Literary Website:The Literacy Shed

Used in over one hundred fifty countries around the world, The Literacy Shed (https://www.literacyshed.com/) contains a vast collection of short films collected by former elementary teacher Rob Smith.  His passion for sharing film for the classroom has taken him across the globe delivering exciting professional development courses on reading and writing through the use of film and image.   The Literacy Shed has several great features including a “Book of the Week” section and a regularly updated literacy blog.  However, its primary appeal is the plethora of ideas for writing, creating, and improving a student's critical thinking skills from its short film library.  Each section of the library is categorized into broad thematic units or “sheds”.  A shed contains a collection of high resolution short films along with ideas and suggestions on how to use them effectively in the classroom.  

 Literacy Shed was originally intended to be used as a free resource for teachers to locate films which were relevant and suitable for their lessons.   It is important to note however, that most of these films have not been officially classified with a viewer rating, so it is recommended that all films are prescreened prior to sharing.  The Literacy Shed has been expanded to include a subscription only site (http://www.literacyshedplus.com/), which provides additional “premium” features including English unit plans, lessons, as well as reading and comprehension resources.  These resources are categorized by age appropriateness and you can view a sample of each premium source by visiting the “free resources” section. 

The Literacy Shed is a fantastic resource for literacy teachers looking for short video clips to support their instruction.  Each short film is complemented by very useful teaching notes outlining how you can use the clips to encourage critical thinking.   Students are increasingly using multimedia as a form of communication, and literacy resources are becoming steadily digitized.  Literacy Shed provides the resources necessary to keep up with today’s innovations by engaging students with rich visual stimulation while facilitating the development of high quality literacy skills.