This one struck me because of my recent work as an elementary librarian. I found that my 3rd to 6th graders would play almost any kind of game on the computer. I have found a website that looks a lot like the sites they enjoyed using, but have great value as ways to practice math, reading and other skills. Take a look at gameclassoom.com , I think you can agree that k-6 students will like this site!
As teachers you know that teaching reading really take a lot of your time. One of the areas of reading that does not get as much time as it needs is how to pose questions. This is an important reading comprehension strategy highlighted by Sheena Hervey in her article Who Asks the Questions in Teaching K-8 Online. This is not a long read and will give you some good ideas.
I am always looking for free books on the web and I found a site that is very easy to use to find them. The site Freebook-s.com has a very nice search engine and pulls up books by keyword, title, or author. You may even be able to find some textbooks.
Searching through information you find on the web can be a daunting project. As a former school librarian I found the site Findingdulcinea satisfying. They claim to be the internet librarian and are working to provide your students with searches that are germane to classroom assignments.
A Thought
“When I think back on all the crap I learned in High School it’s a wonder I can think at all,”This line from the album Kodachrome by Paul Simon has stuck in my mind throughout my career as an educator. I am always hearing that an education is important but frequently our popular culture belies that value. Throughout American popular culture you can find numerous references to the wasted time people spent in school.
Why is this? The message to students from adults is that school is important, but we let our entertainers tell them something different. I believe one of the underlying problems of education causes this disconnect in our society. As long as schools view the student as a product and our education systems only allow children to learn what has been decided is important this disconnect will exist.
Each of us is different and crave to be treated that way. Schools have to respect that feeling and understand that their product is not the student but the curriculum. That includes delivery of information. Technology has made it possible to create a curriculum that will decrease the dissatisfaction with being in school, we just have recognize what we have!
