Teaching Resources :
Language

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Other Pages Related to Language : Dictionaries English [Tertiary] Language Literacy & Reading Literature & Poetry The English Language Writing Teaching Resources : Cross Curricula Teaching Resources : Early Learning

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Resources for Language

• Note : Individual resources are suitable for teacher use with all education levels unless specifically indicated otherwise.

1. new !103 Things to Do
   [Before/During/After Reading]
   ‘A collection of interactive activities that help kids become more involved in the stories that they read.’ Includes suggestions from pantomimes to debates - some things for every age.
2. ABCs of the Writing Process
   ‘A Universal Process for Any Writing Task — The purpose of this site is to provide a user friendly online resource, for students or teachers, no matter what they are being challenged to write.’ Comes from Alberta, Canada.
   Primary
3. A Hotlist on Teaching English
   Annotated links to research and other resources grouped under headings including phonetics, classroom activities, multimedia, teaching techniques and reading strategies.
   Teachers
4. Alphabet/Pre-Writing Activities :
• Alphabet/Pre-Writing
  A series of annotated links to activities, units and more in this area.
  Preschool
• Preschool Language & Literacy Development
  [Writing]
  ‘Free preschool pre-writing and tracing activities and worksheets for parents, and teachers who want to prepare their children for future success in school.’
  Teachers, Parents
• Preschool Tracing Activities
  Downloadable tracing book to develop pre-writing skills. Fee-based but quite cheap.
  Preschool
5. Audiblox2000
   ‘Simply put, Audiblox is a system of cognitive exercises, aimed at the development of foundational learning skills.’ Information on the product, designer, learning principles behind it, where to access in Australia, testimonials, case studies, research, video clips and more. Even order online. Cost is not specified. Worth viewing the program for students for whom little else works.
   Primary, Secondary
6. Australian Sites :
• Australian Independent Schools Literacy Website
  Information, aims, links to nominated areas, news, highlights, glossary, software checks. You need to look at ‘English’ to find these.
• Christo’s Lucky Dip
  [English Teacher Resources]
  ‘A resource Web-bag full of useful ideas for secondary teachers of English.’ Links are grouped for years 9, 10, 11 [2 sections] and 12 [2 sections]. Originating in Victoria, but adaptable in other Australian settings.
• Elect Spelling, Writing and Reading Programs
  [Formerly The Sound Way]
  ‘A cost effective, revolutionary and proven solution to raising the literacy skills of any age group … through our complete phonic based, multi-sensory video programs.’
  Fee-based programs.
  Teachers, Parents
• e:lit
  [Previously PETA]
  ‘Teaching resources including books, articles, journals, etc, that may assist teachers in professional development and classroom practice.’
  Teachers
• Foniks
  Learn how to read and spell with phonics. Audio work with phonic units that are ‘moused’ over.
• Interactive English
  ‘The Site offers students a range of HSC English Resources designed to reflect the HSC outcomes established by the NSW Board of Studies. It is a website that offers online tutoring for every aspect of HSC English’. It would also be appropriate in other settings. Fee-based.
  Secondary
• K-6 English Resources
  From Studentnet. Annotated links, access dictionaries, Fast Finder.
  Primary
• MyRead
  ‘Supports teachers of underperforming students in the middle years [Years 4 – 9].’ Beliefs, the who, what and how of the process, explicit teaching practices, monitoring and assessment, classroom organisation, specific professional development and further readings. Excellent resources from Australia.
  Teachers
• Ship or Sheep
  English pronunciation using minimal pairs of sounds. Also usable with ESL.
• Spelling Worlds
  The home page for two programs in the basics of language, ‘Spelling Worlds’ and ‘Reading Code Breaker’. Developed by an Australian teacher. There is further information about these and other aspects on this site.
  Primary
• Spoken English
  ‘A Free online talking grammar for learners.’ Also usable with ESL.
• new !Tales from the Billabong
  Games and stories. Games include both Shockwave and Flash activities. Also has a quiz and colouring sheets.
  Primary
• Useful Links [1]
  Links collected by AIS.
• Useful Links [2]
  ‘The following is a list of other websites related to children’s books and publishing.’. Covers Awards, Literature Centres, Reading Challenges and more.
7. new !BBC Magic Key
   A series of ‘adventures’ relating to aspects of language from full stops to words that make sounds.
8. BBC Schools, Words & Pictures
   Phonics activities, games, teacher information/resources, same for parents.
   Primary
9. new !Bitesize [Games]
   Another BBC site. Provides a range of “bitesize” literacy games for children to use.
