Ideas from a Reading Specialist–Current blogs consist of free online sites and programs for a reading classroom.
Prohibition, Doomsday Clock, Martin Luther King Jr, Tokyo Rose, Barack Obama, Concorde, CIA, Poll Tax January 16–Prohibition Prohibition was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. January 16, 1919 prohibition takes effect. PBS.org has a number of activities for teachers to use in their classroom related […]
An outstanding opportunity for your class to participate in a videoconferencing project. The Internet2 community was founded in 1996 as an advanced technology collaborative environment. It is made up of more than 320 institutions of higher learning, 50+ corporations, and others representing more than 100 countries. The Presidential Primary Sources Project teaches about presidents such […]
Share a historic event each day with your students. This is a great bell-ringer! Post on Smartboard or write on white board and discuss with your students to develop background knowledge. If you are searching for a way to develop reading skills, check out the differentiated passages (with comprehension questions) at the bottom of the […]
Share these events for each day in history with your students. Use the free resources to supplement your instruction. Differentiated comprehension passage available at the bottom of the page from Reading Specialty! January 1–New Year’s Day and History of Calendar Julius Caesar 45 BC decreed January 1 the beginning of the year. This YouTube video, […]
What is it? Problem-Attic is a database of more than 200,000 questions free for teachers to select, arrange, format, and print. Search the question bank, scroll for your target question, click and add to your document. Where do the questions come from? Questions come from state assessments (more than 25 states), New York Regents Exam, […]
December 16 Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was held in protest against “taxation without representation” on December 16, 1773. Secondary students in AP or US History Classes or in AP Economics classes will benefit from the lesson “From Tea to Shining Sea: A primary Document-Based Unit on the Boston Tea Party.” The unit […]
More free resources from Reading Specialty! Check out these topics! Eli Whitney Nuremberg Trials Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize UNICEF Marconi Nobel Prize Saddam Hussein Three Gorges Dam Bill of Rights December 1 December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus beginning a boycott which became important to […]
Free Resources corresponding to a Day in History for each of these topics/people: Scott Joplin Carrie Nation History of Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Day Macy’s Parade Basketball–James Naismith John F. Kennedy Mark Twain November 24 Scott Joplin, King of Ragtime, was born November 24, 1868. Audio files of the piano works of Scott Joplin are available here. […]
Free Resources corresponding to a Day in History for each of these topics/people: Alaskan Pipeline, Chichen Itza, NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement), Gettysburg Address, International Space Station, Iran-Contra Affair, Battle of the Sexes (Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs), and the Marx Brothers. November 16 President Richard Nixon asked Congress to pass a bill […]
Free resources for Carl Sagan, David Livingston, Veteran’s Day, Elizabeth Stanton, Military Draft, Nellie Bly, and Articles of Confederation November 9-Carl Sagan, astronomer, was born November 9, 1934. Voyager I left NASA in September of 1977 to study the solar system and space. Today, 42 years later, the spacecraft still receives commands and transmits data. […]
Free Resources for Stamp Act, Dewey Defeats Truman, Annie Oakley, Jane Goodall, Guy Fawkes, Apartheid, Marie Curie, the Louvre Are you looking for free resources to accompany events which occurred today in history between November 1-8? Check out these free online resources. Develop cultural literacy with your students while exposing them to these topics! November […]
Featured this blog: China and the United Nations, Patriot Act, New York City Subway, Statue of Liberty, Genghis Khan, Anne Frank, Halloween History and Customs Share an event which happened on each day in history with your students and use the online free resources to help your students gain background information. October 25, 1971, the […]
Mother Teresa, The Alaska Purchase, Yorktown, Calico Jack, Florence Nightingale, Ringling Brothers, New Orleans Mint, Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression Teachers are so busy and Reading Specialty is here to help! Developing background information is critical to help our students comprehend. Use our Day In History events to talk about important topics which […]
Free Resource Corresponding to a Day In History for each of these topics/people: The Washington Monument, Susan B. Anthony, Hillary Clinton, Columbus Day, Margaret Thatcher, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Thomas Edison, John Brown Many struggling readers in upper grades do not have the background information the writer expects and therefore have difficulty comprehending material. Help your […]
The Watergate Scandal, Gandhi, Berlin Wall, Henrietta Lacks, Steve Jobs, The Cuban Missile Crisis and Bomb Shelters, Edgar Allan Poe, Department of Homeland Security Sharing these days in history will develop background knowledge and stimulate interest in a variety of topics. Share what happened each day in history and use the free online resources to […]
Supreme Court, Benedict Arnold, Federal Trade Commission, Henry Ford, Confucius, John D. Rockefeller, Hoover Dam Below is listed an event in history for each day, September 24-30. Share these with your class and use the free resources with your students. (Disclaimer: Always check the resources to be sure they are appropriate for your students/level.) Scroll […]
