Tag Archives: reading

Review Websites That Help Students Learn Typing, Writing, Math, & More

December 2, 2017GradeLeap Articleskids, learning, list, math, reading, review, school, science, students, typing, websites, writers

If you are looking for ideas to supplement your child’s education with online instructional websites, apps or other educational material, we’ve compiles a list of online websites and resources for you! We plan to continue to update this list through time, so check back every now-and-then if you want more ideas. There is no shortage of enriching, educational material available on the internet. However, it’s nice to have a little guidance. We will share some of the ones we like in this article.

Is technology and online material suitable for kids?

Not long ago, people debated whether or not technology was helpful for children, and whether it should even be allowed in the classroom. Actually, we’re still having this debate. But, it is clear that computers, tablets, and cell phones are going to be an integral part of the classroom scene forever. Many schools require and offer netbooks or similar small computers to their students. As such, children today should be exposed to and become extremely familiar with computers and online resources. Jobs, businesses and just about every facet of life will involve computers and technology. There is no getting around the fact that computers are the future.

While most children can find their favorite Rockstar on YouTube, many still need some guidance in finding good educational websites – and so do their parents and teachers. Here are just a few websites that might be of interest to you.

SCIENCE ONLINE LEARNING

National Geographic Kids

National Geographic has a kid-friendly section that has copious amounts of great information for young minds. From dinosaurs to planets, National Geographic is chalk full of engaging material for children of all ages. The site hosts written content, videos and games.

All About Birds

Encourage your young ornithologists with this website that can help them identify birds in their community, and learn about birds in other locations. All About Birds help students make the connection between what they see on screen and in the real world.

Ask Dr. Universe

If you want to know the answers to tons of science-related questions, Ask Dr. Universe is bound to keep your child entertained. You click on a tag, like “bees” and be directed to a myriad of “bee-related” questions, like, “Why do bees make hexagons?” It’s an amazing amount of knowledge at your fingertips. And it’s a great way to let children explore science.

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Bill Nye has been an icon in the science world for years. He’s created so many videos on such a wide array of subjects that you have to do yourself a favor and let your child learn from them. They are entertaining and educational.

Color Matters

Every wondered about color? What makes blue, blue and red, red? Why are school busses yellow? Do animals see color? How does color affect mood? Color Matters is dedicated to understanding color in our lives.

Exploring Leonardo

Leonardo da Vinci was an amazing person. He was an artist and inventor who revolutionized science during the enlightenment. Exploring Leonardo is a niche site about understanding how Leonardo da Vinci impacted humanity.

Extreme Science

Extreme Science explores the extremes in our universe. World records in a variety of science subjects such as earth science, biology, physics, and more are covered.Extreme Science is a great resource for students working on science fair projects. It’s also wonderful for teachers who are looking for ideas for lesson plans.

Funology.com

Funology is a site whose mission is to make science fun. Kids can find games. Teachers can find science experiment ideas. Parents can discover crafts they can do with their children. You’ll also find recipes, magic tricks, jokes, and more.

Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century

The world changes more in the 20th century than any other time in humanity. The automobile, the airplane, radio, the personal computer, and more. You can learn all about them and see timelines about how each of the 20th-century inventions evolved.

SECOND LANGUAGE ONLINE LEARNING

Duolingo

Duolingo is a tutorial website for learning languages. While it is not a complete language instruction site, it is an excellent resource for building basic vocabulary and for spelling practice. It increases student excitement through mini-contests and badges.

Memrise

Memrise is an easy-to-use language learning website that also supports offline courses. Memrise allows students to learn a myriad of languages. You can go simple or skip to advanced. It also includes iOS and Android apps.

CIVICS ONLINE LEARNING

Ben’s Guide

Ben Franklin’s Guide that is. Ben’s Guide is an interactive, online “Civics” website for kids. It helps students learn the workings (debatable) of the United States government in fun and imaginative ways. Geared toward students from age ten through eighteen, it is really a good reference for the rest of us, as well. It pares down the workings of the Federal government to a digestible level for everyone.

iCivics

The goal of iCivics is to provide free resources to civics teachers that improve their classroom engagement. iCivics includes games and other resources that teachers can use to help students. There is also content that parents can use at home, too.

