ELA/Reading Links

Adjective Detective - game for learning about adjectives

Comic Creator - invites students to compose their own comic strips for a variety of contexts

ELA basic exercises - British site, not all exercises appropriate for U.S.

Erie 1 BOCES Instructional Resources Wiki - scroll down and look for grade level pertaining to your classroom

Go Animate - anyone can animate

Google Lit Trips - combines Google Earth and literacy

Grammar games - interactive activities about different grammar terms, includes printable handouts

High School ELA Resources - includes NYS Regents exams

Lessons and activities for the K-8 ELA classroom

List of secondary ELA resources

Online Poetry Classroom - free poetry resources for teachers online

PBS Poetry - poetry resources from PBS

Read-Write-Think: interactive student materials

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Virtual Tour

Teaching English with Technology - ways to incorporate technology into the ELA classroom

VocabAhead - vocabulary videos

Web English Teacher - puts resources for ELA in one online location

Will's Words: Interactive William Shakespeare Site - interactive game about William Shakespeare words

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	Helping Your Child Become a Reader offers dozens of activities families may use to help young children learn the alphabet, play with rhymes, "read" picture books, act out poems, predict what happens next in stories...  (Department of Education)
	Reading Planet is designed to help families and children explore the world of books. It features an annotated list of 1,000 children's books that can be browsed by age group, author, or category...  (Department of Education)
	Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers features easy-to-do parent tips, video clips and transcripts from interviews with some of the nation's foremost reading experts, motivational e-cards that grandparents and teachers can...  (PBS, supported by Department of Education)
	The Big Read encourages communities to read and discuss novels. Teacher guides, discussion questions, and other information are provided for Fahrenheit 451, My Ántonia, The Great Gatsby...  (National Endowment for the Arts)
	Children's Literature: Digitized Print Materials provides 50 digitized texts of rare books: The Arabian Nights, A Child's Garden of Verses, Ballad of the Lost Hare, A Christmas Carol, Humpty Dumpty, The Grasshopper Stories, Mother...  (Library of Congress)
	Teaching Literacy in English to K-5 English Learners provides videos, slideshows, and tools for teaching reading to K-5 English learners. The site is based on five research-based recommendations: screen and monitor students' progress...  (Department of Education)
	Early Childhood Education looks at two teaching practices found to be effective in center-based settings with 3- to 5-year-old children who are not yet in kindergarten: teaching phonological awareness and...  (Department of Education)
	Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices provides five recommendations to improve literacy among adolescents in the upper elementary, middle, and high school grades. The guide is designed for teachers and personnel who work...  (Department of Education)
	Read.gov features classic books online for children and teens. Find the text and illustrations of "Humpty Dumpty," "Mother Goose," "The Three Bears," "Our Flag," "The Arabian Nights," "The...  (Library of Congress)
	International Children's Digital Library aims to make the best in children's literature from around the world available free on the web. It includes nearly 5,000 books in over 50 languages in a child-friendly format for...  (International Children's Digital Library, supported by National Science Foundation)
	ReadingRockets.org provides teaching strategies, parent tip sheets (11 languages), articles on literacy, interviews with authors and experts, daily reading headlines, a library of web widgets, and other...  (ReadingRockets.org, supported by Department of Education)
	Reading: Improve Student Performance is a collection of resources for helping all students learn to read well. It includes instructional materials, research reports, and national assessment frameworks and report cards...  (Department of Education)
	National Reading Panel includes two key publications from the panel: "Put Reading First: Helping Your Child Learn to Read" and "Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to...  (Multiple Agencies)
	Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success is designed to help parents figure out what language and literacy experiences to look for in preschools and child care; what to look for in early reading instruction (K-3); what to ask...  (Multiple Agencies)
	Colorín Colorado is designed for parents and teachers who are helping Spanish-speaking children learn to read in English. Find activities to help children learn about sounds, letters, and words. Use...  (Colorín Colorado, supported by Department of Education)
	Captured Wisdom on Adult Literacy is a series of stories about adult literacy teaching success. In one story, adults learning English use the Internet to find pictures and information about their home country for...  (NCREL, supported by Department of Education)
	Helping Your Preschool Child offers fun activities for parents to use during everyday routines to help babies, toddlers, and preschoolers develop skills needed for success in school and life. The booklet also...  (Department of Education)
	Between the Lions is based on the PBS children's TV series, and presents a new story each week with related interactive games and activities for kids 4-7. It also recommends books for each episode and...  (WGBH, supported by Department of Education)
	National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA) provides information on what elements of curriculum, instruction, and assessment are essential to developing high literacy and how schools can best help students achieve success...  (Department of Education)
	School-Home Links Reading Kit offers four hundred activities for strengthening children's reading and writing skills (one kit for each grade level, kindergarten through 3rd grade). These kits, part of the "Compact...  (Department of Education)
	Teaching Our Youngest: A Guide for Preschool Teachers and Child Care and Family Providers suggests how to read aloud to children, develop their listening and speaking skills, teach about letters and numbers, and build their background knowledge and thinking skills. The...  (Department of Education)
	National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped offers a free library service, NLS Talking Books, to help people of all ages whose low vision, blindness, or physical handicap makes it difficult for them to read a standard printed...  (Library of Congress)

