You don’t have to be a reading teacher to include reading activities and strategies in your classroom. If a student has to read content, whether its computer languages to zoology, they’re reading. Period. The PLS online course Reading Across the Curriculum addresses the issue of, well, reading across many topics, not just in “reading” class.
To get you started, I’ve included some online resources for you to go through. While there are literally millions of reading resources online, I’ve managed to pare it down to a handful that are current and interesting. These sites offer everything from lesson plans to interactivities to how to teach reading.
A great resource for any teacher. It includes lists of books for all ages, preschoolers, ages 4-8, 9-12, and young adults.
This site contains many folktales which are arranged by theme. No matter which subject you are teaching, there are folktales a plenty on this site to bring into the lesson!
Spider Man in Amazing Adventures
This Department of Education site has plenty of reading and writing activities for all the Spiderman fans in your classroom!
Teaching Reading Comprehension
In her article, Beth Lewis discusses how the techniques in Mosaic of Thought and the Reader’s Workshop method focus on student-centered reading instruction.
What Secondary Teachers Can Do To Teach Reading
Vicki A. Jacobs discusses how content teachers can teach reading in their classrooms without having to be a reading specialist first. A good overview of content reading teaching.
A little hard to navigate but this website has a wealth of information. Particularly useful are the “A Spoken English Grammar for ESL Learners” and “Online Pronouncing Dictionary with Pronouncing Guide.” Both are interactive and use audio for pronounciations. The “Mouse Over Pop Lyrics” link might interest older students.
Lots of online reading games divided by grade, Preschool to 6th. Each game comes with a printable teacher resource. The other subjects also include reading but not how to read strategies like the games in the Language Arts section. Registration is optional.
A very cool town that is all about reading and imagination. The different buildings in town (arcade, tv station, radio station, post office, etc) offer opportunities for reading and writing for all age levels. There are also products that tie in with the website if you choose to bring the books and software into your classroom.
The Book Whisperer is 6th grade teacher Donalyn Miller who helps other teachers learn how to inspire students to read. Lots of different topics about reading.
Education Place Textbook Support Materials
If you use Houghton Mifflin books in your classroom, this is a good resource for you. Just choose your state, subject, book series and grade then Houghton Mifflin offers class materials to support student reading.
TeacherTube.com Reading Channel
A plethora of videos on reading for a variety of grades.
I leave you to consider the following video. While it plays, reflect on how much of what it speaks of requires reading. Including understanding the video itself.
[...] have all these great tools for supporting literacy. April shared a plethora of online reading resources, and that’s only a fraction of what’s available. We have blogs and wikis to teach [...]