TeachersFirst's Reading Strategies Resources
Other TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections

This curated list of reviewed resources includes teaching ideas and sites to promote proven reading strategies of effective readers. Find engaging texts to use as your class focuses on a particular strategy as well as professional resources to improve your own understanding of this research-based approach to building literacy skills. Don't miss "In the classroom" ideas for specific projects or ideas for before, during, and after reading.
Click here to view our entire tagged list of reading strategies resources.
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InsertLearning - Ben Pedersen and Karin Hogen
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): brainstorming (18), flips (8), note taking (37), reading comprehension (123), reading strategies (56), Teacher Utilities (100), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Install InsertLearning for use with online newspapers, magazines, and primary sources. Create quizzes to share with students through Google Classroom. Differentiate learning by using this browser extension to create different prompts for groups of students. Use InsertLearning to help ESL/ELL and special education students understand difficult material by highlighting and defining vocabulary found in websites. Take advantage of the instant feedback received from student responses to provide interventions on the spot. Use InsertLearning in a blended classroom as a flipped learning experience or as an introduction to any new unit.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Classroom Strategies - Reading Rockets
Grades
K to 6tag(s): fluency (22), persuasive writing (51), phonics (49), reading comprehension (123), writing (316)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as an excellent resource for teaching literacy and reading. Use a tool like 3x3 Links, reviewed here, to be able to organize and locate your bookmarks in a snap! Share strategies as part of your ongoing professional development activities both in school and with your Professional Learning Network (PLN). Use an audio recording tool like Vocaroo, reviewed here, to record a student reading before and after using teaching strategies shared on this site. Share tips for reading strategies with parents using an online portfolio site like Seesaw, reviewed here. Seesaw provides tools for a class blog and sharing student work through images and videos.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WriteReader - Children As Creators - WriteReader
Grades
K to 5tag(s): digital storytelling (134), reading strategies (56), writing (316)
In the Classroom
WriteReader is so simple very young students can use it successfully after a demonstration using a whiteboard or projector. While creating their books students will be able to add images, multiple pages and delete pages, include voice-over, use color on the pages, view one page at a time or the entire book, and toggle between letters' names/sounds or no audio. Use this tool to design simple projects using student drawings to tell the story. At the beginning of the year have students draw and annotate stories to tell about their summer and share with classmates. Students of any age love to draw, so why not have them draw their impression of what the message to the reader was after hearing a story and then explain it in writing? ESL/ELL students especially will benefit from hearing the letter sounds as they are beginning to write in their new language.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Owl Eyes - Alex Bloomingdale
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): authors (101), book lists (120), DAT device agnostic tool (169), literature (231), poetry (203), reading comprehension (123), reading strategies (56)
In the Classroom
Use this site to assign reading of classic texts, nonfiction, poetry, and stories. Take advantage of the included annotations found with literature selections to build Common Core skills analyzing informational texts. Use this site to post and share discussion assignments on texts and selections from the text. Share Owl Eyes with students for use with literature circles (or small groups reading) as a tool to collaborate, improve reading strategies skills, and to present their book to the class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Strategies - Reading Horizons
Grades
K to 3This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (66), phonics (49), reading comprehension (123), reading strategies (56), word study (60)
In the Classroom
This site is worth bookmarking for two reasons. The first is the list of reading strategies. The second is the 30-day free webinar. Reading Horizons claims that implementing the skills in this webinar in your classroom will improve reading by two to three grades. Since the webinar is pause-able, you can complete it on your own schedule within the 30 days.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TextProject YouTube Channel - TextProject, Inc
Grades
K to 9tag(s): commoncore (89), literacy (91), professional development (228), reading comprehension (123), reading strategies (56), video (259)
In the Classroom
Share individual videos with parents to help them understand different reading strategies. Embed a video of the week on your class website or blog for parents. Share with colleagues as part of your ongoing professional development.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Teacher Toolkit - The Region 13 Educator Certification Program (ECP)
Grades
K to 12tag(s): back to school (59), classroom management (143), reading strategies (56), Teacher Utilities (100)
In the Classroom
Keep lessons engaging and interactive with these Tools. For instance use the Quiz, Quiz, Trade activity to get students up and to interact with questions for review before a test. To structure a meaningful discussion try the 5-3-1 activity. Use the Gallery Walk to review and get students discussing the unit or topic just finished. With the Gallery Walk, student groups could create posters (maybe a picture summary of something just read in class) and walk around observing and taking notes from others' posters. There are dozens more for you to try at The Teacher Toolkit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TeachThought - Teachthought
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): professional development (228)
In the Classroom
Think beyond your everyday lessons to something that makes you a teacher that kids always remember. Interesting ideas challenge you to do what you want the most in your teaching, inspire and motivate. Subscribe to the newsletter and follow the latest articles. Use the resources for enrichment or information. Share with colleagues and the collaboration begins. Share at a professional development meeting for many relevant ideas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TogetheRead - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): independent reading (106), parents (60)
In the Classroom
Share this link on your teacher web page or in a newsletter. You might even talk to your parent organization about promoting TogetheRead as a whole-school activity. Maybe even host a TogetheRead family evening in the gym or library.Comments
Such a terrific site for everything from thematic material to ideas for comprehension and extensions. Reflection embedded here, too!Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Reading Strategies for the Social Studies Classroom - Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): concept mapping (18), graphic organizers (43), reading comprehension (123), reading strategies (56), visual thinking (9), visualizations (13), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Although geared toward struggling readers and Social Studies, this site is excellent for use with any content area reading lessons. Choose an activity for each month as a focus lesson. Incorporate the strategy throughout all lessons by modifying questions and included activities. Share with ESL/ELL and special education teachers as a resource for improving reading comprehension. This site works well with Common Core strategies for informational text throughout the curriculum.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Like a Historian - Stanford History Education Group
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): american revolution (85), civil rights (141), civil war (143), cold war (30), colonial america (106), colonization (16), emancipation proclamation (7), new deal (5), reading strategies (56), slavery (57), world war 1 (57), world war 2 (145)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for American history lessons throughout the year. The final segment of each lesson, the "Central Historical Question," has been noted as the most important part. If you don't have time for the full lesson, incorporate the historical question into your lesson plans as part of your classroom discussion, or journal activities. Perhaps you can use it as an essential question for your unit. Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain the central historical question. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Rockets - WETA Washington D.C.
