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Multi-Media Language Arts Activities

March 11th, 2020

 

It’s Wednesday, March 11, 2020, and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

The Children’s University of Manchester – Words

(www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/learning-activities/languages/words/introduction/)

Age Range: 6-12 (Grades 1-7, with parental supervision)

 

This fantastic multimedia children’s site from The University of Manchester, offers a variety of well-crafted activities and games to learn grammar and parts of speech, along with an animated timeline of the history of the English language. Plus you can explore other languages used around the world to encourage understanding of language in general.

When you get to the site you will see an introduction and a menu to the left that includes: 

  • World Language Map – Click on an animated map to learn about different languages spoken all over the world. As you zero in on a given country, you’ll watch a video of a native speaker saying conversational phrases that are accompanied by English subtitles. Plus, you’ll learn more about the languages and dialects spoken in that country.
  • Timeline of the English Language – Discover the evolution of the English language and the influence of the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans, as well as the printing press, English Bible, Greek and Latin root words, Shakespeare, and more.
  • Naming Nouns – Explore this interactive lesson that explains what nouns are including common and proper nouns, concrete and abstract nouns, collective nouns and more. Play the “Noun Game” and take quizzes to test your knowledge.
  • Adjective Detective – Learn all about adjectives and how to use them including comparative and superlative adjectives. Play the “Adjective Game” and take quizzes to test your knowledge.
  • Match the Eponyms – Do you know what an eponym is? Here’s a clue: Do you know the origin of the word “sandwich”?  This is a word trivia feast – and lots of fun!
  • Borrowing Words – Many English words were “borrowed” from other languages. Play a game and try to match the English word to the language of origin. You’ll learn about the origin of words like score, zombie, bandana, skunk and many more.
  • Idioms Game – Idioms are sayings such as “The early bird catches the worm.” Match the idioms to their meanings in this informative game.
  • And more!

The games are very engaging. Your kids will learn far more than the standard grammar drills we see in most language arts games. They’ll learn historical and cultural information that will enhance their understanding of the English language.

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Free eBooks

January 22nd, 2020

 

It’s Wednesday, January 22, 2020, and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Project Gutenberg

(www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Age Range: All (All grades; children with parental supervision)

 

Select from over 60,000 free eBooks to read online or download.

Many of you may already be familiar with the Gutenberg Project that is composed of a team of volunteers endeavoring to make as many books as possible available online at no cost. Currently, there are over 60,000 books. Gutenberg makes it easy for you to find just the titles that might interest you.

When you get to the site, click on “Book Categories” in the top menu bar. When a new page opens, scroll down where you can select from categories such as children’s literature, mysteries, detective stories, science fiction, one-act plays and more! Click on any category, and a new page opens with a list of the free books available. These books can be read online or downloaded.

In the Children’s Literature bookshelf, access the writings of L. Frank Baum, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Edith Nesbit, and Anna Sewell.

Other authors in the bookshelves of Project Gutenberg include Agatha Christie, Andre Norton, Lester del Rey, and Dostoyevsky.

Project Gutenberg has also put together a selection of audio books. Imagine your family enjoying one of the following authors during a long ride in the car or around a crackling fire: 

  • Aesop
  • Hans Christian Andersen
  • L. Frank Baum
  • Charles Dickens
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Robert Frost
  • The Brothers Grimm
  • Rudyard Kipling
  • Jack London
  • Nietzsche
  • Plato
  • Poe
  • Beatrix Potter
  • Shakespeare
  • Mark Twain
  • Jules Verne
  • H. G. Wells
  • Walt Whitman
  • and more!

To find the list of audio books, start here. 

One more thing: Project Gutenberg is always in need of more volunteers willing to proofread one page per day. You or your teen might like to join the team and take advantage of this exciting, fulfilling, skill-building opportunity.

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Become a History Detective

January 2nd, 2020

 

It’s Thursday, January 2, 2019, and time for Social Sciences at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Historical Scene Investigation

(hsionline.org/)

Age Range: 11-18 (Grades 6-12, with parental supervision)

 

This website provides social studies students with the opportunity to become virtual history detectives through investigating primary source documents.

Students investigate prepared “case files” about historical events by examining primary source materials archived at this website. Through these “journals, diaries, artifacts, historic sites, works of art, quantitative data, and other evidence from the past… they compare the multiple points of view of those on the scene at the time.”

Developed in partnership with the College of William & Mary School of Education, University of Kentucky School of Education, and the Library of Congress, H.S.I. is an effort to take students beyond textbook facts and give them “experiences that more closely resemble the work of a real historian.”

When you get to the website you’ll see a menu that offers information about the H.S.I. Project and a link to the “Investigations” that include: 

  • Jamestown Starving Time
  • Bacon’s Rebellion
  • The Boston “Massacre”
  • Lexington and Concord
  • Constitution Controversy<
  • Antonio a Slave
  • Finding Aaron
  • Children in the Civil War
  • School Desegregation
  • Case of Sam Smiley
  • March on Frankfort
  • When Elvis Met Nixon

Click on any “case file” and a new page opens with a description of the historic event and a question for the student to answer through investigating documents. Click on “Student View” to read the documents and access a series of questions that guide the student in analyzing the information in order to crack the case.

