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Spreaker - Spreaker Online Radio
Grades
1 to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google ...more
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Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google +, Soundcloud, X (formerly Twitter), or add to the Spreaker website. Follow others, or invite others to follow your podcasts. With a click of a button you are creating a live podcast. There is a free version and a more deluxe premium version. This review is for the free version.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): communication (129), podcasts (103), radio (20)
In the Classroom
Enjoy a live radio show from your classroom! Publish written pieces of writing, science reports, social studies reports, and any other reports you would like to share. Create a New Book or Book Review podcast for the media center. Link to your podcast URL on your class website. Publish directions to projects, explanations for difficult concepts, or even a radio show of you reading your favorite books for your students. Have upper elementary students take turns reading aloud for a podcast aimed at little reading buddies in kindergarten. Allow students to podcast to "pen pals" in faraway places. Record your school choir, orchestra group, poetry club, or drama club doing their best work or dramatic readings of Shakespeare soliloquies. Take your school newspaper to a new level with recorded radio articles. Be sure to include interviews with students, teachers, principals, parents, authors, artists, and almost anyone. In younger grades, use to save an audio portfolio of reading fluency, expression, or to aid with running records or even include writing. Be sure do this regularly throughout the year to analyze growth. Have fun at Halloween with your Halloween station filled with favorite spooky stories! Welcome your students to a new school year by sending them your message. Create messages for classmates who move away. Bring your foreign language classes an extra resource of your pronunciations whenever they need more practice. ESL/ELL, special education classes can often benefit from the extra explanations, practice, and elaborated instructions given at their own pace. The possibilities are endless! The site itself is a "web 2.0," social networking style site, so some schools may have it blocked. Ask about unblocking just YOUR teacher account so you can have students access it while at school and under your supervision.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Rolls off the Tongue - Anderson and Andy
Grades
2 to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Enjoy a cartoon and an opportunity to guess what idiom it represents. Click on one of five buttons for more information including a hint, the answer, the definition, a ...more
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Enjoy a cartoon and an opportunity to guess what idiom it represents. Click on one of five buttons for more information including a hint, the answer, the definition, a note on usage, the origin of the idiom, and a sentence using the idiom. The site is in blog format, so for more examples and activities with idioms, viewers just scroll down to see more. There is also a game featuring multiple choice guesses to reinforce usage of the idiom. New idioms are added regularly. SInce this is a blog, there are comments and other social features, such as clicking to "Like" a post. Public interactions appear in comments, so monitor before projecting or sharing.
tag(s): figurative language (17), idioms (30)
In the Classroom
Have your students make their own cartoons of idioms they encounter following the example of the idioms drawn here. They can draw and scan them in or use one of the reviewed comics tools here. Have students post their work to a wiki or to Class Blog, reviewed here. Students studying other languages can create similar pages using idiomatic expressions of their target language. This is a great link to include on class web page. The explanations of the origin of the idiom might be a bit difficult for ESL/ELL students to grasp.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Oolone Visual Search Engine - Oolone
Grades
1 to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Oolone visual search engine searches the web and shows the results as thumbnail images of each webpage. Oolone is ideal for those who are visual learners. (If you often recognize ...more
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Oolone visual search engine searches the web and shows the results as thumbnail images of each webpage. Oolone is ideal for those who are visual learners. (If you often recognize sites by their look rather than their words, this tool will hep you find the site you recall but cannot name.) Although this search engine appears "plain vanilla," its best features aren't obvious until you start using it. Hover over the thumbnails to get an enlarged view of each site without having to leave your search results. This allows you to spend less time on sites that don't fit your needs. Oolone doesn't track you so no ads appear.
tag(s): search engines (48)
In the Classroom
This site is perfect for your visual learners or weaker readers. Use this site on an interactive whiteboard to show students how to search for information. Use the page counter to show students how different search terms provide different results. Place on your class webpage for students to access at school and home. Be sure to check out their education page where you can find lesson ideas. Learning support and ESL/ELL students will appreciate being able to search without as much reading. Even very young students can LOOK for a site using this search tool, assuming they can type just a little bit.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Make an Animation - ABCya!
