Guide on the Side helps you to quickly and easily create online, interactive tutorials based on the principles of authentic and active learning. Know how to use Word? You already know how to use Guide on the Side. (12/7/13 11:10)

 

Merriam-Webster's Word Central features a number of word games: Alpha-bot! The word-spelling robot hosts the latest amazing word game and challenges spellers of all ages, test your verbal sensors with two great games—Robo-Bee and BIGbot, share your own word creations and definitions at the turbo-charged Build Your Own Dictionary, and give your vocabulary a growth spurt with Merriam-Webster's Online Student Thesaurus. (10/19/13 09:39)

 

Word Sense is a dictionary, thesaurus, and valuable tool for matching thoughts to words like never before. Use the search box at the top of the page to find words. Select a word sense on the left side of a word page to view its figure on the right side of the word page. Quickly view definitions and navigate by interacting with the figure. (10/12/13 09:43)

 

The Elements of Fiction from Read-Write-Think offers ideas for keeping the book report fresh and interesting. Focusing on the elements of fiction, the slide show outlines how students can make staple-less books that show that they understand plot, character, setting, conflict, and theme. A preview of the lesson, the resources needed, standards that are addressed, the instructional plan, and additional resources are included. (10/5/13 07:19)

 

Rewordify.com is powerful, free, online reading comprehension software. It helps people understand difficult English faster, and helps them learn words in new ways. It is completely free, nothing to register for, no app to buy, no software to order and install. Just point any Internet-connected computer, tablet, or smartphone to Rewordify.com and the learning begins. (8/30/13 09:38)

 

Breaking News English.com Free ready-to-use EFL/ESL lesson plans. 26-page handout, graded news articles at pre-intermediate and intermediate-plus, listenings, online quizzes, podcast and communicative activities. (7/27/13 10:01)

 

TheSage English Dictionary and Thesaurus is a free software application for Windows that, through a multi-tool interface, integrates a complete dictionary and a multifaceted thesaurus of the English language together into a unique language reference system. (6/22/13 09:33)

 

You Can't Spell the Word Prefix Without a Prefix Students learn to identify, define, and construct words with prefixes. Students guess at initial meanings and spellings of words, correct misspellings using spelling strategies developed by their work groups, and use resources such as spell checkers and dictionaries to arrive at correct spellings and definitions. To help assess comprehension, students write sentences for each prefix group the class has worked on during the lesson. (5/24/13 10:15)

 

Fablelane allows you to collaboratively work on a story. Start out by writing just the beginning of your own story, or click an item in the flow to help others develop their story. (5/17/13 09:59)

 

Word Frog is a fast-paced game that helps kids review antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms. The word frog sits in the middle of a lily pad while word labeled flies approach from all sides. Choose the correct fly and the frog will whirl to snap it up and present the next word for you to use. The game has three speeds, six levels, and is timed. After each level you can see how you did in both your accuracy and speed. (5/4/13 10:26)

 

Grammar Base is an easy-to-use online grammar and plagiarism checker. This no-frills site has a smart grammar check that goes deeper than some of the built-in word processing program grammar checks. Students can access this site from anywhere in order to check their writing for appropriate structure, syntax, and citation. (4/6/13 15:23)

 

Artopia: Theater Backstage offers a taste of play production. Learn what happens backstage and put your own touches on a theatrical production of Romeo and Juliet. Audition actors for the lead roles, learn make-up techniques, produce special effects in the sound studio, try different pieces of clothing on the actors, and learn how to build scenery. Requires Flash. (3/29/13 10:10)

 

SMS Generator lets you create a simulated text chat between two historical or fictional characters. You can save your work for future changes. You can drag-and -drop, edit and delete entries. After saving, you will also be able to get a QR Code or embed the chat into your own blog, website or wiki. (3/23/13 10:40)

 

Ticket To Reading Rewards is a reading incentive program that encourages Middle School students to read books outside the classroom and obtain rewards for reading. Ticket To Reading Rewards has three primary components: reading rewards, tickets to local college basketballs games and a coaching component for Middle School coaches to both learn new techniques and to act as mentors for the reading program. The Ticket To Reading Rewards program was founded in 2002 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Foundation. (3/8/13 09:36)

 

inklewriter is a free tool designed to allow anyone to write and publish interactive stories. It’s perfect for writers who want to try out interactivity, but also for teachers and students looking to mix computer skills and creative writing. (2/9/13 10:11)

 

