Wednesday, December 19, 2018

ReadWriteThink Literacy Website Review #1


            ReadWriteThink  (http://www.readwritethink.org/) is a website that offers educators, parents, students, and afterschool professionals with quality resources and information.  ReadWriteThink is a partner of the International Literacy Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and the Verizon Foundation.  The International Literacy Association is an organization that promotes and supports literacy.  The National Council of Teachers of English is an organization that is also dedicated to the improvement of teaching and learning of the English language and language arts in the classroom.  The Verizon Foundations supports ReadWriteThink through its generous funding. 
            ReadWriteThink offers teachers with free lesson plans, student interactives, mobile apps, and various printables for educators to use.   When you click on the lesson plan tab, you are able to see the title, and appropriate grade level for each lesson plan.  Once you choose a lesson plan suitable for your topic, you are able see a synopsis of the lesson, the standards the lesson covers, resources, and other materials you will need to prepare.  Another great feature is that there is a daily instructional plan that maps out the activities for each day/meeting included in the lesson plan.  This would make your lesson more effective since you will be able to prepare the resources and materials you will need for each day.   Another useful tab is the “Comments” tab.  Once you have tried this lesson plan, you may submit your comments to review the effectiveness, and include other suggestions that would make the lesson better.  Additional related resources are listed in a tab as well.  These related resources would include a lesson that you may teach next, strategy guides, and a professional library. 
            Additional useful features of ReadWriteThink are the videos.  Although we have YouTube and TeacherTube to access streaming videos, the videos on ReadWriteThink are not as overwhelming in the amount that are available.  You are able to peruse through the four categories and find a video of your interest.  The categories include “Literacy in Action”, “Presentations”, “Using RWT”, and “Just for Fun”.  Each video has a brief description along with the length of the video. 
            Lastly, the Parent & Afterschool Resources include resources such as hand-on activities and projects that promote literacy.  Games, tools, tips, podcasts and printouts that enhance literacy are described under individual tabs.  The top five resources are also listed at the bottom of the page along with their links.
            ReadWriteThink is an excellent website to find teacher and parent approved resources.  It is easy to navigate and the descriptions are easy to understand.  If you want to find a specific topic, there is even a search bar for you to type in your topic.  You may browse through the many resources or look for your specific grade and unit and you will do this knowing this site has been endorsed by two organizations that strive to promote and improve literacy. 

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