Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
A to Z (Recommended links)
This section includes a selected listing of our recommended organizations and websites.
Links are also organized by:
New York Public Library: Kids Section
Links to the "Kids Reading" section of the website. Includes links to online e-books for kids and helpful links for parents and educators.
New York Public Library: Teen Section
Links to the "Teen Link" webpage, which includes free music and video downloads, homework help, and online recordings of teens sharing their thoughts.
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory is a wholly owned subsidiary of Learning Point Associates. As a member of the Regional Educational Laboratory Network, NCREL is dedicated to providing high-quality, research-based resources to educators and policymakers in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory provides research and development assistance to education, government, community, business, and labor agencies. NWREL's primary service area is the Northwest states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
Notes from the Horn Book, a free monthly e-newsletter, is perfect for parents, teachers, and anyone else looking for good new books for children and young adults. Written by the editors of the distinguished Horn Book Magazine, it is full of news, reviews, and interviews with noteworthy authors and artists.
Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA)
The OELA was formed to help ensure that children who are limited English proficient attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic attainment in English, and meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards that all children are expected to meet.
The Online Writing Lab provides materials for English as a Second Language (ESL) students and teachers, including resource pages, handouts, and exercises.
Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center
The Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center assists the families of children with disabilities through education, information and training. PEATC builds parent-professional partnerships to promote success in school and community life.
The Parent-Child Home Program (formerly the Mother-Child Home Program) is a proven, innovative home-based literacy and parenting program serving families challenged by poverty, low-levels of education, language barriers and other obstacles to educational success.
Parents' Choice: Chicano and Chicana Books for Everyone
Parents' Choice reviews a sample of six Chicano books for children, discussing the ways that the books both resonate with Chicanos and enlighten and inspire readers of other backgrounds as well.
The Bookjoy Blog was founded by Pat Mora in 2008 to share some "joy of reading" events such as book festivals and Children's Day, especially in the context of the Latino community.
PBS Kids is made up of over a dozen sites connected to PBS characters. PBS Kids is a noncommercial, safe, and educational online space, just for kids. Online games, writing, and Did You Know sections are created with educational goals in mind.
Ready To Learn is public broadcasting's on-going contribution to the fulfillment of the first national education goal — that by the year 2000, all American children will begin school ready to learn. PBS and its member stations are working towards achieving this goal for children in a number of ways: offering a full line-up of high-quality PBS children's programming based on specific educational goals, both on-air and online; creating interactive online resources for kids and their caregivers; producing special on-air educational messages that teach kids important skills; presenting community outreach and educational materials for neighborhoods; and offering TV Tips for Parents.
Here you'll find information about your child's development, fun educational activities, information about PBS KIDS programs, and much more!
PBS Teachers provides educators with nearly 3,000 free lesson plans and activities tied to PBS programming. Teachers can sort lesson plans by subject area and grade level.
PBS Teachers: Folklore and Mythology Lesson Plans
PBS Teachers features a number of multimedia lesson plans. To find the appropriate age level for your students, select the grade level from the menu, and "Folklore" or "Mythology" from the topic menu.
PBS Teachers: Media Infusion Blog
Each month, PBS Teachers' guest experts discuss using multimedia resources to address common instructional challenges. Topics range from digital literacy to online poetry activities.
A Place of Our Own is the companion Web site to the daily Californian television series "A Place of Our Own" (and "Los Niños en Su Casa" in Spanish). The Web site, along with the TV series and an outreach program, are directed toward child care providers and share ways to help children to acquire developmental skills, language, and literacy. On the Web site, information and episode resources are organized by key topics, such as Brain Development and Health & Safety.
PBS: Ten Steps to College with the Greens
A PBS documentary that follows the Greens as they prepare for college. Each segment describes the step and has a video clip to accompany the information.
This site guides parents through their child's development from birth through age 5. This site is also available in Spanish.
PEAK Parent Center provides training, information, and technical assistance to equip parents with strategies to advocate successfully for their children with disabilities. Some information is available in Spanish.
Peer editing checklist for student use from Time Savers for Teachers.
Pennsylvania English Language Learners
With sections for parents, educators, and students, this site offers a variety of information about English language learners and ways to help them succeed. The site is also available in Spanish.
The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation. The Center conducts scientific studies and public opinion surveys on a wide range of topics that are publicly accessible on its Web site.
Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS)
PALS is funded through Virginia Reads grants and the University of Virginia. The PALS website includes: 1) a section where teachers return their class scores to UVA and receive an immediate summary report, 2) a page where principals and district representatives can receive summaries of their schools' PALS scores, and 3) more than a hundred instructional suggestions and activities, based on PALS screening sections.
Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS) : Early Literacy Activities
The Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS) Program is funded through Virginia Reads grants and the University of Virginia. This site provides early literacy activities, organized by skill type.