Word Raider is an adventure-themed game where students master academic vocabulary typically found on state standards, standardized exams, and academic word lists. Word Raider is designed for all learners, particularly English learners and struggling readers. Word Raider can be played in school, after school, and at home! (1/26/13 10:28)

 

Me Read? No Way! A practical guide for improving boys’ literacy skills is an ebook developed by the Ontario Ministry of Education which looks at practical tips for improving boys’ literacy skills. The guide offers practices and strategies that are being used in successful literacy programs for boys around the world and that educators can draw on to create a stimulating and engaging learning environment. (12/15/12 10:27)

 

Lauren Tarshis, an editor with Scholastic Storyworks, has created a cheat sheet with 10 Things to Know About Common Core Standards for ELA. This helpful guide outlines the ways that she thinks the Standards will impact students and teachers. (12/8/12 10:12)

 

Meograph helps easily create, watch, and share interactive stories that combine maps, timeline, links, and multimedia to tell stories in context of where and when. (11/30/12 10:29)

 

Shakespeare In Bits A new, exciting, multimedia approach to learning and teaching Shakespeare’s plays - Shakespeare In Bits brings The Bard’s most popular plays to life through magnificently animated re-enactment, full audio, and unabridged text in one comprehensive package. (11/23/12 15:28)

 

This TedEd English grammar video by Jane Hirchfield explains metaphors with quirky animation and a nice, clear voiceover. It is also accompanied by TedEd lesson aids, ‘Think’ and ‘Dig Deeper,’ which are excellent supplements to learning. (11/23/12 15:24)

 

WordItOut lets you transform text into word clouds. You can then save and share them, so everybody can find and enjoy them. WordItOut gives you control with many custom settings. Free to use and no sign up required. (11/16/12 16:24)

 

Daily Writing Tips Whether you are an attorney, manager or student, writing skills are essential to your success. The rise of the information age – with the proliferation of e-mails, blogs and social networks – makes the ability to write clear, correct English more important than ever. (11/16/12 16:20)

 

The Common Core Curriculum Mapping Project provides educators with high-quality, low-cost curriculum tools based on the Common Core State Standards. The Curriculum Maps in English Language Arts have been viewed more than 9 million times. (10/27/12 09:51)

 

Textivate is a simple web tool which allows users to automatically generate a range of interactive browser-based activities based on any text of up to 500 words. The activities are browser-based, and as well as on your IWB, should also work fine on tablet devices such as iPads. (10/13/12 10:31)

 

Writing Strategies describes strategies students can use for success with writing. The University at Buffalo put the site together to help teachers, but has tried to make it interesting for students and parents as well. In addition to descriptions of successful writing strategies, you will find practice spaces, professional materials, and links to other writing-related web sites. (8/31/12 18:23)

 

Definitions.net is an online multilingual dictionary that provides instant lookup and translations of word and phrase definitions, complete with images. (8/24/12 11:14)

 

NoRedInk is a website to help students practice and review their grammar. Teachers and students personalize the practice assignments and quizzes with the names of their favorite bands, sports teams, etc. NoRedInk also adjusts the questions based on what students get right or wrong and shows tutorials if students get stuck. (8/24/12 11:10)

 

 The Writing Center at UNC Handouts & Demos Resource Page addresses four major topics: writing the paper, style and sentence structure, specific kinds of writing, and writing for particular fields of study. (8/11/12 11:32)

 

Media Literacy Clearinghouse's mission is to assist K-12 educators who want to teach standards that include non-print, media texts, learn more about media literacy, integrate it into classroom instruction, help students read the media, help students become more media aware, and locate appropriate resources. (7/28/12)

 

The English Teacher’s Companion is a resource for English teachers everywhere featuring a wealth of graphic organizers and other resources to help teachers bring critical thinking into the classroom and help struggling students. (7/28/12)

 

Become a Word Historian It's often possible to trace the history of a word back through many centuries. The history of a word, called its etymology, is often a good clue to its most essential meaning. You can use an ordinary dictionary to find extraordinary histories of words. This information is packed between the two brackets [ ] right before the definition of the entry word. (6/9/12 08:24)

 

PBS Teachers Reading & Language Arts has content contextualized within five grade level categories from PreK through 12 on the new PBS Teachers site including Reading & Language Arts Activity Packs. (5/19/12 10:34)

 

Mootup is the way to build 21st Century Skills in a fun, interactive, and easy-to-grade style of writing assignment that directly teaches argumentative and persuasive writing according to Common Core Standards. (5/19/12 10:09)

