Language Arts Links 

Laurie Halse Anderson speaking at BookFest at Bank Street College of Education, 10/30/10

BookFest at Bank Street 2010: Laurie Halse Anderson from School Library Journal on Vimeo.





2012 Margaret Edwards Award winner Susan Cooper
The Shortest Day --- Poem; and here's and interview from 1989 about writing fantasy;

American Library Association -- Book Awards

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bookmediaawards


Admongo
http://www.admongo.gov/

Content created by Federal Trade Commission & Scholastic.  Lessons to teach students how to understand messages in ads, news stories and literature  using critical thinking skills.  Includes a game, as well as sample ads, teacher training videos, classroom materials, etc.


A Word a Day

wordsmith.org/index.html

Vocabulary builder, sends one email per week day; with definitions, pronunciations, quotes; anagram server (put in any word or phrase and get all anagrams).
 
A-Z List of English Idioms

www.usingenglish.com/...list.php

Using English.com; alphabetical list of idioms, with links to definitions.

Book Burning
Univ. of Wisconsin site with information/history of book burning

Center for the Book -- Library of Congress
local affiliate: NJ Center for the Book (at Rutgers)
Programs, booklists, podcasts, contests, resources, etc.

Engage
International Reading Association's interactive discussions/blogs/etc. for teachers

Fifty-two Stories

http://www.fiftytwostories.com

One free short story per week, from publisher HarperPerennial.

Google Books
http://books.google.com/
Access to books in public domain (esp. classics). 
Looking for a famous passage?  Search for the book title, then type a word or phrase into the "search in this book" box.

Is Google Making us stupid?

www.theatlantic.com/...google

Atlantic Monthly article about how surfing the Internet changes reading skills.
Look for companion piece: Is the Internet making us Smarter?

It's a Mystery to Me

www.yale.edu/...95.01.07.x.html

Yale-NewHaven site; writing and vocab skills to solve mysteries; uses writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, and Arthur Conan Doyle;

Letters about Literature Contest

Literary Devices

www.spellingpolice.com/...home.html

Spelling Police's site explains literary devices, with definitions, some illustrations, examples.

Making of America Books
Univ. of Michigan digital library of primary sources in American social history from before Civil War through Reconstruction: education, psychology, history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. 

Making a Book -- Encyclopedia Britannica Films
http://www.archive.org/details/MakingBo1947
Film depicts the technology used to print books in 1947.

Newspaper Archive

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SpecialCollections.asp
Free access to historical papers.

Project Gutenberg 

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
Free access to 20,000+ books.

 

Read Print

http://www.readprint.com/

Free online library of classic books, poems and short stories.  Read, download, or print full text or excerpts.

ReaderGirlz
http://www.readergirlz.com

"See Sally Research" -- Joyce Valenza TEDtalk
http://tedxphillyed.com/2011/09/video-post-dr-joyce-valenza-see-sally-research/
Uber-librarian Joyce Valenza discusses the evolution of research papers.

Shakespearean Insult Meme

Vocab Minute

www.princetonreview.com/...default.asp

From Princeton Review.  songs to help remember vocabulary, root words, etc.

Wordia

wordia.com

Vocabulary tool. Videos of people demonstrating definitions of words.  Upload your own, or assign students.

Writer's fix

www.writingfix.com/index.htm

writing prompts, games, exercises, lessons, etc.

BOYS AND BOOKS
Boys’ reading is one of the hot-button issues in librarianship and education today. 

Here are a few web sites with practical information that you can use right away to help the young men in your classroom.

 

Overcoming the obstacle course: Teenage boys and reading.

By Patrick Jones & Dawn Cartwright Fiorelli. Teacher Librarian: The Journal for School Library Professionals  V. 30, #3, February 2003.

http://www.teacherlibrarian.com/tlmag/v_30/v_30_3_feature.html

Professional journal article gives an overview of the issues surrounding boys and reading, excerpts from Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys by Michael Smith, easy-to-read bullet-pointed research findings, and survey results on boys’ reasons they do not like to read. Lists 20 fiction titles for 7th grade boys, and nonfiction subjects that boys are interested in.

 

Guys Read
http://www.guysread.com/

Jon Scieska's site, with reviews, etc.

The YA Authors from Guys Read tell "The Joke":
"




Guys Lit Wire

http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com

Blog for teenage boys and the parents, teachers and librarians.   Interviews with authors and illustrators, list of recommended reads, reviews of books (old and new), discussions, links.  Caveat: the background is black, and the type difficult to read, so highlight a section to make it more legible.

 

Me Read? No Way!  A Practical Guide to Improving Boys' Literacy Skills. 
Ontario Ministry of Education
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/brochure/meread/meread.pdf

Fast facts distill the research.  Practical suggestions, programs and insights from professionals.  Covers all age groups; tips are applicable/alterable for older students.  This would be an excellent resource for a collaborative effort between the media specialist and the classroom teacher, with ideas for alternate assessments.

 

SIBL Library: Artists for Literacy
http://artistsforliteracy.org/display/famous.php

List of songs inspired by literature, searchable by book, author, artist, or song.  This fun tool will help you motivate certain students, particularly those interested in rock music, to read the books that inspired their favorite singers/bands.