“CLB ESL for Adult Literacy Learners (ALL) addresses the needs and abilities of adult ESL Literacy learners. Most government-funded Adult ESL classes in Canada are referenced to the CLB and adult ESL learners are placed on the CLB scale using a CLB‐based assessment instrument. However, when adult ESL learners who lack literacy skills are placed on the scale, they require unique supports as they gain the ability to communicate in an additional language. The purpose of this document is to describe the needs and abilities of adult ESL Literacy learners and to support instructors in meeting their learning needs.” (www.language.ca)
Free access:
http://www.language.ca/product/clb-esl-for-adult-literacy-learners-all-pdf-e/
From the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks, the topic of this sample CLB Literacy -2 module is weather. Scroll down to find and download Digital Literacy Lesson Plan Sample. It provides lesson planning for using a website to check weather, also includes 4 pages of handouts and suggestions for 9 activities.
A language learning website that uses gaming to keep learners motivated. Easy to navigate lessons are personalized, immediate feedback is provided, "rewards" are handed out as levels are mastered. Can be used for independent practice, or in a lab setting. The learning program is based on language-acquisition research and makes the claim: "34 hours of Duolingo are equal to 1 university semester of language courses".
This site may also be of interest to teachers interested in acquiring another language. There are 33 languages to choose from, including Klingon - not kidding!
The Easy Reading Career Planning Series includes Work and You Book 1 and Work and You Book 2 workbooks, plus guidelines for teachers, tutors and career advisors.
Additional topics: job profiles, dictionary, find a job, keep your job
The titles are focused on Alberta but the core information is quite useful and could be adapted.
This YouTube video help students to learn English.
An easy to navigate website is good for independent practice and can be used with children. Contains grammar, listening and reading activities from very easy to intermediate levels.
Listening Lab for students
This Canadian website sells classroom materials for a variety of purposes. The texts are written for ESL learners from Literacy to CLB 6. The books range in cost from about $30 to $80, for teacher or school. CDs are provided. Texts are skill and theme based (health, food, family), also includes Canadian holidays, vocabulary activities and games. New texts contain PBLA resources.
Subscription required:
http://www.eslresources.com/
Additional Resources:
Lessons are task-based for PBLA:
http://www.eslresources.com/Foof-Related-Tasks-Shopping-and-Beyond.html
Outcomes: Assessment 4-book series for CLB 1–4, based on CLB 2000, can be adapted for PBLA tasks:
http://www.eslresources.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1
Eye on Literacy wordless picture books are designed by two Canadian educators for literacy learners with limited formal education. The books contain high quality visuals to build on the oral language skills of adult second language literacy learners with limited schooling, to help create learner-generated texts. The site states: "Moving the learner from oral language to print through visuals creates an environment where, together, the teacher and learner can build meaningful contexts and decoding skills. The emphasis is on oral language which becomes the stepping stone to the reading and writing process."
Each book comes with assessments with audio. Yearly subscriptions $45 or books can be purchased individually.
Storybooks and related activities in five languages: English, French, Arabic, Tagalog and Chinese. Designed for parents and children to read and develop literacy skills together.
Free access:
http://familyliteracyfirst.ca/
The Toolkit is a comprehensive guide for teaching financial literacy and numeracy to ESL Literacy and low-level learners. The guide contains assessment materials, instructional and planning content, thematic units with sample lesson plans and classroom resources, with instructions for three learner stages: Emerging, Building and Expanding, which have been developed for multi-level settings.
Thematic units cover: goal setting, money, grocery shopping, budgeting, banking, credit/debt/loans. Follow-up and homework activities are suggested, along with teaching tips. The Toolkit emphasizes that there is not necessarily a correlation between a learner’s literacy and numeracy skills.
Free access:
https://centre.bowvalleycollege.ca/sites/default/files/Financial-ESL-Literacy-Toolkit_1.pdf
A children's K-8 website containing word games, spelling and vocabulary practice, online books, and a superhero video series. It's divided by grade level; English learners will enjoy the colourful and easy to navigate site with engaging practice materials that are suitable for their level.
Free access:
This is a 284-page resource for literacy learners. Instructors are welcome to pull from the activities, worksheets, learning strategies and ideas included in the collection. Clear and easy to use.
Healthy Eating is designed for CLB 1 but can be adapted to other levels. Created by Immigrate Manitoba, this curriculum offers classroom activities and a methodology guide: topics include food, nutrition, grocery shopping and budgeting.