Grades
2 to 8
13 Favorites
0 Comments
This cool tool, developed especially for older elementary to middle school students, allows you to create simple animations. You are provided with 40 frames. Click to choose your color,...more
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This cool tool, developed especially for older elementary to middle school students, allows you to create simple animations. You are provided with 40 frames. Click to choose your color, brush size, and more. The site includes the options to copy a frame, draw with a pencil instead of a brush, save, undo, clear and start over, and more. This is a simple to use tool. More in-depth instructions are provided on the site. Animations are saved as a .gif file. Read the tips on the home page to learn how to open your downloaded .gif.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animation (65), back to school (55), creativity (86), firstday (22)
In the Classroom
This site is useful for both teachers and students. During the first day of school, create a simple animation to share with your class. Highlight information about yourself, class rules, highlights from the year, and more. Create math animations showing different geometric shapes on 2-3 slides (just click to copy a frame, rather than remaking the slide) and giving the students a chance to guess the shape before the answer is provided on the next slide. Challenge students to create their own animations "introducing themselves" to the class. Students could also create animations to demonstrate what they have learned about a piece of literature, a science unit, social studies theme or unit, or more. Save the students' work and share the animations on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Challenge your gifted students to create animations about their in-depth interests or curriculum concepts they have pretested out of so others in the class can learn from them. This tool is simple enough for bright students in early elementary to navigate on their own, a real asset when your gifted ones are working alone while you teach others.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Learn English Feel Good - learnenglishfeelgood.com
Grades
1 to 8
2 Favorites
0 Comments
This site offers help with curricular needs of ESL/ELL students. From grammar to pronunciation to vocabulary assists, this site offers whatever you might need. Extra exercises are available...more
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This site offers help with curricular needs of ESL/ELL students. From grammar to pronunciation to vocabulary assists, this site offers whatever you might need. Extra exercises are available in the areas ESL/ELL teachers need the most: grammar exercises, vocabulary tests, listening and video clips, idioms and phrasal verbs, and content based practice. Although the site contains a lot of ads, and one small optional section requires payment, it is very easy to use and search. Beginners' exercises include prompts from their first languages of Spanish and French.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): grammar (137), listening (93), vocabulary development (94)
In the Classroom
Share this link on your class website for students to access both in and out of the classroom. After students view one of the video clips from this site, have them select their own favorite movie section and create similar questions and other evaluative activities for the class. Challenge students to create their own videos to share using a tool such as TeacherTube reviewed here. Some of the activities may also be appropriate to reinforce grammar skills for learning support and struggling students for whom English is their native language.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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noredink - Jeff Scheur
Grades
3 to 12
14 Favorites
1 Comments
Students will have fun while improving their writing and grammar. At the time of this review, noredink's grammatical categories include apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, comma issues,...more
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Students will have fun while improving their writing and grammar. At the time of this review, noredink's grammatical categories include apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, comma issues, sentence fragments, run-on sentences commonly confused words, phrases and clauses, and a lot more! The program provides differentiated instruction based on the questions students answer right or wrong. Click the "Product" tab on the top menu to read about more features. There are interactive tutorials to help students correct mistakes. Sign up with name, username, email address, gender, school name, and a password.
So, what's fun about learning this type of grammar? noredink asks students to pick their interests from Sports, TV shows, Musicians, and Miscellaneous. They will also be asked if they want them to use your friends from Facebook. When students are practicing or are taking quizzes, the program will use their interests and friends, and generate the questions around their interests and friends. The hope is that the content will be more interesting by including sentences with favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, or even personal friends. Be sure to watch the introductory video. The program works on iPads as well as your regular computer.
