Child Development

Phonemic Awareness

http://www.ldonline.org/article/408
This is a great article on phonemic awareness and how it affects the development of reading skills.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6254
This article defines phonological awareness and discusses historic and contemporary research findings regarding its relation to early reading. Common misconceptions about phonological awareness are addressed. Research-based guidelines for teaching phonological awareness and phonemic awareness to all children are described. Additional instructional design guidelines are offered for teaching children with learning disabilities who are experiencing difficulties with early reading. Considerations for assessing children's phonological awareness are discussed, and descriptions of available measures are provided.

http://www.free-reading.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
Free reading is an open-source instructional program in phonological awareness and phonics activities that can support core reading programs. There are a number of free resource downloads.

Phonics

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6316
Phonics and Word Recognition Instruction in Early Reading Programs: Guidelines for Accessibility.
This article by David J. Chard and Jean Osborn (1999) examines the content and instructional plans of phonics and word recognition to be used with children with reading disabilities. Information is provided about the content of effective word- recognition instruction. Guidelines are included based on this information as well as on 4 other aspects of reading instruction (i.e., oral language development, print awareness, reading aloud, and independent wide reading) that are central to any accessible and effective classroom program. These guidelines will assist educators in selecting programs that enable all children to be successful in learning to read.

Fluency

Determining Reading Level
Reading levels are normally in book catalogs and on vendor web pages. Compare with similar books or other books by the same author.
Use Microsoft Word to type in passages from the beginning, middle, and end of the book. Tools/Spelling and Grammar will give Readability Statistics, including Flesch-Kincaid grade level.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
2. Select the Check grammar with spelling check box.
3. Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK.
4. On the Standard Toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.), click Spelling and Grammar.

http://www.prel.org/products/re_/assessing-fluency.pdf
Assessing Reading Fluency is an excellent tool written by Timothy V. Rasinski, Ph. D. to show teachers how to assess students in the area of fluency. It can be downloaded at this site.

Vocabulary

http://www.fcoe.net/ela/pdf/Vocabulary/A%20Focus%20on%20Vocabulary%20PREL.pdf
A Focus on Vocabulary is a booklet that examines the research behind how students acquire vocabulary and the types of instruction needed to help students develop the kind of vocabulary knowledge that will contribute to their reading success.

Comprehension

http://www.ldonline.org/spearswerling/10820
This article looks at the recent research in assessment and gives guidelines when reviewing assessment materials.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/68
Comprehension Instruction: What Works.
Michael Pressley addresses the hierarchy of skills needed to comprehend text. He looks at processing of individual letters and their associated sounds to word recognition to text-processing competencies. Skilled comprehension requires fluid articulation of all these processes, beginning with the sounding out and recognition of individual words to the understanding of sentences in paragraphs as part of much longer texts. This article talks about instruction at all of these levels to increase student understanding of what is read.

http://www.dldcec.org/pdf/alert12.pdf
This article looks at the research in Comprehension Strategy Instruction (CSI) and has designed procedures to be used wither in isolation or in a multiple component package. It is based on the work by Block and Pressley (2002).

Assessment

http://www.readinga-z.com/assess/index.html
This site lists a number of different assessments in the area of reading. They include assessments in the five basic areas. They also give you a number of different rubrics and shoe you how to conduct a running record.

Adolescent Literacy

www.literacywithoutlimits.org
Literacy Without Limits is a set of videos designed to be a helpful, non-intimidating, and immediately useful resource for teachers in grades 4-12. Instruction is illustrated in authentic classroom videos with the featured Kentucky teachers providing insight into their planning, pedagogical reasoning, and expectations for each lesson.

The videos are further supported by an explanation of the key practices to observe in the video segments and links to the lesson materials for easy downloading. It is based on the work from Reading Next.
http://www.all4ed.org/files/archive/publications/ReadingNext/ReadingNext.pdf
Reading Next is a vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy.

http://www.esc1.net/129310102210610280/lib/129310102210610280/Improving_Adolescent_Literacy_Effective_Classroom_and_Interv.pdf
Great article on how to improve adolescent literacy

http://www.adlit.org/
AdLit.org is a national multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers. AdLit.org is an educational initiative of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital, and is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and by the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation.

http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/reports/literacy_content
The Alliance for Excellent Education is a national policy and advocacy organization that works to make every child a high school graduate - to prepare them for college, work, and to be contributing members of society. Founded in 2001, the Alliance focuses on America's six million most at-risk secondary school students - those in the lowest achievement quartile - who are most likely to leave school without a diploma or to graduate unprepared for a productive future. There is a publication entitled, Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas: Getting to the Core of Middle and High School Improvement” June 12, 2007

www.kentuckyliteracy.org
The Collaborative Center for Literacy Development in conjunction with the Kentucky Department of Education has made available to schools an Adolescent Literacy Toolkit. The entire Toolkit contents, excluding the book Informed Choices for Struggling Adolescent Readers, are being made available online for all educators to access.

