Project-Based Learning

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Bringing Literacy to Life: Issues and Options in Adult ESL Literacy.
Wrigley, Heide Spruck and Guth, Gloria J. A. (1992) A handbook for ESL teachers and programs. Chapters include a discussion of meaning and practice in adult ESL literacy; a consideration of how computers and video technology can best be used to support effective programs; and sample curricular modules and activities that teachers can use to advance the goals of individuals within their particular programs. Attention is also given to such issues as teaching in multilevel classrooms and providing literacy instruction in a learner's native language.(428.007 Wri)

Enriching Our Lives: Poetry Lessons for Adult Literacy Teachers and Tutors.
Kazemek, Francis E. and Rigg, Pat. (1995). This book is an introduction to the writing of poetry for adults who have recently become literate. Chapters describe a variety of poetic forms in an easy to understand format with sample poems included for use as study aids for students. Information is provided on how to write poetry from different perspectives. (372.6 Kaz)

New Ways in Teaching Adults: New Ways in TESOL Series II: Innovative Classroom Techniques.
Lewis, Marilyn. (1997). The author has compiled a collection of lesson ideas for all levels. Some of the ten areas addressed are: The News; Written Texts; Task Instruction or Demonstrations; and Other People. The lessons are understandable and adaptable to a variety of students. (428.007 Lew) New Ways in Content-Based Instruction. Brinton, Donna M. and Master, Peter. (1997). Even though this book is specifically addressed to ESL instruction, the information is a valuable tool for all adult instructors. The authors have gathered lesson ideas based on content-based instruction. The areas covered are: Information Management; Critical Thinking; Hands-On Activities; Data Gathering; and Text Analysis and Construction. (428.007 Bri)

Making Meaning, Making Change: Participatory Curriculum Development for Adult ESL Literacy.
Auerbach, Elsa Roberts. (1992). Unlike traditional curriculum guides that specify the structure, sequence, and content for instruction, this unique book raises issues about teaching and curriculum development. This format invites readers to share their experiences, make their assumptions about literacy explicit, and work together to investigate instructional methods. The author describes how adult ESL literacy teachers and students can collaborate so that a literacy curriculum is relevant to students' life experiences, and helps students confront the challenges they face as workers, parents, and community members. (428.007 Aue)

Something to Think About: A Student-Generated Project That Reaches Into the Community.
Green, Anson. (1998). The students in Anson Green's Culebra Road (Northside ISD) JOBS class (GED preparation/job preparedness training and parenting) planned and delivered a series of presentations to San Antonio's Northside ISD Anson Jones Middle School students. Their objective was to give middle school students a view of what life had been like since the Culebra Road students dropped out of school and ended up on welfare. FREE COPIES AVAILABLE. (371.81 Gre)

Twenty-five Lessons in Citizenship: With Complete Text of the Constitution of the United States.
Hennessey, D.L. (1998). Written by a citizenship teacher, this book contains lessons and suggestions for teachers working with adults. Information about national, state, county, and city government is updated. Questions at the end of this book are similar to those asked by naturalization examiners. (323 Hen)

US Immigration & Citizenship: Your Complete Guide.
Wernick, Allan. (1997). In this book, an immigration attorney gives advice on becoming a US citizen and covers the new immigration laws as of 1997. Practical tips are included on visas, green cards, work records, interview questions, rights of workers, and more. (323 Wer)

Celebrations Around the World: A Multicultural Handbook.
Angell, Carole S. (1996). The author describes the background and context of more than 300 cultural observations, providing activities for families or students to explore selected celebrations, festivals, and religious holidays observed by countries and cultures from Angola to Zimbabwe. The appendix includes recipes and music. (306 Ang)

61 Cooperative Learning Activities in ESL.
Hirsch, Charles and Supple, Deborah Beres. (1996). The five sections of this book are: Language and Literature; History and Social Studies; Thinking and Communicating in Math; Thinking and Communicating in Science and Technology; and Health, Wellness, and Safety and Prevention. A lesson plan format is given with each activity along with reproducible student sheets. (428.007 Hir)

Conversation Inspirations: Over Two Thousand Conversation Topics.
Zelman, Nancy Ellen. (1996). This book provides ideas for working on conversation skills with ESL students. The chapters include role play, interviews, talks, group creativity, and discussions - lots of ideas to get students started talking. (428.007 Zel)

