Worksheets on the Web

Submitted by Tina L. Thomen ~ 10/11/05

SLM 521: Telecommunications & The Internet

Comprehensive Resource for Worksheets

Teachnology - As my personal favorite site, Teachnology offer a breadth of secondary language arts worksheets such as rubrics, graphic organizers, grammar and activities connected to specific literary works. The visuals are appealing and the templates are simple to modify in a few simple clicks. The worksheet generators allow teachers to customize handouts with titles and names. Date visited -10/11/05. < http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/>

General Grammar and Writing Worksheets

Education World: This site provides worksheets for all subject and grade levels. The Language Arts worksheets for grades 6 – 8 and 9 -12 focus on writing, grammar, speech preparation and caption writing. While this site does not offer worksheets related to specific literary works, it does address practical skill development needed to create resumes and write emails. Date visited – 10/11/05

<http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/TCM/lang_arts_9_12.shtml>

GetWorksheets.com – This site tailors for secondary English teachers at the middle school level. Several sample worksheets are provided free-of-charge that address writing skills and story elements. Additional resources are available for an annual fee. Date visited – 10/11/05. http://www.getworksheets.com/samples/worksheets/langarts/index.html

OWL Writing Lab - Offered by Purdue University, this specific link provides students and teachers with worksheets that review basic grammar skills. The resources could be printed to complement in-class lessons or to enhance online activities as a follow-up assessment tool. In addition, students in career preparation classes such as Carroll County’s Freshman Seminar could access worksheets focused on resume and other professional writing needs. Date visited – 10/11/05. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index.html>

The Educator’s Reference Desk - At this site, lesson plans for Language Arts are segmented by grade and subject level. Within the language arts offerings, lessons plans address a comprehensive offerings of mostly grammar and writing exercises that include printable PDF versions of worksheets. This site does offer lesson plans about literature, but the supportive handouts are geared for general literary concepts as opposed to targeted questions about that certain piece. Date visited – 10/11/05. http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/lessons.cgi/Language_Arts

Graphic Organizers

National Council for Teachers of English: Through the NCTE, the student materials section of the read-write-think resource provides teachers and students with both printable and online interactive worksheets to support reading and writing lessons for grades K-12. Most organizers can be adapted to suit a specific age group. Topics range from poetry, comic strip generators, Venn diagrams and word sorts. Date visited 10/11/05. <http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/index.asp>

Worksheets to Support Literature

abcteach – This unique link supports literary discussions and group exercises such as the Socratic circle. Although the worksheets are not written for individual pieces of literature, these handouts are generally formatted so that students will direct conversations in a more open forum as opposed to teacher-led instruction. Summarizers, pre-reading and post-reading strategies, and discussion leader tips exemplify this site’s offerings. Date visited – 10/11/05. <http://www.abcteach.com/directory/basics/reading/literature_circles/>

PBS TeacherSource - As opposed to sites offering general-use worksheets, PBS’s lesson plans support specific literary works and are available as printable PDF worksheets. The link provided gives an example of a worksheet that connects a discussion of figurative language and oratory skills within the context of a lesson about Martin Luther King, Jr. Although not all TeacherSource lessons include worksheets, the quality and higher-level thinking skills that are generated by the existing handouts are effective for in-depth learning objectives. Date visited – 10/11/05. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/english/dream_literary_terms.pdf>

Puzzles

DiscoverySchool.com –Teachers can create quick word search puzzles to enhance vocabulary and spelling instruction for students of all ages. The phrase-builder would also visually support lessons reinforcing parts of speech and sentence fragments. Within a specific context, puzzles can present novel visual connections for students. Date visited – 10/11/05. <http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/WordSearchSetupForm.html>

Worksheets for Multimedia Response

Edteck.com – As teachers present a plethora of instructional modes, we need tools for students to capture their interaction with these diverse formats. The worksheets at this site prompt students to record observations about photos, movies, recordings, posters, and artifacts. As a secondary English teacher who will use such resources to supplement traditional texts, I can assign these simple worksheets to increase student engagement and accountability. Date visited – 10/11/05. <http://www.edteck.com/dbq/basic/worksheet.htm>