Language Arts – Page 32 – iLearn Technology

The Tale of Despereaux Adventure

February 4, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2857 views

What it is: I learned about this awesome interactive site from Larry Ferlazzo’s blog. It is just too good to pass up blogging about it! This interactive story book lets students create their own tale in the Kingdom of Dor. The students become a part of the story as they create a character version of themselves that takes part in the story adventure. Students can choose to have interactive games and puzzles included in their story. The story is a virtual pop-up book, it is read to students and they can read along with subtitles. Along the way, students have to help solve problems in the story by playing an interactive game.

How to integrate The Tale of Despereaux Adventure into the classroom: The Tale of Despereaux Adventure is a really impressive site. This would be a great introduction to the book by Kate DiCamillo. The site would act as a teaser for the book that would have students eager to read. Even if you aren’t reading The Tale of Despereaux, this is a fun way to get students interested in reading (most of them won’t even realize that they are reading!) Set up a Tale of Despereaux center on your classroom computer during reading time for a month. Each day two new students can visit the center and take part in their own adventure. This site could also be used with an interactive whiteboard or projector for the students to create a whole class story. If students choose to read the story with the interactive games, they will be stopped along the way to complete puzzle and logic games throughout the story. These type of games are great to get kids thinking creatively and outside of the box. The story can be viewed in different languages, this would be a fun site for foreign language classes to visit in the language they are studying!

Tips: One thing I don’t love about this site is that it asks students to enter their first and last name to be part of the story. I teach my students never to put their last name online. I ask my students to make up a last name when creating their story.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using The Tale of Despereaux Adventure in your classroom.

FontStruct

January 30, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1959 views

What it is: FontStruct is a free website that lets students build, share, and download fonts that they create in a simple font editor. First students name their font, then they use the font editor to draw each character of the alphabet using font bricks and a grid system. After each character has been created, the font can be downloaded and added to the fonts folder to be used in any word processing program or desktop presentation program.

How to integrate FontStruct into the classroom: It would be fun to come up with a class font where each student is responsible for a letter in the font. The font could be used for typing practice, or as a header for newsletters that go home each week. FontStruct is a motivating environment for students to practice forming their letters. They love knowing that they created a font of their very own. The fonts can be used for anything, I have found that my students love creating a font and using it for typing practice or as titles for projects or slide shows. If you are creating a class font, this can be done on an interactive whiteboard or on a classroom computer. If each student will be creating their own font, individual computers are needed.

Tips: FontStruct does require registration with an email address. In my class, I created a school username and password so that each student didn’t have to register for an account individually.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using FontStruct in your classroom.

Lit2Go

January 22, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment3885 views

What it is: Lit2Go is a FREE online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format from Florida’s Educational Technology Clearinghouse. With Lit2Go teachers and students can download files to an iPod or Mp3 player, listen to the Mp3 files on the computer, view the text on a webpage and read along with the audio, and print out the stories and poems to create a customized book. Lit2Go can be searched by author, tiltle, or searched via the database (by authro, keywords, title, or reading level). Each reading passage can be downloaded as a PDF and printed for use as a read-along or supplemental reading material for your classroom. Many of the selections can be downloaded directly to your iTuens library making it a simple transfer to one or many iPods.

How to integrate Lit2Go into the classroom: Lit2Go is a fabulous resource for all readers, but is especially valuable for struggling readers. Set up a Lit2Go listening center in your classroom. You can either download the audio to a Mp3 player or let the students listen from the computer. Each audio file has a PDF text version that can be downloaded and printed out as a read along. If students are listening from the computer they can also view the text online. Lit2Go would be a great help for a reading buddy program. Send your struggling readers home with a Mp3 player loaded with level appropriate stories or poems and the PDF print out. Students can practice reading anywhere, even if a parent or sibling isn’t available to read with them. Reading levels range from .10 to 53. You are sure to find something for every student! This is an easy way to help differentiate instruction.

Tips: Search Lit2Go in the iTunes store or visit the Lit2Go website to get started.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Lit2Go in your classroom.

2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book

January 20, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2003 views

What it is: Curriclick is a site that I have mentioned before that provides free and low cost curriculum for download and use in your classroom. Today they released a 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book for download. After the speech today it would be great to download and use some of the reading and activities in your classroom.

