Updates & Resources
What's New at abc English
August 2026: The Reading Skills Stories slideshows have been updated to improve the activities for online-only teaching. You can find the stories in the Online Library. Also, a new academic article was published in the 2025 LESLLA Symposium Proceedings (see below under Articles and Presentations.)
April 2026: The Vocabulary lessons have been updated, with improved pacing and repetition, a new Which one? routine, and a pattern writing review at the end. Many of the Phonics lessons have received updates as well. You can find the Vocabulary and Phonics lessons in the Online Library.
December 2025: A brand new collection of lessons has been created for the new 2025 US Civics Questions. The 2008 US Civics Questions will also remain on the site through the end of 2026. You can find both at abceng.org/usa.
July 2025: The Level 1 Phonics Lessons now have a printable Sample Teacher Script for each unit. This can be especially useful for new teachers and volunteers. You can print the Sample Teacher Scripts for each Level 1 unit at abceng.org/esp.
Other Resource Websites
LESLLA (Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults), a professional organization for teachers and researchers
BRYCS (Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services), especially the images and info in Raising Children in a New Country
CIWA (Calgary Immigrant Women's Association), especially their Health Literacy Resources
We Speak NYC videos, student favorites are Stay in School and Love and Money
Literacy Centre of Expertise, especially their Reading Skills Stories
Literacy Minnesota, especially the English Unlocked curriculum
Pathway to Literacy Indianapolis, especially the Theme-Based Stories
Workplace & Career Resources for Beginning Level ELL, by teacher Haley Boone
Bow Valley Readers, created by Bow Valley College (discontinued, but some still hosted at ATLAS)
ATLAS - Beginning ESL Literacy Resources Page, a long list of resources specific to Beginning ESL Literacy
Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange, especially their U-Curve of Cultural Adjustment poster
Phonics and Stuff, easy online games for literacy students, especially Sound Bingo and Spelling Game
ESL Reads (Australia), 75+ online stories for adult and adolescent English learners, plus extra printable activities
The Math Worksheet Site, printable worksheets to add numeracy practice to your teaching
Grants and Scholarships for Programs
Funding Opportunities from ProLiteracy
Books for Students
abc English Books
What's Next?
Sam and Pat
Future, Literacy Workbook
Survival English
At the River (and other books by Shelley Hale Lee)
Articles and Presentations
(Article) Decoding, Dyslexia, and the Adult Reading Brain: Insights from Neuroscience and Three LESLLA Case Studies
This article shares results from three case studies of adult emergent readers learning basic literacy skills over several years. It is published in the 2025 LESLLA Proceedings, and is based on the presentation below.
(Slides) Decoding, Dyslexia, Brain Science, and LESLLA I created this presentation for the 2025 LESLLA Symposium. Learn about some interesting work that scientists have done using fMRI technology to study reading in the brain, and techniques that adult education teachers can use to help new and struggling readers.
(Slides & Video) Foundational Literacy Skills for Low-Beginning English Learners I created this presentation for the Wisconsin Technical College System in November 2024. This presentation gives an overview of Fast Track Phonics and explains the rationale for decontextualized practice of foundational literacy skills including phonemic awareness and phonics. You can see the video recording here and the slides here.
(Slides & Video) More Strategies for Teaching Low-Beginning English Learners I created this presentation for the Florida Literacy Coalition in June 2024. I share five answers to the question "How can teachers and programs serve all types of beginning ELL students, (including emergent readers)?" The presentation includes several video demonstrations of teacher/student interactions while teaching Foundational Literacy Skills. You can see the video recording here and the slides here.
(Slides & Video) Strategies for Teaching Low Beginning English Learners I created this presentation for Wisconsin Literacy's 2024 Winter Virtual Conference. Key points include identifying Different Types of Beginners, considering both the Language and Literacy needs of students, and the importance of Teaching with Routines. You can see the video recording here and the slides here.
(Slides & Video) Techniques for Teaching Foundational Literacy Skills I created this presentation for the 2023 LESLLA Symposium. You can read the full presentation by viewing the Speaker Notes (press S on your keyboard after opening the presentation). This presentation shares research-backed techniques for teaching Foundational Literacy Skills -- phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency. The slides include academic references for further learning about each technique. Here is a video recording of the first half of this presentation.
(Article) Structured Literacy: A Framework for Teaching LESLLA This article outlines a Bridge Analogy to help teachers understand how to plan language and literacy instruction using a Structured Literacy approach. It is published in the 2022 LESLLA Proceedings, and is based on the presentation below.
(Slides) Teaching Structured Literacy + Assessment of Decoding Skills I created this presentation for the 2022 LESLLA Symposium. You can read the full presentation by viewing the Speaker Notes (press S on your keyboard after opening the presentation). I present a Bridge Analogy to explain how to teach LESLLA students with a Structured Literacy approach, and also discuss why assessment of decoding skills is important. (See also the related article above).
(Article) The Science of Reading: Implications for LESLLA I wrote this article to summarize key concepts from reading science, and discuss how they apply to the work of LESLLA (Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults). It is published in the 2021 LESLLA Proceedings, and is based on the presentation below.
(Slides & Video) The Science of Reading I created this 24 minute presentation about the Science of Reading for the 2021 LESLLA Symposium. The presentation outlines the key concepts in the Science of Reading and the shifts in instruction that many K-12 programs are making in teaching reading in the last few years. I also share my thoughts on how this research applies to our work with adult emergent readers. (See also the related article above.)
What's New at abc English
August 2026: The Reading Skills Stories slideshows have been updated to improve the activities for online-only teaching. You can find the stories in the Online Library. Also, a new academic article was published in the 2025 LESLLA Symposium Proceedings (see below under Articles and Presentations.)
April 2026: The Vocabulary lessons have been updated, with improved pacing and repetition, a new Which one? routine, and a pattern writing review at the end. Many of the Phonics lessons have received updates as well. You can find the Vocabulary and Phonics lessons in the Online Library.
December 2025: A brand new collection of lessons has been created for the new 2025 US Civics Questions. The 2008 US Civics Questions will also remain on the site through the end of 2026. You can find both at abceng.org/usa.
July 2025: The Level 1 Phonics Lessons now have a printable Sample Teacher Script for each unit. This can be especially useful for new teachers and volunteers. You can print the Sample Teacher Scripts for each Level 1 unit at abceng.org/esp.
Other Resource Websites
LESLLA (Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults), a professional organization for teachers and researchers
BRYCS (Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services), especially the images and info in Raising Children in a New Country
CIWA (Calgary Immigrant Women's Association), especially their Health Literacy Resources
We Speak NYC videos, student favorites are Stay in School and Love and Money
Literacy Centre of Expertise, especially their Reading Skills Stories
Literacy Minnesota, especially the English Unlocked curriculum
Pathway to Literacy Indianapolis, especially the Theme-Based Stories
Workplace & Career Resources for Beginning Level ELL, by teacher Haley Boone
Bow Valley Readers, created by Bow Valley College (discontinued, but some still hosted at ATLAS)
ATLAS - Beginning ESL Literacy Resources Page, a long list of resources specific to Beginning ESL Literacy
Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange, especially their U-Curve of Cultural Adjustment poster
Phonics and Stuff, easy online games for literacy students, especially Sound Bingo and Spelling Game
ESL Reads (Australia), 75+ online stories for adult and adolescent English learners, plus extra printable activities
The Math Worksheet Site, printable worksheets to add numeracy practice to your teaching
Grants and Scholarships for Programs
Funding Opportunities from ProLiteracy
Books for Students
abc English Books
What's Next?
Sam and Pat
Future, Literacy Workbook
Survival English
At the River (and other books by Shelley Hale Lee)
Articles and Presentations
(Article) Decoding, Dyslexia, and the Adult Reading Brain: Insights from Neuroscience and Three LESLLA Case Studies
This article shares results from three case studies of adult emergent readers learning basic literacy skills over several years. It is published in the 2025 LESLLA Proceedings, and is based on the presentation below.
(Slides) Decoding, Dyslexia, Brain Science, and LESLLA I created this presentation for the 2025 LESLLA Symposium. Learn about some interesting work that scientists have done using fMRI technology to study reading in the brain, and techniques that adult education teachers can use to help new and struggling readers.
(Slides & Video) Foundational Literacy Skills for Low-Beginning English Learners I created this presentation for the Wisconsin Technical College System in November 2024. This presentation gives an overview of Fast Track Phonics and explains the rationale for decontextualized practice of foundational literacy skills including phonemic awareness and phonics. You can see the video recording here and the slides here.
(Slides & Video) More Strategies for Teaching Low-Beginning English Learners I created this presentation for the Florida Literacy Coalition in June 2024. I share five answers to the question "How can teachers and programs serve all types of beginning ELL students, (including emergent readers)?" The presentation includes several video demonstrations of teacher/student interactions while teaching Foundational Literacy Skills. You can see the video recording here and the slides here.
(Slides & Video) Strategies for Teaching Low Beginning English Learners I created this presentation for Wisconsin Literacy's 2024 Winter Virtual Conference. Key points include identifying Different Types of Beginners, considering both the Language and Literacy needs of students, and the importance of Teaching with Routines. You can see the video recording here and the slides here.
(Slides & Video) Techniques for Teaching Foundational Literacy Skills I created this presentation for the 2023 LESLLA Symposium. You can read the full presentation by viewing the Speaker Notes (press S on your keyboard after opening the presentation). This presentation shares research-backed techniques for teaching Foundational Literacy Skills -- phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency. The slides include academic references for further learning about each technique. Here is a video recording of the first half of this presentation.
(Article) Structured Literacy: A Framework for Teaching LESLLA This article outlines a Bridge Analogy to help teachers understand how to plan language and literacy instruction using a Structured Literacy approach. It is published in the 2022 LESLLA Proceedings, and is based on the presentation below.
(Slides) Teaching Structured Literacy + Assessment of Decoding Skills I created this presentation for the 2022 LESLLA Symposium. You can read the full presentation by viewing the Speaker Notes (press S on your keyboard after opening the presentation). I present a Bridge Analogy to explain how to teach LESLLA students with a Structured Literacy approach, and also discuss why assessment of decoding skills is important. (See also the related article above).
(Article) The Science of Reading: Implications for LESLLA I wrote this article to summarize key concepts from reading science, and discuss how they apply to the work of LESLLA (Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults). It is published in the 2021 LESLLA Proceedings, and is based on the presentation below.
(Slides & Video) The Science of Reading I created this 24 minute presentation about the Science of Reading for the 2021 LESLLA Symposium. The presentation outlines the key concepts in the Science of Reading and the shifts in instruction that many K-12 programs are making in teaching reading in the last few years. I also share my thoughts on how this research applies to our work with adult emergent readers. (See also the related article above.)