ESL Conversation Class Topics from Eastside Literacy Council

Are you looking for topics for conversation with the ESL students you tutor? You can find a large variety of "Talk Time" lesson plans on the Adult Education Tutor Support site of  Hopelink Adult Education.

MakeBeliefsComix.com Launches Special Needs Section

MakeBeliefsComix.com, the free online comic strip generator, has launched a new Special Needs Section to help educators, educational therapists and parents use the site to enable children with a wide array of disabilities communicate more effectively and express their ideas by creating comic strips online. Creating comic strips is a fun way to encourage writing and reading.

New Newsletter for Tutors from TLC

Please follow this link to find TLC's first issue of our new newsletter Tips for Tutors. What tips do you have to share? Post them here so that I can add them to the next newsletter!

Florida Literacy Coalition Shares Its Teacher/Tutor Resource Site

I put out a request on Twitter for lesson plans for tutors working with adult literacy learners and I received a link from the Florida Literacy Coalition for their Teacher/Tutor Resource Site. Let us know what you found really valuable on this site.

Lesson Writer

Have you seen this? If you register with LessonWriter you can use it to create entire lessons for you. The link below has a video of how you can use this site.
http://www.lessonwriter.com/default.aspx

Online Resources

http://distancewebsites.wikispaces.com/ - This awesome website provides links to numerous topics pertaining to adult literacy.  It was put together by the Distance Learning Project.


http://www.clese.org/brightideas_eslcurric.htm - This site provides a 16 unit ESL Civics Curriculum designed for very beginning ESL learners.

http://www.esldiscussions.com/  - ESL Discussions, 650 conversations from which to choose and 13,000 conversation questions. Use in lessons, to practice speaking, etc.

ESL/ESOL Adult Learning Videos  - A variety of professional development videos can be found at this site.

Watch for Further Online Supports for Tutors of Adult Learners

Are you interested in web-based resources connecting you with other tutors of adult learners?

Tutors of Literacy is planning to start a wiki for tutors as well as a Ning social network account. A wiki is "the simplest online database that could possibly work" quoted from  http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki; a wiki allows for anyone to create or edit information so tutors can ask questions, share information and share hyperlinks. Ning is a platform where a social network for a select group of people (namely adult literacy tutors) would be created and it would be similar to a Facebook account.

While this all may sound like overload, my goal is to provide your preferred mode of online support so that you can interact however you choose.

Watch here for links to these new resources.

What if ... ?

What if the student ______ ? Hopelink's Adult Education Tutor Support Site has a tutor FAQ page.
 http://eastsideliteracy.org/tutorsupport/OneonOne/OneonOneTips.htm
See if your question is answered there. If so, please share it with us.

More from the National Institute for Literacy

Have you checked out the Basic Skills section of the LINCS Resource Collections? http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/RC_skills.html
This collection "focuses on reading, writing, mathematics and numeracy resources that can improve instruction in basic skills." Materials are listed in the topics of reading, writing and mathematics and you can search through and find both research and classroom/tutoring materials. One link (Marshall Adult Education: http://www.marshalladulteducation.org/reading-skills-for-todays-adult) takes you to a website with leveled readings for practice with fluency.
Please comment below on what you found most valuable in the Basic Skills section of the LINCS Resource Collection.

Fun with Tutoring

Ever wonder how you can make your tutoring session more fun? Check out the Minnesota Literacy Council's page on Teaching with Games. http://www.themlc.org/games.html

You can even find a lesson plan on using the farmer's market produce set for a relay game. If you follow the link on the left for Tutor Resources then select Preparing Lessons, you will find several more links such as: Lesson Planning , Tutor Tips, Reading for Life Lessons (including links to free copies of Reading for Life), and Citizenship.

Refresher

Ever feel like you could use a refresher course in some of the basics of tutoring adult learners? The article "To Teach So They Can Learn" by Ilda Carreiro King, PhD provides just that. It summarizes adult learner characteristics and appropriate instructor/tutor responses. It also discusses the five critical elements of learning that must be addressed in order for learners to learn.

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B926mnQyIUuxOGQxMWI2MGItM2ZhMi00YmU2LWJjNTItMDdmZDJjOTFhNjc4&hl=en

NIFL and LINCS

The National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) has a resource collection which is part of their Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS). Currently featured is a Workforce Competitiveness collection which has "resources applicable to workforce basic skills education, English language acquisition, and/or technology".

