OER material for lower and upper secondary schools and for teacher training

On these pages, you will find Open Educational Resources (OERs) that have been developed since 2022 as part of our projects. The following overview distinguishes between OER materials for lower secondary and upper secondary levels, depending on the topics (age-appropriate and aligned with German curricula) and the required target language level. However, the boundaries between lower and upper secondary levels are often fluid.
Finally, OERs in the area of teacher training can be found at the end of the following list.

Our OER offer

Our OERs are aimed at English teachers, teacher training students, lecturers and learners of all ages. The OERs are designed in such a way that they can be used in classroom teaching as well as online teaching or for personal development. They include

  • Teaching materials:
    Ready-made worksheets, presentations as well as interactive exercises for self-learning, tailored to different topics and levels.
  • Teacher Guides:
    Elaborated suggestions for planning cross-lesson teaching units on selected topics such as Shakespeare, Instapoetry, Life Writing or Mental Health.
  • Multimedia content:
    Videos, interactive H5P files, escape rooms and other digital media formats that make lessons livelier and more varied.

fOERde

On the public OER platform “FOERDE” hosted by the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel the entire collection of the materials of the MELLT project have been made accessible since 2021.

This website provides the OER material created for the “FOERDE”-platform but also OERs produced recently. Currently available are OERs on Teaching Shakespeare, Life Writing, Teaching the graphic novel “First Woman” and from master’s theses.
Aktuell bereits vorhanden sind OERs zu Teaching Shakespeare, zum Life Writing und aus Masterarbeiten. Additionally, the H5P applications (as OER) are available for testing on the subdomain (h5p.mellt.de)

OER material for lower secondary level

A group of animated figures express shock and concern, with speech bubbles in Hungarian above them. The main character, a brown-haired girl, stands prominently in front of the others with her mouth open, expressing surprise or urgency.

Teaching Pronunciation: Brush Up

H5P-OER on the topic of pronunciation.

The material consists of an H5P file. It shows ways of improving pronunciation using simple exercises.

Learning group: Secondary level I

CC-BY-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are free)

Details
A colorful urban street scene with numerous floating speech bubbles in different shapes and sizes above a street lined with buildings. Two people are standing on the sidewalk and two cars can be seen on the street. The sky is bright and clear.

Plurilingual: Linguistic Landscapes

OER collection of interactive H5P elements and worksheets on the topic of “Language in public spaces”.

The material contains worksheets as PDF documents and an interactive H5P offer for teaching English language skills and reading and writing skills in the area of “multilingualism”.

Learning group: Secondary level I

CC-BY-SA-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are possible, no change of license possible)

Details
A young girl stands in an alleyway with a serious expression, surrounded by animated, shocked faces on the walls. She is wearing a blue hoodie, shorts and pink sneakers, her curly hair framing her face. The background is colorful and dynamic.

Pamela N. Harris: When You Look Like Us

OER collection of animated film and worksheets for the book “When You Look Like Us” by Pamela N. Harris.

The material contains worksheets as PDF-documents and a short animated video clip. The focus is on teaching text and media literacy as well as funktional communicative competence. In addition, intercultural communicative competence is promoted.

Learning group: Secondary level I

CC-BY-SA-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are possible, no change of license possible)

Details
A lively classroom with pupils from a wide variety of backgrounds smiling as they use laptops and tablets. Colorful app icons float above and a large window provides a view of a sunny sky. The atmosphere is modern and optimistic, highlighting technology in education.

#instapoetry

OER collection of worksheets with solutions for integrating digital technologies into the classroom.

The material contains worksheets as PDF-documents for the teaching of text and media literacy, in particular literary-aeshetic competence, as well as functional communicative competence. It can be integrated when teaching topics such as “technology” and “individual and society“.

Learning group: Secondary level I

CC-BY-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are free)

Details
An animated figure with yellow skin and colorful hair smiles at a table filled with food. The background is decorated with various plants, paintings and kitchen utensils. The scene is colorful and lively.

