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learn_collect  ELA Resources Archives

The place to locate past resources that have been highlighted in the "Monthly Resources for ELA" section of the site

December 2011

  Some great Blogs on reading and literacy

Literary Connections
Educators and parents can find lots of support on this blog, which includes tutoring tips, advice on writing instruction, resources for vocabulary and grammar, support for adult literacy, useful links, and more. Some recent posts include Texting and Literacy , Choosing Books for Preschoolers , and Journal Writing with Young Children .

Sound It Out
Joanne Meier, a writer and teacher, shares tips with parents and teachers about best practices in reading, as well as sharing her experiences in teaching her own children. Recent posts share tips on using word clouds, games, ways to keep kids interested in reading, and awareness in advertising.

Dr. Goodword’s Language Blog
This resource-rich site includes information about vocabulary and grammar, ideas for games and activities, and more. You can browse posts by topics including Language and Culture, Language in Politics, and Morphology: Word Structure. A great site for any educator!

Interesting Non-Fiction for Kids
The name says it all: This blog not only presents noteworthy non-fiction for kids, it also explores how the writers practice their craft, including their research techniques, fact gathering, and choosing photos and illustrations. You’ll find lots of great ideas to inspire young readers!

Kids Reading Circle
The aim of this blog is to help kids choose books to read, and there are numerous book reviews available to help them do that. For teachers and parents, there are lesson plans and book lists according to age or reading level. There are also suggestions for girls vs. boys, non-fiction, and picture books. A great resource for parents and teachers!

The Miss Rumphius Effect
A teacher shares her reviews of poetry and literature for children on this blog. Thematic book lists are available, as well as a teaching library. There are even fun poetry challenges!

Page by Page
Maria Salvadore is the children’s literature expert for Reading Rockets, and her blog explores best practices for using books in and out of the classroom. Some recent posts discuss the use of children’s books for film inspiration, age appropriateness of books, and the use of illustration in children’s books.

Rasco from RIF
This blog is written by Carol Rasco, the CEO of Reading is Fundamental, a nonprofit children’s literacy organization. The blog includes books recommendations, news about children’s literacy and related issues, reviews, program highlights, and more. There are also a lot of resources and commentary related to literacy issues.

Paper Tigers
This blog, with a focus on multicultural books for young readers, includes editorials, book recommendations, news about children’s literature events, discussions about books and more.

Beginning Reading Help
Parents, teachers, homeschoolers and tutors can find plenty of resources on this blog to help teach beginning readers. There are tips and suggestions, shared experiences, resources for materials, lesson plan ideas, and more.

Bookmark: The First Book Blog
First Book gives new books to children in need in an effort to combat literacy issues. The blog explores some of the work that First Book does, as well as sharing advice and favorite books. This is a good resource for teachers and parents looking for reading inspiration.

November 2011

Cool sites and resources for ELA teachers
http://www.googlelittrips.org/   Google Lit Trips are free downloadable files that mark the journeys of characters from famous literature on the surface of Google Earth.
 
 
http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/2010/10/14/rsa-animate-changing-education-paradigms/ Great speech by Ken Robinson about education-and then the wonderful addition of graphics! Are you an aural or visual learner??
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNVPalNZD_I    Radiolab presents: Moments by Will Hoffman. This film is a celebration of life that was inspired by David Eagleman's book, Sum.
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0HfwkArpvU&feature=related Radiolab and NPR present Words:   play / blow / break / split / run / fly / fall / feather / light / space
 
 
http://www.ted.com/ Technology, Entertainment, Design combined to offer a clearinghouse of free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers
 
 
http://storybird.com/create/ Storybird reverses the process of visual storytelling by starting with the image and "unlocking" the story inside. Choose an artist or a theme, get inspired, and start writing.
 
 
  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/10/what-can-you-do-in-twenty-five-words.html and http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/27/disturbing-delightfu.html and http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords.html  An interesting idea for classroom use.  Stories of 25 words or less based on the book “ Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer ,” edited by Robert Swartwood
 
 
http://www.wordle.net/ ( Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.)
 
 
  http://planetesme.blogspot.com/  blog by Esme Raji Codell.   This blog is a supporting page to sister site to http://planetesme.com/ where you will find additional reviews, thematic lists, links, and much more...everything you need to become an expert in children's literature.
 
 
  www.tumblebooklibrary.com  electronic picture books, chapter books and non-fiction with reading activities to go along with the books
 
 
http://www.domainelangues.qc.ca/spip.php?rubrique1&lang=en  languages section of the RECIT site, some very good projects that incorporate ICT with Language Arts
 
 
http://speakaboos.com/  Award-winning videos that teach reading skills, life lessons, and creativity in a fun and safe environment. Each story comes to life with educational worksheets, activities, and games.