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American Museum of Natural History’s “Ology”

March 5th, 2019

 

It’s Tuesday, March 5, 2019, and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

AMNH: Ology

(www.amnh.org/explore/ology)

Age Range: All (All grades; children with parental supervision)

 

The suffix “ology” refers to the study or a particular field or academic discipline. At this website sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History you can explore archaeology, marine biology, paleontology, and other fields of science such as genetics, astronomy, biodiversity, earth science, physics and more!

When you get to the site, you may be overwhelmed with all of the fun choices. Explore some of the following fields of science: 

  • Archaeology – See if you can find the lost Spanish mission.
  • Astronomy – Go on a solar system scavenger hunt.
  • Biodiversity – Play a game to learn about the plants and animals in an African rain forest.
  • Earth – Grow rock candy and meet some geologists.
  • Genetics – Become a DNA detective or take a mystery photo challenge.
  • Marine Biology – Journey to deep sea vents.
  • Paleontology – Meet T. Rex and the strange members of his family tree.
  • Physics – Learn more about Albert Einstein.
  • Water – Solve story puzzles to find out how things live in the Arctic.

And more!

You can also explore by activity: games, stories, hands-on activities and videos. There are many engaging educational games and activities on this site to bring out the “Ologist” in you!

And back on the home page, the “Find Stuff to See and Do” link will bring you to the list of programs found at the museum.

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Absurd Math: Pre-Algebra From Another Dimension

July 30th, 2018

 

It’s Monday, July 30, 2018, and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Absurd Math

(www.learningwave.com/abmath/index.html)

Age Range: 10-15 (Grades 6-10, with parental supervision)

 

This website offers a free series of 4 interactive, pre-algebra level problem-solving games that will test your student’s math skills in a fun and challenging way.

As the player, you proceed on missions in a strange world, finding clues that are hidden on the pages along the way. You use the information you find to calculate answers in order to proceed to the next level. Handy clues are provided along with an interactive calculator. Here is a little advice to help you navigate the games: Each page looks impossible until you discover enough clues. For example, in the first game called “Nomean City” you’ll notice that on the first page you need an “authorization code”. If you look closely at everything on the page, you will see a note that says “authorization code is area times level” and then farther up on the page you see “Area 46” and “Level -3”; so you just multiply the two numbers and enter the answer where indicated.

Then, you get to the next page. Same degree of challenge again: looks impossible, and then suddenly it’s easy. Often you have to move the mouse all around the page, and even scroll down, while looking for the cursor to turn into a “hand” shape, indicating something you can click on for more clues. Sometimes you have to backtrack to other areas. Click on everything and read everything closely. Every page looks like a dead end, but the only actual dead end is the final page from which you print out your hard-earned certificate of completion. FYI: The games start with a fake message that says “Intruder Alert!” We clicked around and realized that it is actually just the first page of the game.

The games include: 

  • Nomean City – A powerful being has been captured by a cult of pollution makers and you must help save this creature and the mathematical knowledge it holds.
  • Dr. Plenobious – Dr. Plenobius is an evil scientist. Print out his entrance exam to the Airtight College. Identify flesh-eating bacteria and try to save one of his lab rabbits.
  • The 7th Floor – The Hotel Unknown’s 7th floor holds both mystery and danger. Find out who lives on the floor, and deal with the house detective.
  • Airtight College – Your quest is to save the alien creature, as you search the offices of the Department of Diabolics.

By the way, if you need help, you can email the website’s staff for assistance. Teachers and parents may email to request the answer keys.

Again, these games are free. They are used as an enticement to subscribe to the Middleschool Mathematics program offered for a fee at the site but no purchase is necessary to play the games.

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Solve the Mysteries of Plant Life!

March 20th, 2018

 

It’s Tuesday, March 20, 2018, and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

The Great Plant Escape

(extension.illinois.edu/gpe/index.cfm/)

Age Range: 8-11 (Designed for Grades 4-5, but can be tweaked for a broader age/ability range – with parental supervision)

 

The University of Illinois Extension offers this free, fun science unit that will help your students solve the mysteries of plant life!

The interdisciplinary lessons introduce kids to plant science and how foods grow while enhancing their knowledge of science, math, language arts, social studies, music and art. The activities are flexible and can be used separately or in an ordered manner. Some are designed with independent study in mind, others are group or classroom activities that can be tweaked for the homeschool environment.

When you get to the site, click “enter” to begin the adventure. Or, if you prefer, click on the “Teacher’s Guide” on the menu to get some pointers in how to use the program. Either way, you will be introduced to six “Case Studies” as follows:

  • In Search of Green Life – Find out about the interrelationships that exist between people and plants. Learn about plant structure, plant parts, plant life cycles, and growing plants indoors.
  • Soiled Again – Learn about the composition of soil, nutrients in soil, gardening indoors, and composting.
  • Is It Dust, Dirt, Dandruff or a Seed? – Explore seeds, seed structure, germination, and non-flowering plants.
  • Plantenstein is the Suspect – Discover how plants reproduce and learn about pollination and flower parts.
  • Mysterious Parts That Surprise – Learn all about the differences and similarities between bulbs, rhizomes, and tubers.
  • You’ve Learned the Mysteries of Green Life – Test your knowledge of plants and plant life and enjoy additional activities such as growing lettuce, making a salad, and growing an indoor garden.

Each “Case Study” assumes the student is a detective searching to solve plant mysteries. These “Case Studies” are lessons cleverly disguised as fun activities that teach as they engage students in the process of learning about the science of plants.

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