Informational Text Free Digitial Resources: Gearing up for the Common Core

It's time for Common Core (CCSS) all over the United States, and I for one couldn't be happier. I believe these standards will demand more of students and teachers. The standards will demand a thorough, rigorous, culturally relevant, and college preparatory based education from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. If the standards are taken to heart, if teachers buy in and work to the maximum of their abilities, I have little doubt that education in the United States will not only be the strongest in the world in about 10 years, but will be the strongest educational system the world has seen. No, I'm not just a CCSS fanboy, I was skeptical just like many others, but the more I read, the more I experience, and the more I train both myself and others, the more excited I am to see what my students are capable of, and how hard and how far I can push them.

In the area of literacy, the CCSS moves classrooms into the world of informational reading and writing. In fact, by the 4th grade, students should be reading 50/50, 50% literature and 50% informational. It also demands that informational text goes deeper than just reading for fact finding. I'm guilty of this, I have too often used informational texts as nothing more than a fact hunt to use in research posters or projects, etc. But that's changing, we have to start going deeper.

This post specifically targets informational text resources that are freely available out there. For me personally, I'm able to call upon a teacher resource room with hundreds of informational texts at my school, and an online resource file of informational texts through the Pearson SuccessNet website (something that came with my districts reading adoption a few weeks back). Those two things are definitely not free and if you don't have them, you're probably not getting them anytime soon. So what to do?

Here is a list of some resources out there to get you some informational texts to your students. All you really need here is a computer, BUT, if you'd like to view these on a tablet, or have them in pdf format, that's pretty easy to accomplish (I prefer using pdfs on iPads because students can annotate them within a note taking app, and pdf documents have more of a traditional text "feel" to them.

I will be focusing on the ins and outs of the CCSS and how informational texts fit in the classroom here in the near future, but for today, let's stick to resources, because it's so much easier to jump on board when you know you have something to back you up. So here we go:

• This first link is to a free, browser based web page to pdf converter. It takes the center frame of a web page and saves it in a high quality pdf. I use this when I want students to read something from, for example, the Scholastic for Kids page, and don't want them sifting through text in the midst of side bars and links. Web 2 Pdf. Bookmark it!
• A listing of some good places to start gathering resources, in a post titled Online Sources for Informational Text at a blog called "Hello Literacy." Ignore the link to the web to pdf converter on their page called joliprint, as it is no longer in service.
• While I'm linking to some online listings (of which there are literally thousands upon thousands), there's also this page from the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards website on Informational Text Resources. There's also this post at Eye on Education. Both should give more than a few resources that you'll want to bookmark.
• At the beginning of the second page of this pdf document is multiple links to small readers on the Scholastic website, and they're really pretty good (and already in the correct format). 
• If you're not aware of The Reading and Writing Project, familiarize yourself. They are the group that did Pathways to the Common Core, a great book that's been like a CCSS literacy bible for me personally. On their site, they keep a listing of information texts called Digital Nonfiction Text Sets.

Google Drive: All the Storage You'll Ever Need

Over the course of my teaching career (seven years), I've gone from using blank cd's, jump drives, a laptop, my own email account, Dropbox and other cloud services, to Google Drive. I still use services like Dropbox on my phone to store photos and such, but for my work files, Google Drive is all I need.

From the start, Google Drive gives you 5 gigabytes of storage. Only stored files that are not in Google Doc format count against your 5 gigs. I have tons of files in pdf format, jpegs, docs, etc, and haven't even put a 1% dent in my 5 gigs. I love that I can use my Drive on my phone, I can drop files into it on my computer and they immediately sync, and I can control the sharing and search-ability of individual files.

Most files translate over to the Google Doc format without too much trouble. Occasionally I'll find a file that gets messed up a little in Google Docs, so those files I keep in their original format, and they count against my storage.

If you don't have a Google account, GET ONE! I use Google for my document storage and editing (when I'm away from home or work), I use Google + to store my photos (this doesn't count against my Drive), and Google offers so many services, not to mention how great Gmail is. I highly recommend Google Drive, the 5 GB for free is a great deal, and the deals on upgraded storage are awesome (25 GB for $2.50 a month is awesome).

My Restaurant: A Great 5th Grade Writing Project

Every year, I do a project called "My Restaurant," a great writing activity in which students envision their own restaurant, and must do a variety of activities, from planning the layout, hiring employees, making a menu, and learning to write checks. The main writing essay that goes with the project is a persuasive essay, but can be easily adapted. The attached document is provided in both .docx and .pdf (I keep having issues with Google Docs slightly changing the formatting, so if you download that format, make sure you look over the document before printing). This is a simple, yet effective project that can span days or even weeks, and is a great activity for students to work on during their down time.

Download My Restaurant in .docx format HERE

Download My Restaurant in .pdf format HERE