Not Your Same Old Read-Aloud!

Want to spice up a read aloud? Wouldn’t be great if the illustrations of a book could be projected onto the smart board? Does it seem like there are never enough books for the listening center? Story Line Online might just be the solution. To get to Story Line Online, type www.storylineonline.net into your browser.

 

 

What is Story Line Online?

Story Line Online is a website, where books are read aloud by celebrities. There are videos that correspond with each book so that the illustrations can be seen as well.

 

Educational Uses:

This resource can be used in multiple ways. The stories can be used as read alouds by themselves or in conjunction with other elements in a lesson. This could also be a listening center for students who learn best auditory. The videos teach the students to comprehend the book by its illustrations.

 

Content Standards:

This websites fulfills many content standards, some of them include:

• RL.K.5- Recognize common types of texts (e.g. storybooks, poems).

• SL.1.2- Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud

• RL.2.3 – Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

• RF.3.4 – Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension

 

Assessment:

For assessment, you could check for understanding after a reading. They could compare and contrast the book with another one that has been read in class. It could also be turned into an activity in a third grade classroom and the students could make video tapes of each other reading.

 

Value/Merit:

I think this website would great to use in the classroom. The pros of this website are the emotion and the drama the celebrities bring to the books. The videos also show the illustrations so the students can still be engaged in the book. The con for me was that there are only 25 books on this website.

 

A Reading Of Romeow and Drooliet:

 

 

Resource:

Skeese, C. (2014, February 28). Storyline Online [Photograph; Screen Shot]. Retrieved from http://www.storylineonline.net/

Romeow and Drooliet read by Haylie Duff [Video file]. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.storylineonline.net/romeow-drooliet/

 

 

Have Fun with Math

Is the math curriculum starting to get boring? Do the students seem uninterested? Are you stuck with a program that just does not seem to work for your students? Why not try Math Game Time! To get to this resource type www.mathgametime.com into your browser.

 

 

What is Math Game Time?

Math Game Time is an educational websites, that has fun and interactive math games for grades pre-k through 7^th grade. The website also has math lesson videos, and printable worksheets for the students to practice their math skills.

 

Educational Uses:

This resource can be used in multiple ways. There are interactive games on the website that could be used during centers, and the worksheets can be used as a formative assessment. This website could be used as a whole class, and on an individual basis. It is a good way to incorporate technology into the math curriculum.

 

Content Standards:

This websites fulfills many content standards, some of them include:

• K.CC.B-Count to tell the number of objects

• 1.NBT.B- Understand Place Value

• 2.OA.B- Add and Subtract within 20

• 3.MD.B- Represent and Interpret Data

 

Assessment:

For assessment, you can observe students while playing the game and see what strategies they are using to solve problems. There are also worksheets on the website that you could use as a check for understanding.

 

Value/Merit:

I personally love this website. I think it is another arsenal of unique and engaging materials to get students interested in Math. For me one of the pros is definitely the ease of use, and the enormous amount of games they have. The con for this website that I have is that I would like to see more material on the website other than games and worksheets

 

Resource:

Skeese, C. (2014, February 28). Screen Shot [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.mathgametime.com/

 

Bring Science and History to Life!

Does it feel like those Science and History text books are starting to get monotonous? Are the students not able to have any fun with the material? The solution could be National Geographic Kids! To get to NatGeo Kids type kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids into your browser.

 

 

What is NatGeo Kids?

National Geographic is kids a free website that is linked to National Geographic. The focus of the website is Science, History, and Explortation.

 

Educational Uses:

This resource can be used in multiple ways. There are interactive games on the website that could be used during centers, quizzes, videos and critter cams, country exploration, and experiments. This website could be used to enhance the students learning in Science or Social Studies, and also bring diversity into the classroom.

 

Content Standards:

This websites fulfills many content standards, some of them include:

 

• Kindergarten Life Science: Living things have physical traits and behaviors which influence their survival.

• Third Grade Life Science: Individuals of the same kind differ in their traits and sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing

• Kindergarten Social Studies Heritage: Heritage is reflected through the arts, customs, traditions, family celebrations, and language.

• Second Grade Social Studies Human Systems: Cultures develop in unique ways, in part through the influence of the physical environment

 

Assessment:

For assessment, some of the videos have quizzes at the end to check for understanding. The website could also be used in conjunction with a bigger unit that has a more complex type of assessment like a paper, model, or presentation.

 

Value/Merit:

I personally love this website. I think it is another arsenal of unique and engaging materials to get students interested in Science and Social Studies. For me one of the pros is definitely the ease of use, and the amount of information they have on the website. The con for this website that I have is that I would like to see more material that the earlier grades like Kindergarten and First could do on their own. The games seem to be of higher order thinking.

 

Resource:

Image Screen Shot. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2014, from National Geographic Kids website: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

 

 

A New Approach to Letter Identification

You may be asking yourself, I have a room full of kindergarteners and I have no idea where to start with the alphabet. Yes everyone may know the alphabet song, but it has to go deeper than that. How can I get them to identify letters and their corresponding sounds? For me one of the tools I use is a website called Starfall. In order to get to Starfall you will need to type the link www.starfall.com into your browser.

 

What is Starfall?

Starfall is a free educational website that helps children to read by using phonics. With Starfall students can play games and read books. Starfall is meant for PreK through Second Grade, and also has features to aide in the learning for ESL students.

 

Educational Uses:

Starfall can be used during literacy centers, on the smartboard as a whole group activity, and at home for extra practice. With Starfall students can work interactively with the letters and their sounds. The students are presented with the letter and many different words with that letter sound in it, and they are to distinguish between upper and lowercase letters. Starfall can be used for early reading skills and the use of blends. There are also games that go along with themes in the classroom during the four seasons.

 

Content Standards:

While there are many standards that can be met by using Starfall, here are a couple:

• L.K.1a: Print many upper – and lowercase letters

• RF.K.3a: Demonstrate basic knowledge of letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or most frequent sound for each consonant.

• RF.K.3b: Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

 

Assessment:

Assessment with Starfall can be used in conjunction with guided reading. Many of the activities can be printed for the classroom teacher to review. I have never used Starfall as my only form of assessment. I use it in conjunction with my lessons along with read alouds, and a letter program called Zoophonics.

 

Value/Merit:

I use Starfall almost on a daily basis for the first couple of months in Kindergarten. I use it with lessons and also as a center. For me the pros are that it is easy accessible, student friendly, and very engaging for the students. I also feel that cons with this website include lack of activities for certain grades levels, and that if you want the complete Starfall experience, other than the offered programs on the homescreen then you will pay anywhere from $350-$1000!

 

Starfall’s Learn to Read with Phonics. (2012). Retrieved February 24, 2014, from Starfall website:
http://www.starfall.com