Posts Tagged ‘arts’

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Wacky Ways to Learn Parts of Speech!

February 1st, 2012

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, August 22, 2007 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Wacky Tales

Age Range:  7-12 (and fun for all!)

Houghton Mifflin (the education textbook publisher) sponsors this website that helps kids learn parts of speech – nouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs, etc.  Using interactive stories called “Wacky Web Tales” they offer an online version of the classic car game, Mad Libs.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu of Wacky Web Tales titles. Click on any one and a new page opens that reveals the story title and a form. The form requires you to type in parts of speech (such as a singular noun, adjective, or present tense verb). The words you enter will be used to create a Wacky Web Tale — simply click on the “See Your Wacky Web Tale” button at the bottom of the form.

If you are unsure what an adverb (or any other part of speech called for on the form) is – just click on the “Parts of Speech Help” button for some quick definitions.

Because you don’t know how the parts of speech you filled in on the form will be used in the story – the resulting Wacky Web Tale can be pretty funny. :)

This is a painless way to learn, reinforce, or remediate parts of speech.

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Shakespeare for Kids!

January 25th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, January 24, 2012 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Shakespeare for Kids

Age Range: 9 and up (with parental supervision)

The Folger Shakespeare Library offers this fun website that introduces kids to Shakespeare through fun games and activities.  When you get to the site you’ll see an icon menu that includes:

*Words, Words, Words – Unscramble letters to reveal words from Shakespeare’s plays, learn new vocabulary by discovering the meaning of “Weird Words” in Shakespeare’s works. Try creating Shakespearean insults or compliments. Learn some common idioms that originated in Shakespeare’s plays. Print out scripts for plays and perform scenes at home.

*Fun Facts – Learn trivia about Shakespeare’s life and times.

*Games & Coloring Puzzles – Enjoy playing interactive mazes, crosswords, and word searches based on Shakespeare’s plays.  You can color and do jigsaw puzzles too!

*Shakespeare Challenges – Answer trivia questions about Shakespeare’s plays, or read a quote and try to guess which character said it.

*Who Am I? – Use clues to identify characters from Shakespeare’s plays.

Want to have a little more in-depth fun?  For historical perspective, be sure to click on the links to “Discover Our Collection” and “Queen Elizabeth.”

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Grammar Fun with Diagramming Sentences!

January 18th, 2012

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

Recommended Website:
English Grammar Revolution

Age Range: 10 and up (Grades 5-12 and beyond)

This commercial website, suggested by a Maryland ClickScholar, offers a selection of free, multi media exercises to help learn English grammar and parts of speech through diagramming sentences. Plus, it offers a free e-newsletter that brings grammar tips and puzzles right to your inbox.

This site was designed to help homeschool parents and classroom teachers become more confident grammar instructors. Again, it’s a commercial site, with some free content.

When you get to the site, you’ll see an introduction and information about the programs that are available for a fee. There are extensive samples of the lessons, exercises, and games contained in the program available for free.

To get started use the menu on the left and click on “Exercises.” A new page opens with free sample pages from the chapters of an ebook. Click on a chapter title to enjoy lessons and try activities that reinforce learning about:

  • Sentence Diagramming
  • Adjectives & Adverbs
  • Prepositional Phrases
  • Conjunctions
  • Interjections
  • Verbs
  • Pronouns

Throughout the samples you’ll find links to additional content that will boost your knowledge of English grammar as well. Continue exploring the menu to get good information on:

  • Parts of Speech
  • Sentence Structure
  • Grammar Usage

You’ll even find some grammar games, cool quotes, and other fun and interesting stuff. If this text-heavy site gets a little overwhelming simply use the sitemap to access what you want.

BEST OF ALL:  You can sign up to receive the FREE e-newsletter that includes fun grammar tips, sentence diagramming puzzles, and grammar lessons delivered to your inbox every other week. When you register you also receive The Parts of Speech Quick Guide (pdf). 

 

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Best Classical Music Website for Kids!

January 14th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Saturday, January 14, 2012 and time for Music at ClickSchooling! 