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NATIONAL

• International Reading Association IRA seeks to promote high levels of literacy for all by improving the quality of reading instruction and research.
• National Council of Teachers of English: NCTE, composed of educators in English studies, literacy, and language arts, supports research, publications, and professional development. Extensive resources on the web.
• Conference on English Leadership: An NCTE affiliate, CEL is a collaborative dynamic, discussion-based forum for English langugaea arts leaders to explore current and emerging issues. The conference is held annually directly after the NCTE conference and always in the same city. CEL publishes English Leadership Quarterly, which is included in the membership.
• American Library Association   Key action areas are diversity, continuous learning and education, equity of access, intellectual freedom, and literacy.
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development:    An international, nonprofit, nonpartisan education association committed to the success of all learners. Founded in 1943, it provides professional development in curriculum and supervision; initiates and supports activities to provide educational equity for all students; and serves as a world-class leader in education information services.
• National Association for the Education of Young Children:  Promotes excellence in early childhood education.
• National Reading Conference (NRC):  A professional organization for individuals who share an interest in research and the dissemination of information about literacy and literacy instruction
• National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME): NAME is an organization devoted to research, policy, and practice surrounding multicultural education. Inlcuded in membership is the quarterly journal Multicultural Perspectives, access to a listserv clearinghouse, and reduced entry fees for national conferences.

State

• Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English.  A nonprofit organization of English and Language Arts professionals.
• National English Honor Society. An honor society specifically for students who excel in English language. To learn more about starting a chapter at your school, contact Warren Bowe, Chippewa Falls High School, NEHS Midwestern representative.
• Wisconsin State Reading Association:   Reading professionals promoting excellence in reading.
• Wisconsin Library Association.   Includes legislative information, membership, events, and organizational forms.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

WiLEARNS provides practical information, a list of resources, and links to other websites supporting educators and parents as they work with learners of all ages engaged in the process of reading. Audio demonstrations are included in the decoding print and reading assessment sections.

• Cooperative Children's Book Center   CCBC is a children's and young adult literature library located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a unique and vital gathering place for all who are interested in youth literature.
• Fox Valley Writing Project: A National Writing Project affiliate, this program brings teachers together to share strategies to teach writing and improve their personal writing skills.
• WiLEARNS: WiLEARNS is designed to support the people nurturing and teaching children and adults to be accomplished readers. Parents, childcare providers, teachers and tutors will find research based information that explains that learning to read starts with a child's developing a sense of language as they listen, speak, are read to, read, and write.

