BOOK LOVERS

• Just For Kids Who Love Books - A website for kids 8 to 14. Links to authors, awards, books, kids, magazines, more.
• Kidsreads - Great place on the web for kids to find info about their favorite books, series and authors.
• Scholastic.com | Kids: Book Central - Nice website from Scholastic.
• Books for Kids Ages 8-13 - A list of 101 books for kids.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• no flying, no tights - A website reviewing graphic novels for teens.
• Teen Booklists: Graphic Novels - Descriptions and summaries of a selection of popular graphic novels.
• sidekicks - A website reviewing graphic novels for kids.

MAGAZINES  

• Weekly Reader - Heavily graphic-designed site for pre-K to 10th grade.
• Sports Illustrated for Kids - Online version of Sports Illustrated for Kids.
• TeenVoices Online - Magazine written by and for female teens. Links to resources on subjects and issues of interest plus other E-zines.

GENERAL LANGUAGE ARTS LINKS

HISTORY OF WRITING

• Ancient Scripts - An introduction to writing systems, the origins of writing, a study of language through time, and more.
• History of Writing - The history of writing presented through text and pictures.
• The History of Writing - Easy to read text introduces the history of writing, what people wrote on, and what people used to write.
• Evolution of Alphabets - An animated illustration of the progression from early alphabets to contemporary alphabets.
• The origin of alphabets and the languages of the world - An article about the origin of alphabets and languages.
• How Did We Get the Alphabet? - A brief history of how the alphabet developed from the early days of civilization.
• The Alphabet - A brief outline history of the alphabet. A history and description of each letter of the alphabet is presented.
• History of Writing - A summary of the history of writing and the materials and methods of writing.
• Phoenicia, Phoenicians: Phoenician Alphabet - Explains the history of the Phoenician alphabet and illustrates the evolution of modern alphabets.
• Time-Table - Detailed chronological table illustrating the history of writing.
• Cuneiform Writing - An introduction to cuneiform, the world's first written language. Instructions for classroom projects are available to teachers.
• Write Like a Babylonian - Type in your name and see it written in cuneiform.
• Egyptian Hieroglyphs - Contains an introduction to Egyptian hieroglyphic writing and numbering, including interactive examples.
• Jim Loy's Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Egyptology Page - Includes a hieroglyphic dictionary and articles about the Egyptian language.
• Reading Hieroglyphs - The First Steps - From alphabet, nouns, and adjectives to numerals and linking words together.
• Egyptian Hieroglyphic Alphabet - A table with hieroglyphic letters, symbols, and sounds.
• The History of the Coptic Language - A discussion of the Coptic language, the last stage of the written Egyptian language.
• Greek Alphabet - A table of all the letters in the Greek alphabet, upper-case and lower-case, with their names and pronunciations.
• The Greek Alphabet - Explanation and illustration of the letters in the Greek alphabet.

VOCABULARY

• Vocabulary University - Enhance your knowledge of the English language with these vocabulary puzzles.
• Confusing Words - Confusing Words is a collection of 3210 words that are troublesome to readers and writers. Words are grouped according to the way they are most often confused or misused.

WRITING PROMPTS

• Creative Writing Prompts.com - Provides daily writing prompts. The site also offers an archive of prompts from previous months.
• Diarist.net - Access daily writing sparks and archives of past writing prompts.
• ifproject.com - Tough questions each month to make writers examine their thoughts, memories, values, and beliefs. An archive of previous questions is also available.
• Writing Prompts - From WritersDigest.com, 365 idea joggers and brain starters.
• CanTeach: Writing Prompts/Journal Topics - Great list of writing prompts and topics.
• Writing Prompts - Writing prompt suggestions for individuals.
• Writing Prompts - Writing prompts for groups and classrooms.
• Practice Writing Prompts - Writing prompts for persuasive, expository and narrative writing.
• Writing - Prompts - Good information on using writing prompts. Contains writing prompts for persuasive, expository and narrative writing.
• Narrative and Descriptive Writing Prompts - Examples of narrative and descriptive writing prompts.
• Writing Prompts - Personal Narrative - Personal narrative writing prompts.
• Ten Narrative Writing Prompts - Targeted mainly at high school teachers and basic college compositions, but can be adapted for middle school.
• Ten Persuasive Writing Prompts - You can modify the assignment by asking students to write a letter to the principal, to a teacher, to the school board, to the governor, to a state senator (or similar politician), to the city board, to their classmates, to the PTA president (or other officers), and so on.
• Expository Writing Prompts - Writing prompts for expository writing. These prompts are geared more for elementary or middle school students.
• Samples of narrative writing prompts - Writing prompts for narrative writing.