The Performance Effectiveness Review for Kentucky Schools (PERKS) http://www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Literacy/Literacy+PERKS/ and Quality Indicators for Secondary Literacy http://www.kentuckyliteracy.org/alcp/Toolkit%20Contents/Quality%20Indicators%20for%20Secondary%20Literacy.doc resources can assist in assessing your school's literacy needs.

ELL

http://www.everythingesl.net/
This is a great resource for teachers and parents working with ELL learners.

http://www.colorincolorado.org
This site is filled with useful information, strategies, activities, and resources for all teachers of ELLs, whether you are an ESL teacher or a content area teacher with one or two English learners in your class. Although many of the activities have been designed for children in PreK-3, most can be adapted for children in upper elementary, middle and high school.

http://www.englishcorner.vacau.com/
Interactive English Grammar lessons for ELL learners.

http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslindex.html
Lesson plans, resources for ESL, Bilingual, and foreign Language Teachers

http://iteslj.org/
This site contains articles, research papers, lesson plans, classroom handouts, teacher ideas and links for teachers working with ELL students.

http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/
OELA's National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA) collects, analyzes, synthesizes and disseminates information about language instruction educational programs for English language learners and related programs. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement & Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) under Title III of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/
Clifford The Big Red Dog: Interactive Storybooks! Phonics fun, games, and stories for early readers. Offers Spanish option.

http://escort.org/files/active/0/Chap4.pdf
Great information from Migrant “Help Kit” for middle and high school teachers. Highlights include making literature more comprehensible, using story maps, teaching ESL’s how to write, selection of multicultural texts.

http://escort.org/
This resource guide is designed for pre-K to Grade 6 teachers seeking ideas for recommended teaching strategies, lesson plans, and materials. Most of the strategies promoted here are recommended for ALL students, not just ELL students. What's inside?

http://www.wisd.us/campus/whs/social_studies/edd/Fall09/8344/Additional%20Articles/Cummins%20Framework%20as%20a%20Tool.pdf
Cummins’ Framework as a Tool for Continuous Improvement of SLL Instruction. Charts that describe the levels of English language proficiency in summary form

http://www.manythings.org
This website contained word games, puzzles, quizzes, crossword puzzles, and much more. It is designed for ESL students.

http://www.bogglesworldesl.com
Worksheets, jobs, flashcards, lesson plans, and activities for teaching ESL

http://dictionary.reference.com
Not specific for ESL’s, but has language specific dictionaries and interpretative features. Also has pictures and links to encyclopedias.

http://www.nccrest.org/professional/culturally_responsive_literacy.html
Culturally responsive literacy models examine not only the methods of teaching students to engage with and learn from multiple texts, but also consider the many purposes for which individuals become literate.

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
This is an educational comics web site that enables students to write, read and tell comic strip stories online. They have 20 diverse comic characters. Each character has four different emotions – happy, sad, angry, worried --that can be deployed in stories, for a total of 80 different faces and expressions. Users can select the ones they want and write words for blank talk and thought balloons to make characters talk and think. There are also 25 objects and environments that can go with the characters as stories are created. These objects include foods, hobbies, toys and sports equipment. In addition, there are trees, flowers, buildings, sun and moon. By adding these objects to the comic panels, students can create more complex, interesting stories and in so doing, practice new words. Eight languages, including English and Spanish, can be used on the site, and a teacher’s guide is provided.

http://www.billztreasurechest.com
Author Bill Zimmerman’s website provides students with interactive activities and idea prompts from books that he has written to help reluctant writers express themselves. The activities range from providing subject prompts to encourage story and personal writing, to keeping a diary, to recording family oral histories, to creating paper memory quilts that depict students’ lives and achievements. Also featured are a writer’s prompt blog and templates for creating comic stories.

