Links for K-12 Teachers | Assessment Assistance | On-Line Practice Modules | Daily Dose of the Web

 End-of-Course - English I
sites to help students practice skills needed for the English I exam
Item Sampler from Tennessee
FCAT Sample Reading Test - [2008] sample questions and test taking tips FCAT Sample Answer Book - [2008]
Links verified 4/8/08
Writing | Reading | Viewing and Representing | Speaking and Listening

a site for teachers | a PowerPoint show | Adobe Acrobat document | a Word document sound | video format | interactive lesson | a quiz | lesson plan | to print

1. Regular Comparatives and Superlatives - the rules for forming regular comparatives and superlatives, and some basic ways of using them
2. Curriculum Suggestion - Draw a Descriptive/Comparative/Superlative Picture (Pick one of the sets and then draw how you think each character in the set should look)
3. Find Comparatives and Superlatives in Your World – interesting writing prompts
4. Comparative & Superlative Quiz - Click the answer buttons to see the answers.
5. Regular Comparatives and Superlatives - Choose the correct form for each word
6. Regular Comparatives and Superlatives - Look at the picture, and complete the sentences. Type your answers and click on "Check"
7. Sentence-Ordering Puzzle - This sentence uses a comparative, but it is mixed-up. Put the words in the correct order

1. Avoiding Sentence Fragments
2. Sentence Fragments - by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
3. Sentence Fragment Exercises | #1 | #2 | #3
4. Sentence Fragments: Pretest
5. Finding Fragments in Short Passages (exercise 1) - Read each passage that follows.  Use your mouse to choose the part that is a fragment
6. Finding Fragments in Short Passages (exercise 2) - Read each passage that follows.  Use your mouse to choose the part that is a fragment
7. Finding Fragments in Long Passages - Read the highlighted item in the passage below, and then decide whether it is a complete sentence or a fragment
8. Identifying the Different Types of Fragments - In the exercise that follows, you must identify the type of fragment you find.
9. Fixing Fragments - Read each passage that follows.  Use your mouse to choose the correction that will fix the fragment | Exercise 5 | Exercise 6 | Exercise 7
10. Fragment Review & Practice - A sentence with an incomplete verb is a fragment. Click the "sentence" button and an incomplete sentence will appear. Insert appropriate forms of to be or to have wherever they are needed. Ignore the instruction to type your verb in all caps, that’s bad form.
11. Self Test on Fragments - Let's see whether you understand fragments
12. Sentence fragments and run-ons - exercises to help students distinguish between fragments and run-ons (a Quia quiz)

1. Singular and Plural Possessive Nouns (Quia activities) - [these links open in new windows] Match the singular and possessive nouns with their plural forms. Matching | Flashcards | Concentration
2. Singular and Plural Possessive Nouns (a different set of Quia activities) - [these links open in new windows] Match the singular and possessive nouns with their plural forms. Matching | Flashcards | Concentration
3. Quiz - Click on the correct plural/possessive form (15 exercises)
4. Exercise in Plurals and Possessives - spaces in the paragraph are preceded by an "opportunity for error" in the formation of plurals or possessives
5. Quiz on Possessives and Irregular Plurals - Form the plurals of the list of words
6. Plurals and Count/Non-Count Nouns: Fill in the gaps

1. I Don't Need No Double Negatives! - discussion of the grammar followed by ten sentences to re-write (not interactive)
2. Double Negatives Fact sheet - from Skillswise at BBC
3. Double Negatives Activity - Complete an application, write a letter or go to an interview (from Skillswise at BBC)
4. Double Negatives - are you ready to see if you can spot the double negative? Try out this 3 level quiz
5. Three Double Negatives Worksheets - from Skillswise at BBC
6. Ain't never used no double negative! - [this site opens as a new page] The double negative still has the power of emphasis even if it is not considered ‘correct’

