Resources for Teaching Reading

Resources for Teaching Reading

The Web English Teacher at http://www.webenglishteacher.com/

If you want to bookmark only one site for teaching English, this would be a good choice. The sidebar on the left takes you to an incredible number of resources in drama, grammar, ESL, literature, Shakespeare, children’s literature, and more. The resources include lesson plans, related websites, webquests, study guides, tutorials, activities, quizzes etc. Whether you are doing a novel study or studying a particular children’s author, start here.

Eduscapes Literature Ladders at http://www.eduscapes.com/ladders/

If you are planning a novel study on a book that has won the Newberry or Caldecott Medal, start here! This site contains literature learning ladders with links related to all aspects of the study of various award-winning novels. For example, the Holes (Louis Sachar) Literature Ladder contains links about the author, bullying, homelessness, juvenile detention, Texas, lizards, the desert, lesson plans, teacher resources, and more. The site also shows you how to create your own literature ladder. To find a particular book, you have to look under Newbery's or Caldecott.

Schmoop Literature at http://www.shmoop.com/literature/

This is a great resource for secondary students. Click on a book title and find summaries, notes, guides, and analysis of themes and characters for English Literature homework. There are also links to websites, video, and other media. The aim of this website is to make learning more relevant and fun for students in the digital age. Graduate students have compiled some excellent units here.

UDL-Designed To Kill a Mockingbird Unit at http://tkamforall.pbwiki.com/

SET-BC consultant Maureen LaFleche has created a great model for designing a novel study according to UDL principles.

UDL-Designed Holes Unit at http://holesthenovel.pbwiki.com/

SET-BC consultants Maureen LaFleche and Mallory Burton have created a novel study for Louis Sachar’s Holes according to UDL principles.

Cliff’s Notes at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/

Get free help with homework and tests on literature, Shakespeare, science, math, and history. Each literature note includes a book summary, analysis, essays on theme and plot, character analysis, quotes, quiz, and more.

Sparks Notes at http://www.sparknotes.com/

Students can read many of the Sparks Notes guides online for free.

Google Lit Trips at http://www.googlelittrips.org/

This site uses the power of Google Earth to create annotated map tours of the locations associated with picture books, novels or social studies units. For example, a Lit Trip can track a character’s progression in a book such as Paddle-to-the-Sea or Underground to Canada. Teachers can download lit trips already created or they can create their own lit trips using the Getting Started tutorials. There are even some examples of student work posted on the site. You have to download and install the free Google Earth to view these files. This is a good fit with the UDL principle of Multiple Means of Representation.

Into the Book Interactive Reading Site at http://reading.ecb.org/index.html

This amazing site was presented by the Coquitlam team at the UDL conference. Into the Book focuses on eight reading comprehension strategies for elementary students. All of the activities are educationally sound and extremely engaging with phenomenal graphics. The site is free, but you need to sign in if you want to save your work. You drag one of the tools into the book to get started. The kids’ area has interactive activities for each strategy; the teacher area features teacher guides, lesson plans, posters, video and audio clips, downloads, and more.

Shelfari at http://www.shelfari.com/

Shelfari is a social book-sharing site with great possibilities for educational use. The attractive and engaging interface is a bookshelf to which you add thumbnails of the books you have read. You can review and rate the books. For example, I have used it to show books recommended for the BC UDL project here. A librarian in the BC UDL project used it to elicit student comments about Oliver Twist. This would also be a great way for a teacher (or an entire class) to keep a list of recommended books. Although your bookshelf is displayed online, you can change the privacy settings to restrict comments completely or only allow certain people to comment. This is a great fit with the UDL principle of Multiple Means of Engagement.

Reciprocal Teaching at http://www.miamisci.org/tec/

Dade County’s Project WebSIGHT is based on Reciprocal Teaching which uses the five strategies prediction, clarification, visualization, questioning, and summarizing in teaching reading. This site gives you the lesson plans and resources to implement this cooperative learning method in your elementary or middle school classroom using downloadable, printable scripts, cue cards, and bookmarks. The UDL-based Thinking Reader series was modeled on Reciprocal Teaching strategies.

SEEC Toolkit at http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/toolkits/tk_introduction.cfm?tk_id=141

SEEC stands for Supporting, Engaging, and Enhancing Comprehension for Students in High School. This site contains practical ideas for teaching vocabulary and comprehension skills according to UDL principles for 8-12 students. The site includes sample lessons and downloadables such as student comprehension cards and posters. The list of comprehension strategies taught includes predictions, summarizing, clarifying, visualizing, questioning, and making connections, personal connections, and reflection. This UDL Toolkit contains an excellent summary of Recognition, Strategic, and Affective Supports specifically related to teaching vocabulary and comprehension.

A Review of Technology-Based Approaches for Reading Instruction at http://www.cited.org/library/site/docs/AReviewTechnology-BasedApproaches_final.pdf

This 2004 online review contains comprehensive information on text to speech, alternate format, and electronic resources. Their Table 1 on pages 16 and 17 links specific reading skills and strategies with existing technologies.

Reading Online at http://www.readingonline.org/index/index_index.asp

This site hosts a huge collection of articles about teaching reading and redefining literacy competence in the digital age.