The Great Seal of the US, Mount Rushmore, the US Capitol, History of Hot Air Balloons, Don’t Ask–Don’t Tell, Stonehenge, Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Equinox and Solstice all have related events in history this week. Use the event in history to teach your class important background information. Keep a section of the board (or […]
Ford Pardons Nixon, Elvis Presley, History of the Rickshaw, 9/11, Lascaux Caves,Walter Reed, the Star Spangled Banner, Sandra Day O’Connor If you are not familiar with the idea behind the Day In History resource, please check out my earlier blog post. Today’s post features the 7 topics listed above. Each is based upon an event […]
Titanic, V-J Day, Frederick Douglas, Little Rock Desegregation, Voyager I, Princess Diana, Panama Canal Background: As a classroom teacher at the high school level working with struggling readers, I found many of them were missing BASIC background information. Discussing current events or events which had occurred in history helped my students fill this enormous gap. […]
If you have been teaching for a while, you probably remember the computer game, Oregon Trail. This game takes a different view and gives students the perspective of Indigenous communities that were impacted by the allotment acts. The game was developed by the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, Michigan State University’s Games for Entertainment and Learning […]
Brown University Free Program connects the news and students If you have been reading this blog for a while, you are probably aware I am a huge fan of using current events and events in history in the classroom. Providing students with opportunities to develop background knowledge or find out about current events allows them […]
Looking for suggestions as your students head out on summer break? Check out these ideas for your students! Looking for ideas for your classroom for next year? Add archived blog posts from www.readingspecialty.com to your summer reading and see if there are free online resources you would like for the coming school year.S Read a […]
Today’s blog is a quick look at “Mind Over Media: Analyzing Contemporary Propaganda.” The target audience appears to be high school and although utilizing the resource may require a small amount of prep work by the teacher, it is a good place to start for this important skill. I would NOT recommend this with younger […]
Fakebook Looking for an alternative way for students to write about a character in the book they are reading or a historical figure? Wanting a fun activity for back to school getting to know each other? Try FAKEBOOK from classtools.net. Fakebook is an educational tool, with no connection to the social networking site. After navigating […]
Kenn Nesbitt was the Children’s Poet Laureate from 2013-2015. He has written humorous poetry for children including the book Revenge of the Lunch Ladies. His website Poetry4kids.com is a great resource for a poetry unit! From the HOME screen, clicking on Funny Poems brings a menu of many of Kenn’s poems. Students and teachers have […]
The website indicates DOGO Media is a “network empowering kids to engage with digitial media in a fun, safe, and social environment. It states DOGO translates to young or small in Swahili, but there is nothing small about this free website. (Note all information in this review is about their FREE resources. Check the website […]
School has only been going a few minutes, and already I have a bunch of tabs open with apps running, trying to keep my classroom organized and efficient. Laurens Koppers, a teacher in the Netherlands, solved my multi tab problem with a useful, free resource classroomscreen.com. His goal was to “use a free and simple […]
Just tap on the wheel and watch it spin. Randomly select a student to answer a question, select student groups, vocabulary word review, any pre-loaded decision or activity. No volunteers to present their project? Spin the wheel and select a “lucky” winner. The possibilities are endless. Need to make a decision at home? What’s for […]
Looking for an alternative class game to increase engagement and track class data? This resource was created and maintained by a high school student from Seattle. Teachers create “kits” and students use their own devices to answer questions, earning game money for correct answers or losing money for incorrect answers. Students can spend their money […]
Are your students doing projects and looking for photos? Concerned they may accidentally stumble upon images that are not appropriate? Do you want your students to understand how to accurately cite the images they use? Those are common requests from teachers, and your voice has been heard at “PHOTOS FOR CLASS.” Filtering The website indicates they believe […]
Looking for an alternative review activity your students will enjoy and that will give you instant formative data? Check out Plickers! This game is an alternative to the traditional “clickers”–with the advantages without the expense! This free tool is easy to use after the initial set up. There is no need for individual devices for […]
I belong to a book club and at the end of each meeting we sit around and search for the book for the next month. People bring suggestions, we check recommended lists, and invariably someone opens their phone and searches Goodreads. This great, free resource can be effective for the classroom too! After signing up […]
What’s It all About? NetSmarz is for students from kindergarten thru high school, parents, teachers, law enforcement and community leaders. It is sponsored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to their website, they have three goals: educate children on how to recognize potential internet risks engage children and adults in a […]