Pierce County: Early Learning Resources
Pierce County Library System in Washington offers a Web page full of early learning resources, like downloadable information sheets with ideas to make everyday activities a learning experience, booklets with reading tips, and podcasts about pre-reading strategies.
Practitioner Toolkit: Working with Adult English Language Learners
The Practitioner Toolkit: Working with Adult English Language Learners and a related free online course are resources for new adult education and family literacy instructors. The Toolkit includes a FAQ section, a first-day orientation guide, lesson plans, and research-to-practice papers on critical topics.
Offers resources for Pre-K advocates, policymakers, business and community leaders, educators, and family.
Pre-K Now Article: Pre-K and Latinos*
"Pre-K and Latinos: The Foundation for America's Future."
This Spanish-language website from PreK Now offers parents a wide variety of information about early education. Topics covered basic facts about pre-school, different types and quality levels of pre-school, and the benefits pre-k brings to children.
This Spanish-only site has themed units for preschool classrooms. Activities based around animals and letters, as well as hands-on activities and coloring pages, are highlighted here.
PLA's purpose is to advance the development and effectiveness of public library service and public librarians. The association exists to provide a diverse program of communication, publication, advocacy, continuing education, and programming for its members and others interested in the advancement of public library service.
This award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
Putumayo World Music was established to introduce people to the music of the world's cultures. The Putumayo Kids division was created to introduce children to other cultures through fun, upbeat world music.
Quia: Online Activities and Games for Students
This website offers student activities and games in a number of subject areas, including ESL and Spanish. Educators who join with a paid subscription can also create activities and games for their classes. Students do not need to be subscribers to participate.
Raising A Reader's mission is to foster healthy brain development, parent-child bonding, and early literacy skills by engaging parents in a routine of daily "book cuddling" with their children from birth to age five. It offers its program through organizations such as Head Start, and has documented participating children's superior book knowledge and story comprehension.
A program designed to encourage reading in families and increase children's exposure to literature. Doctors and nurses are trained to read with parents and children at check-ups and then books are given to the family. Lists local programs and information on literacy resources.
Initially created as a one-day event to celebrate reading on Dr. Seuss's birthday, March 2, NEA's Read Across America has grown into a nationwide initiative that promotes reading every day.
Reading A-Z offers thousands of printable teacher materials to teach guided reading, phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, reading fluency, alphabet, and vocabulary. The teaching resources include professionally developed downloadable leveled books, lesson plans, worksheets, and reading assessments.
RIF develops and delivers children and family literacy programs that help prepare young children for reading and motivate school-age children to read.
Reading Is Fundamental: Reading Motivation Articles
Articles covering a wide range of reading motivation topics from Reading Is Fundamental.
Provides detailed information about learning to read and strategies for supporting struggling readers at home, at school, and in the community. It offers news, practical information, expert advice, and resources for parents, teachers, tutors, child care providers, and policy makers.
Reading Rockets Themed Booklists
Reading Rockets highlights a wide variety of themed booklists for kids from 0-9 years old, compiled by children's literature expert Maria Salvadore. Topics range from seasons and holidays to different feelings, activities, games, and animals.
Reading Rockets: Video Interviews with Children's Authors
Reading Rockets shares exclusive video interviews with more than sixty renowned children's book authors and illustrators such as Tomie dePaola, Walter Dean Myers, Lois Lowry, and Nikki Giovanni.
ReadWriteThink, established in April of 2002, is a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation. They are working together to provide educators and students with access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction through free, Internet-based content.
Resources for Undocumented Students
An overview of grants, scholarships, and tuition policies affecting undocumented students.
Reading is Fundamental (RIF) provides a bilingual website that is designed to help Latino families read, sing, and share stories together at home.
The RIF Reading Planet, part of the Reading Is Fundamental website, is a place where kids can explore the colorful online world of books, activities, and literacy games.
San Diego School District: Parent Resources
The San Diego Unified School District's parent resource page offers general school policy information in multiple languages, along with helpful articles about testing, attendance, and student performance.
This website offers a scholarship directory that Hispanic students can browse. Results can be sorted by field of study, deadline, state, type of scholarship, and citizenship status.
This homework tool allows parents and students to create their own flashcards for subjects such as math and vocabulary.
Scholastic News English/Spanish
Scholastic News English/Español is a classroom magazine available by subscription with a flip-format that lets students read the same content in both English and Spanish. The magazine connects its topics to Latino cultures and offers family activities that can be sent home.
Scholastic, Inc.: Books Organized by Level
This grid can be used to browse Scholastic's Classroom Books' individual paperback titles organized by Guided Reading, Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), and Lexile Levels.
Scholastic: Myths from Around the World
Stories and myths from around the world, organized by region.
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