About Me

donald e. mortonMr. Donald Morton+ is a prolific online reading, language arts, and teaching enthusiast. Holding a B.A. in English from Northern Illinois University and an M.A. in Literature from Northeastern Illinois University, Mr. Morton has been immersed in the higher study of the reading and language arts for the last decade.

Perhaps his more practical experience was acquired during his tenure in Chicago Public Schools (continuing presently), where Mr. Morton has been teaching reading, writing, and language arts to students in areas of high need since 2005. With an unwavering pattern of student growth according to ISAT reading assessments, Mr. Morton can document the efficacy of his methods.

In the winter of 2010-2011, Mr. Morton began sharing his unique resources with teachers, parents, and students via this website: ereadingworksheets.com.  The site has received an overwhelmingly positive response from those who have managed to find it.  As the site continues to grow in popularity, Mr. Morton remains committed to improving the overall quality of the site and expanding available resources, as well as offering unrestricted access to everyone free of charge.

Also, Mr. Morton has made some online reading video games. He is working on making more of these games and making them compatible with touch screen devices as well as expanding the online practice content on this site.

You may contact Mr. Donald E. Morton at mortonteaches@gmail.com

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125 Comments

  1. Maria

     /  October 4, 2016

    I loved the poetry cat! Keep up the great work.

    Reply
  2. Leonora Reiley

     /  October 4, 2016

    This resource makes me want to be a reading teacher! I used a point of view worksheet in the past from this site that featured a piece from Stephen Raichlen. It was one of the few sheets I have found that featured 2nd person. I don’t see it here now. Can you kindly direct me towards it?
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Thanks for the nice comments.

      I rewrote all of the worksheets on this site that featured passages from
      works that have copyright protection.

      It’s debatably fair use, but I don’t want to enter that debate,
      so all of the content on this site is either written by me or in the public domain.

      However, the new point of view worksheets contain many examples of passages written from the 2nd person perspective.

      I hope that you will find them helpful.

      Reply
  3. Anitra Lahiri

     /  May 10, 2016

    I teach ESL, and this is a great resource to have stumbled upon! THANK YOU so much for putting all these resources together in such an organized way.

    Reply
  4. john

     /  April 13, 2016

    Hi your website has been very helpful.
    Keep up your good work

    Reply
  5. Mike

     /  March 10, 2016

    I bet Mr. Morton doesn’t reply to comments

    Reply
  6. Miss R

     /  January 15, 2016

    Thank you so much for your generosity. The work you do is so truly appreciated. Thank you for your kindness in helping other educators like myself.

    Reply
  7. Q. Gholson

     /  September 10, 2015

    Thank you Mr. Morton for sharing your expertise and lessons. Your site is the best I have ever come across.
    I have been teaching ELA for 1st-8th grade at a small NYC school, for many years. I found it difficult to incorporate the Common Core. Due to the endless rhetoric, or lack of clear direction in most of the Core materials It was expensive, time consuming and difficult to put together. The common core resources you have provided, free of charge, are the best I have come across. I consider you a mentor teacher because I have learned so much about how to structure lessons through the year, and how not to cram too much information in one lesson. I am able to combine your lesson plans with my own. You have given me my confidence and creativity back.
    Thank you and God Bless you for your help.

    Reply
    • I can relate with and am inspired by your experiences. Thank you for the blessings and for visiting my website. Best wishes!

      Reply
  8. Krysha Voelz

     /  July 14, 2015

    Again, I want to say “thank you” for all of the materials you provide free of charge. I stumbled across your website in early spring and used some items during the school year. I have had time this summer to thoroughly examine your lessons. What wonderful material! You are so generous to share your hard work with all of us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

    Reply
  9. evie

     /  June 3, 2015

    Thanks you so much Mr. Morton for generously sharing your work for free. My son is taking a California-based curriculum in Shanghai and is about to finish Grade 5. His reading is bit behind so I hope to help him with your worksheets this summer.

    Reply
  10. Annie Fonseca

     /  May 8, 2015

    Your persuasive essay topic list was excellent! It helped me narrow down research topics for my kids to choose from and was very specific. Thank you so much for making this available.

    Reply
  11. Renee Dermott

     /  February 2, 2015

    I am hoping that someone could help me with the quizzes. I took one and submitted it to see how it would work for the kids. In any case, I did it twice, once to email and one time to print. I had to put my name in prior to beginning the quiz, but both times it came up as “undefined” in the name section. Therefore, I have no idea which child would submit which test. Is there anyone that has this type of issue?? Perhaps I am doing something wrong. I can’t wait to use them as a quick formative type assessment to monitor progress. Thanks. 🙂

    Reply
    • This may be happening because of your browser.
      Are you using Firefox?

      These tests only work well in Chrome and Safari. Maybe Explorer too. I don’t know,
      but I know that there are some issues with Firefox such as the one that you are describing.

      I am redesigning the format this summer so that there will be fewer cross-browser issues such as you are experiencing.
      In the meantime I suggest that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser when taking these tests, as that will likely solve your problems.

