Reading Rockets:

http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/phonics

I think this is a great link for teachers to share with the parents in the classroom. It really describes what phonics is and gives the perspective from a student, parent, and teacher's point of view. By having a more coneptualized undetstanding of the term, it can help create better instruction in the classroom. There are tips for parents and teachers at this website.

Blog Post:

http://www.teachingdegree.org/2012/12/03/new-elementary-school-teachers-and-phonics/

This website links to a blog post from a newer elementary school teacher on how to teach phonics. I think it's important that there is a deep understanding of what it means which is really having cognitive clarity about sounds and understanding phonemic awareness. This is great for any teacher on how to approch the subject through early exposure and using tools like Reading Rockets. There are additonal links provided as extra resources.

Scholastic:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/lesson-plans-and-activities-teaching-phonics

This is an awesome resource for teachers to use. Scholastic officers free lesson plans for teachers that they can directly use in their instuction. I specially looked at the lesson called "The Alphabet Tree." This is an awesome activity for younger students or even English Language Learners. I think it gives a cocnrete idea of the letters of the alphabet and continously reviewing. This is benefical for pre-determined lessons in the classroom.

Clifford Activities:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/clifford1/index.htm

This website is all centered around Clifford the Big Red Dog and it is an interactive story book. There are activities such as reading the book, making words, letter match, and concentration. I think this is great for younger students since it is something engaging and exciting. I know I was a huge fan of Clifford, and it makes any game easier when children are learning through something they enjoy. This is a good resource to use in the computer lab or at centers.

Phonics & Whole Language Debate:

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=0d921f27-c196-43fc-a25c-84aa7586984b%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=551554

I think this is a really important topic all teachers should be versed in. There are obviously different methods of instuction, but it's worth it to look into different ideals. There have been many changes over time in regards to different instruction, and teachers may prefer different methods. While phonics is typically used, teachers should be versed in the debate and the benefits of either.

Phonics Activities:

http://www.education.com/activity/phonics/

This website is great for multiple aspects of literacy, but I like the phonics section in particular. Phonics activities are designed especially for young readers learning to prounounce the letters of the alphabet and learning to put sounds together. The great tool on this webstie is that acitvites can be sorted by grade level which can help based on the different instructional and indepdent levels in students' reading. Many of these are made with household items like toss and blend which is with plastic cups.

ABC Fast Phonics:

http://www.abcfastphonics.com

ABC Fast Phonics s a free tutorial that uses cartoons and sounds with audio narration and clickable words to teach phonics. This method teaches just basic phonics concepts without struggle or frustration and includes rules for vowels, consonants, and blends along with practice pages.This is a good supplement for readers in the classroom and it can be utilized in the classroom or at home. Teachers should look at this becasue it is very kid-friendly, espeically for early instruction. 

Matching Sounds with Letters:

http://pbskids.org/superwhy/#/game/princessprestobingo

This website is a ton of fun for younger students since it incorporates a new and upcoming kids show with literacy acitvites. This one says the sound out loud, and the student has to match the letter to the sound. It is very animated and kid-friendly. I think it is beneficial for teachers to look at websties like PBS kids in order to find acitvites that are at their grade level and able to engage them in a fun and creative way.

Phonemic Awareness & Fluency:

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=55a17cf3-c108-4075-91b7-f0f1f8f1feb8%40sessionmgr110&vid=0&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ1013575

This is a great resource for teachers as the study describes the relationship between phonemic awareness and fluency based on oral reading and silent reading skills. Eye movements during reading reflect the awareness students have of the text and educators can observe their students as a means of assessment. This article is helpful for teachers since it describes a study that was done to prove this research.

Sound it out Parking Lot:

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/sound-parking-lot/

This is a resource that teachers can use for younger students or studets who may have learning disabilites. It is a fun activity that engages students in phonemic awareness without them explicitly knowing the activity. While this is demonstrated with cars, it could be catered to any student based on their needs by writing the letters on say, play money or play cookies. I think this is important for teachers to explore as to how to engage their students in a classroom.

Assessments:

https://www.readinga-z.com/assessments/phonological-awareness-assessment/

This website has assessments that are free for teachers. I think it is a great resource because there are different levels of assessment based on the needs of indiviudal students. here are multiple worksheets for each category, and categories like initial sounds, final sounds, syllable awareness, and more.

The Reading Treehouse:

http://aability.com/styled-3/styled-6/index.html

This is a great website for teachers that has different games to work on phonemic awareness for students. One of the features of this site is the different leveling techniques and how you can scaffold it for students. There are pre-phonemic awareness and advanced past the average levels. It is great to have these in a classroom to use at station settings or allow students to work on by themselves.

