Vivian Hackney September 28, 2013 Teaching Resources Websites 1. Reading Resource http://www.readingresource.net/vocabularyactivities.html Steven M.

Griffin and Katie L. Appel This website has a variety of resources that are great for teachers and for students. The website has five big ideas that help to direct the user around their site. They are teaching reading, phonemic awareness, basic code, advanced code, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. There is also a section for teaching students that have dyslexia. I really like this website because it is super easy to navigate through and the resources are great ideas that can target any type of student. 2. K12 Reader http://www.k12reader.com/ Jerry and Leanne Charles This website is full of resources. I really like how when you choose a section you want to go, there is a definition of what that is and then goes on to offer the different templates and ideas for the classroom. For example, when you choose phonics, the first paragraph is the definition of phonics and then it offers the best ways to teach it. I feel like this website has an endless amount of resources and can be a great tool to have when I become a teacher.

3. Read Kiddo Read http://www.readkiddoread.com/ James Patterson The one element that stood out about this website was how easy it was for me to find what I was looking for. I didnt have to click a lot and maneuver my way around trying to find things. On the home page, there are four different tabs to choose from and they are based on age of the reader. This is a great tool for teachers especially if you have advanced students. As a teacher, I feel like you would need a resource like this to find appropriate reading material for struggling and advanced students. 4. Smarty Games http://www.smartygames.com/reading.php I chose this website because I believe that there should always be handy websites that every teacher needs for a fun day with his or her class. This website is filled with games from each subject and is just a great resource to have if the class should be rewarded with computer time or something like that. They are playing games but they are all educational and can work on their skills in reading. 5. Super Teacher Worksheets http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/comprehension.html There is an overwhelming amount of worksheet on this website. I usually dont like worksheets but some of these look really fun. My favorite from this website is the mini books for young readers. These are great because it has a book for each letter and the student can decorate and make stories about the letter that they can go back

and look at later on. Also, this is a good strategy because after youve done all of the letters, each kid has an alphabet book that they created. Non-web sources 1. Teaching Childrens Literature. Its Critical! Oxford Journals C. Leland, M. Lewison, and J. Harste Routledge April 3, 2013 The main emphasis of this journal is about using picture books for younger kids and naturally graphic novels for older kids. I really love picture books because it gives the students a chance to use their imagination and think deeper into what the picture is portraying and how a picture can lead the reader into analyzing the story without words. 2. Journeys: The Teaching of Writing in Elementary Classrooms Carolyn L. Piazza Published in 2003 Even though this book is about writing in the classroom, I think it could be used for understanding the different types of literature. I believe that reading and writing goes hand in hand and children need to be able to understand writing and how people write so they can understand literature. 3. A to Zoo: Subject Access to Childrens Picture Books Carolyn W. Lima 1986

I thoroughly like this book because it offered different picture books for each subject that was under the correct letter. There is so much in this book that I believe it would be a great resource to have around the classroom just in case you needed a quick lesson or needed to look up a specific picture book for a subject. Characteristics 1. Lack of Organization A bunch of information jammed into a website makes it look like it has been created by an amateur. A website that shows order and is easy to manipulate is very appealing and helpful for the user. 2. Author Is the author listed? I think its important to be able to find the author of the website on another website or even Google. A known author makes the information seem more reliable. 3. Accuracy and Reliability The information in a website needs to be accurate and written with correct grammar and punctuation. I have seen plenty of websites that are written like a conversation and the information was opinionated. A reliable website needs to be fact based and helpful for all readers. 4. Publisher Having a legitimate publisher and publishing place is very important in a reliable website.

5. Point of View Having a biased opinion on a general website is dangerous. There are many people on the Internet that want to read neutral material and then be able to pick a side if that is intended.