Articles, E-Mail and Web Links about Language Arts

---

= Article or E-mail you'll find right here on MiddleWeb
= A good link on the topic we've checked out ourselves


English
Reading
Writing

Center for Research on English Learning and Achievement -- A wealth of research on effective strategies to teach reading and writing to all middle grades students. CELA is based at SUNY-Albany. The complete texts of most reports are available on-line. Explore!

ASK ERIC Language Arts Lesson Plans - Lots of well-documented lessons.

Language Arts Lesson Plans - Well-annotated list of resources including text publishers.

Lesson Ideas in Language Arts -- A grab bag of ideas

Language Arts for Middle Schoolers -- Lots of language arts teaching ideas gathered by a Michigan middle grades teacher.
A Year of 7th Grade English -- The opening paragraph describes what you'll find at *A Year of Teaching 7th Grade English*: "As we begin to explore Holly Handlin's teaching practices, it is important to first think about Holly herself and her ideas on teaching and learning. Then we look at the learning and teaching environment she has created for her students and herself. Explore Handlin's room, hear what her students had to say, and find out why Holly designed it the way she did ... Then see how Handlin set up the year and then go to work with her students!" The page will lead you to Handlin's "World Fair" project where students create an imaginary world and participate in a judged demonstration of their work (the site even includes the judge's scoring guide).

To Kill a Mockingbird -- Developed by a student at Mountain Brook Junior High in Birmingham, Alabama, this page at the junior high's site provides links to a dozen essays on Alabamian Harper Lee's famous novel, plus a biography of the author and a link to a TKAM discussion group.

Jack Whitehead's Action Research page -- English education professor shares action research projects of his graduate students. Includes a handbook for student teachers and others who are just beginning to experiment with action research methods.

The Young Adult Bookshelf -- Subtitled "a resource for language arts teachers." Susan Grace searches the Web for stories, interviews, book reviews and other materials that language arts teachers will love to know about. Well done and regularly updated.

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site -- A treasure trove of reviews, curriculum ideas, and activities. Reviews are organized by title, author, type of book, and grade level. Some featured books get "the full treatment" -- discussion points, activities, and related books and websites.

WhyPoetryWhat -- This poetry sampler offers questions and activities that can help kids connect to poetry. Simple, easy to use. Includes links to poems by Robert Frost ("Reluctance") and Shel Silverstein ("The Unicorn"). Also offers limerick rules and samples. Designed for elementary and early middle grades.

World Wide Words -- A rich resource for lovers of words. You can find out past history of common words, catch the latest creations used in the press, or check usage. Teachers might use as a resource for getting students to see the changing nature of the words around them.

Teaching Controversial Books -- Any teacher who's faced the decision about whether and how to teach a controversial book will be interested in these stories from the Christian Science Monitor. Read the main story, "Teachers Tackle 'Uncomfortable Books Head On," and several accompanying stories: "Controversy Can Work - When Well Managed," and "Books That Have Been Challenged."

"Whole Language is a philosophy, not an instructional method"-- A college professor asks why we can't all be reasonable about phonics, whole language, and reading instruction. Also see "The Reading Wars."

ERIC Clearinghouse -- The ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication has many resources for language arts teachers.

My Reference Desk -- A site designed to link you to a world of reference books and documents.

Writing Black -- A collection of African-American and related literature sources, developed by the American Studies program at Keene University, UK. A good starting place.

Teachers Talking About Science Fiction - An e-mail discussion among middle school teachers about ways to use science fiction in English and science classes.

The National Writing Project - A well-developed site for anyone interested in exploring the National Writing Project approach to teaching and learning. Newsletters, research, activities. High quality.

Create Your Own Newspaper - Kids can write and produce a newspaper on their own. Selected by Electronic Learning magazine as a Top 10 site in 1996.

American Verse Project - Searchable archive of pre-1920 American poetry.

Academy of American Poets - English teachers can direct students to this major poetry site sponsored by the where students can listen to poems read by their authors and browse historic and thematic exhibits.
Authors - Resources on many American and international authors.

Greek Mythology - Easy to use site will link you to many mythological sites. Another site delineates the "family tree" of the Olympians.

Aesop's Fables Online Exhibit -- Aesop's Fables have been online as e-texts for quite a while , but the clean and quick interface of this exhibit make it highly usable. Browse through the 638 fables, conduct a word search or view a Java timeline panorama if you have Java in your browser. Blue Web'n suggests using the site as a support for looking at key themes. "Teachers could use the site to enhance discussions on literary themes, and students could access appropriate fables as introductions to essays."

Encyclopeida Mythica -- Delve into more than a dozen world mythologies at this excellent, easy-to-use site.

