SAIL Initiatives
Project maintained by SAIL-Initiatives Hosted on GitHub Pages — Theme by mattgraham
Page under construction
Volunteers' Resource Hub & Learning Commons
Building this page for quick access to low-bandwidth teaching materials for volunteer educators and learners.
Getting to know your first learner [Click me]
-
Tips for new volunteers: slide deck coming soon
-
How we may introduce ourselves with "Map of our classroom"
Communicating terms
- Zoom: muted, raise your hand, wave your hand
- Doodling vs drawing vs illustrating
- Emoji
Icebreakers
Light assessment
Learning modes [Click me]
-
Paired learning
-
Reading buddy: read along a picture book with teacher
-
Folder contains Akansha's PDF book, etc.
-
[Asychronous mode] Learn with a Pen pal: for learners wanting to meet new friends from across the globe and practice writing
-
Project-mentorships: e.g. proofreading resumes, applications
Program for Cohort 1 [Click me]
- Asmaa and Norway
- Ali and Qatar
- 5 W's
- Fashion and pop culture
- Let's talk about the "Sunflower"
- Time - Part 1
- My daily life
- My family and friends
- Hobbies
- Ramadan Part 1 & 2
- Religious celebrations
- Dreams & Aspirations
- Emotion
New materials compiled for Cohort 2 [Click me]
(not always documented)
| Date or Which learners seen? | Topic/ Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-04 | link | Self-introductions |
| link | Space 101 | |
| 2026-05 | mixed | - Fun grammar with Prita - Map of our latest virtual room - Health 101: Symptoms |
| 2026-05-23 | Floating city - visual comparison & English: might vs. could vs may | |
| 2026-06-06 | tinyurl.com/math4EEP Math 101 |
|
| 2026-07-18 | Msg for ZZ | |
| AI-generated | (need to fix fonts) | |
| 2026-05-20 | One Piece | - Perhaps for Learner 1 (Minecraft) + Learner 2 (Onepiece) |
| S+JZ | tinyurl.com/swiss-japan-1 | - Designed for Learner 1 (Japan) + Learner 2 (Swiss) |
Materials that can be used for Cohort 3 [Click me]
| Which learners seen? | Topic/ Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs | ||
| Let's talk cooking | ||
| Chefs and Patissiers | ||
| Beauty and Medicine | ||
| Nature | ||
| tinyurl.com/nature4eep | - Let's draw nature (draw together) | |
| Travel | ||
| SK+JZ | tinyurl.com/swiss-japan-1 | - Designed for Learner 1 (Japan) + Learner 2 (Swiss) |
| Writing | ||
| Simile + Oxymoron | ||
| Spelling & writing for YA? | ||
| Everyday essentials | ||
| ZN+J | scripts on chores,TikTok,Manga | |
| Everyday "Essential" English tinyurl.com/essentials | - home (chores), play, work - drawing, calligraphy, plotting, math - Friendship, ... |
|
| Weather by Prita | ||
| All about water | Planned for NZ | |
| Drawing & art | ||
| SK+JZ | https://tinyurl.com/draw4eep | |
| MA+HA | Lila's go-went-gone materials | |
| RN | Let's talk shapes | |
| A | https://tinyurl.com/friends4eep |
Prita's series
| Which learners seen? | Topic/ Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NZ | 5W + 1H | |
| NZ | preprosition | |
| NZ | that,this,these,those |
Under construction
Compiled by hand (not completed):
Emergency materials
- Phonic-reading for easy readers
- What is "pen pal"? please do not circulate; sensitive content
Design Principles ❤️
Content - keep materials:
- simple
- reusable
- mobile-friendly
- low-bandwidth
Click here to see more notes for slide designers
1. Let an image span the entire slide vertically!
- Don't worry too much about margins
- Readability/ accessbility over aesthetics
2. Huge font size: no smaller than 40 points
Be careful with maps too!
- e.g. a city that is barely visible on your laptop screen will be unlikely readable on learner's mobile screen.
3. Integrate Teachers' notes directly on the slide
To reduce volunteer stress and preparation time:
- May not want to use "speaker notes" but place teacher notes directly on the slide
Rationale: teachers can quickly guide the lesson without juggling the presentation modes and also teachers may skip prep-time (the teacher can still reference them when needed)
- If this approach is adopted:
- use a very small font so learners will not read
- place notes at the top corners of the slide
- keep notes short and practical
Examples:
Teacher: Ask learner follow-up questions here
Teacher: Skip activity if internet is unstable
Teacher: Allow Arabic discussion first if needed
Why This Matters
Many volunteers teach:
- while multitasking
- learners with unstable Internet / noisy background /
- without dual monitors
- from shared/community spaces
- under time pressure
Embedded teacher notes reduce:
- stress/ prep time
- tab switching
- forgotten instructions
- onboarding difficulty for substitute volunteers
- ...