Using Technology to Support Literacy - A Guide to Digital Storytelling

From Scholastic's Tech Tutors, the teaching ideas, online tool suggestions, .pdf how-to's, guides, and rubrics, and even more resources make this a one-stop shop for Digital Storytelling ideas.

Literature, Language Arts, Public Speaking

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words (Artwork becomes the inspiration for brainstorming sessions, where your students will collectively create a word and idea bank based on a chosen image. They will then individually create a narrative around the work of art, extending past the borders of the image to create the whole story. Think of creating a class book to collect and publish your class stories, with the art work as the cover and displaying your book at Open House night.)
A Timeline of English Poetry 658-2003 (edited by members of Department of English at the University of Toronto from 1912-present)

Ace Writing (grades 3-8 - writing activities and advice, links to writing resources, word games, more)

Acronym Server (search for acronyms and for words used in acronyms)

Activities for ESL Students (grammar quizzes; vocabulary quizzes; crossword puzzles, bilingual quizzes)

Alphabet Superhighway (K-12; comprehensive)

American Literature of the Southwest (online modules, week-by-week lecture materials, including outlines, resources, and further reading, and aims and outcomes;  should help you put together your own advanced unit on Southwest Literature)

Anne Frank Online (grades 6-12 - life info & times, scrapbook, bibliography, online curriculum, worksheets, study guides, news updates, links)

Arthur Appreciation Cards (grades 3-5; students write an appreciation chant on the front of the cards and draw a picture on the inside of the person they appreciate having in their lives)

Authors: LSU's Libraries Webliography (index of indexes; contains pointers to individual author guides or other cumulative documents dealing with specific writers; most authors are "literary"; many authors from genres such as science fiction or romance not included)

Authors, Interviews with New Zealand Authors

Awesome Library (organizes 14,000 carefully reviewed K-12 educational resources; categories include drama, languages, lesson plans, literature, philosophy, poetry, public speaking, reading & writing, standards, bilingual education)

AwesomeStories.com (gives the first four chapters of every story free; interactive, image-loaded web site; brings to life famous trials, stories, movies, biographies, disasters, law buzz, and more)

Barahona Center (grades K-12; dedicated to the promotion of literacy in English and Spanish; contains info about 6,000 books; updated weekly)

Bartleby.com (great books online)

Bartlett's Quotations

Benefits of Reading Aloud

Reading Aloud - Is it Worth It?
The Read-Aloud Handbook
Shared Reading from Hubbard's Cupboard
Shared Reading from EdZone
EZ School Reader
Online Children's Storybooks (K-young adult; free talking books)
Online Children's Digital Library from StoryPlace (preschool/elementary; several animated stories with printables)

Bibliomania (grades 9-12; full texts for over 2,000 classic works; study guides & reference materials)

Biography Maker (from Jamie McKenzie & Bellingham Public Schools; takes students through the actual steps of creating a biography, allowing them to create one online)

Book Adventure (reading resources for both students and teachers, with a literacy calendar for special observations and events, book lists, literacy resources, and more)

Book Reports

• Book Report Now
• More Ideas Than You'll Ever Use for Book Reports
• How to Write a Book Report (Elementary)
• Writing Good Book Reports  (grades K-12)
• The Sign of the Beaver (grades 4-5)
• Better Book Reports: 25 Ideas
• Books Alive!
• Book Report Forms
• Report Writing in Primary Grades
• A Literary Fan Club
• Publish Your Book Reviews
• Book Hooks
• The World of Reading
• Common Types of Writing Assignments
• KidsReads
• OWL Online Writing Lab
• Book Report Sandwich Station

BookSpot (Grades K-12 - online books, book reviews, reading lists, author information, links to related resources, more)

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Newsletter & Website Children's Book Council (educational programs, authors, illustrators, publications, more)

Children's Literature Web Guide (Internet Resources Related to Literature for Children and Young Adults)

Children's Literature Links Classics for Young People (some of the more popular & interesting titles available in html format)

Children of the Holocaust
 
Classics Technology Center (forum for exchange of ideas, information, ideas; free curriculum)
Collab-O-Write Columbia Education Center's Mini Lessons (K-12; all content areas)  

Common Errors in English (EXTENSIVE collection of commonly misused words) 

Compacts for Reading (to encourage the home-school link; access reading exercises for skills reinforcement, choose grade level here; numerous student activities in reading) 

Cornerstones (literacy development site for children who are deaf and hard of hearing; can be also be used with students who learn well visually and struggle with reading) 

Creative Writing Prompts (302 writing prompts) 

Creativity Portal: Imagination Prompt Generator (scroll DOWN to find writing prompts and photo inspiration for all seasons and situations)  

CyberGuides: Teacher and Student Activities (supplementary, standards-based, web-delivered units of instruction centered on core works of literature; K-3, gr 4-5, gr 6-8, gr 9-12, foreign languages) 

Cybrary for Middle School and Beyond: Literature & Writing Daily Grammar (lessons plus daily email fun grammar lessons) 

Darfur: Does History Repeat Itself?

