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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63 Items found Print
Active Filters: Adult
1001 Commonly Misspelled Words
by Robert Magnan & Mary Lou Santovec
from McGraw-Hill
for 10th-Adult
in Spelling Resources (Location: REF-SPE)
$15.00
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 (2 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)
$9.99
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)
Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus with Lester Kaufman & Tom Stern
11th edition from Jossey-Bass
for 6th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$16.95 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Complete Rhyming Dictionary
from Dell Publishing
for 1st-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.99
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
by Lynne Truss
from Gotham Books
Grammar Reference for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$15.00 $7.50 (3 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)
$14.95
English Grammar Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 6th-Adult
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)
Family Word Finder
from Readers Union
for 7th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Figures of Speech
by Arthur Quinn
from Hermagoras Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Grammar at Work
by Jessie L. Wheeler
from Allyn and Bacon
for Adult
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$8.00 (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 Write a News Article
by Michael Kronewetter
from Grolier Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: English & Language Arts (Location: ZCLE-LAN)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
How to Write Clearly
by Ruth Beechick
from Mott Media
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.99
Johnson's Dictionary: A Modern Selection
by Samuel Johnson
from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
Little Red Writing Book
by Brandon Royal
from Writer's Digest
for 6th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Lively Art of Writing
by Lucile Vaughan Payne
from Mentor Books
Writing Reference for 10th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$8.99
Macmillan Visual Desk Reference
from Macmillan
for 10th-Adult
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
by Kate L. Turabian
9th edition from University of Chicago
Writing Reference for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Meaning of Everything
by Simon Winchester
Reprint from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
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 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)
$5.99
Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
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)
$22.95
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)
$15.95
Merriam-Webster's Rhyming Dictionary (old)
by Merriam-Webster
from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Million Word Crossword Dictionary
by Stanley Newman and Daniel Stark, introduction by Will Shortz
2nd edition from Collins Reference
for Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$6.00 (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)
On Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing - DVD Seminar
by Andrew Pudewa
from Institute for Excellence in Writing
for Adult
in IEW Resources (Location: WRI-IEWRES)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
On Writing Well
by William Zinsser
30th Anniversary from HarperCollins
Writing Reference for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Plot & Structure
Write Great Fiction
by James Scott Bell
5th edition from Writer's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Punctuation and Capitalization Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
2nd edition from Random House
for 10th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
from Random House
for 10th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus in Dictionary Form
from Delta Education
for Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
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)
Student's Guide to Writing College Papers
by Kate L. Turabian
Fourth Edition from University of Chicago
for 10th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$17.00
Synonym Finder
by Jerome Irving Rodale
from Warner Books
for 11th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$20.00
Synonym Finder
by Jerome Irving Rodale
from Rodale Press
for 7th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$25.56
Talk to the Hand
by Lynne Truss
1st edition from Gotham Books
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: English & Language Arts (Location: ZCLE-LAN)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week
by Ana Homayoun
from Perigee Books
for Adult
in Research & Study Skills (Location: REF-STUDY)
$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
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)
War Against Grammar
by David Mulroy
from Heinemann Educational Books
for Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Woe Is I
by Patricia T. O'Conner
3rd Revised & enlarged from Riverhead Books
for 9th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Wordsmithy
by Douglas Wilson
1st edition from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$14.00
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
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)
Writing Skills 2 Flipper
from Christopher Lee Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible - 5 Volumes
by Merrill C. Tenney, General Editor
from Zondervan
for Adult
in Bible Reference (Location: XBI-REF)
$85.00 (1 in stock)