      Best wishes
      Morton

      Reply
  12. Lurena Johnson-White

     /  December 16, 2014

    Dear Mr. Morton,

    I also really appreciate your wwbsite. I have 2 children attending CPS schools. I saw your post on CPS Obsessed about the grading scale changes and how you enter grades in gradebook as A, B, C, D, etc. Your post is the only one that I have been able to locate that actually describes the problems that I have seen with gradebook and averaging numeric values. Can you explain to me why you would rather enter letter grades into gradebook than mathematical percentages?

    I am having a difficult time trying to explain to the administration at my daughters school why the students grades are not averaging properly.

    Thanks,
    renadjw

    Reply
    • The issue that I had with the CPS grading scale is that it differs so much from my experience with grading scales that I refuse to accept it. I suppose to project an image of rigor, they raised the grading scale in such a way that a 77% is a D, and 69% is an F. My solution to this problem was that I just began issuing the alphabetical grades, rather than the numeric, which would be more subject to their insane grading scale.

      I don’t know how much this relates to your situation, but that was mine.

      Reply
  13. Jennifer Rueda

     /  November 1, 2014

    Thank you for this site. It’s helpful for my adult esl writing class.

    Reply
  14. Shazzie

     /  October 5, 2014

    Am loving this website,its teaching me alot of things….

    Reply
  15. Marisa Skiles

     /  June 13, 2014

    I have hit a gold mine. I LOVE this website. It touches on all of my State’s reading skills and has so many wonderful resources. Much more than just busy seat work. How gracious of you to offer this for free. Thank you!!
    Marisa

    Reply
  16. Connie Thornton

     /  May 7, 2014

    I teach 7th and 8th Grade Critical Thinking (Reading). Our district has recently moved to Common Core Standards and I had struggled to find materials appropriate to teach the skills at the level needed for standardized tests. Your worksheets and lessons are a Godsend! I have worked through most of them and will continue next year. Not only did my students feel prepared and ready for the FCAT this year, but I feel that I am a better teacher by seeing lessons structured this way. Thank You so much!
    I would like to know what other books and materials you use in your classroom. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Thank you so much for saying so.
      I am honored to play a small part in your development as an educator.

      I have a whole bunch of new content to add for next year,
      so please come back.

      Best wishes!

      Reply
  17. Tadrik Nack

     /  April 22, 2014

    Thank you for sharing your Materials… I like your great work.

    Reply
  18. Meredith

     /  March 15, 2014

    Thank you for sharing your materials! My kids love them, and always laugh at some of the examples. You do a great job creating these, and thanks for sharing them for free too.

    Reply
    • It’s my pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to comment. It sounds like you’re doing some great work over there.

      Reply
  19. Pamela Didier

     /  February 5, 2014

    I have been teaching English/Language Arts for 17 years, and this is the best resource I have ever come across in terms of really teaching a topic fully. I have spent hundreds of dollars and hours on lesson planning, and I am thrilled that Mr. Morton is providing these unique and straight-forward lessons free of charge. What a blessing for teachers!!!

    Reply
  20. SSwink

     /  January 21, 2014

    Well, we aren’t nearly as exciting as Turkey, Perth, India, or Baltimore 🙂 but for what it is worth- Coal City 8th Grade ELA team is digging your work!!! Thanks for helping us get ready for this year’s ISAT’s/ ICORE/ almost PARCC assessments. Stay warm.

    Reply
  21. Tiffany

     /  January 16, 2014

    Thank you for these wonderful resources! I teach middle school English, and it’s difficult finding free resources rigorous enough the meet the STAAR test standards in Texas.

    Reply
  22. lotus

     /  October 9, 2013

    Hello Mr. Morton! I am university student and ı really appreciate you. in fact we appreciate you because my friends benefit from this site also. Your helping is priceless ı think . also you should know that you are very popular in Turkey too, thank you 😀

    Reply
  23. Susan Hammond

     /  September 7, 2013

    I mentor new teachers in a high needs middle school in Baltimore (there’s more to our kids than what you see on the Wire!). Your site makes it so easy to SHOW as opposed to tell what a particular skill looks like. Your skills connection to Common Core Standards piece is priceless!! Thank you!

    Reply
  24. Jacque

     /  April 19, 2013

    Thank you!!! I love all of your worksheets.

    Reply
  25. Camille

     /  April 15, 2013

    Favorite place for End of Course exam prep. Thank you!!!

    Reply
  26. sadegh ghobadi

     /  February 1, 2013

    I was looking for some introductory exercises for teaching “inference” and I bumped into your website. I haven’t checked all the content, but the exercises that I downloaded were useful. Thank you for free sharing your valuable teaching experience (a thing people don’t do often these days). S. Ghobadi. Iran.

    Reply
  27. Hi Mr. Mortini. I admire you so much.
    Can you help me in choosing a topic about technology or internet? Please help me. Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
    • Thank you for saying so. How about researching privacy and the internet: can one really search the web anonymously? What sorts of information are you transmitting every time that you use the internet or mobile phone applications. Just a suggestion. Best wishes.