TYPING ONLINE LEARNING

Dance Mat Typing

Your middle school kid might have lightning fingers when it comes to texting, but can he or she type? Typing programs that gamify the process of learning to type can help bridge that gap between texting and typing. Dance Mat Typing, from BBC, is a personal favorite of ours. It entertains young typists while offering a solid grounding in the use of a standard keyboard.

READING-RELATED ONLINE LEARNING

Storytime Online

While the stories are geared toward the K-2 crowd, these videos of celebrities reading picture books aloud can help your middle school students gear up for a session or series of reading aloud to lower grade students. This can be an inspiring event for both the new readers and for middle school students who are still perfecting their reading skills.

Goodreads

Students and other readers often have a hard time finding a good book to read. Good Reads is a user-powered review site where users can read about books and can post their reviews. More than that, they can participate in discussions, read blogs, participate in reading challenges, and explore the world of writing through “Ask the Author.” Good Reads is also interactive with “Library Thing,” the cataloging tool offered by ALA for individuals and small libraries.

Library Thing

Library Thing is the library cataloging tool developed and sponsored by American Library Association. The cataloging tool is free to individuals and available at a low cost to small library locations, such as classrooms, churches, and private schools. It also has a check in/check out utility for those who need to track the location of the books in their collection.

GEOGRAPHY-RELATED ONLINE LEARNING

KidsGeo.com

Learning isn’t just about reading, writing and ‘rithmetic. Sometimes the three “R’s” must give way to other types of learning. Kids Geo explores the world as it is today – no out-of-date maps or dusty textbooks involved. Students explore the earth from the center of its core (as we know it) out to the limits of the stratosphere. Kids Geo is part of Kids Know It Network: http://www.kidsknowit.com/

WRITING-RELATED ONLINE LEARNING

Nanowrimo for Young Writers

Get kids excited about becoming novelists by turning your English or Communications classroom into a daily writing workshop. Encourage students to interact with other student writers. Adult novel writers are expected to write 50,000 words for a “win.” Young writers need only write 20,000 words. Writers of all ages are encouraged with pep talks, badges, events and more.

My Story Book Online

My Story Book Online is a quick, easy way for young writers to create a picture book. The book allows writers to create text, add premade backgrounds and pictures to their story.

ART-RELATED ONLINE LEARNING

National Art Gallery for Kids

National Art Gallery for Kids is a fantastic website for young art enthusiasts. However, teachers and parents, be sure to select the “for kids” version, as some of the adult artists take a “Michelangelo” approach to human figures. The kids’ version steers viewers to collage works, scenery, and similar pictures. The Adventures in Art page explores the life and times of various artists and art movements.

COMPUTER AND APP CODING ONLINE LEARNING

Hour of Code

Hour of Code is now a global project that helps kids all over the world learn how to code in a fun and interactive way. The method uses blocks that kids can drag and drop to complete coding puzzles or goals. Basically, it makes coding a visual learning experience. They’ve turned coding into a fun game, which helps kids want to learn how to do it.

Udemy

Udemy is an online course mega-site that has online courses for so many things it’s hard to categorize it. Anyone can create an online course. You can teach anything you want. Many courses are coding related, so we are including it here, but you can actually learn anything from Udemy. Some courses are free. Most are paid, but you can likely find some of the courses on sale from time-to-time.

W3 Schools

W3 Schools has a lot of material to help learn to code. It includes help with:

HTML.
PHP.
SQL.
Jquery.
More.

Students can learn via online tutorials, taking tests, and interactive coding. If student wish to pay for credentials, they can take a test at the end of a subject and receive a certificate of completion.

MULTIPLE SUBJECT AREA ONLINE LEARNING & RESOURCES

Khan Academy

What can we say about Khan Academy? It’s fantastic! This website offers tutorials in just about anything you might need to learn. It is organized by grade level and sorted by topic. Information ranges from basic skills for Kindergarten to advanced skills for college students. Students can answer questions, watch videos, and use a scratchboard and other learning tools. The classes are currently free because Khan Academy is funded through donations.

