Get Ahead With Reading and Writing at Literacyhead.com

On July 27, 2011 I read a blog post at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Julie Danielson titled Seven Crazy Realities Everyone Should Know about Literacyhead.com.  That post was just the invitation I needed to explore the site and what it offers to those of us that are completely and totally immersed in the world of words, language, books, and reading and committed to bringing the joy that we have for those powerful treasures to the children that we teach.

The home page itself at Literacyhead.com is a visual feast for the soul but it does not stop there.  The team behind the development of this site is committed to combining the teaching of reading and writing with the visual arts.  They love children's literature and expose its hold and lure on our minds whenever possible to enhance literacy. 

Across the top of the page, tabs call for exploration which I did for most of Sunday afternoon and early evening.  In fact, as I type here, it's all I can do to not babble incoherently about the depth and breadth of all the fantastic, stupendous resources at this site.  It's not just a visual feast; its an educator's literacy dream banquet.

The Features tab alone can keep one occupied for hours.  The sixteen features shown on this visual cut cover:  thirty-seven children's books with read aloud discussion lessons, multiple graphic organizers in thirty-seven categories, an amazing alphabetical visual vocabulary, a thirty-four themed writer's workshop, images to teach the use of high frequency words, visuals used to get writer's imaginations clicking, letters and their sounds, comprehension four by four (four images with a common theme and four text images from children's books, using visuals to practice for standardized tests, a series of essays, reviews and interviews to get those creative juices flowing, thirty-three themes containing ten titles reviewed to spark your interest, inspiration for literacy coaches, Pen & Ink comic strips to instruct in a variety of reading and writing concepts, graphics that promote and prompt literacy, twenty-two themed lists of web sites, and for the sheer joy of it---artwork of ten artists. 

Within the Themes tab are thirty-four issues; some of them are storytelling, reading habits, poetic science, mood, listening, less is more, economy of words and anticipation.  Each includes a variety of the aforementioned features revolving around that particular theme. 

Currently there are thirty-four individual titles highlighted under the Books tab.  This places in one spot all those books used under the Features tab The Art of Teaching Reading.

At this time Author Studies covers the works of five author/illustrators, again combining many of the sixteen features in one issue.  Authors included are Jon J. Muth, Shadra Strickland, Leo Lionni, Robert Burleigh and David Wiesner.

Please investigate all the information under the About tab; what it means to be a literacyhead, the site team which are a highly educated, dedicated, motivated group of individuals, their friends, social networks, great videos about Literacyhead.com on YouTube and a set of frequently asked questions. 

One more, as if all of the above were not like a slice of heaven, item of note is the My Literacyhead tab.  This gives each user the ability to design their own collection of items from one, some or all of the sixteen features.  What a great way to personalize the various aspects of this web phenomenon for use with a specific lesson or unit in the classroom!

PLEASE NOTE:  The cost of a Literacyhead subscription is going up on Tuesday September 27, 2011. 

For any readers that comment on this blog post by Friday, September 30, 2011, their names will be put in a random drawing for a free one year subscription to Literacyhead; a value of $99.00.  Please be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you.
This is courtesy of Rachael Watkins, Assistant Editor on the Literacyhead team and my official welcomer as a new subscriber.

Literacyhead.com is not an additional tool for your literacy toolbox; it is the toolbox.  Read the interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast linked at the beginning of this post.  Explore the site and join me in bringing this into the classroom as the best that we can offer our children.  It's got a definite WOW factor.