Archive for the ‘language arts’ category

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Screen Actors Guild Video Books & Activities!

July 27th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, July 27, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
SAG: Storyline Online

Age Range: 2-10 (approximately, with parental guidance)

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation developed this website that provides free videos of SAG members (actors) reading children’s books aloud. There are over 20 titles and each one includes printable activities and lesson ideas.

When you get to the site, you’ll see the featured story and a menu where you can access all of the stories archived here including:

*Harry The Dirty Dog by Gene Zion; read by Betty White

*To Be a Drum, by Evelyn Coleman; read by James Earl Jones

*Thank you, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco; read by Jane Kaczmarek

*Brave Irene, by William Steig; read by Al Gore

*The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg; read by Lou Diamond Phillips

*Me and My Cat, by Satoshi Kitamura; read by Elijah Wood

*Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy, by Jason Alexander; read by Jason Alexander

The actors put their all into reading the stories that are very entertaining.  The text of the book is displayed on the screen, so you can read along if desired. 

For those of you homeschooling children of multiple ages, this is a great tool to occupy some of the kids, while you work with the others.  Plus you can extend the learning after watching the videos by trying some of the activities and lesson ideas offline. 

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Literature Learning Ladders

July 20th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, July 20, 2010 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Literature Learning Ladders

Age Range: 5-18 (with parental supervision)

This website offers literature-based WebQuests for grades K-12. WebQuests challenge students to use the Internet to find resources to solve questions and problems about a given topic. A literature-based WebQuest uses a book as a focal point for activities that revolve around the theme, characters, plot, or setting.

There is an amazing selection of WebQuests for all grades at this site filled with multi-media fun including animations, colorful illustrations, photographs, and sound that will engage kids in the interactive exercises.

When you get to the site you will see an introduction, some information on how to get the best use out of WebQuests, and a menu of WebQuests by grade level from K-12. 

All of the WebQuests are listed according to the literature/book/author used as a theme for the Quest. For example:

*K-2 – Enjoy WebQuests using books such as “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?,” or a theme about studying insects with Eric Carle.

*4-6 – Go on WebQuests based on books such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Harry Potter,” “Johnny Tremain,” and “Hatchet.”

*Middle Schoolers – Try a WebQuest based on books by Jack London, Roald Dahl, Anne Frank, Avi, and Harper Lee.

*High School Students – Try your hand at WebQuests themed around “Beowulf,” “The Crucible,” “Farenheit 451,” “Little Women,” and “The Odyssey.”

Click on any one to begin your WebQuest.

Do read the advice at this site about how to adapt WebQuests to suit your student’s interests and ability. They also explain how to deal with the occasional dead link that you may find in a quest.

This is a great way to use technology to enhance any study of literature.

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No Fear Shakespeare!

July 13th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, July 13, 2011 and time for Language Arts
at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
SparkNotes.com: No Fear Shakespeare

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

This ad-supported website, created by SparkNotes whose mission is “to help you make sense of confusing schoolwork,” offers a free translation of Shakespeare’s works into modern day language. You can actually see Shakespeare’s works side-by-side with a translation into the kind of English people actually speak today. 

When you get to the website, you’ll see a list of Shakespeare’s works including:

  • As You Like It
  • Hamlet
  • King Lear
  • Macbeth
  • The Merchant of Venice
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • The Taming of the Shrew
  • ~And Much More!

Click on any title and a new page opens with the table of contents of that particular work. Click on any Act/Scene and a new page opens displaying the original text and the modern text.

This is a terrific resource tool that promotes understanding and makes this literature more accessible.

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Read the Voyages of Henry Hudson!

June 22nd, 2011

Hi! It’s Thursday, June 23, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!
 
Recommended Website:
Henry Hudson

Age Range: 10 and up (approximately, with parental supervision)

June 22nd commemorates the day English navigator and adventurer Henry Hudson, his teenage son, and 7 crew members were set adrift by mutineers during a failed expedition to find a fabled route to the Indies. They were never seen or heard from again.

