iLearn Technology

Pinky Dinky Doo

What it is: Pinky Dinky Doo is a site I was destined to review, I saw the show advertising the website while channel surfing one day, and on the very same day, Kevin Jarrett Tweeted about it. Needless to say, I checked it out and was immediately hooked. This is a great website for pre-k through first grade students. The site is based on a PBS show of the same name. The website has fun activities for kids to take part in including word games, story podcasts, videos, and a place for students to create their own story podcast. Pinky Dinky Doo loves making up stories and teaches students that every story has a beginning, middle, and end. The stories are often full of metaphores and similes and often have a great message for kids too. Every story also has one giant fancy word like “collaborate” or “gracious” teaching students rich vocabulary as well. I love the way that this site expands student vocabulary! How to integrate Pinky Dinky Doo into the classroom: Put your students listening skills to work, listen as a class to a podcast story and discuss parts of a story together afterward. Every story has a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Students can draw and visualize the story while they listen to it. The podcast stories would also make an excellent listening center in the classroom. Pinky Dinky Doo is a great way to teach students new vocabulary, each story has a ‘fancy word’ that will expand your student vocabulary. It would be fun to use the ‘fancy word’ from the story as the classroom word of the day. See how many times your students can use the ‘fancy word’ correctly during the day. I love the section where students can create their own story podcasts. Set up a story station in the one or two computer classroom where partners can create a story and listen to a classmates story. Students in a computer lab setting could create story podcasts of their own and play the word games independently. The site is easy enough for students to work independently. Tips: Check out the grownups section on Pinky Dinky Doo for some great offline activities. They even have directions for creating a Fancy Word box of your own and directions for playing the circle story game. Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Pinky Dinky Doo in your classroom.

Wizz-e Free e-Books

Posted by admin | Posted in Fun & Games, Interactive Whiteboard, Interactive book, Language Arts, Phonics, Primary Elementary, Secondary Elementary, Teacher Resources, Websites | Posted on 19-10-2009

Tags: book, ebooks, Interactive book, Language Arts, literacy, reading, wizz-e

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What it is: Wizz-e is a kids interactive e-book website. Not all of the e-books are free, but they are SO high quality and definitely worth any investment. Wizz-e does have some free e-books for you to preview. Both Puss-in-Boots and the Elves and the Shoemaker are free to play online or download to your computer. The stories can be read to students who may struggle with reading on their own. Students can also choose to read the story independently without sound. At the end of each e-book is a quiz that checks for comprehension. Wizz-e also has a few games that students can play online including puzzles and hidden picture hide and seek.

How to integrate Wizz-e Free e-books into the classroom: The Wizz-e ebooks are a wonderful way to read a story as a class on a projector or interactive whiteboard. With the large print and pictures, every student in the class can read along and see the illustrations clearly. These ebooks also make for an excellent reading center on classroom computers. They are especially good for students who may struggle reading indpendently. Students can listen to the story and follow along or read a page independently and then click to hear the story for understanding. The e-books bring reading to life and will draw in your struggling readers. Wizz-e only features two free ebooks but would be a worthwhile investment for your classroom library. The site features a variety of topics and genres and has some amazing math and science stories that teach key concepts through story. If you teach 3-8year olds the two free stories are must downloads! The quiz at the end will ask students question at the book and help them to monitor their own comprehension. The quiz models the questions that good readers ask as they read.

Tips: Because the Wizz-e books can be purchased, there is an option to purchase a gift certificate for the e-books. This would be excellent to put on your wishlist for parents to donate to your classroom. The e-books add to your classroom library but have the added bonus of creating a listening center where struggling readers can read along.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Wizz-e Free e-books in your classroom.