Grades
1 to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): authors (101), dyslexia (8), literacy (91), literature (231), parents (60), phonics (49), reading comprehension (123), reading lists (69), reading strategies (56), speech (82), spelling (124)
In the Classroom
Reading Rockets is a fantastic resource for teachers, librarians, parents, and principals. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter for the latest information, blogs, thoughts, and ideas for teaching reading. Use this website as a resource for your classroom, library, or even with you school action committees. Provide a link to this site on your class webpage. Install widgets for reading, and find the latest apps to support literacy. Join reading blogs, and add widgets to make your reading strategies complete. : If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Technology and Reading Ebooks in Education - Drs.Cavanaugh
Grades
K to 12tag(s): audio books (23), ebooks (32), reading strategies (56)
In the Classroom
Capture your student's interest in technology and reading with eBooks. Join the latest craze to promote life long reading. Join blogs to see what other teachers are doing. Use as a parent resource to help promote interest. Use as background information while writing grants or proposals for technology grants. Be sure to investigate the variety of classroom ideas for using technology and eBooks.Consider incorporating technology into your literature circles. You might want to start with a whole class novel, having students listen to certain chapters using an eBook. Have the "discussion director" for the group post questions on Edmodo reviewed here with the understanding that they may answer the questions on Edmodo, but these are "discussion starters" for the circle meeting in class.
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Professor Garfield Comics Lab - Paws
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): comics and cartoons (48), drawing (73), reading strategies (56)
In the Classroom
There are so many ways to use this site! After introducing a feature from this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector, set up a learning station with a computer ready to play one of the phonics games for younger students. Older students can watch a video about how to draw cartoons; there are several from which to pick! Ask your older students to read through the very creative and thorough tutorial for Comics Lab Extreme, and then form small groups of students to create a story of an historic person, an advertisement for a curriculum topic being studied, or demonstrate the meaning of a word using Comics Lab Extreme. Don't miss the many other comic-creation tools from the TeachersFirst collectionfound here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Study Skills Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Make learning how to learn part of your class routine at any grade level and in any subject. Feature one or more new study strategy each month and share this entire list as a link from your class web page for students and parents to access both in and out of school.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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English Online France: Free online ESL/EFL Academic Reading and Writing Exercises - Glenys Hanson and Fiona Robertson, et. al.
Grades
4 to 12Be sure to check out the videos, which include commercials from the 1960s!
tag(s): vocabulary (254), writing (316)
In the Classroom
This site has so much to offer, the possibilities are endless. Obviously, this site is handy with ESL and ELL students. But there is SO much here to explore for teachers of elementary (social studies or language arts), AND secondary teachers trying to reinforce grammar skills, connect history and writing, and more.Share portions of this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. With primary students, set up learning stations. Have cooperative learning groups explore the site together. Have groups investigate a specific area of this site and create a multimedia presentation to share with the class: wiki, blog entry, podcast, online book, or video. Need some "technology tips?" Try enhancing students' learning by having them create a podcast using podOmatic, reviewed here. Share "student-created" videos on a tool such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Transform learning and have students write online books using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here.
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Reading For All - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
No matter what you teach, these resources will help you target reading and study skills for better comprehension and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Adolescent Literacy - adlit.org
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): authors (101), independent reading (106), reading strategies (56)
In the Classroom
If you need ideas to get students reading for fun and to help develop their confidence, try this site. Highlight this on your class website so parents can try the activities with their older students. When doing author biographies, share this site with your class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Be sure to check out the "Classroom Strategies" link for even more literacy ideas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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