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.
thank you for leading me to this site – i see great applications for it in our primary grades.