Feature #31: READING BEAR

 

The Reading Bear - https://www.readingbear.org/

     The Reading Bear is truly a resourceful literacy website. When you first get into the website, you are greeted with a picture of a reading bear, which is very fitting for the name of the website. Then there are a few tabs to click on that include: home page, log in, about us, getting started, training videos, and log out. The home page also includes a list of ‘First Learn the Letter Sounds’ where if there is a specific letter sound that you are trying to focus on, you can easily access the available materials from there. 

     When you click on the desired letter sound, it will lead to the page where there are a variety of activities and materials to use. First, the options to sound out the letters slowly, then sounding it out quickly, audio flashcards, and progress to audio sentences and silent sentences. This is a great way to have the student(s) become familiar with the letters and the various short or long sounds of letters. There are short videos that help with pronunciation as well as images that correlate with the word(s) being read or shown. 

     There are also training videos that teachers and parents can access in order to be able to use the website more efficiently. The videos include the introduction to the Reading Bear website, how to add sub accounts, and how to review the quiz results. Being able to review the quiz results is very helpful in tracking how the student is progressing. 

     Overall, this is a great website for reading/literacy. It puts a lot of emphasis on going over the basics, down to the letter sounds. There are many videos, audio materials and just useful literacy materials in general.

*Contribution by Joanna Ponce

Feature #30: Storybird

Storybird https://storybird.com/ is an online Language Arts tool that helps students fall in love with writing and reading through visual retelling. Because writing and reading are connected, Storybird makes for a great website for students to use to create meaningful work. Storybird was made to empower young writers to create their very own story with its vast selection of illustrations, different templates to choose from, and the ability to even upload their own artwork, and publish it! With Storybird, students can unlock their creative potential!

Storybird was made for students in the elementary level all the way up to High School. Storybird also caters to students who choose to write graphic novels, fantasy stories, and video game plots. Storybird teamed up with over one thousand artists so that students can use their artwork for inspiration or to incorporate into their own stories. 

Storybird also offers students the chance to view already-made stories from others around the world. In the Read tab, students can choose from different forms of text to choose from. Storybird offers activities in basic writing, creative writing, thematic compositions, children's songs, and leveled readers. But of course, when creating a story, one may get a bit confused on where and how to start. That is why Storybird has also inputted into their Activities tab a How-to guide. 

Storybird offers educators a free 7-day trial. After the trial has ended, Storybird has an individual plan and a school plan. With each plan comes its own features. Storybird also has discounted family memberships, as well!

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*Contribution by Analisa Holm

Feature #29: Oxford Owl

       

Image from: https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/

    Oxford Owl (https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/) is an award-winning website, from Oxford University Press, that supports parents, caregivers, and teachers in reading, writing, and math. Their site is divided into two sections: Oxford Owl for School and Oxford Owl for Home. 

    Oxford Owl for School offers teacher support in which users can access YouTube video links to learn how to set up a class login, how students can log in using a class code, how to provide assignments to students on the platform, and how to add students to the eBook library on site. Schools or individual teachers can subscribe to programs provided by Oxford Owl. These programs include Big Writing Adventures, Read Write Inc. Phonics, and Read Write Inc. Spelling. Educators have access to free teaching resources and professional development videos or articles for literacy strategies. If a teacher or school has a paid subscription, homework can be assigned to students and submitted online. Student progress can be tracked through the “Homework and Reporting” section. A Teacher Support section is provided if there are any questions on topics such as reading comprehension, activity sheets for writing, etc.   

    Oxford Owl for Home is a parent support system that includes educational advice, activities, and games, and an eBook library for 3 to 11-year-old children. In the Phonics Support section, parents can watch a video and read about what phonics is, and includes activities that parents can do to help their child practice. Children can read free eBooks independently or choose to click the “Play” icon to listen to the read-aloud. Other menu options on the book include volume control, mute for audio, search bar for a specific page in the book, and zoom in or out to change the size of the book on screen. Two activities can be found at the top of the book for students to complete. For example, a student may put the different illustrations of the story in order from beginning to end. Another activity includes students looking at a word from the story and determining what sound it begins with by listening to different sounds through the audio button choices. eBooks also include a section at the beginning of the book to guide teachers, parents, or caregivers on the instruction as the child reads the book with them. The guide includes questions to ask children at the beginning of the story, during the story and vocabulary words that would be helpful for reading comprehension.  

    Oxford Owl provides instructional guidance for teachers, parents, and caregivers to support student learning at home or in primary school. Children who have “common issues with reading”, parents who want to help their children realize the “joy of reading”, or teachers who want access to “reading schemes and levels” will find expert advice to help students become successful in literacy. 

*Contribution by Pearl Hamada

Feature #28: Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets https://www.readingrockets.org/ is possibly the most comprehensive reading strategies website available. It offers a multitude of research, strategies, and multimedia learning tools. It includes resources for parents, such as booklists, tips on creating a home library, tips on finding books at the right reading level for your child, and tips for reading with your child. Most importantly, it includes booklists, watch and learn videos, author study toolkits, and author interviews.

