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Site Features

Lessons

ReadWriteThink offers a wide array of standards-based lesson plans that meaningfully integrate Internet content into the teaching and/or learning experience. Lessons can be selected according to grade band (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12) and area of literacy practice. Each lesson is research-based, and includes a detailed instructional plan. The lessons are written for the teacher but include student-ready materials such as worksheets, interactives, and reviewed Web resources.

Standards

To help educators integrate ReadWriteThink resources into a standards-based curriculum, all site content is organized around The IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts. These 12 national standards, developed by IRA and NCTE in 1996, describe the literacy skills and abilities that students must possess to thrive in their future education.

Web Resources

An important component of ReadWriteThink is our collection of Web resources. These resources are selected in adherence to a rigorous set of criteria and are thoroughly reviewed by our Review Panel. Within our Web Resource Gallery, you can select and sort Web resources by grade band (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12) and resource type. Resource types include

• Instructional Resources—sites that provide instructional resources for the teacher, such as lesson plans, classroom activities, and teaching techniques
• Professional Development—sites that offer current information in the teaching profession, including research findings, teaching trends, and noteworthy events
• Reference Library—sites that provide specific information or offer general reference resources
• Student Resources—sites that provide online interactive resources for students engaging in a reading or writing exercise

Literacy Engagements

Lessons on ReadWriteThink can be sorted by literacy engagements so that teachers can highlight specific language functions in the classroom. Following M. A. K. Halliday's model, lessons are designed to engage students in authentic and meaningful language learning (1982). Literacy engagements simultaneously involve learning language (as students listen to it and use it with others in their everyday lives), learning about language (as students try to figure out how it works, engage with their teachers in focused instruction on how it works or in critiquing its impact), and learning through language (as students use it to learn about or do something).

While all three literacy functions—learning language, learning about language, learning through language—operate in any literacy event that makes sense to a learner, teachers, according to Kathy Short (1999), frequently find it instructionally useful to highlight one of these functions at a time (at least in their minds) so that they can consider which curriculum experiences are most likely to engage learners in that specific literacy function.

Student Materials

To enhance interactive learning, ReadWriteThink has produced a selection of lessons that incorporate online activities for K–12 students. These interactives are primarily intended to assist students with a reading or writing activity. Although they are tied to specific lessons, they can also be used with other lessons in your class.

Student materials are available for public use, provided that they are used only for educational, nonprofit purposes and that ReadWriteThink is appropriately credited.

Calendar

We invite you to visit our calendar on a daily basis to learn about a significant literary event that you may share with your class. Calendar entries provide a brief description of the event, along with related Web resources, lesson plans, and activities for your students. In the context of real-world events, students are able to foster an appreciation for reading and language arts learning.