10. Clifford’s Interactive Storybooks
    Listen to stories, completion activities, reading games, … .
    Primary
11. Doucette Index
    ‘Provides access to books and websites that contain useful teaching suggestions related to books for children and young adults, and the creators of those books.’ K-12 Literature-based Teaching Ideas.
    Teachers
12. new !Earlyreading.info
    ‘The earlyreading.info website is designed to help classroom teachers [ ] find resources for pre-kindergarten through 3rd grade in five reading components. Because these resources have been chosen for quality, relevance, and authority, this website will provide you with quick access to the information you are seeking. First time visitors to earlyreading.info will benefit from the Browse feature; select a grade, reading component, and type of resource.’ US-based development.
    Infants
13. new !Eduref Language Arts Lessons
    From the Educators Reference Desk. Topics range from the Alphabet to Journalism and beyond. Each section has a list of lessons, with every detail required from topic title to assessment. They are listed by both title and grade level.
14. English Toolbox
    [David Appleyard]
    ‘Here you’ll find some key English learning points and recommended references in easily manageable, interlinked compartments. These pages are just part of a network of sites pieced together to present English in its cultural context.’
    Excellent !
15. Fiction Writing
    Activities for teaching creative writing.
    Secondary
16. new !Free Games and Activities
    ‘A collection of interactive games and activities to help young learners to practise grammar and skills. You can display them on a monitor or on a screen. For each game there is a zipped file. Save the file on your computer and open it from your computer in order to play the game.’ PC only. From One Stop English.
17. Grammar at Teacher’s Net
    Sites to find everything from capitalisation to citing electronic sources and all rules and concepts in between.
18. Grammar Gorillas
    Online game to help develop correct grammar skills.
    Primary
19. Guide to Grammar and Writing, The
    ‘Contains definitions, suggestions, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, and a way to submit queries regarding grammar and usage.’ Done by a US based college.
    Secondary, Teachers
20. Harry Potter Teaching Resources
    Still the flavour of the moment. Activities and ideas developed to use the phenomena to aid language and reading development and sheer enjoyment.
    Primary, Secondary
21. Interactive Phonics and Word Study Centre, The
    From Sadlier-Oxford Educational publishing. Student, teacher and family centres with stacks of reading activities especially for younger children.
    Primary
22. new !Just One More Book ! !
    [A Podcast about the children’s books we love and why we love them - recorded in our favourite coffee shop]
    Extensive listing with archived material and author list.
23. new !Kids on the Net
    ‘Kids on the Net was one of the first websites on the internet to invite children to submit their writing. We want children all over the world to send us your writing - poems, stories, articles and reports, opinions, writing about yourselves - whether you write it at school, at home, in a library or club, or anywhere else.’
24. Kidz Book Zone - WELCOME !
    By a New South Wales school. Ideas on choosing books for children, lists suitable books in various categories, provides puzzles and gives advice and information for teachers.
    Infants, Primary
25. Language Arts Lesson Plans and Resources
    ‘This page contains links to lesson plans and resources for teaching reading, spelling, writing, journalism, communication, debate, and drama. Resources and lesson plans for poetry as well as children’s and adolescent literature have been relocated to separate sites, but are still accessible from the site index.’
26. Language Software
    This incorporates commercial software only. For Freeware, check the Educational Software page.
• new !CAST Universal Design for Learning Book Builder
  ‘Use this site to create, read, and share engaging digital books that build reading skills for students.’ You need to create an account, but this appears to be Free.
• Eduss English IMTA
• Extra Language Resources
• I Love Spelling
• Jump Start Phonics
• Learning Ladder Pre-School
• Phonics Alive 1, 2
• PM Reading Software
• Reader Rabbit - Learn to Read with Phonics
• Reader Rabbit Playtime
• Reading Blaster
• Tell Me More English
• Word Explore Deluxe
• Word Race
  ‘WordRace is a fun and educational spelling game.’
27. Launching K-3 Readers
    Ideas and resources to aid in development of reading skills with students. Reading assessment and other aspects of reading.
    Infants, Primary
28. Learning to Read
    [Resources for Language Arts and Reading Research]
    For professional development with the latest developments, materials, research, etc..
    Teachers
29. Learn to Read
    A huge range of learn-to-read activities can be found here. Matching activities, missing letters, stories, audio files, … . This is one section of the larger new !Starfall site, which has several sections on Reading.
