ENGLISH RESOURCE SITES
Great grammar and
spelling activities from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/spelling_grammar.shtml
Fantastic website for
students. Very similar to BBC Bitesize but at a higher level.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/
Hard Spell - Hard Spell
is a game in which students have to identify words spelt incorrectly. Players
can gain bonus points by spelling the word correctly within a time limit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hardspell/hardspell_game.shtml
Australian Bush Poetry K-6 links
A Poem a Week is a brand new poetry
resource for teachers in middle to upper primary levels who are looking for
poems to use in the classroom. Each week, a new poem by an Australian writer
will be posted, along with a short bio note and comments on where the idea for
the poem came from. Poems will be contemporary, and provide a range of topics,
styles and language. Poets featured will include Janeen Brian, Sherryl Clark,
Meredith Costain, Liz Honey, Doug McLeod and Lorraine Marwood, among others.
Poems can be used for reading and discussion, or as models for poetry writing in
class. Sherryl Clark and Meredith Costain, the creators of A Poem a Week, hope
that this handy website will encourage teachers to regularly 'reach for a poem'
and share it with their students.
http://www.poetry4kids.net/forteachers.html
Lots of good resources and interactive sites for all curriculum areas
http://teachingtreasures.com.au/index.html
Students can create their own stories using this great site http://myths.e2bn.org/story_creator/
This site had some good
templates etc for assisting with writing of poems also check out the easy to use
printing press which kids can use to create their own booklets, newspaper
article, flyer etc
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=375
Australia Post webside based on the process of sending a letter - www.auspost.com.au/education
This site includes 427 references to both the Guide to Grammar and Writing and Principles of Composition. It has some very good powerpoint presentations on use of grammar and writing ie Capitalization, punctuation etc.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index2.htm
This web site is for people studying for an English language exam. These pages contain free online practice tests for various exams such as reading, listening, vocabulary and grammar. They give a student score at the end of the test.
Make your own Captain Underpants Comic - www.scholastic.ca/captainunderpants/comic.htm
Reading games room - http://www.adrianbruce.com/reading/games.htm
Alphabet Soup - /http://www.alphabet-soup.net/
Alphabet soup includes Kindergarten Kafe, thematic units, teacher & parent resources, literature, recipes, fun & humor, holidays, crafts, cyber adoptions, recipes, and special pages for mainly 3 - 5 year olds. It has been created so that children can learn in a safe on-line learning environment.
Ants on the Apple
- www.kiddyhouse.com/Songs/alpha/a.html
This site contains the words and music (sound) for the popular alphabet song.
Each letter is on a separate page. Use Internet Explorer to view.
Arthur & Busters - http://pbskids.org/arthur/index.html
Developed with the help and advice of Arthur creator Marc Brown, the ARTHUR site is organized into pages hosted by the series' characters, each with features that encourage kids to read and write.
BBC Education - Little Animals' Activity Centre
-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/index.shtml
The Little Animals
Activity Centre is a fun way to learn and play at home, with games to play and
activities for 4 to 8 year olds. The activities include word games, maths games
and simple puzzles. There are tips for parents throughout. You will need at
least the Flash plugin to use this site and Shockwave for some of the games.
Between the Lions - http://pbskids.org/lions/
Based on a TV show for kids developed by the Public Broadcasting Service, US, the site provides interactive and fun learning opportunities for children aged 4-9. Parents of young kids will find useful guides and opportunities to help their children learn to read. Features include: weekly adventures, word helper, recommended books, literacy resources, colouring pages, lettering guides, games to print and more.
Building Language for Literacy - http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bll/
This learning activity helps emerging readers identify letters, sounds, and words using interactive multimedia. Three animal characters ask students to drag and drop images. Audio feedback helps students build vocabulary, identify letters and sounds, and match rhyming words.
Clifford the Big Red Dog
-
http://pbskids.org/clifford/
Clifford, the pooch
from PBS, is a big hit with preschoolers. Bring your kids to Clifford's website
for free stories, games, and online activities, plus printable coloring pages
and cutouts. Go behind the scenes to meet the cast, watch the actors and artists
at work, and learn to draw Clifford. The official PBS television web site for
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Contraction Concentration Card Game
-
www.adrianbruce.com/reading/cont/index.htm
free game for teaching about contractions - contractions
concentration/memory. It is designed for the emerging reader and to make
learning fun. The site contains printable documents that contain the
instructions for the game as well as the cards themselves.
