Funnelbrain lets you create flashcards, quizzes you on those cards, form a review team, and much more. Add your email and password and create Question-Answer cards, and save. It’s that easy. Many decks are already made for you by others, so check those first so you’re not re-inventing the wheel!
Summer Ideas, Part II: Reading
This is the second of a series about summer activities you can share with your children. This one’s about reading.
Fractured Fairy Tales – Whether it’s The Princess and the Rutabaga or Big Blue Riding Hood, invite your students to turn familiar fairy tales upside down and inside out—and to have fun. This interactive tool gives students a choice of three fairy tales to read. They are then guided to choose a variety of changes, which they use to compose a fractured fairy tale to print off and illustrate. Useful for teaching point of view, setting, plot, as well as fairy tale conventions such as they lived happily ever after, this tool encourages students to use their imaginations and the writing process at the same time.
“Kid-Approved” Summer Reading Books – This is my list of fun books to read (or have read to you) suggested by kids with reading difficulties. They suggest them, and I add them. If so much as one kid doesn’t like a book that I’ve suggested here, I remove the book from this list!
Reading Probe Generator – More for Teachers who often need to make informal “probes” of their students’ reading, and this works great. You can analyze the reading level of stories that you or your children create, or paste in any story you want on a topic your kids will like, and it tells you the level.
Screencast-O-Matic!
Screencast-O-Matic is the original online screen recorder for one-click recording from your browser on Windows, Mac, or Linux with no install for FREE. You record what’s on your screen (up to 15 minutes long), and save it to show to your class later.
Website: http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/
Xtranormal Fun
http://www.youtube.com/create/Xtranormal
Here’s a writing idea. You write the words like a play, and characters automatically speak your words. Make cartoon out of text for YouTube
When to see the Speech/Language Therapist
If a child has these difficulties, we would refer them to the school’s speech/language person for evaluation. They might recommend having a local agency do some language testing.
auditory/auditory processing weaknesses
language development delays/differences
oral and written language differences
social/pragmatic language differences
phonological loop difficulties
oral sensory differences
articulation/fine motor weaknesses
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Tagged articulation, difficulties, language, speech, speech language
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New Multilevel Math Site
Check It Out Here! Turn down your audio. It’s obnoxious, but good quick math fact review.
Some Brain Games For Spring and Summer
• BRAINSTORM GAME – “What could we use this brick for?” Start with a prop and a question. Learner has to think of as many ways to use that brick as possible. You can’t help, but you can suggest places for his brain to look: “What could we use a brick for in your bedroom? In the garage? In your sandbox?” This builds cognitive flexibility.
• WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? – Use photos, pictures, or the actual game (Webber Photo Cards order here ). Learner guesses by face expression and the props in the picture what the person was thinking.
• PROBLEM SOLVING – Move from math story problems (http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-2 – Try B7, E14, or F9 ) to more and more involved or abstract problems that crop up around the house (Example: “My pots and pans are so hard to get out of the bottom cabinet. What could we do?”). Use brainstorming whenever possible, and use sketch paper to make it more visual.
• CAUSE-EFFECT ACTIVITIES – http://www.quia.com/mc/94601.html The Learner connects possible effects to a given cause, then learns possible causes of a given effect.
• WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN? – Talking with Learners about the worst that can happen is a slippery slope, because the objective should be to show that a disappointment or unmet need might not be all that bad.
• WHAT’S MY PLAN? HOW DID MY PLAN WORK? WHAT WILL I DO DIFFERENTLY? Getting Learners to be strategic (more task-involved, less ego-involved) is a matter of being a guide on the side, constantly reminding the Learner to have a Plan before they start, and reflect on the Plan after they finish. When the Learner realizes that their ego isn’t being criticized and that the focus is on making better and better Plans for things, the Learner’s “Worry Channel” can be used as a “Planning channel” instead. Learners who have trouble getting started aren’t planful; they don’t how to start because they don’t know what it is they need to start.
A-Plus Click!
http://aplusclick.com/
This is a free math practice site. Click your grade and click the skill you want to practice. (Found by Sheila Grant, Grade 3)
Using Dragon Naturally Speaking
Sterling demonstrates the use of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 14:
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Tagged Dragon Naturally Speaking, motivation, speech to print, writing
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Visual Memory Games
Visual Memory Games - With so much on TV and in videogames, you’d think kids would be getting better at visual memory, but because the visual image is always provided for them, the skill of visualization (used in spelling, listening, and following directions) is worse now than 10 years ago. The solution? Build the ability to “see in the mind’s eye” with some online games!
http://www.learningplanet.com/act/mre/
http://www.eyecanlearn.com/#Memory
http://www.fupa.com/play/Puzzles-free-games/brainspa-visual-memory.html