      Reply
  28. sunny

     /  August 27, 2012

    I cannot believe I have never stumbled upon this set of resources before. Fully aligned and adaptable for students’ needs. Forever grateful for your contribution!

    Reply
  29. Alix

     /  July 11, 2012

    Thank you for this website. I’ve just discovered it and am glad to have some excellent materials for my students!

    Reply
  30. Mrs. M

     /  March 17, 2012

    Thank you so much for all your hard work! You have saved me hours of creating meaningful assignments for my EL’s!

    Reply
  31. K. Rolfe

     /  March 2, 2012

    I can’t believe I’ve never found your site until now. From the looks of it, we teach very similar populations. Today, I needed something a little different… and voila – ereadingworksheets! I’m incredibly impressed at the amount of materials you have generously made available for your colleagues. MUCH appreciation, Mr. Morton.

    Reply
  32. Alexandra Glasser

     /  February 28, 2012

    Thanks so much for providing all this wonderful material!!

    Reply
  33. Supriya

     /  February 21, 2012

    Hello Mr. Morton! These worksheets r really helping me cuz they give really tough questions here in India. I really appreciate you uploading stuff for us! 😀

    Reply
  34. A.A.

     /  February 14, 2012

    Love it! I think all Utah teachers will too!

    Reply
  35. Mai

     /  February 7, 2012

    Love the work you put in so much. A thank you from Perth

    Reply
  36. Honeny Destiny

     /  January 31, 2012

    i love your cat mr.morton
    i adore cats

    Reply
  37. Thiernosow

     /  January 12, 2012

    you help me with my home work thank you lol 🙂

    Reply
  38. Miss S

     /  December 7, 2011

    Thank you so very much for your contribution to the world of language arts education! These worksheets are incredibly useful, and everything is applicable to the standards we teach in California. Hurrah. 🙂

    Reply
  39. Ms Wilson

     /  December 5, 2011

    Thank you. I’m a first year teacher and your site has been a wonderful resource for me and my fellow language art teachers.

    Reply
  40. Mr. Serena

     /  December 2, 2011

    I love the simplicity of the lessons. I struggle with finding enough practice material for my EL classes. This is an amazing resource. I find that the big publishers overcomplicate simple ideas. Less is more. You’re doing great work, sir.

    No need to reply. You’re a busy man!

    Reply
  41. Miss Missy

     /  November 29, 2011

    Mr. Morton – when will you be adding MORE? What about plot diagram stuff (the actual diagramming)?

    Can you recommend some great “best strategies” for Reading books to read?

    Reply
    • Mr. Morton

       /  December 1, 2011

      Ha. I’m trying to add new stuff all of the time. I’m just really busy, as I’m sure you are. I’m not familiar with “plot diagramming.” Perhaps it’s what I call ” story structure“? I like using Daniel’s approach to literature circles. Thanks for visiting.

      Reply
  42. subah khawaja

     /  November 29, 2011

    Excellent student resources that are easy to understand, get directly to the point, and teach students to retain information.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  43. What a breath of fresh (free) air. I’m amazed at the quality of your lessons. I’ve used them quite a bit in my High School ELL classroom. My students are really benefiting from them. Thank you so much, and keep up the stellar work 🙂

    Reply
    • Mr. Morton

       /  December 1, 2011

      Thanks so much for visiting.
      I appreciate the positive feedback.

      My your students excel.

      Reply
  44. --------

     /  November 9, 2011

    Annie I must disagree that theme can be stated in one word. That is defined as the topic. Theme is the overall message or lesson intended by the author. It can never be stated in one word. I agree with Mr. Morton wholeheartedly!

    Reply
  45. Annie Robinson

     /  October 29, 2011

    I just recently discovered your website and have already told other teachers. Thank you for sharing your work with us! I think the activities you have created are useful and thoughtful, especially those for irony (which was how I found your website) and figurative language. I also liked your definitions for the structure of plot. Your description of climax/turning point is right on the mark! The only issue I have found is concerning theme. I disagree with your examples, which I think are morals or lessons. I think themes are stated in one word, otherwise they become morals or main ideas. But, please continue what you are doing and sharing.

    Reply
    • Mr. Morton

       /  October 30, 2011

      Cool. I understand theme differently, but we don’t have to agree on everything. Thank you for visiting.

      Reply
  46. Amy

     /  October 26, 2011

    Thank you so much for posting free quality activities and worksheets! These are great!

    Reply
  47. Rebecca

     /  October 11, 2011

    Bless your heart. Thank you for all your hard work!

    Reply
  48. Heather

     /  October 11, 2011

    Thank you for this website~ I love the power points and the practice activities that go with them! You’ve made my job a lot easier!

    Reply
  49. Motsinger

     /  September 28, 2011

    Love this website! I finally found worksheets/lessons/ideas, etc., that are not busy work type of work…students actually apply reading and writing skills. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
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