Resources
Everything that supports your reading work in one place — the lessons themselves, quick reference guides, and a short list of outside sites worth your time.
Reading Strategies
The core instruction for each skill, written for this course. Start here when a strategy has not stuck yet.
- In the Reading LabWeek 1
Main Ideas & Details
Topic versus main idea versus detail, the coverage test, and how to write a summary that holds up.
Open → - In the Reading LabWeek 2
Inferences & Conclusions
How to build a conclusion from scattered details and prove it with a line from the passage.
Open → - In the Reading LabWeek 4
Text Structure
The five informational structures, their signal words, and how to compare two texts on one topic.
Open → - In the Reading LabWeek 5
Point of View & Purpose
Identifying who is speaking, why the text exists, and the difference between fact and opinion.
Open → - In the Reading LabWeek 6
Evidence & Arguments
Claim, reason, evidence — and the three tests that decide whether support is good enough.
Open →
Vocabulary
Tools for unfamiliar, technical, and multi-meaning words, plus figurative language.
- In the Reading LabWeek 3
Vocabulary in Context
Four context clues, a word-parts reference table, multi-meaning words, and the five figurative-language types.
Open → - Opens outside the portal
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Free online dictionary with pronunciation audio. Useful after you have made a context-based prediction — check your guess rather than replacing the skill.
Visit site ↗ - In the Reading Lab
Vocabulary practice sets
Filter the Practice Center to vocabulary items across all four difficulty levels.
Open →
TABE Practice
Preparation for the TABE Reading test, including the question types and how they are worded.
- In the Reading Lab
TABE Prep Center
Test overview, a strategy guide for each of the seven question types, and pacing guidance.
Open → - In the Reading Lab
Practice Center
Every practice set in the Reading Lab, filterable by skill, difficulty, and passage type. Ungraded, with instant feedback.
Open → - From your instructorAccess through your instructor
Essential Education TABE Academy
Online practice platform assigned as homework in this course. Your instructor provides access and tells you which modules to complete.
- From your instructorDistributed in class
Scoreboost for TABE and TABE Mastery workbooks
Print workbooks assigned in the weekly homework column of the syllabus. These are copyrighted publications distributed in class — they are not available for download here.
Reference Guides
Short reference tables pulled from the lessons, for review right before a class meeting or a progress check.
- In the Reading Lab
Text structure signal words
The five structures with the transition words that identify each one.
Open → - In the Reading Lab
Prefixes, roots, and suffixes
Common word parts and what they do to a root word.
Open → - In the Reading Lab
Point of view at a glance
First, second, third limited, and third omniscient — signals and what each one lets the reader know.
Open → - In the Reading Lab
Claim, reason, evidence
The three layers of an argument and the three tests for whether evidence is good enough.
Open →
Study Tools
How to use the Reading Lab, and where the graded work lives.
- In the Reading Lab
Course roadmap
The seven weeks and fourteen meetings, with the skill and homework focus for each.
Open → - In the Reading Lab
TABE readiness checklist
Eight statements to check yourself against before a progress assessment.
Open → - From your instructorYour LMS
Brightspace
Official assignments, submissions, attendance, announcements, and grades. Graded work is submitted in Brightspace, never in the Reading Lab.
External Resources
Free, reputable sites for extra reading practice. These open outside the portal.
- Opens outside the portal
CommonLit
A large free library of reading passages with comprehension questions, organized by reading level. Assigned in Weeks 1 and 3 of this course.
Visit site ↗ - Opens outside the portal
News in Levels
Current news stories rewritten at several reading levels, useful for building reading stamina on real-world material.
Visit site ↗ - Opens outside the portal
Brooklyn Public Library
Free library card, computer access, and adult literacy programs across Brooklyn.
Visit site ↗ - Opens outside the portal
CUNY Adult Literacy and HSE Program
Information on CUNY adult literacy, HSE, and college transition programs.
Visit site ↗
Materials you get in class, not here
Some of the materials named in your syllabus are copyrighted print publications. The Reading Lab does not host them, and that is deliberate rather than an oversight.
Scoreboost for TABE, Reading Level M
Copyrighted workbook distributed in class. Homework page ranges appear in the course roadmap.
TABE Mastery Reading, Level M
Copyrighted student book distributed in class. Homework page ranges appear in the course roadmap.
Pretest and TABE practice tests
Assessment materials administered by your instructor under program conditions.
Answer keys and the Teacher's Manual
Instructor-only materials. These are never published to students in any format.
Where graded work goes
Nothing you do in the Reading Lab is graded or recorded. Practice here as often as you want, then submit official work in Brightspace. Assignments, submissions, attendance, announcements, and grades are all in Brightspace.