Language Arts Resources
for Elementary Teachers

UA/UWA ARI & ARFI Reading Resources
This site is a collection of reading resource sites selected by the reading specialists of the UA/UWA In-Service Education Center.

Annenberg Inside Writing Communities: Grades 3-5
This is a video workshop that uses classroom footage to demonstrate the effectiveness of a writing workshop approach with upper elementary students. Ten teachers from across the country model and discuss teaching strategies, while nationally known experts in writing instruction comment on the research and theory behind the strategies being used. The workshop site includes links to Video on Demand, a downloadable Workshop Guide in PDF format, interactive activities, and more. There is a free registration required.

Chateau Meddybemps
This site contains a collection of more than 20 learning activities and games for elementary students. There are 15 illustrated children's books in the Beantime Stories area. There are also guides for teachers and parents for developing creative ways to stimulate learning in children.

Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University
This electronic database contains more than 5,000 picture books for grades PreK-3 that can be used to design literature-based thematic units for all subjects. The search function makes it easy to find desired topics.

Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature
This database contains more than 4,600 children's books that have won awards in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. Teachers can search using 12 different criteria, and results list title, author, and an abstract of each book.

Gloria's Web Site
This is an online workshop in the area of teaching process writing. Rationale, curriculum design, and the five steps of the writing process are covered. Examples, illustrations, and a self-evaluation rubric are provided for teachers.

Literacy Center: The Early Childhood Education Network
Pre-reading and early reading skills are focused on by this site. There are interactive activities that can be completed independently or with supervision. Some of the activities include Uppercase and Lowercase Letters, Shapes, Words, Writing, Numbers, Colors, and Keyboard.

Monster Exchange
The combination of reading, writing, and Internet technology is emphasized in this site. Classes are paired online, and the students create pictures of monsters. Written descriptions of the monsters are e-mailed to the partner class who attempt to redraw the monster using only the written description. There are lesson plans and additional resources for teachers as well as a Kids' Stuff area with games, puzzles, and fun links for students.

The Moonlit Road
This is a collection of Southern ghost stories and folktales. The written and audio version for each story is available. Stories are accompanied by background information to provide insight into the culture of the American South.

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
This site offers a free library service, NLS Talking Books, to help people of all ages whose low vision, blindness, or physical handicap makes it difficult for them to read a standard printed page. Books and magazines on cassettes and in braille, as well as audio equipment, are mailed to individuals at no cost.

ReadWriteThink
This site is "developed by the International Reading Association and The National Council of Teachers of English. ReadWriteThink provides resources and best practices for educators in both reading and language arts subject areas. This site features lesson plans, literature and professional development resources aligned to the NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts."

Scholastic Teachers
Scholastic provides a site that has both commercial and educational areas. The educational resources area providees online activities, lesson plans, teaching strategies, and online tools. Free-registration is required to access the interactive tools area which contains lesson plan, quiz, and presentation makers.

Starfall.com
Starfall was developed by carefully observing the way students learn to read as they interact with computers. The website is simple to navigate, engages the student's attention, and engenders a love of reading and learning. Students can read along with stories, practice letters, and play interactive learning games.

Storyline Online
This site from BookPals.net and the Screen Actors Guild Foundation features streaming video of SAG members reading children's books aloud. Each book includes accompanying activities and lesson ideas.

Teaching That Makes Sense
This site contains a large collection of free and downloadable short books and articles on writing. There are also numerous practical strategies and assessment schemes for the teaching of writing.

Web English Teacher
This resource provides "the best of K-12 English/Language Arts teaching resources" including lesson plans, WebQuests, videos, biographies, e-texts, puzzles, and classroom activities. There are 22 categories with links and descriptions to each Web resource.