Learning to read and write using the Internet: sites you don't want to miss!Like many of my students, I communicate primarily through E-mail. One evening last week, I needed to check my E-mail account e-mail account n → cuenta de correo ; since my 2-year-old daughters were occupied with play dough, I thought it would be a good time to quickly glance at the computer screen. So, I said, "I'm going to check my E-mail quickly, and then we will eat dinner." Not expecting any resistance, I was surprised when one of my daughters said, "No, I check my E-mail." I was not quite sure I clearly understood her, so I asked "You will do what, Caroline?" "I check my E-mail!" she yelled yell v. yelled, yell·ing, yells v.intr. To cry out loudly, as in pain, fright, surprise, or enthusiasm. v.tr. To utter or express with a loud cry. See Synonyms at shout. n. at me, while running toward the computer. Although she does not have an E-mail account, she understands that when she types on the keyboard, letters appear on the computer screen. She even recognizes a few of the letters she types. If not watched carefully, Caroline will turn on the computer and begin to type--or when she thinks I am spending too much time on the computer, she turns it off. I learned a very important lesson from Caroline that night: When she is a few years older, I must model and scaffold scaffold Temporary platform used to elevate and support workers and materials during work on a structure or machine. It consists of one or more wooden planks and is supported by either a timber or a tubular steel or aluminum frame; bamboo is used in parts of Asia. telecommunications, just as I currently model fluent reading from a book. Young children today are exposed to technology at a much younger age than they were five to 10 years ago, and technology is now an important component of literacy. With early technology exposure, children have become telecommunications literate. Telecommunications literacy means that a child can not only operate a computer, but also locate and analyze multiple forms of information (Valmont, 2003). As Valmont explains, Students who use the new technologies effectively will be the new literacy "haves," while those who do not will be literacy "have-nots." As educators, we must be prepared to help all students become proficient pro·fi·cient adj. Having or marked by an advanced degree of competence, as in an art, vocation, profession, or branch of learning. n. An expert; an adept. in using advanced technologies in their development of literacy and thinking capabilities. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , we must do all we can to help our students become telecommunications literate. (p. 2) To be able to function in the world today, children need to learn how to read beyond a paperbound pa·per·bound adj. Bound in paper; paperback. book. In this column, I highlight Web sites you do not want to miss. I chose these sites because they provide unique opportunities for children by promoting active literacy learning through technology use. Benefits of Using Technology To Teach Reading There are numerous benefits of using the Internet to teach reading and writing. Many online stories published on the Internet offer young children a wide variety of choices. They can select such options as story animation, oral narration, or word pronunciation pronunciation: see phonetics; phonology. Pronunciation - In this dictionary slashes (/../) bracket phonetic pronunciations of words not found in a standard English dictionary. on-demand. Offering such choices when reading allows children to take ownership of their reading (McKenna, Labbo, & Reinking, 2003); as a result, reading becomes fun and relevant to their own lives. Second, to become a member of a global community in our technology-driven world, children must now learn to navigate, read, write, and think critically by using informational and communication technologies (Karchmer, Mallette, Kara-Soteriou, & Leu Leu leucine. Leu abbr. leucine Leu leucine. , 2005). Workplace demands changed radically with the infusion of technology; as a result of such changes, teachers also must think of new ways to not only integrate technology into the curriculum, but also teach students how to critically read, using technology. Web Sites To Save as Favorites The following Web sites were some of my favorites My Favorite is an independent synthpop band from Long Island, New York. They released two CDs: Love at Absolute Zero and Happiest Days of Our Lives. My Favorite broke up on September 14, 2005, when singer Andrea Vaughn left the band. , since they were interactive and provided ways to practice literacy skills. I have categorized cat·e·go·rize tr.v. cat·e·go·rized, cat·e·go·riz·ing, cat·e·go·riz·es To put into a category or categories; classify. cat them as sites useful for phonics phonics Method of reading instruction that breaks language down into its simplest components. Children learn the sounds of individual letters first, then the sounds of letters in combination and in simple words. and phonemic awareness Phonemic Awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to distinguish phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. For example, a listener with phonemic awareness can break the word "Cat" into three separate phonemes: /k/, /a/, , comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, or writing. With the federal government's focus on scientifically based principles in the teaching of reading (No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB (IPA: /ˈnɪkəlbiː/), is a United States federal law that was passed in the House of Representatives on May 23, 2001 , 2002), the five principles