Yefta Eko Nugroho
2201413155
Reading skill enhancement and Technologies support
interpreting a text involves two steps. The first step involves decoding and defining individual words. The second (and more important) step is being able to understand what those words mean when they are grouped together as sentences and paragraphs.
Rewordify.coma user pastes or imports text into a text box on the site. Rewordify then analyzes this text, looking for words and phrases that may be difficult to understand.The Rewordifying Engine includes multiple settings so that users can choose from several reading levels. Users can click on the replacement words to display either the original, more difficult language or individual words’ definitions. it provides students with a series of activities to help them learn new vocabulary. The site can also administer quizzes in different formats (e.g., word bank, matching) to aid in the learning process.Rewordify has a collection of classic literature (like Shakespeare’s plays) and historic documents (like the Declaration of Independence).
Snap&Read Universal is a Google Chrome extension that reads language aloud (including text on Flash-based websites that typically can’t be copied and pasted) using integrated text-to-speech with synchronized highlighting. Snap&Read allows students to use a text-leveling tool similar to the one found on Rewordify.com. Snap&Read has a unique outlining tool students can highlight the main ideas of a reading, those passages are automatically extracted and placed into an outline located in the browser’s sidebar that can be easily edited. The outline can then be dragged and dropped into a word processor, like Google Docs, for students to integrate into a reading summary.
Newsela is a website that publishes current events articles each day on a variety of topics pertaining to most school subjects. Every article has five versions, each written for students at different reading levels. After a student reads the version that matches her skill level, she can take corresponding quizzes to test her knowledge. teachers can gather data and track the reading progress of individual students or entire classes. They can also create and assign writing prompts based on particular articles as a means of further assessing their students’ comprehension. All told, Newsela provides a perfect platform for implementing accessible Universal Design for Learning principles
Immersion Reading is an e-book technology that combines recorded audiobooks with synchronized highlighting of electronic text. The result of a partnership between Amazon.com and Audible.com, it allows students to read books with their eyes and ears at the same time, leading to better comprehension and retention of subject matter.
Inspiration allows students to create visual representations of the characters, themes, and plot summaries of works of fiction. It also lets them visually map the details of textbook chapters and current events articles. Any language that is included can be read aloud with text-to-speech technology. In addition, users can add links to Web-based articles and videos to provide supporting materials.
One characteristic of Inspiration that sets it apart from other mind-mapping software is its collection of readymade templates. Templates that can aid in reading comprehension include: Character Traits, Fiction Reading Notes, Plot Analysis, Compare and Contrast, and KWL Organizer
10 Free Writing Apps and Tools
ProWritingAidThis free online app helps you edit your work in a much faster and more efficient way. It highlights a whole range of potential writing pitfalls like overly complicated sentences, vague and abstract language, passive voice, or repetitive words and phrases
Bubbl.uswebsite allows you to quickly and easily brainstorm or create a map for your ideas.
Wise Mapping is free and easy to register for on the internet. Input simple information, such as your name, email address, and a username and password, to become a member and gain access to this mind mapping tool.
Designed by Simon Haynes, a writer and computer programmer, yWriter5 is a useful tool for novelists. yWriter5 breaks your novel up into scenes and chapters for you while you write, making it easier to manage.
When writing a complex story with multiple plot lines, you may need a little help keeping track of all that is going on. Storybook will be there to help you through the process of writing your book by helping you to keep track of your overview. Basic Storybook has four viewsThe four views are Chronological View, Manage Chapters and Scenes View, Book View, and Reading View.
Luckily Q10 is there to minimize distractions and help to increase writing potentiaThis app remembers what you worked on last and will automatically open it at start up. It also has a timer that you can set to remind you to take a bit of a break; you can even set a word count goal for yourself. One of the best elements of this software is the automatic save
Write 2 Lite is fully customizable allowing you to change font sizes and type as well as use different themes. Don’t think of this app as simply a writing app; Write 2 Lite has an Emergency Mode that is accessed by a special pin to help you in life threatening situations.
Writer is an uncomplicated app that lets you write without all the extra distractions. Turn to Writer to focus on writing; it’s not a place to make things look pretty. However, it does give you the ability to make lists, italicize and make words bold, as well as use headers.