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So, what's fun about learning this type of grammar? noredink asks students to pick their interests from Sports, TV shows, Musicians, and Miscellaneous. They will also be asked if they want them to use your friends from Facebook. When students are practicing or are taking quizzes, the program will use their interests and friends, and generate the questions around their interests and friends. The hope is that the content will be more interesting by including sentences with favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, or even personal friends. Be sure to watch the introductory video. The program works on iPads as well as your regular computer.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): assessment (143), capitalization (9), classroom management (118), differentiation (82), grammar (137), homonyms (8), homophones (6), punctuation (24), quiz (66), quizzes (90), sentences (21), Teacher Utilities (183), verbs (26)
In the Classroom
Teachers sign up and create a class. You will receive a class code for your students to use (optional). With the class code you will be able to track student's progress, differentiate, assign quizzes and assignments, and see class trends. The program has color-coded "heat maps" to track progress easily. Your assignments and quizzes will be uniquely generated according to each student's interests. Also, students don't have to wait for you to give them an assignment. With their account, they can practice at any time. A student does NOT have to provide an email address to create an account. It will work without it! Since students are providing some personal information about interests, etc., we strongly advise parent permission.Challenge (and excel) your gifted students with the concepts practiced at this site. Since student assignments are at their own level, students can find great acceleration in practicing these necessary skills. ENL/ELL students will especially benefit from the practice using correct English, in their writing, over a continuous time period. Student assignments are at their own level. You can also create your own quizzes. Use this site as part of your rotation during learning stations. Put your class' URL on your website so students can practice at home, too.
Comments
Any website that doesn't let you try it before creating an account is instantly uninteresting to me.Kristi, , Grades: 0 - 12
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Vedoque Educational Games - Antonio Salinas
Grades
K to 3
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Find interactives aimed at Pre-K through elementary. Each activity is labeled with the subject and level. Some games include choices of level of difficulty or skills to practice. Some...more
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Find interactives aimed at Pre-K through elementary. Each activity is labeled with the subject and level. Some games include choices of level of difficulty or skills to practice. Some of the topics include recognizing colors, shapes, numbers, and letters. There are also many keyboarding/typing practice activities, counting, holidays, and more. A few of the games are more entertainment than educational, but searching by level and subject avoids these. Although most games are in English, there is a large component of the site in Spanish (click the flag). American English speakers may notice some slight spelling differences in the British English on this site.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (53), colors (64), counting (59), holidays (185), keyboarding (28), numbers (119), preK (269)
In the Classroom
Create a link to the site on classroom computers for students to use a skills game as a center. Project appropriate activities on your interactive whiteboard for students to do as a class or as a learning center. Share a link to the site with parents through your classroom website or newsletter for practice at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Word Confusion - FunBrain
Grades
3 to 9
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Word Confusion challenges you to choose the correct word to complete the sentence from the pair of homonyms. There is no log in or password required, so just go to ...more
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Word Confusion challenges you to choose the correct word to complete the sentence from the pair of homonyms. There is no log in or password required, so just go to the site and get started. Do you hope for a lot of presents or presence? Do sentences have a clause or claws? There are two levels of difficulty to choose from which provide examples that might even stump the class wizards.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): editing (93), homonyms (8), spelling (98), vocabulary (238)
In the Classroom
This is a fun, useful interactive to practice frequently misused words like principal and principle or there and their. Project it on your classroom projector or interactive whiteboard. Students tend to remember homonyms better when they practice them in a fun context rather than repeated drills. Save (or bookmark) this site in your favorites and link it to your class web page for students to access it easily from home or classroom computers. Assign it for independent practice while in the computer lab or as a go-to-activity when students finish an assignment ahead of time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Culture Talk - Five College Center for the Study of World Languages
Grades
2 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Explore culture through interviews and discussions taped by people from countries around the world. The interviewees vary in age and social economic status. Find cultural snippets...more
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Explore culture through interviews and discussions taped by people from countries around the world. The interviewees vary in age and social economic status. Find cultural snippets by area of the world; each country has many offerings organized by subject. The index also offers the same pages organized by topic. Video pieces are also divided into different grade levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Written text accompanies each video clip so you can read what you are hearing. Some interviews are in English. However, most are in the language of the country and translated into English. There is a disclaimer on the site that reads, "... be aware that these videos reflect actual authentic speech, with all the stops, starts, and hesitations that come with everyday conversation. We have not corrected grammatical errors, and the videos sometimes show highly colloquial language, local slang, and region-specific speech patterns."
