StoryCorp worksheet about Ronald McNair

Here's one more resource for tonight:

NPR (National Public Radio) is a treasure trove of ESL teaching tools for the upper levels with the extensive free audio/visual materials they host on their site.  They have news articles ranging from serious political topics for the argumentative students, to business news for the money-minded, to culture pieces that everyone can learn from.

I particularly enjoy using their StoryCorp audio clips, since they are authentic American stories that are usually short (about 3 or 4 minutes) and all come with transcripts (if you look closely at the website).  The people being interviewed use extremely authentic language, and it's a great tool for breaking down real American English.

They usually have a...sad...focus to them however, as a drawback.  I certainly had to veto quite a few I was listening to since they were making me tear up.

Only this past year did I discover Animated StoryCorp which has very useful videos accompanying some of the stories.

I watched the animated story about Ronald McNair, an African American astronaut who was on the Challenger Shuttle, with a private student recently and we both found it to be a GREAT discussion piece.  I recommend watching it with higher-level students if you are discussing racism or race relations, plans for future occupations, or space travel, as it has elements of all three.

I prepared a list of useful vocabulary, content questions and discussion questions as well, if they are beneficial to anyone.

Here is the pdf download link.