The Counting Story
-
www.magickeys.com/books/count/
A counting Book for early childhood students learning to count. The simple story
is based around a series of pink rabbits numbering 1 through to 11.
Story writing ideas for children - www.lynnechapman.co.uk/index.htm
also www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/worksheets/create2.htm
Gail Lovely - Resources - www.gaillovely.com/resources.htm
Gail Lovely has a collection of
links to resources suitable for early childhood. Topics include reading and
literacy, maths, tsunamis, hurricanes and seasonal resources such as Christmas,
New Year and Polar Express.
Learn to Read at Starfall: Teaching Comprehension and Phonics - www.starfall.com/
The Starfall
learn-to-read program was created to meet the needs of the emergent reader by
incorporating rhyming games and high-interest books that teach phonemic
awareness (sounds in words), phonics, decoding skills, and comprehension. The
section on ABC has large text and bright pictures. It teaches letter-sound
relationships by providing a child-friendly navigation system that explicitly
focuses on each letter of the alphabet.
Learn To Read: Zac the Rat and Other Tales
www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f
Learn to Read is aimed at
emergent readers. It makes use of interactive books and rhyming word family
games that teach phonemic awareness, comprehension, vocabulary building and
spelling skills.
Building Language for Literacy -
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bll/
This learning activity
helps emerging readers identify letters, sounds, and words using interactive
multimedia. Three animal characters ask students to drag and drop images. Audio
feedback helps students build vocabulary, identify letters and sounds, and match
rhyming words.
Phonics Reading Practice : Learn to Read and Spell with Phonics -
www.fonetiks.org/foniks/
This is a Phonics course
in reading and spelling for young children. The Foniks site uses the technique
of allowing learners to simply mouse over letters and words to hear them spoken.
Literacy Centre -
www.literacycenter.net/lessonview_en.htm
Children will learn
uppercase letter, lowercase letters, shapes, writing, words, numbers, and
colours, playing flash games. This site is also useful for teachers of languages
other than English, like Spanish, German and French.
Games for Children (Goldfish) -
www.poissonrouge.com/
This site contains online
alphabet, counting and reading games and activities for preschool children.
There are alphabet games available in both English and French. The site is
intuitive and children learn by playing.
Let's Discover -
www.letsdiscover.org.uk/
Educational resources for
early childhood educators including downloadable learning games related to word
recognition, alphabet, counting, healthy eating and sentence formation. The site
also includes printable worksheets.
StoryPlace Pre-school Library -
www.storyplace.org/preschool/other.asp
The StoryPlace
Library provides a selection of simple online stories, with different themes,
for preschool children. Associated with each story are activities for children
and parents and suggested reading lists. It includes Spanish vocabulary in some
stories.
Razzledazzle: Once Upon a Tale -
www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/razzledazzle/onceuponatale/
Six simple online stories
are read aloud. The words are highlighted as they are read. Some of the stories
require the viewer to insert the correct word at different places. They also
make use of repetition so the reader gradually becomes familiar with written
language patterns.
Comic Creator - http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/student_material.asp?id=21
The Comic Creator is an
online tool that invites students to compose their own comic strips for a
variety of contexts (prewriting, pre- and postreading activities, response to
literature, and so on). The organisers focus on the key elements of comic strips
by allowing students to choose backgrounds, characters, and props, as well as to
compose related dialogue. This versatile tool can be used by students from
kindergarten through high school, for purposes ranging from learning to write
dialogue to an in-depth study of a formerly neglected genre. The tool is easy to
use, made even easier with the Comic Strip Planning Sheet, a printable PDF that
comic creators can use to draft and revise their work before creating and
printing their final comics. After completing their comic, students have the
ability to print out and illustrate their final versions for feedback and
assessment.
Brain Rummager - http://www.alphalink.com.au/~umbidas/ Brian Barratt's Brain Rummager page provides word fun for school students. It contains puzzles, brain benders, word play, anagrams, code puzzles, and information about the origins of words.
