Resources for English Language Teaching

VOA Learning English Staff

eLearning at VOA Learning English• All feature stories and news articles

– Read-along audio

– Vocabulary highlights

• Learning English TV, English in a Minute and News Words

– Video with transcript on screen; explanations of words & idioms

• American Stories

– Classic literature with video read-along, lesson plans, & quizzes

• Live Skype sessions: TALK2US

– Callers can discuss the day’s topic with a staff member

• Blog: Confessions of an English Learner

– Visitors can write in response to prompts and get feedback from staff

• Facebook & Twitter

– Visitors are guided to specific stories and asked to comment

VOA Learning English – Level 1Our website visitors ask, what do the three levels mean? Here is what you will find in each level:

Level One consists of shorter stories, photos, video, and stories with easier vocabulary. (See the VOA Word Book)• Shorter news stories: "As it Is"• Brief news summaries: "In the News"• Video news stories with subtitles in English: "Learning English TV"• News photos with short descriptions in English: "The Day in Photos"• Explanations of English idioms and expressions: "Words and Their

Stories" and "English in a Minute"

VOA Learning English – Level 2

Level Two contains news, culture, history, science, and business.

• Feature stories on music, pop culture and life in the US: American Mosaic" and "Entertainment"

• News stories about the United States: "USA"

• A series about the history of the United States: "Making of a Nation"

• Stories about science and technology: "Science in the News" and "Science and Technology"

• Video explanations of words in the news: "News Words"

• Stories about business and economics: "Business"

VOA Learning English – Level 3

Level Three features literature, conversation, education, and writing.

• Works of literature by American authors: "American Stories"

• Staff conversations with callers: "TALK2US"

• Blog on writing in English: "Confessions of an English Learner"

• Articles on education, testing, and writing: "Education"

Critical Thinking as a Basis for Tolerance

Education trends in the US aim at teaching critical thinking.

The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking defines critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

The thinking processes listed above comprise higher-level academic language functions, which are the focus of teaching Academic English. Our lesson plans are based on the CALLA Approach, which incorporates academic language, learning

strategies, and academic content.

Teaching about InclusionRecent VOA Articles on issues of tolerance & diversity

• Anti-Muslim Attacks Rise in Britain

• People with Disabilities Achieve New Opportunities

• US, China: A Look at Immigration and Migration

Recent VOA Articles with Lesson Plans & Quizzes

• Chinese Americans Face Stereotypes, Good and Bad

• Chinese Americans: Discrimination Still Problem, but Improving

• Lesson Plan for Chinese Americans series

• Same-Sex Marriage Rights Advance in the US (Quiz)

Teaching about InclusionRecent VOA Articles on issues of diversity in education

• Too Few Women in Science

• A Look Into the Life, Music and Art of American Indians

• S. Africa School Keeps Pregnant Teens in Class

• The Effects of Bullying Can Last a Lifetime (video)

• The Effects of Bullying on Health (article)

• Dealing with Distractions and Overreactions

• New Study: Foreign Students Make U.S. Better, Faster

• School Attendance by Australian Aborigines Linked to Aid to Parents (video)

• Australia Links Aboriginal Aid to School Attendance (article)

Related Topics

Attitudes Toward Retired People

• AARP Experience Corps Teaches Children to Read

• Teens Help Seniors Bridge Technology Gap

Death with Dignity

• Should You Have the Right to Die?

Articles on eLearning:

• Senegal Uses Technology to Teach Reading

• MOOCs Are Moving Forward

Teaching about U.S. Civics

Recent VOA Articles on democratic participation

• The Declaration of Independence

• The Constitution

• The Electoral College

Recent voting issues

• US Supreme Court Allows Texas Voter ID Law

• US Politicians Target Asian American Voters

• Americans Debate Illegal Immigration

Making of a Nation

Making of a Nation is a series on U.S. history that VOA Learning English produces. A lesson plan and quiz accompany each of these stories.

• Lincoln Struggles to Keep Kentucky, Missouri in the Union

• Manassas Ends Hope for a Short War

• Grant Leads Union to Victory at Shiloh, but With a Cost

• McClellan Approaches Richmond...And Waits

• Iron Ships Clash at Sea

• South Defeats North Again at Manassas

• Lincoln Says He Will Free Most Slaves in the South

• Battle of Gettysburg Ends the South’s Hopes

American Stories

These stories are in video form with illustrations and subtitles. A lesson plan and

quiz accompany each of the stories.

• A Piece of Red Calico by Frank Stockton

• A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett

• Luck by Mark Twain

• One Thousand Dollars by O. Henry

• The Boy on Graves-End Road by Caty Weaver

• The Californian's Tale by Mark Twain

• The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe

• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

• The Line of Least Resistance by Edith Wharton

Words and Their Stories

These stories explain common English idioms and expressions

Don't Get Caught in a Catch-22

Words and their Stories: Boxing Expressions

A Halloween Special: The Devil is Everywhere

You Don't Have to Be a Rocket Scientist to Read This

Baseball Terms

Birds and Their Stories

Hey, I'm Workin' for Chickenfeed Here!

Wildcats: Congressmen, Money, Oil Wells and Strikers

This Story Is 'The Cat's Meow!'

Questions & Comments?