Goldmine: A Treasury of Language-Teaching Games and Activities for Teachers of English as a Second and Foreign Language to Use in the Classroom.
Shantz, Melvin S. (1993). This book contains a variety of activities that allow the students to practice and learn language. The activities cover a wide range of language skills, with a focus on talking and listening. Included are cooperative and competitive activities for pairs, small groups, large groups, and as a class. (428.007 Sha )

Index Card Games for ESL.
Clark, Raymond C. (1992). This book contains learning activities for ESL students by using index cards. Some of the topics are spelling, sounds, sentence structure, and who's who. The activities are appropriate for all ESL levels. (428.007 Cla)

The Values Book: Teaching Sixteen Basic Values to Young Children.
Schiller, Pam and Bryant, Tamera. (1998). The authors use everyday activities and ideas, suggestions for thought and discussion, and numerous activities to help reinforce different values. (649.58 Sch VB)

Win the Whining War and Other Skirmishes: A Family Peace Plan.
Whitham Cynthia. (1998). A step- by-step guide to help increase cooperation and reduce conflict with children. These techniques are used to reduce behaviors such as tantrums, teasing, talking back, and complaining. (649.58 Whi)

Free to Be...You and Me: And Free to Be...A Family.
Thomas, Marlo & Friends. (1997). This is a positive book for children and adults, which tells not who you should be or ought to be, but who you can be. The songs, poems and stories reassure children and adults that families are what you make of them, that they are not preordained or static. (649.58 Tho)

How to Talk so Kids Will Listen.
Kentucky Educational Television. Based on the bestselling book, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk, this video series offers parents and caregivers effective, innovative ways to communicate with children. The book's authors, Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish, host the video series, leading a group of parents in learning how to build better relationships with their children. The techniques they explore include those that help parents hear and understand their children's concerns, elicit cooperation without nagging, find alternatives to punishment, and help their children attain positive self-image. Each video is 30 minutes long. Loan titles include: Helping Children Deal With Their Feelings; Alternatives to Punishment; Encouraging Autonomy; Freeing Children from Playing Roles; and Praise. (649.1 KET1)

National Evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program 1998: 1994-1997 Final Report and Summary/Interpretation.
US Department of Education Planning and Evaluation Service. (1999). This report is the final product of the second national Even Start evaluation. The first national evaluation documented the program's early development from 1989-90 through 1992-93. This report continues the same objectives as the first national evaluation, covering the program years from 1993-94 through 1996-97. The following questions are addressed: Who is served and what services do they receive? Is the program reaching the appropriate target population? How is federal funding spent on the program? How are Even Start services implemented? How well does the Even Start basic model work? What educational and developmental gains are achieved by participants? What are the characteristics of effective practices and programs? The report summarizes what has been learned about the Even Start Family Literacy Program after 10 years of demonstration and evaluation activities and points out some of the directions, possibilities, and problems facing the program in the future. (649.58 USDE)

When Nothing Matters Anymore: A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens.
Cobain, Bev. (1998). This book is a guide for teenagers dealing with sadness, discouragement, or depression. Part One of the book describes the causes and types of depression and the connections between depression, suicide, and drug and alcohol abuse. Part Two covers professional treatment, how it helps, and how to stay healthy. (649.58 Cob)

Finding Funding: Grant writing from Start to Finish, Including Project Management and Internet Use.
Brewer, Ernest W. et al. (1998). These three areas are covered: Exploring in the Grants World; Writing Grant Proposals; and Implementing, Operating, and Terminating a Project. Grant tips are scattered throughout the book. (658.152 Bre)

Winning Grants Step by Step: Support Centers of America's Complete Workbook for Planning, Developing, Writing Successful Proposals.
Carlson, Mim. (1995). This book covers ten steps needed for writing a proposal. Some of the steps are: developing an idea; preparing the evaluation; developing a budget; and putting the package together. The author provides sample worksheets for developing the proposal, as well as other examples. (658.152 Car)