Phonemic Awareness in Young Children:

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/408/

This article disusses phonemic awareness in younger chidlren. It is important attend to students to find the phonemes in words and allow students to find active and engaging activities. It is important to provide concete ideas to students so they can grasp the concepts of different parts of a word. Teachers can find this resource helpful since there is a curriculum that can be used with multiple activities.

Phoneme Manipulating:

http://www.fcrr.org/Curriculum/PDF/G2-3/2-3PA_3.pdf

Wow! What a great website. This really is a concrete manipulative for younger students to use to see the differences between the phonemes in words. For example, there is a picture of a train, and the card following is rain, so it teachers the students the different phonemes in the words. This is great resource for teachers to explore in oder to aid all of their students.

Teaching Channel:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teach-phonemics

The lesson shown in this video is about C-V-C, or consonant, vowel, consonant. I think teaching channel is a great website to use to utilize techniques for instuction. Since this is for kindergarten, I thought it was a great starting point. There really is a lot of cognitive thinking going on in the video. I think it's important that the teacher explains it step by step to see how this can be utilized in a classroom. She creates a fun and engaging environment. 

Teaching Sounds:

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/pre-k-and-k-lesson-plans/114330-incorporating-phonemic-awareness-into-lessons/

I really liked this website becasue it shows how phonemic awareness can be included at a young age in instruction. Sometimes these concepts may seem so forward, but in reality they can be taught in nursery rhymes. I think this a fun way to get students engaged and allows teachers to use different methodologies in their classroom. These strategies help prepare students for reading.

Effective Instruction:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/vocabulary-instruction-teaching-tips-rebecca-alber

This article talks about different ways to introduce and teach vocabulary in a classroom. There are different strategies that are effective for instuction and that help students grasp different meanings of words. This is an important resource for teachers since it specifically lists ways to teach students and gives examples.

Dictionary on Google:

http://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-dictionary-by-goog/mgijmajocgfcbeboacabfgobmjgjcoja?hl=en

This is a great plug-in tool on Google Chrome to use for students. This is helpful for students when they are interested in finding definitons. I think this can be used at a center station as well since teachers are able to use this as a tool when students find research article. It is also helpful for English Language Learners since it is able to translate.

Funbrain:

http://www.funbrain.com/words.html

This website provides teachers and students with many different interactive vocabulary games. Each game addresses different areas of learning vocabulary and helps with different skill sets. The different links lead to the games directly and allow students to play them in class or at home. It is great that there are specific types of literacy or topics for each game as well. This prodivdes an interactive learning activity in a classroom.

Flocabulary:

https://www.flocabulary.com/pre-and-post-tests/

This website is very useful for educators since it provides a pre and post assessment as well as diagnostic tests. There are different levels and color coding by grade level. This website is free for teachers are really allows a comprehensive curriculum in vocabulary to be made from it. One of the benefits is that the pre-assesssment allows for some learning of new words, but there are still even more vocabulary words to be learned throughout the unit.

Steps for Vocabulary Instruction:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/Six-Steps-to-Better-Vocabulary-Instruction.aspx

This website gives explicit steps for vocabulary instruction to be more meaningful for students. These include providing explinations of new terms, students restate the directions, students provide a picture of the word, create engaging activities, discussion of terms with each other, and games with the vocabulary words. This article provides a research component as well and it is beneficial for teachers to look at this and understand the background behind the instruction.

Research Based Practices:

http://textproject.org/assets/library/resources/Lehr-Osborn-Hiebert-2004-A-Focus-on-Vocabulary-Booklet.pdf

This pamphlet is very helpful since it goes in depth on research based stratgies in early reading settings. I think it's important to recognize that the components are research based which is a push in recent years that goes along with effective instruction. Vocabulary is defined and strategies in the classroom are explored such as working with word schemas.

English Language Learners:

http://www.eslgamesworld.com/members/games/vocabulary/

This website is specifically for ESL vocabulary games. There are a huge number of different games that listening only memory games, text only memory games, as well as other assorted vocabulary games. The activities are all interactive and can be used in the classroom or at home. I like that this website is specifically realted to ESL students becasue that can be a big challenge in a classroom.

Vocabulary Activities:

http://www.cobbk12.org/cheathamhill/lfs%20update/vocabulary%20and%20word%20walls.htm

This website provides a look into a teacher's views on teaching vocabulary and provides us with strategies for effectively teaching vocabulary and explains specifically how words are learned. There are also specific examples for graphic organizers/activities that are helpful in the classroom when it comes to teaching/learning vocabulary. There are great graphics that accompany this post which teachers can use for a basis of what they put in their classroom. 