SECONDARY READING

Articles and Reports

• Before It's Too Late
  ASCD found that weak reading comprehension is the reason most struggling readers have problems in middle and high school. Teachers need to create a supportive environment, encourage students to engage actively with texts, and develop peer-tutoring systems.
• Fostering High Levels of Reading and Learning in Secondary Students
  Secondary teachers can improve instruction by teaching for understanding.
• Improving the Reading Skills of Adolescents
  This writer identifies problems with reading comprehension among remedial readers at the secondary level as stemming from poor motivation, lack of experience, and egocentricity.
• Johnny Still Can't Read?
  Peggy Farber explores why high school students aren't developing the reading skills they need and what researchers suggest to address this continuing problem.
• Reaching Older Readers
  Three articles explore ways to reach high school readers.
• Reversing Reading Failure In Young Adults
  The article describes the Boys Town Reading Curriculum, as well as research and experiences from the program developed at the Boys Town Reading Center.
• Struggling Adolescent Readers
  This site links articles and reports focusing on ways to help struggling readers.
• Supporting Student Achievement in Literacy Project: Literature Review
  A teacher-focused conceptual and practical review examines the literature on effective practices for developing literacy skills with students in grades 6-9. The literature review found that the overall goal behind effective middle school literacy programs is to develop active, engaged, independent readers.
• What Secondary Teachers Can Do To Teach Reading
  This article looks at a three-step strategy for helping students delve more deeply into texts.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English & Communication U.S. Department of Education Clearinghouse is dedicated to providing educational materials and services related to English language arts with links to news, lesson plans, and web resources. BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Exemplary Reading Instruction Practices - Secondary Fables, Myths, and Folkstories Reader-Response Reading Comprehension Instructional Strategies - Secondary Level Trade Books in Secondary Classroom Vocabulary Instruction in Secondary Schools LAB at Brown University
The research at LAB looks at adolescent literacy as a school-wide undertaking, research-based literacy strategies that benefit adolescents, current developments in adolescent literacy and links to Internet resources for adolescent literacy in the content area. National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA)
CELA's mission is to improve the research on teaching and learning of English language arts.

