English Dept.- Helpful Websites by Laura Selinsky

Free High Quality Audio-books/stories/articles

lselinsky — 2015-09-03 13:38:06 UTC

ESL Bits is a site for language learners. It provides excellent classic and contemporary books, articles, stories, speeches, songs. Audio (at regular and slow speeds) accompanies visually appealing text presentation. Current offerings range from Diary of a Wimpy Kid to Anna Karenina, so you can find something for any student.

http://esl-bits.net/

Etymology Dictionary

lselinsky — 2015-09-03 13:44:54 UTC

Dictionary.com and its ilk aren't always enough for really clever students or advanced language. This Etymology Dictionary isn't the OED, but it will get you through some exciting vocabulary challenges.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php

Reading Levels

lselinsky — 2015-09-03 13:47:32 UTC

This Readability Scoring site is handy for evaluating the difficulty of text, using multiple systems. It concretely answers questions like- Will this particular student understand the content on this website? or Why do you say this book isn't too hard for my tenth grader?

https://readability-score.com/

Punctuation Practice

bnelson12 — 2015-09-09 16:50:25 UTC

Rags to Riches--Students earn a "million dollars" by answering punctuation examples correctly.

http://www.quia.com/rr/82028.html

Grammar Instruction and Practice

2015-12-03 19:53:00 UTC

Grammar Bytes! has a plethora of punctuation lessons in the form of PowerPoints and videos. There are also a wide array of practice exercises that can be completed online or printed. I have used this resource for several of my classes, and they enjoy this fun, interactive site.

http://www.chompchomp.com/menu.htm

Study Guides

2015-12-03 20:15:01 UTC

I used this site so that my students have questions to answer as they read each chapter of The Scarlet Letter. The questions seem to be at their level (when working independently) and lead to a good discussion in class when we go over them. I have not browsed the site to see if other novels have questions that are as useful.

http://www.studyguide.org/scarlet_letter_guide.htm

Engaging Journal Prompts

bnelson12 — 2015-12-07 18:23:46 UTC

Photo Prompts are sometimes thought provoking , sometimes whimsical journal prompts based on highly original photos, such as Abraham Lincoln listening to a boombox.

tumblr.com

search: photoprompts

Excellent Grammar and Punctuation Practice

bnelson12 — 2015-12-07 20:16:18 UTC

This web site offers excellent practice for a range of language arts topics organized by grade level. Practice maxes out after 15 items without premium membership.

IXL Language Arts

Classic Literature Audiobooks w/Tracking Text

lselinsky — 2016-02-18 14:21:41 UTC

Free classics, including novels such as "Jane Eyre" or poetry such as Poe's "Eldorado," even some children's classics and a little nonfiction. Not as comprehensive as esl bits, but still useful.
http://www.loudlit.org/