Teachers Understanding Comprehension:

http://www.learner.org/workshops/teachreading35/pdf/teachers_know_comprehension.pdf

This article is a good resource for teachers to use in order to understend the different factors interact in order to create meaning for a student. I feel like this can be used in any classroom becasue it is general to what comprehension is and even though is complex to understand. There is also a great visual that inegrates the cultural, context, and text clues related to comprehension.

Comprehension & Dyslexia: 

http://www.readingresource.net/teachingreadingcomprehension.html

This site has a lot of resources for teachers on how to help comprehension in readers in the general education classroom, and also in readers with dyslexia. We must build comprehesion through environments that support and undetstanding of text. This webpage also includes worksheets for teachers to work on with their students. 

Scholastic: 

http://www.weeklyreader.com/article/top-tips-teaching-reading-comprehension/

This article discusses tips for teachers when they are trying to teach their students to read for understanding. It comes from scholastic which is a great resource for teachers to use in their classroom. Direct instruction is important in order to build comprehension since it is one of the main components of reading. This is a great tool to give to students since it defines the different components of comprehension.

Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Xw9yoYCRY

Here is a video that shows students explaining a self-questioning strategy to support better reading comprehension. I could see students being very engaged with it! I think it's great to show to students since it is short and captivating. By considering different representations to teach students in the classroom, they can learn more and stay motivated!

Dice Game:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Comprehension-Dice-Game-1033106

Students read a book in pairs. After a page or two each they roll a dice and the corresponding number instructs them to apply a certain comprehension strategy - infer, retell, summarize, use questioning, visualizing. This is a free resource for teachers and can be used across the curriculum. I think it's benefical that this could be used with other subjects as well to ensure comprehension is understood across the subjects.

EdHelper: 

http://edhelper.com/language/Reading_Skills.htm

This website breaks down reading comprehension into specific skill areas that you can click on, for example cause and effect, point of view, summarizing, etc. For each specific skill area there are multiple reading passages that teachers can use to help students improve these specific skill areas. There are worksheets that go along with each skill area. I think this is great for teachers in order for them to practice their skills in different comprehension areas.

Reading Rockets:

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies

Reading Rockets is a great tool for any of the key elements of reading, but I especially like the chart that is posted about comphension. You can click on a category such as reciprocal teaching and see where it is best used, whether it be before, during, or after instuction. Then there is a formal description of what it is and how to use it. This is helpful for teachers to engage students in meaningful activities at different parts of lessons to foster learning. 

Interactive Games:

http://www.carlisleschools.org/webpages/pluta/teacher.cfm?subpage=1265199

This website has an abundant amount of resources that can be used with multiple categories of comprehension. The different activities are listed in alphabetical order and have multiple components. Children can choose activities such as cause and effect, characterization, and compare and contrast. Reading strategies and tests are 

Motivation to Read

http://www.cssu.org/cms/lib5/VT01000775/Centricity/Domain/34/ThoughtfulLiteracy.pdf

This resource talks about teaching thoughtful reading to students in order to foster engagement and motivation in literacy for students. The expectancy-value theory emphasizes that students need to value their success in an activity as well as assess the value or overall apeal there is in a task. It is important for teachers to be influential in their classroom in order to motivate students and continue the growth of literacy in the classroom. A teacher in the classroom can use this to engage their students and assess the motivational factors for both males and females and what the differences are.

12 Tips to Motivate Students:

http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-ways-motivate-students

This is a great article about how to motivate students in different ways. I think this is important for teachers to read in order to provide an engaging and postive classroom. Small but frequent praise and order in the classroom is a must for all teachers to be effective. Another idea presented is to motivate students outside of the classroom such as providing field trips or fun activities.

Emergent Readers:

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Motivating_Beginning_Reader/

This article talks about how to beat frustrations emergent readers are facing. When you give them other types of opportunities to read words, with math, movement, or games, they are more likely to stay motivated. I think it's important teachers take these ideas into consideration, especially for those that are struggling, because if they have something to motivate them they may read more.

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9yOOwGYYfU

This video on Youtube discusses how to engage and motivate students in a middle school classroom or setting. One of the most important things is to be able to create an engaging learning environment This can help create classroom mangement to be able to implement various instruction methods in a classroom in order to continously have students working towards a goal.

Inspiring Young Readers:

http://www.iowanationalguard.com/Family%20and%20Services/Youth%20Programs/Documents/Youth_Documents/100%20Creative%20Ways%20to%20Excite%20Young%20Readers.pdf

This website provides an arrary of tipcs for parents and educators in order to inspire younger reads to lead them to motivate to read in the classroom. I think it's great that this contains links to other resources as well. This would work as a handout for parents becasue instuction is just as important at home in reading to ensure students are practicing skills and become more literate through engagement.