Diaro is an advanced diary application, but it can be used for keeping a journal or simply writing notes. Use Diaro to help you keep your thoughts and memories organized and well documented. Attach photos or locations to your entries and share with others via email and social networking sites.
Note Everything will allow you to do just that--note everything. Whether you want to jot something down or even leave a voice note, Note Everything has your back. Easily organize your notes or use the app to draw pictures. The possibilities are endless with this app; you’ll never have to use paper or pen again.
15 Of The Best Educational Apps For Improved Reading Comprehension
There are many apps for improving reading comprehension skill. Below is the list of apps that may be useful to enhance the students’ reading comprehension with skills that include word and sentence fluency, recall, reading speed, and critical thinking skills. These are not free apps, but such things are really well-worth.
1. Reading Comprehension
Primary Audience: K-3
Idea: Focusing on non-fiction texts and assessment, with the ability to create your own lessons (text + assessment).
2. Rainbow Sentences
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Like SentenceBuilder, this app focuses on sentence fluency. The who/what/where/why/when of each sentence are color-coded to emphasize word function.
3. Kids Reading Comprehension Level 1
Primary Audience: K-3 and SLP
Idea: Similar to the previous two comprehension apps, this provides short passages and brief assessments at their conclusion. Comprehension here is addressed through brief bursts of non-fiction text with the expectation of assessment at the end.
4. SentenceBuilder
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Helping students compose grammatically correct sentences, which helps both reading and writing fluency.
5. StoryBuilder
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: Provide an easy-to-use framework to help learners create and understand stories and basic narrative sequence.
6. Aesop’s Quest
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: With 6 available levels, the idea is to add gamification and interactive elements to story recall and comprehension.
7. Reading Comprehension: Fable
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: Brief passages with multiple-choice recall at the end, but the added twist of competition, where up to 4 players can compete to answer recall and comprehension-based questions. May scare some students off, but some may thrive with this approach.
8. Reading Comprehension
Primary Audience: K-8
Idea: Comprehension is enforced through short passages with accompanying visuals, and persistent multiple-choice based assessment. Available grade levels from Kindergarten to early middle school. (The link above will take you to grades 2-3; see others in “More apps by…” area.)
9. Second Grade Reading Comprehension
Primary Audience: K-6 (all apps)
Idea: A wide variety of stories that encourage comprehension by sheer opportunity for practice. Progress can be set to automatically forward to parents and teachers, and you can also create your own stories to use as well.
10. Reading Remedies
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Comprehension is addressed here by breaking the process of reading down into blends, word fluency, sight words, and then general recall, with suggested activities to improve general fluency.
11. Speech with Milo: Sequencing
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Improve common narrative comprehension by improving fluency with sequencing (chronological, narrative, etc.)
12. BrainPOP Featured Movie
Primary Audience: K-8
Idea: High-quality, animated content with assessment across content areas.
13. Enchanted Dictionary
Primary Audience: Grades 6-12
Idea: Improving general and academic vocabulary across content areas for improved fluency and comprehension.
14. Compare A Twist
Primary Audience: K-12
Idea: Use compare and contrast practice to improve fluency and comprehension, and general academic progress. Teachers can create their own lessons, comparing and contrasting everything from musical genres and cell types to geometric shapes and Shakespearean sonnets.
15. Reading Trainer
Primary Audience: Grades 6-12+
Idea: Improved reading speed for improved comprehension.
10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary
The strategies are designed to support the teaching of words and word learning strategies, promote students' strategic use of on-demand web-based vocabulary tools, and increase students' volume of reading and incidental word learning.
These data based on the e Voc strategy. eVoc strategy is an electronic or technology-based strategy that teachers can use to develop students' vocabulary learning and interest in words. We use the term eVoc both to highlight that the strategies rely on digital tools and resources and to suggest the evoking of learning potential that is possible when technology and media are part of the instructional mix.
The first five eVoc strategies focus on explicit teaching of vocabulary and helping students become independent word learners.
eVoc strategy 1: Learn from visual displays of word relationships within text
Wordle is a free Web application that allows you to create a word cloud based on the frequency of words in a particular text. It can be used to stimulate students' thinking about the meaning, importance, and relationship of words as they analyze, create, and publish Wordles.