Digital Book Talk ("Similar to movie trailers, video book trailers are short, minute and a half to two-minute videos that introduce the basic storyline. They differ from book reports captured on video in that in these productions the story is re-enacted with artistic and creative decisions made by the director as to what parts of the story are presented.")
 
Doucette Index to K-12 Teaching Ideas for Literature (teaching suggestions related to a specific book or author) 

Elements of Style from Bartleby.com  

Effective Presentations (UCLA sponsored) 

Encyclopedia Mythica (encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, legends, more; 4700 definitions of gods & goddesses, legendary creatures, & monsters from all over the world)  

English-Zone.com (many online activities)  

Fairy Tale & Folk Tale Cyber Dictionary (grades K-4; compilation of tales illustrated by elementary students from around the world; students can browse the collections; teachers can complete the lessons with students)  

Fake Out

Fonetics (online language laboratory provides phonologically complete pronunciation guides to many languages, including seven varieties of English)

Free-Reading ("FreeReading is a free, high-quality, open-source reading program addressing literacy development for grades K-3. FreeReading provides a high-quality, cost-effective alternative to static materials. By establishing a foundation of hundreds of research-based lessons and materials that users can download and use for free, FreeReading has created the framework for intervention programs supporting K-6 literacy.") 

Getting an A on an English Paper (Thesis, Research, Close Reading, Style, Mechanics; by Jack Lynch, Rutgers University)

Google Lit Trips - K-12; great works of literature - "A Different Way to Read Great Literature! This site is an experiment in teaching great literature in a very different way. Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place... and so much more!"

Grammar & Style Resources (215 links to everything from a Life Science Dictionary to a Solar Physics Glossary to Online English Grammar)  

Grammar Bytes (collection of interactive exercises, terms, rules and handouts for students and teachers; online activities to take part in and the handouts are pretty well put together: comma splices, fused sentences, irregular verb usage) 

Grammar Review Using "Jabberwocky" (excellent exercise at the start of the school year, identifying both potential problem areas and student strengths)  

Great Expectations Online from Literature.org  

Guide to Writing 

Handwriting Teaching Tips: Handwriting Help for Kids (properly holding pencils; improving coordination; more tips) 

Holocaust Memorial Museum (scroll down to Showcasing Student Work - created by STUDENTS)
Homonyms by Alan Cooper (EXTENSIVE list with definitions) 

I Love Languages.com (more than 2000 of the best language links on the web) 

Indispensable Writing Resources (links to line versions of general style guides) 

IPL Literary Criticism Collection (contains critical & biographical websites about authors & their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality & literary period) IPL 

A+ Research & Writing Step by Step (from Teenspace in the Internet Public Library) 

Kennedy Center Storytime Online Kidnews.com Kids' Corner (read-aloud Beatrix Potter stories) 

KidsReads.com (authors, trivia, reviews, games, featured books)  

Language Arts Lesson Plans from teachers.net (K-12)  

Language Arts Resources (grades 4 & 5; illustrators, authors, folk tales, fairy tales, myth & legends; ways to improve grammar, biography maker, more)

Learning to Read (reading models covered, along with reading recovery, process models, reading strategies for content areas, balanced literacy, etc.; huge resource for reading specialists) 

Learning Vocabulary Can Be Fun (4 vocabulary games: wordsearch, hangman, more) Letter Generator (learn the parts of a letter & how to write a letter; write your own and print)

LibriVox (free audiobooks from the public domain for listening; volunteer to be a reader to record chapters in the public domain) 

Literary Research Tools on the Web (devoted to English & American literature; top source for literary research on the Web)  

LookyBook: allows you to look at picture books in their entirety at your own pace; extensive collection; rate online; FREE, but register

LoudLit.org ("Putting the text and audio together, readers can learn spelling, punctuation and paragraph structure by listening and reading masterpieces of the written word. Read and listen via your web browser or on your mp3 player. Regardless of how you enjoy the audiobooks (audio books), they are free.")

