Helpful Links for Secondary Education Language Arts Teachers

Lesson Ideas

• AskERIC - This site contains lesson plans for everything from learning the alphabet to writing skills, links to professional discussion groups, and links to free journal articles, abstracts and other resources. ERIC stands for the Educational Resources Information Center and is funded by the federal government and maintained by Syracuse University.
• PIZZAZ - non-copywrited materials for use in ESL learning.
• ESL Flow - Activities and lessons that encourage participation and communication for ESL learners.
• Foolish Exercise Archive - Ideas on drama- and activity-based learning.
• Poetry Contest - might help in motivating students.
• African American Writers: Online E-texts - Includes encyclopedia of African American authors, some full texts, biography, criticism, and lesson plans.

• List of Banned Books - This site, maintained by the American Library Association, highlights the most "challenged" or banned books.  It's a fascinating list.  Ironically, three of the books on the list are the Harry Potter series (enormously popular with children and widely read - on their own!), Of Mice and Men (one of the top 10 books taught in secondary education), and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (a work gaining adoption in programs promoting multicultural literature). I think information like this should be shared with our students.
• Multicultural Resources for Children - Bibliographies by ethnicity and more.
• Internet Public Library - K-12 Education - Resources that have been found and "screened" by library graduate students from the University of Michigan.

• Information on Authors - Many authors surprisingly absent, but still a good long list.
• Dictionary/Thesaurus - I find that being a language professional comes with a certain social requirement - that I must in all instances write and speak in perfect English at all times.
• Illinois Writing Project - Programs to improve literacy skills.
• National Writing Project - More programs to improve literacy skills.

• Teacher Talk - Discussion groups and email lists for teachers.  Maintained by NCTE.
• Student Loan Forgiveness - If you teach an impacted subject or in areas badly needing teachers, you can have your student loans "forgiven" or absolved.
• Salary Schedule for Chicago Public Schools - Very depressing. PDF file.
• The Champion - Find out what your colleagues are making. There are some long-lived teachers and administrators making a surprisingly hefty sum.
• Illinois Education Job Bank
• Cook County Education Job Vacancies
• Lake County Education Job Vacancies
• Points of Light - Very cool site that helps you find volunteer opportunities of all types in myriad locations.
• Internet Educator of the Year - Nominate an educator that embraces Internet resources and technologies and successfully integrates them into the classroom.
• Great Schools - This website provides a breadth of classroom statistics for schools in all 50 states, including diversity, economics, classroom size, teacher education, and more.

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