Literature+Fun

=**Literature Fun Websites**=


 * The Internet is full of some very useful and informative tools on podcasts that sit there just for the asking.**
 * Take some time to check them out and share them here with your colleagues.**
 * ===**Please follow the format shown below:**===
 * **Title or Name of site:**
 * **Url in full (not shortened):**
 * **Full description of what to expect:**

**An example.....** Title: Url: Description:

Site: **www.ala.org** [|URL:http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?section=greatwebsites&template=/cfapps/gws/displaysection.cfm&sec=19] Description: Great Websites for Kids by the American Library Association. This site includes a Favorite Children’s Stories page, and a display of links to websites for children. Some links are for series such as Berenstain Bears or American Girl websites while some are links to genre related websites such as American Folklore.

Site: **Book Nuts Reading Club – A Book Club For Kids** URL: [] Description: The site is headed with “Book Nuts Reading Club, A club for kids to talk about the books they like to read.” It is a very kid friendly site that is run by a K-6 librarian and mostly offers ideas to elementary and middle school age groups. It offers book selections by genre, homework help, a poetry section, as well as parent’s and teacher’s pages. Make sure to check out the Kids are Authors, Too page that gives helpful hints for students who are looking to be published as well as some titles that were written by teenagers.

Site: **Fun** URL: [|www.starfall.com] This is a fun site for beginning readers. They can read along with stories as well as make up and print out stories of their own. My kids loved this one.

Site: **FunBrain.com** URL: [|www.funbrain.com/words.html] Description: This site includes language games to help kids master spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.

Site: **Giggle Poetry** URL: [] Description: Awesome site for kids to really delve into poetry! They can search for poems on various topics/themes, rate poems posted by people, ask famous poems questions and even play some poetic games! Teachers will find oodles of resources! Love this one!

Site: **Kidsreads** URL: [|www.kidsreads.com/authors] Description: This site provides links to many children's literature topics; authors, book reviews, Books made into movies, podcasts/audio, etc. This site is perfect for librarians, teachers and parents. Very easy to use!

Site: **L'il Fingers: Storybooks for Toddlers** URL: [] Description: This is a cute website that has books that toddlers/preschoolers can "read" (narrated and interactive) as well as games to play and activities to print out.

Site: **Nancy Keane’s Children’s Literature** Webpage URL: [|http://nancykeane.com] Description: This website is a place wherein children, parents, or teachers can retrieve over 5000 ready to use book talks. It includes recommended book lists by title or author. The site details book reviews by children as well as other information about children’s literature. The daily podcasts of selected books are wonderful.

Site: **Star Fall** URL: [] Description: This website is for younger children who are just learning to read. It starts by teaching them their ABC’s and the sounds that each letter makes, and then it moves to reading short stories.

Site: **Storylineonline.net** URL: [] Description: This website has many classic books that are being read aloud by famous actors. For example, Betty White reads, “Harry the Dirty Dog,” and James Earl Jones reads, “To Be A Drum.” There are many other stories listed with all different types of actors. This would definitely be fun for students to listen to!

Site: **www.storyplace.org** URL: [] Description: Students can choose a story theme and then answer a few questions. The info they type in is then used in the animated story that follows. Some pages are read by the student and on some pages the characters are animated and speak the words in the speech bubbles. Each story is followed by a list of books on that theme that the students could find in the library.