AWARD WINNING BOOK LISTS 

• Newbery Medal and Honor Books - Current and previous winners of the Newbery Medal. This award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children
• Caldecott Medal and Honor Books - Current and previous winners of the Caldecott Medal. This award is given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
• Belpré Medal - Current and previous winners of the Belpré Medal, 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.
• Margaret A Edwards Award - The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author's lifetime achievement for writing books that have been popular over a period of time.
• Michael L. Printz Award - The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
• Coretta Scott King Award - This award recognizes an African-American author of outstanding books for children and young adults.
• ALA Notable Children's Books - Notable fiction and non-fiction books for younger readers, middle readers, and older readers.
• Young Reader's Choice Award - The Pacific Northwest Library Association's Young Reader's Choice Award is the oldest children's choice award in the U.S. and Canada. This site has links to current and previous nominees and new and previous winners

TEEN READS 

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults - ALA list of recommended books for young adults.
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults - ALA list of recommended paperback books for young adults.
• ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers - ALA list of recommended books for reluctant readers.
• Teenreads.com - Book club and reading guides for teens.
• Reading Rants!--Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists! - Booklists for teens.
• Guys Read - Selections of books for boys of all ages. The site also features links to some Web sites of great authors for guys.
• Favorite Teenage Angstbooks - A celebration of teenage angst and personal discovery. Reviews of new books, author interviews, all sorts of fun stuff.
• Series and Sequels - A website that lists titles and order for teen series books.
• Booklists - Booklists for all ages.
• Reading Matters - Book reviews from teens and librarians.
• Jackson County Library - Links to sites with booklists for teens.
• TeenLink - From the New York Public Library.
• The Seattle Public Library Teens Reading List - Good selection of booklists for teens.
• BPL Teen Lounge - Booklist Index - Booklists for teens from the Boston Public Library.
• CLP Teen Reads - Booklists for teens from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
• IPL Teenspace - A collection of reading resources for teens. Here you'll find sites with fun reading lists, online independent 'zines, blogs by teens, and more.
• Reader's Club: Teen Corner Book Reviews - Guide to books for teens. The reviews are organized into twenty-two categories.
• Flamingnet Book Reviews - Reviews on teen and young adult books.
• Teen Ink: Book Reviews Written by Teens - Teen Ink's collection of book reviews, all written by teenagers.

WRITING PROCESS 

• Writing Lab Online - Help with all areas of writing. This site has just about everything you need to know about the writing process.
• What Makes a Good Story: Tips for Young Authors - This site explains how to use theme, plot, story structure, characters, setting, and style and tone into your writing.
• The Elements of Style - This is an online version of William Strunk's book "The Elements of Style. The book presents the principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.
• The Columbia Guide to Standard American English - A vigorous assessment of how our language is best written and spoken and how we can use it most effectively, this guide is the ideal handbook of language etiquette: friendly, sensible, reliable, and fun to read. Its 6,500 entries contain thousands of examples, both descriptive and prescriptive, and feature 4,300 hyperlinked cross-references.
• ABC's of the Writing Process - Provides online resources for prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing.
• Kids on the Net - Kids on the Net is a web site for children's writing, for kids, by kids.
• The Biography Maker - Step by step suggestions for writing an interesting biography.
• Editing and Proofreading - Tips to make sure you are finally finished writing and rewriting your piece.
• Avoiding Plagiarism - Strategies to avoid accidental plagiarism.

GRAMMAR  

• The American Heritage Book of English Usage - "With a detailed look at grammar, style, diction, word formation, gender, social groups and scientific forms, this valuable reference work is ideal for students, writers, academicians and anybody concerned about proper writing style."
• Guide to Grammar and Writing - Use drop-down menus to access a variety of grammar help.
• Online Writing Lab: Writing and Grammar - Resources for student writers seeking to improve their understanding and mastery of basic writing principles. Handouts are available to be printed or downloaded.
• Grammar Handbook Index - The Grammar Handbook is meant as a brief reference tool to help you with common grammatical errors.
• Grammar Handbook - This Handbook explains and illustrates the basic grammatical rules concerning parts of speech, phrases, clauses, sentences and sentence elements, and common problems of usage.
• SuperTeach: Your English Grammar Tutor On-line - Free on-line English grammar lessons. Includes lessons for verb forms, what is a sentence, and sentence fragments.
• The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation - Online guide and workbook to help you find the answers to your questions concerning proper English grammar and punctuation.
• The Online English Grammar - Online English grammar resources.
• Grammar: The Basics - Basic elements of grammar: the different types of words and how they function, as well as the different ways in which you can put words together.
• Big Dog's Grammar - Provides a thorough review of the basics of English grammar as well as online quizzes to reinforce what you have learned.
• Daily Grammar - A large archive of grammar lessons.
• Dr. Grammar - Frequently Asked Questions - Contains answers to some of the most frequently asked grammar questions.
• Common Errors in English - Access a list of common word usage errors .
• Grammar and Spelling - A well organized site from Fact Monster. Contains easy to understand explanations of parts of speech, capitalization, punctuation, and more.
• English Grammar Connection - Contains interactive grammar lessons. Select a subject and a skill level from the drop down menus.
• Standard Deviants: English Grammar - Walks you through the rules of grammar by explaining proper verb tense, nouns, phrases, participles and more.
• Grammar Gorillas - An on-line game for identifying parts of speech.
• Punctuation - Provides links to sites with punctuation help.