Literacy Development Websites!

I really enjoyed the activity we did in class today.  I discovered many new websites which are helpful for developing student literacy skills.  There are so many great websites which are free for students to use.  Often we don't spend time looking for these sites because we don't have time.  I think this is a great activity which will be very useful to my class.  I have posted some of my favorite websites below and encourage any feedback you have!

Into the Book - http://reading.ecb.org/

A great website to help elementary and junior high students develop their reading and writing skills.  It provides interactive tools which allow you to understand how to complete different parts of the reading/writing process.  Some examples include: writing summaries, making connections from readings, inferring, synthesizing and questioning strategies.  This website is great for students who need to see visual examples and lots of practice.  It allows the student to watch videos and then try to complete the activities themselves.  Some students may feel like this website is too childish for them, depending on their grade and the classroom environment.  The website also includes activities for teachers to use in their classroom.


UDL - http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/

This website is a great tool to locate literacy, writing, math and study skills tools.  It provides categories which lead into a variety of educational links.  Many of the links are free or provide a free trial.  You can locate just about any activity you need for a student.  Some of my favorites I found on the website are below.
       
Storyline - http://www.storylineonline.net/
This is a great website that allows elementary students to choose a story (from the collection) and have a famous person read it to them.  It also gives the option of having captions or not so the student can follow along with the reading.  At the end it provides activities for the student to complete, such as questions.  A student who is a struggling reader would benefit from this site, and because it is famous people reading the stories they might be more engaged and willing to use this site.  One problem is the students can't choose the book they would like to read and it doesn't highlight the words as it reads.  It is also fast, so depending upon the student, they may have difficulty following along.

Kerpoof - http://www.kerpoof.com/
This website contains activities for grades 1-8.  It provides templates for students to create stories, movies, cards, etc.  For those students who need guidance, it gives them the opportunity to select visuals and additional tools from a tool bank.  It also provides rewards to students for creating different activites.  It allows the student to save their work as a jpeg as well.  Some of the activities are quite in-depth and may have too many details for students to follow or understand.

Rocket Reader Kids - This is a very elementary website.  It allows the student to develop their orthographic and phonological skills.  The teacher can choose the level of difficulty they want the student to practice.  The student sees and hears the word and then must identify it for themselves.  The student receives a reward if they get it correct.  If they are having problems, it also helps them identify the correct word.  There is a free trial, however, the teacher must buy the program to be able to fully use it.  The teacher has access to control the students' accounts and review their work before they are able to exit the program.