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Aesop's Fables - Traditional and Modern
http://www.umass.edu/aesop
This collection of Aesop’s fables
Illustrated and retold by art students at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
includes traditional versions as well as retellings of the fables in a modern setting. What makes this site unique is that the students have been working with Macromedia Flash to develop their stories as animations, some with sound and interactivity. This is a fun place to read fables!
NEW! 
Audible Kids
http://kids.audible.com
AudibleKids is an engaging, interactive community of parents, their kids, and educators that promotes the fun of storytelling through audiobooks. Listen to books, read and post reviews and share your favorites with others. (Cost involved with accessing literature on this site.)
Book Adventure
http://www.bookadventure.org
Book Adventure is a free reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 6,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read offline, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes.
BookCrossing
http://www.bookcrossing.com
BookCrossing has one goal... to make the whole world a library! This site encourages readers to love books enough to let them go - into the wild to be found by others. Click on Books and Browse Books to view both Children's and Teen's books waiting to be found... After reading a book, BookCrossers register the book and mark the inside cover with the site's URL and an identification number provided by BookCrossing.com. Users then leave the book in a public place or pass it on to a friend. The new reader is encouraged to join the free site, post comments about the book, and, before re-releasing it, let the previous owners know it's in good hands. I would strongly recommend that registration and participation be done as a family or as a class - don't register students individually. Have fun and I'll be watching for your books! What a wonderful way to share the books you love and integrate technology at the same time!
Book Pals
http://www.bookpals.net/storyline
Students can hear some popular books read aloud.
Dave Pilkey’s Extra-Crunchy Web Site O’ Fun!
http://www.pilkey.com/index.php
I’m sure you can imagine what you would find here!
Edmonton Public Library
http://www.epl.ca
NEW! Elements of a Story
http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/index.html
Elements of a Story is an interactive web site where students in grades 2 to 5 can learn about different literary "ingredients" that make up a story. After watching and listening to an interactive version of "Cinderella," students will learn about various elements that are common to all stories: setting, characters, plot, exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution. This site features an interactive explanation of each literary element, which is then followed by a series of activities to enhance students' understanding. Students will be asked to put plot developments into the correct order, select appropriate settings and characters, and sort events and exposition. Great for review of story elements and guiding students as they write their own stories.
Harper Colin’s Children’s Books
http://www.harperchildrens.com
Internet Public Library
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace
This is a truly an incredible site! Go into the kid’s section and discover hundreds of online resources all of which are organized by category. There's so much here there's no way to describe it but to say take a look and be sure to bookmark it!
NEW! International Children's Digital Library
http://www.icdlbooks.org
Read over 2600 kid's books online in 48 different languages from over 45 different countries! The ICDL Foundation's goal is to build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world. Ultimately, the Foundation aspires to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of children's literature from the world community.The ICDL are continuously working to improve the user experience of reading books. To this end, they offer many books with PopoutText and ClearText, two significant new book reading technologies that improve readability, accessibility, and offer the potential of displaying translations in place, and allowing people to switch the language of the book page by page as they read – which is a great way to learn other languages.
Kidsreads
www.kidsreads.com
Kidsreads is an excellent place for kids to find info about their favourite books, series and authors.
NEW! Learn Out Loud
http://kids.learnoutloud.com/Kids-Free-Stuff
Learn Out Loud Kids Stuff Section features free podcasts and audio & video resources for kids & teens to learn from. Most audio titles can be downloaded in digital formats such as MP3 and most video titles are available to stream online. Enjoy titles such as Aesop's Fables PodcastAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, American Indian Fairy Tales, Robinson Crusoe, Tom Sawyer, Call of the Wild, Moby Dick, The Secret Garden, War of the Worlds, Treadure Island, and collections of literature and poetry for different grade levels. (There is also a huge collection of titles for purchase.)
Lemony Snicket ~ A Series of Unfortunate Events
http://www.lemonysnicket.com/index.cfm
Patricia Polacco
http://www.patriciapolacco.com
Postcards, quizzes, and activities centered around this favourite author’s books.
