A component of the 2008 ESL Advanced Skills Pack. Covers advanced ESL competencies necessary to improve students’ English language proficiency.

Contains a wide variety of learning activities effective in increasing students reading and vocabulary skills. Content is relevant to real-life situations.

Scores are tracked in a record management system that allows teachers to view and print detailed reports.

The questions, answers and explanations of the program can be spoken aloud by using the Merit Text Talker.

The 2008 Reading / Vocabulary ESL Advanced Skills Pack consists of the following titles (listed alphabetically):

• Developing Critical Thinking Skills for Effective Reading, Sets 1 and 2
  Helps students improve reading comprehension.
  
  
• Vocabulary Fitness, Set 2
  Builds students understanding of commonly misused words.
  
  
• Vocabulary Stretch, Set 2
  Helps students with word recognition, meanings, and origins.

2008 Reading / Vocabulary ESL Advanced Skills Pack Curriculum

• Personalized help and feedback engage students of all ages.
• Students choose from a menu of reward animations and sounds.
• All student work is stored in the Teacher Program Manager.
• Contents can be spoken aloud by using the Merit Text Talker.
  

Concepts covered:

• Work with passages on civics, government, health, transportation, American culture, history, and technology
• Listen to words, sentences, passages, questions, and tips
• Build an advanced English language vocabulary
• Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues
• Learn the correct pronunciation of vocabulary words
• Extract the most salient information from reading passages
• Draw conclusions from text
• Distinguish between fact and opinion
• Respond to readings by writing sentences to show understanding
• Practice applying vocabulary skills to new contexts
• Boost recognition of prefixes, roots, suffixes, and word origins
• Master commonly confused words
• Work on a single concept, or in a mixed-practice format