VOA's Learning English Department is moving forward with engaging content

1. Resources for English Language Teaching
VOA Learning English Staff

2. 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

3. VOA Learning English – Level 1
Our 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"

4. 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"

5. 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"

6. 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.

7. Teaching about Inclusion
Recent 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)

8. Teaching about Inclusion
Recent 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)

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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!'

14. Questions & Comments?