Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The Rick Riordan website's Teachers' Guides section offers a variety of free resources designed to help educators incorporate Riordan's popular books into their classrooms. These guides include discussion questions, reading comprehension activities, lesson plans tailored to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase, and more. The materials are aligned with Common Core standards and support subjects like English Language Arts, history, mythology, and cultural studies. Teachers can use these guides to inspire critical thinking, foster creativity, and deepen students' engagement with the stories. The resources are ideal for sparking interest in mythology and diverse cultures through engaging, student-centered activities.

tag(s): authors (107), critical thinking (128), greek (47), myths and legends (37), reading comprehension (149), student-centered (6)

Goodnight, Moon is a children's classic that most have read to their children and grandchildren. Young students everywhere love it. Now you and your class can read about the author, Margaret Wise Brown, and how she is "one of the central figures of a period now considered the golden age of the American picture book." Read all about her short life and prolific writing talent in this easy-to-read biographical sketch.

tag(s): authors (107), biographies (94)

This is an official website about Jack London and his works, maintained by Sonoma State University. It is really an exhaustive site including a biography of Jack London, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ and their answers, of course!), douments including letters, postcards, telegrams, etc. relating to his life and work, a list of his novels biographies, bibliographies about key people in his life, photographs, a of his works including , etc., all kinds of research aids, lesson plans. and MORE, plus links to other information (although why you would need more boggles the mind!).

tag(s): authors (107)

Dr. Maya Angelou's Official Website is dedicated to the remarkable accomplishments, news, biography, and photo and video galleries (find under Celebrate 95 Years), music, as well as descriptions of books and films, of this remarkable best-selling author, playwright, and civil-rights activist. Dr. Maya Angelou, one of the great voices of contemporary literature continues to spread her legendary wisdom and captivate audiences, through the unique power with the beauty of words to help readers cross the lines of race, religion, and culture.

tag(s): authors (107)

Ramona fans will celebrate when they visit this site. Watch the Today video On Beverly Cleary Turning 100. Look for oodles of background information for the Beverly Cleary's books on your shelf.Take quizzes for how well you know the characters. Access author info and character studies with a click. There is even a link for Fun and Games. Bring your Cleary unit to life with this site. There area printable "Reading Guides" and"Teachering Guides" that require Adobe Acrobat.

tag(s): authors (107)

This author page features plenty of ideas about how to help kids enjoy reading and includes many stories. Hear Mem Fox reading her own stories (click Hear Mem Read Aloud). She gives advice on how to read to children and gives great examples. This author page has many good suggestions for promoting literacy and love of reading. There is also a section of advice on writing your own picture book for children.

tag(s): authors (107), literacy (121)

This website examines Longfellow's life and work, his homes and his family. It includes a searchable database of his poems, lesson plans for teachers, a filmography, and more. This site is divided in 7 areas: biography, his poems, works, home, family, resources for teachers, and other resources. The lessons plans in the teacher resource section are quite good, broken down into curriculum blocks. There are 21 lessons written for across-the-curriculum study in creative and solid ways. They are each geared to specific grade spans (clear in the lesson)that include not only English and literature, but composition, American history, humanities, art, fine arts, language arts, and interdisciplinary studies. A great smorgasbord for a teacher who works with early American authors!

tag(s): authors (107)

This website is Judy Blume's own site to discuss her writing, censorship, her books (with notes about the book from the author), and her life. It includes links to her blog, a For Kids section, and other websites about her biography and her books. If you teach any Judy Blume books or just know of their high interest for some of your students, this is a safe site to share about a sometimes controversial author. Ms. Blume talks about her writing and directs students (and adults) to other reputable sites about writing tips, etc. It is also a safe place for kids to express their own views about her writing to her either through email or through her blogs.

tag(s): authors (107), book lists (167), reading lists (77)

Here is the official website of a popular young adult author. S. E. Hinton burst on the literary scene with the book "The Outsiders," written when she was only 17. Her youth has always appealed to young readers, as well as her young subject matter. This is a typical official website that includes biographical information with information on her books and movies adaptations. The book pages include comments from the author and short excerpts and summaries of the works.

