Reading resources

If you would like to do more reading for practice and pleasure, here are some ideas. Most of these are books and resources I think would be good for middle- to upper-level adult ESL students. (The Storybooks section has some links for beginning level ESL students.)

Novels
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (easy history, American culture)

books by Lois Lowry

Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (American culture)

The Dark Is Rising books by Susan Cooper (fantasy)

Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell (political satire and future fiction)

The Little Prince (English translation) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

books by Ernest Hemingway

books by Elizabeth George Speare

books by Roald Dahl (some are for children, but are interesting and culturally relevant)

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Non-fiction articles
Time or Newsweek magazine (higher reading level)
Reader’s Digest – easy, short stories about many subjects

Graphic novels (comic books)
17 Free, Downloadable Graphic Novels

Storybooks

Children’s Storybooks Online has illustrated books for beginning readers to more advanced readers. Scroll down for lists for young children, older children, and young adults.

Other resources
Searchlit.org

This website helps you find many free online texts. It lets you choose which level of reading you want to look for (beginning, middle and strong readers) and you can search by “grade” level (for instance, 7th graders are about 12 years old) and you can choose short stories, poems, novels and plays.

I will add to these lists as I have more ideas. I hope they help!

(Updated 1 June 2009)

Literacy: National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry month! To finish the celebrations, the website Poets.org has declared April 30 “Poem In Your Pocket Day.”

“The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends on April 30, 2009.”

For Pre-University A: since we will be almost finished with our semester on April 30, we will celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day on Tuesday, April 28. On that day, if you show me a poem you are carrying in your pocket, I will give you 1 bonus point toward your final grade. I might ask you why you chose the poem!

If you need ideas, this page has some poem .pdf documents you can print out.

Have fun choosing a poem!

Pre-Univeristy: Lab 10 (Poetry)

In class this week, we will be discussing literature. One type of literature is poetry.

1. Go to one or more of the following poetry websites:

• Poets.org ( http://www.poets.org/audio.php )
• BBC Arts – Poetry Out Loud ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/ )
• Plagiarist.com – (http://plagiarist.com/poetry/poets/ )
• Poetry X – ( http://poetry.poetryx.com/ )

You may also use other poetry resources you know of: books or other websites.

2. Browse. Read or listen to some poems.

3. Choose one poem you like. (Please do not choose song lyrics.) Print it out.

The poem does not need to be originally written in English, but if it isn’t, you need to provide a translation.

Also remember to include the poet’s name (the author of the poem).

4. Write a paragraph describing why you like the poem. Use detail and examples!

Do you like it because of…

• the subject matter? (does it remind you of something?)
• the message/meaning?
• the way it sounds? (rhythm, rhyme, alliteration)

5. Bring the poem and your paragraph to class Friday, April 10. If we have time, you will have a chance to share your poem with the class.

For an example of a poem I chose for this assignment, see here.