Web Resources

Career and College Planning

Campus Tours:

This site allows visitors to take virtual tours of college and university campuses, even providing Live College Webcams to show what's happening at your school of choice right now! You'll also find links to other useful Web sites and resources for college-bound high school students.

College Prep 101:

If you're starting to think about college, be sure to spend some time at this site. It's packed with information on a wide range of topics, including admission standards, financial aid, and the application process. Click on the Standardized Tests link for answers to frequently asked questions about the SAT and ACT tests. The discussion includes information about how to prepare for the tests and what to expect on test day.

City Year:

Read about City Year, an organization whose members work with service organizations and corporations to combat illiteracy, teach HIV/AIDS awareness, help prevent violence, renovate outdoor and indoor spaces, promote youth development, and address many other social needs.

Colleges and Universities:

At this U.S. News Online site, you can begin to narrow the field of choices for a college or university. Schools are ranked by a variety of criteria, including by academic subject, best value, or location. You can also find information on community colleges, as well as tips on identifying interests and skills, obtaining financial aid, and finding internships.

Corporation for National and Community Service:

In this program, people of all ages and backgrounds can earn money for education in exchange for a year of service. The organization serves a variety of community needs, from housing renovation to child immunization to neighborhood policing.

International Study and Travel Center:

Hoping to study abroad during your college years? Then check out this site dedicated to finding international opportunities for college students and others. Here you'll find information about study-abroad programs, financial assistance, work options, and travel tips. Bon voyage!

Job Corps:

Visit this site to learn more about Job Corps, the nation's largest education and job training program for at-risk youth, ages 16 through 24. Find out whether Job Corps' academic programs-sometimes leading to a GED degree-and vocational training is right for you.

Military Career Guide Online:

With the opportunity for paid training and the experience that follows, the United States military is one postgraduate option to consider. At this site, you will find descriptions of each kind of possible military career as well as discussions of the training, advancement, and educational opportunities that come with each job type.

Student Financial Aid:

At this site, the U.S. Department of Education provides information about how to secure financial aid for college. You may even complete an application online. The site also contains an extensive college search section that discusses everything from location and programs to costs associated with tuition, room and board, and textbooks.

The College Board:

There's no question about it-the more you know about College Board tests, the better prepared you will be to take them. This site will help you gain that knowledge. Click on For Students to begin your search for information on the AP, SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, and CLEP exams.

The Employment Guide's Career Web:

This site offers a job database as well as career advice on everything from choosing a career path to writing a resume, interviewing, and conducting a job.

Communication Skills

Speaker's Anxiety:

Making a presentation before an audience can be intimidating, but using specific strategies can alleviate the nervousness associated with speaker's anxiety. Go to this Web site to learn more about these techniques, and turn apprehension into confidence.

Listening and Speaking Skills:

Here you can read about what it really means to listen. There is a lot of advice here about what you can do to be a better listener.

American Rhetoric:

From Booker T. Washington to Bill Clinton, this site presents a rich collection of one hundred important historical U.S. speech texts. Click on the Speech Archive for a list of the entire collection. The texts are enhanced with background information and photos. Most speeches even include a complete audio version for you to listen to.

The Write Site:

Journalists write stories about events by answering the questions what, who, when, where, how, and why. Understanding the role of the journalist and how a story is written can help you evaluate news statements more completely. The Write Site describes how reporters develop personal writing styles, conduct research, and use the Internet to uncover data.

Composition

ABC's of the Writing Process:

This site guides you through each of the five stages of composition: prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing. With tips and checklists, this site coaches you on how to approach any writing challenge.

St. Cloud State University Literacy Education Online:

Having trouble with a writing assignment? This site is loaded with solutions to common writing problems. Whether you have a question about commas or clarifying ideas, the suggestions offered here will help you feel more confident about your writing skills.

Writing with Writers:

Visit this site and you'll find an online writing seminar staffed by acclaimed authors. The writers featured here offer specific writing strategies and exercises. Whether you're writing a poem, a mystery, or even a book review, you'll find great ideas for revising and improving your work.

Grammar

Big Dog's Grammar:

Take a bite out of bad grammar! Your tour through various parts of speech provides background information, rules, examples, and interactive self-tests to confirm your understanding. Extend your knowledge of research paper dos and don'ts with the MLA Quick Guide.

English-Zone.com:

If practice makes perfect, then here's your chance to perfect your grammar skills with easy, intermediate, or advanced levels of study.

Grammar Bytes:

Are you looking for an interrupter, a collective noun, an appositive, or a gerund phrase? You'll find them here, along with a study of irregular verbs, four ways to correct comma splices and fused sentences, and a host of other grammar rules, definitions, and explanations. Test your grammar knowledge with fun, interactive exercises!

Grammar Rock:

This site celebrates the wildly popular Schoolhouse Rock series, which aired in the 1970s on ABC television and enjoyed a revival in the 1990s. Review what you know about the various parts of speech by reading the text of songs such as "Conjunction Junction" and "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here."

