Language Arts Helper

Literature Resources for Secondary English Teachers

Classics at the Online Literature Library http://www.literature.org/authors/ This site is here to try to bring real books to people through the Internet. The site contains actual literary works that are accessible on the Internet. All you do is click on an author link, and it takes you to a list of online works by that author. For instance, by clicking on Mark Twain, you enter a page of his literary works, readable on the Internet. Its contents can be used by teachers and students. The site is exceptional in that it unites technology with books. For students who hate to sit down with a book, reading literature on the Internet is now an option. This literature page should definitely be added to the resources for teachers of literature.

WWW High School English Teachers http://www.bham.wednet.edu/ENGLISH2.htm This page provides a window to developmentally and curriculum relevant resources on the World Wide Web. Items were selected by staff in accordance with the Bellingham Board policy on student Internet usage. The site contains a variety of links to information on writing, general literature, American literature, and British literature. The literature links contain specific works by an array of authors, plus help with understanding literature. This site is an excellent source for information on literature-related sites on the web. It can easily be used by teachers for classroom resources, but it can also be used by students seeking literature help. All the links are relevant to high school literature classes.

Resources for English/Language Arts Teachers http://home.earthlink.net/~jesmith/EngLATeachs.html This site's purpose is to provide links for English Teachers for help in teaching literature. The page lists a ton of different links with different purposes. There are links to lesson plans, teacher organizations, content sites, and more. This site is useful for teachers in that it gives an overview of a variety of resources on the Internet. Instead of searching for individual places, this site puts it all in one convenient place. Teachers should take advantage of the site's array of links for help in teaching literature to high-schoolers.

Merriam-Webster's WWWebster Dictionary http://www.m-w.com/dictionary Merriam-Webster's WWWebster Dictionary is the most up-to-date dictionary on the Web. This site allows students to enter words into a searchable dictionary for pronunciations, word origins, and definitions. It is an excellent resource for students, because they are able to type a word in the computer while reading their assigned literature. Merriam-Webster's WWWebster Dictionary enables any student to strengthen his or her vocabulary and reading comprehension through a user-friendly online dictionary.

Language Arts Resources http://www.uen.org/utahlink/train/manuals/life/langartsreftools.htm This site is extraordinarily useful. It contains a list full of online reference tools for Language Arts, such as dictionaries, thesauruses, literary dictionaries, writing reference tools, and much more. It gives direct links to specific reference tools available on the Internet. The site is perfect for teacher and student use. Instead of searching for reference tools over and over, you can find them all on this site. It is a definite life-saver for literature teachers and students. It opens the door to a greater understanding of literary works.

The Doucette Index http://www.educ.ucalgary.ca/litindex/ The Doucette Index provides access to books and web sites that contain useful teaching suggestions related to books for children and young adults, and the creators of those books. The books indexed are those held by the Doucette Library of Teaching Resources, but many of these books will also be available in other libraries. The site has a search feature, which allows you to enter a book's title and author. Then, the site takes you to a page full of links to lesson plans and teaching strategies for the specific book. The site is perfect for teachers of high school English, for it provides a multitude of ideas. The search feature is especially useful for specific lesson plans.

The PBS Teacher Source: Arts and Literature: American Literature http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/arts_lit/high_amlit.shtm This site contains a list of links for specific high school literature lesson plans. The links relate to a variety of American literature topics, including specific novels and literature of the American culture. The site is extremely useful, and the lesson plans call upon students' higher order thinking skills relating to reading comprehension. Teachers should take advantage of these informational links, for the lesson plans are excellent.

Encarta Homework http://encarta.msn.com/homework/languagearts.asp This site is produced by Encarta. It provides students with not only Encarta homework help with Language Arts, but many other homework help links as well. Each link tackles a different topic for understanding, and all of them deal with understanding literature and grammar. This is an excellent source for English students that are seeking guidance in class. The page is full of useful help. Teachers could introduce the web site to their students, encouraging them to check it out for further help.

About.com: Homework/Study Tips for English http://homeworkhelp.about.com/teens/homeworktips/cs/english/index.htm This site includes all facets of english and language arts, including grammar, punctuation, and spelling, as well as classic literature and book summaries. This site is an excellent resource for high school English students. It covers specific learning needs of high school students. Its insight into literature topics is especially useful, improving students' understanding of books. Teachers ought to provide students with this web page as help outside of the classroom. Through using this site, reading comprehension skills can increase.

Mythweb http://www.mythweb.com/ Welcome to Mythweb. This site is devoted to the heroes, gods and monsters of Greek mythology. This site is perfect for students to learn the characters of Mythology in a fun and exciting way. The students just click on "gods" or "heroes" on the main page. Then, they are taken to a large picture where they are able to click on an individual character to retrieve a biography of that character. For instance, a student can click on Zeus from the top of Mount Olympus to enter a page all about his character. This site is an excellent alternative to learning the gods and heroes of Mythology. Teachers should use this site as a supplement to the Mythology unit so that students can have a pleasurable experience learning all the characters. Mythweb is a wonderful site.

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All graphics from this page were taken from the school related graphics page from Hoxie High School in Hoxie, Kansas: http://www.hoxie.org