Resources

The Teaching the Core video lessons demonstrate standards-based instruction at different grade levels. After opening a free account, use the search feature to find videos by subject and/or grade level. Each video is accompanied by a teacher interview, lesson plan, instructional materials, and student work. The lessons are K-12, so some adjustments and contextualization would need to be made for adult learners. The higher grade levels will be most appropriate for adult educators. Use the Teaching the Core videos for independent study or as part of a professional learning community or professional development program. The most useful feature of the actual videos is the timestamp feature, which allows viewers to go to certain sections of each video and watch for specific teacher and student moves. You may find the following ELA Teaching the Core videos very helpful: “Author’s Message with Multiple Texts” (10^th grade) http://www.teachingthecore.org/view/51 and “Connotation & Exile” (9^th grade) http://www.teachingthecore.org/view/20.

This resource supports state and program efforts to implement adult education content standards aligned with college and career readiness to support rigorous and high-quality instruction. Usage of the ELA/Literacy Foundational Units 1-4 will strengthen the capacity of adult educators to implement CCR standards to better prepare adult students for success in college and careers. These activities provide the field with opportunities to dig into the CCR standards and explore what it means to adopt CCR-aligned standards in classrooms and how to do so sustainably. Understanding how CCR standards differ from previous sets of standards—and the necessary shifts or advances they call for—is essential to implementing CCR standards well. Engagement in these four units of activities will enable adult educators to identify the most significant elements of CCR standards for ELA/literacy and to determine how best to integrate them into instruction and curriculum. The goal of Units 1 - 4 is for participants to leave with specific ideas, resources, and actions they can implement immediately. Designed primarily for group use, these units also support independent study. The four units should be worked through sequentially. The units can be facilitated during a single daylong training or multiple trainings over several weeks or months. Each ready-to-use unit contains all the materials required to facilitate these training activities, including a facilitator’s guide, an annotated PowerPoint Presentation, and a packet of participant materials. The participant materials include directions, charts, worksheets, answer keys, and other resource materials that guide the use of each unit. The PowerPoint presentations are a digital aid for presenters/facilitators who lead CCR ELA/literacy training activities. Notes are provided within the PowerPoint presentations to help you prepare for each session. This information accompanies the information offered in the facilitator guides—including the research base, rationale, advice, and other guidelines—to provide the support and guidance you may require.

This Webinar was created for College and Career Readiness Standards In Action (CCR SIA) project for adult educators from 12 states, who requested information on how CCR standards can be implemented for ELLs. This Webinar responds to their questions. The Webinar content, demonstration video, and links to further resources all provide essential information for you to use as you re-envision ELL education in your states. Use this resource to help plan ways to implement CCR academic content in classrooms with ELLs. View it individually, as part of a professional learning community, or a professional development workshop. In addition to providing essential information about teaching ELLs, it could fuel a discussion of different strategies and approaches to implementing CCR standards. The webinar includes a classroom video demonstration that is particularly useful in conjunction with Ms. Pimentel’s summary of research on reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language (slides 17-28). The slides which articulate the pedagogical shifts in teaching ELLs (slides 29-30) provide a concise statement of the new direction for ELL instruction afforded by the CCR standards. The PowerPoint slides are available a stand-alone resource.

OWL is a collection of resources that support writing instruction created for college-aged students—no matter their skill level—and their instructors and tutors. These materials are relevant to ABE and ESL students and relatively simple to adapt for the purposes of adult educators. OWL resources support instruction aligned to College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for writing and language, though CCR standards are not specifically named. For example, the sections on academic writing address expository, argumentative, and narrative writing—CCR Writing Standards 1-3.  The resources also support development of the writing process—CCR Writing Standard 5; the need for evidence to support claims—CCR Writing Standard 9 and Key Advance 2; and correct methods for citing resources—CCR Writing Standard 8. Conducting research is also addressed—CCR Writing Standard 7 as are mechanics, punctuation, and grammar—CCR Language Standards 1-2. OWL provides writing resources and instructional materials to support students as well as educators.  Resources present clear guidelines and expectations for academic writing. Teachers can use the site’s resources to develop lessons, assignments, and classroom resources. Students will find hands-on exercises and printable resources that support their continuing development as writers. OWL provides a wealth of materials that address a variety of topics about writing, topics that are also addressed by CCR writing and language standards. The site is well-organized by topics and subtopics. The Site Map provides a good overview of the site’s scope and sequence.  

This practice-oriented resource examines language demands of the workforce, postsecondary transitions for adult ELLs, and effective preparation of adult learners for career training and postsecondary education. It illustrates effective instructional models for integrating career training with academic instruction and demonstrates key concepts in integrating academic skill development across many ELL levels to assist with learners’ transitions to postsecondary education, in preparation for work. Concrete classroom examples come from across a range of levels and teaching contexts. Formatted as a digital magazine, this clickable PDF contains embedded resources and links to websites that encourage users to delve deeply into the areas of greatest relevance. Through the resource, practitioners are able to link to concrete examples taken from each of the seminal resources and, where relevant, additional examples drawn from other relevant contexts (e.g., K–12 education).

Newsela aligns to the CCR standards Key Advance 1 (Regular practice with complex text and its academic language) and Key Advance 3 (Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction). The contemporary informational texts provided on this website will be useful in working with students to meet the level-specific expectations of the CCR standards for reading. Use this site to:

• Find appropriately complex non-fiction texts accompanied by multiple choice quiz and sample writing prompts
• Build content knowledge on current events
• Supplement existing curriculum resources
• Connect historical or scientific topics with current events
• Create your own text sets by pulling together multiple articles on the same topic
• Access text sets created by other educators.

Most useful features:

• High-interest texts appropriate for adult learners.
• This site is particularly appropriate for instructors who are planning and implementing instruction in multi-leveled classrooms. Because each article is provided at all its varying Lexile levels, this site helps to ensure all students can build their knowledge about the same content.
• After signing up to use the site, begin with the “Overview” section.