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1. Aesop's Fables - Short reading passages with a moral to analyze.
2. American English Pronunciation - Fantastic site! Lessons are available on quite a few topics. Each lesson provides the pattern, gives examples, provided practice (a lot of practice), and ends with a quiz. Each word in the quiz can be pronounced for the student by clicking on the speaker icon. This site would be good for Language Arts or ESL classes.
3. A Word A Day archive - archives of words that have been used since 1994
4. Bibliographic Style
   1. Bibme - fully automatic bibliography maker that auto-fills. It's the easiest way to build a works cited page.
   2. Citation Machine - an interactive Web tool designed to assist teachers in modeling the proper use of information property (Students are welcome to use this as well)
   3. Citing Sources- Guide to Library Research - Documentation Guidelines: Citing Sources Within Your Paper
   4. MLA-Style Bibliography Builder - Choose a form, fill it out, and push the button... you will get an individual entry for a "Works Cited" page, which you may then copy and paste into your word processor.
   5. MLA, APA, AAA, Chicago (Turabian) Citation Guide - from North Seattle Community College Library
   6. Using American Psychological Association (APA) Format from the Online Writing Laboratory (OWL) at Purdue.
5. Bibliomania - Bibliomania has more than 2000 free texts, study guides and reference resources
6. Book Glutton - Read, annotate and discuss, right there, immersed in the text. Some classics are free online reads and you can bookmark your place!.
7. Catalogue of Electronic texts, a collection of digital documents collected in the subject areas of English literature, American literature, and Western philosophy. Searchable by author or title.
8. Character Cards - helpful cards to collect data while researching
9. A Chapter a Day - Books online divided up into chapters with vocabulary words for the chapter and quotes. Many classical novels here.
10. Chapter Books On-line - Many classic novels online with tools to help students read on line.
11. Class Anatomy - online "class anatomy"- a documentation and analysis of one instructional period.
12. Classic Short Stories - online text of some of the short story classics.
13. Comic Strips - Make up your own comics, using characters, emotions, and more
14. Comic Strips - Create your own comics and your own characters also!
15. Common Errors in English Usage - Do you "shutter to think" of horrible misusage of the language? Find that and more at this site.
16. Diagramming Sentences - "Understanding the functions of parts of the speech in a sentence and their relationship to one another can be very helpful in learning to construct good sentences"
17. Drama - The Mercury Theatre on the Air, Audio Radio Shows - "The finest radio drama of the 1930's was The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a show featuring the acclaimed New York drama company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman. In its brief run, it featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris. The show is famous for its notorious War of the Worlds broadcast, but the other shows in the series are relatively unknown. This site has many of the surviving shows, and will eventually have all of them."
18. Every-Day-Edit - provides daily practice in a wide variety of basic language skills with a daily paragraph having ten built-in errors of basic spelling, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization
19. The Electronic Text Center - The Modern English Collection contains fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, letters, newspapers, manuscripts and illustrations from 1500 to the present, arranged for browsing by author's last name or by category of interest.
20. English 11 - Reading and Writing - practice tests from Virginia Department of Education released SOL tests
21. The English Teacher's Companion - Lessons, tools, publications, and much more can be found at this site.
22. English Teacher Resources - Many links for strategies in writing, poetry, literature, reading and more
23. English-Forum by Aardvark presents interactive English language exercises for use in ESL or EFL classes.
24. English Grammar Quizzes - self checking quizzes
25. English Grammar The Easy Way - This site has a very comprehensive collection of brief grammar explanations for students. A great site if you want some concise support.
26. Etymologic: The Toughest Word Game on the Web - In this game you'll be presented with 10 randomly selected word origin or word definition puzzles to solve; in each case the word or phrase is highlighted in bold, and a number of possible answers will be presented. You need to choose the correct answer to score a point for that question.
27. Folktale of the Month
28. Free Rice - a vocabulary site that donates 10 grains of rice through the United Nations with each word you define correctly.
29. Grammar Activities - posted by Ohio University
30. The Grammar Aquarium - many online quizzes
31. Grammar Exercises - many online quizzes [this expired page is from the Internet Archive known as the Wayback Machine.]
32. Grammar and Style notes from Jack Lynch at the University of Pennsylvania. Example entry on the subject of Boldface; "There's no reason to use boldface in an academic paper; spend your time writing, not fiddling with the word processor."
33. Grammar and Writing - interactive quizzes
34. Grammar Worksheets and Printables - Free English grammar and vocabulary worksheets and printable handouts