Literature

The Children's Literature Web Guide:

The Children's Literature Web Guide gathers and categorizes the growing number of Internet resources related to books for children and young adults. It includes links to authors and stories on the Web, as well as lists of book awards, a discussion forum, and other helpful links.

Bartleby.com:

Through this site, you can access a wide variety of novels, plays, poetry, and nonfiction essays. You can also find the ninth edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations and other reference books, such as The American Heritage Book of English Usage, Strunk's The Elements of Style, and Oxford Shakespeare.

Index to Internet Sites: Children's and Young Adults' Authors & Illustrators:

This site gathers a wealth of information about children's and young adults' authors and illustrators, including links to author interviews and Web pages.

Poetry Center:

At this site, you can read poetry by both classic and contemporary poets, read essays and advice from the poets themselves, discuss your favorite writers and poems, and share your own writing with other students from all over the world.

University of Virginia's Modern English Collection:

This site gives you access to a collection of over 51,000 works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, letters, newspapers, manuscripts, and illustrations from the year 1500 to the present. You can search through the texts by subject area, such as Women Writers and African American or Native American literature.

Publications

Teen Ink:

Teen Ink is a monthly print magazine, website, and book series all written by teens for teens. If these young authors inspire you, submit your own work to the editors.

Stone Soup Magazine:

For over a quarter of a century, Stone Soup magazine has been publishing stories and poems by young writers like you. Now you can read portions of this magazine online. Be sure to check out the stories and writing activities in the Projects section.

Reference Sites

Britannica.com:

This is an invaluable site for internet research. Through this site, you can access the entire Encycloæpdia Britannica, read articles selected from more than seventy of the world's top magazines as well as daily news postings from the Washington Post, and link to thousands of the Web's best sites.

Cornell Theory Center Arts & Social Sciences Gateway:

This language arts page provides links to a variety of online reference works, including dictionaries, biographical encyclopedias, thesauri, and Virtual Facts on File. Also included are links to excellent elementary, middle, and high school literature book lists.

Fact Monster:

The almanacs, dictionary, encyclopedia, and atlas available at this site provide access to thousands of facts sorted into easy-to-navigate categories. If you have trouble finding the information you need, the Homework Helpers in the Homework Center may be able to help.

Library Spot:

Browse the stacks of the world's libraries at this Web site. In addition, you'll find links to school libraries, presidential libraries, and specialized libraries, as well as a nicely stocked Reference Desk.

Research-It!:

Use the language, library, and geographical tools on this site to find a variety of information—from a rhyming word for your poem to a map of another country. Links to a variety of online reference works, such as the CIA Factbook, Biographical Dictionary, and Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, make this site a great resource for research assignments.

The Internet Public Library:

With an extensive selection of reference tools, online exhibits, and online texts, this site is a great starting point for any research or writing project. Through this site, you can access newspapers from every state and many countries as well.

Ask an Expert:

At this site, you can be connected to real world experts "ranging from astronauts to zookeepers" who will answer your questions for free. You will find these experts to be excellent resources for questions not usually addressed in the classroom.

Study Skills

English-Zone.com:

This study skills page, and learn how to become a better student from test taking or foreign language learning to reading tips.

Study Strategies and Tips:

Study Strategies and Tips is a good place to find help with everything from time management to good listening to test taking. If you think your study skills could use improvement, this site is sure to have relevant advice for you.

Technology Skills

About the Internet:

This guide from the Boston Public Library can help every student learn to use the Internet confidently and safely. Introductory Internet information and definitions can help the novice surfer, while the seasoned navigator will find tips on evaluating Internet sources and providing citations in school reports.

Learn the Net:

This Web site teaches Internet basics in everyday language. From plugging in a modem to designing a Web page, you'll find help on just about every Internet topic. Access resources, articles, and tutorials about the Internet; a helpful Net Glossary is just a click away if you run across an unfamiliar term.

About the Internet:

This guide from the Boston Public Library can help every student learn to use the Internet confidently and safely. Introductory Internet information and definitions can help the novice surfer, while the seasoned navigator will find tips on evaluating Internet sources and providing citations in school reports.

Vocabulary Skills

Merriam-Webster Online:

You'll find more than just word definitions, synonyms, idioms, and related words using this online dictionary and thesaurus. Have some fun while improving your vocabulary, spelling skills, and knowledge of the English language with Word Games, Word of the Day, and transcripts of the daily radio broadcast Word for the Wise.

Vocabulary University:

Earn your diploma from the Vocabulary University by playing SAT-type word puzzles. This site aims to blend fun and learning into vocabulary-building exercises. Visit Word City, a "city" of root-word buildings, or travel to the Championship Playoffs for some challenging word puzzles.

Word Central:

Take a virtual walk through the halls of Word Central where you'll find the Science Lab (English Experiments), the Music Room (Rhyming Dictionary), the Computer Lab (Coding Chamber), and more. You'll find a different word game to play within each room. If you prefer, you can simply search the dictionary for word meanings and spellings. Be sure to visit the Cafeteria where you can feed your brain with the definition, origin, and uses of the Daily Buzzword.