tag(s): cultures (172), interviews (17), journalism (73), video (264)
In the Classroom
Explore world cultures in today's vernacular: video. Challenge students to write a comparative essay, contrasting information from similar culture talks about different countries. Have cooperative learning groups make a Livebinder, to compile and share information from all over the web on one or more countries once they gain an overview from this site. Be sure to require they critique the sources they find and annotate/organize them into subtopics, etc. to show their understanding of how the pieces fit together. Of course, you will want to model and teach appropriate documentation of any sources of images and media you use. Be sure to use copyrighted works legally. To help your students with this, try using a site such as Bibme. Challenge ESL/ELL (or any) students to make similar culture videos about their countries of origin or their family heritage as part of a world cultures exploration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Flake Pad - Pen Flakes
Grades
2 to 6
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Flake Pad is a very simple little website that lets you create geometric snowflakes using basic shapes and a grid. To make the flake, choose a shape and click a ...more
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Flake Pad is a very simple little website that lets you create geometric snowflakes using basic shapes and a grid. To make the flake, choose a shape and click a spot on the grid. You can add as many or as few shapes as you like to your flake. View the completed flake off the grid for a screen shot then include it in other projects or print using the print button on the site.
tag(s): creativity (86), geometric shapes (135), snow (17), symmetry (27)
In the Classroom
Flake Pad is a great site to help students understand symmetry. Any time students click a space on the grid, the shape will appear on multiple points on the grid. Use Flake Pad on an interactive whiteboard and have students identify lines of symmetry on the flake. With the pointer tool on Flake Pad, students can drag the shapes they have created to different points. Have students in the audience describe what happens to the flake as you move the shapes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Anki - Flashcard creator - ankisrs.net
Grades
2 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Anki is a flashcard creator with a twist. The program is used everyday, and each response is rated as Easy, Very easy, Good, or Again. Very easy questions won't be ...more
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Anki is a flashcard creator with a twist. The program is used everyday, and each response is rated as Easy, Very easy, Good, or Again. Very easy questions won't be shown again for 7 days, Again responses will be shown again during the same session. Choose the number of flashcards to use for each session, time to spend, and number of questions to be offered. Search by topic to find readymade flashcards or create your own. This program needs to be downloaded to your computer following the onsite directions. Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux versions are available.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (146), flash cards (43), test prep (69)
In the Classroom
Create flashcards for your classes using Anki -- or have them make their own. Try using them as an introduction to a concept, then again in the practice of the concept, and again as a final review. It is a nice three for one creation deal! This would be great for teaching Latin prefixes and suffixes of words to students. Use this site to learn science terms or for standardized test preparation. Try having students create flashcards and share with each other to quiz themselves within their own groups. Teach students in higher grades how to create flash cards with multiple blanks to challenge their brain to remember more pieces of the puzzle (even counterexamples). Show them how to carefully read through their classroom notes and underline the most important word or words in a sentence. Then have them leave out the most important words for their flashcards. Learning support teachers might want to have small groups create cards together to review together before tests. Have students create flashcard sets to "test" classmates on what they "teach" in oral reports. Since this program is a download, flashcards may be difficult to share - one suggestion is to download the program onto a USB stick to be shared as needed. Students can also create flashcards for classmates to try after watching peer's presentations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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LearnClick: Create Gap-Filling Exercises - Learnclick
Grades
4 to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Create interactive online activities quickly and easily with LearnClick's Create a Gap. Submit any text you'd like to learn and mark the text you want deleted for a fill-in-the-blank...more
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Create interactive online activities quickly and easily with LearnClick's Create a Gap. Submit any text you'd like to learn and mark the text you want deleted for a fill-in-the-blank type of activity. Easily create quizzes or tests for individualized students or your entire class. Create a free account with your email. Follow the simple steps to create tests in minutes with varying options for response style choices; blank boxes, generated drop downs, or drag and drop. Search the quiz bank to save time. The free version allows you to make up to five quizzes, which are published on your public page. Your public page allows a direct link to your quizzes.
