My Favorite Sites for Teaching High School English

I have a pinterest board dedicated to useful teaching websites.  Here is a list of my favorite ones to use with my English classes...

Poem Hunter will provide you with the poems from any number of poets.  I use it all the time.  Whenever I need to find a poem it is the first place I look.  It has short bios on a ton of well known poets along with online texts of their writings.  It is very handy.  The site is super user friendly and comprehensive.  

Prezi.com is a website that allows students to make cooler versions of power points.  It takes them a class period or so to play around with it and figure out how to use all of the tools, but once they know how, they love it.  They can add videos, pictures, objects, colors, themes and pretty much everything else that they can do with powerpoint.  But, the visual effects are unique and fun to play around with.  They can save them online and share them with anyone who has an email address.  It is definitely worth checking out.

Purdue Owl is a great resource with a wide variety of writing tips.  The material is most appropriate for  students in middle school through college age students.  I use it all the time as a reference for how to create bibliographies and citations using MLA formatting rules.  Once my students have shown me they know how to format their bibliographic entries, I let them cheat by using easybib.com.

6 + 1 Writing Traits  is a well known writing, teaching and assessment framework.  The title refers to the traits in writing that we want all of our students to develop over time: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation.  The common language is useful in aligning teachers across contents and grade levels to provide united expectations of students.

Writing Fix and English Companion are websites that have a ton of resources for teaching writing and reading.  They include strategies, graphic organizers, etc.  They have a wealth of information and are worth perusing.

Finally, Grammar Bytes  has a wealth of grammar activities to help reinforce grammar rules with yours students.  The sentences are fun and contemporary.

Deals and Steals: Best Back to School Deals 8/23 - 8/29

Here is a compilation of the best back to school deals and steals for 8/23/15 - 8/29/15!

Walgreens
Use your Walgreens rewards card to get the deals listed below!

Deals under $1
7/$1 -  Wexford highlighter, 12 inch wooden ruler, or two pocket folder *Must use in ad coupon


$0.49 -  Wexford one subject notebook or pencil 8 pk. *Must use in ad coupon
$0.49 -  Wexford erasers or  5 pk. dividers *Must use in ad coupon
$0.49 - Paper Mate grip mechanical pencils 5 pk.
$0.79 -  Wexford carry all case or filler paper *Must use in ad coupon

$0.99 - Wexford one inch binder
$0.99 -Wexford sheet protectors 50 pk.


Deals $1 and more

$1.99 - Wexford mechanical pencil 30 pk.



Staples

Deals Under $1

$0.15 - Staples two pocket folder
$0.17 -Staples one subject notebook
$0.25 - Staples one hole hand pencil sharpener
$0.35 - Staples twelve inch ruler
$0.48 - Staples index cards
$0.50 - Staples composition book
$0..50 -Staples school glue or glue stick
$0.50 -Crayola crayon 24 pk.
$0.68 -Staples #2 pencil 12 pk.
$0.75 -Staples filler paper
$0.75 - Crayola washable ultraclean markers 8 pk.
$0.75 - Paper Mate mechanical pencil 5 pk.
$0.97 - Crayola colored pencil 12 pk. or classic marker 10 pk.



 Deals $1 and more

$1 -5 inch kids scissors
$1 - Bic mechanical pencil 5 pk.
$1 - Bic ballpoint pen 10 pk.
$2 -Staples 3 subject notebook
$2 - Reinforced filler paper
$3 - Elmer's clear glue sticks 3 pk.
$3 - Expo dry erase marker 4 pk.

Office Max/Office Depot

Deals Under $1

$0.01 - Office Depot paper folders *$5 minimum purchase required
$0.01 - Office Depot eraser caps $5 minimum purchase required
$0.01 - Office Depot ream of copy paper *$5 minimum purchase and after rebate price
$0.50 - Scholastic glue sticks 4 pk.
$0.50 - Clear pencil case

Deals $1 and More

$1 - Office Depot binder clips 36 pk.
$1 - Office Depot poly composition book
$1 - Expo marker 4 pk.
$1 - Sharpie marker fine point 5 pk.
$1 - Office Depot graph filler paper
$1 - Office Depot graph wireless notebook
$1 - Office Depot laminated portfolio
$3 - Crayola color erasable colored pencils 12 pk.
$3 - Bic mechanical pencils 24 pk.
$3 - Ticonderoga wooden pencil 24 pk.
$5 - Foray magnetic calendar board

Wednesday Website: Cool Tool for Word Study

Online Etymology Dictionary is an online source for looking up words and their origins.  There is a page orienting you to what information you will find there.  Then you are invited to search for words and scroll through alphabetically.  There are so many ways you could use this.  Here are just a few:

1) Have students look up the origins and meanings of content vocabulary with Greek or Latin roots.
2) Have students create words maps for vocabulary with a section for etymology.
3) Have students create a dictionary of made up words using real word parts.

