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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.
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.
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
Teaching Adults to Read
Five free online courses for adult educators who want to learn more about teaching the components of reading: alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Each self-paced course can be completed in 2-4 hours.
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 – Fluency
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.
Is Fluent, Expressive Reading Important for High School Readers?
This article examines the relationship between oral prosody (phrasing and expression) and silent reading comprehension for secondary readers. The study recommends teacher modeling and whole-class choral reading of passages from literature, social studies, and science content materials.
Fluency: Research and Teaching Strategies
Research Digest No. 6 from the Appalachian State University defines fluency, provides suggestions for assessment and instruction, and lists additional resources and references.
Fluency Techniques for STAR/EBRI Volunteers
This handout for STAR/EBRI volunteers describes three fluency techniques considered most effective for adult readers. All interweave the steps of explicit instruction for guided oral readings of paragraphs, passages, articles, or books.
Fluency Instruction for STAR/EBRI Volunteers
This handout describes what STAR/EBRI volunteers need to know about evidence-based and explicit fluency instruction. It also clarifies how they can improve – but not necessarily perfect – students’ oral reading fluency of paragraphs, passages, articles, or books.
Fluency – Challenges & Possible Solutions
Common fluency instructional challenges and solutions developed by Minnesota STARs and Trainers.
Britannica School Elementary
This website offers non-fiction articles at Reading Levels 1-2 and related images, videos, maps, and learning games. The articles are categorized by many categories, and users can select the reading level, adjust the font size, email or print copies, and listen to the text with a Read Aloud option.
CCRS and the Reading Foundational Skills
These resources describe Minnesota's combination of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) + CCRS Reading Foundational Skills 1-4, at Levels K-5. The result is a complete and clear sequence for teaching alphabetics and fluency to adult readers at Beginning and Intermediate levels.
The Teachers’ Room: Correcting Errors
This video shares different things teachers should to take into consideration when correcting errors, and gives suggestions for ways to do learner-friendly error correction in the classroom.
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.
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.
Error Correction
This article provides strategies for how and when to correct learners' mistakes and suggestions for how to make error correction a part of your classroom routine.
6 ESL Teaching Techniques to Cut TTT and Get Your Students Talking
Learn easy and effective strategies to cut teacher talk time and provide more opportunities for your learners to practice their English in this article by FluentU.
New Resources
Early Childhood Education Bridge Semester 2
Students improve their basic reading and writing skills using materials related to the early childhood education field. Learning is interactive, and students gain experience using computers and develop key employability skills, such as communication, teamwork, dependability, problem-solving, and technology skills. Test-taking skills are emphasized to prepare for TABE tests, HSE tests, and the college entrance exam. || AUTHOR: Stephanie Sommers, for Women Employed
Manufacturing Bridge Semester 2
Students improve their basic reading and writing skills using materials related to the Manufacturing industry. Learning is interactive, and students gain experience using computers and develop key employability skills, such as communication, teamwork, dependability, problem-solving, and technology skills. Test-taking skills are emphasized to prepare for TABE tests, HSE tests, and the college entrance exam. Upon completion, students earn college credit for Machining Processes I course and NIMS Material, Measurement & Safety industry credential. || AUTHOR: Stephanie Sommers, for Women Employed
Transportation, Distribution, & Logistics (TDL) Bridge Semester 1
Students improve their basic reading and writing skills using materials related to the TDL industry. Learning is interactive, and students gain experience using computers and develop key employability skills, such as communication, teamwork, dependability, problem-solving, and technology skills. Exploration of TDL career options is incorporated into personalized career plans. Test-taking skills are emphasized to prepare for TABE tests, HSE tests, and the college entrance exam. || AUTHOR: Stephanie Sommers, for Women Employed
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
July 13, 2020
6:30 pm–7:45 pm
Online
Using WhatsApp for Teaching Conversation to Adult ESL Learners
Online
Registration Deadline: MON. 7/13/20 Schools may be closed, but the learning hasn’t stopped! Adult ESL teachers and tutors are finding creative ways to help learners continue to develop their English skills. In this webinar, learn about the phone app WhatsApp, and explore its advantages and limitations as… Learn More
Online
July 14, 2020
2:30 pm–3:30 pm
Online
Virtual Iced Coffee Break – Mid-summer ABE Check In!
Online
Registration Deadline: TUE. 7/14/20 So…how’s it going? We miss you! Let’s check in about summer school and how teaching and learning are progressing during these warmer but still distanced months. Got insights or questions about zooming, what’s app-ing, google meets-ing? Join ATLAS staff and consultants to connect across… Learn More
Online
July 15, 2020
10:00 am–11:00 am
Online
Assisting Adult Learners with Voter Registration During COVID-19
Online
Registration Deadline: WED. 7/15/20 Can you talk about the election and voting with learners? YES you can! We have resources to help you start these important conversations and help learners register to vote safely from home with an absentee ballot! Join Literacy Minnesota and Erickson Saye, Voter… Learn More
Online