Kristina Arkhipova

English 414
Richard Burke
October 3, 2016

Resources for Childrens Literature

Useful Websites
1) Reading Rockets
a. http://www.readingrockets.org/
b. WETA (PBS affiliate)
c. Reading Rockets has many different resources that are helpful with teaching and
reading Childrens Literature. The websites main menu includes drop-down
menus with information for Teaching Reading, Helping Struggling Readers,
Reading Topics A-Z, and Childrens Books & Authors. Each drop-down
menu has multiple sections with different information and activities to help make
reading fun and interesting for young readers. Reading Rockets also includes
interviews and Q&As with Childrens Authors, news articles about childrens
literacy and literature, and blog posts about various educational approaches to
teaching young students.
d. This site is very aesthetically pleasing, due mainly to its interactive menus and its
use of bright, calming colors.
2) Carol Hursts Childrens Literature Site (CHCLS)
a. http://www.carolhurst.com/index.html

b. Rebecca Otis
c. CHCLS contains a decent amount of resources for teaching and understanding
Childrens Literature. The information is organized through general topics, such
as Subject, Books, Curriculum Areas, Newsletters, etc. It also includes a
search feature to help teachers and students find information more quickly.
d. The main thing I like about CHCLS is that it includes information about subjects
other than just Childrens Literature. To quote the site, Weve taken subjects
such as Math and History and integrated them with the language arts and other
areas of the curriculumactivities and approaches for the curriculum areas
(CHCLS).
3) Random House Teachers & LibrariansEducator Guides
a. http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/resourcecats/educator-guides/
b. Random House
c. This site contains downloadable resources for various childrens books that
excite students about literature while saving valuable lesson preparation time
(Random House). The site offers different options for finding resources. Teachers
can choose to browse by title, author, grade level, or theme. If they do not want to
do that, they can use the search function on the website to do a general search of
the website.
d. Much like Reading Rockets, this website uses bright, fun colors and a
customizable search feature to make the results as focused as possible.
4) Teachers: Where Teachers Come First
a.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/

b. Scholastic
c. The website contains lesson plans and books by grade level and author. It has a
Reading Club, Book Wizard, Teacher Store, and a Top Teaching Blog. It talks
about teaching with books using resources like discussion guides, book-based
lesson plans, and activities for students.
d. I think this is a very useful site because of the variety of resources available. It has
interactive videos and fun facts, which make it interesting for teachers and
students alike. It contains information, not only for teachers, but also for parents,
administrators, and librarians. Scholastic also has websites in different languages
for students of different nationalities.
5) Childrens Storybooks Online
a. http://www.magickeys.com/books/index.html#riddles
b. Carol MooreMagicKeys
c. This site contains really interactive reading books for both younger and older
children. It is very easy to navigate and interact with. There are books for young
adults, riddles, mazes, coloring books, and puzzles. The site also includes online
games and quizzes to test the readers understanding of the books.
d. This site is particularly good because it is very colorful and child-friendly. I like
that it also includes information and resources for homeschooling, which not
many other sites included. I also like the fact that the games on this site are
educational while still being fun. It makes learning more exciting when students
can have fun while doing it.

Useful Non-Web Sources

1) Teaching Cooperative Learning with Childrens Literature
a. Bobbette M. Morgan, University of Texas at Brownsville
b. National Forum of Teacher Education Journal
c. Published Quarterly
d. This article contains information about teaching Childrens (and Young Adult)
Literature, separated in different sections devoted to different skills: Collaborative
Skills, Individual Accountability, Group Processing, etc. It also includes lists of
different books that are useful for teaching different age groups, ranging from
Primary School up to Advanced, along with links to resources that will help with
teaching these books.
e. This sources is useful because it approaches the topic of teaching Childrens
Literature from many different directions, while also giving multiple sources and
books to use when teaching.
2) Traditional tales from around the world: Encouraging young voices into the classroom
through literacy description
a. Kathleen Rushton
b. Practical Literacy: The Early and Primary Years
c. Published three times per year
d. This source talks about using traditional childrens stories to create lesson plans
for young students. It also offers potential activities to use during lessons
involving traditional narratives (the article uses The Emperors New Clothes), and

includes an example of a young students independent writing in response to the

narrative.
e. This source is particularly useful because it provides activities that can be used in
a teachers lesson plan. These activities have the potential to help further students
understanding of the material presented.
3) Learning the Language of Picture Books
a. Sharon Ruth Gill, Murray State University
b. YC: Young Children
c. Published Bi-Monthly
d. This source talks about the importance of reading to children and the relationship
between audiovisual learning and student comprehension. Sharon Ruth Gill writes
about how children as young as 5 years old are capable of understanding written
and spoken words, and their ability to make conclusions based on the illustrations
that accompany written words.
e. This source is valuable because it offers first-hand accounts of young children
making conclusions based on pictures in a book, as well as statistics and tips for
teaching young children to read through the use of picture books.
Characteristics of Credible Websites
1) Author
a. One way of determining a websites reliability is to see whether or not an author
or organization is taking credit for the website. This is important because,
generally, when an individual or organization is willing to stand behind
information, the information is usually accurate and reliable.

2) Date
a. Another way of distinguishing reliable websites is to look for the date the website
was published. This is important because, depending on the subject matter,
information can change. Knowing the publication date gives (or removes)
credibility for different sources.
3) Sources
a. Whether or not a website sites its sources is another way of checking credibility.
Any good book/journal/other non-website source will make sure to site its
sources, just like any credible website should. If there are no sources sited, then
the information cannot be considered accurate or reliable.
4) Domain
a. Different domains indicate different types of website, from personal websites to
institutional, organizational, and government sites. These different domains can
indicate whether or not the information presented is unbiased and reliable.
Generally, the most reliable information will come from a .edu or .gov
domain, though .org is usually reliable as well. When looking at domain, it is
also important to check the institution associated with the website in order to
ensure that the site is not just an advertisement for a product and that it is not
presenting biased information.
5) Writing Style
a. Proper grammar and spelling are a good indicator of a reliable website. Scholars
should not trust information that comes from websites that have grammar and

spelling errors, since these sites usually do not present information in a coherent
manner.
SOURCES FOR THIS SECTION:
https://kb.wisc.edu/uwgb/page.php?id=30276
https://www.edb.utexas.edu/petrosino/Legacy_Cycle/mf_jm/Challenge%201/website%20
reliable.pdf
http://etc.usf.edu/techease/win/internet/how-can-my-students-know-if-a-web-source-isreliable/
http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm