The author, Helen Lester, traces her writing career from the age of three to adulthood. She shares her struggles with writing in elementary school and even later as a successful writer. Helens story demonstrates that even the most challenging struggles can be overcome with persistence and a good sense of humor.

This site offers 5,390+ robust, original stories based on primary sources and presented in various media formats: written, dramatized narrations, videos, images, maps, and more!
Free stories each day are available for access - see the home page and the What Matters Now tabs

French language skills include speaking, listening, reading and writing.

This site would be very helpful for learners of Core French. The levels vary from the younger students all the way to high school level.

**please note that some of the videos are not accessible to teachers here, however, the other oral and aural activities are very useful

This historical fiction story takes place in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression in New York City. Baseball was king and Babe Ruth was at the top of his game. In this story, a young boy and his father become a team as they both work to support their family.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary from the modern fable and play, The Baker's Neighbor. In this play, the neighborhood baker Manuel bakes delicious smelling pastries and puts them out for sale each morning, but his neighbor, Pablo, loves to smell the fresh bakery every morning without purchasing any pastries. This irritates Manuel to the point where he feels Pable should pay to smell his baked goods, and Manuel takes his complain to the town judge who eventually offers a ruling that allows Manuel to get the pleasure of "touching" Pablo's gold coins in return for Pable "smelling" the bakery.

When war breaks out in Mulans land and her father is drafted into the army, Mulan makes a great sacrifice when she disguises herself as a male to take her fathers place.

Diphtheria has broken out in Nome, Alaska. Teams of sled dogs carry medicine 800 miles over snow and ice to prevent an epidemic. Everyone was brave but one dog, Balto, made the difference between failure and success.

A Prince must find a girl who will love him, in spite of his frightening curse.

Encourage students to become “Writing Thieves” Ruth Culham suggests that we pickpocket our way through the world of print and non-print as writers, not just readers. Be a cat burglar of great writing. Bring the great treasures you find into your teaching and learning. Use things that jump out at you, that are unforgettable. When you get excited by something an author writes about or the way they write it, steal bit of it in the hope that you can improve your own writing –BE A WRITING THIEF!

We used blogging for many assignments, journals, and in place of exit slips often. We started out with familiarizing ourselves with how to log in and create posts. Our earliest posts were very basic, starting with introducing ourselves and writing about our likes, dislikes, what we did on the weekend, etc. Students were asked to create responses about a novel study we had done, The Mouse and the Motorcycle. I created prompts and had students submit their posts. After finishing the novel, we watched the video and then posted a compare/contrast assignment on the blog. We also used the "Piracy Pirates" game at mediasmarts and blogged about 3 things we learned and the connections we made between online privacy/safety and our own experiences. Students were always encouraged to make quality comments to their peers after posting.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary from the text Blue Willow. Janey's father is an immigrant worker and this forces Janey and her family to move around every few months, but Janey finds a friend named Lupe and a place she would like to call home permanently. Janey has to go to Camp Miller School for immigrant children like herself and she finds once again she must learn whether the new teacher will be a friend or just another teacher like the ones before her.

This thematic unit from Comox Valley Schools (SD71) in B.C. is aimed at Grade 6 Core French students, but is suitable for younger grades and would be easily adaptable for older ones. It is focused on oral practice and participation and would also be useful in primary French Immersion classes!

THIS UNIT'S THEME: Body Parts & Monsters (Le corps & les monstres)

In addition to tips for incorporating French into daily routines, the unit includes:

-Vocabulary
-Pronunciation videos
-Kahoot/flash card games
-Word games
-Games and activities for oral practice
-An art & writing activity

The same page details other units and a Cultural Study: La culture de Montréal.

A family moves into an unpopulated area. With the ingenuity of one young girl, a town is established and grows. The idea of supply and demand is evident in this story. The businesses in town grow to include a tanner, a cooper, a miller, a blacksmith and a laundry.