These easy-to-read activity booklets, written by Joan Acosta and Bev Burke, have been designed for adult English learners build their own literacy skills while building the habit of reading with with young children. The first book is for reading with babies, the second is for toddlers, and the third is for reading with preschoolers. The booklets can be read online or downloaded and printed.
Free access.
This is a sharing website for instructor-made materials: a variety of resources including printable worksheets, PowerPoints and videos. Registration required.
Free access:
https://en.islcollective.com/
This site is an online picture dictionary with images, audio and text and activities.
Topics: the body, food, the house, numbers, etc.
Free access:
http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/
Larry Ferlazzo is a well-known American high school English teacher-blogger whose website offers numerous resources and reference materials that are useful to teachers who work in adult settings. He offers: English themes for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners, bilingual exercises, and academic reading and writing.
Here are a few of the many online dictionaries suitable for instructors and higher level learners. The Oxford and Cambridge websites provide blogs for instructors. The Merriam-Webster site contains quizzes and learner activities.
Advanced learners may enjoy using Oxford Advanced American Dictionary or Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online. In other words, it is both a dictionary and a thesaurus, employing a visually appealing neural net (word web) to demonstrate meanings, word associations and concepts.
Free access:
Longman: http://www.ldoceonline.com/
Merriam-Webster: http://www.learnersdictionary.com/
Oxford: http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/
Oxford Advanced: http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/
Cambridge: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/learner-english/
Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/
First launched in 2000, StoryPlace has been newly redesigned to present favourite stories and activities in a format compatible with desktop and mobile devices. The site also now includes early literacy information for parents and caregivers.
This website contains a range of resources to aid in delivering instruction to children and adults who have had their formal education interrupted. Includes teaching resources and essential learning indicators for language, literacy and numeracy.
Resources for more intensive intervention:
Written by a high school English teacher (with an interest in English Language Acquisition), this blog contains numerous posts on a wide variety of topics such as Digital Citizenship, Writing Prompts, Novel Studies, Growth Mindset and more. She has created many resources that she makes available as free downloads, and readers can sign up for weekly activities sent to their mailboxes.
The Font is an open access international Literary Journal for language teachers. Essays, fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction articles focus on the general theme of teaching and learning languages at home and abroad.
An award-winning British Columbia resource, The Westcoast Reader is designed for beginning adult readers, both ESL and English literacy learners. National and local news stories are adapted from The Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers, in addition to articles on health, safety, law and daily life. The paper is printed on a monthly basis for 10 months of the year, and provides a good orientation to Canadian culture and everyday life.
There are links to videos, photos and maps in the online paper. Each front page article has an audio file, allowing learners to read and listen to the story simultaneously. Teacher notes contain instructional strategies and answer keys.
The articles are not referenced to the CLBs. They are written with three levels of difficulty, suitable for CLB Stage 1 learners and higher level ESL Literacy learners.
The following groups can receive The Westcoast Reader free:
- Community Adult Literacy Programs (CALP)
- ESL, EAL and ABE programs provided by public post-secondary institutions
- Literacy Outreach Coordinators (LOC)
- Public libraries
There is a large collection on Tutela relating to literacy. While the full collection has not been reviewed, it is an excellent starting point for developing literacy curriculum and assessment.
Topics:
- Literacy Tools and Templates
- Listening Assessments
- Speaking Assessments
- Reading Assessments
- Writing Assessments
- Literacy Goal Setting
- Module and Lesson Planning
- Literacy Webinars
Free to join. Free access nationally. Must register before accessing information. Search Tutela Collections.
Register at:
https://tutela.ca/
There is a section on Tutela under Resources that focuses on teaching resources. The resources can be explored by theme or level. While the full collection has not been reviewed, they may provide a starting point for developing curriculum. You must register (it's free) in order to access the information.
YouTube is an online video sharing service. Content includes video clips, TV shows, music videos, movie scenes, documentaries and video blogs. Users may also upload their own videos.
Recommended ESL channels:
TESL Ontario: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB8jCi0be7y9jPgVN7wjdcQ
ISSofBC (Canadian): https://www.youtube.com/user/lSSofBC
BusyTeacher: http://busyteacher.org/24395-youtube-esl.html
English Club: https://www.englishclub.com/efl/tefl-articles/esl-channels-on-youtube/
BBC Learning English: https://www.youtube.com/user/bbclearningenglish
VOA: https://www.youtube.com/user/VOALearningEnglish
Anglo-Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/MinooAngloLink
Real English: https://www.youtube.com/user/realenglish1