Language Arts for the GED Classroom.
Region 20 Education Service Center and AEPDCC. (1999). This 3-hour video and participant packet are from a TETN professional development video conference presented by the Adult Education Professional Development & Curriculum Consortium at Region 20 Education Service Center. The first segment is on "Uses of the Newspaper and Other Environmental Print in the GED Classroom." The topic of the second segment is teaching critical thinking through popular literature. The third segment is about the writing process. FREE COPIES OF PARTICIPANT PACKET AVAILABLE. (372.6 R20)

The Fabric of History.
Merson, Martha and Gluckman, Amy. (1998). This series of units presents a skeleton of US history enhanced by information and activities about fashion, clothing, and textiles in each period. The series presents texts representing multiple perspectives in three historical eras. Practice in reading comprehension and critical thinking is also provided. (900 Mer)

LD Toolbox.
Central Illinois Adult Education Service Center. (1996). This packet is full of information in a variety of formats. There are three booklets titled LD Toolbox, Dyslexia, and Multicultural Issues; an audiocassette; and a CD Rom. The packet covers most aspects of learning disabilities including indications of a learning disability. Teaching tips and additional resources are also included. (370.152 CIA)

Bridges to Practice: A Research-based Guide for Literacy Practitioners Serving Adults with Learning Disabilities. National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center. (1999). This guide is designed for use by literacy programs to enhance the quality of services provided to adults with learning disabilities. Five guidebooks are included in the loan set: #1--Preparing to Serve Adults with Learning Disabilities; #2--The Assessment Process; #3--The Planning Process; #4--The Teaching-Learning Process; and #5--Creating Professional Development Opportunities. An 11-1/2 minute video is also included, which serves as a "call to action" to adult literacy programs, to initiate systemic reform so that adults with learning disabilities will experience greater success in meeting their educational goals. (370.152 NALLD)

Math Activities for the Adult Learner.
Region 20 Education Service Center and AEPDCC. (1999). This 2-1/2 hour video and participant packet are from a TETN professional development videoconference presented by the Adult Education Professional Development & Curriculum Consortium Project at Region 20 Education Service Center on March 26, 1999. The first segment discusses math concepts and strategies for teaching the concepts to adults through problem solving context, reasoning, making connections, and modeling. The second segment is on the "Pool Project," a learning model through which algebraic concepts are developed out of concrete, numerical problems through a pictorial, graphic approach. The third segment covers GED math topics. FREE COPIES OF PARTICIPANT PACKET AVAILABLE. (510 R20)

Dealing with Difficult Participants.
Pike, Bob and Arch Dave. (1997). Difficult participants have a destructive effect on their own learning, as well as on a group's learning process. The authors identify 15 types of difficult participants and offer 127 techniques for dealing with these people. For each type of participant, the authors suggest several subtle preventive measures and some not-so-subtle corrective ones. Amusing caricatures illustrate the participant types. (378 Pik)

Teamwork from Start to Finish: 10 Steps to Results!
Rees, Fran. (1997). This book provides ten easy steps to making teams work. Topics include organizing the team with focus, establishing guidelines, reviewing performance, and rewarding the team. (378 Ree)

The Guidebook for Performance Improvement: Working with Individuals and Organizations.
Kaufman, Roger et al. (1997). This guide to performance improvement regards customer satisfaction as the ultimate goal, and combines all of the current improvement approaches into one comprehensive approach. Section titles include: Origins of Human Performance Technology; Direction Finding and Goal Setting; Analysis (of business unit, organization, and jobs); Design and Development of Interventions; Implementation; and Evaluation. (378 Kau)

Beyond 2000: Future Directions for Adult Education.
Sticht, Thomas G. (1998). This paper provides adult educators with information they can use to produce perspectives for the future of adult education in the first decade beyond 2000. Part 1 provides a perspective on the past and present of adult education that falls under the aegis of the Federal Adult Education Act of 1966 and the various amendments to the Act made by Congress since then. Part 2 looks at various social, economic, technological, neuroscience, and cognitive science trends and activities that may influence adult education in the future. Part 3 examines certain government and legislative trends that reflect the general idea of "devolution" of responsibility from the federal level to state and local levels, including the shift of emphasis from "education first" to "work first" in reducing welfare rolls, and the greater emphasis on performance accountability in federal programs. Part 4 discusses planning issues involved in moving the present adult education system from a marginal to a mainstream position in the US educational system. (374.29 Sti B2000)

