Readworks

Readworks is a great tool to improve reading comprehension, vocabulary and reading fluency.

An Article A Day is a great feature that takes 10 minutes and improves reading stamina, background knowledge, and vocabulary.

Topics are organized by curricular area and grade level as a variety of reading concepts including: authors purpose, inferencing, fact & opinion, figurative language, main ideas, plot, predicting, setting, theme, voice, cause & effect and compare & contrast.

This site has great potential to help students improve their reading.

College Xpress

I love it when students share websites they find.  College Xpress is that site.  College Xpress works to match colleges and scholarships to fit students needs.

Flippity.net

Easily turn Google Spreadsheets into awesome useful tools using Flippity.net.   Go to Google Sheets to add the Add-on Flippity, or go to http://flippity.net/ and select which tool you want to use.  One of my favorites is the Random Name Picker.  You can pick individuals or groups.  There are other cool ways to use flippity.  Other tools include: hangman, word search, crossword puzzles, bingo, as well as a certificate maker.

 

 

Bouncy Balls - control noise in your classroom

Bouncy Balls is a fun website. The purpose is to help with noise control. Click on the site, and make sure your microphone is on (top right corner). When the noise level gets high, the balls start bouncing more, and the screen (projector) indicates when it gets too noisy. You can adjust the sensitivity of the noise level, the total number of balls, and even the theme. It is a fun way to help students control the volume of their voices in the classroom.

Quill - improve grammar

Quill.org provides activities to engage students in the writing process.  Quill's goal is to improve grammar, vocabulary, writing and proofreading skills.

Teachers have a dashboard to show how students progress in the common core.  Teachers can select from hundreds of activities.  Some activities include comma usage, capitalization, verb tense agreement, and commonly confused words.

Upon completing an assignment, students receive instant feedback, which is a valuable tool as they instantly know which concepts are mastered and which ones need more practice.  The instant grading allows teachers to differentiate instruction for students who need help with specific concepts.

Ed Puzzle - Interactive Video

Create interactive puzzles using EdPuzzle.

There is now a resource page to get you started.  The resource page breaks short tutorial videos into content areas: English (grammar, vocabulary, listening pronunciation), labs, math, and cultures.  It also shows you how to use EdPuzzle for student differentiation, student accountability, classroom management, parent involvement and curriculum building. 

Interactive videos also are a great way to increase student engagement.

Geography Games

• Pursued - You have been kidnapped---you need to escape from your captors. Do you know where you are? Use the clues in the picture to figure it out. This is an app found in the Chrome Store. It is fun and challenging.

• Smarty Pins- You start with 1,000 miles. You can pick a category and answer questions. Use Google to help you find the answers! Not only will you learn your geography, you will also be improving your search skills in Google.

• Geoguessr- Play alone or challenge someone. This game is very challenging!