Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Discover ideas for new, captivating literature to include in your classroom! Each blog entry focuses on a recently published book. In addition to a summary of the book, entries discuss several different teaching methods incorporating the book along with extensive lists of links to additional information and similar books. In addition to the blog entries, use links to find book lists by topic as well as classroom and curricular ideas. This blog is a must-read for teachers of all subject areas and is free! This blog is a sister to The School Library Journal which costs for a subscription.
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tag(s): blogs (65), book lists (164), literacy (118), literature (217), preK (264), reading lists (78)

TextProject offers strategies, tools, and texts to bring beginning readers and struggling readers to high literacy levels. Download materials for teaching reading, such as vocabulary lessons, word pictures, literacy lists, and reading passages. Browse the TextProject Research tab to find book collections, professional articles, and videos available on their YouTube Channel. Be sure to find time to explore the Teachers part of the site with many printables and Teacher's Guides for use with all reading levels. If your district blocks YouTube, then the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): commoncore (75), literacy (118), multilingual (68), reading comprehension (148), reading lists (78), reading strategies (103), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (91), word study (60)

Sight Words offers a comprehensive resource of techniques, teaching activities, lessons, and materials for teaching young children to read. Begin your exploration by Clicking the Teaching Strategies. Explore the information and instructions for all teaching strategies employed in lessons. View videos, read blog posts, create and print your own flashcards, and more! Explore the history of Dolch and Fry sight words. Take a visit to Sight Word Games to find great ideas for your classroom: Bingo, Fly Swat, Fishing, Bean Bag Toss, and more... all related to sight words, of course. Some of the video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): flash cards (42), game based learning (182), gamification (77), preK (264), reading strategies (103), science of reading (37), sight words (22)

Bookopolis is more than an online social reading club for children ages 7-12. It has an education portal to keep track of and review a reader's work. Scroll down the landing page to find Bookopolis recommended books, popular books, book of the week, or use their AI powered BookBot to find books by plot or description. Bookopolis includes digital reading logs, reading log prompts, and suggests places to find comprehension questions about the book. Through the educator dashboard, monitor and comment on the reader's writing and reading logs. The activities and features on the site are aligned with many of the Common Core Reading and Writing standards. There are several video tutorials on getting started and how to use the dashboard. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): book lists (164), book reports (28), classroom management (122), guided reading (32), independent reading (86), reading comprehension (148), remote learning (54), social networking (64), Teacher Utilities (162)

Read Theory offers over 1,000 interactive reading comprehension exercises. Learn to think critically, draw inferences, understand the scope and global concepts, find or recall details, and infer meanings of vocabulary words. Find Lesson Plans and Worksheets, too. Get detailed reports to track and analyze progress using percentages, bar graphs, and tables. Sign up with an email and be sure to know your reading level. Then it is simple: Read the passage, take a quiz, and see answers and explanations after finishing the quiz. If you are unsure of the appropriate reading level, visit a reading assessment site. Try News in Levels (use Test on the far right of the top menu), reviewed here.

tag(s): blended learning (36), differentiation (91), guided reading (32), Online Learning (42), reading comprehension (148), remote learning (54)

Teach students how to develop close reading skills with Actively Learn. Choose from over 150 commonly taught texts that include embedded Common Core aligned questions and multimedia. Choose from any public domain texts or any article from the Internet and be guided through creating your own Common Core aligned questions. Also, embed your own multimedia or images. Reading "school texts" becomes much more personalized when students are able to write notes, questions, or respond to their reading directly on the page they are reading. This is like the old way of using paper and pencil to annotate the text in the margin. Others can respond to questions and notes written by peers reading the same text. Actively Learn makes it easy to set up an assignment by having a "help" button for each area that will show a video for help, or download a PDF to read the instructions. Not only will you find poetry, drama, and stories, but also nonfiction for the sciences and the humanities. The introduction video requires Flash. The rest of the site does not.

tag(s): guided reading (32), reading strategies (103)

Find high interest, leveled news articles (and lessons) for English language learners. Although this site was designed for ENL/ESL it could be very useful in any elementary classroom looking for informational texts that can be differentiated for various reading levels (great for meeting Common Core standards). This tool could be used with any readers to increase comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary skills. There are three difficulty levels. Complete a reading test by selecting the Test tab on the far right of the top menu bar and find out what level will be best for you. Many of the lessons include audio and practice exercises. In addition, interesting pictures pique the students' interest. The same story is presented in all of the various levels. The vocabulary at lower levels repeats at the higher levels with more vocabulary added as the level increases. Definitions for the vocabulary words, below the reading, assists with English meanings. The audio is hosted on YouTube. At the time of this review, most of the news story content was fine for all ages. However, please preview the story before you share it with your class to be certain it is appropriate.
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tag(s): differentiation (91), guided reading (32), multilingual (68), news (228), reading comprehension (148)

Reading Rockets is a comprehensive guide for parents, teachers, librarians, principals, school counselors, speech therapists, school psychologists, preschool caregivers, summer care providers, and anyone interested in keeping kids reading! This site is an amazing resource to answer your reading needs. Updated continually, it keeps you informed with the latest research. New teachers, seasoned teacher, parents, principals, and anyone who works with students (reading) can benefit from the information included. Teachers will find: classroom strategies, how to help struggling readers, professional development webcasts, how to build strong parent teacher relationships, booklists, and how to use books in your curriculum. For principals, under the Resources tab, discover information on school level leadership, supporting teachers, closing the achievement gap, and working with parents. Find over 100 interviews with award winning authors reviewed here, an author study tool kit, themed booklists, holiday gift guide, research-based articles, parent letters, launching young readers (series) on ipod, reading adventure packs, and other great tools. A librarian toolkit offers free video modules on finding the right book, becoming aware of print, reading as dialogue, and writers secrets. Many detailed articles discuss information about speech pathology, dyslexia, comprehension, motivation, phonics, writing, and spelling.
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tag(s): authors (105), book lists (164), dyslexia (11), literacy (118), literature (217), parents (60), phonics (50), reading comprehension (148), reading lists (78), reading strategies (103), speech (68), spelling (98)