    Infants, Primary
30. Letter P.A.L.S.
    ‘A Free online K-2nd grade school-to-home reading program … created to provide a dynamic way to help teachers, parents and guardians motivate children to become strong readers.’ US based, covering an eighteen week period from the latter part of October.
    Infants
31. new !Letters and Sounds
    Developed by the Department for Children, Schools & Families in the UK, it covers the development of Phonics in the early years. Covers 6 phases with notes for guidance. Each level has multiple videos plus transcripts in Word format.
    Infants
32. LiteracyCenter.Net
    ‘More than a million Free literacy lessons a month to children in 141 countries. It provides safe learning activities for parents and teachers to share with young children. All online lessons are Free of advertising and Free of charge.’ Several languages.
    Primary
33. new !Literature Learning Ladders
    ‘This web project will help you make the connection between theory and practice by exploring some online resources related to literacy, themes, literature circles, technology, and learning.’ Multiple sections. Each section is worth visiting.
    Fascinating !
34. Literacy Reading [Teaching Ideas]
    UK based. Activities, in two main levels to age 11, toys & games, books and other links.
    Primary
35. Literature Websites
    ‘Author sites’, ‘great literature websites’ and ‘Finding units with trade books’. US-based.
    Primary, Secondary
36. LitLinks
    ‘After reading a great story, poem, play, essay, or critical article, you may want to know more. The Internet provides all kinds of information to aid your research, so we’ve compiled LitLinks - annotated to show you what kinds of information about a work, its author, or period you’ll find on each site.’
    Primary, Secondary
37. new !Lookybook
    [Picture books you can discover, share and talk about]
    ‘Lookybook allows you to look at picture books in their entirety, from cover to cover, at your own pace. We know that nothing will replace the magic of reading a book with your child at bedtime, but we aim to replace the overwhelming and frustrating process of finding the right books for parents and their kids.’
    Infants
38. Merriam-Webster Language Info Zone
    Language resources, including a dictionary that speaks the words you are after.
    Primary, Secondary
39. new !Mrs Alphabet
    ‘All you ever wanted to know about teaching the alphabet, phonics, and reading. Adults and kids join the fun, there is something for everyone !’
40. new !Myths and Legends
    ‘This site holds a collection of stories from around the East Anglian region. There are also stories from other parts of England and from around the world.’ You can listen to them and print them out. As well, there are ‘myths’ made up by students and others and you can actually create your own using The Story Creator.
41. Nessy Tales
    ‘Nessy Tales are a fun new way to improve children’s reading, vocabulary and listening skills at home. Interact with these virtual books as a stepping stone to paper-based books. Reading ability 5-7 years. Age appropriate content up to 12 years.’
    Primary
42. Online Resources for Writers
    An extensive listing of briefly annotated links to sections as diverse as Analytical Writing, Sentence Sense and dictionaries.
43. OzSpeller
    A Free online Spelling tutor/game for K-12. Has spoken words, prompts, hints and a large word base. In addition, there is a Keyboard Tutor which can also be accessed online from the same site.
44. new !Phonics & Word Study
    Extensive list of online activities on various aspects of language, broken down into grade groupings. There are also a Teacher Centre and a Family Center with further information.
    Primary
45. new !PIZZAZ
    [People Interested in Zippy and ZAny Zcribbling]
    ‘PIZZAZ! is dedicated to providing simple creative writing and oral storytelling activities with copyable [yes, copyable !] handouts for use with students of all ages. Permission is given to use these resources for in-class, non-profit use only.’ Each offering provides sample works and methodology.
46. new !Power Proofreading
    Requires Shockwave Player
    Covers the Primary and Middle School years. It has a range of interactive exercises designed to develop proofreading skills.
47. Put Reading First
    ‘A Parent Guide : Preschool Through Grade 3’. US article and information from the National Institute for Literacy.
    Infants
48. Reading A-Z Program
    Free reading booklets, worksheets, clipart and associated activities. Read the information carefully.
    Infants
49. new !Reading Matrix, The
    ‘The following database includes interactive online reading activities from around the Web.’ Links are listed under headings from Analyzing Text to Vocabulary, including Reading Comprehension at various levels.
50. Reading Rockets
    Strategies, Techniques, books, authors, articles and five streaming videos covering a range of areas related to reading and literacy. Research based information.
    Teachers, Parents
51. ReadMe®
    ‘ReadMe® is a literacy enhancement tool, designed for Australian school students from upper Primary to lower Secondary. Comes with almost thirty lessons and related Flash Games.
    Fee-based.