Words R Us- Easy and useful site for sponge activities in the English classroom. Vocabulary.

Vocabulary University -- Students can earn a "vocabulary degree" at this site which uses puzzles to expand word knowledge and prepare for the GED, SSAT, SAT and ACT. Self-paced.

The Complete Works of Shakespeare -- A comprehensive resource for English teachers, students, and fans of the Bard. Includes a discussion area, listings of Internet resources, play listings, etc.

Julius Caesar -- Explores both the play and related issues of governance and peaceful transfers of leadership. Includes teacher guide and student activities. Originally written for 10th graders.

William Shakespeare's Hamlet -- Includes a teacher guide and student activities. Originally for 12th graders but can be adapted for younger students.

Romeo and Juliet -- Study of the Shakespeare classic includes teacher's guide and three student guides. Originally developed for 9th graders.

CyberGuides -- These teacher-developed CyberGuides are "supplementary units of instruction based on core works of literature, designed for students to use the World Wide Web." Each guide contains a student and teacher edition, objectives, a task, a Web-infused process, and an evaluation rubric. Most guides have students create a product after thay have reviewed Web resources.

The Children's Literature Web Guide -- A very useful starting point for those looking for more information about best books lists, authors' websites, and reviews of what's on the Internet related to children's literature (including the middle years).


Electronic Books and Manuscripts

Samizdat -- Information on the latest on-line books in the public domain.

Gulliver's Travels -- This part-time project by a librarian and fan of Jonathan Swift. Includes the text of a 1726 version of the famous English satire, with hyperlinks to additional resources, study guides, and a dictionary. Intended for scholars as well as students; teachers will want to check it out first.

The Free Library of Classics -- The Free Library of Classics provides almost 200 of the world's most famous novels, plays, short stories, poems, and historical documents The electronic format of the texts makes it easy to create excerpts for classroom exercises and reading assignments. (Education World)

WhyPoetryWhat -- This poetry sampler offers questions and activities that can help kids connect to poetry. Simple, easy to use. Includes links to poems by Robert Frost ("Reluctance") and Shel Silverstein ("The Unicorn"). Also offers limerick rules and samples. Designed for elementary and early middle grades.

Gutenberg Project -- This repository of copyright-free material plans to have 10,000 texts on the Internet by 2001. Collection includes complete texts of ancient and modern writings.

Project Bartleby -- This Columbia University project scrupulously checks and edits each book it places on the Web. Focus on literary works, e.g. W.E.B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk; Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

Bibliomania -- British site has full text of over 40 classic novels.

The On-line Books Page -- Searchable list of over 3,000 English language texts on the Internet.



Visit MiddleWeb's Reading Workshop Project

And see the reading discussions at the MiddleWeb Listserv


Teaching Struggling Middle School Readers -- "Teaching Readers Who Struggle: A Pragmatic Middle School Framework" by Gwynne Ellen Ash suggests a practical framework for reading instruction focused on the needs of learners aged 11 to 14. Five practices -- daily oral or shared reading, guided reading in flexible groups, word study, self-selected extended reading and writing, and explicit comprehension strategy instruction -- form the basis of the framework. Based on research with middle school teachers, and a synthesis of successful tutoring programs and critical literacy theories. (From the International Reading Association's "Reading Online" collection, March 2002)

NCTE Adds Middle-Level Section -- The National Council of Teachers of English has broken a long tradition and created a special section of the organization for middle grades teachers. Read the press release, find out how to join in listserv conversations and access middle grades materials on the NCTE website. See especially this issue of the NCTE publication "Voices from the Middle" full of articles about expository text, including work by Harvey Daniels, Janet Allen and Laura Robb, plus "Expository Text and Middle School Students: Some Lessons Learned" by Chris Street. Although the articles are labeled "members only" we had no trouble downloading the PDF files. Give it a try. If you're involved in middle grades reading/English, you should probably join NCTE, just to get this very useful journal!

A Page Full of Reading Lesson Plans -- Submitted by teachers to the Teachers.Net website.

Read-Aloud Ideas for the Middle Grades -- Will middle schoolers sit still for teacher read-alouds? Novels or picture books? What strategies do teachers use to make this a fun and enriching experience? Which books do students like best? The MiddleWeb Listserv's veteran read-aloud'ers share tips with each other and with you, and we include links to favorite books and resources.

Reading for Understanding -- Subtitled "A Guide to Improving Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms," this practical handbook grows from the work of Ruth Schoenbach and her colleagues, who developed the "Academic Literacy" program network, aimed at helping poor, urban youth develop the reading skills they need to succeed in academic coursework. Read the introduction, find out what other educators think about the book, and order from Amazon.com for $19.95. Published in 1999.