My New Favorite App

Auto Rap is a fun new app that you can download for free.  You record yourself reading something (such as a poem) and it automatically synchs the syllables to a beat and turns it into a rap in your own voice.  I wish I knew about this when I was teaching high school.  It would have been so much fun to play around with when I was teaching poetry.

Here are a few ways I think you could use it:

1) Have students read poetry and listen to it as a rap for the fun of it.

2) Have students read information they are trying to memorize into the app to help your musical students remember it.  (Besides, chants and songs help everyone's memory.)

3) Use it to introduce meter since it uses the rhythm in the language to synch the text to beats.

Happy rapping!

Wednesday Websites: Using Technology to Teach Writing or Spelling

Looking for fun ways to get students to practice writing their letters or spelling words?  Here are four apps that you can download for free and start using today...

Chalk Draw is an application that lets students write in chalk and then shake the ipad to erase the writing and start over.

Bubble Snap is an application that lets students write letters in bubble wrap, popping the bubbles as they run their fingers over them to make the words.

Art of Glow is an application that allows students to write letters and/or draw on a black screen in a glowing rainbow of colors.

Sand Draw has students write in the sand.  They press a button to have a wave wash over their writing and erase it when they are done.  There are versions of this for $1.99 and versions of this for free.

The Best Back to School Deals - 8/2/15 - 8/8/15

Here is a compilation of the best back to school deals and steals for 8/2/15 - 8/8/15!

Walgreens
Use your Walgreens rewards card to get the deals listed below!

Deals under $1
7/$1 - Wexford mini highlighter or paper two pocket folder with prongs *Must use in ad coupon
6/$1 - Wexford mini composition or memo books *Must use in ad coupon
4/$1 - Wexford erasers *Must use in ad coupon
$0.29 - Wexford index cards or protractor *Must use in ad coupon
$0.29 - Papermate Eagle ballpoint pen 10 pk.
$0.39 - Wexford school glue bottle or sticks *Must use in ad coupon
$0.39 - Wexford compass or sharpener *Must use in ad coupon
$0.49 - Wexford index dividers or 10 pk. protractors *Must use in ad coupon
$0.69 - Wexford composition book or poly binder *Must use in ad coupon
$0.69 - Soho supplies box or Wexford legal pads *Must use in ad coupon
$0.99 - Crayola 24 pk. crayons *Must use in ad coupon
$0.99 - Crayola classic markers 10 pk. or colored pencils 12 pk.
$0.99 - Fiskars scissors or sharpener *Must use in ad coupon
$0.99 - Wexford 96 pk. construction paper or 4 pk. dry erase markers *Must use in ad coupon
$0.99 - Wexford pencils 20 pk. or poly notebook *Must use in ad coupon
$0.99 - Bic Crystal pens 8 or 10 pk. *Must use in ad coupon

Deals $1 and more
$1.49 - Wexford mini stapler
$1.49 - Wexford filler paper
$1.99 - Papermate Write Bros. mechanical pencil 30 pk.
$3.99 - Backpack
$3.99 - Sharpie marker 8 pk.


Staples

Deals Under $1

$0.15 - Two pocket paper folder
$0.25 - One subject notebook
$0.35 - Staples 12 inch ruler
$0.48 - Staples index cards
$0.50  Crayola crayon 24 pk.
$0..50 - Staples composition book
$0.50 - Staples school glue and glue stick
$0.68 - Staples pencils 12 pk.
$0.75 -Staples filler paper
$0.75 - Crayola washable ultraclean markers 8 pk.
$0.75 - Bic #2 pencil 8 pk.
$0.75 -Staples wireless notebook or poly composition book
$0.75 -Bic retractable pens  pk.
$0.97 - Crayola colored pencil 12 pk.

Deals $1 and more

$1 - Kids scissor
$1 - Bic ballpoint pen 10 pk.
$2 - Crayola watercolor tray
$2 - Staples reinforced filler paper
$3 - Ticonderoga #2 24 pack or presharpened 18 pk.
$3 - Paper Mate mechanical pencil 12 pk.
$5 - Expo dry erase marker 8pk.