This website is currently being updated (8/20/2024)
Literacy Resources
Jim Burke created The Digital Textbook as an alternative to paper texts which are static, generally only black-and-white, and often dated. The Digital Textbook provides a context for weekly reading and writing instruction. It gives teachers a context in which to teach a variety of both, showing them how to read an image or how to write about one; how to analyze a website or how to craft a particular type of sentence or organize a paragraph a certain way.
Look on the left of this web page to access Engage NYs curriculum modules for grades K-12. Items you will find very useful: for grades K-2 lesson plans, read alouds, anthologies, flip books and image cards for topics such as: fables and stories, fairy tales, the human body, early world civilizations, Greek myths, etc...Grades 3-5 include curriculum maps, lesson plans and topics such as: Becoming a Close Reader and Writing to Learn: My Librarian Is a Camel: Bringing Books to Children around the World, Considering Perspectives and Supporting Opinions: Animals in Folktales, Myths, and the Real World, Gathering Evidence and Speaking to Others: The Role of Freshwater around the World, etc...For grades 6-12, curriculum exemplars include: making evidence based claims, finding supporting evidence, close reading lessons, non-fiction passages, bridging homework assignments, etc...µ
New York State ELA Curriculum Modules aligned to the common core state standards for grades Pre-K-12 - These modules include authentic reading materials. Authentic reading materials include published works that are typically encountered by students in daily life, such as in magazines, books or newspapers. The use of authentic reading material may mean that some material is emotionally charged or may use language outside of a student's particular cultural experience.µ
Classroom-ready daily ELA lessons developed in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education. Units include daily lessons, assessments, texts, blank and completed handouts, and student writing examples.
The Learning Network: Teaching and Learning with the New York Times:
Search The New York Times yourself to find articles on topics that will get your students talking. Look for those that will inspire debate and impassioned views. You might also consult the frequently updated list of Most Popular articles or the articles linked to Learning Network features Student Opinion, 6 Q’s About the News or Teenagers in The Times.
Ask students to read and annotate each article.
Use articles as mentor texts, or models for students’ own writing. Point out elements like quote integration, hooks, conclusions, transitions between paragraphs and points of view, along with the writer’s decisions about the summarizing of the issue. Discuss why the article “works.”
Have students incorporate text from the article in their own written responses. These can be Op-Eds, letters to the editor or their own articles on a given issue.
Read closely, think critically, be worldly. Newsela is an innovative way for students to build reading comprehension with nonfiction that's always relevant: daily news. Newsela builds close reading and critical thinking skills. Give your students a new way to climb the staircase of nonfiction reading comprehension, from fourth grade to college-ready. Register for free.
Their purpose is to provide resources for critical thinking and to educate without bias. Their mission statement is:Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format. They accomplish their mission by researching issues that they feel are controversial and important, and they work to present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, and primarily pro-con format at no charge on their websites. *
Sign up for a free account to access hundreds of non-fiction reading passages for grades K-6 (most come with follow-up questions) and lesson plans. Go here http://www.readworks.org/user/alignment to align to CCSS (select CCSS on the drop down tab then select your grade level).µ
includes lesson & unit plans, student interactives, strategy guides, professional library, etc...
NEW! TTribune is a free online educational service offered by the Smithsonian for use by K-12 teachers and students. TTribune consists of daily news sites for kids, tweens, and teens, and includes text, photos, graphics, and audio and/or video materials prepared by the Smithsonian and others about current events, history, art, culture and science.
The Reading Sage blog-includes list of Tier 2 academic vocabulary words.
Framework for English Language Proficiency Development Standards
by Developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the English
Language Proficiency
corresponding to the CCSS and the Next Generation Science Standards
The Framework outlines the underlying English language practices found in the CCSS and the NGSS, communicates to ELL stakeholders the language that all ELLs must acquire in order to successfully engage the CCSS and NGSS, and specifies a procedure by which to evaluate the degree of alignment present.
High School "Playbook" for Language Arts
by Lawton Public Schools in Oklahoma
District Essential Map created by Lawton Public Schools (utilizes the concept of a football playbook to describe high school curriculum that includes implementation of the Common Core State Standards)
K-2 Shared Reading Lesson Plan Template
by Jennifer Thomas, Tammie Shore
Reading & Writing in the K-2 Literacy Classroom
by Jennifer Thomas, Tammie Shore
Presented to all 4K-2 teachers August 16, 2012
How do you determine the Lexile level of a reading passage? Go to the Lexile Analyzer and follow the 5 simple steps.µ
The internet catalog for students, teachers, administrators & parents.
Over 20,000 relevant links personally selected by an educator/author with over 30 years of experience.
Literacy/English Language Arts in Connecticut at the early grades focus on providing high-quality instruction to ensure the prevention of potential reading difficulties. This link contains lesson plans in phonics, fluency, comprehension, and writing.
Guide to Creating Text Dependent Questions for Close Analytic Reading
Well known teacher and author of my favorite book on writing, Write Like This, Kelly Gallagher hosts this site for creating better readers and writers. Be sure to visit the link under Resources - Article of the Week. There are dozens of informational text articles in his archives which include follow up questions.µ
This web page also contains over 400 primary source documents, research papers, and periodicals as well as a collection of period graphics images.