owp05

reed, rit, theek

What a cool web site. It has very applicable information for teaching and learning writing. It addresses teacher needs with in depth lesson plans, as well as student needs with easy and interactive, on line activities that use good sized words and simple/fun graphics.

It is the kind of site you want to spend a whole bunch of time looking through. Very useful.

Quiddler

Quiddler Card Game
www.gamesbyjames.biz/quiddler

A beautiful word game that draws on one’s ability to combine letters into words.

Web Review

For my web review, I Googled “revision strategies” and got a bunch of sites that were less than appealing. I simplified my search to “revision”, and the first site I tried was bbc.co.uk/schools/revision/. I was familiar with this web page because had used it with math last school year. It was filled with many activities in a variety of school subjects. I found one area that might work to supplement writing instruction. It was a video game format that reviewed subjects covered in language arts instruction such as alliteration, parts of speech, and punctuation. It was fun, but not worth the effort. Also, I would only allow my students to use it in their free time.

 

The major emphasis of this site was preparing British students for an achievement test. Therefore, it didn’t seem relevant to my curriculum. Since the site was designed in Great Britain there were other difficulties with terms and spelling. 

I would not recommend this website, but you might check it out and see if there is something your students might find useful.

Next I went to a site I find irresistible, Brainpop.com. I’ve used it before to help explain math terms, but I’ve never used it with writing concepts. It’s AWESOME! You are given a variety of subject areas such as similes, antonyms, or “show don’t tell.” You are directed to take a quiz like a pre-test, but you’re not required to do so. Then, you watch a cute, animated video explaining the concept, and then you can re-take the quiz. I’ve used this with my math class using the laptop and a projector, and my class loved it. There is one drawback though; it’s a subscription site. The Bethel School District subscribes, and I feel it’s valuable to teachers in grades 2-12. I’m not sure of the cost. I give this site two thumbs up, ten on a scale of one to ten, and five stars!

Web Review

For my web review, I Googled “revision strategies” and got a bunch of sites that were less than appealing. I simplified my search to “revision”, and the first site I tried was bbc.co.uk/schools/revision/. I was familiar with this web page because had used it with math last school year. It was filled with many activities in a variety of school subjects. I found one area that might work to supplement writing instruction. It was a video game format that reviewed subjects covered in language arts instruction such as alliteration, parts of speech, and punctuation. It was fun, but not worth the effort. Also, I would only allow my students to use it in their free time.

 

The major emphasis of this site was preparing British students for an achievement test. Therefore, it didn’t seem relevant to my curriculum. Since the site was designed in Great Britain there were other difficulties with terms and spelling. 

I would not recommend this website, but you might check it out and see if there is something your students might find useful.

Next I went to a site I find irresistible, Brainpop.com. I’ve used it before to help explain math terms, but I’ve never used it with writing concepts. It’s AWESOME! You are given a variety of subject areas such as similes, antonyms, or “show don’t tell.” You are directed to take a quiz like a pre-test, but you’re not required to do so. Then, you watch a cute, animated video explaining the concept, and then you can re-take the quiz. I’ve used this with my math class using the laptop and a projector, and my class loved it. There is one drawback though; it’s a subscription site. The Bethel School District subscribes, and I feel it’s valuable to teachers in grades 2-12. I’m not sure of the cost. I give this site two thumbs up, ten on a scale of one to ten, and five stars!

Web Review

Here is my top 5 list of useful sites:

1. The Black Plague-  This site offers some primary source material for teaching about the plagues impact in Italy: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/osheim/intro.html (Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities) 
2. Africans in America- A history of African slavery that offers primary sources in both text and graphic form: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/index.html
3. White Southerners' Defense of Slaveholding-  History is written by the victors.  So much of what we learn about slavery in America is presented from the abolitionist point of view. This site offers more primary source material, in this case from the perspective of a Southern apologist for slavery:  http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/teaching/vclassroom/proslavewsht3.html

4. Movies- Need to know something about a movie? The running time or rating?  Maybe you can’t remember if you have the correct title.  Almost every movie made is covered in this site:   http://www.allmovie.com/
5. Transparency Now is a site that explores media literacy and critical analysis of popular culture. I recommend the article that discusses the culture war in America.  I have used the piece on the Truman Show in my film class.  http://www.transparencynow.com
6.  Puzzles-The bonus site is one that lets create word puzzles for free.  You can create crosswords, word searches, and many others: http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.html