 

Tune in to Learning: Vocabulary fifteen short videos exploring the world of vocabulary. The videos address topics such as the dictionary and thesaurus, as well as understanding how words work. Users will find out how to look up words in a dictionary, expand their vocabulary, and learn how to pick the right definition for words that have multiple meanings. (5/5/12 09:57)

 

This 50 page document of Reader's Response Templates can be used to teach reading comprehension strategies including: visualizing, making connections, predicting, inferring, summarizing, and questioning. (3/10/12 13:00)

 

Zopler is a social network where writers, authors, and students can easily collaborate on writing stories together as a group. Zopler makes it easy to collaborate with other writers. There is no limit to how many stories you can write. A simple idea can blossom into a rich tome with the contribution of other writers. (3/3/12 09:37)

 

Online Etymology Dictionary Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant 600 or 2,000 years ago. Think of it as looking at pictures of your friends' parents when they were your age. People will continue to use words as they will, finding wider meanings for old words and coining new ones to fit new situations. These are histories of words only, not things or ideas. (3/3/12 09:22)

 

Building Blocks of Language: The Eight Parts of Speech If you find yourself confused about what "PARTS OF SPEECH" means, this packet will help to make the English/grammer term clearer in your mind. In addition, you will walk away with a basic knowledge of each of the eight parts of speech. (01/21/12 10:33)

 

Fake Tweet Builder Use this tool to create simulated Twitter conversations with the look of actual Twitter feeds. (1/14/12 09:45)

 

Word Hippo is a complete dictionary/thesaurus/translation web app that is simple, and easy to use, yet robust enough to really be of use to both teachers and students. (1/14/12 09:31)

 

WeVideo enables everyone to tell their stories with video. The online, cloud-based editing platform is simple to use, affordable, and collaborative (12/10/11 08:53)

 

Word Dynamo is a high-energy word learning experience that's made up of a lot of fun and exciting moving parts. See how many words you know and receive study shortcuts. Watch your progress and decide what to do next. Choose and learn from thousands of lists, or make your own. (11/19/11 10:44)

 

This I Believe is a not-for-profit organization that engages youth and adults from all walks of life in writing, sharing, and discussing brief essays about the core values that guide their daily lives. This I Believe is based on a 1950s radio program of the same name, hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. (11/5/11 09:35)

 

From EmbedPlus learn from real life with video-based pronunciation dictionary and word usage examples. You get to not only hear the word but see facial gestures that can help you reproduce pronunciations. Research suggests that exposure to language surrounding a pronunciation, as videos provide, can significantly benefit a learner. (10/29/11 09:16)

 

Vocabulary.com is the easiest, most intelligent way to improve your vocabulary. It combines an adaptive learning system  with the world’s fastest dictionary so that you can more quickly and more efficiently learn words. (10/01/11 09:07)

 

UC Writing Centre Visit these pages for advice on organizing an essay, using quotations, paraphrase and summary, using topic sentences, introductions and conclusions, the comparative essay, and much more offered by University College, the founding college of the University of Toronto. (9/17/11 10:11)

 

Scri­f­fon is a text-pub­lish­ing web­site. It’s a tool to pub­lish any kind of writ­ten work on the web; from es­says to short nov­els, from recipes to how-tos, etc. It’s free and open to ev­ery­one. Its de­sign is in­flu­enced by min­i­mal­ism. (8/20/11 12:17)

 

The Corpus of Contemporary American English is the largest freely-available corpus of English, and the only large and balanced corpus of American English. It was created at Brigham Young University in 2008, and it is now used by tens of thousands of users every month. The corpus contains more than 425 million words of text and is equally divided among spoken, fiction, popular magazines, newspapers, and academic texts. (8/6/11 10:52)

 

WhatDoesThatMean.com is a free, user-built dictionary of English idioms, buzzwords, and catch phrases from around the world. As a visitor to this site, you can search for phrases and words or browse entries by clicking the tags link, and then clicking on the word that represents the category you're interested in. For example, if you want to learn some Canadian idioms, click the word Canada. (8/6/11 10:49)

 

Dreams of Edgar Allan Poe honors a giant of American literature. An essay by the acclaimed novelist and critic Diane Johnson explores Poe’s life and career. Excerpts from audio dramatizations bring 6 classic Poe stories to life. Formatted as a stylish PDF file, this special web publication is suitable for printing and framing. (8/6/11 10:25)

