Worksheets Galore!

These are the top ten websites for high school English handouts – handy, easy, and available…why reinvent the wheel?

Elements of Literature (http://www.hrw.com/language/teach.htm) - Holt, Rinehart and Winston have provided printable resources on everything many other sites do, but have the helpful and unique addition of printable graphic organizers to help with student writing. A GOLD MINE of resources!

Macmillan English Resource Sites (http://www.macmillanenglish.com/default.aspx?id=2056) - a quick search of the site by book title will provide you with great printable handouts, worksheets, and activities. Bonus – we know Macmillan is a reliable source!

Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/index.html) - a great, reliable source of reproducible handouts on writing, available in printer-friendly PDF format. Purdue University has outlined the entire writing process, from start to finish. Also, they offer explicit permission to reproduce and distribute (up to 200 copies) for educational purposes. Other parts of the site offer grammar, citation, and style pointers.

English Resources (http://www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/ks4/fiction.html) - a lovely site with handouts, worksheets, and lesson plans on a wide array of literature, including Of Mice and Men, Silas Marner, Lord of the Flies, and many others (WITH permission to reproduce).

Free Graphic Organizers (http://freeology.com/graphicorgs/) - FANTASTIC source of different graphic organizers – easy to print and definite deviations from the standard (and boring) Venn diagram!

Language Worksheets (http://www.worksheets4teachers.com/languageartsheets.php) - a small site (but growing) with easily accessed grammar, vocabulary, and literature worksheets that are quick and easy to use.

Free Worksheets: Language Arts (http://www.schoolexpress.com/fws/cat.php?id=2251) - although not large, this is a great site for a quick grammar worksheet to help students “review” (in other words, re-learn) their basic grammar skills (parts of speech, prefixes and suffixes, homophones, etc.). They REALLY NEED IT. Trust me.

RHL School (http://www.rhlschool.com/) - not as easy to navigate for activities about a specific novel, this site does provide quick access to practice questions on such topics as reading comprehension, English basics, and research skills. Many of the worksheets are based on a single poem or excerpt, meaning they could serve as brief independent practice for things like standardized tests. Not that we teach to the test.

Quick Links to English Discourse Teaching Handouts (http://www.englishdiscourse.org/textonlyteach.html) - easy-to-use handouts on basic writing structures, MLA citations, and the research process. Very formulaic, but great for lower level classes.

Teacher Resources (http://geoffbarton.co.uk/teacher-resources.php) - great site for less common writing handouts – for example, handouts about developing voice, building suspense, etc. Also provides potential overheads for the class to view. NOTE: You may want to avoid using this site for grammar information, because it is published from the UK, where grammar rules are slightly different.