35. Guide to Grammar and Writing - Maintained in memory of Professor of English Charles Darling for English courses at Capital Community College in Connecticut. (for use by the college's students and staff and for the general online community)
36. Homonyms and Homophones
    1. A Feast of Homonyms - a Quia quiz
    2. Homonym Practice - a Quia quiz
    3. Homophone Quiz - three levels are available in this BBC quiz
    4. Self-Study Homonym Quizzes - 52 quizzes listed
    5. Word Confusion - choose the Hard level in this FunBrain quiz
    6. Word Pairs - This quiz checks your understanding of homophones. Listen to the sentence and select the correct word from the pair.
37. Idioms - Set one ; Set two [this expired page is from the Internet Archive known as the Wayback Machine.]
38. Idioms and collocations - exercises practice collocations - words that 'sound good together' (rush hour/catch a cold/soft drinks), phrasal verbs - two-or-three word combinations (consisting of a verb and particle) that make sense only if looked at together as one single unit (take off/drop out/get over) and idioms - expressions consisting of words that can't be understood literally. from EnglishGateway site
39. Inference Notes - a way to graph the concept of inference
40. Interactive Grammar Quizzes - Grammar and punctuation. [this expired page is from the Internet Archive known as the Wayback Machine.]
41. Interactive lessons
    1. Middle School
       1. Bibliographic Blunders (6 - 8) Students use notecards to collect information.
       2. Information Elimination (6 - 8) Students model, instruct, and practice narrowing a topic for expository writing.
       3. One Source (6 - 8) Students compare primary and secondary sources.
       4. Paraphrase Craze (6 - 8) Students practice paraphrasing for expository writing.
       5. Prewriting Tactics (6 - 8) Students organize and group related ideas.
       6. Trailblazing Conclusions (6 - 8) Students develop a sense of ending by using closure and thought-provoking statements.
       7. Trailblazing Introductions (6 - 8) Students develop a sense of beginning by using strong leads.
       8. Which Writing? (6 - 8) Students choose an appropriate format for writing.
    2. High School [lesson opens on a new page]
       1. Setting (9 - 12) Travel back in time with Shakespeare's Romeo as he teaches about setting through great works of literature.
42. The Internet Classics Archive - bringing the wisdom of the classics to the Internet since 1994
43. Jog Lab - create your own mnemonic by entering target words then choosing jog words from the pull down lists
44. Journalism: Student writing for the real world - Journalism is not just for the newspaper staff! All students can improve their writing as a result of instruction in journalism.
45. Learn Out Loud - podcasts of novels
46. Literary Elements - Interactive game (from Glencoe)
47. Nursery Rhyme Expansion - practice with the aspects of purpose, voice, and audience in their writing. New ideas for old material. Here is a site with stories inspired by nursery rhymes that students can see to help them write their own versions.14 Funny Stories based on Mother Goose Rhymes
48. Literature Quizzes - online quizzes in poetry, essays, comprehension, and story elements
49. Middle and Secondary English - Language Arts - Resources to support the curriculum in English and Language Arts for K-12 educators.) [this expired page is from the Internet Archive known as the Wayback Machine.]
50. Mindomo - interactive graphic organizer (free registration)
51. Novels On-Line found at the Carnegie Mellon University English server.
52. Novel Guides - from Classzone; activities and suggestions for novels.
53. Novel Guide-Novel Analysis - literary analysis on the web; an educational supplement for better understanding of classic and contemporary Literature Profiles, Metaphor Analysis, Theme Analyses, and Author Biographies.
54. Novel Units Online - Novel Guides and Units
55. The On-line Books Page - You may search by author, title, or subject.
56. Prefixes
    1. Prefix Mix - working with "Pre" and "Post," prefixes with opposite meanings
    2. Prefixes Make New Words - drag and drop the prefixes to complete the words correctly
    3. Prefixes Say Plenty - choose the word that best completes the sentence
57. Poe, Edgar Allen, Quote the Raven - Welcome to TeachersFirst's "Interactive Raven," a look at the vocabulary and literary devices in Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem, The Raven. This unit lets users view each stanza of the poem, pointing out Poe's use of some common literary devices.
58. Poetry
    1. Poetry 180 - Welcome to Poetry 180. A Poem a day for American High School students. Poetry can and should be an important part of our daily lives. Poems can inspire and make us think about what it means to be a member of the human race. By just spending a few minutes reading a poem each day, new worlds can be revealed.
    2. Poetry Index of Canonical verse at the Carnegie Mellon University English server. Poets from Angelou to Wordsworth.
    3. 30 days of Poetry - Each lesson gives you a format to follow and student examples. In many cases your teacher will direct you to write more than one poem in a lesson. This gives you an opportunity to use the form and, most often, create an even better poem in doing so. Enjoy your lessons! [this expired page is from the Internet Archive known as the Wayback Machine.]
    4. Poet's Pantry Tour - Virtual fieldtrip of the many types of poetry. Within the tour there is a list of at least 40 types of poetry and examples of each form!
