Language Arts Resources

There are probably more fillable gaps in anyone's language arts knowledge than any other area of study. Language is constantly evolving, changing its face and sometimes even its innards to accommodate the dictates of the Academy and society. Who can keep up with it all? who even has enough foundational knowledge to know what all those changes are?

Keeping up with all the trends isn't necessarily the point, though. The ultimate aim of all language arts instruction is communication: for the student to be capable of communicating, and able to be communicated to. As far as that is accomplished, language arts education has been successful; that doesn't mean there isn't always room for improvement.

It also doesn't mean that there aren't reference works you should keep around at all times. Everyone needs a good dictionary; when you encounter words you know, how else are you going to know what they mean? You could just head to the Internet, but there's so much misinformation there, having a hard copy of Webster's is a much safer (and more reliable) bet.

A compact but comprehensive thesaurus is also important. Here's a word of advice: don't overuse it. Roget's Thesaurus has lots of words you've never heard of, and while sometimes they turn out to be exactly the word you're looking for, it's not a good idea to throw million dollar words into your writing if you're unfamiliar with them.

The two best uses for a thesaurus: using it to remember a word you already know, or scanning it to build your vocabulary when you aren't writing. A good cook doesn't use spices she's never heard of just to make food interesting, and a good writer doesn't throw around strange verbiage just to make people think he's smart, or because he's already overused a simpler term.

