#10 The Discussion Board
On the discussion board, teachers enjoy posting ideas and questions they have about teaching the Open Court Reading program. They share successes and challenges in a safe environment populated by teachers and coaches teaching the program. It takes a minute to join the discussion board and it’s well worth it. Of the thousand teachers who have already joined the discussion, many consider it to be the site’s greatest resource, other teachers.

#9 The General Open Court Resources Page
Most of the resources on the page are organized by grade level and unit to make for easy viewing and finding. However, don’t forget about the General Open Court Resources page which has resources that apply to all grade levels such as reading strategies, phonics activities, concept/question board ideas, and links to other Open Court sites.

#8 Thinking Maps
For districts that have begun to implement Thinking Maps, this section of the web site offers examples of Thinking Maps used with the Open Court curriculum as well as other curricular areas.

#7 Sight Words
The Sight Word section has undergone a major facelift recently. The sight word turtles have been beautifully redesigned and are aligned with the Open Court Reading first grade and kindergarten decodable books. Support has now been added for both OCR 2000 and 2002 as well as weekly homework sheets and parent reports.

#6 The Blog
This brand-new feature of the site will be updated frequently to include tips on teaching the Open Court Reading program. So far, articles have included tips on teaching sight words, using chants with the curriculum, and analyzing reading fluency benchmarks. A blog allows readers to post comments and receive replies online.

#5 Technology Integration
Teachers who want to integrate technology into their curriculum can find how-to instructions, online resources for teachers, and discussion of issues in the field. Included among these are information on using digital video to increase fluency and reading comprehension.

#4 Independent Work Time
If you struggle to implement Independent Work Time or are interested to find out how other people do it, you can listen to the Independent Work Time CD, which includes step by step directions for setting up the program.

#3 Powerpoints
Powerpoints are all over the site, filed by grade level, unit name and/or story. These are used as unit openers, to reinforce unit vocabulary, or enhance unit concepts. More about how to use these will be included in future newsletters.

#2 The Podcast
Another new feature of the web site, the Open Court Resources.com Podcast allows you to subscribe to audio tips for the program and the web site which will automatically download to your computer via iTunes.

#1 Submit Your Own Resources
The site exists only because of the generosity of other teachers who have taken the time to share what they have created for their classrooms. Why reinvent the wheel? If you have resources to share, use this form to submit them.