Eclipse Crossword - www.greeneclipsesoftware.com/eclipsecrossword/ Eclipse Crossword is free software that allows users to create crossword puzzles in minutes. Just give Eclipse Crossword a list of words and clues, and it does the rest. Eclipse Crossword can be used by: teachers and parents as a way of introducing vocabulary and unit concepts; Webmasters, as a great way to get people to visit and return to a site; and Newsletter editors, to add interest to a newsletter. In addition to downloading the software, visitors to this site can also view associated resources, projects and tutorials. Eclipse Crossword is for Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, and XP. It will not run on Macintosh computers.
Book Pals: Storyline - http://www.bookpals.net/storyline/index.html - Storyline is an on-line streaming video program featuring the Screen Actors' Guild (USA) reading childrens books aloud. Each of the books offer an accompanying lesson plan and activity guide. Stories include 'The Polar Express', 'Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge', 'The Night I followed the Dog', 'Thank You, Mr. Falker', 'No Mirrors in My Nana's House', 'A Bad Case of Stripes', 'Private I. Guana', 'Brave Irene', 'Me and My Cat?', 'Knots On A Counting Rope', and 'My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother'.
Christmas Gifts Tale http://www.christmasgifts.net/christmasgifts12.html This site contains an inspirational Christmas story. Visitors can send full-color, animated and personalised Christmas e-cards. Each e-card is based on a slide from the story. Three other printable stories are available for class reading. Some Christmas craft ideas include angel ornaments, gift baskets, and a sock snowman.
Trees Are Terrific - Travels with Pierre http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees1/ - Trees Are Terrific is a curriculum about trees for kindergarten - second grade (K-2) based on the Illinois State curriculum. It includes teacher's notes about content and suggests activities.
103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading - www.readingrockets.org/article.php?ID=445 From Reading Rockets, a practical list for teachers of reading associated activities.
didj u know Stories - www.abc.net.au/messageclub/duknow
'didj u know Stories' is part of the ABC's Message Club site. The stories cover aboriginal culture, history, people, rights, and sports people.
A great site for English and lots of other activities - www.beenleigss.eq.edu.au
Literacy Activities (TKI) - www.tki.org.nz/r/wick_ed/literacy/index.php (It also covers math, technology and science - well worth checking out)
A number of interactive literacy activities can accessed at this website provided by TKI, the New Zealand Ministry of Education. The activities include interactive games, crosswords, and links to useful literacy websites. The interactive games require a recent version of Shockwave.
Talking Books - www.readinga-z.com - a good site to check out for lots of online books, plus work sheets etc to download.
Another Talking Book site www.raz-kids.com
Teaching Reading in Yrs 4-9 - www.read.org - a site specifically designed to help teachers with children who are underachieving in Years 4 to 9.
Printable Phonics Games That Really Work www.adrianbruce.com/reading/
These card games and board games have been created by an Australian teacher librarian. The web pages contain instructions and printable materials. They include Snakes and Ladders - A Reading Game; Sight Word Bingo; Capital Match; Printable Reading game - Bossy e; Word Race Game; Reading Posters; Contraction Concentration Card Game; and CVC Card Game.
Word Search Factory www.schoolhousetech.com/products/wordsearch/overview.htm
Word Search Factory is designed to help teachers quickly and easily create professional looking word search puzzles to provide their students with the extra vocabulary and spelling practice they need in a format that they find very enjoyable. Users can choose from a wide variety of grid sizes and word orientations for the word search puzzle that will make it suitable for students in grades one through twelve. Then simply print as many copies of the puzzle as required, along with the automatic answer key. The software is free and designed for Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000, XP.
Dreamtime Stories www.dreamtime.net.au/dreaming/storylist.htm
The stories found here include Creation, Eaglehawk and Crow, Emu and the Jabiru, Gulaga, How the water got to the plains, Illawarra and the five islands, Koockard, Why the crocodile rolls, Red Waratah, The two wise men and the seven sisters, Thukeri, Toonkoo and Ngaardi, and Umbarra. There is also an explanation of many of the stories and some discussion of the importance of passing the stories on.
Magic Key - Adventures - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/
This BBC site contains literacy games and printables for 5 to 6 year olds. Activities include full stops, sentences, questions, seeing patterns, characteristics, capital letters, characteristics, decoding words, descriptions and sounds. Materials for teachers and parents include printable worksheets, lesson plans, and an overview of curriculum objectives.