This videotape and workbook offer a framework for developing curriculum and materials that speak to the most basic and most pressing issues in English language learners' lives. They are based on the belief that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and literacy classrooms could and should be settings where adults find opportunities to develop language and literacy skills while reflecting as individuals in collaboration with others. A variety of genres of learner texts were elicited as a basis for developing language and literacy materials that spoke to participants' deepest concerns and interests. Chapter titles include the following: "Memories of Chinese Festivals"; "For the Children: Remembering Mien Life in Laos"; "Breast Cancer Oral History Project"; "Taking Charge, Taking Care: English for Home Health Care Training"; "New Country, New Women: Caregiver Stories"; "Building Community through Family: Family Web Page and Quilt Project." Four appendices include "Texts, Lessons, and Thematic Units: A Framework for Curriculum Development"; "Sample Lesson from 'Stories To Tell Our Children'"; "Sample Thematic Unit from 'Collaborations'"; and "Thematic Unit Checklist." Further resources, 4 books and 19 ERIC Digests, are suggested. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) (KFT)