Udemy

Udemy is an online course mega-site that has online courses for so many things. We added it to this page twice because you can learn anything that people want to teach on the site. Some of the courses are free. Most are paid, but you can likely find some of the courses on sale from time-to-time.

Google Docs

While Microsoft Office seems to have become the standard in document processing, not every family has the money to pay for Office Suite. Google Docs is available to anyone with an Internet access. Items created – word documents, spreadsheets and more, can be shared with instructors or with other students for collaborative projects.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is an academic search tool offered by Google. Keywords will bring up the pertinent section of a book or article. The search results are pulled only from scholarly resources. It is is an invaluable resource for older students. Middle school students might find the content challenging. However, parents can help them learn it.

In Summary

These websites are only a few of the many that are available for students today. Schools and public libraries also often list websites that they encourage their students to use. Some school systems provide dedicated reference services to students of all ages. These resources can be of great value, not only for your students but for the whole family. Sharing them with your middle school or high school student can be exciting for everyone, and can be a way to bring family members together with shared interests.

If you have any sites or ideas you’d like to suggest, please post them below. We’d love to hear from you!

Simple Tips to Read & Comprehend Nonfiction for Students

November 28, 2017GradeLeap Articlesnonfiction, reading, students

Reading nonfiction requires a different skill set than reading fiction does. While some might read nonfiction for pleasure, it is typically read to gain information or to learn how to do something, especially in a school setting. Nonfiction reading often includes catalogues, biographies, history, manuals, directions, recipes, newspapers, magazines and internet articles. Becoming a better reader of nonfiction is a valuable skill that will improve students’ grades and lead to better opportunities in the future.

Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure

Many people read nonfiction for pleasure. Sports fans might read the sports sections of a newspaper, the biography of a favorite player or even a manual about rules for play. Hobbyists might read magazines or books about their particular craft or collection. History buffs might read works that center around a particular time period or biographies of certain historical figures. Reading nonfiction for pleasure is similar to reading fiction for study. The biggest difference for a student is that they are innately interested in nonfiction that they choose to read for pleasure.

Reading Nonfiction as Homework

Reading a chapter in a textbook is a common type of assignment for many students. There are strategies that students can use to comprehend better the material that they read. Assume you are a student who has been assigned to read a chapter in a textbook. First look at the chapter heading. It should give some clue as to the content of the chapter. Next, quickly skim the bold headings that separate out the sections of the chapter. Look for a common thread in the content. Glance at pictures, graphs and other items of interest that within the material. Read through the chapter summary and any questions that are included at the end of the chapter – particularly if a set of the questions have been assigned as homework.

Don’t actually read the chapter until you do the steps above. This will greatly help you pick out the important content that you read. With the general theme of the chapter in mind, go back and read the chapter through. Be sure to read text boxes and captions under pictures. After reading the chapter through, take any special notes – such as dates, names, or special events or ideas. Answer any questions provided by the instructor.

Reading Nonfiction for Directions

Reading directions is a crucial skill for students to acquire. Directions will likely accompany each quiz, test or homework assignment a student will have. Later in life, directions will often be included with items that come “with some assembly required.” Cooking recipes are another good example of a task that requires direction-reading skills.

The basic three-step process of working through a set of direction is:

Read the direction through. Including special notes such as ingredients or tools needed.
Assemble all needed items for the process.
Read each step carefully, and complete each one before moving on to the next step.

Reading Manuals

Schools and businesses often issue manuals to students or their personnel. Reading a manual can help prevent misunderstandings and unnecessary questions. The most common issue that people have with reading a manual is that it is typically dry material. One tip that can help reduce the amount of content in a manual you might have to read is to use a highlighter. If the manual is yours to keep, skim it with a highlighter in hand, and highlight those sections you are likely to need.

Some items to which you might want to pay close attention include regulations regarding attendance, personal appearance, scheduling, and transportation. You will also want to make note of any items that involve a cost, such as textbooks or uniforms.

Make a list of any special items you will need – such as textbooks, school supplies for students or tools for workers. Pay close attention to regulations regarding interaction with other students or workers.