Figure 1: Word cloud for bees using Wordle
WordSift is another free word cloud tool available on the Internet. Like Wordle, a word cloud is created based on text that is cut and pasted into the application. Although WordSift does not support artistic design of the display, it offers important learning supports. Each word can be clicked on to show a collection of related images, a word map, and a listing of sentences from the text that present the word in different contexts.
eVoc strategy 2: Take a digital vocabulary field trip
Teachers can create a digital version of a vocabulary field trip using a free online program called TrackStar (trackstar.4teachers.org). Like the popular WebQuest (Dodge, 1995), TrackStar allows you to collect a series of websites and annotate them so that students follow the online journey.
eVoc strategy 3: Connect fun and learning with online vocabulary games
two sites that offer a variety of activities to engage students in playing with words and word meanings: Vocabulary Games and Vocabulary. Games include crossword puzzles, picture-word matches, word scrambles, and 8 Letters in Search of a WordThese sites can be bookmarked for students' independent practice and can provide a basis for whole-group instruction.
eVoc strategy 4: Have students use media to express vocabulary knowledge
This strategy focuses on students' vocabulary representations in multiple modes-writing, audio, graphic, video, and animation Figure 2 illustrates how students communicate word knowledge as they create a caption for an image. These types of activities offer students different modes of representation and expression and can be created with a variety of composing tools and formats, such as digital stories, photo essays, podcasts, and so on.
Figure 2: Students create captions to illustrate their understanding of contribute
A multimedia composing and presentation tool that is often underused is PowerPoint.
In addition to benefiting from reading and viewing multimodal representations of vocabulary, recent research suggests that students may also benefit from creating multimedia representations of words in PowerPoint slides that are hyperlinked together (Pritchard & O'Hara, 2009). Working with fifth graders, Bridget (first author) created an example of a multimedia glossary item for camouflage, a word from the science curriculum (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Multimedia glossary example of camouflage using a PowerPoint template
To provide a structure to guide students in creating their own entries, Bridget created a template that students could fill in and adapt. The template includes a space for the word, a short definition, an explanation for why the word is important, a graphic, an audio recording or sound, and a source.
eVoc strategy 5: Take advantage of online word reference tools that are also teaching tools
Many online word reference tools are also excellent teaching resources. For example, the Visual Thesaurus website complements its fee-based content with free information such as the Behind the Dictionary and Teachers at Work columns and teacher-created themed word lists.Many use multiple distribution platforms to reach learners wherever they are. For example, the Back in School webpage of Dictionary.com (dictionary.reference.com/studenthandbook) links to Facebook, has an iPhone application, a free toolbar application, a word of the day that is communicated on Twitter or as a text message on your mobile phone, and a free weekly word explorer audio podcast on iTunes.
Develop strategic digital readers with "on-demand" vocabulary help
This section highlights two online tools that provide just-in-time support while reading.
eVoc strategy 6: Support reading and word learning with just-in-time vocabulary reference support
Rather than using print dictionaries or asking the teacher, students can learn to use online dictionaries and thesauri. When they have access to word help on demand, at the point of need, both monolingual (Reinking & Rickman, 1990) and bilingual (Yoshii, 2006) students tend to use them more often than print references and improve their understanding. Two popular free online dictionaries/thesauri are Reference.com and Merriam-Webster. Tools expressly designed for students include Word Central from Merriam-Webster , Back in School from Dictionary.com, and Yahoo Kids! American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Merriam-Webster offers an online visual dictionary (visual.merriam-webster .com/index.php), and Enchanted Learning provides a picture dictionary for young children.
eVoc strategy 7: Use language translators to provide just-in-time help for ELLs
The value of a translator is that it supports learning words as they occur naturally in authentic text and allows students to view bilingual versions of a text side by side so that they can use their first-language knowledge to develop their English vocabulary. You can paste text into the translator field, select the input and output languages, and view the translation (see Babelfish, Google translator, and Bing Translator).
