Tag Archives: vocabulary

Improve your Science Literacy Game in Minutes: Educator Resources from the American Museum of Natural History

As ABE/HSE teachers, we face the continual dilemma of so much to teach, and so little time to teach it—that is why it makes sense for us to teach literacy strategies in the process of helping students acquire content knowledge.  One of the main ways we can do this is through reading.

The Integrating Literacy Strategies into Science Instruction series from the American Museum of Natural History is a very helpful tool for this purpose.  The series consists of videos, 5-10 minutes in length, on particular reading strategies—paraphrasing, summarizing, read alouds, vocabulary, and interactive reading guides—that are accompanied by the tools used along with the videos.

Continue reading Improve your Science Literacy Game in Minutes: Educator Resources from the American Museum of Natural History

New Season, New Name: “We Are New York” Is Now “We Speak NYC”!

It’s here! The long-awaited Season Two of We Are New York (now called We Speak NYC) with new characters who help learners improve their language skills, learn about their rights, and access New York City services. We Speak NYC has unveiled seven new engaging videos and supplementary learning materials for English Language Learners on the new We Speak NYC web site.

Continue reading New Season, New Name: “We Are New York” Is Now “We Speak NYC”!

Low Level Stories You Can “Bank” On!

The Minnesota Literacy Council ESL Story Bank is a group of stories written specifically for adult ESL learners at the lowest levels. They are part of the Minnesota Literacy Council’s Adult ESL Curriculum with Transition Skills, available here for free. In the ESL Story Bank, there are both pre-beginning and beginning stories in the story bank.  The stories are all relevant and appropriate for adult English Language Learners. The activities are well-scaffolded, and designed to help low level students each step of the way.  The materials can be used as a full curriculum in which you introduce a new story with a theme that builds over the course of a week. Alternatively, teachers can pick and choose stories that support the adult learner themes they are working on. Continue reading Low Level Stories You Can “Bank” On!

Vocabulary Study and Play at Your Fingertips

Quizlet.com is a site for teachers and students to create word cards for vocabulary learning through reading, listening, matching, spelling and flashcard games. Continue reading Vocabulary Study and Play at Your Fingertips

Word Games!

This page is a wonderful resource for teachers who want a crash course on how to teach vocabulary effectively along with dozens of really fun vocabulary games that can be used for reinforcement and review.

The first pages of the document are devoted to summarizing the main points of Beck and McKeown’s Bringing Words to Life, which has become the go-to book for most educators around the topic of vocabulary instruction. These pages provide teachers with a quick and dirty guide to choosing words, presenting words to students, what it means to “know” a word, and how to review words for reinforcement and application. Continue reading Word Games!