In the Classroom
In the classroom, use as a review tool on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Assign as homework for a study aid. Create study aids for ELL/ESL, or learning support students to review and learn with a "techie twist." Let students take control! Have students create the tests, in order to find the main idea or quiz each other. Use in centers for a fun review of current vocabulary, concepts, or even mathematical practice. Divide the class into cooperative learning groups to cover all aspects of one topic. The subject areas are limitless. Use as a "Jeopardy" style competition. Post on your website as a resource for parents to help their students keep motivated to study in a fun way!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Tetris N-Blox - Tetris.com
Grades
2 to 8
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Practice spatial awareness, logic, and reasoning skills with this Tetris site. Choose a level and click play to begin. Actions are controlled by the use of arrow keys on the ...more
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Practice spatial awareness, logic, and reasoning skills with this Tetris site. Choose a level and click play to begin. Actions are controlled by the use of arrow keys on the computer keyboard and directions are included by clicking on the game surface. Progress through levels by successful completion of building lines with Tetris blocks. Game status is shown including lines created and total score.
tag(s): logic (161), problem solving (228), puzzles (144)
In the Classroom
Help students develop computer skills and reasoning skills through playing this game. Tetris teaches visual thinking and two-dimensional awareness very helpful for geometric reasoning. Create a classroom chart and challenge students to post their highest scores and levels achieved. Have students write journals describing how they feel as they play the game, and strategies used to progress through levels. Display this site on an interactive whiteboard to use as a learning station.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Bear - Watch, Know, Learn
Grades
K to 2
9 Favorites
0 Comments
Reading Bear is a systematic program that teaches beginning vocabulary and concepts while introducing phonics patterns. The Getting Started video gives an overview of the program...more
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Reading Bear is a systematic program that teaches beginning vocabulary and concepts while introducing phonics patterns. The Getting Started video gives an overview of the program as it explains the software, videos, and tips for using the system. Choose from any phonics sounds or start from the beginning of the program. Then choose from different video or slideshow tutorials (such as sound it out quickly, let me sound it out, or audio and silent sentences). As sounds are pronounced, the corresponding letter is highlighted. Quizzes are available at the end of each section. Choose from different settings to adjust font, letter color, or order of presentation. At the time of this review, 16 presentations are available. The goal of the site is to create a total of 50 presentations. So check back often. Some of the video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
In the Classroom
This is an excellent resource for use on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Choose from the different options when presenting letter sounds in your classroom to present letters in different formats. Create a link on classroom computers to use as a phonics center activity. Share this site with parents through your classroom website or newsletter as a wonderful way to practice and learn letter sounds at home. Use this site with ESL/ELL students. Speech pathologists and special education teachers may want to bookmark this excellent site, too.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wondermind - Tate Liverpool
Grades
4 to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Wondermind is a set of four mini-activities with accompanying videos, illustrating the fascinating ways our brains work. Experience the activities/illustrations to help prepare for...more
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Wondermind is a set of four mini-activities with accompanying videos, illustrating the fascinating ways our brains work. Experience the activities/illustrations to help prepare for the interactive video that explains an aspect of the brain, such as how we learn language, how the brain develops from childhood to adulthood, how memory works, how we sense our own location, and how we learn self-control. Wondermind, set to the theme of Alice in Wonderland, will delight you with the quirky, clever, or just plain weird art inspired by Alice in Wonderland and used as part of the designs. The activities can be skipped if you prefer to just view the videos.
