MORE Resources on Writing and Reading
Editor’s Note: This page is under construction.
Following are links to a diverse range of resources for educators, parents, and guardians to help you better understand the craft of teaching writing and to expand learning opportunities with the young people in your life. Click on a category or scroll down to discover our curated list of recommended articles, websites, videos, and more.
Online Resources and Organizations
Articles About Writing
Articles About Reading
Articles About Socio-Economic Statistics
Videos
Books
Online Resources and Organizations
Writing Lesson Plans from The New York Times
Hundreds of free writing resources for teachers and students, including writing prompts.
TeachersFirst: Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers
TeachersFirst is a rich collection of lessons, units, and web resources designed to save teachers time by delivering just what they need in a practical, user-friendly, and ad-free format. Busy teachers, parents, and students can find resources using our robust search tools.
Elementary School Writing Apps and Websites by Common Sense Education
By getting kids writing early and often, we prepare them to succeed across all subjects. Give your students a leg up with these great picks for elementary school-age kids that’ll get them writing and sharing.
National Writing Project
Every year Writing Project teachers lead programs where teachers across the nation learn how to help youth research and form arguments, expand their learning beyond the classroom walls, and publish their writing about topics that matter to them.
Tips and Tools by the Writing Center at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Extensive guide to articles, worksheets, assignments, and even tips of how to write for particular fields of study.
Writing Prompts Teaching Tool by Scholastic
Ready-to-go writing prompts and lessons from Scholastic Teachables give students valuable practice to help them become strong writers.
11 Resources for Writing Teachers by the Write Practice
At The Write Practice, we strive to convince our readers why learning to write better is important to them and their lives, and we do this before we ever teach a single concept. In other words, we talk about the question why a lot because we believe that a student who is convinced what they’re learning is important to them will always learn better. We also believe deeply in deliberate practice, and that’s why at the end of each lesson, we give students a chance to put what they’ve just learned to use immediately, encouraging them to share their work with other writers to get feedback.
ReadWriteThink.org
Since 2002, ReadWriteThink.org has provided literacy educators with access to an ever-growing collection of free educational materials. This includes hundreds of lesson plans, calendar resources, prints, and interactive tools. The site has consistently been one of the most information-rich literacy resources on the internet. Every lesson plan on ReadWriteThink has always been aligned to the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts, showing how theory feeds into practice.
Resources for Teaching Writing by the University of Louisville Writing Center
Teaching students to write effectively, across the many disciplines of the university, is an ongoing challenge for instructors. On these pages we offer some brief discussions and useful links addressing some of the central concerns we hear from our faculty colleagues about teaching writing in their courses.
Purdue University Online Writing Lab
The online writing lab offers global support through online reference materials and services for creating citations, cover letters, major-specific writing help, and general writing advice.
Creative Writing Resources by TeacherVision
Worksheets, lesson plans, graphic organizers, reference sheets, and more created by the pros at TeacherVision. Note: Some content is free, but other portions require a fee.
NoRedInk Writing and Grammar Curriculum
NoRedInk simplifies the process of building strong writers and critical thinkers in Grades 3–12. Our writing platform facilitates effective instruction by helping teachers engage students through modeling, scaffolding, practice, and feedback. Note: Some content is free, but other portions require a fee.
Articles About Writing
“How to Make Students Care About Writing”
by Kristina Rizga in The Atlantic, 8 August 2018.
Pirette McKamey, a veteran English teacher, spent 30 years investigating what helps young people to view themselves as writers.
“The Best Writing Teachers Are Writers Themselves”
by Cindy O’Donnell-Allen (chair of the English education program at Colorado State University) in The Atlantic, 26 September 2012.
It takes more than a good grasp of grammar to teach students the true power of the written word.
“Why Use a Dictionary in the Age of Internet Search?” by Rachel del Valle in The New York Times, 13 September 2021.
Dictionaries reward you for paying attention, both to the things you consume and to your own curiosity.
“The Best Ways for Students to Become Writers” by Valerie Strauss in The Washington Post
“Learning to Read and Write: What Research Reveals” by the National Association for the Education of Young Children on ReadingRockets.org
“How Should We Combine Reading and Writing” by Timothy Shanahan on ReadingRockets.org
“Writing to Read: Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading” by Kelly N. Tracy, PhD on LiteracyWorldwide.org
“Reading and Writing for Understanding” by Sarah Mackie on the Harvard Graduate School of Education Usable Knowledge Website
“The Best Advice for Writers? Read” on The Guardian Books Blog
Articles About Reading
“Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?” by in The New York Times, 21 June 2023.
Essay. Book bans, chatbots, pedagogical warfare: What it means to read has become a minefield.
“What the New, Low Test Scores for 13-Year-Olds Say About U.S. Education Now” by Dana Goldstein in The New York Times, 21 June 2023. The math and reading performance of 13-year-olds in the United States has hit the lowest level in decades, according to test scores released today from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the gold-standard federal exam. The last time math performance was this low for 13-year-olds was in 1990. In reading, 2004.
Articles About Socio-Economic Statistics
“Child population by Race and Ethnicity in United States” in the Kids Count Data Center by the Annie E. Casey Foundation
“The State of America’s Children Child: Poverty” on the Website of the Children’s Defense Fund
1 in 6 children in America live in poverty, making them the poorest age group in the country.
“Concentration of Public School Students Eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch”
Annual Report by the National Center for Educational Statistics
In fall 2021, the percentage of students who attended high-poverty schools was highest for Hispanic students (38 percent), followed by Black students (37 percent), American Indian/Alaska Native students (30 percent), and Pacific Islander students (23 percent). This percentage was lowest for White students (7 percent), Asian students (13 percent), and students of Two or more races (15 percent).
Videos
Storyline Online
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Daytime Emmy®-nominated and award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online® streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Viola Davis, Terry Crews, Connie Britton, John Lithgow, Jennifer Garner, Betty White, and dozens more.
Books
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (Pantheon Books, 1994)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Scribner, 2000)
Writing Radar: Using Your Journal to Snoop Out and Craft Great Stories by Jack Gantos (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017)