Independent Novel Study -- A complete "tested" unit for the middle grades by a Canadian teacher. Looks like a good one to us, but we'll let English teachers be the judge of that. Also see the many other language arts lesson plans at the Outta Ray's Head website.

Getting Started with Literature Circles -- This resource provides a lots of information for teachers who are just getting started with literature circles or want to refine them. Developed by the co-author of "Getting Started with Literature Circles" and related books. Includes ideas for the middle grades. Also see this posting about literature circles at the Teacher's Desk, in which a teacher describes the basics of literature circles, which has small groups of students reading a book together and following a structured discussion format.

Indigenous People's Literature -- A compilation of writings and information about indigenous peoples from around the world. The collection includes legends, poetry, quotes, biographies, important documents, and much more. This is an extensive site that will take a while to go through. The majority of the collection is on indigenous peoples of North America and includes a lot of information about the peoples of Mexico and Canada. Be sure to check out biographies of Great Leaders, the Famous Documents, Stories, Famous Quotes, Poetry, and Writers and Speakers sections of the site. (Education World A+ site)

Aaron Shepard's Storytelling Page -- This literature site is targeted at people interested in the art of storytelling. Aaron Shepard, a well-known children's author, offers online versions of his picture books adapted for storytelling. He also has an informative section for storytellers, including beginner's tips, articles, and a bibliography of story collections. (Education World review)

Book Talks (for Middle Schoolers) -- A great service developed by a middle school media specialist in New Hampshire. Read quick reviews of dozens of books screened by teachers and librarians. Many reviews include estimated reading levels.

Database of Award-winning Children's Literature -- Parents, teachers, and older children can access high quality book titles via keyword or phrase searching, or by using a form to indicate reading level, genre, language, historical period, gender of the protagonist, and ethnicity of the protagonist, among other elements. Books listed have been recognized with awards ranging from the Caldecott Award to ALA Notable Books for Children to the Coretta Scott King Award, to name a few. Honorable mentions are also included. (Education World review) Impressive!

The Moonlit Road -- Take a walk down The Moonlit Road if you want to read or listen to interesting folktales presented at a state-of-the-art Website. Begins with compelling stories of the American South, then adds RealAudio versions read by celebrated stoytellers and appealing graphics. Good example of how artistically presented sites can also be user-friendly and quick-loading. (from Blue Web'n review.)

African American Women Writers of the 19th Century -- An online collection of 52 full-text works. Users can browse the books by author, title, or literature type (fiction, poetry, biography and autobiography, and essays). Each work is (unfortunately) presented in a rather cramped frame, navigated with a table of contents on the left side. The site also includes a helpful introductory essay,technical notes, a discussion of editorial methods, a citation list, and an internal search engine. (Web Scout review)

Kids Love a Mystery -- Developed in cooperation with the Mystery Writers of America, this site includes mysteries for kids, lesson plans for teachers, and a discussion of Bloom's Taxonomy for skeptics.

Critical Reading, Writing and Thinking -- Information about a publication that encourages reading, writing, and thinking in a critically reflective, inventive way for students at all levels. Practical classroom activities make critical thinking an achievable goal. Sample lesson plan.

Motivating Adolescent Readers -- Good ideas compiled in an ERIC Digest.

What Works Best in Reading Instruction? Read this excellent series of articles by former California state superintendent Bill Honig on the converging research about reading at the AASA website.

Working Together to Become Proficient Readers -- A study by the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk examines the early impact of the Talent Development Middle School's "Student Team Literature Program." According to the CRESPAR study, "analyses that control for prior reading achievement reveal that students in STL classes display significantly better reading comprehension after the first year of implementation. . . (T)he impact of participating in STL on students' reading comprehension is sizable for students across the entire prior achievement spectrum...."

The Reading Wars -- A page of resources at MiddleWeb.



Teacher's Workshop on the Writing Process
This online workshop for classroom teachers offers a step-by-step approach to implementing the writing process. Veterans of Writers Workshop can skip the "how-to" and explore topics of interest. Includes a self evaluation rubric.

Middle Grades Nonfiction Writing
One of our favorite book publishers (Stenhouse) frequently posts useful excerpts on the company website (in fact, they've posted many *entire* books!). This month, Stenhouse offers a sample lesson from "Nonfiction Craft Lessons" by JoAnn Portalupi and Ralph Fletcher (160 pp/paper, $17.50) for grades 5-8. Scroll down the page to "Using Specifics with How-to Writing." Check out the resource material used for the lesson: "Guide for a Clean Outhouse" by Marnie Wells. Bound to be a winner!

