Archive for the ‘Language Arts’ category

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Language Arts Videos, Songs, Worksheets, Flashcards, & More!

July 7th, 2010

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, July 7, 2010 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Have Fun Teaching

Age Range: 5-12 (Grades K-6)

This website offers all kinds of free, fun resources to teach and learn Language Arts (and Math, Science, and Social Sciences) through videos, songs, worksheets, flashcards, and games. Created by an elementary school teacher for classroom teachers, it provides an archive of free resources to engage and educate kids in grades K-6. 

When you get to the website you’ll see a menu of resources that are offered on the site. For this review, I was specifically interested in seeing what they offered for Language Arts, and discovered the following resources: 

*Worksheets – Under “English” you’ll find printable worksheets that offer practice in grammar and parts of speech such as adverbs, adjectives, nouns, etc. You’ll also find worksheets for Handwriting, Phonics, Reading and Writing. Click on the topics to find an extensive menu that provides practice sheets in everything from basic alphabet to reading comprehension, spelling, and more.

*Flash Cards – Print out flash cards to practice grammar, common and proper nouns, phonics, and vocabulary including synonyms and antonyms. 

*Songs For Kids – You’ll find downloadable songs and lyrics that help kids learn grammar, phonics, and even a song for learning strategies for taking reading comprehension tests!

*Educational Videos – Watch video lessons that teach about nouns, similes, subjects and predicates, and more.

*Fun Activities – Get printable crossword puzzles, word searches, and even reader’s theater scripts (so you can act out some favorite books).

You’ll also find thousands of free, themed coloring pages.

Bookmark this site and use it as a year-round supplement to learning elementary subjects, or just have fun exploring the games, puzzles and activities with your kids.

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Posted in Language Arts

Free Multi-Subject Lesson Snips

May 26th, 2010

Recommended Website:
Lesson Snips

Age Range: 5-13 (about grades K-8)

I am continuously AMAZED by the educational material available for free on the Net. While this is not a multi-media site, it does offer free, multi-subject lessons and worksheets for teachers in downloadable and printable pdfs. The lessons can be tweaked for homeschool use.

For the purpose of today’s review, I’m focusing on the Language Arts portion of the site – but you’ll be happy to know there are “Lesson Snips” for Math, Science, and Social Sciences as well.

When you get to the Language Arts page, you’ll see a menu of the available lessons covering topics such as:

  • Parts of Speech — including individual lessons on verbs, irregular verbs, nouns, proper nouns, pronouns, personal pronouns, intensive and reflexive pronouns, articles, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, adjectives, infinitives, gerunds, participles, direct and indirect objects, interjections and more.
  • Reading — including identifying vowel sounds and sounds in word families, reading comprehension, sequencing, understanding plot, identifying the problem and solution, framing questions (who, what, where, when, how, and why), understanding narrative poetry, rhyming, and more.
  • Spelling, Writing, and Vocabulary — including basic sentence structure, capitalization, synonyms and antonyms, homonyms, using similes and metaphors, using the right tense, etc.

Click on any lesson and a new page opens with a lesson summary, the objectives, and the suggested grade range. Click on the “Get Lesson” button to download and print out the lesson and associated worksheets.

While there is a “schoolish” quality to these lessons, many of the suggested activities or the subjects covered would interest a vast array of learners and, with just a tweak, can accommodate a variety of learning styles.

If nothing else, review the menus in each subject category — you’re sure to find inspiration for introducing new ideas and topics to your kids.

Enjoy!

P.S. If you enjoy recommendations for outstanding resources, such as the ones above, you’ll love my book, Carschooling. Get your copy today!

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Posted in Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Sciences

Virtual Field Trip to Peeps Factory & A Peeps Curriculum

March 19th, 2010

Hi!  It’s Friday, March 19, 2010 and time for a Virtual Field Trip at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Just Born Candy

Marshmallow Peeps are everywhere this time of year.  Ever wonder how they’re made?  At this website you can take a virtual tour through text and photographs of how this traditional Easter-basket candy confection is manufactured. (Not only that, you can also find out how Hot Tamales, Mike & Ike, and Zours are made.)