deemed necessary for the teaching of reading--phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension--cannot be ignored. Despite a new emphasis on writing with the addition of an essay section to the SAT test, writing remains the neglected "r" in most states (National Writing Project & Nagin, 2003). Therefore, I also chose to include excellent Web sites that encourage the development of written communication. Phonics and Phonemic Awareness www.starfall.com This Web site is excellent for early literacy, as it introduces the letter sounds and interactive online stories for intermediate and advanced readers. The online material offers beginning readers the opportunity to explore and interact with words and the sounds that make up those words. Users can order printed materials or download materials for free. Parents can take part in this online adventure with their children. www.sadlier-oxford.com/phonics/control_page/front2.htm This site offers excellent activities for Pre-K to 6th-graders, from matching pictures to working with high-frequency words and vocabulary development Vocabulary development is the process whereby speakers of language enhance their working vocabularies with new words. The average persons' vocabulary consists of 10,000 words, regardless of native tongue. Usually, this represents a mere fraction of the lexis of that language. . These activities are great for classroom use or for practicing phonics skills at home. www.manatee manatee: see sirenian. manatee Any of three species (family Trichechidae) of slow-moving, shallow-water herbivorous mammals. Manatees have a tapered body ending in a rounded flipper, no hind flippers, and foreflippers near the head. .k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/rcompindex1.htm This site offers games and activities to help children practice the elements of phonemic awareness. The aspect of phonemic awareness covered are: rhyming rhyme also rime n. 1. Correspondence of terminal sounds of words or of lines of verse. 2. a. A poem or verse having a regular correspondence of sounds, especially at the ends of lines. b. words, counting syllables, where is sound, from words to sentences, and making oral predictions. Each section includes interactive and colorful graphics. Comprehension www.literacymatters.org/18under/index.htm The goal of the Literacy Matters project is to improve the literacy development of middle grade and secondary school students who might be struggling in certain areas. This site provides parents with ideas about how they can support literacy learning at home and offers students the opportunity to participate in interactive, online tutorials. The site also provides resources for teachers, including professional development activities and downloadable lesson plans. In particular, the section on using think-alouds is especially interactive and useful. www.readwritethink.org The comprehension Web sites below were developed by ReadWriteThink.org. The ReadWriteThink site was developed in collaboration with the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE NCTE National Council of Teachers of English NCTE National Centre for Technology in Education NCTE National Center for Transgender Equality NCTE National Council for Teacher Education (India) NCTE Network Channel Terminating Equipment ) and the International Reading Association (IRA Ira, in the Bible Ira (ī`rə), in the Bible. 1 Chief officer of David. 2, 3 Two of David's guard. IRA, abbreviation IRA. ). The site offers peer-reviewed lesson plans and interactive graphic organizers Graphic organizers are visual representations of knowledge, concepts or ideas. They are known to help
www.readwritethink.org/materials/trading_cards/ The interactive Character Trading Cards tool is a fun and useful way for students to explore a character in a book that they are reading, or it can be used as a pre-writing exercise when creating characters for original stories. www.readwritethink.org/materials/plot-diagram/ The Plot Diagram is an organizational tool focusing on a pyramid or triangular shape, which is used to map the events in a story. This mapping of plot structure allows readers and writers to visualize the key features of stories. Fluency www.busyteacherscafe.com/units/fluency.htm This Web site provides a research-based overview of reading fluency, while also providing Internet links to various Web sites that promote and encourage reading fluency. Links to assess reading fluency also are included. www.teachingheart.net/readerstheater.htm The Web site offers a large number of free scripts for implementing a Readers Theater. The National Reading Panel (NRP (Network Resource Planning) The planning, scheduling and control of a computer network. It includes documentation writing and network diagramming, analyses of traffic and congestion, analyses of application behavior and demand, procedures for failsafe and disaster ) (2001) explains that repeated and monitored oral reading is essential in the development of reading fluency. www.texasreading.org/utcrla/materials/primary.asp The Vaughn Gross Center for Reading at the University of Texas at Austin “University of Texas” redirects here. For other system schools, see University of Texas System. The University of Texas at Austin (often referred to as The University of Texas, UT Austin, UT, or Texas offers a wide variety of online materials. These materials include a number of professional development guides, in which fluency is a major focus. http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4446 Scholastic offers an oral fluency assessment calculator for grades 3-5. Many early literacy teachers throughout