ESL Resources
Low-Literacy Adult ESL
Adult ELL Pathway to Literacy
Find the Adult ELL Pathway to Literacy curriculum and online assessment tools here. These resources were developed by a team of literacy level teachers, and piloted with in-person and online classes of literacy level learners.
Adult ESL Beginning Level Instruction Videos
Find Low-Literacy Instruction and Classroom Activities videos that feature Minnsota teachers working with low literacy and beginning level learners on a wide variety of activities and skills, including phonics, TPR, speaking skills, and numeracy.
Beginning and Literacy Level Adult ESL Students
This online collection from the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition contains links and citations for multiple articles, guides, and handbooks focused and adult literacy level readers.
Carringbush Reading Series
The Carringbush Reading Series features stories and language from everyday life that are relevant to adult English language and literacy learners. The materials are designed to be used as reading resources and as tools in the classroom to accompany lessons on themes such a daily routines, going to a doctor appointment, employment pathways, and other topics.
Carringbush Teacher Training Videos
The videos are a series of teacher training resources developed by Carringbush Adult Education for teachers of foundation level adult EL learners. The videos feature systematic approaches to teaching pronunciation, vocabulary, and text, and include error correction techniques as well as other tips and tricks that are based on research findings.
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.
ESL Literacy Readers
This collection of 40 theme-based readers features adult ESL learners engaging in everyday work and life activities. These readers, along with an instructor's guide, were developed to help ESL teachers create comprehensive, theme-based lessons for adult ESL learners.
Health Literacy Resources
This collection of multi-language health videos, classroom lessons, and support resources was created to support language learners who are new to English and who may have limited literacy skills to reduce barriers to access healthcare and improve health literacy.
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.
Literacy Education and Second Langauge Learning for Adults (LESLLA)
This website provides information about current research with low literacy level adult English language learners, as well as numerous resources for teaching and supporting beginning level learners.
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.
Minnesota Literacy Council 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 American Horizons: Adult ESL Teacher Training Videos – Low Literacy
This collection of 12 teacher training videos were filmed in adult ESL classes and feature a variety of teaching strategies and activities. For teachers interested in learning more about working with low-literacy learners, there are three videos that address this level.
Pathway to Literacy Level Teacher Training
This training module explores definitions of adult EL emergent readers, best practices, lesson planning and learning activities, and showcases the Adult ELL Pathway to Literacy curriculum and assessment; a free resource for adult literacy level teachers.
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.
Reading Skills Stories
This section of the Literacy Centre of Expertise website offers both interactive (with audio) and downloadable (PDF) student and teacher materials. There are phonics stories, "Interactive Foundational Stories" (dealing with oral language, vocabulary and comprehension), and stories dealing with word families and sight words, all written for adult language learners.
Rigor, Relevance, and Respect for Beginning Adult English Learners
Oxford Picture Dictionary author Jayme Adelson-Goldstein shares tips for laying the foundation of college and career readiness skills in beginning level adult instruction.
Total Physical Response (TPR): A Curriculum for Adults
Learn about the "how" and "why" of using TPR in the classroom and explore a lesson routine that can be used for a wide variety of TPR topics. A great resource for teachers who are new to incorporating TPR into their lessons.
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