Writing

1. The Book of Magic Potions - Create your own potions after getting ideas and suggestions from this book!
2. By Grade Level - The Writing Source - Pick your grade level for topics.
3. Can I have a Word? - Ideas and Resources to inspire creative writing. Writing projects linked to curriculum.
4. Character Development - Mapping Activity to help understand the characters of stories
5. Comic Strip - Create your own comic strip!
6. Compare and Contrast - Select two works of art from a list of 26. Then click the "Begin Essay" button in the selection box that displays your selections to write your own short essay comparing the works of art. This is a display from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
7. Compare and Contrast Rubric - detailed
8. Comparative Analysis - how to write a comparative analysis (text only)
9. Concise, Credible, and Clear Writing - lab activity to choose appropriate support points and put them in a clear order
10. Creative Writing Worksheets - Story Starters to print.
11. Descriptive Writing Practice - a lab activity to develop paragraphs using description
12. Essay Writing - Quick tips to review before writing your paper.
13. Essay Writing - review steps to follow when writing essays
14. Expository Essays:
    1. Expository Writing - Eight different examples of expository organizational patterns
    2. Expository Writing Prompts - 11 writing prompts
    3. A Lesson in Expository Writing -The Personal Touch: - This lesson uses examples of such communication as a springboard for practice in expository writing.
    4. Expository Writing Prompts - Eighth Grade - from the State of TN web site.
    5. The Expository Essay - Examples of expository essays
    6. Expository Essays - Some things to consider when writing expository essays.
    7. Expository Writing Tips! - The information was taken from "Blowing Away the State Writing Assessment Test" by Jane Bell Kiester available through Maupin House Publishing.
    8. Expository Writing Rubric -
    9. Expository Writing Rubric - very detailed
    10. Food for Thought - an expository writing lesson plan for eighth grade
15. Five Paragraph Essay - At this site, you will find the information you need to learn how to write the essay as well as some writing prompts to help you develop skill.
16. The Four C's - a lab to practice concise, credible, clear, and correct writing
17. Goodnight Stories - Stories you can see, fill-in, decide, finish, or hear. Creative endings are printed on the site if they meet the webmaster's criteria which is stated on the page. Primary grade level.
18. Graphic Organizers - several examples of how to use graphic organizers in brainstorming or pre-writing activities
19. Great Source - Collection of writing resources and support for educators, students in grades 5-12, and parents
20. Ideas for Writing Poetry in the Classroom
    1. Acrostic Poems for Children
    2. Acrostics Poems Submitted by Children
21. Internet Projects using writing skills - Sadlier-Oxford Activity Center - Create stories and articles from information garnered on the web. Steps and activities are all listed. Complete lessons for grades 6-12.
22. Journal Jars - Create a journal jar for each student! Prompts are given at the site and can be reproduced.
23. Journal Jars - How to Make a Journal Jar by Merle O'Brien,
24. Letter Writing Practice - Learn techniques to help you write letters.
25. Mag-O-Matic - The Mag-O-Matic turns your headlines, ideas, and choices into a TIME for KIDS cover!
26. Main Character Questionnaire - Fill this out to discover things about the main character you are creating or have read about.
27. Narrative Essays :
    1. Multiple Paragraph Essay - pointers on writing an essay
    2. Narrative Essay - article on how to write a narrative essay
    3. Narrative Essay - article and help on writing narrative essay
    4. Step by step guide - guide on writing an essay
    5. Narrative essay prompts - ten prompts
    6. Ten Narrative Writing Prompts - targeted mainly at high school teachers, but the questions can be modified
    7. Ten Prewriting Exercises for Personal Narratives
    8. Narrative Writing Prompts - elementary school
    9. Student Writing Tools Handbook - transitions, rubrics, grammar, citations, and more
    10. Template for writing a narrative - scaffolding guide for students
28. Paradigm-On-line Writing Assistant - This site will take you through the writing process of editing, revising, organizing and other steps.
29. Paragraph A Week - a yearly writing program
30. Paragraph Punch - the actual steps of writing a basic paragraph
31. Persuasive writing
    1. Battle Bars: The Edible Argument - a lesson plan designed to teach persuasive writing using Snickers and Kit-Kat bars