Expand wide reading and incidental word learning with digital text
Reading widely and deeply is important for vocabulary development and reading comprehension.
eVoc strategy 8: Increase reading volume by reading digital text
Teachers can dramatically expand text options for students by including reading on the Internet and other digital texts. Increasing the reading of informational text is especially important for learning in the content areas, and informational content reigns supreme on the Internet. Many educational publishers and organizations provide free online content, including articles and media about current events,
• Time for Kids
• Weekly Reader
• National Geographic Kids
• National Geographic Kids' blogs
• Science News for Kids
Using a digital poster or PowerPoint screen to show a splash of book cover images and screen captures of websites, movie trailers, and blogs invites students to pursue their interests in particular authors, books, genres, popular culture, and media.
eVoc strategy 9: Increase reading volume by listening to digital text with a text-to-speech tool and audio books
(TTS) tool provides students with access to age-appropriate content and grade-level curriculum, there are free TTS tools that can be mounted on the browser toolbar for easy access while reading, such as Click, Speak for Firefox (click speak.clcworld.net), or downloaded to your desktop, such as the NaturalReader free TTS utility. Balabolka is a PC-based TTS application that can run off a thumb drive. There are also commercial TTS tools that range in price depending on the features, such as those from Kurzweil, Aeques, TextHELP, and Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D). Note that students who have a documented print disability may obtain digital versions of core curriculum texts from organizations such as Bookshare and RFB&D.
eVoc strategy 10: Combine vocabulary learning and social service
This final eVoc strategy is a free online vocabulary game, Free Rice that has attracted millions of users, young and old. Free Rice presents a word and four answer choices on the screen. For each correct answer, the United Nations World Food Programme donates 10 grains of rice to countries in need. The game adjusts its difficulty level based on the response, filling a bowl with rice as the player adds to his or her score.These 10 eVoc strategies use technology to support the wide reading, direct instruction, active learning, and interest in words that we know are essential to vocabulary development. In a digital world, knowing how to use the tools and resources available online is part of becoming a strategic learner.
Teaching Literacy Strategies: Speaking and Listening Activities
Speaking and listening benchmarks
Many states’ learning standards for speaking and listening require that students be able to:
• Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
• Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
In order to achieve these goals, students must have opportunities to hone speaking and listening skills during classroom discussions, in small groups or with partners. They must be able to follow conversations and take part in discussions through adding relevant information, making accurate and just comparisons, and develop their points using evidence.
Five ways elementary teachers can help students improve listening and speaking skills
1. Provide pre-learning activities that enable students to focus on what is important
This information makes it possible for students to know where and how to focus their listening and then develop stronger oral responses that are more focused.
2. Stop repeating instructions
giving instructions multiple times trains students that they do not have to listen the first time, and that the information will be readily available if they choose not to listen.
3. Model good listening and speaking behavior for students
Students learn by how teachers listen and speak, which means it is important for educators to model the behaviors they wish students to emulate.
4. Provide structured activities for students to do during or after the listening activity
If students are watching a documentary or educational film, the teacher might pause periodically to have students write down questions. Alternatively, if students are participating in a group discussion, tell them to take turns as the speaker and provide specific instructions for those who are listening.
5. Create ways for introverted students to participate and contribute to conversations
Quiet or introverted students often get left out of large group discussions. In order to make participation easier for them, allow students to show their agreement or disagreement with an idea by holding up two fingers for “yes” or three fingers for “no.” This allows all students to participate and indicate they have been listening as well as respond in a way that best suits their needs.
interpreting a text involves two steps. The first step involves decoding and defining individual words. The second (and more important) step is being able to understand what those words mean when they are grouped together as sentences and paragraphs.
Rewordify.coma user pastes or imports text into a text box on the site. Rewordify then analyzes this text, looking for words and phrases that may be difficult to understand.The Rewordifying Engine includes multiple settings so that users can choose from several reading levels. Users can click on the replacement words to display either the original, more difficult language or individual words’ definitions. it provides students with a series of activities to help them learn new vocabulary. The site can also administer quizzes in different formats (e.g., word bank, matching) to aid in the learning process.Rewordify has a collection of classic literature (like Shakespeare’s plays) and historic documents (like the Declaration of Independence).
