There are many different forms of
instructional materials to supplement today’s educational needs. Technology has
opened the doors of learning and lead teachers to a vast array of instructional
materials just the click of a mouse away. What used to take hours of hard work
on the part of the teacher, now takes a few minutes to create. Differentiating
instruction can be easy to obtain, if you have the right tools in front of you.
Keeping students actively engaged in activities throughout the day is crucial. The
use of computers, ipads, and Smartboards
have opened up a world of learning for both the students and teachers.
The following sites are some of
my personal favorites for supplementary lesson plans, instructional materials,
and activities. I hope you enjoy all of them as much as I do.
SRA Reading Labs: http://www.srareadinglabs.com/
This
reading program allows students to move through the reading program at their
own pace. It fits in well with a Montessori style educational program. The
Jefferson School uses it for the first and second grade levels, and I have had
the opportunity to assist students who are using it. They really seem to enjoy
the independent aspects of selecting their own stories to read within color-coded
level and completing the assessments at the end. When they complete the
assessment, they bring the answer key to one of the teachers and we check for
accuracy together. The students really seem engaged with this program. I was
checking into the online interactive version which seems like it would be beneficial
for several students. The adaptive program and computer graphics are appealing
to keep of several students with attention issues actively engaged. The
computer version is very expensive which is why I am certain TJS only has the
hard copies.
Thinkfinity: http://www.thinkfinity.org/ Thinkfinity is an amazing website created by
Verizon to assist teachers in the classroom. It is loaded with great
information on many different subject matters, wonderful lesson plan ideas and
it utilizes different teaching techniques, including technology based
instruction. Students can explore the site independently, for student guided
learning, either individually or in small groups. Then they could choose which
lesson they would like to explore further as independent research, in small
groups for presentations or as a whole class.
Shel Silverstein: http://www.shelsilverstein.com/learning/#lessons-and-activities
Who doesn’t love Shel Silverstein? April
is poetry month and this is a great way to introduce poetry to students. The kids
love his crazy poems and books. The activities on his website are FREE! Teacher
packets are downloadable and contain different writing activities, discussion
ideas, vocabulary activity sheets and more. Students are actively engaged in
reading, writing, listening, and sharing their own poems. It has interactive games
on the site which students can use independently or in small groups. Whole
class participation could take place on a Smartboard. All of the activities are
aligned with the CCSS so there is no guesswork as to which standard you are
covering. I LOVE this site!
Bit Strips for
School: http://www.bitstripsforschools.com
The use of Graphic Novels as a teaching tool for elementary students is on the
rise. Students learn about emotions and expression with the help of speech
bubbles, each bubble style indicates a different type of expression. Sequencing is taught as the student’s form
cohesive thoughts with the arrangement of the panels. Students can create their
own caricatures and create different storylines. There is a charge of $9.95 a
month for individual teacher/classroom accounts. It could be a great way to get
struggling students engaged in reading and writing stories. There are different
prompts to choose from including such topics as Fire Prevention, Internet
Safety, and Science Gone Wrong! The activities are categorized by; subject,
topic, and grade level to be age appropriate. Additional benefits from Graphic
Novels in an elementary setting are: comprehension,
imagery, visualizing, making inferences, predicting, retelling, digital/media
literacies, visual literacy, literary elements, literature-based instruction,
and motivation/engagement. Kids love this!
Discovery Education
Puzzlemaker: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/
Puzzlemaker
is a puzzle-generating tool for teachers, students and even parents. Create and
print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, cryptograms, and more using
your own vocabulary words. It is free and easy to use. Students could use it in
small groups to crate word searches for the rest of the class during research
projects. Spelling words can easily be inserted into fun activities for
homework assignments or as differentiated instruction. There are lesson plans for
teachers at each grade level and different subject matter.
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