Using Rubrics in Middle Grades Writing
In "The Effects of Instructional Rubrics on Learning to Write," researcher Heidi Goodrich Andrade applies her considerable expertise in the areas of assessment and rubric development to examine the impact of instructional rubrics on eighth grade students' writing and on their knowledge of the qualities of effective writing. Includes seven different writing rubrics and examples of student work. (Current Issues in Education: Vol. 4, No. 4, 2001)

Teaching Middle School Writing
This page at the website of the National Council of Teachers of English is packed with ideas about teaching writing -- captured from teacher conversations at the NCTE website. Many items address the middle grades. The site includes (left edge of page) links to other teaching ideas about ESL, journalism, literature, reading, technology and vocabulary/spelling. New English teachers will want to visit the site's "New Teacher" area.

How well do teachers provide feedback on student writing?-- Researchers from CRESST (the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing) looked at the feedback provided to students by 22 elementary and middle grades writing teachers. "Instructors tended to focus most on standardizing their students'written output, with measurable success. Student papers received little feedback about content or organization, and these qualities generally did not change over successive drafts." (Summary, link to report.)

The Exploding Dictionary -- The basic idea behind the Exploding Dictionary "was to take a set of publicly available dictionaries...and then cross-reference them to near death." The result is a tool that's probably useful and definitely fun. Technojargon, a recent adjunct to the dictionary, contains a very large collection of technology words and phrases, and may be browsed alphabetically or keyword searched. (from The Scout Report)

English Online Writer's Window -- Writers up to age seventeen are encouraged "to share their work and help each other improve their writing." Published works are categorized by age range and genre. Categories include short stories, poetry, research papers, book reviews, television reviews and movie reviews. There are also five continuous stories students can add to. (Blue Web'n review.)

Darling's Guide to Grammar -- Good resource for student and adult writers, from help with constructing sentences, paragraphs, and essays, to Ask Grammar - a way to find answers to questions about English usage or grammar. Quizzes are provided, along with examples of good and poor usage.

The Write Site --Designed for Ohio middle school language arts students by a Dayton public television station, this site has students take the role of reporters and editors to research, write and publish their own newspaper. The site includes unit outlines, handouts, exercises, information about how to write, and more.

Word Dance-- Word Dance is a quarterly magazine of children's writing, poetry, and artwork. Includes submission guidelines. Gr. K-8.

Stone Soup -- Excellent 25-year old magazine written and illustrated by kids 8-13.

KidPub -- Allows kids to read and publish stories. More than 25,000 stories from all over the world. Schools can establish writing projects. Be sure to read the "frequently asked questions" page. No age limits are stated, but most stories are submitted by students in grades K-8. This is a free service, offered by a computer programmer and his two daughters.
Youngwriter -- A place for children aged 6 to 16 to share their creative writing endeavors. The purpose of this on-line and printed magazine is to build children's confidence.

Inkspot -- This page is an index for Internet resources for young writers, including guides, contests, and links to many online magazine that publish kids' writing.

Research Paper -- The "Research Paper" site offers "topics, ideas, and assistance for school related research projects," including an "idea directory" divided into subject areas. This is not one of those sites that supplies pre-written term papers. Aso see the excellent handouts created by the Purdue University OWL (Online Writing Lab).

"The Neverending Tale" --A free choose-your-own-path writing medium that can be used for both creative and expository writing. All you need is an Internet connection and a Web browser to join in. Supported by a U.S. Department of Education grant.

World Wide Words -- A rich resource for lovers of words. You can find out past history of common words, catch the latest creations used in the press, or check usage. Teachers might use as a resource for getting students to see the changing nature of the words around them.

The Biography Maker -- How do you write a good biography? These online lessons explain what a biography should be and walk student writers through questioning, learning, synthesis, and story-telling. Includes embedded links to relevant Internet resources and tips for effective writing.

Exemplary Writing Lessons -- You'll find several exemplary lessons in this list of language arts activities at the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication.

"Ideas about Teaching Writing" -- From a writer and a teacher of writing -- Holly Holland, an editor for the National Middle School Association, and Corrie Rosetti, a language arts teacher in Clarkston, WA answer a parent's question about writing.

Online Writing Assistant -- Chuck Guilford's writing site helps students think about what goes into a piece of writing before they ever start to draft. Based on current research about the process approach to writing. Teachers can send students to site or use it themselves as a resource.

Children's Express - This remarkable news service, produced by kids, has been available through print and wire service sources for years. CE's new eye-catching website includes student-written news stories, opportunities to participate in on-line polls and forums, and ways for students to recommend story ideas or actually report and file stories themselves. A great way to involve students in issues that affect their lives.

On-Line Writing Lab - At Purdue University. Over 100 handouts related to the teaching of writing.

Home | Latest Updates | Newswatch | MiddleWeb Index | Reforming Schools | Links | Search