Snap&Read Universal is a Google Chrome extension that reads language aloud (including text on Flash-based websites that typically can’t be copied and pasted) using integrated text-to-speech with synchronized highlighting. Snap&Read allows students to use a text-leveling tool similar to the one found on Rewordify.com. Snap&Read has a unique outlining tool students can highlight the main ideas of a reading, those passages are automatically extracted and placed into an outline located in the browser’s sidebar that can be easily edited. The outline can then be dragged and dropped into a word processor, like Google Docs, for students to integrate into a reading summary.
Newsela is a website that publishes current events articles each day on a variety of topics pertaining to most school subjects. Every article has five versions, each written for students at different reading levels. After a student reads the version that matches her skill level, she can take corresponding quizzes to test her knowledge. teachers can gather data and track the reading progress of individual students or entire classes. They can also create and assign writing prompts based on particular articles as a means of further assessing their students’ comprehension. All told, Newsela provides a perfect platform for implementing accessible Universal Design for Learning principles
Immersion Reading is an e-book technology that combines recorded audiobooks with synchronized highlighting of electronic text. The result of a partnership between Amazon.com and Audible.com, it allows students to read books with their eyes and ears at the same time, leading to better comprehension and retention of subject matter.
Inspiration allows students to create visual representations of the characters, themes, and plot summaries of works of fiction. It also lets them visually map the details of textbook chapters and current events articles. Any language that is included can be read aloud with text-to-speech technology. In addition, users can add links to Web-based articles and videos to provide supporting materials.
One characteristic of Inspiration that sets it apart from other mind-mapping software is its collection of readymade templates. Templates that can aid in reading comprehension include: Character Traits, Fiction Reading Notes, Plot Analysis, Compare and Contrast, and KWL Organizer
10 Free Writing Apps and Tools
ProWritingAidThis free online app helps you edit your work in a much faster and more efficient way. It highlights a whole range of potential writing pitfalls like overly complicated sentences, vague and abstract language, passive voice, or repetitive words and phrases
Bubbl.uswebsite allows you to quickly and easily brainstorm or create a map for your ideas.
Wise Mapping is free and easy to register for on the internet. Input simple information, such as your name, email address, and a username and password, to become a member and gain access to this mind mapping tool.
Designed by Simon Haynes, a writer and computer programmer, yWriter5 is a useful tool for novelists. yWriter5 breaks your novel up into scenes and chapters for you while you write, making it easier to manage.
When writing a complex story with multiple plot lines, you may need a little help keeping track of all that is going on. Storybook will be there to help you through the process of writing your book by helping you to keep track of your overview. Basic Storybook has four viewsThe four views are Chronological View, Manage Chapters and Scenes View, Book View, and Reading View.
Luckily Q10 is there to minimize distractions and help to increase writing potentiaThis app remembers what you worked on last and will automatically open it at start up. It also has a timer that you can set to remind you to take a bit of a break; you can even set a word count goal for yourself. One of the best elements of this software is the automatic save
Write 2 Lite is fully customizable allowing you to change font sizes and type as well as use different themes. Don’t think of this app as simply a writing app; Write 2 Lite has an Emergency Mode that is accessed by a special pin to help you in life threatening situations.
Writer is an uncomplicated app that lets you write without all the extra distractions. Turn to Writer to focus on writing; it’s not a place to make things look pretty. However, it does give you the ability to make lists, italicize and make words bold, as well as use headers.
Diaro is an advanced diary application, but it can be used for keeping a journal or simply writing notes. Use Diaro to help you keep your thoughts and memories organized and well documented. Attach photos or locations to your entries and share with others via email and social networking sites.
Note Everything will allow you to do just that--note everything. Whether you want to jot something down or even leave a voice note, Note Everything has your back. Easily organize your notes or use the app to draw pictures. The possibilities are endless with this app; you’ll never have to use paper or pen again.
15 Of The Best Educational Apps For Improved Reading Comprehension
There are many apps for improving reading comprehension skill. Below is the list of apps that may be useful to enhance the students’ reading comprehension with skills that include word and sentence fluency, recall, reading speed, and critical thinking skills. These are not free apps, but such things are really well-worth.
1. Reading Comprehension
Primary Audience: K-3
Idea: Focusing on non-fiction texts and assessment, with the ability to create your own lessons (text + assessment).