Marty's Web Review

Website Review:
www.justicelearning.org

One area of U.S. History that seems to be of high interest to middle school students is around the issue of civil rights. Young people at this age have a strong sense of fairness, which lends itself nicely to rich classroom discussions when learning about the creation of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The website that I chose to review is a relatively new one that only recently has been completed. A collaborative effort between NPR’s Talking Justice and The New York Times Learning Network, this site focuses on civic education for students and classroom teachers.
One thing that I think is very useful about using this site as a student resource is that it provides current commentary by officials and subject experts, ranging from Supreme Court justices, to political scientists. This allows students to access different viewpoints at one site on any given civic-related topic.
In addition, interactive timelines are provided, allowing students an opportunity to really examine the development of law as it pertains to a particular topic. For example, students can investigate the chronological development of race relations in education - starting with Brown vs. The Board of Education, to current day social trends that threaten to undermine the promise of this landmark case. This is an excellent site for students who are charged with gathering persuasive arguments focused around a wide range of constitutional issues.
Finally, this site offers teachers a wealth of information through a variety of resources, such as a student-friendly guide to the Constitution that breaks down each article into simpler language. Also, teachers are provided with regularly updated lesson plans, as well as suggested links for various topics of interest.

Works 4 Me: Website Review

I have been a subscriber to this "for teachers only" website for around 3 years; teachers from all grade levels contribute to this site. When I read something I want to keep, I copy/paste text into a Word file, eventually print this file when it's full of ideas, and store pages in a binder.

You can subscribe to works4me from the NEA site. Here is some information from them:

Visit Works4Me's online home in the Members & Educators area of the newly revamped and expanded NEA.org Web site. Visit the new NEA.org now: http://www.nea.org

Website Review

Multnomah County Library Homework Center

http://www.multcolib.org/homework/
    If your students are feeling grumpy about that research project, curious about the author of their favorite book, or just plain bored, send them to the Multnomah County Library Homework Center.  Don’t let the “homework” part discourage them.  This Center is like a candy shop filled with enticing morsels for all tastes. 
    It is organized by topics ranging from African-American Sites to What is a Search Engine.  Choose a subject, such as Literature & Authors, and you will find a list of links with descriptions about each of the sites. Google says that these links are “carefully reviewed K-12 resources for students and teachers.” 
    This Homework Center is appropriate for all ages of students.  For example, older students can find original source documents for their research reports on history or social studies. Spanish speaking students can go to Tareas Escolares and search in Spanish.  Younger students can find an assortment of activities and subjects on KidsPage.  The KidsPage section even has a place where students can post a review of a favorite book.
    The Multnomah County Library Homework Center even has links to homework reference resources at other library sites, just in case your students want more resource possibilities. Sweet!

Website Review

www.readwritethink.org

    This website was one listed as a resource after Ingrid Wendt presented. It has several helpful components. First it provides lesson plans. These can be sorted by title, grade, or date. Second, it provides teaching standards which can be sorted like the lesson plans. Third, it provides web resources. Here you can find many useful language arts resources on the Internet. Finally, it provides student materials. These materials are available to provide support in literacy learning.
    I found this sight to be easy to navigate through. I appreciate how I can put in my grade level and subject choice and come up with lesson plans, standards and reproducible materials. Lesson plan ideas seem good, include using literature and cover the whole literacy spectrum. There are ideas for poetry, learning word families, retelling stories, drama, abc order, book elements, story writing... 
    I think I will use this sight. I can see myself using it when I am covering specific skills and need additional resources and it seems like a great place to get new ideas. It’s bookmarked on my computer!

Website Review

Website: www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/writing/general/menu.htm

 My Review:

 Holy cow!! This website is a must see. The extended site address included is for the writing section. If you shorten it to just www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com , you’ll find materials and ideas for reading, classroom management, language arts, getting organized, and bulletin boards. However, since this is a writing workshop, I will focus my review on the writing section.

 Two of the book reviews that I submitted involved the 6 Traits of Writing. Luckily I found this fabulous website that also focuses on the same thing. The author has included all of the materials needed for creating student books on the six traits. Each trait is accompanied by student-friendly materials like a definition, descriptors, writing prompts, and rubrics. Wow! The author includes how to color code each section and special icons to use in the student book.  Amazingly, this is all available in book format that can be purchased, but the author has put it all on the web for those teachers who are not made of money!

 Also in the writing section are ideas for cartoon use, quotations, manipulatives, sample posters, a writing process timeline, student self-evaluations, and many other links to resources in this same area.

 Honestly people, there is just too much to list. Take my word for it….you must, I repeat must, visit this website.