Click on Over. . .
Browsing the Web, TCALL staff found these literacy-related sites particularly relevant, helpful, or just plain fun.
Media Library of Teaching Skills (MLoTS) is a free online digital library featuring short videos of adult education teachers and their classes, intended for use in professional development. Each video is an example of a state-approved content standard, research-based practice, preferred approach, or specific teaching method or skill. Some of the MLoTS videos were made and edited by the MLoTS Team, David J. Rosen and Owen Hartford; some were made by other people and groups.
Assessment Strategies & Reading Profiles — Research-based assessment practices for the adult education classroom. This interactive Website for adult education practitioners is based on the Adult Reading Components Study (ARCS), a study that assessed the reading of 955 adult learners. Researchers tested participants individually on eleven skills (components) that contribute to reading ability. A list of scores for each learner became that individual’s reading profile, illustrating his or her strengths and instructional needs. Each profile group shows a distinctive pattern and/or level of reading component skills. You will learn more about profiles as you navigate the site.
On the Go, Spanish version developed by Dr. Angela Notari-Syverson and colleagues. These materials include 14 activities designed to be used outside the home: in the car, while walking, during bus rides, etc. The activities encourage early language and literacy development from birth through preschool. They are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically. To download materials go to www.walearning.com and click on the purple button that says “Free Parent Education Handouts” on the home page. Look for the “On the Go” files to download the materials in PDF format. The development of these materials was supported by Grant H324M020084 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
STudent Achievement in Reading (STAR) is a comprehensive Tool Kit and training package built upon evidence-based reading instructional strategies. STAR helps adult education teachers and administrators improve reading outcomes among intermediate-level learners - those learners who read at the fourth to ninth grade levels. STAR is not a reading curriculum. It is a reading reform initiative that includes professional development, tools, and resources that expand participants’ knowledge of effective reading instruction and improves their ability to build local and state systems that support reading improvement. You can find out more about the STAR reading training on this website. Of special interest are Reading Resources, STAR Issue Papers (located under Ready for STAR?) and STAR Panel Discussion (streaming video - located under “Ready for STAR?”).
Superpages.com® is a free online course that helps new adult readers develop computer and Internet skills. Adults with low-level reading skills now can learn basic computer and Internet search skills while they practice reading and writing using this free online course developed by the partnership of ProLiteracy and Superpages.com®. The course is designed for adults with a fifth-grade reading level and who are familiar with computers and the Internet. The course consists of five lessons; each lesson demonstrates a specific search skill - getting directions to a specific location, for example, or using the keyword search to find a specific type of business. After the demonstration, the student can practice exactly what he or she saw in the demonstration. The lesson ends with the student using Superpages.com® to perform a similar search for businesses in his or her own city. Each screen has accompanying audio and the demonstrations are narrated to support adult learners who have trouble reading the screen text. In addition to the course, there are free, downloadable Teacher’s Notes that offer discussion ideas for introducing each lesson, identify key vocabulary, and provide ideas for expanding the activities. There also is a free, downloadable Student Workbook with step-by-step directions for the features highlighted in the lesson and a worksheet for the activity in which the student applies the new skills to search for businesses in his or her home community.