Reading Planet
http://www.rifreadingplanet.org/rif
If you join RIF's Reading Planet Web site, you will have access to numerous features. You can create your own home page that will contain a personalized paragraph about you and lists of your favorite RIF Reading Planet books, activities, and articles. You can also rate the books in RIF's Book Place and write reviews that will be posted on the site for the whole world to see. Registration is free.
Roald Dahl Web Site
http://www.roalddahl.com
Everything you ever wanted to know about the amazing life and times of the author Roald Dahl.
NEW! Talking Tall Tales
http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/tales/intro.html
Calgary Public Library presents eight animated stories told by Johnny Chinook, an Alberta cowboy from the Old West!
NEW! Wired for Words
http://www.wiredforwords.com/wiredforwords.html
Wired for Words is dedicated to providing young avid readers with a place to get some advice on best-reads! It is also a place where students can share information about recommended books or read the reviews sent in by other readers. This site was created by the Calgary Board of Education.
The World of Beverly Cleary
http://www.beverlycleary.com/index.html
Lots of information about Beverly Cleary and her books as well as activities.
NEW! Into the Book
http://reading.ecb.org
Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for K-4 students and teachers that focuses on eight research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. Students can watch engaging 15-minute videos and then try the online interactive activities.
Power Proofreading
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/proofread/index.html
Get lots of experience editing stories in a fun and motivating way.
Reading
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/english/reading
Comprehension, poetry, and non-fiction activities are offered at this BBC site.
Reading Comprehension
http://www.rhlschool.com/reading.htm
This site features a long list of interactive reading comprehension exercises. More suited to older readers.
Skill Lessons
http://technology.usd497.org/techclass/sanders/skillessons.htm
Lots of reading passages with interactive activities that follow.
Ace Writing
http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes
An interactive tutorial that will help you get an ‘A’ in writing!
Expository Writing Prompts
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/wexpository.htm
This site isn’t interactive but there were so many worthwhile writing prompts for those days when no ideas come to mind that it had to be included. Copy and paste the prompt into a Word document and get busy writing!
Fridge Poetry Online
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/wordplay/game.shtml
Choose your category, select a background, and then click and drag your words to create your own "refrigerator" poetry with this online poetry game site from BBC.
Giggle Poetry
http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryfun/poetryfun.html
Lots of fun stuff here plus an opportunity to write some online poetry of your own.
NEW! Historic Tale Construction Kit
http://www.adgame-wonderland.de/type/bayeux.php
This is a great site that lets students interactively create their own ancient manuscript or write tales of high adventure, noble kings, dragons, and wicked beasts. Just drop in an image from the tool bar and add some text (preformated to look ancient) and voila!
Imagination at Work
http://www.imaginationcubed.com
This online interactive writing and drawing space will let your child send finished products by email to friends or relatives as well as invite someone to join them for a collaborative session. Write a thank you note, invite a friend over to play, or announce some recent news to grandparents... Choose your tool, colour, and background and begin creating!
Instant Poetry Forms
http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm
Instant Poetry Forms consists of more than sixty interactive literacy
activities. An interesting, fun tool!
iWrite
http://www.greatsource.com/iwrite/students.html
The place to get ideas for writing, practice the writing process, and learn the grammar tips and tricks that will make your writing shine!
Kerpoof
http://www.kerpoof.com
You can make your own movie in the Kerpoof Animation Studio! Pick a background. Pick characters from Kerpoof. See what each character can do. Now make up a story for them. It's easy and fun!
Letter Generator
http://readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator
This site guides you along as you format a personal or business letter.
NEW! Magnetic Poetry
http://www.magpo.com/kidspoetry
Play with words at the Kid's Poetry Page. Choose the 'Kid's Kit', 'First Words', 'Best Friends', or 'Storymaker' to play with language and improve reading and writing skills. There are lots of ideas for its use listed in the Classroom Guide under Educators.
Narrative Writing Prompts
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/wnarrative.htm
Just like the expository prompts above!
NEW! oneword
http://oneword.com
simple. you'll see one word at the top of the following page. you have sixty seconds to write about it. as soon as you click 'go' the page will load with the cursor in place. don't think. just write.
NEW! Storybird
http://storybird.com
Storybird promotes imagination, literacy, and self-confidence.Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make with family and friends to share and (soon) print. Users choose artwork from a specific artist and then add text to create a storybook.
