WWW–Word Central

Review: Word Central is a great site by Merriam Webster where words are power and language is fun. Kids can search for any word in the dictionary, thesaurus and even search for rhyming words. They can build their own dictionary or subscribe for daily buzz word. But the feature I (and my kids) liked the most was the games section. kids can feed the Big-bot correct synonyms and antonyms, fly the Robo-bee through a garden of synonym, antonym, spelling and usage puzzles or drag, drop and click their way to success with Alpha-bot. No music and engaging graphics!

Suitable for ages: 5-10

Smart Application–Picle

 

Picle is a free app for iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch that works well for putting images and audio together to create digital stories or multimedia projects. Images can be imported from the camera roll. Or, pictures can be taken directly by the app with the iDevice’s built-in camera. Then by clicking a record-button you can attach audio narration or other desired sounds to the image. You can also record whatever sound is present when the picture is taken while taking a picture to capture. Each image, with attached audio, is known as a ‘picle’. Individual picles can be woven together into movies that tell a story. These movies can be uploaded and shared on Picle’s site. Or, movies can be saved to the camera roll and sent from there directly to Youtube, on your blog or emailed. Individual picles can also be shared on their own.

I particulary like to use this application in language learning and reading. Children can take pictures of different things and say a few words about them in the language they are learning. As a fun way to teach reading, they can take the picture of some text written in other languages and record themselves reading it. My children are also using it in making tajweed videos by taking pictures of different words and verses from the Quraan and explaining the tajweed rules in the voice recording. children can also take pictures of their art work and record themselves explaining it. This application presents many wonderful opportunities and since it is so easy to use, it can be used by even very young children.

Price
Free

Link for
iphone and ipad

Links to various sites that can’t be pinned

 

Free Epub Children’s books

 

Story place elementary library

Story place preschool library

Lil fingers story books for toddlers

Between the lions

Storyline Online

Woodland juniors links

Online stories and books for kids

I had tons of sites bookmarked where kids can read online stories and books. To make them more accessible and visual for my kids and for others I have created a pinterest board. Originally I had planned to put a link to my board rather than sharing all the various links here. But some of the sites can not be pinned because they do not have big pictures on their home page. So I am linking those few sites here on this blog in another post and then that post will be pinned on the board. Confusing heh?

Anyway if you are interested in sites where you can find online books for children have a look at my Pinterest board Online Books.

Work sheet fun–K12 Reader

K12 Reader is more like a spelling and reading curriculum for grades 1-5. There are tons of worksheets for spelling and reading comprehension in here like the Dolch words worksheets and activities, handwriting practice worksheets etc. categorized by grade level. There are also some grammar worksheets. You can also find instructions on a number of topics such as phoneme awareness, reading fluency etc. The site also offers many games and activities to enhance the reading and spelling skills of children. If you like to use curriculums in your home education and are looking for a reading and spelling one, then before spending a good chunk of money you can give this site a try.

Blogs For Kids

“When thinking about “BLOGGING” , the untrained eye (in regards to blogging) of an educator usually will think of “Technology Integration”. When digging a little deeper he/she might recognize that blogging is more about WRITING than technology. But let’s roll blogging back even a little further and we will discover that blogging starts with READING!”
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

To get your kids in the habit of blogging, it is important for them to first subscribe to a number of quality blogs and read them on a daily basis. Below I have compiled a list of blogs and websites whose content may appeal to young readers. Encourage them to set up their own RSS readers and start following blogs and websites before they start writing their own blogs. Many of the sites are incredible as resources for education as well.

(Sometimes some of the content available on these sites may not be appropriate for Muslim children, like the news stories about actors and singers etc. , so make sure that adult supervision is available and children have a sense of what content type may not be suitable etc.)

NEWS SITES FOR KIDS

CBBC Newsround
BBC news site for kids and teens.

GOGO News
Big news for little people.

CNN Student News
Many discussions and quizes based on news. Can be doubled as a teaching resource.

Scholastic News
Complete in-depth reports and activities on the latest news for kids.

Time for Kids
Well it is just that! TIMES for kids.

News Bites from National Geographic
Some cool bits of news with National Geographic’s signature photography.