Reading Advertisements

You might not consider advertising to be nonfiction, but it is. And students are a target market for many types of ads, so understanding how to interpret advertisements is very important. Reading ads can be tricky because retailers are often experts at conveying ad copy in ways that “stretch” the truth a bit. A common strategy that ad copy uses is to list something as “90% better” or “100% more nutritious,” without providing an item that the product or service is being compared to. To be sure of getting a good deal, one needs to pay attention to information about the amount being sold, the size of the item and whether or not it will do the job specified.

If buying on credit is involved, be sure to read the fine print about the amount of interest that is going to be charged on the item. Advertisers will sometimes say things like, “No interest the first three months,” or “No interest until after the New Year.” They do this because most people don’t pay off the item and are ultimately charged interest.

Also watch for other charges, such as shipping and handling or fees for gift wrapping. If you are buying online, make sure that the company is reputable and that you are not authorizing an unscrupulous agency to access your financial information.

Reading Nonfiction for Research

Library research (commonly done by students of all ages) involves reading material to gain particular facts. The goal is for students to gather and use the information to write a paper or give a speech presentation. To ethically use information provided in printed resources, the reader must make a proper note of bibliographic information about the article, book, newspaper or internet resource.

It is best practice to note of all of the bibliographic information about a source before beginning to take notes from the source. This information includes the name of the item, publishing agency, the date publication. The following lists the bibliography information that should be included for different types of material:

Books: If it is a book, the information needs to include the name of the book and the author.
Magazines: If it is a magazine article, it should include the name of the magazine, and the name of the article as well as the author, publisher and date of publication.
Internet articles and blogs: Internet articles should include the name of the website and the name of the web page within the website, and the URL.

If this sounds like a lot of writing before you even get started taking notes, simply remember you are going to need this information to give credit to your source. Fortunately, there are websites like EasyBib.com that make creating citations simple. Not giving proper credit is considered plagiarism, and it sadly gets students in a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

Write the bibliographic information at the top of a sheet of paper, then underneath it write down information from the material you are using for research. It is not necessary to read a long work completely through to use it for information. However, you need to be careful not to take information out of context – that is quote it in such a way that it says something different from what the author intended. Look for chapter headings, bold text, text boxes and summaries to help you digest a lot of information fast. When writing down dates, people’s names and similar information, make notes that tell what information goes with that item. This tip will help to avoid frustration later.

Students may also benefit from using a style manual. Style manuals such as one from MLA or APA tell how to write up bibliographic information in a resource list, how to use it inside your work to give credit. But again, the internet sources like EasyBib.com have largely alleviated this frustrating part of research writing.

Judging the Value of Nonfiction Work

Whether you are reading nonfiction for fun, homework or to prepare a library research paper, selecting quality information is important. Here are some tips to determine if the information is worthwhile:

Check the copyright date: If the information is too old, it may not be appropriate for what you are writing. This depends on the context of what you are researching.
Compare two or more sources: Don’t necessarily jump on the first source you find. Another similar source might be much better.
Check the author’s credentials: Especially for research writing, the credentials of the author you are citing give credibility to the document you create. For example, a chef with experience in a restaurant and a degree in food preparation might carry more weight when talking about preparing a banquet for a crowd of 300 people than a mother of two. However, a grandmother who has been cooking for 30 or more years for a family might have better ideas about how to get through a busy evening when cooking for all of the relatives.
Pay attention to bias: What is writer’s point of view? For example, a person who belongs to a gun club might be more likely to support laws that legalize gun ownership than a person who has a long-standing reputation for supporting gun control.
Information can sometimes come from surprising sources, however, so be prepared to see many sides of an issue.

Reading Nonfiction for Inspiration

Some nonfiction is designed to be read a little bit at a time. Self-help books, inspirational essays and even poetry can fall under this heading. Reading a little bit each day can lift your spirits, inspire, and give you the courage to keep going.

Wrapping it up

Reading nonfiction uses different reading skills than reading fiction does. Some nonfiction reading requires the development of a skill set to do properly. Don’t dismiss this. Acquiring this skill set will likely lead to better grades and many other rewards throughout life.

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