September 2011

Some fantastic sites to inspire you all year long!

http://www.readwritethink.org/    From the International Reading Association (IRA) comes this excellent site dedicated to providing educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction. The site contains detailed lesson plans k-12, web resources, and student materials.

http://www.writingfun.com/writingfun2010.html  Writing Fun by Jenny Eather is a great on line tool that uses graphic organizers to assist students with the writing process.

http://www.everydayteaching.com  Everyday Teaching publishes 30 weeks of Resource Packs during the school year.   Resource packs deliver carefully selected resources which are grade-appropriate, timely, and grouped by theme to match your everyday teaching needs.

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/ Choice Literacy is dedicated to providing innovative, high-quality resources for K-12 literacy leaders. The website includes over 700 professionally produced and edited video and print features from top educators in the field, as well as promising new voices.

http://www.chickenspaghetti.typepad.com/ Since 2005, Susan Thomsen has written about children's books at her blog, Chicken Spaghetti, which she named after a favourite Southern casserole.   Chicken Spaghetti has been recommended at E! Online, School Library Journal , and the online edition of The Horn Book .

http://www.kidlitosphere.org/ The “KidLitosphere” is a community of reviewers, librarians, teachers, authors, illustrators, publishers, parents, and other book enthusiasts who blog about children’s and young adult literature.

http://www.googlelittrips.org/ This site is an experiment in teaching great literature in a very different way. Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place ... and so much more!

http://readingyear.blogspot.com/ An amazing blog by Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, two teachers with over 20 years experience each who read...a lot! 

http://www.skippingstones.org/ Skipping Stones is an award winning nonprofit multicultural magazine for today’s youth that encourages communication, cooperation, creativity and celebration of cultural and environmental richness. It provides a playful forum for sharing ideas and experiences among youth from different countries and cultures.  

http://www.readingrockets.org/ Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Their reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping struggling readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

http://www.rif.org/us/about-rif.htm The R eading I s F undamental website’s mission is to motivate young children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.
http://www.scholastic.ca/education/magazines/ Magazines for all ages and interests.   Great ways to bring this media text into your classroom.  


June 2011

Newspapers in Education -  daily ideas from the Montreal Gazette for the month of June and for more info on this resource click here

June Reading Activity Calendar - lots of starting points

Summer Reading and Learning - Some interesting Summer Reading Programs from NCTE

Humour in the classroom - In addition to being a great coping mechanism for teachers who are nearing the end of a school year, humour can be a powerful learning tool for students.

Bats, Balls and Books: Rousing Reads for Sports Fans - Some good reads from School Library Journal

StoryPlace: The Children's Digital Library - Explore pages and pages of stories and activities for children young and old

Hikers' Headlines - template for a classroom newspaper with an outdoor theme

Camping Day - A great way to spend the day in cycle 1

A Camping we will go - lots of resources for to bring the outdoors inside for young learners

School Memory Book - A reproducible to make an end of the school year memory to keep:

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook1.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook2.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook3.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook4.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook5.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook6.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook7.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook8.pdf

http://everydayteaching.com/Holiday/End_Year/SchoolMemoryBook9.pdf

  

Memory Hand Letter - A lovely way to say good-bye to your students (nice connection to a picture book too)

Letter of Advice for Future Students

Summer Reading Cards - a good way for students to make a link to their next year's teacher

Summer Bookmarks  

Summer Reading - Some great sites

Reading Activities -  for the end of the school year

Graduation quotes - and more graduation quotes  

The Postcard Creator - Have students begin summer before it even starts.  How?  By designing and writing their own vacation postcards.  Try this interactive postcard creator to help stimulate creativity.

It's the End of the Year as we Know it - lots of great tips to help you wind down in a meaningful way

Read alouds - for the last days of school

Literacy Keepsakes - to carry home at the end of the school year

May 2011

"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket" – Chinese proverb

Newspapers in Education - daily ideas from the Montreal Gazette for the month of May and for more info on this resource click here

Reading Activity Calendar for May - it is American but there are lots of interesting ideas that fit our Quebec classrooms

Children's Book Week - April 30 to May 7, 2011...more activities here and  here

Closing Out the School Year - fresh and fun activities to do as the school year winds down

Poetry Picnic - a festive way to celebrate poetry and the coming end of the school year

Author Bios for End of Year Publications - Children's book author Katie Davis has a series of different bios at her website that could serve as fun mentor texts for a lesson on author blurbs

Patrick Carman - the author of some fascinating multimedia novels for young readers.  Enjoy on his website a podcast about how his texts with integrated videos and web components work as well as his TEDx Talk

Fun (but safe) Video Sites for Kids to Browse - 10 great video websites that are like YouTube but for children

Outdoor Writing - The benefits of taking students outside to inspire writing