Achieving Learner Goals: Video Technology in Adult Education.
PBS Literacy Link. (1999). This loan set includes a videotape and participant packet from a 2-hour video teleconference broadcast on April 29, 1999. Topics include: benefits of using video as a learning tool; strategies for integrating video into learner activities; learner perspectives; using video in different learning contexts; case studies (including TV411 in El Paso, Texas); discussion of some commercially available adult education video series such as "Crossroads Cafe;" the PBS Literacy Link Workplace Essential Skills series; learner-produced video; and a question & answer segment. FREE COPIES OF PARTICIPANT PACKET AVAILABLE. (374.0078 PLL)

Learning to Read in the Computer Age: Volume 3 in the Series "From Reading Research to Practice".
Meyer, Anne and Rose, David H. (1998). The authors intend this book to help educate teachers in the theories and uses of computers for the teaching of reading. It presents extensive knowledge both about computers and about the process of learning to read, relating computers to theories of the brain and to the teaching of reading skills and strategies. It also shows how computers can enhance student motivation and engagement. Information is included about the variety of computer software available for teaching reading at various levels, for students who make normal progress as well as for those who experience problems. (374.07 Mey)

The Online Classroom: Teaching with the Internet.
Cotton, Eileen Giuffré. (1998). This guide offers the reader a wide array of valuable Internet addresses and sample lessons. Topics covered include e-mail, World Wide Web, searching, Web page design, chat, video conferencing, and Java. (371.39445 Cot)

Using the Internet as an Instructional Tool.
University of the State of New York. (1998). Many adults lack familiarity with the Internet and terms such as information highway, World Wide Web, and e-mail. This book is designed to facilitate use of the Internet as an instructional tool for adult education. The editors examine what the Internet is, how to connect to it, and how to use it. Different ways of communicating on the Internet, identifying sites to access information, use of search tools, and methods for simplifying searches are described. Sample lesson plans include goals and objectives, required instructional materials and resources, and activities which use the Internet to meet these goals. (374.0078 USNY)

Getting Down to Business: Matching Welfare Recipients' Skills to Jobs That Train.
Carnevale, Anthony P. and Desrochers, Donna M. (1999). This is the Executive Summary of a report prepared by two senior researchers with Educational Testing Service. In the report, researchers use the most recent NALS (National Adult Literacy Survey) data to focus on the skills of welfare recipients, assessing the hours of education and training necessary to move recipients into jobs with earnings, training, and a future. And they go further, matching those skills with the skills required for jobs projected through 2006. What these researchers have found is that even after such challenges as child care, health care, and transportation have been addressed, welfare recipients entering the workforce need skills. For least-skilled welfare recipients, even moving up one NALS skill level could take more than two years of education or training. This study models the best practices necessary in this next, toughest phase of welfare reform. (301 Car)

Literacy, Welfare and Work: Year II: A Case Study of the Lives of Seven Adult Learners.
Smith, Janet. (1998). This Canadian report represents year two of a four-year study on the complex relationship between literacy education and employment. The Literacy, Welfare & Work Longitudinal Research Project is about giving voice to the experiences of adult learners and instructors. It places literacy students and instructors at the center of analysis, attempting to link their individual and collective experiences to a larger socioeconomic and political framework. (370.72 Smi)

Work Keys Targets for Instruction Series.
(1994). American College Testing Program Targets for Instruction provides a detailed description of the cognitive and content skills measured by the Work Keys workplace skills assessment instrument. Specific information is given, distinguishing one level of skill from another. This information can be used to devise strategies and develop instructional materials for helping learners build proficiency in Work Keys skills. Targets for Instruction also contains suggestions about materials, techniques, and activities that are useful in teaching workplace skills, but these materials do not constitute a complete curriculum or training program per se. The eight skill areas are: Applied Mathematics, Applied Technology, Locating Information, Reading for Information, Teamwork, Observation, Listening, and Writing. The checkout set includes one book for each of the eight skill areas, plus a 15-minute "Teamwork" video, a 14-minute "Observation" video, and an audiotape of sample Listening and Writing assessments. (374.013 ACTP)