English Language Arts

Reading - Writing - Communication

Reading

See Also: English as a Second Language (ESL) | Languages and Linguistics | Literacy

• Kids Can Learn!
  Operated by the Family Learning Association, this website offers many of the resources previously able at the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication. Resources available include news about reading, research reports, links to lesson plans, sale publications, a directory of web resources, bibliographies and digests, and a Family Information Center to assist parents who want to take an active role in their children's education.
• Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA)
  CIERA is a national center for research on early reading, representing a consortium of educators from five universities (the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, with the University of Southern California, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Georgia); teacher educators; teachers; publishers of texts, tests, and technology; professional organizations; and schools and school districts across the United States. The website includes full-texts of research reports, conference presentations, news and information, instructional materials, a directory of internet links, and more.
• Chicago Public Library (CPL)
  CPL has a Children's Services Division that many reading resources. The Chicago Public Library's page For Kids provides links to their Teacher in the Library program and Reading Programs. The Harold Washington Library's Thomas Hughes Children's Library offers additional collections and services to encourage reading.
• Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Reading Initiative
  Focuses on teaching every student in every school to read. The program establishes a uniform instructional framework consisting of four major components: word knowledge; fluency; comprehension; and writing. A wide variety of resources are listed to assist teachers ranging from recommended readings for students, books for teachers, research centers, and links to various standards.
• Glossary of Reading-related Terms
  From the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL).
• International Reading Association (IRA)
  IRA "is a professional membership organization dedicated to promoting high levels of literacy for all by improving the quality of reading instruction, disseminating research and information about reading, and encouraging the lifetime reading habit." Members include teachers, administrators, researchers, other specialists and parents. There are members and affiliates in 99 countries. You can also find the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts.
• Language Arts
  Resources originally compiled by AskERIC and now continued by the Educator's Reference Desk.
• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
  NCTE is a professional association of educators in English Studies, Literacy and Language Arts. The website has membership information, news, lists of publications, and tools and resources for teachers at every level--elementary, middle school, secondary, and college.
• ReadWriteThink
  This web site is a collaborative project of the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and MarcoPolo: Internet Content for the Classroom. Its goal is "to provide educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction." This mega-site includes lesson plans, professional development materials, standards, and an extensive directory of web resources.
• Reading and Language Arts Resources on the Internet
  A large annotated list of resources developed by George Suttle whose goal is to link to sites containing substantive textual content. The categories he uses are "What to Read and How to Encourage It," " Reading Research," "Reading Disorders," "Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources," "Student Writing," "Miscellaneous Resources" and "Finding More Resources."
• Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF)
  Develops and delivers children's and family literacy programs that help prepare young children for reading and motivate school-age children to read regularly. Through a national, grassroots network, programs annually provide new, free books and other essential literacy resources to more than 5 million children. RIF's highest priority is the nation's neediest children, from birth to age 11.
• Reading Online
  Reading Online is an electronic journal from the International Reading Association with the focus of K-12 research and practice. Its website offers a selection of articles, news, and discussion groups. Topics range from new literacies to electronic classrooms. Journal articles from 2002 forward are also available in full-text from Academic Search Premier
• Web English Teacher
  Offered by teacher Carla Beard, this site aims to present "the best of K-12 English/Language Arts teaching resources: lesson plans, WebQuests, videos, biography, e-texts, criticism, jokes, puzzles, and classroom activities."

Writing

• International Writing Centers Association (IWCA)
  IWCA is an assembly of NCTE. The website includes a directory of writing centers in higher education institutions and also offers a variety of resources for those managing or staffing these centers.
• National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges
  This commission was established by the College Board in the fall of 2002 in an effort to focus national attention on the teaching and learning of writing. The website includes full-text reports and proposals for the improvement of writing.
• National Writing Project
  Since 1974, the National Writing Project has been dedicated to improving the teaching of writing in U.S. schools. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the project offers training for teachers to improve the teaching of writing. More than 170 local sites are part of a national network carrying out these initiatives. In Illinois, this includes the Chicago Area Writing Project operated out of Roosevelt University, the Illinois Writing Project at National Louis University's Center for City Schools, and the Illinois State Writing Project at Illinois State University.
• The University of Chicago Writing Program
  The University's writing program specializes in "expert-based" academic and professional writing, through tutoring and special course (including the Academic and Professonal Course, a.k.a. "Little Red Schoolhouse").
  
• Nuts and Bolts of College Writing
  A review of this resource appeared online in the January 31, 2003 Scout Report: "Despite the relatively high levels of literacy among the general populace of college students in the United States, many of them have difficulty with writing clearly and effectively. A new writing primer has been developed by Michael Harvey (a professor at Washington College in Maryland), and will be of great help to many students who find themselves grappling with writing college-level assignments and papers. The homepage for the guide contains hypertext links to various sections, including those dealing with style, structure, evidence, and paper mechanics...."
• Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
  This is an interactive handbook and tutorial by Chuck Guilford, Professor of English at Boise State University.

Communication

• American Communication Association (ACA)
  The website of this professional organization provides a "Communication Studies Center" that is an annotated collection of links organized by subfields within the discipline. The goal is to provide a centralized index of web resources on Communication research and practice.
• National Communication Association (NCA)
  This is a professional organization, founded in 1914, that serves faculty and students in the academic discipline which focuses on "the study of how messages in various media are produced, used, and interpreted within and across different contexts, channels, and cultures." A wide variety of information is available at the website about membership, conferences, careers, publications and more. Also available are instructional resources intended to support teaching at all levels ranging from K-12 classrooms to graduate programs.
• Library Resources for Communication Studies
  This website is maintained by a committee of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. It provides annotated listings of news sources, indexes, special collections, organizations, collection development tools, and resources for specialized topics.