Those of us who love and respect the research, collecting, and reading tasks that accompany teaching English appreciate the obvious benefits of the worldwide web as a gigantic teaching tool in general. We can also benefit from the wonderful specific resources and tools: Literature Lesson Plans.
Usually designed, written, and submitted by fellow instructors, these literature lesson plans, comprehensive, delightful in interactive possibilities, and thorough in cross-referencing studies and sites, offer fresh approaches, lend themselves to professional development, and (again obviously) contribute to the enhancement of classroom (or virtual classroom) learning of concepts, strategies, methodologies, and skills.
As an instructor of college English (composition, lit, creative writing, et. al. courses) and as an online course developer, I have found so many valuable teacher resources for linguistic, literary, and rhetorical disciplines in particular and for education and teaching in general. Some of these I would like to share with you, maybe saving you the time I spent collecting materials, or maybe just introducing you to a site, a database, or a teaching strategy or idea that you had yet to discover, but hopefully not creating a redundancy—by listing a site you know well.
Online Teacher Communities:
Pro-teacher Community (K-3; 4-8; Math, Science, & Technology; Gifted Students http://www.proteacher.net/
Teachers.net (Lesson exchange, live chat, job and classifieds boards, and more…) http://www.teachers.net/
Tolerance.org (Activities, Kits and Handbooks, Web Exclusives, Grants, and more…for teaching tolerance.) http://www.tolerance.org/teach/magazine/getpublished.jsp
Online Teacher Databases
Teacher Oz’s Kingdom of History (Tracey Osborn’s WWII database) http://www.teacheroz.com/
*Web English Teacher (Carla Beard’s exhaustive site—includes multiple and various subcategories—including Shakespeare, Media and Literacy, Poetry, Study Guides, exquisite ideas or actual Literature Lesson Plans, and much, much more….) http://www.webenglishteacher.com/index.html
*ESL Resources at OWL (Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab—handouts, resources, and exercises) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/index.html
Just for Teachers (Sheboygan Falls teacher Dawn Hogue offers advice, syllabi, book lists, and links for AP English teachers.) http://www.sheboyganfalls.k12.wi.us/staff/dehogue/AP/teachers/main.htm
ReadWriteThink (Lesson Plans, Web Resources, Student Materials, and Standards) http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/
TeachersFirst.com (Classroom, professional, and site resources for k-12 teachers.) http://www.teachersfirst.com/
Collection/lessons/handouts (PRINTABLE)
Awesome Library: K-12 Lesson Plans (Dr. R. Jerry Adams’ multiple disciplines collection) http://www.awesomelibrary.org/lesson.html
*Helpful Handouts for Students and Teachers (Erica Cassel’s writing, reading, and writing about reading materials) http://www.mrscassel.com/helpful_handouts.htm
*Lesson Plans at Teachnet.com (General and Specific Literature Lesson Plans , Many Level Lesson Plans, and those for Multiple Disciplines) http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/index.html
Microsoft Education Lesson Plans http://www.microsoft.com/education/LessonPlans.mspx
*S.C.O.R.E. Language Arts CyberGuides (Comprehensive, interactive lesson plan units for k-12.) http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
Teachers.net Lesson Bank (lesson exchange for k-12, advanced, senior, and other level and range teachers) http://www.teachers.net/lessons/
Using English.com ESL Teacher Handouts, Grammar Worksheets, and Printables http://www.usingenglish.com/handouts/
Virtual Seminars for Teaching Literature (by the University of Oxford) http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/jtap/
There are, of course hundreds more wonderful sites for teacher resources. I have yet to explore and employ them. I have much ground to cover, but in the efforts and explorations, I hope to see you online one day, maybe in one of the community chat rooms.
We learn by teaching, and we teach by learning—so say the wise ones. May all your lessons, then, be wonderful.