Essays in both written and listening forms

The online website of National Public Radio (NPR) provides archives of news articles, some of which are accompanied by their radio versions. Although this website is not specifically designed for educators, ESL teachers will greatly benefit from ths site in that it provides authentic reading and listening materials.

Especially, "This I Believe" essays are ample authentic resources for all language skills, namely, listening, writing, speaking, reading, and even pronunciation. Originally, there was a radio program of the same name in the 1950s, and some people revived the program by collecting short essays on personal beliefs and featuring some of them on NPR from 2005-2009. The website has an archieve of the essays both from the 1950s and from the recent. They provide both written and listening formats of each essay. These essays are so widely used for educational purpose around the world that the site provides several tips on how to use the essays For Educators. It provides sample curricula for middle, high, college, and adult learners as well as the brochure and poster containing tips on writing one's own This I Believe essay, all in PDF files, which are just amazing.

I got to know this site from Dr. McGregor's pronunciation class.