Lillian Cruz

January 9, 2018

ED638 IRA Effective Literacy Website #4

            ReadWriteThink http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/grade/kindergarten/ is a free literacy website from the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English.  This site offers classroom resources such as lesson plans, student interactives, mobile apps, calendar activities, and printouts. 

            The lesson plans are all planned out for you, and provides a preview, resources & preparation, instructional plan, related resources, and comments from educators about the lesson plan. The preview page gives an overview of how the subject lesson will help students improve on writing, or reading skills.  It also tells how the lesson plan can be adapted by age level or language ability.  The preview also has, “From Theory to Practice,” which mentions how aspects from the lesson are put into practice. The Standards section provides Common Core State Standards, State Standards, and NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts. Resources & Preparation gives you the grade level the lessons are used for, the estimated time of the lesson, the lesson author, & publisher.  It lists the materials & technology needed for the lesson.  It also provides student interactives, mobile apps, and printouts. The Instructional Plan comes with student objectives, lesson plans consisting of sessions (ongoing lessons), and student assessment/reflections.  Related Resources such as student interactives, mobile apps, and calendar activities are some resources that could be used for the lessons.  Comments are also available on the lesson plan page.  These comments are interesting to read because you get to read a lot of reviews of why they liked or disliked the lesson plan.

            Student interactives offer online literacy learning for students to learn language in a fun way.  They feature the most popular interactive tools that you could choose from.  Some of these interactives listed are, Writing Poetry, Writing & Publishing Prose, Learning about Language, and many more. When you click on an interactive tool, you will get an overview about this interactive. It also lists lessons that use this interactive.  It also lists related classroom & professional development resources.

            Another classroom resource is the mobile apps.  Once these apps are downloaded, there is no need to have Internet connection. This site will give you an overview about the mobile app.  It also lists related classroom & professional development resources.

            ReadWriteThink also offers Professional Development resources such as strategy guides, professional library, meetings & events, and online professional development.  Strategy Guides offer new teaching strategies.  They provide examples of effective literacy teaching and learning strategies.  Related resources are also listed to help in your instruction.  Professional Library comes to you from the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English.  It provides a selection of books, journals, and position statements to keep you updated with the latest research. Meetings and Events provide upcoming IRA and NCTE events. Online Professional Development provides Web Seminars for professional development.

            Another source that is offered on this site are videos.  Types of videos available are, “Literacy in Action, Presentations, Using RWT (ReadWriteThink), and Just for Fun. An example of  “A Just for Fun” video that was available showed authors responding to the question, “If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?”

            This site offers a “Parent & Afterschool Resources.”  The list of activities and projects offered on this site are, Write Summer Alphabet Books, Learn About Staying Safe, Games and Tools, Printouts, Podcasts, and Tips & How To’s.  It also lists the most popular Kindergarten resources that were most E-mailed, most viewed, and most shared.

            ReadWriteThink is a site that I would definitely use for my classroom.  I would also share this with my colleagues so they could also use it in their classroom.