Attention ESL tutors! Are you looking for activity ideas for sessions with learners? Here are a few suggestions we’re highlighting this month, courtesy of Program Coordinator Jaime Merritt.
First, try using GoLocal with TheRide as a fun way to learn about public transportation. This incredible e-book resource was made specifically for Washtenaw Literacy tutors to use with their learners! Our own Alison Austin and an EMU TESOL professor collaborated to have four talented graduate students create this as their semester project. The “GoLocal” title grew from the idea of a kind of picture dictionary resource that was specific to this local area. Public transit was chosen as the first topic to cover, and in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area, that means taking TheRide. You’ll see that key vocabulary, photos, videos, and dialogues, all specific to taking TheRide, have been thoughtfully included. There are also four lessons to work through with your learners which follow the story of two ESL learners as they figure out how to take the bus to Meijer to go shopping.
Click here to access GoLocal with TheRide.
Next, the VOA Learning English website from Voice of America aims to help ESL learners worldwide boost their English skills through multimedia news and information resources. One of our favorite features is the article library geared towards intermediate level learners. The articles cover a variety of topics, and each one comes with an audio recording, a transcript, and a glossary with key vocabulary. Some also include follow up quizzes with reading comprehension questions.
Click here to visit VOA Learning English.
Whether you’ve been tutoring for a while now, or you just started, we recommend reviewing our training Coursepacks for session plan ideas. There are many to choose from, but the ESL Community Tutoring Coursepack is filled with options for activities, strategies, and things to keep in mind when working with an ESL group. You’ll notice that each topic/activity is linked in the table of contents, so you can easily navigate to a section of interest.
Click here to view Coursepack – ESL Community Tutoring.