Archive for the ‘language arts’ category

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Reading, Writing, Spelling, & Grammar Games!

May 16th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, May 16, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
BBC: Skillswise

Age Range: 11 and up (with parental preview and supervision)

This BBC website offers free interactive games that teach practical literacy skills. Although designed for adults, students (about 11 and up) can use this resource as well. Instead of playing young “kiddie games” that are sometimes too elementary, slow-moving, or annoyingly “cutesy,” students can practice basic reading, writing, grammar and spelling with games that use more sophisticated vocabulary and topics (although some of the games are still very simple with young-ish animations). 

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu of English skills including:

*Reading – Learn phonics, letter and word recognition, reading comprehension and more.

*Writing – This section covers handwriting, typing, filling in a form, writing a paragraph or letter, and proofreading.

*Spelling – Discover root words, prefixes and suffixes, letter patterns, and more.

*Word Grammar – Find out about verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns.

*Sentence Grammar – Practice sentence structure, tenses, and punctuation.

Click on any topic and a new page opens. Watch a short video, play some games to reinforce learning, and take some short quizzes.

IMPORTANT: In all of the games I sampled for this review, I didn’t find any objectionable content. However, I did not sample everything. Because Skillswise was designed for adults, PARENTS SHOULD PREVIEW AND SUPERVISE ALL USE.

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Boost Your Vocab & Feed the Hungry!

May 2nd, 2012

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, May 2, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Free Rice

Age Range:  9 and up (approximately, with parental supervision)
 
This ad-supported website offers you the opportunity to boost your vocabulary and help end world hunger. For each word you get correct in the online vocabulary quiz, 10 grains of rice are donated through the United Nations World Food Program to help feed the hungry. The best explanation of the concept comes directly from the website:

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FreeRice has two goals:

Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.

FreeRice has a custom database containing thousands of words at varying degrees of difficulty. There are words appropriate for people just learning English and words that will challenge the most scholarly professors.

FreeRice automatically adjusts to your level of vocabulary. It starts by giving you words at different levels of difficulty and then, based on how you do, assigns you an approximate starting level. You then determine a more exact level for yourself as you play. When you get a word wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three words in a row right, you go to a harder level. This one-to-three ratio is best for keeping you at the “outer fringe” of your vocabulary, where learning can take place.

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If you have more questions, check out the FAQs at the website. This is an ingeneous idea and it’s lots of fun to participate.

 

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Free Reading & Writing Activities for K-12!

April 25th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, April 25, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
ThinkQuest: Write On Reader

Age Range: 5-18 (Grades K-12, with parental supervision)

ThinkQuest offers this remarkable archive of activities to help students of all ages acquire a love of reading and writing. When you get to the site you will meet your guides, Buster Book and Penny Pencil. They may seem kind of childish for older students but don’t let that¬ fool you — the content here is for all ages. Below them, you will see a menu that includes:
  
*Favorite Book Surveys — See the polling results (divided by boy/girl preference and by grade level) of students’ favorite books, illustrators, and authors.

*How A Book Is Made — Discover how a traditional book is published. Learn how to make your own book and get it published!

*Writing — This is a highlight of the site. Read the history of writing and then follow step-by-step instructions for how to create a quality piece of writing.

*Literary Awards — Find out what designations like “Newbery,” “Caldecott,” “Young Reader’s Choice,” and other awards mean and how they can help you choose interesting books to read.
  
*Word Games — Play all kinds of interactive word games including crossword puzzles, scrabble, Mad Libs, and more.
  
*Expert Advice — Read interviews with authors, illustrators, editors, technical writers, librarians and others whose careers are centered aro und reading and writing.

*Helping Others — Get suggestions on how to develop reading and writing skills — especially for those who struggle with either or both.

This is a remarkable resource – bookmark it to return again and again.  

 

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Free Virtual MIdnight Ride of Paul Revere!

April 18th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, April 18, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling.

Recommended Websites:
See Below

Age Range: 9 and up (approximately, with parental supervision)

April 18th is the anniversary of Paul Revere’s Ride that took place in 1775. Revere rode by horseback to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them. A quintessential moment in the American Revolution, it was depicted in the poem, Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

I thought it would be appropriate to commemorate this date with the resources at these websites:

*Read Paul Revere’s Ride
At this website you can read the full text of Longfellow’s poem online, or print it out to read offline.

*Listen to Paul Revere’s Ride
At National Public Radio website you can listen to (or download) a free audio recording of the poem. It includes a discussion of the background of Revere’s ride, and historical inaccuracies in the poem.

*Take a Virtual Midnight Ride!
The Paul Revere House museum offers a “Virtual Midnight Ride” through an interactive map of the route Revere took on April 18, 1775. Click on the images to see photos and illustrations and read historical information. 

*Paul Revere’s Biography
Learn about Revere’s life and times from 1734-1818 including his foundry, copper mill, and silversmith’s shop.

 

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For Students Who Think Grammar “Bites”!

April 11th, 2012

Hi! It’s Wednesday, April 11, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Grammar Bytes

Age Range: 9 and up (with parental supervision)
 
Do you or your students think learning English grammar “bites”?  Then, check out this website developed by a college English professor with attitude. She’s irreverent and funny and has devised a way to provide meaningful grammar lessons and interactive drills and quizzes that won’t bore your kids to death.

When you get to the site, you’ll see a menu that includes:
 
*Terms — Detailed definitions of grammar terminology including:

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Conjunction
  • Dangling Modifier
  • Gerund
  • Nouns
  • Participle
  • Semicolon
  • Verbs
  • And more!

*Exercises — Interactive exercises (lessons) to help students learn correct grammar usage. Topics include comma splices, fragments, irregular verbs, misplaced modifiers, pronouns, subject-verb agreement, etc.

*Handouts — FREE handouts in PDF files that are companions to the exercises that students can do offline.

*Videos at You Tube – A short selection of fun, entertaining videos and animations that teach grammar.

Just click on any menu item title (in black) and a new page opens where you can access the free materials.

You might want to click on the “About” section as well, where you’ll meet Professor Robin and discover her views on grammar instruction (and other areas of interest as well). She makes it very clear that people who don’t like her methods — can go to another grammar website! If you decide to stick around, this website offers something quite unusual — interesting grammar lessons developed by a teacher who believes, “There are NO good textbooks.”

 

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Free Language Arts “Audio School”

March 28th, 2012

Hi! It’s Wednesday, March 28, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
My Audio School
 
Age Range:  All (with parental supervision)

This commercial website, founded by a homeschool parent, offers educational audio content such as classic books, old-time radio theater, historical radio and television broadcasts, and video clips on a variety of school subjects such as Ancient History, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the American Revolution, etc.

While 80% of the content is available for an annual fee of $14.99, 20% of the content is “unblocked” and available absolutely FREE, which is why we’re featuring it on ClickSchooling. Much of the free content focuses on Language Arts.

When you get to the site, scroll down the page to see a menu of the free titles that include:

  • A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty
  • Lord Byron, Selected Poems
  • The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
  • Raggedy Ann Stories by Johnny Gruelle
  • Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
  • In Flanders Field By John McCrae

You’ll also find more free poetry selections, a variety of art appreciation videos, videos that teach kids about bird watching, and even John F. Kennedy’s Moon Speech.

Most of the titles also come with links to curriculum (available for sale on CurrClick.com), as a way to enhance learning.

Again, you don’t need to purchase a thing to access the free or “unblocked” titles.

 

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