| Great Resources for: Kids | Parents | Teachers |
Storytelling, Literature, and Collaborative Learning:
Find What You're Looking For
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Great resources for teachers and educators:
Free children's books and stories
- Aesop's Fables: free story resource with 656+ Aesop fables, includes morals.
- E-books for Young Readers: collection of free electronic classic story books.
- International Children's Digital Library: hundreds of free illustrated books in their original languages from 45 different cultures; selected by authors, publishers, and national libraries for children 3-13 years old.
- KidSpace: a collection of free resources inclusive of books, magazines, and newspapers for children from around the world (a service of the Internet Public Library).
- Tall Tales Arizona Style: written and illustrated by Mrs. Sunda's Third Grade Gifted Resource Class.
- World Wide School: dedicated to the collection, preservation, and presentation of educational material, this e-library contains everything from fairy tales and poetry to mathematical dissertations and reference material.
Quality reading for kids (lists of children's books and stories)
- Best Children's Books: 100 of the best books for kids (selected by National Education Association, USA)
- Best Children's Books in Spanish: 10,000+ recommended books for Spanish-speaking children, and those learning Spanish
- BookHive: created by public librarians, list and reviews of books for children up to 12.
In the classroom (lesson plans and resources)
- A to Z Teacher Stuff: free lesson plans, thematic units, printables, and discussion forums for teachers.
- Archive of free cylinder recordings: the first commercially produced sound recordings; audio snapshots of life and music at the beginning of the 20th century.
- Big A little a: focuses on children's books, writing, and life... always something new.
- The Call of the Story: Why do we tell stories? Because every life is a story... storytelling defined.
- Color A Smile: a non-profit organization that spreads smiles with cheerful drawings; the majority of the drawings are mailed to senior citizens but we are happy to send 'smiles' to anyone who would like them.
- Education World: free resources to help educators to engage students creatively and connect with other like-minded professionals.
- Great Web Sites for Kids: Internet guide of child-safe sites maintained by the American Library Association.
- Guide for Educators: lesson plans, teaching tools, and educational resources, to enhance all disciplines' curriculums (Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators is a service of Discovery Education).
- Invention at Play: explores the playful side of invention and the inventive side of play; integration opportunities for classroom teachers. Includes games for students that focus on imagination, build problem-solving skills, and multiple intelligences
- KidSites.com: searches the Web for the best kids sites on the net.
- Learning Network: current events, lesson plan, and links for students (grades 3-12), teachers, and parents with (a service of the New York Times)
- Merriam-Webster: free online dictionary and thesaurus; also has word of the day, words games, and a special site for kids
- People to People: the International's School and Classroom Program is a free service that connects teachers and their students with similar-age classrooms in other countries; students of partner classes work together on pen friend projects that expand their cultural knowledge and help them form friendships
- Publishing with Students: practical advice to teachers interested in helping students publish their writing.
- ReadWriteThink Lessons Plans: free reading and language arts resource for all grade levels.
- Smart Writers: a directory of children's authors and illustrators who are available for school visits, as well as writing contest links for children, and interviews with children's writers.
- Starfall: free interactive books and rhyming games for comprehension, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary building; download supplemental materials.
- Story Arts: covers the benefits of storytelling in the classroom, as well as includes storytelling activities and lesson ideas.
- Tim Sheppard's Storytelling Resources: an comprehensive introduction and overview of to the oral tradition and the art of storytelling.
- Web English Teacher: K-12 English / Language Arts teaching resources: lesson plans, WebQuests, videos, biography, e-texts, criticism, jokes, puzzles, and classroom activities.
Listen to the voice of wisdom (podcasts)
- 12 Byzantine Rulers: an incredible series of history lectures that bring life to the Byzantine Empire through the stories of its twelve greatest rulers [by Mr. Brownworth, history teacher at The Stony Brook School].
- Podcast Directory for Educators: comprehensive directory for educators, schools, and colleges.
- Podcast for Teachers: explores the use of technology to help enhance teaching and learning.
Read to learn more (academic texts)
- Reading Online: hundreds of articles on reading education, topics include assessment, at-risk students, children's literature, classroom strategies, cross-cultural and multicultural issues, ESL, instructional technology, literacy policy and curriculum, phonics, reading and learning disabilities, teacher education, visual literacy, and writing.
- The Cinderella Project: see how the Cinderella fairy tale has changed over time by reviewing this text and image archive multiple versions of the fairy tale; also read multiple versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk.
Additional resources
- BookTV: watch a TV program with famous authors, historians and critics from CSPAN's BookTV.
- Digg: learn what's new in the world of technology.
- Google: find what you're looking for.
