ELA / Reading
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Big Huge Thesaurus
This simple-looking online thesaurus is actually MUCH more than a quick-look-up. You can find synonyms, antonyms, similar words, and rhymes for any word you enter. A click on any of the words offered provides the same information for THAT word, sending you on word-paths through the English language. Innocent-looking links at the top of the page also provide hundreds of prompts for blog posts and stories, with enough choices to inspire any writer. Don't let the boring white background and plain-text presentation fool you. This tool has magic powers to make words interesting to almost anyone.
http://words.bighugelabs.Com/
- Brainstormer
Stumped for different ways to get students to write a unique story or think about plot development? Spin the wheel on Brainstormer: a free word generator that can offer unique ways to develop prompts. Click the center button to let the wheel spin. Three words will be chosen that can be used to develop a story or to get over writer's block.
http://www.distractionbeast.com/brainstormer.swf
Looking for some vocabulary lists to complement your literature units? This site provides "ready to go" vocabulary lists on countless books. The titles are in alphabetical order. You are able to print out the entire list. Along with each title, the author, and number of vocabulary words are also included. This is a great resource!
http://www.vocabulary.com/dir-general-books
This great site offers more difficult vocabulary words with a short video so that students can more easily remember their definitions and usages. The focus for this site is students preparing to take the ACT and SAT tests, students who want to improve their verbal scores.
http://www.wordahead.com/
This is an amazing site with 12 notable poems that include a Quicktime video of the poem reading- either by the poet or an animated enactment (i.e. Emily Dickinson). Each of the lessons includes a broad spectrum of activities, lesson plans, and PDF worksheets. While you do have to register to fully access the material, it is free.
http://www.teachersdomain.org/exhibits/pe08-ex/
For the avid dinosaur lover! Students can look up any dinosaur in this user-friendly dinosaur dictionary. Do not forget to listen to the dinosaur talk...and give a brief description of itself as well as the appropriate way to pronounce each individual dinosaur name.
http://dinodictionary.com/index.asp
This is a simplistic site that uses Frost's poetry to explain and exemplify figurative language. This is especially helpful for students who might have trouble understanding the abstract explanation of some figurative language definitions. This site uses specific Frost poems to demonstrate what each element is. Learn about figurative language, imagery, meter, sound devices (alliteration, consonance, rhyme, and more), form, tone, and style. The site includes a basic grid that describes the specifics of all of the elements highlighted at this site.
http://www.frostfriends.org/tutorial-poetics.html
This site offers writing prompts of many types, from written prompts to line drawings, to photographs, from story starters to articles on the imagination. With plenty of prompts available at your fingertips, you'll find inspirational starters in a form which will appeal to all types of students.
There is a submission option at
this site. You are able to submit articles or projects, suggest web
sites with FREE learning content, creativity journey blogs, or inspiring
success stories. Before you submit any students’ work, be sure
to check that the parental permission form has not been returned as
"denied."
http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/writing/writing.prompts.html
Your students become Dr. Seuss! They will when they choose characters, music, and background scenery to create your own Dr. Seuss stories. Your students will delight in pretending to be one of the famous characters from Dr. Seuss as they practice the art of Seuss-speak in their own stories. Whimsical music that is so very Dr. Seuss-like plays in the background as students read their versions of Seussville stories.
http://www.seussville.com/games_hb/storymaker/story_maker.html
The goal of this nonprofit site is to help high school students meet the New York State Regents requirements in English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. This project is supported by a federally-funded Title III Technology Literacy Challenge Grant and the Learning Technology Grant. Practice questions are available for all Regents exams.
http://regentsprep.org/
This is a fabulous site for the Shakespeare teacher or simply the Shakespeare fan. It includes all of Willie's most famous plays done up in student-friendly and attractive, attention-getting form. The challenge is for students to develop their own '60-second' bit of Shakespeare. The site includes examples of different formats and offers everything from teacher lesson plans to "master classes" in teaching students how to do things such as audios, films, and photo slideshows as well as the more common newspaper articles and acting classes. The site also allows viewers to “vote” on their favorite renditions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/60secondshakespeare/index.shtml
Your students will want to learn their spelling words (or capitals, states, or other lists), when you introduce them to this site. With the atmosphere of city-life, students or teachers generate their own list of words (or use the pre-saved ones at the site). What a great way to differentiate and have student individualize their lists! From there, students have the options of Test Me, Teach Me, or Play a Game. Check this one out if you teach spelling! You could link it to your classroom web site.
http://www.spellingcity.com/
This web site was created to allow beginning readers to read books on their web browser. Readers can click on the triangle in the lower right-hand corner of each page to turn the pages. If they are unsure of a word, they can click on it to hear a child's voice read the word to them. The books have been sorted by level and by subject.
http://staff.prairiesouth.ca/~cassidy.kathy/browserbooks/index.htm
The beauty of this web site is its wide grade range usage. It offers simple topics, such as subjects and verbs, but also offers misplaced modifiers, consistency, and MLA guides. Click on any of the categories and the page walks a student through very simple explanations of the structure. It then offers students self-tests, which they can take immediately to see if they understand. It provides instant feedback with each question, so students are guided before making too many mistakes.
http://aliscot.com/bigdog/index.htm
This site is a wealth of resources on indigenous peoples of the Americas, including both North and South America. You can find poetry, artwork, daily wisdom, information about languages and leaders, and much more. Be sure to scroll down within the frame set or you will miss most of the content.
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/ipl_final.html
Follow the link below to find all sorts of activities and links to enrich Dr. Seuss books. If you love green eggs and ham get going! http://abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/month_to_month/c_march/dr_seuss/
As the author explains, "Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant 600 or 2,000 years ago." Use this quick online reference to locate the point in time when a word entered into usage the way we know it-- or to find out what it used to mean, such as in Shakespeare. I put a link to this on my site because in science we're always talking about were a word is derived.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php
A fantastic and complete site that tells you all you need to know about making digital stories with students. The wide grade level range shows the versatility of the site for use with any student based upon his readiness to tell stories. The site includes everything from goals to resources to the step-by-step process used to create the stories.
http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/
Provide some hands-on practice in basic reading and vocabulary skills with this entertaining, interactive activity. Using visual and contextual clues students must select the proper word to complete each sentence, then click-and-drag to insert.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/floppy_game.shtml
Students can practice how to make a basic sentence more interesting by inserting descriptive words; practice adding correct punctuation to a statement; or create a sentence by arranging words in the proper sequence. This interactive writing activity is available with or without sound. It also has math activities! The penguins are adorable!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/penguinsonice.shtml