Hip Hop History Using hip hop to explain history, Emcee Hero-D has an amazing resource for teachers! Not only does he use informative and upbeat lyrics, but he adds images which will engage your students. This is a great source for middle through college students or just someone wanting to learn more about history. Click […]
A nonprofit organization, The Global Space Education Foundation has created an inspiring program where astronauts share children’s books with children on earth. This program was created by Patricia Tribe who was the director of education at Space Center Houston. Her vision was to merge STEM and literacy. Astronauts video themselves reading books while in space. […]
Math Math riddles from PrimaryGames provides thoughtful and challenging problem solving. Click here to be directed to the game. Spelling Practice spelling with this free online activity using winter words. Memory Christmas Game Play the traditional memory game with a Christmas theme. Click here to download this game. Interactive Logic Puzzle Logical thinking puzzles are […]
A collection of online resources for career education has to begin with the Occupational Outlook Handbook. This resource lists 4 out of 5 , including occupations–hundreds of listings in the resource. Information includes: […]
Storybird Studio Storybird Studio, a free tool will inspire the most reluctant writer! Aligned with the common core, this resource is very user friendly. Teachers create a free account with robust features your kids will enjoy and which will save you time. Unfortunately, print access is a premium feature–but there are plenty of extras on […]
If you are searching for FREE online literacy materials for grades 3-12, check out commonlit.org. This resource contains research-based resources which are teacher designed and aligned to the Common Core. The site is easy to use for both students and teachers. A quick survey of the library shows nearly 1500 articles. The search and filter […]
Sometimes a book is just too much. Perhaps a student forgot their book and they don’t want to start a new one. They need something to read for today. Looking for an interesting article for a mini-lesson? These 5 online sources might provide you with the answer. Check out these free online resources for reading […]
Cando Helper is an extensive source for teachers working with beginning readers. This week I will feature the READINESS components. Additional features will be showcased in future blogs–stay tuned! History Ray Beudoin is a former teacher in a primary class and a Title I teacher. He developed these resources to use in his classes. Although Ray focused […]
Budget cuts, curriculum demands, and the emphasis on standardized testing have all resulted in a decline in the number of field trips students are taking. Students do not have an opportunity to see first hand the diversity of ideas, peoples, places, and historical times which a trip to a museum or historic site might provide. […]
Cando Helper Alphabetical Order Cando Helper offers multiple options for teaching alphabetical order. There are 10 drag and drop activities where students use a mouse to drag letters of the alphabet into the grid in ABC order. These are arranged in groupings of 6 letters and divided by upper and lower case. Next there is […]
INITIAL CONSONANTS The phonic section begins with a keyboard diagram with consonant keys. Tapping a letter will result in a picture and pronunciation of a word representing each of the consonant sounds.The example is of the initial consonant sounds. The second selection checks initial sounds with 25 picture words testing sound-symbol relationships. The teacher clicks […]
Most teachers are familiar with Newsela. Another alternative current event website for high schools is Student News Daily. This is a non-profit organization which is provides daily news articles followed by comprehension and critical thinking questions. Another website with categories for K-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12 is Smithsonian TweenTribune. Student News Daily There are six categories of articles. Daily […]
This is incredible! The Sally Ride EarthKAM is an outreach program that enables teachers and students to learn about space. After signing up for an account, there is a slight delay while they verify you are a teacher and your school. When everything checks out you will receive log in information and be able to […]
If you haven’t used Wordle, you are missing out. What is Wordle? Wordle generates “word clouds” from the words you submit. The size of the word is determined by how important it is. Words entered into the source more times appear larger than words entered fewer times. Wordle is common in education but does require […]
Wisconsin Media Lab, with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction created INTO THE BOOK, a free online program designed for the elementary classroom. This research-based resource is aligned to the common core standards. It is available with both English and Spanish texts! When students first start the program, they will be asked their first name and […]
Use educational online gaming to supplement your classroom instruction and provide assessment data. Review Game Zone is personalized to meet the needs of your classroom. The teacher inputs the questions, indicates the answer and presto an educational interactive game is automatically created. Create a free account at reviewgamezone.com and try one of these games. With […]
Finding good sources for Life Skills students can be challenging. I stumbled across gcflearnfree.org and my students and I really enjoyed their activities! A guide to their resources is available from http://content.gcflearnfree.org/curriculum/GCFLearnFree_EverydayLife.pdf GCF divides the activities into 7 basic areas: working with money, basic math, job skills, basic literacy, grocery shopping, cooking, and health and safety. […]