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ESL Literacy Readers (Bow Valley Readers)
This collection of beloved theme-based readers for beginning levels of ESL literacy has been discontinued (in late 2024). They are no longer available at the Bow Valley College site. However, colleagues at the Immigrant Welcome Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, have a number of the readers posted (with permission) on their Adult ELL Pathway to Literacy website. This document outlines the changes and how to find these materials.
CollectEdNY.org – ELA
This site hosts resources in all content areas, including English Language Arts. Some of the materials are taken from K-12, but they are all framed and explored in the context of adult education classrooms. The site is divided into four main parts: 1. Resource Reviews Find free, quality teaching resources…
Ideas for Providing Distance STAR Instruction
This March 2020 document provided early ideas from STAR trainers across the country for implementing distance STAR instruction. Not all may be appropriate or reasonable for your ABE program; however, they were intended to inspire creative thinking about how to "carry on" with evidence-based reading instruction (EBRI) during the pandemic and school closings.
Promoting Collaborative Accountability to Text Evidence
Participants in this workout will collaborate with peers to practice and reflect on a routine to hold learners accountable for supporting text-dependent questions with evidence from the text.
Emergent Readers
This website contains instructions for scaffolding reading texts and speaking activities for literacy level learners, resource lists, and videos of literacy level classroom instruction.
iPads and Tablets in the LESLLA Classroom
With suggestions of iPad/tablet apps that build reading foundations skills, numeracy, and digital literacy for ESL learners with limited or interrupted formal education, this list can help integrate ABE standards in a targeted, self-paced, and differentiated manner.
Activities for Tutoring a Beginning ESL Literacy Student
Find activity ideas for Beginning ESL Literacy level learners in phonics, pattern based reading, meaning-based reading, checking comprehension, and vocabulary in this handout.
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."
Morpheme Matrices Crosswords
These crossword puzzles and answer keys accompany Morpheme Matrices, an ATLAS resource focusing on morphological awareness. Six of puzzles target Latin morphemes (prefixes, roots, suffixes) and two target Greek forms and related suffixes.
Making Sense of Decoding and Spelling: An Adult Reading Course of Study
This scripted, ready-to-print, curriculum package is designed to improve accurate and fluent word reading and word spelling. It is useful for Intermediate level students.
CCRS Reading Standards: Foundational Skills K-5
Free, reproducible student activities aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Reading Foundational Skills (and other ELA standards). They are organized by grade levels (K-5), provide teacher pages outlining objectives/materials/steps, and include student pages without a childish appearance.
Newsela – Multilevel
This website provides several “levels” of the same newspaper articles on a wide variety of topics, along with accompanying online quizzes, that students can read and take.
Text-Dependent Question Stems & Frames to Reach CCRS Reading Anchors (Levels A-B)
How can we ask text-dependent questions (TDQs) at lower levels, when students' English language and literacy is still emerging? This handout offers a range of question stems and TDQ ideas for teachers at low-levels (CCRS A & B).
CollectEdNY.org – Math
This site hosts resources in all content areas. Some of the materials are taken from K-12, but they are all framed and explored in the context of adult education classrooms. The site is divided into four main parts: Resource Reviews (by and for ABE instructors); Framework Posts (lessons, problems, activities, & readings organized by HSE subjects, domains & subdomains); Math Memos (addressing non-routine math problems); and Career Posts (activities and supplementary materials for the NYSED/CUNY CareerKits).
Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers – ESL
A free online Career Pathway literacy curriculum based on CNA and general healthcare content, including 175 selections for intermediate-level readers between 5.5 and 8.5 grade levels.
Phonics Pull-Out Kit
English language learners at many levels need additional assistance with building their phonetic awareness and strengthening their phonetic decoding abilities. The Phonics and Phonemic Awareness Kit provides a variety of activities that can be used with low-beginning to high-intermediate levels of English language learners.
News in Levels: World News for Students of English
This website has articles collected from around the world available in three different levels. Each level has highlighted vocabulary words and a listening track so that readers can hear a native English speaker reading the article.
- Assessment
- Beginning ESL
- Beginning ESL Literacy
- Emergent Readers
- Listening
- Reading
- Speaking
- Teaching Strategies
- Writing
Making It Real: Teaching Pre-Literate Adult Refugee Students
This book is a great place reference for both new and experienced teachers. It covers a variety of effective practices for teaching low-literate adult refugees, and describes techniques and activities that support these practices.
Literacy Minnesota Pre-Beginning ESL Story Bank and Curriculum
This curriculum builds literacy skills and incorporates level-appropriate Transitions skills identified by the ATLAS program's Academic, Career & Employability Skills (ACES) initiative, as outlined in the Transitions Integration Framework (TIF), into every life skill unit.
New Resources
Workplace Health and Safety Curriculum
This class prepares people for OSHA 10 Training. Explore careers in janitorial, warehouse, hospital. Learners will: Build vocabulary and skills related to building maintenance, customer service, workplace health and safety; develop Speaking, Listening, and Reading skills for entry level and advanced jobs in building maintenance and customer service; earn OSHA 10 Certificate for Industrial Safety; and have access to a Counselor who will help with applying for jobs St. Paul Public Schools, or other companies. || AUTHOR: Nancy Bjorn Nordeen, Hubbs Center
College Readiness Academy Skills
This course builds knowledge, skills, and confidence in standard American English with a focus on academic writing, reading, oral communication, and digital literacy. Critical language areas are integrated throughout the course to prepare students for college-level success. The novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park will serve as the core text for reading, writing, discussion, and project work. || AUTHOR: Elizabeth Fontaine, International Institute of MN
HSE Coffee Talk: GED Ready Test Scores Compared to Official Test Scores
At the HSE Coffee Talk on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, we dove into an important discussion surrounding GED Ready® scores and their correlation to GED test success. Many GED educators have expressed concerns about how GED Ready® scores reflect actual test performance. This session provided insights into the latest research, explored factors that may impact score alignment, and offered strategies to support test takers effectively.
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
May 15, 2025
1:00 pm–1:45 pm
Online
Burlington Boost: Keeping Students Engaged Over Summer Break with BurlingtonEnglish
Online
Registration Deadline: THU. 5/15/25 In this session, we will brainstorm ways to keep students engaged and working on independent practice over the summer season. Please come prepared with ideas that you do with your students and we will also share ideas from various programs that also use Burlington… Learn More
Online
May 16, 2025
10:00 am–11:00 am
Online
Support Staff Coffee Break – TABE 13&14 Updates
Online
Registration Deadline: FRI. 5/16/25 Venue: Online (see details below) Join us virtually on Friday, May 16, 10:00-11:00 am, for a session focused on TABE 13&14. State assessment trainers Linda Keller of Metro North and Marty Olsen of SW ABE will share the latest TABE 13&14 updates. They will… Learn More
Online
May 16, 2025
1:00 pm–3:00 pm
Online
How Adult Brains Learn Languages Presented by Andrea Echelberger
Online
Registration Deadline: FRI. 5/16/25 Learn what research has to say about how adult brains learn a new language, how trauma and stress impact learning, and how this influences the teaching practices that we use in the language classroom. Participants will leave the webinar with suggestions for ways teachers… Learn More
Online