 

WordsLike.net is a free service that allows you to find words and phrases that are similar or related to each other. Type in a word or a phrase and Words Like.net will come up with a list of related words and their corresponding definitions. (8/6/11 10:21)

 

WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. The more than 10,000 WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their resources on the Web, where most people start their search for information. (7/22/11 1:00 PM)

 

ipl2 is a global information community that provides in-service learning and volunteer opportunities for library and information science students and professionals, offers a collaborative research forum, and supports and enhances library services through the provision of authoritative collections, information assistance, and information instruction for the public. (7/22/11 12:58 PM)

 

Ohio Resource Center for Mathematics, Science, and Reading (ORC) provides links to peer-reviewed instructional resources that have been identified by a panel of Ohio educators as exemplifying best or promising practice. Available resources include content and professional resources and assessment and general education resources that will support preK–12 classroom teachers and higher education faculty members. (7/22/11 12:38 PM)

 

Stratford Hamlet Study Guide for the study of Shakespeare's Hamlet from the famed Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival. If you will be studying or teaching Hamlet, this is a good place to start your preparation. You'll find a history of the Stratford Shakespeare Theatre and its productions of Hamlet, a biography of Shakespeare, a timeline of his playwriting, a synopsis of the play, classroom activities, and a bibliography. (6/25/11)

 

Boomwriter blends creative writing and social media technology to provide a competitive writing platform that is integrated into the national education curriculum. Everyone wins; schools have a more engaging creative writing process, teachers have a tool that focuses their students on creative writing techniques and students have fun in the process. (6/18/11)

 

FoldingStory™ is a game in which players write one line of a story, fold the paper, and pass it to the next person. Write. Fold. Pass.™ It’s as simple as that. (4/30/11)

 

VocabGenii games that require players to unscramble letters to create a word that matches the definition provided. Choose from multiple levels of difficulties and game modes. (4/19/11)

 

Synonymsfor.net is a website that lets you search and find synonyms of thousands of words, with a simple click you will find the synonym you are looking for. (3/26/11)

 

 EDSITEment offers a treasure trove for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality material on the Internet in the subject areas of literature and language arts, foreign languages, art and culture, and history and social studies. (2/27/11)

 

Knoword is a game of quick thinking, smart decisions and great words. If you're able to string together correct answers, you will notice your Word streak counter increasing. You can accumulate badges and additional points by achieving certain numbers of consecutively correct words. (2/19/11)

 

Poetry Splatter is easy. Just choose a poem title from a list. When you see your poem, you will have to fill in the blanks with words that are splattered onto the screen. Have some fun creating silly poems! (2/6/11)

 

  Lessonwriter is a free website for teachers that creates lesson plans and instructional materials for teaching English language skills from any reading passage. (1/29/11)

 

ThumbScribes is a platform for creating collaborative content. Anyone can participate. Scribes are created and passed between ThumbScribes authors who add a new chapter or section to the work until it's completed. You can create private scribes and invite a handful of friends or open your scribe up to the world and see what happens. (1/17/11)

 

LoudLit.org is committed to delivering public domain literature paired with high quality audio performances. We pair together great literature and accompanying audio. (1/15/11)

 

Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories you make to share, read, and print. Read them like books, play them like games, and send them like greeting cards. They’re curiously fun. (1/7/11)

 

Book Trailers - Movies for Literacy This page is the beginning of a website of short movies (generally 30 to 45 seconds) designed to increase student motivation to READ! (12/11/10)

 

Conjugation lets users type in a verb that they want to conjugate in any form. Any verb, regular or irregular. A new page is displayed, with the verb shown in all of its forms, voices and tenses. (11/11/10)

 

Road to Grammar is a free resource featuring quizzes, games, and lessons for English language learners. Visitors will find365 grammar quizzes with instant feedback and notes to explain why an answer is correct or incorrect. Before taking the quizzes visitors can work through a dozen practice activities and five practice games. (11/6/10)

 

The Reading Corner A wealth of links to writing websites for the classroom (10/6/10).

