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Inform your teaching with the latest research, find practical teaching tips, or get inspired. This selection of books, journals, and position statements comes to you from the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English.
Selecting appropriate reading material for students is hard. For decades, teachers have known that quality instruction requires a careful matching of materials to students. The goal is to select materials that are neither too difficult nor too easy for students--a phenomenon sometimes called the Goldilocks Rule.
Editors Mary T. Christel and Scott Sullivan present a new set of lessons designed to help you integrate a variety of digital applications—Web 2.0 and beyond—into the courses and units you’re already teaching.
Journals & Other Publications
Are you interested in language arts learning and teaching of students in grades K-8? Articles from this journal discuss both theory and classroom practice.
Mar-10 | Violent Red, Ogre Green, and Delicious White: Expanding Meaning Potential through Media
The Reading Teacher
If you're a literacy professional who works with children up to age 12, you'll find a wealth of information in this journal, including practical, evidence-based teaching ideas and information on the latest research.
Nov-12 | Close reading in elementary schools
Voices from the Middle
If you work with students in grades 5-8, you'll find research and best practices in middle-level reading, writing, speaking, and listening in the visual and language arts in these articles.
Mar-10 | Fresh Perspectives on New Literacies and Technology Integration
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
This journal, aimed for teachers of older learners, includes practical ideas for instruction, including tips on how to integrate technology, media, and popular culture in your classroom.
Nov-10 | Graphic Novels in the Secondary Classroom and School Libraries
In this award-winning journal for English language arts teachers in secondary schools, you'll find information on the teaching of writing and reading, literature, and language, and best uses for technology.
Jul-11 | Ethics as a Form of Critical and Rhetorical Inquiry in the Writing Classroom
|Lesson Plans Related to the Professional Library|
Grades 2 – 5 | Lesson Plan
Students read thematically related texts, scaffolded from simple to complex, to help them gather necessary concept vocabulary and background knowledge in a content area. They then write acrostic poems to organize and present their learning in a creative way.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan
Striking images can leave lasting impressions on viewers. In this lesson, students make textselfworld connections to a nature- or science-related topic as they collaboratively design a multimedia presentation.
Grades K – 5 | Lesson Plan
In this series of four lessons, students will explore key elements of design in Little Blue and
Little Yellow to learn about setting, character relationships, and plot.
Grades 6 – 12 | Lesson Plan
What if students could see the relevance of their school curriculum to real-world, interesting, STEM-related careers? Let’s help them create a great future!
Based on Close reading in elementary schools
Grades 5 – 8 | Lesson Plan
In this lesson students research Greek gods, heroes, and creatures and then share their findings through digital storytelling.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan
This lesson is sure to sizzle, not fizzle, as students use comic strips to find onomatopoetic words, develop a vocabulary list from the words, and discuss why writers use onomatopoeia.
Grades 6 – 12 | Lesson Plan
After students write persuasive essays, use this lesson to challenge them to summarize their essays concisely by creating five-slide presentations.
Grades 5 – 12 | Lesson Plan
Students in grades 5 through 12 read and respond to electronic books by using e-book tools and features, including digital note-taking capabilities.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan
While drafting a literary analysis essay (or another type of argument) of their own, students work in pairs to investigate advice for writing conclusions and to analyze conclusions of sample essays. They then draft two conclusions for their essay, select one, and reflect on what they have learned through the process.