Resource Development

Hello. I hope everyone is doing well. I have a favor to ask of anyone who is interested in helping us. I have found something that people back home can help me with - it is fairly easy but I am excited about the potential! I am in charge of coming up with resources for the Reading course at the Institute and I am busy pulling reading passages from wherever I can find them, mostly the internet. I thought that an added special touch that I could provide that is unique to me being from another country is having some folks from home write out some essays that my students can read in class. If you have the time, interest, and energy please think about writing one or more 1,000 to 2,000 word essays. It can be about a variety of topics. I have written out a list below of topics that I will be teaching about, but the essays can include other topics that you have a special interest in. If you think there might be an interest maybe you can get some friends involved too. I think this would also be a great thing for high school English teachers to assign for homework! Because we do not have many resources immediately provided to us, I am looking for creative ways to get our students reading material and I thought this might be a nice personal touch that the students here will actually enjoy and have a deep interest in. Students love reading things from individuals from the states and will feel special that time was taken to write something especially for them. You will of course get credit when your essay is submitted along with all of the other resources to the Ministry of Education to share with teachers across the country!
Here are the topics:
Importance of learning/teaching English
Arts and Crafts
Customs and Traditions
Human Rights
Gender Issues
Poverty Alleviation
Agriculture and Fishing
Tourism and Wildlife
Environment
Geographical Features
Holidays
Politics
Business and Commerce
Economics
Science and Technology
Literature
Language Acquisition

Also, any reflections about hometowns or life in the U.S. are more than welcome! My students read at about the 6th grade level but like to be challenged. Please email me the essays (jesse.routte@gmail.com) and as this is an ongoing project of resource development, you can continue to send new essays whenever you have the free time to write. I appreciate your help!