Recommended Website:
ClassicsForKids.com

Age Range: 5-14 (with parental supervision; all ages can enjoy aspects of the site)

ClickScholar Gayle reminded me of this website that we featured in 2007 and is worth revisiting. She wrote, “ClassicsForKids.com has live radio recordings as well as worksheets and interactive games highlighting various composers, styles of music and music elements. It is practically the only site we have used for music.”

The site, which is continuously updated, is a supplement to the “Classics for Kids” radio program. You will find information on stations that air the show at the website, and you can listen to the archived programs that bring great composers to life through music and stories. You can also download activities and lessons (pdfs) that focus on National Standards for the Arts and Music.

When you get to the site you will see the current month’s featured composer, and a horizontal menu tab below it that includes:

*On The Radio – Includes the current week’s radio show, an archive of past shows, and activity sheets that include wordsearch puzzles, games, and trivia.

*Composers – Read biographies of about 90 different composers (across a timespan from 1685 to 2010) including Bach, Bernstein, Brahms, Britten, Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Handel, Joplin, Liszt, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Sousa, Strauss, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Verdi and more!

*Games – Play fun, interactive, online games that teach rhythm and notation.

*More About Music – Hear music, learn the instruments of the symphony orchestra, explore a musical dictionary, and learn about musical careers.

*For Grownups – Access free lesson plans, activity sheets, and get tips and advice for music education.

Bookmark this one, you’ll want to return often!

 

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Why Pluto Isn’t A Planet & Much More!

January 12th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Thursday, January 12, 2012 and time for Social Sciences at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Spitzer/Caltech

Age Range: 9 and up (approximately, with parental supervision)
 
My son recently posted a video on his Facebook page explaining why Pluto isn’t a planet anymore. (Once a homeschooler, always a homeschooler.) It was on YouTube, but the source was The Spitzer Science Center (sponsored by NASA and CalTech). 
 
They have a series of free multi-media videos called “Ask An Astronomer” that include brief explanations to complicated stuff by scientists. The videos use animations to illustrate the explanations. Other titles inc lude:

  • Where is the center of the universe?
  • Why is the sky blue?
  • Why aren’t there any green stars?
  • Infrared: More than your eyes can see!
  • What happens when galaxies collide?
  • What’s between the stars?
  • What will happen to Earth when the Sun dies?
  • How do you discover an asteroid?
  • How can we see a black hole?
  • What is a Brown Dwarf?

And many more! 
 
If you poke around the rest of the site you’ll find other cool videos and podcasts as well.

You may wonder why I decided to feature this science resource on “Social Sciences” day at ClickSchooling. It’s because the downsizing of Pluto was historical, and I like to encourage cross-curricular connections. Sometimes students will resist a subject like science, for example, but be fascinated by an important event in history that gently leads them to an enjoyable exploration of science. The content of this website has that potential.

And while you’re exploring, you’ll be covering a variety of “subjects” including language arts, math, science, history, social studies and more. It’s all connected!  :)

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Seriously Fun Spelling Bee for Grades 3-12!

January 11th, 2012

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

Recommended Website:
Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee
 
Age Range: 8-18 (Grades 3-12, approximately, with parental supervision)

Bookmark this one – it’s a goodie! A Maryland ClickScholar suggested this website that is sponsored by fee-based online Thesaurus service. It offers a free interactive spelling bee that helps students use spelling rules and deductive reasoning skills to assess their spelling ability, learn to spell new words, and acquire new vocabulary.

When you get to the site, you can start to play right away. You’ll hear an audio recording of a random word and see the definition printed on the screen. Simply use the information to guess at the spelling and type in the word.

If you misspell the word, you can guess again. After your second guess, you’ll see “hints” appear on the screen. After three incorrect guesses, you can press the “I Surrender” button to reveal the correct spelling.

The spelling difficulty of this online game will adapt to your skill level automatically based on the number of words you get right or wrong. The more you get right, the harder the words get. The more you get wrong, the easier the words get.

This website also offers a free lesson plan based on the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee for grades 3-12. 

The Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee is fun challenge – and if you love words it can be addictive! It’s a great way to improve spelling skills and expand your knowledge of English vocabulary.

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