Maxie's Magnificent Guide to K-12 Literature (some links blocked by ENA, but most are accessible and great)  

Middle School Language Arts Lessons 

Middle School Literature Circles
 
Modern Language Association Language Map (based on information from the United States Census 2000 long form; interactive map allows users to see where the speakers of thirty-seven languages reside throughout the country; option to toggle certain themes, such as rivers, lakes, and highways, and look through the numbers of speakers by zip code, town, city, or county; also look at data at the state level & print out customized maps; generate interactive maps for two languages in the same state, or compare the concentration of the same language in two states; take an online tour of the site's features  

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet Mythography (grades 7-12; exploring Greek, Roman, & Celtic mythology & art; info on Greek gods & goddesses and heroes & heroines; Olympians section; family tree, maps, & symbols associated with each god; detailed info on Roman & Celtic Mythology) 

Online English Grammar (info on nouns, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs; helps with word usage as well) 

Online Language Arts Worksheets (grades K-4; randomly generated worksheets)  

Online Reading Games - PrimaryGames.com (listed by grade level and general skill covered) 

Online Reading Games for Young Kids and Reading Games for Kids (ages 6-up) from KidsDomain 

Online Reading Games & Animated Talking Stories from Reading is Fundamental (free membership, but joining is not necessary to use the Activity Lab or Game Station) 

Online Writing Lab Handouts and Materials for Students and Teachers Outta Ray's Head (middle/high school; writing, poetry, literature, library lessons, handouts, resources)

Paradigm Online Writing Assistant (an interactive, menu-driven, online writer's guide and handbook written in HTML and distributed freely over the WWW; what to write, organizing writing, revising writing, editing writing, writing informal essays, writing thesis/support essays)

PicLits - Inspired Picture Writing: PicLits is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you and it offers a fun way to learn new vocabulary and play with word forms and sentence structure. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture. Here are poems done with PicLits. Choose from a variety of photos. Then drag and drop nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, prepositions, and punctuation to create your own description with a few words long or a whole paragraph. Change the tense of the verbs and the form of the nouns (plural, possessive, capital). You may also Freestyle (write your own caption using the words you know). You may email your PicLit to your teacher or friends. You can also save it in the Public Gallery and view other PicLits. Here are some ideas for using PicLits in the classroom. See how PicLits may be used for creativity.

 
Poetry (middle-high school)

• 30 Days of Poetry (This collection provides thirty different lesson plans, each with its own format for students to experiment with and "discover" that they actually enjoy this genre of creative writing. Many of the formats contain templates, making it easy for reluctant writers to commit themselves to the task.) 
• Poetry Study Unit (Rather than a simple dry study of poets and their works, the suggestions here ask that poetry be experienced, that it be heard and enjoyed. Students will be keeping a poetry journal, collaboratively selecting specific poems for a themed anthology, conducting oral readings or Reader's Theater for poetry, participating in sound experiments, and performing poetry, among many other creative activities.) 
• Poets.org (learn techniques for poetry reading, visit "listening booths" to hear poems ready by their creators, search through exhibits & archives to find info on your favorite poet) 

Preschool Library (strictly for the preschool and kindergarten set, but elementary students will find their own treasure trove of stories, activities and reading lists by following the link to Elementary Library from any of the topic pages) 

ProTeacher (elementary language arts) 

Public Speaking Website Presentation Guide for Public Speaking (good tips and good links)

Punctuation Campground (great punctuation activity for interactive whiteboards; doesn't require any keyboard input, is easy to navigate, and provides good feedback and reference material)

Radio News (middle/high school; differences in print & broadcast journalism lesson) 

Reading Lesson Plans (covering a vast spectrum of topics;  lesson plans for teaching reading, strategies for effective teaching practices, reading lists, and many more resources for the literacy specialist) 

Reading Rainbow: games, books, & printables 

ReadWriteThink (numerous online tools, such as ABC Match, Acrostic Poems, Alphabet Organizer, Animal Inquiry, Bio-Cube, Book Cover Creator, Book Cover Guide, Character Trading Cards, Circle Plot Diagram, Comic Creator, Compare & Contrast Map, Comparison and Contrast Guide, Construct-a-Word, Crossword Puzzles, Diamante Poems, Doodle Splash, Drama Map, Essay Map, Eye on Idioms, Fact Fragment Frenzy, Flip-a-Chip, Flip Book, Fractured Fairy Tales, Graphic Map, Hero's Journey, Hints about Print, Letter Generator, Letter Poem Creator, Line Break Explorer, Literary Elements Map, Literary Graffiti, Multigenre Mapper, Mystery Cube, Persuasion Map, Picture Match, Plot Diagram, Postcard Creator, Profile Publisher, Notetaker, ReadWriteThink Printing Press & Webbiing Tool, Riddle Interactive, Shape Poems, Stapleless Book, Story Map, Timeline, Venn Diagram - 2 or 3 Circles, What's in the Bag, Word Family Sort, Word Matrix, Word Mover for Holes, Word Mover for "I Have a Dream", Word Wizard)

