"In a research paper titled "Unlocking Literacy with iPad," Ohio English teacher James Harmon found that state-compiled statistics indicate that those students with iPad access in the year leading up to the Ohio Graduation Test had a 6-percent greater chance of passing the test's reading portion than those without, and an 8-percent greater chance of passing the writing portion."

Site used for students to read, listen to, or watch books online. It pairs fiction and non-fiction books of various topics and you can choose whether you want to watch the story or read the story. Some of the books even come in Spanish! All you need is your library card to use the site.

Another source for finding and collaborating with Authors via Skype.

"All about questions to help introduce the idea of Blooms Taxonomy to children"

"Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for K-4 students and teachers. We focus on eight research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. Try the online interactive activities, or click below to find out how to get our engaging 15-minute video programs. Behind the Lesson provides information and teaching resources for each strategy. Watch our 10-minute professional development videos and explore the Web site for lesson plans, video and audio clips, downloads, and more."

"A collection of brief recordings of authors & illustrators saying their names. Hello, my name is . . . Have authors and illustrators introduce themselves Learn correct pronunciations of hard-to-pronounce names Reveal stories behind the names"

Students share books that they are enjoying via voicethread with the options for others to listen & comment. Great book sharing idea!!

Online Magazines for Children and Teens

"The NWP Digital Is website is a collection of ideas, reflections, and stories about what it means to teach writing in our digital, interconnected world. Read, discuss, and share ideas about teaching writing today."

"Tales 2 Go is a fantastic app that brings stories to life and sparks kids imaginations by introducing them to audio stories from leading narrators and storytellers. Tales2Go makes anytime story time! Students have on-demand and unlimited access to over 1,300 books and stories from leading authors and storytellers. The stories are geared for kids 3 years old to 12 years old with book and story selections ranging from fairytales to classics like Curious George Rides a Bike to popular series and characters such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and How to Train Your Dragon. Tales2Go is a free app to download but to access stories you must subscribe to a plan. There is a 30 day free trial. The on-demand stories can be purchased for $2.99/month, $6.99 for 3 months, or $24.99 for an entire year of listening."

"Educators and parents all agree that reading is one of the best ways for students to build their vocabulary. Reading has been addressed by many traditional schools with giving suggested book lists to their students at the end of each school year. Not all schools, though, participate in this practice."

"Knoword is a game of quick thinking, smart decisions and great words. When you begin, you will be given one randomly generated dictionary definition along with the first letter of its corresponding word. You must fill in the rest of the word to experience a gain in points and an added time bonus. You will start off with one minute before the game ends, and every word is an opportunity to extend your time. If you're ever stuck on a word, just hit the skip button and a new puzzle will present itself."

Words are more difficult vocabulary. Most appropriate for MS & HS students, although a great challenge for advanced intermediate readers!

"sim­ple. you'll see one word at the top of the fol­low­ing screen. you have sixty sec­onds to write about it. click 'go' and the page will load with the cur­sor in place. don't think. just write."

"iRead is a group of teachers in Escondido Union School District dedicated to the idea that digital audio can be a powerful learning tool for all students. iRead will give you a chance to create meaningful, curriculum-centered audio projects with your students. Teachers are using digital audio tools (iPods, mics, Garageband, iTunes, Keynote, etc. and various accessories) to improve reading processes. Teachers meet on a monthly basis to exchange ideas and strategies. We started in 2006-07 by collecting data about fluency rates - this has been very promising."

"Book Drum's remarkable range of interactive content is particularly valuable to students and teachers, with over twenty A-level/GCSE set texts already profiled, including Wuthering Heights, The Bell Jar, Frankenstein, Wide Sargasso Sea, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Teachers can create new profiles as class projects, encouraging students to dig deeper into a book with Book Drum's fun, easy-to-use online interface."