Wacky Web Tales
http://www.eduplace.com/tales
These Wacky Web Tales are geared for grades 3 and above. Choose a topic and then fill in the missing words to create one crazy, wacky tale!
Writing Den – Tips-O-Matic
http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/contents.htm
Valuable and easy to use writing reference that allows students to look up grammar rules, helper words, and other writing tips by selecting from the headings: Sentences, Paragraphs, Essays.
NEW! Writing Fun
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/writingfun/writingfun.html
Writing is Fun is a site created by Jenny Eather to guide students through the writing process. Choose the text type (information report, narrative, procedure, recount, explanation, persuasion, discussion, response, description, poetry, letter, email, news, or an invitaion), get an idea of what it is you need to do, and then check out the many examples complete with writing tips and mouse-overs. Finally, get started with your own writing right online. Perfect for older students!
*This site is listed under Writing in Div 2 Language Arts
Writing Paper Templates
http://www.vickiblackwell.com/makingbooks/writingpaper.htm
Is your child tired of writing on a blank Word document? Spice up writing tasks by using one of these colourful PowerPoint templates and there are so many to choose from! Remember though, you must first save the file to your computer by "Right Click > Save Target As." Choose where you want to save the file and then click "Save".
Book Hooks
http://www.bookhooks.com/index.cfm
Give your budding writers and blossoming readers a chance to be heard at this Canadian site! Students can publish illustrated book reports, reviews and author biographies at Book Hooks. Readers are encouraged to draft both editorial and generative reviews, write independently or in response to guidelines and to include illustrations, photographs, etc. Students can also contribute material for crossword puzzles and word searches.
World of Reading
http://www.worldreading.org
Where kids and books come together!
*For some reason World of Reading does not appear to be available at this time but just because it was such an excellent site, it's going to stay listed temporarily, just in case it reappears.
YRCA 2006 - Critic's Choice! (Interesting for reference but no longer accepting submissions.)
http://yrca2006.blogspot.com
Every year librarians, teachers, and students from the Pacific Northwest (BC, Alberta, Oregon, and Washington) compile a list of nominees for their Young Reader's Choice Awards. Students who read two or more novels are invited to vote for their favourite in the spring and a YRCA award is given to the novel with the most votes. There are two divisions, one for Junior (grades 4 to 6) and one for Intermediate (grades 7 to 9). In support of this project, another project using a blog was created for students to share their thoughts about the novels they read by posting on the project site and to become part of a dialogue with other students who have read the same novel. While this project was intended for classroom participation, parents are also welcome to register their children if they would like to participate from home. This project is being run by myself and a good friend and colleague and we would be happy to answer any questions a parent might have. Much more information is available at the project site.
Fact Monster Spelling
http://www.factmonster.com/cgi-bin/spelling
Figure out which of the words are spelled incorrectly and type the correct spelling in the box provided.
Look, Cover, Write, Check
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/toftwood/lcwc.html
Use the words provided or put in your own words!
This is a good site for practising spelling words. You can use the words provided, choose from others, or put your own words in. The problem with this site is that there is limited time to study each word before you are required to write it.
Look, Cover, Write, Check (#2)
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/lookcover/lookcover.html
Very much like the site above but this site allows for unlimited time to study each word before you have to write it. A much better choice for younger students or those that don't appreciate the extra pressure. Watch words with capitals; they are not recognized and indicated as being incorrect.
NEW! Solo Scrabble
http://www.themaninblue.com/experiment/SSCrabble
Enjoy the challenge of playing this online game of Scrabble. It's just like the real board game, only you play on your own with the help of the computer to keep score. Have fun and see how many interesting words you can make!
SpellaRoo
http://www.funbrain.com/spellroo/index.html
Spellaroo can hop better than he can spell. Click on the word that is spelled wrong. (Beginner and Intermediate)
Spell Check
http://www.funbrain.com/spell/index.html
An interactive spelling challenge to practice spelling words; different levels of difficulty.
