Reporting Information
Children's Express
A growing British news agency, and a charity, where young people aged 8–18 produce articles on issues that are important to them.
http://www.childrens-express.org/
The Five-Paragraph Essay
One of the ways to communicate clearly is to write a clear and concise essay. If this is a skill you are trying to teach your students, this website will give you multiple ways to achieve that goal.
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/1437/index.html
From Printed Page to Multimedia: Evolution of a Second-Grade Class Newspaper
An article by David M. Lund and Deborah A. Sanderson.
http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/lund/
Kidnews.com
This site publishes student writing from around the world. Anyone may submit articles, reviews, stories, poems, and editorials. Submissions are edited before being posted on the site.
http://www.kidnews.com/
National Elementary Schools Press Association (NESPA)
The National Elementary Schools Press Association is an organization dedicated to helping elementary and middle schools start new and improve existing class and school newspapers.
http://www.nespa.org/
Newsday Project
Students write and produce their own newspaper, adding articles submitted to the Newsday Project by students around the world.
http://gsh.lightspan.com/GSH/project/newsday/
NEWSEUM
An interactive news museum.
http://www.newseum.org/
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
This site, created by Professor Chuck Guilford of Boise State University, helps students engage in the writing process.
http://www.powa.org/
So You Have to Do a Research Project?
Collection of resources to help fourth to eighth graders with a research project.
http://www.ri.net/schools/East_Greenwich/research.html
The Write Site
A site emphasizing informational writing at the middle school level.
http://www.writesite.org/default.htm
Writing Argumentative Essays
Helpful site from Victoria, Australia, provides guidance for writing an effective argumentative essay. The writing is aimed at a high school audience but could be useful to teachers at all ages.
http://www.eslplanet.com/teachertools/argueweb/frntpage.htm
Writing a Book Review with Rodman Philbrick
A workshop from Scholastic that walks students through the process of writing book reviews.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev/index.htm
Your Views on the News: Student Newspapers on the Web
An Internet field trip from Scholastic.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/fieldtrp/lanarts/news.htm
Life Stories
The Biography Maker
A guide for creating biography.
http://www.bham.wednet.edu/bio/biomaker.htm
Biography Writer's Workshop with Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
From the "Writing with the Writers" site at Scholastic. Students can actually learn about the writing process from authors they have read and enjoyed. In Biography Writer's Workshop, the student learns how to research and write a biographical sketch. Children can complete the workshop on their own, but a teacher's guide is also provided that does a great job of giving detailed ideas on how to integrate the workshop into the classroom. A certificate signed by the McKissacks can be downloaded and presented to students when they finish the workshop.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/biograph/index.htm
Chatroom Discussions with Zlata Filapovich
Transcripts of an online discussion between the author and a group of students.
http://www.globalclassroom.org/fzlata.html
Sheldon Oberman
Writer, teacher, and storyteller Sheldon Oberman provides some very useful resources on his personal website, such as guides, activities, and lessons. One of the most interesting sections involves the process of "Gathering a Life Story." Oberman provides a detailed procedure for collecting and writing a life story. Adapted to fit the grade level and the context, this can be an incredible bridge between literature, writing, and community.
http://www.sheldonoberman.com/index.shtml
