Effective Literacy Website #5 Kiz Phonics

Peter Enicar

ED 638 Fall Intersession 2018

Dr. M.Rivera

IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #5

https://www.kizphonics.com/ is a site that provides materials for helping a child learn to read through phonics. Kiz Phonics is an excellent progressive program for teaching kids to read using a systematic phonics approach. Kiz Phonics was formed by a group of teachers experiencing 27 years of teaching English as a Foreign and Second Language. A large chunk of this experience was spent teaching English to kids.  The program is carefully arranged by levels from preschool ages 3-4, kindergarten ages 4 -6, 1^st grade ages 6-7 and 2^nd grade ages 7-8. Each grade level has phonic programs (worksheets, games, video lessons, songs, listening, learn to write ABC, phonic stories, teaching guide, android/iphone apps and phonic assessments).  It is suitable for school teachers, home-school parents and other educators trying to help children learn to read. On the website you can sign up to be a member. The sign up is free for everyone. All sign up members receive daily updates from the website.  

Effective Literacy Website #5 Reading Is Fundamental

Cheryl Habuchmai

ED 638 Fall Intersession 2018

Dr. M. Rivera

IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #5

RIF means Reading is Fundamental. According to RIF https://www.rif.org/ how they help people, they help develop content and resources that produce measurable results. Through RIF’s various programs and partnerships, RIF provide opportunities for children and their families to experience the life-changing impact of reading. Reading is the fundamental building block to all life’s essential skills. This website also invites people to explore their program options for bringing books and literacy resources to children at home, in the classroom, and in the community.RIF also now offer grants to help their sites and partners implement these programs in their communities.

Reading is Fundamental also provide help for those that wants to become reading mentors. There is a button that will take you to a PDF format that will list the things you need to know of a great reading mentor. It says that to serve as a reading mentor one way to help support the mission is to get involved with students that are in the community. Even if one plans to volunteer as a classroom quest reader, a one-on-one reading buddy or one that assist children in book selection during a RIF event there are tips that can help them become better mentors and that is encourage choice, knowing your audience, modeling good reading habits, making reading fun, asking questions, strategies, and how to check out supporting materials on literacy central.

Reading is Fundamental was founded in 1966 where they address the alarming literacy crisis in America through quality content, strong leadership, and an active and engaged community. They bring together children and give opportunities for them and ensure that reading turns into a journey for them. They create needs-based content and targeted programs that align key literacy issues with proactive and measurable solutions. Like other effective literacy websites, RIF efforts starts with all books and resources, activities and professional development for educators, parents, and literacy volunteers to ensure that reading turns every child opportunities in life. RIF is everywhere especially in Guam. Their legacy has grew so that all children have the right to learn to read. 

Effective Literacy Website #5- Readtheory

Drystal Silbanuz

ED 638- Teaching with the Internet

Dr. M. Rivera

Fall Intersession 2018

International Reading Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #5

            Readtheory (https://readtheory.org) is an online reading program that assesses reading ability and builds on reading comprehension by providing texts for students to read at an appropriate level. It is used for grades K-12. A handful of information and narrative passages are leveled by grade and Lexile level. When student’s read and answer passage questions, Readtheory presents passages fitted to meet student’s reading level. The pretest consists of vocabulary questions as well as implicit and explicit comprehension questions relevant to the reading passage. Though some questions may be found challenging, students get feedback that includes explanations for such wrong answers. The passages found on Readtheory are closely similar to those of standardized tests and is a good resource for test preparations. Either teacher or students can adjust levels to best fit one’s own ability or interest.

            Readtheory encourages readers by helping teachers to ensure students are reading either at or close to their independent reading level. It is a great tool used in providing reports as well as monitoring student progress in reading level. Since Readtheory was designed similar to that of a test-like format, students are encouraged to read to gain knowledge points. To earn knowledge points, students must answer questions correctly, alongside the challenging questions and complete a written response question which is graded by the teacher. The best thing is that it tracks student’s reading ability and makes them test-acquainted.

#5: ClassroomCereal.com

ClassroomCereal.com is a website that has a collection of short stories for students. Every story is broken down into about 200-word chapters. These passages contain 5 errors, and it is the students’ job to identify all 5 grammatical errors. The errors can be spelling, punctuation, word choice, capitalization, or word order. The stories take place in the fictional Fairview Middle School, so the text is geared toward 6th-8th graders, although many grade levels can benefit from the grammar practice.  

