I’ve just added another awesome website where students can find information on tons of books including reviews of the latest books and interviews with authors. The site also has trivia games, contests and word scrambles. The more different kinds of books that you are exposed to the more likely you are to find a topic, book, or series that draws you in makes you become a reading junky, always craving the latest book. So, whether you are a seasoned reader or one who is just testing the waters, check out this site. You never know, today may be the day you take the plunge into the fabulously freeing world of reading!
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Student comprehension is a highly sought after skill by educators everywhere. A student can have amazing fluency and vocabulary knowledge, but if they can’t remember and retell what they’ve read it almost feels as though the other things don’t matter.
Comprehension is a tricky skill for a lot of students to master, but as educators we can use many different resources and activities to help students succeed in this area of reading. I have recently come across a website called Teacher’s Domain that has student driven/student paced lessons that focus on comprehension skills like making inferences. Other lessons are based around compare and contrast, using text features to make reading non-fiction reading easier, finding the main idea, and how to summarize. These lesson plans are free and a lot are technology based where the student is the pacer of the lesson. They complete a page of the lesson at a time and move on when they are ready. These lessons can also be used in a whole group to demonstrate a specific skill and how to use the lesson to get the most out of it. Social Studies and Science topics can also be used to incorporate comprehension of non-fiction/content area information as well.
This website is geared mainly toward middle school and high school students. Because it is mostly technology based I feel that students would be more likely to be engaged and interested in the tasks that they are to complete. When a student is fully engaged they are more likely to retain the information being taught. These lessons help students to master reading skills that will aid in their comprehension of material they read.
Looking for a good book? This website has 100′s of books for all interests that have been given booktalks by students in the grades 5-8.
A book talk is like a short version of a book report. Students give you a brief idea on what the book is about by sharing their opinion of the book or telling a part of the book they found interesting to get you hooked. What better way to find a book than by having one recommended by someone the same age with the same interests?!
Want to make reading easier and more fun??
One key to making reading more enjoyable and easier to understand is by expanding your vocabulary. When you know and are familiar with tons of words it makes the text or book you are reading much easier to understand which means you are more likely to remember what you’ve read. Having a large vocabulary also makes reading more fun because you don’t have to constantly look up words or wonder what is happening because you don’t know the meaning of something.
I have added a new link to my favorites to help build up knowledge of vocabulary! It’s called DailyBuzzWord. Each day there is a new word presented by the Merriam Webster Dictionary….you can hear the word pronounced, discover what the word means, and see it used in a sentence. There is also a daily challenge to see if you are a Word Wiz.
Make your vocabulary as vast as the heavens by checking out the link daily! Happy learning! =)
Notes are never any fun to take, but they are a necessary part of most classes in the middle school and high school. Sometimes taking notes is is really difficult because we just aren’t sure what the best way is to take them, or we haven’t found a way that works for us. The Englishcompanion site posted here is a branch off of a website created by Jim Burke (Eng. teacher and author). This site provides 30 some different ways to take notes.
Take a look at some of these note organizers and try a few! Don’t give up or get frustrated if the first ones you try don’t work for you. Sometimes it takes a while to find the style for you. =)
TEACHERS: I’ve used this site in previous years with my middle school students and it has proved to be most helpful in providing a variety of ways that students can take notes. It gives them the opportunity to see many different ways to take notes and gives them the freedom to choose what works for them.
STUDENTS/Teachers: I recently just came across this site, BookRags. It has FREE book notes, study guides, quizzes and more for 1000′s of books—fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, etc. This would be an excellent site if you’re looking for help understanding a specific novel for English class or if you’re looking for information on a specific author/writer (there are biographies on 100′s of authors). It has quotes from books that could be helpful in writing book reports or papers.
There are also 100′s of lesson plans for a HUGE variety of books that would be extremely to English/Language Arts and Reading teachers.
All information can be downloaded and accessed in a few different forms and they also provide printer friendly versions to make it easier to obtain a hard copy of the information.
I thought this site was really cool! It would definitely be a useful resource for students in grades 8-12.
Check it out! I just created my own bookshelf on Shelfari! This site is pretty awesome; it allows you to choose and display all of the books that you’ve read and the ones that you’d like to read. You can find and make friends on this site as well as talk about books with others. Shelfari and it’s users provide synopses and reviews of TONS of books. Tired of spending oodles of time searching through tons of books trying to find one that gets your attention? With Shelfari you can create tags from the books you’ve liked/loved that suggest others with similar content. You’ll love this site! Check out my bookshelf and tell me what you think. What books should I add?
I just added a new link! Discovery Education has a great site that is useful to parents, teachers, and students. It has a lot to offer everyone. There is a great place where students can get free homework help on ANY subject! It gives parents ideas on ways to keep their students motivated and how to help on their child’s homework. For teachers, there are great lesson plans and other cool resources. Just go to the site and choose the tab that pertains to you…Teachers, Parents, or Students!
TEACHERS: I recently came across this fantastic website that will link you to 100′s of other websites for games (reading, writing, math, etc.), lesson plans (k-12), various types of classroom activities, and even interactive lessons for a SmartBoard or whiteboard! I definitely recommend that you check it out. It is possible to spend forever just perusing all of the available resources that this site contains…trust me, I have! Check it out and enjoy!
Welcome to ReadersRock! This blog is meant to be an open space where students, parents, and teachers can feel free to express their opinions openly about books and other reading resources as well as get to know new people through a shared interest/love of reading. Take a look around and enjoy! =)