In particular, the author interviews can be useful. The video interviews are the cheapest and fastest way for students to connect with authors before they write or read. It would be excellent to show the Marylin Singer before a poetry unit and have the students analyze what she said poetry can be. Likewise, it would be fun for students to listen to Lois Lowry’s interview about “The Giver” before or after reading it, and discuss her point of view regarding how controversial it is. Students can then decide for themselves after reading it if it controversial and should be removed from a school reading list.

*Contribution by Erik Miller

Feature #27 - Google Lit Trip

Can you imagine what it must have felt like trying to escape the southern states with Harriet Tubman in the novel Freedom Train? Wouldn’t it be interesting if you could actually take the perilous journey with her? Google Lit Trips (http://www.googlelittrips.org/) is a nonprofit website founded by educator Jerome Burg, which uses Google Earth to take students on virtual literature tours. Students will have the opportunity to travel with characters from a particular piece of literature through their adventures and journeys.

While reading a story, students make several “stops” at actual locations in the book. At each stop, there are place marks with pop-up windows containing a variety of resources including essential reading questions, thinking-about-the-story conversation starters, vocabulary words, related pictures and video. Through these Lit Trips, students will be able to jump into the story and tie literary content with place and time.

To begin a Lit Trip tour, a membership registration must be completed. Once registered, Lit Trip content will be made available by simply submitting a request form using a registered email address. Using the Lit Trip Library, users may browse the titles available either by grade level or alphabetical order. There are currently 81 book titles to choose from. As soon as you decide on the title you will be working with, you may visit the Lit Trip store, request for the trip, and will quickly receive an email with further instructions.

Lit Trip Tours are not limited to the books available on their website. You may also create your own virtual tours and include them in the site library. Created tours are submitted, reviewed, and posted on the Lit Trip website if approved. To help with this process, submission guidelines and various tutorials are made available if interested.

Lit Trip tours is a great addition to any literacy lesson. Adding a virtual “field trip” is an excellent way to immerse students in historical evidence and the geography of our earth. Using Google Earth allows you to transport your class to any location in the world instantly. Cities, terrain, monuments, museums and historic locations. It’s a great way to enhance any story by providing an interactive experience while taking a literacy adventure.

*Contribution by Christian Bais

Feature #26 - MagicBlox

https://magicblox.com

MagicBlox is an online library filled with many different kinds of books for children.  It is a free resource and the website is user friendly. You can navigate through the website by the different tabs or simply browse through the collection of books shown on the homepage of the website.  Enjoy reading books from your computer, tablet, or mobile device! You can take your books anywhere.  The stories offered are age appropriate and there are books for all ages.

MagicBlox offers different access passes.  If you opt into experiencing the website for free, you are able to enjoy the Ladybug access pass and have unlimited access to reading one free book a month.  The website also offers a Bookworm access pass which allows you to have unlimited access to all the books for a monthly fee or the Butterfly access pass that also gives you unlimited access to books for a fee of once a year - saving you 36%!

One feature that I like about this website is how every book has a description.  I think that this is really helpful in choosing what book you want to read, especially if you are using the free one book a month access.  I also like how each book has a star rating.  The online library is always expanding which makes this resource better than it already is.  The choices of books are endless! I also appreciate the stories that have the audio narrations and music.   

MagicBlox is a resource that everyone should know about.  I, myself, use it for my kids.  As an educator, I want to instill the love for reading into my students and as a parent, I want the same for my children.  MagicBlox makes reading a whole different experience for them and they love it.  

*Contribution by Jia

Feature #25 - Pebble Go and Pebble Go Next

Pebble Go & Pebble Go Next

By Capstone

Pebble Go (https://pebblego.com/) and Pebble Go Next (https://pebblegonext.com/) by Capstones is a curricular content hub. Pebble Go is designed for K-3 students and Pebble Go Next is designed for 3rd-5th grade students. Capstone is a family owned company to support the needs of reading in grades Pre-K to high school students. There are high quality and high-interest fiction and non-fictional materials. The content hub includes informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy support for students of all abilities. It allows and fosters independent learning in core areas.

You can also sign up for a free trial to explore what Pebble Go and Pebble Go Next has to offer. Pebble Go Next's big idea is research. Its databases help students learn key concepts in Social Studies, Biographies, Science, States and American Indians. The articles are all supported by read-aloud audio and are connected to the curriculum. Pebble Go in particular assists early readers, meets student needs, and supports educators.

Pebble Go and Pebble Go Next offers a lot of user friendly features. Students just click on what they would like to read about or learn. Each category has a huge library of choices.

Among the features, is simple navigation and information is easy to find. The read aloud articles have real voice actors to help model correct pronunciation and fluency. It also provides text highlighting for readers of all abilities to follow along. 

*Contribution by Dona Miles