Youngzine
News + more for the young.

MAGAZINES FOR KIDS

National Geographic Young Explorers
A must must for young kids.

Bear Essential
Many past issues are available as well to read.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears
All about poles.

Children’s Web Magazine
A safe magazine for ages 8+

ANIMAL SITES

WWF News
Conservation news and stories.

National Geographic Stories

Zoo Borns
The newest and cutest exotic baby animals from zoos and aquariums from around the world.

MUSEUM AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC SITES

Science News for kids

Smithsonian Kids

Exploratorium Online

BLOGS BY OTHER KIDS

Miriam’s Magical Moments
Blog by a fourth grader. High content quality and nice blogging etiquettes.

Ibne Muhammad’s Blog
My son’s blog which serves as an eportfolio at the moment but we plan to make it more than that in future Insha Allaah.

Binte Muhammad’s Blog
My daughter’s blog which serves as an eportfolio at the moment but we plan to make it more than that in future insha Allaah.

Wacky Poetry Writing

 

Use this concrete poetry maker to write your own poems about nature. Use one of the shapes provided, or draw your own shape. Then use the words to write a poem about that shape. Have fun!

Wednesday Weekly Website–HM Spelling and Vocabulary

 

Houghton Mifflin Spelling and Vocabulary

Review: Houghton Mifflin Spelling and Vocabulary is a collection of spelling and vocabulary games by Houghton and Mifflin. It is a part of the Eduplace site. You can find games and activities for grades 1-6. Basically the activities and games are supplementary to the Houghton and Mifflin text books, but you can benefit from the site even if you are not using their text books. Games are versatile  and include crosswords, word builders, word sorters, mad libs, proof reading etc. These kind of games can be a fun substitute for regular spelling drills.

Suitable for ages: 5-11

Art Generator of October 2011

 

Sketchcast is a new way to express yourself. You can draw or sketch something and record yourself doing it WITH OR WITHOUT voice. There are lots of possibilities with this tool. You can explain stuff, make tutorials or simply have fun while drawing or making art. The finished sketchcast can be shared via email or can be embedded in a blog. You will need to register in order to use this tool, but registration is free and quite easy. You can learn more about using this tool here.

Sneaking in Learning: There are really tons of activities you can use this tool in. Fro language practice, have the child draw something and describe their art. I like to use this tool in our Arabic lessons. Or children can make tutorials and how-tos. Another great way to use this tool is to let them explain mathematical and scientific concepts as end of project assessments. You can also watch others’ sketchcasts, for inspiration or to learn as many people have made tutorials on different stuff using this tool.

Worksheet Fun for October 2011

 

I have previously posted about Scott Foresman’s grammar and writing handbook. I have found another great grammar skills book from scholastics. Just click on “skill builders” for the grade you want (1-6 grades available) and save the PDF. It is free to use and you can even download the teachers’ manual with it.

Techno Tools - Twine

 

Twine lets you organize your story graphically with a map that you can re-arrange as you work. Links automatically appear on the map as you add them to your passages, and passages with broken links are apparent at a glance. As you write, focus on your text with a fullscreen editing mode. Rapidly switch between a published version of your story and the editable one as you work. Twine is free to download and use, and you can share it with anyone you like.

The following videos will give you an idea of what twine is all about.

Creating A Simple Story from Chris Klimas on Vimeo.

Formatting a Story from Chris Klimas on Vimeo.

Finishing Touches from Chris Klimas on Vimeo.

Wednesday Weekly Website–Material World

 

Material World

Review: Material World has been designed for use by KS1 & 2 children during lessons. Pupils will learn about materials, processes and techniques used in art through the different categories of Paint, Wood, Metal, Clay, Animal, Stone and Composite. Within each section there is information about:
. Where the material comes from.
. The different types of each material.
. The processes that are used with each material.
. How museums care for each material.
The ‘Fun’ section for each of the individual materials contains an interactive activity designed to be used by children using this site. They can gain more information about key works of art by visiting the ‘Gallery’ and unusual words are defined in the ‘Glossary’.

Although we are not big fans of all kind of arts, and as some forms of arts (like sculptures, nude art etc.) are totally prohibited in Islam, we do not study art. But I use this site as a means of introducing the different materials that make up our world.