 

Wordia.com is a high-quality online dictionary: a professional authoritative textual dictionary but with a big difference - like a traditional dictionary, Wordia allows users to search for the spelling, meaning and etymology of a word but what makes Wordia unique is the ability for users to explore the personal connotation of word through video. (9/18/10)

 

Snappy Words visual dictionary is an online interactive English dictionary and thesaurus that helps you find the meanings of words and draw connections to associated words. You can easily see the meaning of each by simply placing the mouse cursor over it. (9/18/10)

 

Digital Booktalk  provides children with interactive visuals of the books that they used to only read. Currently, more than 100 trailers of classic titles are complete. More trailers are being added regularly by college students and by students in K-12 schools across the country. (8/22/10)

 

The Guide to Grammar and Writing provides help at every level from word to paragraph to entire research paper. There are also quizzes, search tools, PowerPoint tips and more. (8/22/10)

 

Dvolver hosts tools that are great for digital storytelling. The MovieMaker lets students create digital stories easily by selecting backgrounds, characters, and then creating all of the story elements. The cartoons are then shareable and embeddable. (8/17/10)

 

Grammar Monster is an interactive and user-friendly program designed to revise (or teach) the use of punctuation and English grammar. It is aimed at native English speakers who are required to produce high-quality official correspondence. (5/28/10)

 

VerbForms This activity is a great way for ESL learners to practise irregular and regular verb forms (present, past, past participle) (5/12/10)

 

Conjugation.com a cool verb conjugation website. Just type the verb that you want to conjugate in any form. Any verb, regular or irregular. Click on “Conjugate.” A new page is instantaneously displayed, with the verb shown in all of its forms, voices and tenses. (4/28/10)

 

Knowing Poe Through the activities on this site, you can introduce learners (or, be introduced, yourself) to the literature, life, and times of one of America's foremost writers. (4/26/10)

 

 Learn English Idioms This YouTube channel is a series of short videos explaining common English idioms such as "yes man", "against the clock", "made my day, "the early bird ...", and more. (4/20/10)

 

Magnetic Poetry a fun "manipulative," allowing students to play with language and improve their writing skills in the process. (4/19/10)

 

EnglishCafe the premier place on the Web to teach English. Create quizzes, upload audio/video content to your personal library, write blogs -- and then assemble it all in to online Lessons for learners. (4/7/10)

 

  AudioOwl makes the world's public domain audio books available for browsing in a visual and entertaining way. All audio books on AudioOwl.com are in the public domain. This means that no one holds a copyright on these books and therefore anyone including AudioOwl.com is free to distribute them. (3/16/10)

 

B-Rhymes is a dictionary for finding near-rhymes -- words that almost, but don't quite rhyme -- which are also known as 'false rhymes' or 'off rhymes'. If close enough is OK with you, then you'll love B-Rhymes. (3/7/10)

 

PaperRater is a place for students to submit work and find out about their paper.  No download necessary.  Not only does it check grammar, but it will also check for spelling, plagiarism, and offer writing suggestions.  It will also help with readability, word choice, and style. (3/5/10)

 

EssayRater is a writing support tool that proofreads your texts and protects you against plagiarism, poor grammar, spelling errors, punctuation mistakes, and poor word choice. (3/5/10)

 

Son of Citation Machine helps students and professional researchers to properly credit the information that they use. (3/4/10)

 

Beowulf - A Study Guide Huge collection of resources for teaching Beowulf (3/3/10)

 

One Look Dictionary Search Find definitions of keyword,  words and phrases that start or end with keyword, any words related to keyword,  phrases that contain the keyword, and more all in one place. (3/3/10)

 

Rhymes.net This online rhyming dictionary provides thousands of rhyming words arranged according to the number of syllables. (2/28/10)

 

English Teacher Link is a new online teacher community sponsored by Pearson. It's a free network of teachers that helps share and spread ideas about what works best in the classroom. (2/21/10)

 

LearnEnglish Kids is for children who are learning English. Find games, songs, stories and lots of activities - and learn English too. From the British Council (2/16/10)

 

OttoBib Enter an ISBN and OttoBib will automatically create a bibliography in MLA, APA, or Chicago format. (2/11/10)

 

60second Recap™ wants to make the great works of literature accessible, relevant, and, frankly, irresistible to today's teens. Through 60second Recap™ video albums, we seek to help teens engage with the best books out there ... not just to help them get better grades, but to help them build better lives. (2/4/10)

 

Scholastic Character Scrapbook Use this reader's response activity to analyze the characters in any book. Print and collect your scrapbook pages. (1/19/10)

 

EasyWriter offers coverage of key writing topics, including doing research, documenting sources, recognizing common writing errors, and working online. Much useful info even with registering. (1/11/10)

 

The Poetry Foundation works to raise poetry to a more visible and influential position in American culture. The Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry. (1/6/10)

 

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