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary from the biographical text, Boss of the Plains. This biography relates the life of John Batterson Stetson as a hatting apprentice until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and decided to explore the American West. During his time with the people of the West, he invents a better hat, nicknamed "Boss of the Plains," - the first real cowboy hat.

Brain Builders is an animated video series you can share with your students to help them understand what the brain does in order to read–the first time the Science of Reading has been placed in the hands of students.

Join Minh on his journey as his babysitter, Tamara, helps him cultivate a love for reading and understanding the Science of Reading. Series includes 13 episodes you don’t want to miss!

This lesson provides teachers with support for using text-dependent questions to help students derive big ideas and key understandings while developing vocabulary using the fictional text The Bridge Dancers. In this book, two sisters, Maisie and Callie, are faced with a challenging situation. Callie gets hurt while their mother is away and Maisie must decide if she can rely on her knowledge of herbal medicine to save her sister's life.

The Building Literacy with Technology in Elementary guide provides articles, samples, and lessons to find new ideas and approaches to engage learners in building skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

In the Building Literacy with Technology in Elementary guide you will explore:
- Ways to get students making in language arts,
- Take a creative approach to student work with informational text,
- How to motivate students by creating their own comics, cartoons, and graphic novels.

The guide includes lesson plans where students:
- Design a new cover for a book they are reading to demonstrate comprehension and explore character, plot, setting, symbolism, and conflict.
- Create a digital scrapbook that showcases the viewpoint of the main character of a novel.
- Illustrate and translate the meaning of an idiom to help others learn these examples of figurative language.
- Write and produce an animated tall tale about a famous person.
- Explore character, plot, and theme and learn to write persuasively as they develop a movie-style trailer for a book they have read.
- Learn and practice persuasive writing and presentation skills.
- Personify an object and write a story as part of an online book or animated adventure.
- Analyze verse and explore meaning by creating a visual poem.

These articles, lessons, and strategies engage students through creative technology to maximize student literacy skills.

The Building Literacy with Technology in Primary guide provides articles, samples, and lessons to find new ideas and approaches to engage your students in building skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

In the Building Literacy with Technology in Primary guide you will explore:
- Engaging new readers and writers with creative technologies
- Using digital storytelling in the primary classroom
- Inspiring every student to be an author

The guide includes lesson plans where students:
- Explore initial sounds through the creation of a classroom ABC book.
- Learn to write using alliteration and create illustrations that support and reflect their writing.
- Practice writing and illustrating as they create a page in your class’s adaptation of their favorite pattern story.
- Write a letter to their parents, or classroom teacher, to persuade them to get a new pet, supporting their opinion with reasons and examples.
- Research an animal and create a riddle to showcase their knowledge and engage other students in the natural world.
- Create a book review on a card or 3D cube to help others choose books they will enjoy.
- Learn about the haiku poetry form and write and illustrate their own haiku poems.
- Write how-to stories about getting ready for school and publish them to share with their families and to use at home.

These articles, lessons, and strategies engage students through creative technology to maximize student literacy skills.

A combination of focused activities and creative, open-ended technology projects can help you take a new approach to building literacy with your secondary students. Use these articles, samples, and lessons to find new ideas and approaches that will work for your learners.

The Building Literacy in Secondary guide includes:
- Articles
- Reading, Literacy, and Digital Creativity
- SPLAT...POW...WOW! Motivating Readers and Writers
- More Than Just a Writing Prompt
- Supporting 6+1 Trait Writing

Lesson Plans
- Create a Video Poem
- Design a Book Cover
- Character Scrapbook
- Not Your Average Portfolio
- MyBook (Fakebook) Page
- Digital Book Trailers

These articles, lessons, and strategies engage students through creative technology to maximize student literacy skills.

Child-Led, Hands-On, Active Learning for Kids including:
Math
Reading
Writing
Sports and Recreation
Colors
Multilingual Teaching Tips (lots of Chinese resources)