While the tour is offered by the company that makes Peeps, you’ll find better photos of their Peep manufacturing process at this Peeps website.

Now for those of you who wonder how Peeps can be educational, what follows is ClickSchooling’s Original Peeps’ Curriculum for your enjoyment. These links take you to the original ClickSchooling reviews with links to the curriculum content.

ClickSchooling’s Original Peeps’ Curriculum

Peeps Math – Includes Peeps-themed math lessons for grades K-8 and a recipe for making your own home-made version of Peeps.

Peeps Science – These websites document science experiments conducted on Peeps — some of which may inspire your own Peeps experimentations. The studies focused on basic attributes and reactions of Peeps to simple conditions and stimuli. You’ll also find a link to a “Peeps in Outer Space” online computer game.

Peeps Language Arts – Watch a terrific retelling of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in a photo-illustration using Peeps as the characters. Then enjoy some Peeps’ Haiku poetry.

Peeps Social Sciences – The first link in this archived review doesn’t work. But you won’t want to miss the other two links where you can see the amazing and funny results when you tell your co-workers that you hate Peeps. You can also test your knowledge of the history of Peeps by taking an online quiz.

Peeps Art – Learn to draw a Marshmallow Peep and get instructions for making an incredible, edible Peeps necklace!

I have been telling people for years that you can get a good education without textbooks and by using what you find in the environment around you. This just proves it!

I hope you’ll forward this email, in its entirety, to your friends and relatives and encourage them to subscribe to ClickSchooling. After all, it will make them smile and ClickSchooling is free. Besides, I think ClickSchooling’s Original Peeps’ Curriculum should go viral. Don’t you agree?

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Posted in Art, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Sciences, Virtual Field Trip

St. Pat’s Day Language Arts & Much More!

March 17th, 2010

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, March 17, 2010 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! With a name like “Flynn” you can imagine how much I enjoy celebrating the silly and serious business of being Irish today.  :)

Here are some fun ideas from my websites for cross-curricular celebrations – many of which you can do last minute!

Recommended Websites:

St. Patty’s Day Activities:
Rainbows, Shamrocks and Leprechauns

Age Range: 6-14 (Approximately – and fun for the whole family!)

This wonderful article by veteran homeschool mom, Fran Wisniewski offers a fun array of St. Patty’s Day arts, crafts, and activities that cover math, science, language arts, and much more!

St. Patrick’s Day Fun for Preschoolers

Age Range: 2-7 (Approximately – and fun for the whole family!)

I wrote this article with suggestions for a few fun learning activities you can do with little ones. Try my family’s recipe for a festive beverage today – a “Darby O’Gill”!

A Potato Curriculum

Age Range: 2-7 and Fun for the Whole Family!

Potatoes are an Irish food staple.  Go on a Potato Hunt, explore a potato, conduct a potato science experiment, get creative with mashed potatoes – and have fun learning!

“Toy, tee, toy, tee, toy, tee toy.”  LOL!

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Posted in Electives, Language Arts, Math, Science

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Free Math Video Lessons & Much More!

March 15th, 2010

Hi! It’s Monday, March 15, 2010 and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
WatchKnow.org: Mathematics

Age Range: 5-18 (Grades K-12)

ClickScholar Nancy Hogan recommended this website that offers free videos that teach every school subject including over 1800 math lessons on video! The videos archived here have been researched, rated and sorted by WatchKnow, a non-profit online community. The videos are from other Internet sources such as YouTube. The difference here is that the ads and user comments have been eliminated, and the videos have been sorted and rated to provide easier use along with some helpful guidance.

