Find resources to help plan for engaging sessions with English learners.
🔤 Beginning Literacy Resources
- ESL Beginning Literacy Booklet PDFs: A Google Drive containing numerous printer-friendly worksheets and workbooks.
🖥️ Digital Skills
- Digital ESL: A guided path to digital literacy contained in one document.
- ABE Tech Adult Learning Classes: Classes for improving keyboarding and digital literacy skills.
- English for Emails: Lessons on email writing skills and email etiquette.
📚 Leveled Reading
- Bow Valley Books Leveled Reading: Excellent collection of Beginning Literacy to more advanced online books. With accompanying audio.
- Stickyball (Adult ESL Lessons): An extensive list of lessons containing a reading passage and comprehension/discussion questions, as well as various review exercises and activities.
- EReading Worksheets: Reading worksheets, activities, and resources.
- Reading Skills For Today’s Adults: Reading fluency practice arranged by level.
💡 Independent Learning Resources
- Voice of America Learning English: Beginning, intermediate, and advanced activities for English practice including stories, articles, videos, and podcasts.
- A Digital Workbook for Beginning ESOL: Beginning level skills on particular topics (alphabet, greetings, weather, etc.), including YouTube demonstrations with a teacher and interactive skills building activities.
- Culips Podcast: Podcast episodes to learn natural English vocabulary, idioms, expressions, slang, phrasal verbs, pronunciation, and grammar. (Free podcast, paid transcripts and interactive study guides.)
- ESL Cyber Listening Lab: A large collection of language activities focused on listening skills, including audio clips with comprehension questions.
- English Listening Lesson Library: Free listening lessons for all levels. Most activities have audio or video, a transcript, vocabulary lesson and interactive quiz.
- English 101 YouTube Videos: Find videos on just about anything related to the English language, including a video titled The Top 25 English Phrases.
- Many Things: Various language learning activities including quizzes, word games, word puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, and a random-sentence generator.
- Real English: Videos of people recorded in public places in the USA with language learning exercises. Good for beginning to intermediate levels.
- Story Corps: Short, natural conversations and monologues, many on difficult topics, organized by theme. Good for high intermediate or advanced learners.
- Scripps News: Short international and US news segments across a variety of topics from business to entertainment. Good for advanced learners.
- Breaking News English: This website features short news stories at seven different levels in addition to various activities that accompany each story.
- USA Hello: A comprehensive platform designed for immigrant communities to learn about complex (health, education, work, immigration, citizenship, etc.) systems and culture in the United States with accessible, multilingual resources.
🗽 Citizenship
- USA Hello (Citizenship): A guide to citizenship information and preparation.
- USCIS Government Website: Student self-guided study and information about the test.
- Civics Flash Cards: Flash cards to study for the naturalization test.
- Civics Practice Test Videos: Short videos to simulate the civics portion of the naturalization test.
- USCIS Citizenship and Naturalization: A YouTube playlist with 15 videos on the topic.
🗪 Conversation
- Conversation Starters: Questions to jumpstart conversations on a variety of topics.
- Practical English Conversations: Many exercises, articles, activities, etc. Listen and practice with different English conversation situations, like traveling, going to the bank, shopping, or renting an apartment.
- English Conversations for Beginners: Practice conversations for beginners on many topics, like school, food, safety, and health.
- Stickyball (Dialogues and Conversations): Teaching conversation requires good materials that can give students something to talk about. This page contains an extensive list of printable ESL dialogues below all include highlighted vocabulary words, discussion questions, and a sentence pattern.
☕ Common Workplace Topics
- REEPworld: Interactive story lessons and activities on the topics of family/community, health, and work. Beginner level.
- USA Hello (Work): Information about finding work in the United States.
- USA Hello (Culture): Information about American culture and values.
🗣️Pronunciation
- 44 Sounds of English: A helpful resource listing and describing the phonemes of the English language, with examples.
- Rachel’s English: Many videos, a free accent course, charts, and a cheat sheet to help learn English pronunciation.
- Text-to-Speech Tool: Input text into the box and a pronunciation is generated and said out loud.
- BBC Learning English: A YouTube video series on the sounds of the English language.
- StickyBall (Phonics): An extensive collection of phonics materials for all levels, including word lists, sentences, reading passages, activities, and worksheets
🔠Vocabulary
- English Vocabulary List: A complete list of vocabulary worksheets on 20+ topics, including chemistry, law, marketing, etc.
- Periodic Videos (Chemistry): Interactive website with videos about all of the elements.
- Hospital English (Medical): English terms for healthcare professionals, including many activities.
- Business English: Interactive website with pictures and fill-in-the-blank activities about business vocabulary.
- Stickyball (Business): Practical exercises, useful vocabulary, and thoughtful discussion questions.
- Test Prep Vocabulary: Vocabulary for standardized tests and English in general. Great for students studying for TOEFL, CLEP, etc.
🎧Listening
- We Speak NYC: A collection of videos that dramatize issues important to immigrants living in the US including: food assistance, career preparation, workers’ rights, making friends, pre-K resources, and more. Each video is accompanied by both interactive online practice activities and downloadable materials to support learner comprehension of the videos, vocabulary acquisition and problem-solving skills.
📝Grammar
- Learn American English Online: This website includes seven levels of instruction, ranging from beginner to advanced. Each lesson is introduced by a video that explains a grammar point and includes a series of grammar quizzes and dictation exercised (with answers).
- ESL Gold Basic Sentence Structure: This page explains SVO (subject-verb-object) and basic sentence structures with various examples and a video.
- Everyday Grammar: Videos and fun lessons that show how Americans use English grammar in everyday conversation.
- Stickyball (Grammar): Practical exercises, useful vocabulary, and thoughtful discussion questions.
🎓GED®/ABE Resources
- USA Hello (GED): Information to prepare for GED, as well as a free GED course.
- 4Tests: A free practice exam site.
- GED.com (MyGED): The official home of the GED® test on the web. Use the search bar for a test tutorial, videos on how to write the extended response, math strategies, practice tests, practice questions, test calculator tutorial, and more.
- GED® Virginia: GED® Test resources brought to you by VCU.
- HippoCampus: Free educational resources in 13 subject areas from middle school to college level.
- Jefferson Lab: Virginia State Standards of Learning practice tests.
- KhanAcademy: Learn anything, for free.
- Mometrix: GED® Test preparation, some free options.
- PBS Learning Media: Video lessons and quizzes on topics including language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science.
- Varsity Tutors: Practice tests, flashcards, and more.
- Language Arts
- Reasoning through Language Arts Guide: A helpful overview, listing of topics, and links to get started.
- Social Studies
- LizardPoint: The best website for learning geography.
- STEM
- Math is Fun: Practice your math skills with various activities.
- Math Aids: Math worksheets organized by topic.
- Dads Worksheets: Free math worksheets, calculators, and more.
- PhET: Interactive simulations for science and math brought to you by the University of Colorado Boulder.
- StudyJams: Math and science lessons brought to you by Scholastic.
- ThatQuiz: Math test activities for students and teachers of all grade levels.
- Virtual Nerd: Math activities brought to you by Pearson.
🛠️Educational Tools
- Wordwall: A tool for easily creating simple activities for matching, sorting, unscrambling and more.
CAELC's VISAS Program at UVA 