the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. are required to monitor their students' fluency rates, as recommended by the NRP. Scholastic's calculator will indicate if the child is at or above grade level, or if the child needs intervention. Vocabulary www.vocabulary.com This site allows you to access various learning activities and lesson plans designed to foster vocabulary acquisition. It also provides recommended reading lists and test preps to help students practice their vocabulary skills. www.idiomsite.com This site provides explanations for the most common idioms we use. By clicking on a phrase, definitions are provided. This site would be an excellent tool for assisting ESL (1) An earlier family of client/server development tools for Windows and OS/2 from Ardent Software (formerly VMARK). It was originally developed by Easel Corporation, which was acquired by VMARK. learners in learning everyday phrases. www.infovisual.info This site offers a different way to learn words by displaying pictures. It acts as a visual dictionary and encyclopedia encyclopedia, compendium of knowledge, either general (attempting to cover all fields) or specialized (aiming to be comprehensive in a particular field). Encyclopedias and Other Reference Books all in one! http://artsci.shu.edu/classics/ classics/rootsof.htm This page offers free downloadable software to find Greek and Latin roots of words in the English language English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. . Directions for downloading are explained step-by-step and both teachers and students can access the other useful Web resources mentioned therein. www.randomhouse.com/features/rhwebsters/ This site offers various links where users can practice vocabulary, learn new words, and even look up popular books. It also features a dictionary game designed for students to learn new words and definitions and directions on how to select a dictionary that is right for you! www.word-detective.com This site is the online equivalent to a newspaper column that answers questions about words and the English language. You can access archives of questions from past issues or submit your own question about words. There are How Come? columns designed for science questions and archives to research previous questions as well. http://puzzlemaker.com This is an excellent site for teachers, parents, and students! You can create and custom-design various puzzles for students to practice vocabulary. Word lists are provided for certain topics, or you can create your own puzzles based on whatever words you choose to practice. Links also are provided for science facts, a teacher's store, homework help, and other resources that are beneficial to both teachers and students. Writing http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/scramble.htm Magnetic Poetry is an excellent, creative way for students to play with words and create their own poems. Children also can unscramble Same as decrypt. See scramble. popular poetry, and share these poems with one another. www.kidpub.org/kidpub/ This site offers access to thousands of real-life stories written by children all over the world. You can post a story of your own or choose from the online archive. It costs a small fee to join the KidPub page in order to publish your own stories. This page is an excellent tool for students who want to learn how to publish literature as well as share their stories with others all over the globe. www.stonesoup.com This magazine is made up entirely of content by children from all over the world. It is an excellent resource to share with students in your classroom. There are links online to subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; the magazine as well as biographies of the children who have contributed to the magazine. www:readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator The Letter Generator tool is designed to help students learn to identify parts of a business letter or informal letter, and then generate letters by typing information into letter templates. A sample letter is included, and students can learn about the parts of a letter by reading descriptions of each part. www.readwritethink.org/materials/postcard/ The Postcard Creator helps students learn to identify the typical parts of a postcard, and then generate their own postcard messages by typing information into letter templates. References Karchmer, R. A., Mallette, M. H., Kara-Soteriou, J., & Leu, D. J. (2005). Innovative approaches to literacy education: Using the Internet to support new literacies. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. McKenna, M. C., Labbo, L. D., & Reinking, D. (2003). Effective use of technology in literacy instruction. In L. M. Morrow, L. B. Gambrell, & M. Pressley (Eds.), Best practices in literacy instruction (pp. 307-331). New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Guilford. National Writing Project, & Nagin, C. (2003). Because writing matters: Improving student writing in our schools. San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden : Jossey-Bass. National Reading Panel, The. (2001). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. Jessup, MD: National Institute for Literacy. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 1-7-110, 115 Stat. 1425. (2002). Retrieved September 12, 2006, from www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02 Valmont, W.J. (2003). Technology for literacy teaching and learning. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. The company's headquarters is located in Boston's Back Bay. It publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers Company. |
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