Lisa the Vegetarian

OER collection with Worksheets based on the episode “Lisa the Vegetarian” (Folge 133) from the TV-series The Simpsons.

The material contains worksheets as PDF documents for teaching text and media competence as well as functional communication competence. Furthermore, the handling of food and sustainable lifestyles can be addressed.

Learning group: Secondary level I

CC-BY-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are free)

Details
A vibrant cartoon-style cityscape features a colorful sky with floating objects, a stylized Statue of Liberty and dynamic skyscrapers. Cars drive along a busy street with billboards and signs, creating a surreal city scene.

Escape room

OER collection consisting of a video, presentation slides and worksheets for integrating digital technologies into the classroom.

The material contains worksheets as PDF documents to consolidate vocabulary for a lesson on New York City. The material focuses on the topics of sightseeing, the September 11th terrorist attack and immigration. The material includes a hybrid PowerPoint escape room consisting of four digital rooms and attached analog puzzles.

Learning group: Secondary level I

CC-BY-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are free)

Details

OER material for upper secondary level

Illustration of William Shakespeare in colorful clothing, with several whimsical versions of him in various poses and expressions. Vibrant background with musical notes and sketches, creating a lively, playful atmosphere.

Shakespeare “Twelfth Night”

OER-collection constiting of 37 worksheets (and expectation grids) for teaching the different acts of the play Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.

The worksheets cover topics such as love, identity, confusion, and mental health, offering various writing and speaking tasks for each act to engage with the text, the plot, and the characters.

Learning group: Secondary level II

CC-BY-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are free)

Details
A man in a white shirt and black trousers stands confidently amidst swirling debris and papers, surrounded by colorful, dynamic energy and light, suggesting a dramatic, powerful scene.

Bryan Stevenson: Just Mercy

OER collection of worksheets with solutions and board images for the work “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson.

The material contains tasks for intensive and extensive reading such as graphic organizers. Suggestions for the use of digital whiteboards are integrated in part of the activities. Besides the worksheets and activities focusing on different chapters of “Just Mercy”, there are also teaching ideas and worksheets for two films about Bryan Stevenson and his work.

Learning group: Secondary level II

CC-BY-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are free)

Details

OER material for teacher training

A comic style illustration showing a woman learning and interacting in various teaching and learning scenarios. She is seen reading, discussing with classmates and presenting in a vibrant, colorful environment with books, notes and ideas.

Digital storytelling

OER material for a checklist.

The DST writing checklist provides specific suggestions on how digital storytelling can be methodically implemented in foreign language teaching. With the kind permission of the magazine  Lernchancen this checklist is available as a download for interested teachers.

Learning group: Teachers

OER material
(authors must be named)

Details
Illustration of a red-haired woman with curly hair wearing a futuristic orange and blue suit. She has a determined expression on her face and stands in front of a colorful, abstract background.

Graphic Novel: First Woman

OER collection of interactive H5P elements and worksheets with solutions for the work “First Woman” by NASA.

The material includes a teacher’s guide of PDF documents and interactive H5P offers for teaching English language and literacy skills to develop digital and media literacy through a multimodal approach to digital literature.

Learning group: Teachers

CC-BY-NC-4.00 International
(authors must be named, changes and additions are possible, no commercial use)

Details
Eine lebhafte Unterrichtsszene mit einer bunt gemischten Gruppe lebhafter Schüler, die aufgeregt diskutieren. In der Mitte steht ein lächelnder Schüler, der sich mit seinen Mitschülern unterhält, die mit offenen Büchern an Tischen sitzen. Sprechblasen deuten auf ein Gespräch hin. Helle, fröhliche Atmosphäre.

Teaching Scenarios

OER collection of worksheets for integrating digital technologies into the classroom.

The material contains worksheets as PDF documents and offers digitally supported language learning activities for modern English lessons. By embedding a specific tool, each scenario focuses on teaching a specific language learning skill.

Learning group: Teachers

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OER material
(Authors must be named)

Details