    2. Can You Convince Me? - basic concepts of lobbying for something that is important to them (or that they want) and making persuasive arguments. Lesson plan
    3. Graphic Organizer - scaffolding aid for your students as they plan their essay
    4. Have Web, Will Travel - In this lesson, students demonstrate their Web research and persuasive writing skills to create colorful, informative Web travel guides to popular vacation destinations.
    5. How are They Selling It? - students read three advertisements and evaluate the type of persuasive writing being employed
    6. Persuasive Writing Prompts used in past Writing Assessments in Tennessee
    7. Persuasive Writing Prompts from a home schooling site
    8. The Power of Persuasion - a WebQuest that challenges your students to investigate persuasive writing and develop critical reading skills
    9. The Power of Persuasive Writing - another WebQuest on the topic
    10. Practice with Argument - a lab activity to identify reasons and write an argument paragraph
    11. Practice with Argument - another lab activity to identify reasons and write an argument paragraph
    12. Sample assignment - Invent an X-ray satellite, name it, draw a picture of it. Write a one- to two-page persuasion letter addressed to your Congressperson or essay for your local newspaper in order to obtain funding for your X-ray astronomy mission.
    13. Scholastic's Writing Workshop - You already spend a lot of time trying to persuade your parents or teachers to allow you to watch more TV or do less homework. Now you can use those same skills to write a persuasive essay!
    14. Study Guides and Strategies - persuasive writing
    15. Ten Persuasive Prompts: Persuasive-Descriptive
    16. Writing to Persuade - Persuasion means making someone with a different point of view from your own change their mind to your way of thinking.
    17. Writing to Persuade Rubric - Perhaps your students can understand writing to persuade better by seeing this rubric.
32. PIZZAZ !... People Interested in Zippy and Zany Zcribbling - Excellent resource for all types of writing. PIZZAZ! is dedicated to providing simple creative writing and oral storytelling activities with copyable (yes, copyable!) handouts for use with students of all ages.
33. Power Proofreading from Houghton Mifflin - Help! The power has gone out at HME-TV, and proofreaders are needed to fix TV scripts, memos and other writing at the station. HM has provided a special power screen so your students can help them.
34. Pre-Reading Clock - an activity designed to help establish vocabulary readiness
35. Prewriting
    1. Focused prewriting - steps to take while prewriting
    2. Prewriting - methods and tips
    3. Prewriting Practice - lab activity to help students use different prewriting techniques
    4. Prewriting Practice - another lab activity to help students use different prewriting techniques
    5. Prewriting Practices - an article by Alice L. Trupe
    6. Prewriting Strategies - prewriting techniques
    7. Prewriting Strategies - from Gallaudet University
    8. Six Prewriting Steps
36. Principles of Composition - the writing process, structural considerations and patterns of composition
37. Read Write Think - Marco Polo site - excellent lessons, resources and student materials
38. Research and Writing - Need to write a research paper? Here's help.
39. Revising a Draft - lab activity
40. Revising a Draft - a second lab activity on the subject
41. Self Evaluation Writing Rubric - Check yourself!
42. Sensitive Writing - lab activity practicing the idea of being more sensitive to others
43. Story Mapping - an interactive online writing guide
    1. Ready-made lessons for this tool
44. TCAP Writing Assessment - The TCAP Writing Assessment is administered to fifth grade, eighth grade, and eleventh grade students in Tennessee. These page links give sample writing prompts and a rubric used for scoring.
45. Ten Creative Writing Activities - List of creative writing assignments
46. Thinking Things from Snaith Primary - An interactive site with which you can create stories online. Click on the Character and Setting links at the top to write your own stories. Click on the numerous travel links to learn about history.
47. Transition Words:
    1. Go with the Flow - Transitions
    2. How to Use Transition Words and Phrases in an Essay - writing and studying skills and tips
    3. Transitions - lists of transition words (not available 1-14-08)
    4. University Writing Center - Transition words
    5. Writing Transition words and phrases - a list of transitions
48. Use Specific Details - lab activity designed to help you use specific details to prove your point