All the content on this website is available for free! Each story comes in a PDF format and can be printed along with the proofreading key for students to use as they find grammatical errors. In addition to the grammar practice element, short comprehension checks are also included for each story that teachers can use to promote class discussion. ClassroomCereal.com can be used as a whole-class activity, independent practice, homework practice, or small-group instruction. Every story has 5 chapters, so students can work on short segments throughout the week. These grammar practice sets make great bell-ringer activities since the chapters are very short and there are only a handful of errors to choose from. Once students get the hang of the chapters, this bell ringer activity can be done in about 5 minutes.

If teachers do not wish to print, this can also be done online where students can edit an image in the areas with grammatical errors, or the passage can be projected on the chalkboard and edited as a class.

Effective Literacy Website #5: IXL

Rochell Beltran

ED 638 Fall Intersession 2018
Dr. M. Rivera

Effective Literacy Website #5 IXL

https://www.ixl.com

            IXL is an interactive learning tool that can be used in the home and the classroom. It caters students of all grade levels in subjects from Math, Language, Arts, Science, and Social Studies. The website is simple and easy to navigate through with easy to read tabs that will bring you to the grade level of your choice along with your preferred subject. IXL does no only help students master key concepts but makes learning fun by achieving awards to unlock treasures. 

            I have seen how IXL works and how it helps the student. Once the student has logged into their accounts, they will choose their grade level and their lesson. The student will then choose the correct answer or type it in. If the answer is correct, they move on and get a point. If the answer is wrong, points get deducted. The lesson does drag on if the student keeps getting the answer wrong.

            Overall, I think that IXL is good for practice work especially for struggling students. If the student has access to a computer, tablet, or maybe a mobile phone they can work it at home. I don’t think that this should be used all the time because it does get boring and the lessons tend to take long.

Effective Literacy Website Review #5: Vocabulary.co.il

Gerilyn Ilao
ED 638 Fall Intersession 2018
Dr. M. Rivera
IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Website #5


Vocabulary is an important component of reading. Vocabulary, by definition, is a set of words that are familiar to a person in their language. It is an important and useful tool when communicating with others and acquiring knowledge. As we get older, the amount of words in our vocabulary grow. Vocabulary.co.il (https://www.vocabulary.co.il/) is a website owned by Vkidz that is focused on expanding students’ vocabulary through fun online games. Vkidz has created many other websites that promote student literacy, such as Time4Learning and Learning Games for Kids. The vocabulary words that the website includes range from grade levels K-12.

They have an abundance of games that test students on the following categories: analogies, antonyms, compound words, context, contraction, english and foreign language, homophones, idioms, latin learning, literature, oxymoron, parts of speech, phonics, prefix, root word, SAT, spelling, suffix, syllable, synonyms, typing, and word play. The website also includes other resources for vocabulary learning.

Upon exploring the website, I noticed plenty of advertisements that are in relation to the website, so it helps promote other literacy websites. I also noticed how you are able to access the website in different languages, so it is accessible to other countries. After exploring the website, I noticed that the games are limited to certain vocabulary words in their category, so it is not ideal to use it when learning new ones. It also seems that in order to use this website effectively, the student would need to have prior knowledge of the vocabulary words. So overall, this website is used more for review rather than trying to teach new vocabulary words.

To conclude, I would recommend using Vocabulary.co.il when reviewing vocabulary that has been taught. The types of games in the website are fun to play, depending on the level of the student. I am all for learning new vocabulary in an easy and fun way, and I think the use of this website is one of the ways to go.

Effective Literacy Website #4 ABCYa

Rochell Beltran

ED 638 Fall Intersession 2018
Dr. M. Rivera

Effective Literacy Website #4: ABCYa

http://www.abcya.com

            ABCYa is a great interactive tool with free educational games and activities for elementary school kids. This website caters to kids from Pre-K through the 5^thgrade. Its bright colors makes the website feel inviting. There are several tabs with the different grade levels on them, each one will take you to interactive learning games from subjects like: Language Arts, Math, Science, and Spelling. 

            There’s also a Parent and Teacher tab which will bring you to several other links about the Common Core Standards, important information about the website, and news and announcements. ABCYa can be downloaded on Amazon or an Apple and Android device.

            ABCYa can also be used both in the classroom and at home. Although, access to the games on this website is free, there are lots of ad pop ups. You can purchase a Family or Classroom Plan to use the website with no ads and access it for up to 30 devices depending on which one you choose.