NEW! Spelling Bee
http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/index.html
Listen to three stories, one at a time, and then spell words from each story. If you get stumped, you can click to hear a word again, as many times as you need to. If you're in grade three or higher, you can ask for a definition too. Since words often make more sense when they are attached to an idea, all the words in the story or sentences are in context. Review the words, hear the audio, and spell the missing words. Make sure to check your spelling carefully, since your results will be calculated at the end.
Whomp!
http://www.fekids.com/kln/games/whomp
Can you make the most words and earn the title, "King of the Monsters?"
Wordo
http://www.primarygames.com/langarts/wordo/start.htm
Clear the tiles before they stack to the top by spelling words with 3 or more letters.
BBC Skillswise
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar
Try these interactive grammar exercises from the BBC.
NEW! Coconut Vowels
http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com
Coconut Vowels provides practice in spelling. Coconuts with words in them fall to the beach. The student must match missing letters to the correct word coconut. If a coconut reaches the surfboard before you blast it, your stage will end. Hits and misses are recorded at the bottom of the screen. (This is quite a challenging activity.)
Diagramming Sentences
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/diagrams2/diagrams2.stm
Excellent site for learning how to diagram sentences
Education Place – English (K-8)
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme
Education Place – Word Find (all grades)
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsv
English Grammar Tutor
http://webnz.co.nz/checkers/grammar2.html
Explanations, practise, and interactive quizzes help in understanding verbs and how they work in sentences.
Fact Monster Word Quiz
http://www.factmonster.com/cgi-bin/schoolword
Read a sentence with a highlighted word and see if you can figure out the meaning.
Grammar Practise Park
http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/preview/harcourt_language/grammar_park.html
Interactive Wordplays
http://www.wordplays.com
This site offers Crossword Challenges, Words In Word, Jumble, Anagram, Word Morph, Crossword Helper and Boggler for older students to explore and challenge their word knowledge. Allow time to explore this site as it is quite addicting!
Irregular Verbs
http://www.quia.com/cb/8111.html
Jeopardy type game for two players.
Proofreading Makes Perfect
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/language_arts/pmp/interactive_guide/g05/g05home.htm
Practise correcting mistakes in grammar, spelling, usage, and punctuation to make your writing easier to read.
Puzzlemaker
http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com
Make your own word puzzles…an incredibly fun site by Discoveryschool.com
Tips-o-Matic
http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/contents.htm
Look up grammar rules, helper words, and other writing tips by selecting a heading:Sentences, Paragraphs, and Essays. You can turn Tips-O-Matic off so that you can work on reading comprehension skills by looking at the "feature topic of the day" (complete with audio and pictures) and taking quizzes on the information.
NEW! Verb Viper
http://arcademic.altec.org
Verb Viper encourages your child to choose correct verb tenses (present, past, past participle), recognize correct verb forms (ran instead of runned), and recognize subject/verb agreement (I am, he is). You select game content to suit the needs and abilities of your child. *Optimized for use with the Nintendo Wii™ gaming system.
Word Find
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsv
Lots and lots of different word searches.
NEW! Word Frog
http://arcademic.altec.org
Word Frog provides practice in matching antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms. The target word appears on the frog, with the word category underneath defining the relationship to be matched. Match the center word with the correct word on the incoming flies by firing the frog's tongue at the correct fly. *Optimized for use with the Nintendo Wii™ gaming system.
NEW! Word Invasion
http://arcademic.altec.org
Word Invasion provides practice in matching words to their parts of speech. Jellyfish with words in them drift toward the octopus at the bottom. Word types are placed in the octopus, and then the octopus is activated to fire beams that destroy the matching word. Your student reads the type and determines whether the word closest to the octopus matches the type. If the word and type match, your student can fire at the word and move to the next type. *Optimized for use with the Nintendo Wii™ gaming system.
NEW! Word Magnets
http://www.xmleducation.co.uk/magnets.html
Word Magnets lets you create vocabulary words that can be moved around the computer screen or an interactive whiteboard to create sentences or demonstrate understanding. This new web site created by educators in the UK is quick and easy to use. Have fun!
Stationery for Writers
http://www.primarygames.com/print_zone/stationery/stationery.htm
http://www.primarygames.com/print_zone/stationery/older/bigstationery.htm
Use this stationery to spice up your writing!
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