RealLiteratureDir.com (free online authors' biography and their literary works)

Representative Poetry Online (poem index, poet index, timeline, calendar, criticism, glossary, bibliography) 

ResearchPaper.com (Idea directory of 4000 topics from 100 categories; advice center on online research ) 

ReviseWise English (reading, writing, spelling, grammar, game zone) from the BBC (grades preK-12) 

Schools for Champions - Succeed in Public Speaking Scrabble Web (zap the letters to spell the words) 

Shmoop - "Shmoop will make you a better lover (of literature, history, life). See many sides to the argument. Find your writing groove. Understand how lit and history are relevant today. We want to show your brain a good time." "Shmoop provides lively Learning Guides and Teaching Resources lovingly written by educators and doctorate students at top universities (primarily Stanford, Harvard, and UC Berkeley). Our guides have a deep, fun approach that hits students in the intellectual and cultural gut. We provide multiple points of view and we hope to provoke, spark, and inspire students as they come up with original ideas. We dig deep into pop-culture, current events, and the Internet to bring these budding researchers face to face with the relevance of what they study. As a result, you’ll find at Shmoop some truly dynamic, lively, and entertaining guides that will help you make the classroom live and breathe." Be sure to check out List-o-Mania and Teacher Resources.

Shakespeare (grades 7-12 lesson plans on Shakespeare)

Shakespeare for Kids (grades 5-8; good introduction to famous Shakespearean quotations & unusually words from his plays; printable scripts for many plays; activities; area for kids to submit their stories) 

SparkNotes Literature, Drama, Poetry, Philosophy, Shakespeare Study Guides (register; FREE online study guides) 

Spelling Bee (may be blocked at school, but check resources from home computer; easy, normal, hard levels; students pick letters to complete words; full word is shown with a picture of the word; great interactive activity for students) 

SpellWeb (from Clear Ink; enter the word and web will decide) 

StarFall  (preK-2; great for helping children learn to read; online books & games; parent/teacher resources; writing journals w/space for practice letter formation, critical thinking, and phonemic awareness FREE to you as teachers, with NO shipping)

Story Spine (structure that takes a story from beginning to end; great tool to help students learn to advance a story while giving them freedom to be as creative as they wish)

Storyline Online: sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation; an online streaming video program featuring SAG members reading children's books aloud; books include accompanying activities and lesson plans

SuperKids Vocabulary Builders (display word of the day onscreen when students enter; have them write sentence with the word; challenge them to use it in conversation  three times before they leave) 

SurLaLune Fairy Tales (K-12; 27 illustrated and annotated versions of the most popular fairy tales; comparison of tales from around the world; history behind each tale; quotations; fairy tale timeline; book gallery; teacher & student guides) 

Synonym Dictionary (project at Vancouver Webpages to generate copyright-free lists of English synonyms; not actively supported; unrestricted dictionary; contains slang terms) 

TeachNology Lesson Plans (all grades & content areas) 

The Read In!  (great projects and authors)

The Story Starter (373 million creative ideas and writer prompts for all writers of all ages)

  The Story Starter, Jr. (729 story starters for kids)

Teaching Middle & High School Students to Read and Write (guide to improve the English curriculum in both middle and high school classrooms; six main features identified, backed up by research, strategies, and student examples) 

Ten Myths of Reading Instruction (Did we really used to do a much better job of teaching children to read? Does short-term intervention last over the long-term? Find answers to these and other questions, and on what not to take for granted for children's learning abilities in reading) 

The Best English-Language Fiction of the Twentieth Century (a composite list and ranking) 

The Communication Project (Something to Remember Me By Legacy Project The Complete Works of Shakespeare (wonderful links and resources; arranged in four categories: tragedy, comedy, history, & poetry) 

The Elements of Style (great reference site)  

The English Department Teachers' Page (resources, lesson plans, tools, info for EFL, ESL teachers) 

The English Professor (original learning materials for English as a Second Language; categories include vocabulary, phonics, grammar, reading, and writing exercises; also available, reference tools, word games, idioms, and listening activities) 

The Five Paragraph Essay (find info on writing essays, as well as writing prompts to help you develop skill) 

The Grammar Lady The Novels of Kevin Major (info about the author and review on his latest books; teachers' aid section) 

The Literature Network (excellent resource for grades 6-12)

The Online Books Page (facilitates access to books freely readable over the Web; hosted by University of Pennsylvania; index of thousands of books online; pointers to significant directories & archives of online texts) 

