Academic Skills: Reading Skills Resources

Web resources to provide students with English practice in reading.

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Please use the following table of contents to navigate this page.

• Audio Resources/News
• Audio Resources/Reading and Listening
• Audio Resources/Voice of America
• Library: Central Florida Library Systems
• Life-Skills Reading: Health
• Newspapers and E-Zines
• Reading: Comprehension Practice
• Reading Skills: Cause and Effect
• Reading Skills: Context Clues
• Reading Skills: Exercises
• Reading Skills: Inference
• Reading Skills: Main Idea
• Reading Skills: Phonics/Phonemic Awareness
• Reading Skills: Phonics/Phonetics Resources
• Reading Skills: Skimming/Scanning
• Reading Skills: Dictionaries and Vocabulary Building Resources
• Stories: Advanced Level
• Stories: ESL Students

Audio Resources/Reading and Listening

1. 365 ESL Short Stories (easy-to-read text includes audio and various exercises for intermediate-level students)
   www.eslfast.com/
2. Easy Reading for Adult ESL Beginners (long list of stories; audio)
   www.rong-chang.com/nse/
3. Easy Reading for ESL Beginners (long list of stories; audio)
   www.rong-chang.com/easyread/
4. Listen and Read Along (various topics; with audio)
   www.manythings.org/listen/
5. Audio Stories for Children (adult advanced level; scripts with audio; MP3 format available)
   http://lightupyourbrain.com/stories/
6. Audio Books for ESL Listening (books in English with read-along text for advanced students; audio has two listening speeds)
   esl-bits.net/Books/books.html
7. Advanced ESL Listening with Text (audio has two listening speeds)
   esl-bits.net/advanced-listening/NEWindex.htm
8. ESL Listen & Read Radio Dramas (audio has two listening speeds)
   esl-bits.net/Radio/radio.html
9. Intermediate ESL Listening with Text (audio has two listening speeds)
   esl-bits.net/listening/NEWindex.htm
10. ESL Listening - Songs in English with Sing-Along/Read-Along Lyrics
    esl-bits.net/Songs/songs.html

Audio Resources/Voice of America

1. Voice of America: Words and Their Stories (includes list of five-minute programs on words and terms used in everyday American English; with transcripts and audio)
   learningenglish.voanews.com/archive/learningenglish-programs-radio-words-stories/latest/978/987.html
2. Voice of America: Special English Feature Stories (limited vocabulary of 1,500 words with audio)
   www.manythings.org/voa/scripts/
3. Voice of America: "The Lady, or the Tiger?" (special English)
   learningenglish.voanews.com/content/a-23-2009-04-17-voa3-83140447/129441.html

Library: Central Florida Library Systems

1. Seminole State College Library
   www.seminolestate.edu/library/
2. Seminole County Library Services
   http://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/departments-services/leisure-services/seminole-county-library/library-information/services/
3. Orange County Public Library
   www.ocls.info/
4. Osceola Library System
   osceolalibrary.org/
5. Volusia County Public Library
   volusialibrary.org/

Life-Skills Reading: Health

1. Interesting Reading on Health in Easy-to-Read English
   kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure
2. Staying Healthy: An English Learner's Guide to Healthcare and Healthy Living (a downloadable resource book and teachers' guide; from the Florida Literacy Coalition)
   www.floridaliteracy.org/literacy_resources__teacher_tutor__health_literacy.html

Newspapers and E-Zines

1. News for You (a weekly newspaper for adult learners; with audio)
   https://www.newreaderspress.com/adult-education
2. An Online Magazine for Learners of English (grammar, vocabulary and topic-specific language is reviewed in the Language Corner section)
   www.topics-mag.com
3. News Summaries from The New York Times (with links to a pop-up dictionary and atlas)
   learning.blogs.nytimes.com/

Reading: Comprehension Practice

Advanced Level
Short Timed Reading Passages with Comprehension Questions

1. college.cengage.com/collegesurvival/watkins/learning_companion/1e/students/timed_reading.html

Reading Skills: Cause and Effect

1. Cause and Effect - Interactive Reading on Lewis and Clark
   www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/rsr/build1/RR_e_5_28.htm

Reading Skills: Context Clues

1. Context Clues Practice Exercise
   www.quia.com/pop/35971.html

Reading Skills: Exercises

1. Readings and Exercises (advanced level)
   www.eflnet.com/reading/index.php

Reading Skills: Inference

1. Using Inference (a simple explanation with four multiple choice questions)
   www.rhlschool.com/read6n3.htm
2. What Can You Infer? (an interactive exercise)
   www.quia.com/pop/43335.html

Reading Skills: Main Idea

1. Main Idea Online Practice
   http://www.k12reader.com/main-idea/storms-main-idea.pdf
2. Paired Reading Stories and Exercises (intermediate-level ESL texts with an average length of about 800 words)
   www.flesl.net/Directories/PairedStoriesGeneral.html

Reading Skills: Phonics/Phonemic Awareness

1. Phonemic Awareness Infusion (reading with an emphasis on pronunciation; audio available)
   www.seminolestate.edu/adult-ed/els/web_resources/readings-with-pronunciation

Reading Skills: Phonics/Phonetics Resources

1. Several Resources to Help You with Pronunciation
   www.seminolestate.edu/adult-ed/els/lesson-plans/phonetics

Reading Skills: Skimming/Scanning

1. Scanning (game, quiz and fact sheet)
2. Skimming (quiz, worksheet and fact sheet)

Reading Skills: Dictionaries and Vocabulary Building Resources

1. A List of Links to Vocabulary-Building Resources (includes links to dictionaries, idiom sites and vocabulary activities)
   www.seminolestate.edu/adult-ed/els/web_resources/vocabulary-building

Stories: Advanced Level

1. Short Stories, E-Books, Interactive Activities and Workshops
   www.eastoftheweb.com/
2. Short Stories on Crime (advanced level; includes teacher's link with study questions, games and activities for some stories; also includes a reader's forum)
   www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/crimeindex.html
3. Readings and Exercises (advanced level)
   www.eflnet.com/reading/index.php
4. Classic Short Stories (listed by author name)
   http://www.classicshorts.com/author.html
5. Humorous Stories (a teacher's link; includes study questions, games and activities for some stories; also includes a reader's forum)
   www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/humourindex.html
6. Jokes in English (for ESL/EFL students)
   iteslj.org/c/jokes.html

Stories: ESL Students

1. 100 Free Short English Stories for ESL Learners
   www.rong-chang.com/qa2/index.html
2. English Express (articles by topic; word games and other links available)
   eae.alberta.ca/englishexpress/