Much of what you'll find here is designed to help with spelling, expand vocabulary, or assist writing. Everyone has particular strengths and weaknesses, and you'll have to ultimately decide what your students (or you) need. For specific elements of the language arts (grammar, rhetoric, phonics, etc.) take a look at our subject-specific resource sections; the books here are pretty broad and reference-oriented.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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101 Items found Print
Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15)
501 English Verbs
by Thomas R. Beyer, Jr., Ph.D.
2nd edition from Barron's
for 9th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Alphabet Makers
by Hyatt Moore
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
for 8th-Adult
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Dictionary of the English Language
by Noah Webster
10th edition from Foundation for American Christian Education
for 7th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
American Heritage Desk Dictionary
5th edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
American Heritage Dictionary
by Houghton Mifflin Company
5th edition from Dell Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$10.99
American Heritage Student Thesaurus
by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-12th grade
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$18.99
Art of Fiction
by John Gardner
from Vintage Classics
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$14.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Blended Structure and Style in Composition
by James B. Webster
2nd edition from Institute for Excellence in Writing
Writing Curriculum for 2nd-12th grade
in IEW Resources (Location: WRI-IEWRES)
$35.00
Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus with Lester Kaufman & Tom Stern
11th edition from Jossey-Bass
for 6th-Adult
$13.56 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Lester Kaufman and Jane Straus
12th edition from Jossey-Bass
for 6th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$20.00
Bugaboo Review
by Sue Sommer
1st edition from New World Library
for 7th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Caught'ya Again!
by Jane Bell Kiester
1st edition from Maupin House Publishing
for Kindergarten-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Caught'ya!
by Jane Bell Kiester
3rd edition from Maupin House Publishing
for 7th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint
Write Great Fiction
by Nancy Kress
from Writer's Digest
for 7th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Chortling Bard
by Jane Bell Kiester
from Maupin House Publishing
for 9th-12th grade
in Clearance: English & Language Arts (Location: ZCLE-LAN)
CLE English Handbook
by Karen Birt
from Christian Light Education
for 7th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Complete Rhyming Dictionary
from Dell Publishing
for 1st-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.99
Concise Roget's International Thesaurus
by Barbara Ann Kipfer
7th edition from HarperTrophy
for 7th-12th grade
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$7.99
Description & Setting
Write Great Fiction
by Ron Rozelle
from Writer's Digest
for 7th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Dictionary of Latin and Greek Origins
by Bob Moore and Maxine Moore
from Barnes & Noble
for 8th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
by Lynne Truss
from Gotham Books
Grammar Reference for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$11.00 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Elements of Style
by William Strunk & E. B. White
4th edition from Allyn and Bacon
Writing Handbook for 9th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$9.99
Elements of Style (Illustrated)
by E.B. White, William Strunk Jr.
from Penguin Books
for 7th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$18.00
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
by Mark Dunn
Reprint from Anchor Books
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.71
English Grammar Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 6th-Adult
Enough About Grammar
by Joe Floren
from Twain Productions
for 4th-10th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Essential Literary Terms
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Excellence in Literature - Handbook for Writers
by Ian Johnston and Janice Campbell
1st edition from Everyday Education
for 9th-12th grade
in IEW Literature & Poetry (Location: LITCUR-IEW)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Figures of Speech
by Arthur Quinn
from Hermagoras Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Figures of Speech
by Arthur Quinn
from Peregrine Smith, Inc.
for 9th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
French Grammar 1 Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 8th-12th grade
in French (Location: FL-FRE)
French Grammar 2 Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 9th-12th grade
in French (Location: FL-FRE)
German Grammar Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 8th-12th grade
in German (Location: FL-GEN)
Giggly Guide to Grammar
by Cathy Campbell
for 7th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Greek and Latin Root Words Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 7th-Adult
How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week
by Dominic O'Brien
from Duncan Baird
for 9th-Adult
in Research & Study Skills (Location: REF-STUDY)
$12.95
How To Study
by Edward Shewan
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
for 7th-9th grade
in Research & Study Skills (Location: REF-STUDY)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How to Write a Great Research Paper
by Leland Graham & Darriel Ledbetter
from Incentive Publications, Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How to Write Clearly
by Ruth Beechick
from Mott Media
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
How to Write Irresistible Query Letters
by Lisa Collier Cool
from Writer's Digest
for 9th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$12.95
King Alfred's English
by Laurie J. White
from Shorter Word Press
for 7th-12th grade
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$15.60
Language Arts Terminology Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 4th-10th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Little Red Writing Book
by Brandon Royal
from Writer's Digest
for 6th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Memory Mechanics
by Gary DeMar
from American Vision Press
for 9th grade-adult
in Research & Study Skills (Location: REF-STUDY)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Merriam-Webster Collegiate Thesaurus
2nd Ed from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$22.95
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
7th edition from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$7.50
Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$6.99
Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
New from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$8.50
Merriam-Webster Thesaurus OSI
from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$6.50
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
11th edition from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$24.95
Merriam-Webster's Desk Dictionary
from Merriam-Webster
for 6th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
Merriam-Webster's Rhyming Dictionary
by Merriam-Webster
2nd edition from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$17.95
Merriam-Webster's Rhyming Dictionary (old)
by Merriam-Webster
from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
MLA Handbook - Ninth Edition
9th edition from Modern Language Asociation of America
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
More Nitty-Gritty Grammar
by Edith H. Fine and Judith P. Josephson
from Ten Speed Press
for 6th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Nitty-Gritty Grammar
by Edith H. Fine and Judith P. Josephson
from Ten Speed Press
for 6th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary - CD-ROM
by Noah Webster
from Foundation for American Christian Education
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
from Merriam-Webster
for 6th-9th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
On Writing Well
by William Zinsser
30th Anniversary from HarperCollins
Writing Reference for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need
by Susan Thurman
2nd edition from Adams Media Corp.
for 8th-Adult
in Miscellaneous Grammar Curriculum (Location: GRA-MISC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Our Mother Tongue
by Nancy Wilson
2nd edition from Canon Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Miscellaneous Grammar Curriculum (Location: GRA-MISC)
$23.99 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Our Mother Tongue: A Guide to English Grammar (old)
by Nancy Wilson
from Canon Press
for 7th-10th grade
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
3rd edition from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Painless Writing
by Jeffrey Strausser
3rd edition from Barron's
for 6th-10th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$9.99
Punctuation and Capitalization Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Rod & Staff English Handbook (old)
by Esther Neuenschwander
from Rod & Staff Publishers, Inc.
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Roget's International Thesaurus
by Barbara Ann Kipfer
7th edition from Collins
for 7th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$22.95
Roget's International Thesaurus
by Robert L. Chapman (revised by)
4th Edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms
by Marvin Terban
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-9th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Someday You'll Write
by Elizabeth Yates
2nd edition from Bob Jones University Press
Non-fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Story Craft
by John R. Erickson
from Maverick Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Study Strategies Made Easy
by Leslie Davis, Sandi Sirotowitz, with Harvey C. Parker
from Specialty Press
for 6th-12th grade
in Research & Study Skills (Location: REF-STUDY)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Style
by Joseph M. Williams
from University of Chicago
Writing Reference for 9th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Synonym Finder
by Jerome Irving Rodale
from Rodale Press
for 7th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$25.56
They Say / I Say
4th Edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
They Say / I Say (old)
by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
3rd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Trivium Tables: English Grammar
from Classical Conversations
for 7th-12th grade
in Classical Conversations (Location: CUR-CC)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Trivium Tables: Quid et Quo
from Classical Conversations
for 7th-12th grade
in Classical Conversations (Location: CUR-CC)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Trivium Tables: Rhetoric
from Classical Conversations
for 7th-12th grade
in Classical Conversations (Location: CUR-CC)
$14.40 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Uncovering the Logic of English
by Denise Eide
2nd Edition from Logic of English, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Logic of English (Location: PHO-LOE)
$14.99
Usborne Illustrated Dictionary
by Edited by Jane Bingham, designed by Susie McCaffrey
from Usborne
for 3rd-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Use the Right Word
by S. I. Hayakawa
1st edition from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language
from Waking Lion Press
for 6th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
Woe Is I
by Patricia T. O'Conner
3rd Revised & enlarged from Riverhead Books
for 9th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Word Write Now
by Loranna Schwacofer
3rd edition from Institute for Excellence in Writing
for Kindergarten-12th grade
in IEW Resources (Location: WRI-IEWRES)
$35.00 $22.00 (1 in stock)
Words
by Margaret Ernst
3rd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Words You Should Know
by David Olsen
from Adams Media Corp.
for 6th-10th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Wordsmithy
by Douglas Wilson
1st edition from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$14.00
Write Book for Christian Families
by Robert Allen
from Bob Jones University Press
for 1st-12th grades
in Clearance: English & Language Arts (Location: ZCLE-LAN)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Writer's Guide to Perfect Punctuation
by Victor C. Pellegrino
from Maui arThoughts Company
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Writer's Guide to Powerful Paragraphs
by Victor C. Pellegrino
from Maui arThoughts Company
Writing Reference for 6th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$24.95 $16.00 (1 in stock)
Writer's Guide to Transitional Words and Expressions
by Victor C. Pellegrino
from Maui arThoughts Company
Writing Reference for 6th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$16.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
Writer's Guide to Using Eight Methods of Transition
by Victor C. Pellegrino
from Maui arThoughts Company
Writing Reference for 6th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Writer's Reference
by Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers
7th edition from Bedford Press
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Writer's Toolbox
from Bob Jones University Press
Writing Handbook for 9th-11th grade
in BJU Writing & Grammar (old versions) (Location: OBJU-GRA)
$19.00
Writing a Research Paper
by Edward Shewan
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$10.00
Writing a Research Paper (old)
by Edward Shewan
from Christian Liberty Press
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$4.00 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Writing Great Short Stories
by Margaret Lucke
1st edition from McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Writing Skills 2 Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
12