Literacy Resources

http://www.guysread.com
This site is designed to engage boys in reading. It offers a list of books recommended by the webmaster, children's author Jon Sczieska, and others suggested by visitors to the website.

http://www.readinga-z.com
Reading A-Z offers thousands of printable teacher materials to teach guided reading, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, reading fluency, alphabet and vocabulary. The teaching resources include professionally developed downloadable leveled books, lesson plans, worksheets, and reading assessments.

http://www.readingrockets.org/podcasts/classroom#phonemic
Reading Rockets is a great web source for accessing videos of research and instructional practices in the area of reading. They have a wonderful video on Reading and the Brain narrated by Henry Winkler that looks at the new research being conducted on how the brain reads. There are also other sources of videos for grades K-3 (Phonics and Phonemic Awareness.

http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm
TeachersFirst is a collection of original content, Internet resources, and lesson plans drawn from around the world. Each resource is selected and reviewed by one of TeachersFirst’s reviewers, all of whom have classroom teaching experience. Reviewed resources are grouped by subject and grade level, so that teachers can find what they need quickly. They also have book lists for all levels including reluctant readers.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/index.html
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators is a categorized list of sites useful for enhancing curriculum and professional growth. It is updated often to include the best sites for teaching and learning.

http://www.ket.org/education/professional/lit_strategies.htm

Literacy Strategies in Action - Resources for Primary Teachers
This professional development resource, produced jointly by KET and the Kentucky Department of Education, addresses the skills literacy experts agree are essential to learning to read. Conveniently packaged on a set of two CD-ROM discs are more than 100 video clips illustrating lessons organized around the five key early reading skills identified through the Reading First project:

• Phonological Awareness
• Phonics and Word Study
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension

Literacy Strategies in Action also includes lessons that support the reading-writing connection and teaching in a multi-age classroom. Excerpts from interviews with the featured teachers provide context for the lessons and insight into their instructional decisions.

Research Based Sites

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/
What Works Clearinghouse - A central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education.

http://www.bestevidence.org/
What works in education? The Best Evidence Encyclopedia (BEE) presents reliable, unbiased reviews of research-proven educational programs to help: policy makers, principals, teachers and researchers.

http://searchlight.utexas.org/
Searchlight is a resource where you can select instructional materials developed by the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. The primary goal of Searchlight is to enable users to access scientifically based reading instructional (SBRI) materials topically and across grade levels.

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/resourceLocator.php
The IRIS Center for training enhancement is a free on-line site where you can view on-line interactive resources that translate research into practice. Topics covered include: behavior, RTI, progress monitoring and learning strategies to name a few.

http://www.osepideasthatwork.org/
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and its partners has developed a wide range of research based products, publications, and resources to assist schools, districts and families to improve results of students with disabilities.

RTI

http://www.jimwrightonline.com/php/rti/rti_wire.php
RTI_WIRE, your 'one-stop' directory of free, high-quality 'Response-to-Intervention' resources

Literacy Leadership

http://www.literacyleadership.org/
KET and the Kentucky Department of Education visited a variety of schools in Kentucky and interviewed principals, literacy coaches, curriculum specialists, state educational cooperative literacy consultants, and teachers in an effort to capture the type of leadership described in research-based standards.
Literacy Leadership features video clips that examine successful literacy programs at nine Kentucky schools and explore how one district is taking its first steps on the journey to a comprehensive literacy program. Videos are organized by school and also can be navigated by the "Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction" defined in Change Leadership, A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools [1]. The Overview provides more information about the resources and research that guided the production of Literacy Leadership.

Center for Research on Learning (SIM)

http://www.kucrl.org/
Since 1978, the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas has developed ways to help students, especially adolescents who struggle in school, to become good learners.
The Center for Research on Learning encompasses four divisions, each with a slightly different research emphasis. They study problems in education and work to place solutions that make a difference into the hands of educators, learners, employers, and policy makers.

What is the Strategic Instruction Model?
The Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) is a comprehensive approach to teaching adolescents who struggle with becoming good readers, writers, and learners. It is based on the reality that to meet high standards, adolescents must be able to read and understand large volumes of complex, difficult reading materials. Additionally, they must acquire the skills to express themselves effectively in writing.

• Description of the Strategic Instruction Model
• Learning Strategies
• Content Enhancement Routines
• Professional Development
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Materials

Special Education

http://www.ldonline.org/index.php
This is a great resource for ideas and information in the area of special education as it relates to students with Specific Learning Disabilities.

http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/specconn/index.php
This site focuses on strategies for inclusion of students in the regular setting. Topics addressed include: instruction, collaboration, assessment, and behavior.

Writing

http://www.education.ky.gov/users/jwyatt/Literacy/WritingNext.pdf
Writing Next is a publication produced by the Carnegie Corporation that is an excellent resource for effective strategies to improve writing in middle and high schools