Writing Prompts

Writing is an important part of learning. Kids need to learn how to write, and how to write well for multiple reasons. Some of those reasons include to expand their imagination, problem solve, determine what will happen next in a given situation, to explain what they have learned, and to record their own feelings and emotions.

Adapted Mind

Here is another leveled site. This site has leveled reading and math. The thing I was really excited about with this site is that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Many of the sites I look at charge tons and for a family like mine that would like to use it for multiple children the numbers add up quickly. This AdaptedMind only charges $9.95 a month.

The Moon Unit Videos

Video 1 - The Moon 

Evolution of the Moon

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/vid-tour.html

Reading Incentive Programs

I was recently talking with my child's teacher about reading programs. The school use to use a program called Accelerated Reading or AR for short. Many of the schools in Utah used this program. The my son attends just recently stopped using this program because it was costing too much to run. They felt the money they were spending on AR could be more productively spent elsewhere. I still wanted to reward my son for reading. I have discovered he, like most children, works well if there is a carrot attached to the workload. I want him to develop a love of reading and hopefully he will begin to read just because it's fun and not for the reward but we have to start somewhere and right now this is where we are at.

Virtual Math Manipulatives

My sister came over today asking to use the base 10 blocks I had to help her son understand what the numbers look like. It just so happened that I had a bunch from a kit I had purchased, but not everyone has access to these things or wants to store them. The internet is such an amazing tool and is so helpful. You no longer have to spend hundreds of dollars to build up a stock of manipulatives for kids to use so they can see and understand their math.

Virtual Manipulatives can be very helpful. The mess is easy to clean up (you hit the red x and everything disappears). Most kids will be using these in a classroom so they will all ready know how to play with them on-line. They will also help kids see what they are doing with the numbers and shapes so they can better understand the abstract symbols and concepts.

Math-Aids.com

Today my 6 year old came home from school with a math worksheet asking him to complete the number bonds. Ummmm. Number bonds. I was pretty sure just by looking at the assignment what they wanted him to do but thought I better be sure before I taught him wrong so I went to the internet and found this really cool site called Math-aids.com. This site was so helpful.

Dictionary Game

 I stumbled upon this game site Fun English Games while searching for some reading comprehension games for my son. This game gives you clues to a dictionary word. It would be a wonderful game for 4th, 5th and 6th graders, or anyone who wants to improve their vocabulary. 

You are given a clue and then go to the game's dictionary to use the word definitions to help you find the correct answer. 

When you select a word it gives you the word definition and you then have to pick the word with the definition that best fits the clue. Most aren't too hard and some clues even give you the letter the mystery word starts with. 

Once you pick your word it makes a label for it and they you get to see if it was in the box.

This site also has a fun game I haven't seen before. It's a reading comprehension game with poems. You read the first 5 lines of a poem and then answer 3 questions about what you just read. I have seen many games like with reading passages but never one with poems before so I found this game to be unique. The questions ranged from "what does the author mean" to "what form of speech is being used in this example." It would also be a great game for older aged kids. 

I found this site fun. The only problem with these games is that once you've played them, you've played them. They don't change. I found them very kid friendly, educational, and fun. http://www.funenglishgames.com/readinggames.htmlhttp://www.funenglishgames.com/readinggames.html