2. WORDMASTER
It’s a great game from the BBC. In it, you’re shown
a sentence with a word missing (indicated by a
blank). Then you have to click on an on-screen
keyboard to type the correct word “hangman” style.
You can ask for clues, and you’re competing
against the clock. You can also choose various
levels of difficulty, and the game has thousands of
words. And after you’ve either guessed the correct
word or the timer is up, you can have the sentence
read to you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/fl
ash/wordmaster/
3. SING SNAP
Sing Snap is number five. It’s a online karaoke site
— great for speaking practice. It’s easy to use,
free-of-charge, and, if you don’t want to record, you
can just listen to others sing while the screen shows
the lyrics. Using a webcam is an option, but unlike
many Web 2.0 sites, you can still use it if you just
have a computer microphone.
http://www.singsnap.com/
4. CALIFORNIA DISTANCE LEARNING
PROJECT
(ADULT LEARNING ACTIVITIES)
This site covers many topical issues with follow-up
activities, though some of its stories are also a little
dated.
http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ho
mepage
5. LISTEN AND WRITE
A user first chooses a text he/she wants to hear
read to him/her. Many of the choices are from
the Voice of America, and are both high-interest
and accessible. Their levels of difficulty are also
indicated. Then the story is dictated to you, and you
have to type it correctly. You can choose the speed
of the reading and how often it’s repeated. When
you type only the correct letters actually show-up
on the screen, and you can ask for hints.
http://www.listen-and-write.com/audio
6. INTO THE BOOK
This is an absolutely incredible resource designed
to help students learn reading strategies –
visualize, predict, summarize, etc. For the past
couple of years it had only been partially
completed. Now, however, all its exercises were
finished. Users are led through the process of
learning each reading strategy with interactive
exercises.
http://reading.ecb.org/student/index.html
7. READWORKS
Readworks is a free service that has cataloged
hundreds of lesson plans and nearly two thousand
reading non-fiction and fiction passages aligned to
Common Core standards. Vocabulary lists and
lessons are the latest addition to ReadWorks. Now
when you select a passage and a lesson in
ReadWorks you can find a list of key vocabulary
words to go with the passage. Click on a word in
one of the vocabulary lists to find its definition and a
list of sample uses of the word.
http://www.readworks.org/
8. C-SPAN’S NEW STUDENT DOCUMENTARY CONTEST
his fall C-SPAN is once again hosting a documentary video
contest for students. The contest is open to middle school and
high school students. To enter the contest students need to
create a documentary video, 5-7 minutes in length, on the
theme The Three Branches and You. Students should tell that
demonstrates how a policy, law or action by either the
Executive, Legislative, or Judicial branch has affected them or
their communities. The deadline for entries is January 20,
2015. This year $100,000 in prizes will be awarded. The
theme and the deadline for this year's contest have been
announced, but the rules page hasn't been updated yet. The
rules from last year's contest are available here.
Applications for Education
Even if your students don't enter the contest, creating videos
about a policy, law or action by either the Executive,
Legislative, or Judicial branch has affected them or their
communities could be a great project for a civics class.
http://www.studentcam.org/
9. BITE SIZE LITERACY AND MATCH
It’s a new BBC portal filled with fun activities for
Beginning English Language Learners and native-
English speakers to develop literacy and math
skills.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/
10. TWENTY QESTIONS GAME
You think of something, and the computer asks you
questions in an attempt to guess what you’re
thinking of.
http://www.20q.net/
11. COMMUNITY WORK
Students can put many sites on a map with
descriptions and images (which can be easily
grabbed off the web). Students can use this to
describe field trips, report on historical events, and
do other mapping applications. There are a lot of
these kinds of sites, but I’ve found Community
Work to be the easiest to use.
http://www.communitywalk.com/
