Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Reading and Language Tools

KidsKnowIt Network - Free - Educational Video Podcasts, Free Educational Movies, Animal Database, Games - Content areas include: astronomy, biology, dinosaur, geography, geology, history, math, memory, spelling, educational songs, more
"The KidsKnowIt Network is your student’s free portal into the many exciting facets that make up our Universe. From the human heart, to the moons of Jupiter you will find it all on the KidsKnowIt Network. Free Educational Websites
Our fun and educational games, activities, worksheets, free online classes, and much much more, make learning fun. At The KidsKnowIt Network we provide accurate, updated, and fun information for you and your student. Best of all, YOU NEVER PAY FOR ANYTHING!!"


ReadWriteThink - If you do not use it, you are missing a valuable resource at any grade level. You will find lesson plans, student interactives, and calendar activities. Resources have as their objectives: comprehension, critical thinking, grammar, inquiry/research, literary analysis, media literacy, multimodal literacy, phonological awareness, reading fluency, reading genres, spelling, text structure/story structure, vocabulary, writing genres, and the writing process. There is also an abundance of Parent/Afterschool Reesources. The partners are the International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and Verizon Thinkfinity. 
"Our mission is to provide educators, parents, and afterschool professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials."


Penzu Online Writing Journal - free online diary and personal journal; private and easy to use; makes writing online simple and intuitive


Sebran's ABC: FREE download; "Sebran's ABC's colorful pictures, pleasant music, and gentle games teach letters, numbers, simple math, and rudiments of reading." 

Shmoop - "Shmoop will make you a better lover (of literature, history, life). See many sides to the argument. Find your writing groove. Understand how lit and history are relevant today. We want to show your brain a good time." "Shmoop provides lively Learning Guides and Teaching Resources lovingly written by educators and doctorate students at top universities (primarily Stanford, Harvard, and UC Berkeley). Our guides have a deep, fun approach that hits students in the intellectual and cultural gut. We provide multiple points of view and we hope to provoke, spark, and inspire students as they come up with original ideas. We dig deep into pop-culture, current events, and the Internet to bring these budding researchers face to face with the relevance of what they study. As a result, you’ll find at Shmoop some truly dynamic, lively, and entertaining guides that will help you make the classroom live and breathe." Be sure to check out List-o-Mania and Teacher Resources.


StoryJumper - This free program offers on-line storybooks for children to read, add to, modify or create from scratch. You can choose from a range of backgrounds, characters, props, text boxes and fonts. Students can create a whole book or collaborate by doing one or more pages each. 
 
Storybird - "Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories that are curiously fun to make, share, and read. Teachers love them because they inspire their most reluctant writers and readers and reward their most adventurous. Kids adore them because they feel empowered by the tools and supported by the social feedback. Sign up today for a free Class account!"

Writing Workshop - "My name is David Stoner. This is my site  devoted to literacy. I post daily here if you wish to visit. I have many writing workshop mini lessons here. I am passionate about literacy and teaching. I teach a fourth grade class at E O Muncie Elementary School in Madison, Indiana. I also am Co Director at the Indiana University Southeast Writing Project in New Albany, Indiana. We are a local site of the National Writing Project."

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