Reading and Writing Activities

This week we turn to resources to help with reading and writing. See what I have compiled below after scouring the internet. Of course there is a staggering amount out there, so I'd love to hear your suggestions on these topics.

Reading

Many Things
This is a great website for all kinds of ESL related resources. In this entry, I'm focusing on Reading and Writing skills, so I'll highlight a particular text that I found appropriate in terms of level of difficulty and relevance to the topic of reading! The pace at which the speakers talk is very easy to follow, and would probably be most appropriate for high intermediate learners. A great feature of these texts is that you can either use them exclusively for reading, or you can listen to the text as you read, thereby hearing the sounds of the English words. This is a terrific place to go for either in class use (print out the text if that helps) or for out of class work.

About
This website has a variety of resources, but from my research this link will bring you to the most pertinent exercises for advanced esl readers. The reading passages are followed up by a list of key vocabulary (it would be nice if a link to a dictionary were provided), as well as some comprehension questions to see if the reader is following the content of the passage. There are several topics students can choose. I recommend the one about the presidential elections, but there are others worth checking out as well. There is even an entry an improving your reading skills.


Here's a resource that has several passages that are appropriate for the adult esl learner.
I'll highlight a few of the passages that I think are appropriate, although students may find many of them interesting and appropriate.

1. Tenants Watch Building Burn
2. Take This Job and Shove It
3. Take Me Out to the Ball Game

1. Because it presents a real life situation that could happen when we least expect and leave us confused and scared. What would we do in the circumstances described?
2. What NOT to do in a job interview? American culture: it's not always wise to speak your mind. Also, consider that some things are a means to an end. What would you do in these circumstances? Would you take a job in an unpleasant environment in order to have steady pay or would you pass the opportunity up?
3. Some things are illegal but you don't think you'll ever get caught. What is scalping?

These kinds of questions (and more, of course) can become discussion topics, or writing assignments for our students

Writing

If you'd like to give your students a good way to practice the building blocks for their writing, here is a website that helps them practice forming grammatical sentences. For high intermediate or advanced learners, the constructions this website tests should be pretty familiar. A website like this one might be a good place to "warm up" before writing a paragraph or essay. Or if you have collected essays from students and notice particular problems, this is a good place to send them for practice.

Here is another helpful website for writing. This one is authentic--useful for native speakers as well as advanced non-native speakers. It covers a wide range of writing related subjects--from choosing your subject to organizing your writing. This is especially appropriate for advanced students who may need some help on how to progress through the writing process.