49. Use Specific Details - another lab activity designed to help you use specific details to prove your point
50. VDOE Released Items in 8th Grade Writing - 2004 | 2003 | 2002
51. Vocabulary Skills Lab Activity - use context clues and word parts to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in a textbook selection
52. Web Sites for the Write Way - Multilink site with links to help in the writing process.
53. Word Games for Writers -On those days you can't write prose or poetry, perhaps a good alternative is to play a word game
54. Writing - many online lessons and activities learning the writing process. Many forms of writing are included on this page, such as expository, narrative, summary and the 6-trait writing style. Lee's Summit School District site.
55. Writing Activities - Many ideas and activities (Warning: This Tripod site may be blocked by school filters)
56. Write Away from Jefferson County Schools - professional development project whose goal is to improve composition skills for grades 9-12 through a school-wide writing initiative
57. Writing a Cinquain
    1. Cinquain from abcTeach
    2. How to Write a Cinquain from CanTeach
    3. Poetry in Forms Series: Cinquain from the Writer's Resource Center
    4. Two Cinquains create Wacky Web Tales on line
    5. Your Town - create a cinquain on line
58. Writing Center Toolbox - Many tools for writers
59. Writing Handouts - Many PDF files: How to Avoid Plagiarism | Writing Tips | Resumes & Cover Letters | Study & Test-taking Tips | Research Paper Guidelines | Punctuation | Documentation Style Guides | Helpful Style Guide Links
60. WritingFix for Kids... Come and choose a game to play, from their list of games today. If you have some paper near they think you'll write while you are there.
61. Writing Lessons - A collection of writing lessons plans for your students' use to prepare for standardized testing.
62. Writing Outcomes from the Greece Central School District in NY - The grade-level writing outcomes identify the genres of writing, the number of writing tasks, and the quality of writing that 6-12 students are expected to produce each year.
63. Writing Plans from the Teacher's Desk - many ideas
64. The Write Place Catalogue - Many references to help writers
65. The Writing Process - lab activity to practice the writing process
66. Writing Journals - the Journal Jar, the book of me - great ideas
67. Writing Paragraphs - Precise instructions with definitions of each part.
68. Writing Prompts
    1. Creative Writing Prompts - Use the creative writing prompts and creative writing ideas to create stories, poems and other creative pieces from your imagination.Over 200!
    2. Education World has 180 quotes for you, but that's also 180 writing prompts!
    3. Imagination Prompt Generator - Click to get a new prompt.
    4. Nursery Rhyme Expansion - Nursery Rhymes can be wonderful springboards for all kinds of Language Arts activities. Here is an activity designed to give middle school students practice with the aspects of purpose, voice, and audience in their writing.
    5. Original WritingFix Prompt Generator - over 400 different prompts Sign up to have 6 Prompts from this page e-mailed to you every Sunday for your writing for the week!
    6. Picture Prompts - Write your own Word list, then print the page for students to write their story.
    7. Proverbs: Wisdom Tales Without the Plot - Have students choose a familiar proverb and develop a story that can surround and carry that thought. Multicultural proverbs offer interesting insights into the universality of wisdom.
    8. Workout Room Writing Prompts - Grades 1-8
    9. Writing Prompts - Get-you-started Writing Prompts - scroll near the middle of the page for a list of prompts and Word banks.
    10. Writing Prompts - Expository- Elementary
    11. Writing Prompts - Many ideas to start your students' minds
    12. Writing Prompts - from Teachers.net
    13. Writing Prompts - Narrative, Persuasive and Expository
    14. Writing Prompts - for high school
    15. Writing Prompts - from Everyday Spelling ; Grades 1-8
    16. Writing Prompts - Suggested Monthly Writing Prompts Grades K-12. Also a section on Grading - Sample Papers and Scoring
    17. Writing Prompts - Essays for young students. K-4
    18. Writing Prompts with pictures - elementary
    19. Writing Prompts with pictures - Middle School, High School; from Picture Prompts in a Box
    20. Writers' Digest - Idea joggers and brain starters—to get your writing going. Presents you a new prompt each week
69. Writing a Rough Draft - quiz regarding a rough draft
70. Writing Skills - Alliteration, Personification, Similes, Onomatopoeia, Hyperbole