1. Know Your Audience - a Practical Guide to Media Research

1. Fact and Opinion Self-Test
2. Fact or Opinion? A Quia Game - Read the statements and determine if they are facts or opinions. Select your answer from the popup menu. There are a total of 30 statements to evaluate
3. Fact or Opinion? (Another Quia Quiz) - Read the statements given and determine if they are facts or opinions
4. Helping kids tell fact from opinion on the Internet - How to teach children to avoid misinformation online
5. Fact or Opinion Quiz - ten questions
6. Simple Present Tense - Fact, Habit, Opinion or Schedule
7. Fact or Fiction: Truth, Opinion, and the Web - a WebQuest designed to help you sort "good" information from “bad."
8. Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion – a ten question quiz

1. Confusing Words - Your or You're - take an quiz
2. Common Errors in English - Find out about: your or you're; where or were; it's or its; their, they're or there; to or too. You will also find out about much, much more.
3. Common Mistakes and Tricky  Choices

1. Sentence Fragments - lesson followed by quizzes
2. Repairing Sentence Fragments - These paragraphs are a veritable butcher's shop of fragments. In the text-areas below the paragraphs, rewrite the paragraph, repairing the fragments as you go
3. Fragments and Run-Ons - After each sentence, select the option which best describes that sentence.
4. A test of the Emergency Grammar System - It is only a test. Actually, it isn't even a test ... and it contains more than grammar. Oh, never mind.... give it a try
5. Sentence or Fragment? - Identify each of the following groups of words as a sentence or a sentence fragment
6. Sentence or Fragment? (a Quia game) - Determine if what you read is a complete sentence or a fragment. Select your answer from the pop-up menu
7. Sentence Fragment Exercise (exercise 1) - The sentences below appeared in papers written by students. Act as their editor, marking a C if the sentences in the group are all complete and an F if any of the sentences in the group is a fragment.
8. Sentence Fragment Exercise (exercise 2) - These paragraphs need proofreading for possible fragments. Use the space below each paragraph for revising.
9. Run-on/Comma Splice/Fragment Quizzes (part one) (part two)
10. Sentence Fragment Exercise (exercise 3) - The following paragraph has no capital letters or periods to mark the beginnings and ends of sentences. Add capitals, periods, commas, and/or other punctuation that may be needed to make the word groups into complete sentences. Your goal is to be sure that there are no fragments.
11. Avoiding Sentence Fragments - a PowerPoint show created by Charles Darling, PhD, Professor of English and Webmaster, Capital Community College , Hartford , Connecticut

1. Subject/verb agreement - Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.
2. Subject and Verb Agreement from LEO: Literacy Education Online
3. Subject Verb Agreement Quiz
4. There is  or  there are?
5. Tag Questions 1 - Present Tense/To Be Verb/Affirmative
6. The CopyCat Game 1 from English-Zone
7. Making Subjects and Verbs Agree - Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
8. Subject-Verb Agreement - from The Writer's Handbook
9. Subject Verb Agreement from Big Dog's Grammar
10. Subject-Verb Agreement Quiz - 25 questions, use the pull-down boxes (from Red River College)
11. The grammar outlaw: Disagreeing Subject and Verb, AKA The Disagreeable Sentence
12. Quiz on Subject-Verb Agreement
13. A Second Quiz on Subject-Verb Agreement - After each sentence select the verb form that will best fit in the blank
14. A Third Quiz on Subject-Verb Agreement - Select the appropriate verbs from the drop-down menus to complete each sentence correctly
15. Subject-Verb Agreement - a PowerPoint show created by Charles Darling, PhD, Professor of English and Webmaster, Capital Community College , Hartford , Connecticut
16. Subject/Verb Agreement - A PowerPoint show that is also a review quiz

1. Avoiding Comma Splices, Fused Sentences, and Run-Ons - Interesting visual effects are used to make the point.
2. The sentence, please! - A sentence containing a comma splice will appear in a text-area. Repair the sentence.
3. Avoiding Comma Splices II - A sentence containing a comma splice will appear in a text-area. Repair the sentence.
4. Avoiding Run-On Sentences - a PowerPoint show created by Charles Darling, PhD, Professor of English and Webmaster, Capital Community College , Hartford , Connecticut
5. Our Friend the Semicolon - a PowerPoint show created by Charles Darling, PhD, Professor of English and Webmaster, Capital Community College , Hartford , Connecticut