tag(s): body systems (41), brain (56), human body (93), logic (161), psychology (65)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers for students to try the challenges and then view videos on your interactive whiteboard together. Check out the learning resources link to view a video with additional ideas for visual perception games and activities. Use as part of your Alice in Wonderland or Lewis Carroll units. If you teach psychology, anatomy, or health, this exploration will offer a new angle into how the brain works. Use the game and video about memory during a unit on study skills and discovering how students learn best. Teachers of gifted may also want to explore this site as part of a unit on the gifted mind. Learning support teachers may also want to use portions to help students better understand why their minds operate differently -- not "badly." Bright Asperger's students might be fascinated by the portion on the prefrontal cortex and how we learn self-control.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ICT Games - Literacy - James Barrett
Grades
K to 5
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Check out these free interactive literacy games for the emergent learner. Practicing basic skills is an entertaining experience at ICT Games. The skills include: spelling patterns,...more
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Check out these free interactive literacy games for the emergent learner. Practicing basic skills is an entertaining experience at ICT Games. The skills include: spelling patterns, phoneme patterns, phonics, blending sounds, high frequency words, beginning science vocabulary, using rhyming to read new and unfamiliar words, and reading for understanding. It also has interactive dictionaries for the beginner through upper elementary learner. There is no registration required. Note that the site is from England, so there are minor spelling and terminology differences from U.S. English in a few games. Preview the specific game to be sure.
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tag(s): dictionaries (48), literacy (121), preK (269), reading comprehension (149), rhymes (21), science of reading (34), spelling (98)
In the Classroom
Use your projector and interactive whiteboard to introduce the site. You might start with "The Wordy Woods," an interactive resource for displaying useful words. Start by checking the lists, and have students identify words they've already learned in class. Populate the "woods" with those first. Save this! Then, as students learn new words have them fill in the forest.ENL/ELL students with emergent literacy skills will benefit from this site by practicing spelling and reading skills. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers and use it as a center. Use a program like Symbaloo, reviewed here, to create link shortcuts on your student computers. Include a link to the ITC Games on your classroom website or blog for students to practice at home. This is a great site for students to use for additional practice on a skill that is difficult.
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Skloog - Skloog, LLC
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Use this visual bookmarking program to help you keep your online favorites/bookmarks organized. Choose to make shortcuts (tiles with the logo of the site you are bookmarking) for places...more
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Use this visual bookmarking program to help you keep your online favorites/bookmarks organized. Choose to make shortcuts (tiles with the logo of the site you are bookmarking) for places you visit repeatedly. The tiles make it visual and so easy to use! Can't find the logo? Submit a site by clicking on a button at the bottom of the home page. Access and add to your Skloog bookmarks from anywhere using any computer, your mobile phone, or email. Make Skloog one of the tools on your browser's tool bar in order to add to your favorites quickly and easily. Add or change the preset category tabs that show at the top. Search your favorites by tags, URL, or website name. An added feature is the Skloog tab in the upper right corner of the menu on your short cut page. Click to find some of Skloog's favorite sites.
In the Classroom
This resource is best used as a teacher sharing tool for sharing links, RSS feeds, and other resources for students to use on specific projects or as general course links. Use this site to share with other professionals, team members, or parents. Use the categories to save bookmarks for different units you have in your classroom. Make your Skloog page the homepage for your computer, too.Consider having a category for student use for webquests, tools you want them to use, and creative commons images, music, etc. Also, create a category where students update with suggestions from class members. Use different colored alphabet tiles on a Skloog for younger, non-reader students. For example, give each subject its own distinctive color. They will also recognize logos well before they read!
