Links to Learning

Language Arts Sites

First Quarter Sites
Second Quarter Sites
Third Quarter Sites

1). Read Write Think
Grades K- 12

Read-Write-Think provides extensive high quality resources for language arts. The site includes lesson plans, vast Web resources, and student activities. Just a few of the fun and educational student activities are linked below:

Comic Creator

Fractured Fairy Tales

Character Trading Cards

Eye on Idioms

Shape Poems

2). Merriam-Webster's Word Central
Grades 4- 8

Kids learn how to have fun with words on this interesting site. Word Central features a Daily Buzz Word for students. By listening to the daily words and definitions, students broaden their vocabulary. Daily Buzz Words are also archived for future reference.

Several games, including a word jumble, are available on the site which will help strengthen students knowledge of words. Some of the other features on the site include Build your own Dictionary, a rhyming dictionary, and a thesaurus.

A teacher resource area is provided with valuable resources. Information for citing references from the Web is available. There are also links to many other Merriam-Webster online resources.

3). Visual Thesaurus
Grades 4 - 12

Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus with a very novel display. To appreciate how it works, you need to see it in action. This site promotes learning of the English language through visualization. Definitions, pronunciations, and sample sentences help students understand the meaning of words. One can gain a more precise understanding of our language through the use of this site.

On Visual Thesaurus, Thinkmap software is used as a visualization engine. Thinkmap gives the users the ability to navigate, organize and visualize the results of their search. Besides helping users find information, the visualization mechanisms help them understand the composition and structure our language.

There is a subscription fee to this site; however, you can try the thesaurus at not cost. Just type in a word and try it.

4). Knowing Poe
Grades 7-10

This site abounds with information about Edgar Allan Poe. Students are introduced to Poe, the person, as well as the writer. Students can investigate Poe’s life through the interactive timeline. They can read along with the audio version of some of his works included on this site, such as “The Raven”, “The Bells”, and The Tell-tale Heart.

An extensive teacher resource section is furnished. Teachers can find abundant resources including lesson plans, links to quality Web sites about Poe, and primary source documents.

5). Writing Fix
Grades 2 - 12

Writing Fix was designed by writers, teachers, and students to encourage students to write every day. The site includes daily writing prompts, right-brained writing prompts, left-brained writing prompts, poetic prompts, and lesson plans to help inspire students to write. It also includes tools for the classroom and contains an abundance of information on the writing process and writing genres.

6). Brain Juice
Grades 6- 12

Brain Juice is a great site to find biographies of contemporary film makers, artists, politicians, writers, and musicians. There is a searchable database of high quality biographies of the most significant people of the 20th century.

7). Children's Literature Web Guide

The Children's Literature Web Guide is compilation of Internet resources related to books for children and young adults. The site includes discussion boards, directory of children's book awards, lists of recommended books, resources for teachers, reader theater sites, and book reviews.

Second Quarter Sites

1). Dr. Goodword's Word Wizard Club
Grades 4 - 8

Dr. Goodword's Club House encourages language and vocabulary development for young students. The site contains daily vocabulary words, a game closet, a reference shelf, puzzle challenges, and teacher resources. In addition, there is a link to Miss Spelling's Spelling Center which provides spelling hints, word games, as well as writing tips.

Students are able to sign up for the Word Wizard Club. Through this club, students are emailed a "vocabulary-building kid word-of-the day" along with tips and tricks to help remember the correct spelling and pronunciation.

Dr. Goodword is the creation of Dr.Beard who has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Michigan and taught Russian and Linguistics at Bucknell University. He is the author of three books and many articles on linguistics.

2).Grammar Practice Park
Grades 3 -5

This grammar site lets student have fun and improve their grammar skills at the same time. The site provides practice for students in grades three through five in parts of speech, punctuation, dependent and independent clauses, as well as subject-verb agreement. Students will love practicing grammar with these clever, enjoyable games and activities.

3). Poetry 180
High School

The Poetry 180 site, which is from the Library of Congress, was designed to encourage students to read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year. Poems can inspire and make us think about the meaning of life and these poems were specifically chosen to be listened to by high school students. Reading poetry every day encourages us to think about life. It can move us deeply. Poetry inspires and provokes us into thinking about the world around us.

4). Poetic Power
Grades K-12

Over the past fourteen years, Creative Communication has worked with teachers to help create ways to promote poetry in the classroom. This site is dedicated to promoting the appreciation of poetry and writing. Lesson plans, ideas, and tips for teaching poetry are available on their Web site and also through their newsletter.

Each year Creative Communication sponsors a poetry contest along with an essay contest. Money and prizes are awarded to students in grades K-12 for their creative writing. In each contest, over $70,000 is awarded to students.

5). Houghton Mifflin Kid’s Place
Grades 1 – 8

There is a wide ranch of language arts activities available on this site. By choosing a grade level, students will find educational games and activities, as well as links to high quality research sites.

6). The Web English Teacher
Grades 5-10

This site is dedicated to helping educators share ideas through the use of online technology. Teachers often share their ideas so that others may benefit from their experiences and expertise. That type of sharing is made even easier through this Web site. On the Web English Teacher, you will find a wide range of topics with an abundance of ideas for each topic including WebQuests, lesson plans, classroom activities, and even jokes and puzzles.

7. Visual Dictionary Online
Grades 5- 8

The Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary is a great way for students to access important information. There are fifteen different themes covered on the site. Students can click on a theme and they will be linked to information, pictures, diagrams, and pertinent vocabulary words. Students can also type in a word and will find pictures, diagrams, and other related facts and topics.

Third Quarter Sites

1). PBS Teacher Source: Arts and Literature
Grade K- 12

This Web site includes lesson plans, online activities, and classroom resources for reading and English classes. Teachers are able to search by grade level and topic of interest. The lesson plans are extensive and follow the national standards. There are a variety of different types of lessons along with videos of interviews given by authors.

2). The Educators Reference Desk
Grades 2 - 12

This site is a compendium of lesson plans submitted by teachers along with a vast compilation of resources with over 3000 links including Internet sites, educational organizations and electronic discussion groups. Also included on the site is a collection of questions and answers concerning the practice and theory of education.

3). The Goofs
Grades 2- 6

The Goofs Web site contains a vast array of online editing activities for students. Each activity contains numerous examples of grammatical mistakes. Students must find the “goofs” and correct them.