Pre-Beginning ESL Curriculum

This Pre-Beginning ESL (levels 0-1) curriculum was created with a grant from the Saint Paul Community Literacy Consortium to implement Bridge Prep components into curricula. To prepare learners to transition to jobs and lay a foundation for post-secondary, this curriculum incorporates level-appropriate Transitions skills developed by the Hamline ABE Teaching and Learning Advancement System (ATLAS) Acacemic, Career and Employability (ACES) framework such as critical thinking (e.g., categorizing and sequencing) and self-management (e.g., maintaining a binder of class handouts) into every life skill unit. This curriculum builds literacy skills through regular practice with print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency and comprehension. In building literacy skills, it also prepares learners for success on CASAS assessments. We encourage you to use or adapt these units for your classroom! 

To find additional support with integrating phonics and phonemic awareness activities into your lessons, see the Pre-Beginning Unit Chart for the phonics focus for each weekly unit. Other supplementary phonics ideas and activity instructions can be found in the Phonics and Phonemic Awareness Kit.

For learners who would benefit from extended phonics and vocabulary practice, use the Literacy Workstations. The Literacy Work Stations pull content from the stories found in the weekly curriculum units, and provide learners with scaffolded support so that they can successfully interact with the unit lesson plans. Materials, instructions, and the teacher handbook for the Literacy Workstations are available to download here.