59. Power Proofreading from Houghton Mifflin - Help! The power has gone out at HME-TV, and proofreaders are needed to fix TV scripts, memos and other writing at the station. HM has provided a special power screen so your students can help them.
60. Pre-Reading notes - help students prepare for information obtained in reading
61. Proofreading Exercises - online with answers
62. Reading Placement Assessments - tests to download (answer key given)
63. Reading Comprehension - free Reading Comprehension worksheets for Middle and High School students to reinforce skills such as context clues and word meanings
64. Reading Comprehension - for High school students [this expired page is from the Internet Archive known as the Wayback Machine.]
65. Reading for Results - Online practice, many concepts
66. Reading for Thinking - online passages and questions for many concepts- middle and high school
67. Reading Keys - online passages and questions for many concepts - middle/high school
68. Reading Passages - vocab, word selection, sequencing and conclusion activities.
69. Reading Passages - vocab, word selection, what did you learn, spelling and more.
70. ReadPrint - free online library, thousands of free books.
71. Reading Skill Stories - written for adult ESL learners, these stories can be a timed reading; there is audio for each story so it can be used for a read-along, and there are questions at the end of the stories. [this expired page is from the Internet Archive known as the Wayback Machine.]
72. Root Words
    1. Putting Down Roots - Drag and drop the roots into the blanks to complete the words.
    2. Putting Down Roots (2) - Drag and drop the roots into the blanks to complete the words.
    3. Putting Your Roots into Action - Now that you know five new roots, start looking for them in unfamiliar words.
    4. Putting Your Roots into Action (2) - Now that you know five more new roots, start looking for them in unfamiliar words.
    5. Root Word Lessons - free interactive vocabulary puzzle and activity sessions use Latin and Greek "roots and cells" to help unlock word meanings.
    6. What's a Root? - In this lesson, you'll work with five roots. Once you know a few roots, you'll see them everywhere.
    7. What's a Root? (2) - In this lesson, you'll work with five more roots. .
73. Schoolhouse: English and Language Arts - Lesson plans and Internet resources in the areas of Poetry, Reading, and Writing. The site also includes Internet resources in the areas of Literature, Philosophy, and Plays. Schoolhouse also includes links to Standards sites.
74. Sentence-combining exercises - a lesson followed by quizzes
75. Short Fiction on the Carnegie Mellon University English server.
76. Short Story Elements - online interactive quiz from Quia
77. Short Story Elements - online quiz
78. Skimming and Scanning - links that contain lessons and activities to practice these skills.
79. SparkNotes - Study Guides, Message Boards, Complete Texts of an enormous amount of various types of literature taught in High Schools. You must register to get to the guides, but registration is free.
80. Story Elements Questioning Cards - Great for independent work after reading a book.
81. Story Modules - modules designed to test comprehension of a news story (Click on Story Archives on the left to find the stories)
82. Style Manual by William Strunk Jr. - Reference site to find verse, authors, fiction, nonfiction links.
83. Suffixes
    1. Suffixes Make New Words - drag and drop the suffix to the correct root word to make a new word
    2. Suffixes Say a Lot - pick the best definition of the capitalized word
    3. Success with Suffixes - fill in the blanks with words ending in "er"
84. Summarizing and Paraphrasing - online exercises and lessons.
85. The Teacher's Desk - A literacy resource designed for teachers of grades five and six. This site is a collection of lesson plan ideas and classroom activities.
86. Think About it cards - excellent task cards to place beside students while reading for information
87. Timed Reading - Read this passage and time yourself!
88. Visual Thesaurus - Really cool way to look up synonyms. It is just a trial version but you can look up a few words at a time without paying.
89. Vocabulary Enrichment
    1. Analogy Quiz1 - Determine which choice has a relationship similar to the original words or phrases. (HS Level)
    2. Analogy Quiz2 - Determine which choice has a relationship similar to the original words or phrases. (HS Level)
    3. Sentence Completion - Fill in the missing vocabulary words. (Middle/High School level)
    4. Sentence Completion Quiz - Fill in the missing vocabulary words. (Middle/High School level)
    5. Vocabulary Enrichment - Each Quiz picks 10 questions from a fifty word list and you can hear the word spoken, allowing you to not only learn its definition, but how its pronounced.
    6. Vocabulary University - Vocabulary puzzles to enhance vocabulary mastery. These exercises help prepare for SSAT, PSAT, GED, SAT and ACT tests, they supplement personal vocabulary acquisition, and are being used in home-schooling and ESL programs
    7. Vocaboly - Vocabulary test - Multiple choice, different formats
90. The Word Detective on the Web is the online version of The Word Detective, a newspaper column answering readers' questions about words and language.
91. World Wide Words - Each week you will find at least one short article or extended definition of a word which is too new to appear in most dictionaries
92. Words Count - Vocabulary exercises - self checking
93. Writing Tests - ( Scroll down to the bottom of the page to get to this section )These tests cover vocabulary, writing style, mechanics, focus, and understanding of the topic. Answer key given.