ReadWriteThink.org

This site is an excellent resource both on and offline as it provides not only a wide array of interactive graphic organizers and student scaffolding devices, it also feature thousands of standards-based lesson plans for teaching reading across the content areas. I have utilized this site more times than I can count over the last several years and have found it to be of great value in my teaching.

The Teacher's Guide - An Interactive Reading Resource

This site is simple and neat, a lists several good reading interactive resources as well.

Mrs. Alline: Directory of Educational Resources on the Web - Reading

This site offers some good resources for free digital storybook sites as well as some literature quiz resources.

Vermilion Parish Schools - ELA

If your school is currently using Harcourt trophies as their basal reader this is a great resource for vocabulary Power Points and reinforcement materials that go along with each story.

NO RED INK offers a free classroom resource for students and teachers who want to improve their grammar, usage and writing skills. Teachers can tailor programs based on their students' needs: apostrophes, word choice, comma splices, pronoun case…you name it. 

Why is reading important?  Watch these two videos with your children!

Teachers may want to show their reluctant readers this CBS News story about football player Malcolm Mitchell, who joined a book club after a chance encounter with a middle-aged woman in a book store. Mitchell told reporter Steve Hartman that when he started college, he could only read at a middle school level. "So he started putting as much into his reading game as his football game," Hartman reports. Watch the video to find out what happened when he stepped out of his comfort zone. 

Another useful video for encouraging students to commit to their education can be found at the PBS Newshour site. On Tuesday's program, 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai describes why she risked her life when she was targeted by the Taliban for seeking an education in Pakistan. On the video, she interacts with high school students who ask her about her experience.