Analogies

1. Fact Monster Analogy of the Day
2. Analogy Quiz which requires students to type the word to complete the analogy
3. Analogy Lesson from Diana Dell
4. Analogy quiz 1 at Quia posted by Diana Dell
5. Analogy quiz 2 at Quia posted by Diana Dell
6. Analogy quizzes - from easy to hard
7. Analogy worksheets - many to choose from.
8. Awesome Analogies for one or two players - posted at Quia
9. Discovery School Analogy Quizzes
   1. SAT AnalogyQuiz8
   2. SAT AnalogyQuiz9
   3. SAT AnalogyQuiz10
10. Puzz.com has a quiz with 152 analogies - pick one or two a day and practice this valuable skill

Creative Writing Lesson Plans

1. Composition Ideas - writing lesson ideas
2. Delicious Descriptive Adjectives - Your mission for this project is to make different foods sound as delectable and as scrumptious as possible.
3. Lesson Ideas - 7 creative writing lessons that engage the children in writing
4. Rewriting Fairy Tales - 3rd-5th grade
5. TeachNet Writing Ideas - writing activities for grades 1-8

Stories for Children

1. Don't see a book you are looking for? Do a search by author, or by title.
2. Aesop's Fables - with morals listed. This site has hundreds of fables and fairy tales.
3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - A twelve-chapter performance in RealAudio by the Wired for Books Players
4. BAB Books On-Line - stories for primary students. No audio
5. Billy Gnome's Bedtime Stories - written for Ben
6. BookBox - audiovisual stories, ages 2 to Preteen; web-based jukebox of digital books in languages from around the world. Hear the books read in a multitude of languages. Words for the books can be followed in a number of languages also. You do have to register but it is free registration. The site offers downloads of the stories for a fee, but the online books are free.
7. Book-Pop - Read, listen to, or print your own books!
8. Chateau Meddybemps Beantime Stories - (on-line stories where jellybeans ripen under tropical rainbows) some are for preschool and primary, others are for all ages (Check their homepage for other neat things.)
9. Children's Books Online in a variety of languages - posted by artist and designer, Asbjørn Lønvig in Denmark
10. Children's Literature - posted by TeachNology
11. Children's Literature Resources - eight categories of links to web resources
12. Children's Storybooks Online - You will find illustrated storied for young children and older children.
13. Children Stories - numerous on-line stories, some from South Africa
14. CYKE - Stories about feelings and emotions - To select a story click on one of the sea creatures that go by. (can be used as a whole class activity)
15. Lesson Plans for Children's Books - alphabetical index from Mr. Donn
16. Lil' Fingers Storybook - over a dozen stories and a coloring activities page (for Pre-K and K)
17. Little Animals Activity Center - (4-8 year olds) Audio stories from BBC with interactive participation. This is a British site and the language pronunciation and meanings may seem strange at times.
18. NickJr has stories that are read aloud and animated. A very good site for young children. Click on the stories link to get to the list of stories that are told. Don't forget to click around while the story is being read for cute animation of the characters!
19. Online Children's Stories - There are a lot of stories available on the Internet to read or download. Some of them are from well-known books, others can be found only online.
20. Online Children's Stories to Read - Fables and stories.
21. Online Story Clips - download these audio stories for your class listening time!
22. PBS Stories - may be difficult for young readers
23. Picture Books - stories for younger readers, with colorful pictures - from Internet Public Library
    1. Short Stories - If picture books are too easy, try these short stories. They are also from Internet Public Library.
24. Reading Units - lessons to use with over six dozen books, from Afternoon on the Amazon to Woodsong
25. Scrambled Stories - students select one of six stories, select from a list of words, and then see the story that they scrambled
    1. Scrambled Stories Teacher's Guide - suggestions on how to use the stories in grades K-6
26. Stories to Read online - These are not audio but for reading entertainment.
27. Tales by Beatrix Potter from Kids Corner
    1. Cecily Parsely's Nursery Rhyme
    2. The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
    3. Johnny Town-Mouse
    4. Miss Moppet
    5. The Tale of Peter Rabbit
    6. The Pie and the Patty Pan
    7. The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
    8. Timmy Tiptoes
    9. The Tale of Two Bad Mice
28. Sniffy and Fluffy have an Adventure - a frog and a fish take a trip across the pond
29. Stories to Grow By from Whootie Owl - You can search for stories by type, the values taught, or the place of origin. This is a large stockpile of stories and the stories are age ranked.
30. Story Place - The Children's Digital Library - Visit the preschool library and the elementary library.
31. Tiger Aki Storybooks - Series of stories about Tiger Aki. Audio provided.
32. Tweenies Story Time - stories read aloud

