in history across the K-5 grade level. All units can be adapted to the ABE classroom and each one is organized by lesson/activity plans, unit resources, suggested teacher adaptations, and a unit bibliography.

Includes free downloadable K-12-level lesson plans developed by master teachers, including graduates of the George Washington Teacher Institute, as well as by Mount Vernon educators and historians. The lessons can be searched by grade level, type, and theme, and are dedicated to teaching about the life and legacy of George Washington. The educational materials explore Washington’s world and topics range from Washington’s inauguration to his views on slavery.

The mission of Vote Smart is to provide free, factual and unbiased information on candidates and elected officials at the federal, state and local levels. Vote Smart provides candidates' biographical information, voting records/positions on various issues, endorsements, speeches, and contribution history. There are links related to ballot measures, election contacts, and voter registration by locality. For teachers and students, Vote Smart offers a free K-12-level government curriculum and an online “Government 101” tutorial with informative overviews on all aspects of American politics.

Offers hundreds of free activities that teachers can use in any year. Statistics in Schools (SIS) uses Census statistics to create classroom materials for grades pre-K through 12. The SIS site also includes materials specifically designed for the 2020 Census; these materials can be used with adult English language learners for building skills in history, math, geography, and English.

The National Coalition for Literacy’s 2020 Census website maintains a repository of Census-related information and links to resources for use by adult education teachers, program administrators, and other ABE practitioners. Resources range from Census overview guides and information about Census jobs to a regularly updated collection of Census-focused lessons, webinars on key Census topics, and conference presentations on the importance of the Census for adult education.

English Language Civics provides an easy way to learn about U.S. history, government, citizenship, geography, and culture. New lessons, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations and lesson plans are added to elcivics.com every week.

Find free materials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Materials include downloadable flashcards and study booklets, interactive practice exercises, videos, and a practice test.

USA Learns now has a U.S. Citizenship course to help learners prepare for citizenship or naturalization interview. The course has four units: Unit 1: Steps to Becoming a U.S. Citizen | Unit 2: N-400 Interview Practice | Unit 3: Civics, Reading and Writing Practice | Unit 4: Your Interview and New Citizenship

The target audience for the Math Materials are beginning level ABE to Intermediate level ABE students, especially non-native speakers. There multi-lingual glossaries to help students learn the vocabulary associated with basic math, fractions and percents, basic algebra and geometry. Teachers can print out a glossary for a student to use, or link these resources to a classroom website. In addition, there are math chants and math games provided to practice math vocabulary.

This article offers recommendations for how students should approach word problems, as well as a list of mathematical terms that indicate specific operations.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) maintains a free, online resource center for educators and volunteers who are helping students prepare for citizenship. The comprehensive website has information about the naturalization process, links to supplemental teaching resources, and opportunities for professional development.

In the spring of 2020, households across the United States will be asked to participate in the census. The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) put together this collection of resources to help Adult Education professionals talk about the census and help learners understand why their participation is vitally important.

The discussion cards posted on this site can be used to discuss counting and grouping strategies with students. This could be a great way to engage students using vocabulary around numbers and shapes. 

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.

This PowerPoint shares the importance of teaching academic writing in the 21st century; reports on a 2014-2015 survey of adult ESL writing instruction; briefly describes ten approaches that are better aligned with academic writing skill development; and concludes with references for exploration by ABE/ESL writing teachers.

The recommended spelling resource on this site is appropriate for both ELLs and native English-speaking students. Based on a spelling inventory, students work with level-appropriate word sorts to improve their knowledge of letter-sound-syllable patterns. The series of texts provide sequential word sorts for five spelling stages.

This website is used as a companion to classroom writing instruction for Low Intermediate ELLs. Each of the 3 sections (Parts of Speech, Verb Tenses, and Sentences) has multiple lessons; all include a voiced-over video (based on class handouts) and quiz (multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank) with immediate feedback.

This website is used as a companion to classroom writing instruction for Low Intermediate ELLs. Each of the 3 sections (Parts of Speech, Verb Tenses, and Sentences) has multiple lessons; all include a voiced-over video (based on class handouts) and quiz (multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank) with immediate feedback.