Ways to Locate Resources Compiled by Debbie Shoulders

Use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Locate an RSS aggregator. This is a fancy name for a place to collect resources. Here is a link to a very short video explaining: I use Google Reader but here is a link to others. aggregator.htm#web. aggregator.htm#web

A snapshot of some of my RSS postings.

Join an Online Group Some of the groups I belong to include Edmodo, Teacher 2.0, The English Companion Ning, Thinkfinity, the National Writing Project and NCTE. Most of these groups are free and all have opportunities to share ideas and materials. You will spend some time hunting but the materials are shared by peers across the world. You may receive alerts to new postings. If you don’t want, these can usually be controlled.

Teacher 2.0 is for teachers of all subject areas.

Try a New Search Engine Google creates a profile of you every time you use your computer and it “thinks” it knows what you want limiting the results. Algorithms used in Google put certain websites at the top based on such things as how many “hits” the site gets. A site may be popular but not have what you need.

Two to Try BlekkoSearch Cube

Let Someone Else Do the Work

Additional Authors to Peruse (ELA) Jeff Anderson Jim Burke Kelly Gallagher Penny Kittle

Informational Texts Are… Autobiographical or Informational poems and song lyrics Diary, Journal, and Blog Entries Letters Opinion Pieces (OpEd) Nonfiction narratives Personal Essays Speeches

Some of My Favorites Sites America Achieves: (CCSS lesson plans with texts) Delaware DOE: html (Draft Lessons with texts suggestions) html The New York Times: Utah Education Network: (CCSS lesson plans with texts)

Good Hunting!