This behemoth of a site may seem overwhelming at first, but can provide useful resources for adult educators. The site provides both a very large bank of lesson plans searchable by grade and topic, and a set of Strategic Guides on different teaching approaches (Teaching with Technology, Developing Academic Vocabulary, Reading in the Content Areas, etc.) which are helpful as well. Continue reading A Cornucopia of Reading and Writing Lessons
This is that rarest of things—a high-quality, free, online resource made specifically for adult educators. Although the “Just Write!” Guide is mainly about writing instruction, there is a lot of material here regarding pedagogy in the adult ed classroom in general. What’s satisfying is that it is research-based (the fancy term is “meta-analysis) and that most of us who have worked in adult ed for any length of time will find our own understanding of how to teach adults validated in these pages. Continue reading Just Write!
Now more than ever, students need an education in civics. Civics is central to the GED Social Studies, but there are more urgent reasons to teach students about this American democracy. Students need help in voting for their own interests and navigating the confusing new fact of political reporting. As adult education teachers, we may feel that we have to choose between dry, simplistic textbook excerpts and newspaper articles that assume readers have extensive knowledge of U.S. politics. Textbook excerpts often tell only a small part of the story—the part that glorifies U.S. history and the workings of its governments. We all know the reality is less straightforward and positive. How can we convey the basics while also inviting students to enter into the complex political life of our country, which includes the good, the bad and the ugly? Continue reading Word Generation Social Studies Units
The guy with the pipe in his mouth is the one you want to talk to. That’s HERB, the “mascot” for the CUNY Graduate’s Center website Social History for Every Classroom. Herb presides over a vast collection of primary sources that will bring U.S. history alive for your students. Continue reading Bring the Past Alive with HERB
This document is a wonderful resource for teachers who want a crash course on how to teach vocabulary effectively along with dozens of really fun vocabulary games that can be used for reinforcement and review. The first pages of the blog are devoted to summarizing the main points of Beck and McKeown’s “Bringing Words to Life,” which has become the go-to book for most educators around the topic of vocabulary instruction. These pages provide teachers with a “quick and dirty” guide to choosing words, presenting words to students, what it means to “know” a word, and how to review words for reinforcement and application. Continue reading Ideas for Teaching Vocabulary? Look no Further!