How to integrate 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book into the classroom: I don’t know about you but I found that many of my students still didn’t “get” president Obama’s Inauguration speech even after viewing it. Use this free lap book download to help your students understand the history behind the Inauguration speech. Watch the speech again as a class or read the transcript of the speech. Help your students understand this historic occasion with the help of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lap book. I wish that they had released this one sooner!

Tips: This is a 40+ page guide. Download the pdf version and only print out the pages you are going to use in your classroom. NOTE! I tried to access this site just a few min. ago and could not get to it, probably because of the flood of traffic. Try back later today if the links in this post don’t seem to be working.

Leave a comment and tell us how your students responded to the speech.

Inauguration Speech Generator

January 16, 2009Kelly Tenkely3 Comments3068 views

What it is: With President Obama’s Inauguration speech looming on the horizon, this site is worth a look. Inauguration Speech Generator is like a mad lib, fill in the blank that generates a speech for President Obama to say. 🙂 Students enter words in the blanks according to the part of speech that is requested and then read the speech they have written for our soon to be president.

How to integrate Inauguration Speech Generator into the classroom: This is a great lead in to teach students about the Inauguration of President Obama. It is also a fun way to practice those parts of speech! Students can fill in the blanks individually and share with a partner, or a speech can be generated as a whole class. This would be a fun thing to do right before the inauguration. Save the students version of the speech. They can compare and contrast their speech with the actual inauguration speech after viewing it.

Tips: The inauguration is supposed to be live on CNN, it would be fun to watch live but I suspect that Internet may be slow that day! Those of you with cable in the classroom take advantage!!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Inauguration Speech Generator in your classroom.

Myths and Legends

January 16, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4229 views

What it is: Myths and Legends is an awesome, free, online digital story telling website. I heard about the website through @kjarrett. The story creator lets students combine pictures that they compose with clip art or images that they upload, sound, and words to create a digital story. The stories can be saved, printed, and shared. Students can record themselves reading the story aloud and even add video! The website is pretty comprehensive as far as online digital storytelling tools go, I am impressed!

How to integrate Myths and Legends into the classroom: Myths and Legends is a great way to get your students interested and eager to write. The digital story telling format gives students a unique opportunity to express themselves creatively. Many of your reluctant writers will jump at the chance to create a story in this manner because it doesn’t “feel” like writing. They don’t get stuck looking at that blank piece of paper and feeling overwhelmed by the task ahead of them. I have found that students write more, and the quality of work is better when they create digital stories that are shared later with the whole class. In the one or two computer classroom you can set up a digital storytelling writing center that students can work at, in the lab setting whole classes can create at the same time, and as a whole class with an interactive whiteboard or projector, the entire class can create a story together.

Tips: Each student should sign up and register for a free account so that they can save their work. As a teacher you can also sign up for a school account where you can login and review all of your students work online.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Myths and Legends in your classroom.

Literactive

January 16, 2009Kelly Tenkely4 Comments4827 views

What it is: Literactive is an outstanding website for reading material for pre-school, kindergarten, and first grade. The program is made up of leveled guided readers, comprehensive phonics activities, and supplemental reading material that is aimed at developing reading skills in a sequential, motivating manner. To use and view the site is free. To download material you are required to register but registration is also free. The guided readers are fully animated and each comes with a breakdown of every word in the stories. The Road to Reading is an interactive journey for students that moves them sequentially though pre-reading activities, alphabet awareness, letter sounds, short vowels, CVC word blending, initial blends, long vowels, and various phonic activities. There are over one hundred learning activities that can be used for individual or whole class use that can be downloaded for free. Worksheets are available in pdf format that correlate with each reading skill. An ESL version is offered for each guided reader, stories can be translated with the click of a mouse. E-picture books tell traditional tales for early readers and e poetry is a collection of interactive poetry including poems by Rober Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allen Poe, Edward Lear, and more. The Literactive website is packed full with reading activities for primary students that will have them on the road to reading!

