Reading instruction workbooks and modules
What's available
Comprehensive instructional resources to support reading development
Most of the resources are available in PDF format
Some resources, such as those from the BC Open Collection, are available in various formats for online and offline uses
All have reading passages and follow-up activities; most also have teacher's notes
A few resources include writing development activities
Many resources for beginning readers were developed for ESL literacy, but they can work just as well with adults whose first or primary language is English
These resources can be used with learners who are beginning to read. Level 1 readers are focused on learning sound-letter relationships, basic sentence patterns and vocabulary connected to their lives. They are reading narrative, chronological and descriptive texts that are directly connected to their everyday experiences. With encouragement, learners introduce new literacy practices into their everyday lives such as using a shopping app to search for sales, reading and responding to text messages and reading level appropriate texts to develop their abilities. Level 1 roughly covers skills, knowledge and insights from beginner to grade 3.
These resources help learners make the shift to reading unfamiliar texts to gain new knowledge. More conceptual skills and strategies related to figurative language, tone and textual formats, including documents, verse and textbooks are introduced. Learners incorporate literacy practices into their lives that open up opportunities such as completing online forms to access government services, reading and responding to communication from a child's school or reading and responding to content questions in an online work training module. Reading skills, strategies and knowledge are roughly equivalent to grades 4 to 8.
These resources cover reading skills, strategies and understandings aligned with a secondary level (grades 9 to 12), including college preparation and high school equivalency tests. Reading to gain knowledge and insights becomes more in-depth as learners engage with particular subject areas or topics of interest using various media, textual formats and genres. Learners acquire understandings of literary, historical, political, cultural and scientific concepts as they explore different topics and subjects. They are able to respond to and use more complex literacy practices at school, at work and in their lives including multimedia presentations on a particular topic to persuade or analyse a topic, reports to make a case and the traditional essay structure.