Home » For Teachers » Resource Hub » ESOL Resources

ESOL Teaching Resources

This section of The ILC’s Educator Resource Hub contains a curated collection of lessons, webinars, videos and more for teachers and educators of ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), English learner (EL) and multilingual learner (ML) students.

Below you will find three featured resources, drawn from some of our favorites, that show the breadth of resources available. Below that, you can browse or search the complete collection by keyword, resource type and student level.

Still looking for more resources? We update the Hub frequently, so bookmark this page and check back, or sign up for our Educator Resource Hub quarterly email newsletter  to get updates on what’s new. You can also check out the other 10 collections in the Educator Resource Hub on topics relevant to teachers and educators to learn about other strategies for supporting immigrant students and gain tools for your classrooms.

If you have any questions about this collection, feedback or a resource you think we missed, please email public.education@ilctr.org.

Featured Resources

A woman holds up a piece of paper with drawings of the human body on it in an ESOL lesson. She's pointing to the leg and looking at the camera.

English for Beginners

This video series of short English lessons for adult learners can be used as independent study or as an enhancement to your lesson plans. Each of the 15 videos covers vocabulary related to greetings, holidays, job interviews and other topics an adult ESOL, EL or ML student might need to know.

The Colorin Colorado logo. It's a drawing of a boy with spiky hair reading a big red book.

Colorín Colorado

This bilingual English/Spanish website provides free, research-based information, activities and advice for educators and families of ELs/MLs in grades Pre-K through 12. Colorín Colorado is an educational service of the public broadcasting station WETA and receives major funding from the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association.

The BBC logo in white on a black background.

The Teacher’s Room

This series from the BBC is all about teaching practice and includes tips for a range of teaching techniques and ideas for language lessons of any level. Topics include teaching reading, teaching grammar, using social media and more. 

Search ESOL Teaching Resources

You can browse or search this collection by keyword, resource type and student level.

  • Reset

Migration Policy Institute ELL Information Center

A collection of fact sheets, reports, maps and state-level data resources concerning trends among immigrant families and their children

BBC Learning English

Free audio, video and text materials for English learners.

Reading Rockets Book Finder

Database of recommended books from Reading Rockets that can be filtered by the theme "immigrant stories," age level, heritage and more.

Multilingual Learning Toolkit from New Venture Fund

Online hub and research library with key principles, practical strategies and resources that are geared towards educators who teach PreK-3 multilingual learners.

English Learners Success Forum Resource Hub

Research-based resources with actionable solutions to support multilingual learners in the design, adoption and implementation of core curriculum materials.

Building Access to DBQs for Multilingual Learners

Slide deck and scaffolding models and templates for making DBQs more accessible to MLs

English for Beginners

Series of English lesson videos for adult ESOL students

Research on English Learners

Research, policy recommendations and commentary on the needs of ELs, as well as their strengths and untapped potential

NCELA Newcomer Toolkit

A toolkit designed through NCELA of the U.S. Department of Education to help educators understand and support the needs of immigrant and refugee students and their families.

Minnesota Literacy Council Educator Resources

Lessons, toolkits, tips, activities and more for ESL and ABE

VOA Learning English

Multimedia source of leveled news and information for millions of English learners worldwide

USAHello

Free online center for information and education for refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants and welcoming communities

English52

Free video lessons and activities to learn English from beginner to advanced

American English Videos

Videos for teachers and learners of American English language and culture

American English Learning Resources

Resource center for American English, including free textbook PDFs, webinars, distance learning, and more resources

Hello English

App for learning English that is especially popular in Asia

ELL Shifting to an Asset-Based Paradigm

This issue of Voices in Urban Education focuses on English language learners as bicultural, bilingual leaders of the future