June 4, 2003
English Teacher Resources
Bartleby.com
Here
is where to find Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, the oldest, most famous
reference source for quotations. Also a reference for Simpson's Contemporary
Quotations and much more. An easy search format allows one to locate quotes
based on speaker or subject.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.bartleby.com/
Me and him? He and I? Grammar is challenge to most students and
some teachers too. This site teaches a new word each day plus sends an email
grammar lesson five days of the week and a quiz on the sixth day. The
site’s archive section has a plethora of lessons from over the years. These
lessons range from parts of speech to diagramming sentences.
Date visited – 6/4/03
http://www.dailygrammar.com/
This online word-finder offers the obvious, a huge database
of synonyms and antonyms, as well as grammar and punctuation
guidelines. A word-of-the-day is also available by an email service.
Activities such as puzzles and games are offered to augment any lesson plan.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://thesaurus.reference.com/
The mother-load of puzzles and games to augment a student’s
vocabulary. Some puzzles are geared toward the PSATs, SATs and ACTs, while
others focus on vocabulary from Harry Potter books. Some games concentrate on
high school specific texts such as Catcher in the Rye and Macbeth.
Date visited – 6/4/03
http://www.vocabulary.com/
Reading/Literature Support
Reader’s theater is a great way to bring a piece of literature to
life. This site provides a definition of reader’s theater along with tips on
how to structure a reading with scripts, staging and performance techniques.
Although scripts are available to buy, sample scripts are available to
download. Links are provided to support information about reader’s theater.
Date visited 6/4/03
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/index.html
With the popularity of book clubs, publishers now provide thought
provoking discussion questions about the literature they publish. This site
allows teachers to find these questions and author information through the
specific publisher. This thorough listing includes publishers from The United
States, Canada and the U.K. Writing
World.com sponsors the site.
Date visited – 6/4/03
http://www.writing-world.com/links/bookpubs.shtml
This site is chock full of interviews with an eclectic bunch of
authors. Take a peek into their writing motivation and work habits in these
detailed interviews. The site also offers book reviews and links to online book
clubs, authors’ web pages and writing contests.
Date visited – 6/4/03
http://www.booksandauthors.net/
Classics at the Online Literature Library
Tired of students claiming they didn’t do their homework because
they couldn’t find their book? This site squashes that excuse forever. It provides the full text version of many
classic pieces of literature. Chapters with clear headings break down each
novel.
Date visited – 6/4/03
http://www.literature.org/authors/
Literary Criticism
The
Internet Public Library Online Literary Criticism Collection: one of the most inclusive
sources of information on literature. Includes 20th century American literature
as well as pre-1185 Japanese, Middle Eastern and more. Browse for the
literature based on title, author or time period. Very user friendly.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
What English teacher page is complete without a site about the
most famous bard? This site provides information on Shakespeare’s personal and
professional life. It includes synopsizes of some of his famous plays and
supplies web links to more detailed discussions of the plays.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/shakespeare025.html
Lesson Plan sources
This site offers specific writing lesson ideas for grades 6-12.
Ideas include listening skills and ways to help students read for detail. Email addresses of the creators of the
lessons are provided to encourage a professional dialogue and sharing of
extended ideas.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/lang/high.html
This site offers a plethora of ideas for teachers ranging
from lessons plans that integrate technology to a list of poetry terms. Also
provides a detailed list of free educational resources. The brief annotation of
each link makes this a very teacher friendly site.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://the_english_dept.tripod.com/teachers.html
This site is a gem! This online encyclopedia focuses on mythology,
folklore, legends, and more. It contains over 6100 definitions of gods and goddesses,
supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the
world. It has houses an extensive image gallery with paintings, drawings and
tapestries. Students will enjoy perusing this site.
Date visited – 6/4/03
http://www.pantheon.org/
One cannot appreciate literature without understanding history.
This site allows one to search 3,000 years of world history and a database of
biographies of hundreds of influential people. Includes interactive maps and
timelines. A impressive way to investigate the connection between literature
and history.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
Lesson Plans Page.com
This
site is ideal for secondary English teachers. Links are provided on topics such
as poetry, grammar, reading comprehension, literature, and various forms of
writing. These lessons will grab a student’s attention and keep it there.
Clever ideas include creating license plates while studying a Shakespeare play
and practice spelling skills with a game similar to TV show “Survivor.”
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LAJH.htm
The New York Times provides an exciting opportunity that
offers a lesson plan a day to correspond with a current newspaper article.
These lessons include objectives, materials needed and activities. Teachers can
modify lessons to fit content area and grade level. The lesson plan archive is
packed with ideas.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/NIE/index.html
NLSD Web Resources
A
great base to start from to find ideas and lessons for secondary English. Also
includes the creator of the lesson plan's email address to contact them
directly. The online resources link provides technology-based lessons that even
the computer novice can use.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.saskschools.ca/~nlsd/rbl/index.html
Teach-nology
This
lesson plan center provides access to well over 17,000 lesson plans. One
can access worksheets, games, and rubrics from the site. The site also offers
the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter to receive weekly updates.
Approximately 100 lessons are added to the index weekly.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/
Teacher Morale Boosters
With focus being placed on student motivation, strategies to keep
teachers motivated have been seriously neglected. This site was created to give
teachers the moral boost that is sometimes needed to confront those tremendous
classroom challenges. Visit daily to pick your apples.
Date visited – 6/3/03
http://www.dailyapples.com?
We can dream can’t we? The ultimate morale booster is a place far,
far away from papers and computers. This site gives up to the minute flight
schedules and ‘click and save’ Internet specials. Checking arrival and
departure times has never been easier.
Date visited – 6/4/03
http://www.southwestairlines.com/