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Inside Story Flashcards - Inside Story, LLC
Grades
2 to 12
12 Favorites
0 Comments
Stunning pictures, audio of each word, and short definitions all make this online vocabulary flashcard site visually stimulating and interesting. As a bonus, you can print all cards....more
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Stunning pictures, audio of each word, and short definitions all make this online vocabulary flashcard site visually stimulating and interesting. As a bonus, you can print all cards. Choose from basic, easy, medium, or hard levels of vocabulary to find and listen to words. Definitions can also be turned off for practice with word recall or guessing what the image represents. When ready to print the cards, choose the print button; then select words for the flashcards (or all). There is a paid portion of the site for other flashcards, but the free printable section contains more than enough words to make this site worth a visit.
tag(s): dictionaries (48), flash cards (43), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (94)
In the Classroom
Display the site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector), turn off the definition under the flashcard and have students try to guess the meaning of the word. Split students into teams to see who can come up with the most creative sentence using the vocabulary word. Print out cards on card stock to use at a writing center as a resource for writing. Print out cards and have students separate by nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Have a word of the day and challenge students to use the word correctly throughout the day in the classroom. Secondary teachers may want to share this site with students preparing for ACT/SAT testing.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Draw.io - JGraph, Ltd.
Grades
4 to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Take a look at this online graphic organizer creator/drawing tool that requires NO membership. Although a bit "plain vanilla" in appearance, this is a wonderful tool! Research shows...more
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Take a look at this online graphic organizer creator/drawing tool that requires NO membership. Although a bit "plain vanilla" in appearance, this is a wonderful tool! Research shows that graphic organizers promote strong thinking skills and comprehension for all ages. Draw.io is a simple, free online tool for creating mind maps -- or diagrams for any purpose -- using shapes and arrows. Just drop and drag the shapes (or nodes) you want to the panel, connect the nodes by dragging the arrow, and double-click in the shape to add text. Use the simple toolbar at the top to insert images, change, bold, color and enlarge text, etc. Printing and exporting is also an option. If you click on the "Help" tab at the top, you will see "Video Tutorial" which uses flash. Draw.io uses JavaScript, not Flash, so it works on iOS devices.
tag(s): brainstorming (18), concept mapping (15), graphic organizers (48), mind map (27), venn diagrams (15), visual thinking (8)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate creating a mind map or other diagram on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and then allow students to try to create their own. Use this site for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics of study. Use Draw.io to create family trees or flow charts. Learning support students could team up to map out the important concepts from a unit visually as a review activity. Use this mapping website as an alternative to a traditional test, quiz, or homework assignment in literature, social studies, or science. Have students demonstrate their understanding by creating a graphic organizer about the main points or map out a step-by-step process (life cycle). Be sure they name their organizer BEFORE they start work with their name --or code name-- so you know who did it (they could EMAIL it to you!) or have them print their results to turn them in. Anonymously share and compare different students' "views" of a unit so students can "see it through someone else's eyes."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Oxford Owl Reading - Oxford University Press
Grades
K to 6
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Find pre-reading and beginning reading help for the very youngest readers through the pre-teen years. From phonics lessons to online books to story videos read by professional story...more
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Find pre-reading and beginning reading help for the very youngest readers through the pre-teen years. From phonics lessons to online books to story videos read by professional story tellers, this site offers comprehensive reading help and activities for educators and parents. There are plenty of activities that accompany the free e-books. Many other activities encourage reading. On the e-book page are also suggestions for other similar or related books. In addition, a special section addresses the problem of reluctant male readers. Assistance for instructors is also available. Accompanying book lists are arranged by level of reader interest. Although the site has links to books for purchase, there is enough free material to warrant inclusion in your reading helps lists. British English speakers read the e-books, so be prepared for the difference in accents.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): independent reading (83), preK (269), reading lists (77), reading strategies (96)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce one of the free online books on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Then encourage students to use it individually or in pairs. Refer your ENL/ESL and learning support students to this site for extra, assisted reading practice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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