Cool+Websites+of+the+Week

p p p   Cool Websites of the Week •Vocabulary Help // Students will have to sign up for an account and if they're under fourteen, they will have to use their parent's email. The website is fundamentally a vocabulary building site in the form of a multiple choice quiz. The really cool thing about the site is that with every correct answer, the World Food Programme donates ten grains of rice to end world hunger. Through building vocab skills, students can make a tangible difference in the world and make a connection to the real world. //

•Here is a pretty cool poetry website // The website gives you the form in which to write your poem and all you have to do is 'plug and play.' It is incredibly formulaic and almost devoid of creativity but it does serve to make one familiar with forms. //

•Brainstorming Graphic Organizers // Most of us learn through visual means and this website aids that. There are about 39 different graphic organizers here that help students organize ideas for narratives in very visual format. //

•Writing Prompts // I will be using many of these prompts as free writes. Students can go to this website when they miss a class to make up a journal entry or, if they so desire, they can use these prompts to spark some of their own, out of class, writing. //

•Common Errors // This is an interactive site dedicated to common errors in English. As the site creator says, "Sometimes the easiest way to learn proper grammar, is to learn what NOT to say ." //

•ESL Help //ESL students need extra help wIth English course work most of the time simply because it is their second language. They have thoughts and ideas kicking around their heads without a bridge to connect those thoughts and ideas to their mouths. This website provides the extra help many ESL students need to succeed in English classes.//

•Personal Narrative Help // Sometimes students come into class without the proper base knowledge needed to be successful. This interactive website explains important aspects of the genre and gives exemplary models. //

// •More Narrative Help // //This website is cool because it gives a brief explanation of the elements of narrative writing with examples. The really cool part, is that one can put the mouse over the brief descriptions of narrative elements on the left bar and that element is highlighted in the example stories.//

//•Character Activity// //Here students are presented with nine pictures of characters and a small box to write their story in. This activity will force the students to write concisely and use their imaginations to build out from the picture.//

//•Setting Activity// This website is just like the character activity except it deals with setting. Character and setting are two of the most important elements in narrative and must be mastered in order to tell a compelling story. By selecting a picture of a place without any accompanying text, students will have to expand on what they see but in a concise manner.