The International Literacy Association (ILA) is a global advocacy organization, and literacy is their cause, their passion, their our reason for being. The ILA publishes cutting-edge research on literacy, and it translates this research into practical resources for educators, students, and leaders involved in spreading literacy all across the world.

Reading Rockets is a national (American) multimedia literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. Reading Rockets brings the best research-based strategies to teachers, parents, administrators, librarians, childcare providers, and anyone else involved in helping a young child become a strong, confident reader.

ReadWriteThink’s mission is to provide educators, parents, and after school professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials. ReadWriteThink provides rich, engaging lesson plans for students of any age. In particular, one is apply to find strong content-area literacy units for late primary, middle school and senior high school students.

The Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) is a national, not-for-profit professional association supporting primary school educators in the teaching and learning of English and literacies across the curriculum. PETAA supports primary school educators with research-based, classroom-focused print and digital publications and teaching resources.

Words for Life - from the National Literacy Trust (UK) - is an excellent resource that provides clear guidance on communication milestones from birth to late primary school. There are plenty of fun activities, recommended books, informative research and an excellent list of nursery rhymes. Check it out. 

Global Words provides fifteen high quality units of work that integrate the teaching and learning of English and Geography with global citizenship education. The units are organised into the themes of sustainability, indigenous peoples, the Asia Pacific, and refugees and migration. The units were produced expertly by World Vision Australia in collaboration with the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).

The Voice of Literacy is a brilliant bi-weekly podcast of interviews with leading literacy researchers as they discuss the implications of their research. The conversations are of the highest quality, and they span all key elements of literacy education. Teachers, parents, principals, and policymakers will all find valuable insights into the ways we can work to improve literacy instruction for learners of all ages.

TextProject is a non-profit organsiation that formalises a decade-plus of ongoing work to bring beginning and struggling readers to high levels of literacy through a variety of strategies and tools, particularly the texts used for reading instruction. It is a valuable source of research as well as free, accessible and culturally appropriate reading material for beginning through to transitional learners. 

Edutopia is a comprehensive website and online community that sharing knowledge and resources in the following core learning areas: project-based learning, comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, social and emotional learning, educational leadership, teacher development, and technology integration. Edutopia believes that education should involve creativity, inspiration and ambition informed by real-world evidence and experience.

The Institute of Education Service (IES) hosts the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), which contains reviews that examine the effectiveness of programs intended to increase literacy skills. Specifically, the WWC reviews studies that examine the impact of interventions in such areas as early reading/writing, print knowledge, reading achievement, reading comprehension, reading fluency, and writing achievement.

Read It Again-PreK! is a practitioner-friendly, scientifically based, and relevant curricular supplement designed to develop and strengthen young children’s early foundations in language and literacy. All lessons are organized around adult-child readings of high-quality storybooks. Lessons plans include advice on ways to build print awareness, vocabulary, phonological and phonemic awareness, oral language and early comprehension skills. (Click here for related Youtube lecture.)

Sit Together and Read (STAR) is a free adult-child book reading program designed for implementation by parents, teachers, and other professionals, such as speech-language pathologists. It is designed specifically to develop and strengthen young children’s awareness of, and knowledge about, print. The lessons for STAR are organized around widely available storybooks with high-quality content that is perfect for adult-child reading sessions.

Newsela is an innovative new site designed to build reading comprehension from a relevant source of nonfiction: the daily news. Newsela presents multiple version of same news articles for different reading levels. It makes it easy for an entire class to read the same content yet differentiated to suit differing levels of reading skills. Newsela includes articles ranging from sport, the arts, to politics, and more.

Word Generation is a research-based program for late primary and middle school which is designed to teach academic vocabulary in language arts, math, science and social studies classes. It is a program that builds academic vocabulary across subject areas by facilitating deep discussion about concepts and issues of concern to young people.

Advancing Academic Language for All! (AALA) is a Curricular Supplements for Word Generation Series 3, which is designed to provide additional support English language learners. AALA resources are designed to be used in conjunction with Word Generation units, so English language learners can gain additional language skills and background knowledge in order to engage more deeply in the conceptual discussions.

During 2004-2007, a team of teachers at the Florida Centre for Reading Research collected ideas and created Student Center Activities for use in kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms. Accompanying these Student Center Activities is a Teacher Resource Guide and Professional Development DVD that offers important insights on differentiated instruction and how to use the student centre materials. All materials are available for free, open public access.

Dr Trevor Cairney’s Blog - Literacy, Families and Learning - provides practical, timely and sound support and advice about literacy, learning, families and education for parents, teachers, and teachers in training. In addition to advice, Dr Cairney provide a diverse range of recommended books and activities for learners of all ages. 

Shanahan on Literacy is the blog of literacy expert Timothy Shanahan, where he shares best practices for teaching reading and writing. Dr. Shanahan is an internationally recognized professor of urban education and reading researcher who has extensive experience with children in inner-city schools and children with special needs. His advice is clear, practical and well considered.

ABC Splash is an online education portal funded by the Australian Government which provides students and families with access to an extensive library of educational resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum. A significant amount of the content is rich video and audio materials from collections of the public broadcaster, Australian Broadcasting Commission.

Storybird is an online bookmaking tool that lets anyone make visual stories in seconds. The site curates artwork from illustrators and animators around the world which users can choose from to create great excellent online and print picture books. Since its original launch, the site has added a “magnetic poetry” feature and the ability to create and share stories in “long form”. 

The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words. Its innovative display encourages exploration and learning. Say you have a meaning in mind, like “happy.” The Visual Thesaurus helps you find related words, from “cheerful” to “euphoric.” The best part is the Visual Thesaurus works like your brain, not a paper-bound book.

Established in 1945, the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a not for profit, volunteer run, organisation which aims to engage the community with literature for young Australians. The CBCA presents annual awards to books of literary merit, for outstanding contribution to Australian children’s literature. The annual awards are an excellent way to stay up-to-date with excellent, contemporary children and young adult literature.

Story Box Library features engaging online Australian stories read by notable Australian personalities. Story Box Library is rich with Australian content, designed to entertain children with all the drama, laughter and inspiration a good book can bring.  At the same time, the Library promotes high quality Australian picture books for the curious parent or teacher. NOTE: Subscription required.

Reading Australia was created by the not-for-profit Copyright Agency to make the very best of Australian literature more available for teachers, librarians, and avid readers too. Reading Australia showcases the work of leading Australia writers and illustrators to enrich our own diverse cultural identity. The online initiative presents a list of over 200 quality titles from many of Australia’s finest authors.

The Review of Adult Learning and Literacy from the National Centre for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) is an essential resource presents the major issues, latest research, and best practices in the field of adult learning and literacy. It is for policymakers, scholars, and practitioners dedicated to improving the quality of adult basic education (ABE), adult English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), and adult secondary education (ASE) programs.