Stories for Older Children

1. Amazing Adventures - Online stories and movie adventures. Audio along with stories for students who need help reading. Must click on Sound icon to start the audio. The movie cinema's first two selections are ads; skip over those and go to the other 2 at the bottom. [this page opens in a new window]
2. Adventure Stories - Interactive stories that let you help select the adventure
   1. Riptide
3. Audio Books for Free - Fiction, Non-fiction and children's stories to download. Must register but registration is free.
4. Audio Books - Classics - Hear classical stories on-line.
5. Audio Books - Librivox - LibriVox provides free audio books from the public domain.
6. Page By Page Books - Many titles to select from. Hundreds of classic books you can read right now, all absolutely free!
7. Walks with Red Dog - Online stories.
8. The Throps and Squallhoots - Chapter book online.
9. Stories by MagicKeys - Online stories for older children.
10. Online Story Clips - download these audio stories for your class listening time!
11. Cool4Kids - Online stories in many genres.
12. Ghost Forest - Download this interactive story.
13. Kids and Teens Online Stories - Multilink of story sites.
14. Light Up your Brain - Stories online that are read aloud and students can read along with them.
15. Classics for Young People - Classical books available in full-text on the Internet.

Authors

1. Shakespeare - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
2. Twain - Mark Twain in his times - This site provides the capability of searching for reviews or electronic texts.

For Teachers

1. Children's Literature and Language Arts Resources - This page focuses on children's literature in education. Teachers, library media professionals, parents and students will find information on children's literature and associated language arts here. 

Professional Resources

1. The Compact for Reading Guide is a user-friendly handbook designed to walk your family-school compact team through the steps of building and implementing a Compact for Reading. It provides information, strategies, examples, and checklists to help parents, educators, and community members develop effective, workable compacts that can improve your school, increase family involvement, and increase student skills and achievement in reading.
2. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children - The focus of this report is prevention. The report sketches a picture of the conditions under which reading is most likely to develop easily - conditions that include stimulating preschool environments, excellent reading instruction, and the absence of any of a wide array of risk factors.
3. Starting Out Right (A guide for promoting children's reading success) - Parents want to provide their preschool children with a good start in literacy. A school district tells its teachers to change the way they teach reading. Preschool caregivers want to be sure that the children they care for are ready for school. A mother attending a school meeting hears confusing messages about the best way to teach beginning reading. A corporate executive wants the company to support an after-school tutoring program, but is not sure where to start. This book is for all these people. It is written particularly for parents and others who can influence the education and development of young children, especially policy makers, caregivers, and teachers.

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