Also available is a Career Pathways Instructional Materials Library and numerous other wonderful resources. Follow this link http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/resourcecollections/RC_workforce.html to find these resources and more.

Having Trouble Creating Objectives for Tutoring Lessons?

The article "Hey Trainers - Write 38 Instant Measurable Objectives in Minutes" by Karen Miller, provides explicit direction in writing objectives using words that will make the outcomes clearly measurable. 
http://ezinearticles.com/?Hey-Trainers-Write-38-Instant-Measurable-Objectives-in-Minutes!&id=402069
Both tutors and adult learners will benefit greatly from the creation and use of measurable objectives.
What techniques do you use to provide structure to your tutoring sessions?

A Tutor Support Site

Hopelink's adult education tutor support site has FAQs, lesson plans, and further resources. It includes sections for ESL, basic literacy, and lifelong learning. Check it out and let us know what you think.

http://www.eastsideliteracy.org/tutorsupport/

Looking for Curricula to Use with an Adult ESL Learner?

Check out the curricula available from Arlington Education and Employment Program (REEP).
http://www.apsva.us/15401081182015517/lib/15401081182015517/reepcurriculum/index.html
You will find sections on Instructional Planning, Curriculum Content, Learner Assessment, Resources, Technology Integration, and References.

More on Workforce Skills and Tutoring Adult Learners

The PA Workforce Education Center (WERC) http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/able_programs___services/9082/workforce_education/523292/foundationskills has numerous resources available to help you incorporate workforce skills into your tutoring sessions. One of these resources is a booklet, "Innovative Strategies", which is compiled of stories from practitioners who are using the Foundation Skills Framework to guide their instruction. This booklet can be found at http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/resources___documents/9086/workforce_education_resources/523341 under Foundation Skills Tools, "Innovative Strategies".
Do you have a lesson that you have developed to help an adult learner acquire a workforce or life skill? Please share it with us here.

Principles of Adult Learning

"Part of being an effective instructor involves understanding how adults learn best." This quote come from the article Principles of Adult Learning by Stephen Lieb, http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-2.htm. This insightful piece succinctly explains:

• the characteristics of adult learners
• motivation
• barriers to learning
• and learning tips for effective instructors.
  

Tutoring with Authentic Materials

A study sponsored by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) indicates that using authentic materials with adult learners has positive outcomes. "Results show that students who participate in classes in which real-life literacy activities and texts are used increase the frequency with which they read and write in their daily lives.Such learners also expand the variety of texts they read and write outside of school." For the article "Taking Literacy Skills Home", go to
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=286

This article refers to a teacher (tutor) handbook that is designed to help adult literacy teachers apply the results of this study to their own practice. This handbook, Creating Authentic Materials and Activities for the Adult Literacy Classroom, A Handbook for Practitioners, can be downloaded at http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/teach/jacobson.pdf.

Connecting Tutoring Sessions to Workforce Development

Are you working with a low level learner and wondering how the basic skills that you are working on can be connected to workforce goals? The document, Exploring Work-based Foundation Skills in the ABLE Classroom, Instructional Activities and Resources to Use with Adult Learners, can give you ideas for use in your one on one tutoring sessions.

The document can be found by going to http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/professional_development/9085/workforce_education_pd/523336, scrolling partway down the page until the Foundation Skills Framework for Volunteer Tutors header, and clicking on the link for the mentioned document.
You can also follow this link to access the document through Google Docs: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B926mnQyIUuxZjE1ZDFkZjMtYjEwMC00ZmY2LWE1OWEtN2M2MTM1ODJlZjY4&hl=en

 Also available is the Foundation Skills Framework Resources booklet which contains the Foundation Skills Wheel, Learner Self-Appraisal, and Competency Lists. Go to this link, http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/resources___documents/9086/workforce_education_resources/523341, scroll down to Foundation Skills Tools and click on the Foundation Skills Framework Resources (pdf).

Setting Goals with Adult Learners

Research shows that setting realistic goals and planning instruction around those goals is essential to effective literacy teaching. Check out this tutor's guide: Setting literacy goals and recording progress, from Workbase: The New Zealand Centre for Workforce Literacy Development. http://www.workbase.org.nz/Resource.aspx?ID=210 

This guide includes sections on assessing the learner's skills, developing individual learning plans, identifying steps to reach the learner's goals, planning teaching and learning activities, and much more. This is a great practical resource to keep on hand.