tag(s): authors (107), novels (34)

As official websites go, this one is comprehensive.The menus at the top of the page will take you to Card's biography, a "library" of his works --that allows you to download one copy of any of his works from novels to short stories, reviews, articles, plays, and a writer's workshop with an area just for teachers. This is a real find for anyone who teaches Card or is interested in getting students who do to write and research online.

tag(s): authors (107)

Official site of the juvenile and young adult writer Avi, this homepage has a list that you can check from early readers to young adults, biography, ghosts, adventure, etc. If you teach Avi, this is a good source for teacher background. Did you know Avi has a twin sister? Read a list of questions and answers about Avi to learn more. From the top menu find "educators" find "teaching materials," readers' theater," and "Avi and others read aloud." Show the kids a recent picture of this student-fascinating author. Share the section "writing tips" from the top menu and find Six Secrets to Good Writing to share with your students, as well.

tag(s): authors (107), novels (34), writing (324)

This is Lois Lowry's official website. Find up-to-date information on Lois Lowry's speeches, her new works, photos, and more. The photo gallery includes pictures of her home, family, travels, and friends. You can email Lois Lowry or read speeches she has given at various functions. There is a very informative FAQ, with answers, of course!

tag(s): authors (107), novels (34), writing (324)

This is the Official Madeleine L'Engle website. Explore the categories on the top menu that include links to a movie trailer made from her book A Wrinkle in Time, short summaries of all her books, and teacher's reading and activity guides for working with students. The site includes lots of links that will satisfy even the most curious L'Engle fan. Its only drawback is that some of the information takes you out to other sites, but there is a considerable amount of information on this site itself.

tag(s): authors (107), literature (221)

Get to know favorite children's and young adults' authors and illustrators by seeing and hearing from them directly. The videos/audios can be accessed directly on the site or downloaded to your device for listening on the go. You can also listen to the interview as a podcast. Bring your classroom of readers to life as writers or just fill in some background knowledge as you approach a new book or selection in your reading series. You are certain to have students lining up for works by these folks at the library. The videos reside on YouTube. If your district or school blooks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): authors (107), interviews (17), rockets (11)

While this site is mostly about the Alcott museum in Concord, MA, it has wonderful pictures of the house, including an online tour of each of the rooms in the house. If you live close to Concord, MA, it includes visitor times and prices. Clicking on the second choice, "Alcotts and Orchard House" will give you what you need for pictures and biographical information on all of the Alcotts (not just Louisa). This is great if you want to explore not only L.M. Alcott's life and work, but also Bronson Alcott and his educational theories. Transcendentalism study can also glean information from this site.

tag(s): authors (107), literature (221), museums (53)

While Kipling is not a staple of today's reading lists, many of his works have become classics. This British site offers a biography, listings of books and poems, a poem of the day, and links to related resources and publications. It could be useful as part of an author study, or for a student interested in finding additional books by the author.

tag(s): authors (107), literature (221)

Information, criticism and links on the works of Chilean writer Isabel Allende. The site contains pictures and biography of the author of such works as "The House of Spirits" and "Fortune's Daughter."

tag(s): authors (107), literature (221)

This is the official homepage of award-winning author Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia. (Newberry 1978). Site includes an annotated booklist, frequently asked questions, audio of songs from stage productions of some of her books and links to Amazon.com to purchase titles. Although she is a well-loved and respected author, this site is a bit disappointing - lacking lessons, activities, or other enhancements.

tag(s): authors (107)

Gary Harbo books are featured. The stories come in two versions: one for 2-6 year olds with large print and 25 words or less per page, and one for 7-11 year old that contain approximately 200 words per page. Autographed books are available as well as original graphics and instructions on how to draw the characters.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): authors (107)

There's far more than the usual author-site goodies at this British site devoted to author Roald Dahl. There are lesson plans to download based on several of Dahl's books and a special set of six lesson plans for Pre School. There is lots of interesting activities for students, and the material is well-written.

tag(s): authors (107), book lists (167), reading lists (77)