The Purple Crayon - Children's Literature 

Thesaurus, Connected (Lexical Freenet)

Thinkquest Spreadsheet Classroom Activities in Reading & Language Arts  

Toastmasters International - 10 Tips for Public Speaking University of Pennsylvania Digital Library (grades 6-12 - 14,000 books online; Celebration of Women Writers; free access to thousands of documents & books; digital images of rare documents, manuscripts, and materials from Shakespeare to South Asian temple art and Jewish music archives) 

Virginia Hamilton (grades K-12 - author & illustrator) 

Virtual Thesaurus Vocabulary Vocabulary University (FREE vocabulary puzzles to enhance vocabulary mastery; self-paced, interactive activities; supplement personal vocabulary acquisition; SAT, ACT test prep section)

VocabAhead  (library of hundreds of vocabulary videos; word presented, pronounced, illustrated, defined)
Here is how you can use VocabAhead in your classroom for teaching Elementary and SAT Vocabulary words.

1. Create Your Personalized Lists
You can create your personalized lists with words of your choice, meeting the academic level of your students. 

2. Share Your Lists with Your Students

3. Embed a Customized Widget in Your Blog or Webpage
You can create a customized widget for your blog or classroom webpage.

4. Engage Your Students in the Vocabulary Building Process
You can make vocabulary building fun by assigning vocabulary video projects to your students and uploading their work to our website.

Here are a few tips for making effective vocabulary videos:

• While transforming your idea into a vocab video go for the main elements associated with the word. For example, if your video is for the word 'Belligerent' (which means ready to fight) then it should contain audio or visual cues of anger or aggression. 
• You may also add humor, dramatization or emotions to help people remember the word and its meaning more easily.
• You can also paste the embed code of public domain videos which help explain the meaning of a word. Please do not upload videos for which you do not own or control the copyrights.
• There are no format restrictions as such but one general guideline is to start the video with the word and its meaning and to end it the same way.

Wacky Web Tales   (grades 3-up; students select a story, then enter a list of words by parts of speech and click to see their tale; can print tales as well)

White Barn Press (a site with writing ideas, where teachers are encouraged to submit student writing for publication on the web; instructional technology course outlines and links)
 

Whomp (students click on letters to make up as may words as possible before time runs out) 

Women Illustrators of Children's Books (grades K-6) 

Word Libs (several options from which to choose; students will enjoy; must know what nouns, verbs & adjectives) 

Word Searches from the Potter Family 

WordCentral.com from Merriam Webster (daily buzz word) 

WordNet (enter word, select same or opposite of noun, verb, adjective, or adverb) 

World Myths & Legends in Art Yale-New Haven Teacher Institute Units (grades 7-12, topics from American Literature to Art to Architecture to Music to the Environment) Writing

Writers and Teacher Collaborative (check out WriteNet, an unbelievably valuable resource for writers and teachers interested in teaching imaginative writing; check out the extensive collection of links for writing, literature, poetry, and more)

Writing Guide from University of Kansas (unbelievable collection of resources; the writing process, grammar & usage, personal/professional writing, and more) 

Write an Essay.com (step-by-step instructions from a retired teacher)

Write It (grades 6-8) 

Write-On! The Writer's Workshop (guideline on how to set up a writer's workshop for the class; suggestions on formatting, evaluating, implementing the writing process, as well as rubrics and tips for creating a successful workshop)

Write Site: The Newsroom for Students (Feature's Desk, Research Beat, Style Section, Classroom Challenge; solid advice, specifically in journalism, to all writers)
 

Writing: Instructional Strategies (middle and high school; resources to build instructional units for writing assignments; writing process explained, along with assessments for the different developmental stages of writing, pre-writing activities, and strategies for considering format, audience, and genre; tips for peer and teacher conferences, and checklists for writing-in-progress) 

Writing Prompts (grades 1-8; writing prompts in a wide variety of grade-appropriate writing formats, with guidelines for properly completing each exercise)

Writing: Word Prompts & Word Banks (several word prompts to give a creative boost to your writing classes, along with word banks--ask students to include a minimum number of these words in their stories, or to make connections between four words that you select)

Writing Den (students in grades 6-12 seeking to improve their English reading, comprehension, and writing skills; 3 levels of difficulty:  words, sentences, paragraphs

Writing Exercises (grades 1-8; covers all major writing formats; grades 6-8 write 
business letters, advertisements, news articles, invitations, editorials, narratives, reports, and more; archived writing prompts also available)

Writing with Writers from Scholastic (gradees 1-8; professional authors give you their best tips and advice)