Twenty-five Web sites for the language arts teacher

The following is a list of Web site addresses that would be particularly useful for the teacher of language arts. Included are sites that teachers could use for lesson planning; many are particularly helpful for gathering ideas for curriculum integration. Some of the sites could also be used by the students, both in and out of the classroom. Many of the sites have both teacher and student links. All of the listed sites have been found to be “teacher friendly.”

http://rockhall.com/programs/plans.asp
This is the Cleveland Rock & Roll Hall of Fame site; it offers lesson plans that integrate music with history and literature. Middle- and upper-grade students would also enjoy exploring this site independently.

http://www.educationindex.com
Choose “subjects,” then “education,” and then “reading” for a variety of links related to reading education. If you would rather browse by the students’ age group, choose “lifestages” for topics related to a specific age level. “AskEric” can also be accessed from this site.

http://www.education-world.com
A variety of lesson plans, activities, and current news can be found at this site.

http://www.carolhurst.com/profsubjects/reading/parentreading.html
http://www.carolhurst.com/profsubjects/reading/emergentreaders.html
This is a children’s literature site. The first address takes you to text/articles. The second lists popular children’s books, activities, and lesson plans.

http://www.scholastic.com
Teacher lesson plans and classroom activities are provided here.

http://www.creativeclassroom.org
This is a rather extensive site for teacher resources. It also includes information on recommended books for children.

http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/
This is an “AskEric” lesson plan site for listening and reading comprehension. Extensive activities and lessons for beginning readers are included.

http://www.rhlschool.com/reading.htm
All-new weekly worksheets, mostly for upper elementary and middle school years, are provided free for teachers to copy and use.

http://falcon.jmu.edu/schoollibrary/biochildhome.htm
Information about children’s and young adults’ authors and illustrators is found here.

http://www.eric-carle.com/
http://www.tomiedepaola.com
http://www.janbrett.com
These three sites are wonderful for planning author studies and are worth a visit by both you and your students.

http://www.eduplace.com
Books are reviewed by teachers. Lesson plan ideas are also provided.

http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/gen_act/sharing/quilt.html
Directions for making a classroom quilt can be found here.

http://www.poky.srv.net/~gale/index.html
Called “Beyond Basals,” the site includes book guides, ideas, and activities to go along with the books, as well as curriculum ideas and a wealth of other information.

http://www.classroom.net
A continually changing site that integrates content areas and the Internet is a subscription service, but a free trial is offered.

http://loiswalker.com/index.html
You can purchase script packages for primary readers. This looks interesting for those who enjoy the play format.

http://www.theideabox.com
This site for young children includes online stories. There are also many song and craft activities that would be useful for thematic units.

http://www.crayola.com
There is both a “teacher” area for incorporating art into all areas of the curriculum and a site for children. Included in the children’s site is an ongoing story with a new chapter each week.

http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
An extensive Web site, updated daily, provides pages for a number of curriculum ideas and many links for resources and organizations.

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/
This site is designed for gifted students, parents, and teachers.

http://www.ran.org/ran/kids_action/index1.html
Environmental education ideas, including information about the rainforest, can be found here. There is a teacher resource center, but students of all ages will particularly enjoy this site as it contains sound effects and is very colorful.

http://www.mcps.org/ces/ca/index.html
Many ideas and activities for integrating lesson plans that feature children’s literature for grades K-5 can be found at this site. Younger children will particularly enjoy the many classics that are featured, such as “It Looked Like spilt Milk” and “The Three Little Pigs.”

http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/home/
This site features lesson plans on all subjects and for all ages. There are also games that the children can play right from this site.

http://scholastic.com/MagicSchoolBus/index.htm
The Magic School Bus site includes many activities for children, as well as a resource area for teachers.