    Primary, Secondary
52. ReadTheWords
    ‘ReadTheWords.com is a Free, web based service that assists people with written material. We do this by using TTS Technology, or Text To Speech Technology. Users of our service can generate a clear sounding audio file from almost any written material. We generate a voice that reads the words out loud, that you request us to read.’ Requires Free Registration.
53. Read, Write, Think
    ‘Providing educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction.’ Sections on lessons, standards, web resources and student materials. There is even a section for Summer Activities. Sample pages include such as the :
    • new !Comic Creator
      Create your own comic style stories, and
    • new !Genre Study : A Collaborative Approach
      ‘In a genre study, students have the opportunity to expand their models of effective writing while identifying the writer’s craft often used within genres typically studied in late elementary [primary] grades.’ A complete lesson procedure is provided ranging from objectives to assessment.
54. Repeat After Us
    ‘Created by a high school student, RepeatAfterUs is an award-winning online library with the best collection of copyright-free English texts and scripted recordings. Our Free audio clips provide an excellent resource for students and literature lovers of all ages.’ Multiple search options for finding specific content.
55. Representative Poetry Online
    2 000+ English poems classified for easy access.
    Primary, Secondary
56. Resources, Handouts & Exercises
    These were originally intended for use in the ESL area, but they contain information, exercises and handouts covering most aspects of grammar, and some other areas such as capitalisation.
    Essentially Secondary
57. new !Score Language Arts
    [Schools of California Online Resources for Education]
    Covers areas including Phonics, an activity bank including rubrics, organisers, journals, etc., education framework from California Education and Cyber Guides grouped in grades. These link to specific books and provide a range of activities including further links to resources, assessment and more. The US nature of the site may limit some of the books, but there are still plenty that remain applicable, especially for the senior years.
58. Sight Words [Dolch List]
    A range of online activities, in groupings from Pre-Primer to Grade 3. There are multiple activities, with audio, supportive reactions for correctness and visual cues. The activities use the Dolch words which constitute about ‘approximately 50 to 70 percent of any given general, non-technical text.’
    Preschool, Infants, Primary
59. new !Skool.ie
    [Junior Cycle English]
    ‘Skoool.ie’s interactive, multimedia lessons provide an exciting, new approach to English. These lessons will help you to understand how language works in poetry and how writing and grammar help you appreciate literature and the media. They will help you to improve your English, and improving your English will help you with your other subjects as well !’ Irish site.
60. SpellingCity
    ‘SpellingCity provides an online Free site that makes learning to spell fun ! Students can practise their spelling words using fun online word games. Taking the headache out of the weekly spelling test, Spelling City will provide hours of educational fun.’ Need to register to gain access.
    Primary, Secondary, Teachers
61. Stella
    ‘Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia [STELLA] provides a detailed picture of accomplished English/Literacy teaching.’
    Primary, Secondary
62. Story Arts Online
    Storytelling tutorial material and resources.
    Primary
63. new !StoryPlace
    [The Children’s Digital Library]
    ‘Spanish & English versions. Listen to interactive children’s stories, play with on-line activities, print out take-home activities, reading list and more.’
    Infants, Primary
64. Teachers.Net Language Arts and Lesson Plans
    Links to lesson plans covering language from Introduction of Word Processing to Symbolism and Allegory. American based but easily adapted.
    Primary, Secondary
65. new !Teaching English
    ‘The new global home for English teachers on the web brings together everything busy teachers need for the classroom and the staffroom - lesson plans, worksheets, teaching tips, articles as well as information about professional development, training, conferences and qualifications. The materials on this site are designed for non-native speaker teachers of English working predominantly in secondary education in state schools around the world. The Teaching English project is non-commercial and as such all content and material on the site is Free to access.
    Teachers
    Well presented !’
66. Teachit
    Based in the UK, it claims 1 800+ pages covering English, Drama and Media Studies. Worksheets, schemes of work and lesson plans.
    Secondary, Especially Upper Secondary
67. Time4Writing
    ‘Online Elementary [Primary], Middle and High School Writing Courses. 8 Week Teacher-Led Sentence, Paragraph and Essay Courses.’ These are Fee-based courses developed in the US, though costs are not prohibitive.
68. Virtual Presentation Assistant
    Effective tips on making a great presentation. Now found at the Web Archive.
    Primary, Secondary
69. Web English Teacher
    A section on ESL/EFL which is good. Strong on language, with directories from phonics to Shakespeare.
70. Writer’s Handbook
    Secondary and even tertiary students. Fact sheets that develop writing skills for different purposes.
    Secondary, Tertiary