At this website, you can read a fascinating account of Hudson’s failed expedition to find the “Northwest Passage” as well as details about the mutiny, Hudson’s other voyages, his life as an explorer, and information on his times, contemporaries, and crew. This is a great way to integrate language arts with history and social studies!

When you get to the site, use the menu on the left side of the screen to learn about Hudson’s:

  • Early Years to 1607
  • First Voyage – 1607
  • Second Voyage – 1608
  • Third Voyage – 1609
  • Fourth Voyage – 1610
  • Aftermath – 1611-on
  • Maps of Voyages
  • Hudson Family Tree

It is helpful to read this account in chronological order. 

Click on “Short Story” to read a piece of historical fiction about Hudson.  It was written by Canadian writer Ian Chadwick, the creator of this website.  He also offers a compilation of the “Sources & Links” he used to create this work. You can read his bio too.

There are also links to the author’s “Home” page and other websites, but I did not visit these pages, and they are not included in this review.  Therefore, as always, parents should preview the site, determine the suitability of the content, and supervise Internet use.

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Early Literacy Rhymes & Songs

June 15th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, June 15, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
King County Library System: Tell Me A Story

Age Range: 2-8 (approximately, with parental supervision)

A Maryland ClickScholar suggested this website, sponsored by The King County Library System of Washington state, that provides hundreds of rhymes and songs to promote early literacy. You’ll find the printable lyrics/words, and in many cases you can watch librarians and educators perform the fingerplays or sing the songs on video.

When you get to the site you’ll see two menus. One is an alphabetical list of ALL the titles that are included in this archive. (Click on the “next 200″ link located on the bottom left side of the page to see them all.) You’ll also find a “Themes” menu that includes:

  • Animals
  • Clothing
  • Body Parts
  • Counting
  • Bugs and Insects
  • Food
  • Seasons
  • Weather
  • Colors
  • Holidays
  • Shapes
  • And More!

Just click on a theme and a new page opens with an alphabetized menu of titles.  For example, if you click on “Animals” you’ll find familiar rhymes such as, Farmer in the Dell, BINGO, Five Little Pumpkins, Hickory Dickory, Dock, I Wish I Were A Fishy In The Sea, Kookaburra Song, Old MacDonald, Pop Goes The Weasel, Willoughby, Wallaby, Woo, and hundreds more!

Click on any title and a new page opens with the lyrics of the rhyme, and in many instances you can watch a video presentation as well. You can watch the videos with your child, or use them to refresh your memory of the words, tune, or hand gestures and motions so that you can introduce them to your child offline.

Bookmark this site, it’s a great resource whenever you need a fun rhyme or song to enhance learning, or just to brighten the day.

Note: I did not review any other portion of the Kings County Library System website.  Therefore, parents, as always, should preview the website and supervise Internet use.

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Free Illustrated Antique Books & Zero Tuition College

June 1st, 2011

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, June 1, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Children’s Books Online: The Rosetta Project

Age Range: All (Mostly children’s books for ages 4-12, but some books for teens and adult readers as well.)

ClickScholar Theresa recommended this website that is a free online library of illustrated antique (out-of-print) books that include stories, poems, rhymes, and chapter books. As she noted, “The illustrations alone are worth taking a look!”

The brain-child of one man and an army of volunteers, this site not only has free books online, but it translates many of them into a variety of languages including Afrikaans, Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, and more!

You can use this not only for Language Arts but for Foreign Language practice as well!

When you get to the site you can click on either:

*A link to “Free Online Books and Translations” that will take you to a list of the free books available to read.  Click on any one and a new page opens where you can access the book.

*A link to the “Online Books and Translations Indexed by Reading Level and Language” where you’ll find an icon menu leading to the books sorted into the following categories:

  • Pre-Reader and Very Early Readers
  • Early Readers
  • Intermediate Readers
  • Advanced Readers
  • Adult Readers
  • Books in Multiple Languages

Note that you’ll also find links to “Multi-Media Books” and “Books with Audio” that are available for sale at the website. 

If you just want to access the free books then click on the appropriate reading level and a new page opens to a menu of free books in that reading category.

You’ll also find an alphabetized “Super Index” of the books too.

This is a remarkable collection that you’ll want to bookmark so you can return again and again.

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