Suitable for ages: 5-10 years.

Practice skimming

Skimming or skim reading is an essential skill when processing information for researches etc. BBC skillwise has a nice set of activity, quiz and worksheet to practice this vital reading skill.

Worksheet Fun For September 2011

 

Game Classroom features hundreds of worksheets on math and language arts topics for students ranging from Kindergarten through 6th grade. And while you are there, have a look at their other resources like featured games etc. and you are sure to find some thing to inspire you, insha Allaah.

Write a novel with Nanowrimo

NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month takes place every November. Writers sign-up for the challenge through the NaNoWriMo’s website any time during the year but must write and submit the novel between November 1 and November 30 i.e. they have to write a novel in exactly thirty days which may sound over whelming but NaNoWriMo is there to help you with the process.

According to the website : “The thing that matters most in NaNoWriMo is output. Our high-velocity approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: you will be writing a lot of strange stuff, and some of it will be just plain bad. But that's a good thing! For 30 days, you get to lock that inner editor in the basement, let your imagination take over, and just create!”

Even if your young learners have never written a novel, you can still participate in this event. NaNoWriMo’s resources section contains free, detailed, and downloadable workbooks to take the budding writers on a detailed novel writing journey. The "100% Awesome NON-LAME workbooks" are highly recommended because they help writers learn about the elements of a novel and provide plenty of explanation in an engaging way. The workbooks are available for elementary, middle, and high school levels. NaNoWriMo also features tips from published authors, links to other writing challenges, and a blog-style section for event-related news.

Participating in the event is free and fun and although there are no fancy prizes to win but the satisfaction of completing the challenge is the real reward. Adults who sign up for the challenge have thirty days to write 50,000 words. Young writers under the age of seventeen are encouraged to choose their own challenging word count goal.

Even if your learners are not interested in signing up for the challenge, the resources available on the site are excellent to use. Check out the resources page and educators page for more helpful ideas. Also don’t forget to check out young writer’s page if your learners are younger than 13. I absolutely loved the Dare Machine and some of the lesson plans are very good too.

Preschool activities

There are so many interesting ideas and activities for preschoolers and kindergarten aged children that I find around everyday on net. I wish I had found them a few years back! Even though I don’t have a preschooler to teach, I keep collecting these delightful activities and ideas and for those of you who do have preschoolers or early years learners, I want to share them. You can find all them here. Please note that I keep on adding activities as I find them, so if you like what I like, follow my board.

Wednesday Weekly Website–A Dog’s Life

 

A Dog’s Life

Review: A Dog’s Life is a superb interactive from Scholastic. It is based on a book of the same name by Ann M. Martin. This book is an autobiography of a stray dog named Squirrel. This site is choked full of stuff to explore. Younger kids can make the dog on the screen move, make him sleep, give him a ball to play, make him eat or drink or hear the author read excerpts from the book. Older children can read an interactive story about Bone, Squirrel’s brother, in Bone travels on who also appeared in the original book. Children can make choices for Bone which will influence the story. In Create a Tale they can think up a new adventure for squirrel or any other character in the book and write a story and illustrate it. Children can also learn about how the book was created and see many drafts from the author. They can read/listen about how the author started writing, learn the differences between human and doggy senses, find fun facts about dog paws, learn more about breeds of dogs, create their own hybrid breeds and a lot more. Even if you or your child haven’t read the book, you can still benefit from this website. There is no music which is a definite plus.

Suitable for ages: 3-12

Wacky Bookmark Writing

Do you think writing motivational sentences is easy? Think again! Motivational sentences can be so droll if not plain boring and quotes like “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” often makes kids (and adults like me) go to sleep. So think about what will inspire you and write it down, make a bookmark with your quote with this bookmark factory and tah dah! enjoy your reading with a bookmark of your own design and words.

A Bag Full Of Afrikaans

Here are some resources to learn Afrikaans. Please note that I can not provide personal review for any of the resources listed as I have not personally used them yet.

Worksheet Fun for June

 

Discovery Education has a wealth of worksheets at worksheets to go, made by teachers and categorized by subject and grade level. Check it out!