When you get to the site you’ll see two sections. The “Mathematics” section is on the right side of the page (the “Directory” to the rest of the site is on the left). Under the math section you’ll see some featured math videos, as well as a menu of math subcategories that include:

  • Number Basics
  • Operations
  • Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
  • Graphing, Statistics, and Probability
  • Geometry
  • Measurement
  • Pre-Algebra and Algebra
  • Precalculus
  • Calculus
  • ‘Language of Mathematics’ Series
  • Math Study Skills and Test Prep
  • History of Math

Click on any subcategory and a new page opens featuring the videos that have been archived to date. The videos are all free for viewing. Some have been uploaded by site members. The videos are moderated by WatchKnow to ensure appropriate content. To share videos, you must open an account (free) that also allows you to track your activities. There are different levels of membership and some (such as the level that allows you to enter WatchKnow contests) requires you to provide access to personal information.  Get the details at the website.

As I mentioned, this site also contains lots of useful video lessons on other topics including:

  • Language Arts
  • Literature
  • Science
  • History
  • Social Studies
  • Languages
  • Physical and Health Ed
  • The Arts
  • Computers and Technology
  • Practical Skills
  • Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics

WatchKnow’s goal is to collect all the best free educational videos that are made for children and explain every topic taught in schools, in every major language on Earth – and make them available on one website, usefully categorized according to subject and education level.

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Posted in Art, Electives, Foreign Language, Health, Language Arts, Math, Music, Other, Physical Education, Science, Social Sciences

Free K-5 Language Arts Lessons and More (CSAW)

February 24th, 2010

 

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, February 24, 2010 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
LessonPathways.com

Age Range: 4-10 (Grades PreK-5)

ClickScholar Heike Reagan recommended this formerly subscription-based website that has just converted to offering complete lesson plans, unit studies, and individual resources for core subjects in grades PreK-5 for free! Instead of charging a fee, the site will now be ad-supported.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu. Below it is a button that says, “Take a Tour.” Click on that to get an idea of the magnitude of what is archived at this website. You can also bypass the tour and explore the menu items – but in order to see the content, you will have to register (it’s free).

The learning content is divided into three segments and includes:
 
1) A Guided Journey – This is a complete 36-week lesson package available for Language Arts, Reading and Phonics, as well as Science, History, and Math! Follow the complete lesson plan (or path) for the grade you select, or mix and match to create your own course of study. These lesson plans are made up of individual units called “Pathways”.

2) A Pathway – This option provides a single unit study on a given topic. For example, a guided study of the book Charlotte’s Web or an exploration of “Newton’s Three Laws of Motion.” Each unit is designed for one week of study. Each “Pathway” is composed of individual “Stepping Stones” (see description in #3 below). Click on a unit of interest and a new page opens that includes:

  • Description of Learning Unit
  • List of Objectives
  • Materials List
  • Instructions and Directions for Experiential Learning Activities
  • Links to Free Online Resources for Further Learning
  • Learning Tools (worksheets, drills, printables, online games, tests)

3) A Stepping Stone – This segment is composed of a single resource that, as the website explains, “may be a lesson, video, worksheet, hands-on project, ebook, online game, or other activity (i.e., Create a Spider Life Cycle Poster).”
 
The idea here is to either follow the recommended learning “pathways” or mix-and-match subjects and grade levels to suit the needs of your students and customize their curriculum. You can keep track of it all in the online Planner.

This site was created with lots of input from homeschool parents, which is probably why it’s so user-friendly. You’ll appreciate the encouragement to customize this to your child’s interests and needs.

This is a traditional “homeschool curriculum queen’s” dream-come-true. Unschoolers can access fun ideas and activities to explore as desired.  There’s something for everyone at this website, and it earns a ClickSchooling Award for Excellence!

That said, in reading some of the material about this site, the longevity of the project is uncertain. They weren’t earning enough revenue from subscription sales to support their operating costs, which is why they converted to an ad-supported model. They are hopeful that advertising will sustain them and make the endeavor profitable. That remains to be seen. They need your support to keep this resource available and free. Tell your friends.

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Posted in Language Arts