1. Internet exercises related to Understanding Inference and the Writer's Purpose

1. A list of transition words
2. Another list of transition words Transition Words exercise follows [from a UK site]
3. Transitions indicate relations, whether from sentence to sentence, or from paragraph to paragraph. This is a list of "relationships" that supporting ideas may have, followed by a list of "transitional" words and phrases  that can connect those ideas:
4. Transitional Devices (Connecting Words) - Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
5. Transitional Words and Phrases - a menu to help you find transition words that fit your purpose [scroll down a bit to find the entire list]
6. Writing Research Papers: Transition Words and Phrases

1. A one-page handout (in .pdf format) giving examples of each poetic device.
2. Poetry writing practice web - a one-page handout in .pdf format
3. A ten-question quiz on Literary Terms - Choose whether the line from a poem is an example of alliteration, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, or simile.
4. Practicing onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, simile and metaphor
   1. Word Play 1 | Word Play 2 | Word Play 3 | Word Play 4 | Word Play 5 | Word Play 6
5. A concept map to use when you work with your students on these topics. (in .pdf format)
6. Poetic Devices - a classroom sign about the forms of poetic devices ( in . pdf format)
7. Shakespearean alliteration insults - have fun while reinforcing the concept of alliteration

1. Internet exercises related to Understanding Inference and the Writer's Purpose
2. News Quiz Archive - over 50 news stories from the BBC. Each story has a ten question quiz associated with it. They also have a section of stories which include math in the news and the quiz
3. Reading Critically - a 10 question multiple choice quiz
4. Understanding Inference and the Writer's Purpose. - a 10 question quiz with hints [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]

1. Building Vocabulary: Using Context Clues - a 10 question quiz [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]
2. Building Vocabulary: Using Word Parts - a 10 question quiz [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]
3. Reading Actively - a 10 question quiz to test your ability to read for comprehension [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]

1. Cause-and-Effect Writing Challenges Students - The cause-and-effect relationship is both a way of thinking and a format for writing. Teachers who emphasize cause-and-effect writing say that they are helping students learn to think critically as well as write cogently. Read what three experienced teachers have to say about this teaching approach, which can be used with students of all ages. This is an article from Education World magazine.
2. Identifying Supporting Details - a 10 question quiz [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]
3. Making The Relationship Explicit Between Your Ideas - from UniLearning - Academic Writing
4. Recognizing Comparison/Contrast and Cause/Effect Patterns - a 10 question quiz [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]

1. Locating Main Ideas - a 10 question quiz
2. Recognizing the Basic Patterns of Organization - a 10 question quiz [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]

1. Critical Literacy: Point of View - a lesson from ReadWriteThink
2. Exploring Point of View
3. Point of View - Two Heads Aren't Always Better Than One. suggestions regarding choosing a point of view for your writing
4. Types of Point of View

1. Finding the Main Idea
2. Keeping Track of Information - a 10 question quiz [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]
3. Main Idea - The main idea of a passage or reading is the central thought or message.
4. Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure - Challenge your students by letting them practice using a reading comprehension test designed for prospective teachers. (This site recommends that you use a printed copy of the page)
5. Understanding Implied Main Ideas - a 10 question quiz [select Chapter quiz from the menu at the left]

1. Critical Concepts - Verbal Irony
2. Critical Concepts - Dramatic Irony
3. Using Eudora Welty's The Ponder Heart to illustrate verbal and situational irony

1. The ABC's of Web Site Evaluation (presented by Kathy Schrock) - Evaluation of Web sites is an important skill to learn in this age of digital and information literacy. Students and teachers need practice in critically examining sites to determine authority, authenticity, and applicability to purpose. This site provides that practice.
2. Teaching Zack to think (from Alan November) - it is essential that students learn how to validate information.
3. Evaluating Web Pages - Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask
4. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources
5. Critical Evaluation of Resources - In the research process you will encounter many types of resources including books, articles and web sites. But not everything you find on your topic will be suitable. How do you make sense of what is out there and evaluate its authority and appropriateness for your research?
6. Critically Analyzing Information Sources - the emphasis here is on print sources
7. Evaluating Information Found on the Internet - a thoughtful guide to evaluating web and other Internet resources
8. Evaluation of information sources - This page contains pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet.
9. Helping kids tell fact from opinion on the Internet - How to teach children to avoid misinformation online