Vanderbilt:

http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/

The link above leads you to a page from Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching on motivating students. It discusses different types of motivation, such as intrinsic and extrinsic, and also gives specific models and strategies for motivating students in the classroom. It's important that teachers know the distinction between students having motivation on the inside like fascination in an area, and other factors affecting that on the outside such as parental expectations. 

Motivation for Boys:

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=8b9a45cd-8deb-4846-869d-4b8665d79143%40sessionmgr114&vid=0&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=83004862

This is a great tool for teachers to use since it explicitly talks about motvation in boys. There may be differences in a classroom based on ratios as well as age of students. There may be certain tecniques for certain genders as to how human nature is. Since it is shown that boys take longer to read than girls and boys read less, according to this research study, we need to do all we can to motivate students in the classroom. 

Motivating Struggling Readers:

http://www.readinghorizons.com/blog/post/2013/01/23/Four-Keys-to-Motivating-Struggling-Readers.aspx

This is an article dedicated to four key components of motivating struggling readers including competence, control, relatedness, and interest. By being able to go through these four steps when choosing content for readers, teachers are able to tailor instruction in differentiated ways in order to meet the needs of each individual. There are compare and contrast charts on what to do and what not to do for students which is quite helpful.

Reading Rockets:

http://www.readingrockets.org/reading-topics/fluency

Reading Rockets is a great website for many topics of literacy, but I personally like the section on Fluency. There are multiple videos on how to provide students with fluency instruction in the classroom and different different types of reading programs in the classroom. There are additional resources for parents and teachers in how to guide their students. This can help teachers by finding out different methods to use in their classroom with a different variety of students.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/140878294565474286/

This sign can also be put in the classroom to help engage students and allow them to do some self-refelection.

Article:

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=46&sid=c2ee8f56-b19c-4771-a3fa-c1e784c286ea%40sessionmgr114&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eft&AN=507855347

This resource talks about explicit strategies for teachers to use in their classroom in order to increase fluency in children. There are decriptions for each and this is beneficial for educators in order for them to be prepared to teach literacy in a classroom. These strategies are vital for students to comprehend and understand the content they are reading.

Scholastic:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/fluency/pdfs/building_fluency_fit.pdf

This resource is great for any teacher learning how to fit fluency instuction into their schedule. Since this is such a foundational skill for literacy and comprehension, I think it's beneficial to look through different schedules to see what best fits your own practice and methods. This can really guide a new teacher in strategies they can use for their studens.

Fluency Tutor:

http://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fluency-tutor-for-google/ejajakfhhhhkifioabcekjjlhpoiijfa?hl=en-US

This is a great resource for any reading teacher. It's important that all students understand fluency, and this interactive tool on Google does that for students. This is especially great for struggling readers and it is free for teachers to use. Passages can be picked on lexile or reading level and it allows the student to work independently. This is great for teachers who are doing centers with their students because this could be it's own center.

Strategies for Fluency:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/5-surefire-strategies-developing-reading-fluency

This resource is explicitly for students to gain better fluency in their oral reading skills. I think since this website is so explicit, it's great to evaluate the techniques that can be used in a classroom. There are also resources that can be used such as readers theatre and poetry books. The strategies include model fluent reading, do repeatd readings, promote phrased reading, enlist tutors to help, and practice readers theatre in class. 

Early Instruction:

http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=f5f58aa6-953d-4ccf-a33c-4f770ec0b080%40sessionmgr115&vid=0&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eft&AN=97105092

This article discusses an effective early intervention strategy for fluency called HELPS - He;ping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies. Since reading is such a complex subject that requires knowledge across different areas, it's important that stratgies are worked on from the time a child is young. I think this is helpful for educators to read or even administrators to see if they want to implement this in their own school. 

Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bSTUbRpVZk

This video on Youtube is about teaching kids to imrpove their reading fluency. What I like is that there are practical stratgeis that are tested and used. There are various topics described in this video as well. I like that it camptures music and movement, and that it is part of a series teachers can watch through to gain curriculum ideas.

Fluency Boot Camp:

http://msjordanreads.com/2012/02/26/fluency-boot-camp/

This website contains an activity called fluency boot camp which can be designed for multiple grades and age groups. The great thing about this site is the materials are printable and can be accessed for free online. Some of the components of fluency include pace, phrasing, expression, and punctuation. There are fun activities involved that include recognition of the students for completing the work.