Literacy for Students of All Ages
Mindplay -- Free Reading Aptitude Assessment Test for home use!
Paradigm -- Online Writing Assistant.
American Writers -- This is supposed to be a companion site to a C-Span television series, but you can read many significant works by American writers online here.
How to Write an Essay -- A nice online tutorial.
Guide to Writing a Basic Essay -- This site had a pop-up (which I don't like) but seems to be a very good tutorial for writing an essay.
How To Write a Thesis Statement -- What is a Thesis Statement? Almost all of us--even if we don't do it consciously--look early in an essay for a one- or two-sentence condensation of the argument or analysis that is to follow. We refer to that condensation as a thesis statement. Why Should Your Essay Contain A Thesis Statement? to test your ideas by distilling them into a sentence or two to better organize and develop your argument to provide your reader with a "guide" to your argument In general, your thesis statement will accomplish these goals if you think of the thesis as the answer to the question your paper explores. [If you want to read the rest of this one, you'll have to go to the site. Looks like a terrific tutorial on writing a more powerful essay.]
Writing Research Papers -- A research paper presents the results of your investigations on a selected topic. Based on your own thoughts and the facts and ideas you have gathered from a variety of sources, a research paper is a creation that is uniquely yours. The experience of gathering, interpreting, and documenting information, developing and organizing ideas and conclusions, and communicating them clearly will prove to be an important and satisfying part of your education.
Guide to Grammar & Writing -- Maintained by Professor of English Charles Darling for English courses at Capital Community College and for the general online public.
Dictionary.com -- Tools, games, grammar resources, along with a dictionary and thesaurus. A very literate site!
WriteExpress -- Online Rhyming Dictionary
for poetry and songwriting.
Learning Resources -- Offers web-delivered instruction using current and past CNN San Francisco bureau news stories. The Western/Pacific Literacy Network and the CNN San Francisco bureau have partnered to develop an online literacy site that benefits all learners and instructors. This material is intended for adult literacy and educational purposes. Though the intended audience is adults, instructors and learners (of all ages) are encouraged to use this material to promote better literacy.
ReadWriteSite -- "If you are involved in guiding children along the path of literacy then you will find the resources of the ReadWriteSite to be especially useful."~Dr. Donald J. Leu, Professor of Education, University of Connecticut.
American Letters, Speeches, and Documents -- A list of letters, speeches, documents, web sites, books, and articles on signifcant people and events in American political thought and history.
AdvanceAbility -- Positive Principles in Communication & Learning.
Dr. Owl -- An innovative language learning website that teaches languages and speech directly over the Internet for grownups and kids worldwide.
ReadingTown USA -- Readingtown is the complete interactive Internet language arts program developed in the U.S. for kindergarten through junior high school students, based on the educational standards of American schools with a strong emphasis on reading, grammar, vocabulary, sentence writing, and listening. [editor's note: Before you do anything else, on this site, select a language, English, or Korean, from the buttons at the upper left of the screen. Otherwise many pages will try to display both languages, and you'll be very confused!]
Story Plus -- Another site where you must select a language, but this time it's English, or French. "An Online Children's Publisher with a Vision. All our stories are tested with children. Try our free stories. You'll be amazed by the result."
WordSmith -- A word a day, anagrams, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and acronyms. Some conducted by email, but you can see the word of the day online, and you can make anagrams online. What's an anagram? Go see, it's cool!
Journalist's Guide to the Internet -- This is a site full of links, and I tend to avoid those in building these pages. It's very annoying to find links to more links, and never get to the "goodies". On the other hand, all of these links have an unusual common thread; Journalism. That makes this site, by Christopher Callahan, University of Maryland, College of Journalism, interesting enough to be included, just in case there's a budding journalist out there who might find it useful.
High School Journalism -- The American Society of Newspaper Editors wants to help scholastic journalism grow where it does not exist and flourish where it does. This site is geared toward teen journalists, their teachers and guidance counselors as well as the editors and staffs of professional daily newspapers. Our goal is to encourage a diverse generation of young people to make newspaper journalism their career. Those who don't will develop a deeper appreciation of the First Amendment and the role newspapers play in a free, informed society.
LiteracyLink -- A public broadcasting initiative that links underserved and hard-to-reach adults and their teachers to quality adult basic education and GED preparation tools using technology. Using video, the Internet, and print materials LiteracyLink created programs that are relevant to the needs of the individual learner, adult instructional programs, and the workforce. LiteracyLink also seeks to provide just-in-time, convenient and cost-effective staff development for adult literacy educators. LiteracyLink accomplishes these goals by using the public broadcasting infrastructure, a cost-efficient state-licensing model, and the Internet to reach learners and teachers wherever they are.
AllReaders.com -- Search engine for book recommendations. Search by broad category or author, or by any combination of plot, theme, characters or setting. Very comprehensive!
Teachers & Administrators
Ericae.net -- Providing balanced information concerning educational assessment, evaluation and research methodology, resources to encourage the responsible use of educational data, and promoting the best resources within our scope. Part of the Eric system, and a huge resource.
National Assessment of Educational Progress -- assesses samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in various academic subjects. Results of the assessments are reported for the nation and states in terms of the Governing Board's achievement levels -- basic, proficient, and advanced.
The National Institute for Literacy -- An independent federal organization leading the national effort toward a fully literate nation in the 21st century.
Literacy.org -- a gateway to electronic
resources and tools for the national and international adult literacy communities. The site is jointly sponsored by ILI and NCAL at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
National Literacy Trust -- An independent charity dedicated to building a literate nation. Mission: The National Literacy Trust aims to make an independent, strategic contribution to the creation of a society in which all can enjoy the skills, confidence and pleasures of literacy to support their educational, economic, social and cultural goals (from London, England).
The National Right to Read Foundation -- The Mission of The NRRF is to Return to the Schools of America, Reading Instruction which follows Scientifically Based Reading Research. This site is designed to provide assistance for those engaged in this effort.
International Reading Association -- The International Reading Association 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. Our members include classroom teachers, reading specialists, consultants, administrators, supervisors, university faculty, researchers, psychologists, librarians, media specialists, and parents.
Book It -- National Reading Incentive Program motivates children in grades kindergarten through six to read by rewarding them for their reading accomplishments. Its purpose is to develop in children a lifelong love of reading.
REL network -- The network of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories, serving geographic regions that span the nation, works to ensure that those involved in educational improvement at the local, state, and regional levels have access to the best available information from research and practice. This Web site is one of many ways that the network reaches out to make that information accessible.
Thought For Today Quotation Archive -- Got A Project, A Speech.. Stuck For Ideas? A Great Resource Of Gathered Quotations With Over 250 Topics, Ranging From The Standard To The Outrageous.