How to integrate Literactive into the classroom: Literactive is a complete reading program that should be included in any primary classroom. I am amazed at the comprehensive list of activities, stories, and scope and sequence of this program. Because activities are downloaded, after having downloaded them your computer does not need an Internet connection to use them. Use Literactive as a daily reading center, individually in the computer lab setting, or for whole class instruction and reading. The activities on Literactive are highly motivating and provide an excellent foundation for reading.

Tips: Register for free today and transform your classroom into a reading-rich environment for your beginning readers! Thank you to @annemarie80 who sent a Tweet about this site!

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Literactive in your classroom.

Wordly Wise 3000

January 15, 2009January 15, 2009Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3017 views

What it is: Wordly Wise 3000 is a vocabulary curriculum that can be purchased, any time I see a website mentioned as part of curriculum, I always take a look. While the Wordly Wise 3000 curriculum costs, the website activities are free! Students are told to choose their vocabulary book (I just choose the appropriate grade level). Students can go through a word list that says each word, gives a picture, the part of speech, the definition, and a sentence using the word. They can read this information or have it read to them. Then they review the word with a mini quiz review. The audio from the website can be downloaded and saved on a CD to be used in class without computers. After students have learned the words, they can play games that reinforce the vocabulary learned. Games include concentration, flashcards, hangman, matching synonyms, and word searches. Wordly Wise 3000 has vocabulary units for second through twelfth grade.

How to integrate Wordly Wise 3000 into the classroom: Wordly Wise 3000 is a great site for your auditory learners to learn vocabulary. It is also a great addition to ESL and ELL classrooms, the written and auditory output is a nice feature. The site combines auditory, visual, pictures, and hands on games making differentiated instruction for vocabulary easy. Wordly Wise 3000 can be used individually by students, as a vocabulary reading center, or for whole class instruction with a projector or interactive whiteboard. Wordly Wise 3000 can help build a vocabulary base for your struggling readers. This would be a great site to use for learning a new word or two each day as a class. Studies show that students who have a solid vocabulary base to pull from are better readers.

Tips: I have not seen the actual Wordly Wise 3000 curriculum but based on their web activities, it looks like it may be a good one to check out.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Wordly Wise 3000 in your classroom.

Pic Lits

January 14, 2009Kelly Tenkely6 Comments6456 views

What it is: Pic Lits is a really neat creative writing site that provides pictures and a word bank for students to create a enriched sentence or sentences about the picture. “The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.” Students can choose to only drag words from the word bank to create their sentence or compose a sentence freestyle.

How to integrate Pic Lits into the classroom: Pic Lits is a great way to get students to think creatively and critically about writing. Students can choose any picture and then use the word list to create a sentence. Pic Lits is complete with punctuation and any word can be capatalized. Students can use Pic Lits individually on computers, as a whole class with a projector, or as a creative writing center in the one or two computer classroom. When using Pic Lits as a class, choose a picture for the day and have students write their sentences on paper using words from the word bank. Take turns sharing to hear the combination of words and the different meanings that students gathered from the picture. This is a great writing exercise to use in your classroom every day! Here in Colorado, we often have indoor recesses for bad weather. Use Pic Lits with an interactive whiteboard and invite your cooped up students to choose pictures and create sentences.

Tips: Students can sign up for a free account and save each Pic Lit they create. At the end of the year, each student can create a book of their Pic Lits to take home for creative inspiration.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Pic Lits in your classroom.

Readicide

January 13, 2009Kelly Tenkely2 Comments2862 views

What it is: Readicide is a new ebook from Kelly Gallagher about how schools are killing the love of reading. It is being made available here Jan. 13 and 14 as a free download. I downloaded Readicide earlier today and am loving it. The ebook reminds me of what made me love reading, the times when I hated reading, and how my students feel about reading. It is inspiring and may just give you the jolt you need to shake up your reading program and make your classroom the place where students fall in love with reading again (or the very first time).

How to integrate Readicide into the classroom: Download Readicide ASAP! Then send to your administration and fellow teaching staff to read. Open up communication about your reading program at the next staff meeting, be critical. Lets start a reading revolution!!

Tips: Download today while the ebook is free 🙂 I vote “readicide” to be considered as a new word for Webster to add to the dictionary.

Leave a comment and tell us what you think of Readicide and your ideas for bring a love of reading into your classroom.