2. Rainbow Sentences
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Like SentenceBuilder, this app focuses on sentence fluency. The who/what/where/why/when of each sentence are color-coded to emphasize word function.
3. Kids Reading Comprehension Level 1
Primary Audience: K-3 and SLP
Idea: Similar to the previous two comprehension apps, this provides short passages and brief assessments at their conclusion. Comprehension here is addressed through brief bursts of non-fiction text with the expectation of assessment at the end.
4. SentenceBuilder
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Helping students compose grammatically correct sentences, which helps both reading and writing fluency.
5. StoryBuilder
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: Provide an easy-to-use framework to help learners create and understand stories and basic narrative sequence.
6. Aesop’s Quest
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: With 6 available levels, the idea is to add gamification and interactive elements to story recall and comprehension.
7. Reading Comprehension: Fable
Primary Audience: K-6
Idea: Brief passages with multiple-choice recall at the end, but the added twist of competition, where up to 4 players can compete to answer recall and comprehension-based questions. May scare some students off, but some may thrive with this approach.
8. Reading Comprehension
Primary Audience: K-8
Idea: Comprehension is enforced through short passages with accompanying visuals, and persistent multiple-choice based assessment. Available grade levels from Kindergarten to early middle school. (The link above will take you to grades 2-3; see others in “More apps by…” area.)
9. Second Grade Reading Comprehension
Primary Audience: K-6 (all apps)
Idea: A wide variety of stories that encourage comprehension by sheer opportunity for practice. Progress can be set to automatically forward to parents and teachers, and you can also create your own stories to use as well.
10. Reading Remedies
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Comprehension is addressed here by breaking the process of reading down into blends, word fluency, sight words, and then general recall, with suggested activities to improve general fluency.
11. Speech with Milo: Sequencing
Primary Audience: K-5 and SLP.
Idea: Improve common narrative comprehension by improving fluency with sequencing (chronological, narrative, etc.)
12. BrainPOP Featured Movie
Primary Audience: K-8
Idea: High-quality, animated content with assessment across content areas.
13. Enchanted Dictionary
Primary Audience: Grades 6-12
Idea: Improving general and academic vocabulary across content areas for improved fluency and comprehension.
14. Compare A Twist
Primary Audience: K-12
Idea: Use compare and contrast practice to improve fluency and comprehension, and general academic progress. Teachers can create their own lessons, comparing and contrasting everything from musical genres and cell types to geometric shapes and Shakespearean sonnets.
15. Reading Trainer
Primary Audience: Grades 6-12+
Idea: Improved reading speed for improved comprehension.
10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary
The strategies are designed to support the teaching of words and word learning strategies, promote students' strategic use of on-demand web-based vocabulary tools, and increase students' volume of reading and incidental word learning.
These data based on the e Voc strategy. eVoc strategy is an electronic or technology-based strategy that teachers can use to develop students' vocabulary learning and interest in words. We use the term eVoc both to highlight that the strategies rely on digital tools and resources and to suggest the evoking of learning potential that is possible when technology and media are part of the instructional mix.
The first five eVoc strategies focus on explicit teaching of vocabulary and helping students become independent word learners.
eVoc strategy 1: Learn from visual displays of word relationships within text
Wordle is a free Web application that allows you to create a word cloud based on the frequency of words in a particular text. It can be used to stimulate students' thinking about the meaning, importance, and relationship of words as they analyze, create, and publish Wordles.
Figure 1: Word cloud for bees using Wordle
WordSift is another free word cloud tool available on the Internet. Like Wordle, a word cloud is created based on text that is cut and pasted into the application. Although WordSift does not support artistic design of the display, it offers important learning supports. Each word can be clicked on to show a collection of related images, a word map, and a listing of sentences from the text that present the word in different contexts.
eVoc strategy 2: Take a digital vocabulary field trip
Teachers can create a digital version of a vocabulary field trip using a free online program called TrackStar (trackstar.4teachers.org). Like the popular WebQuest (Dodge, 1995), TrackStar allows you to collect a series of websites and annotate them so that students follow the online journey.
eVoc strategy 3: Connect fun and learning with online vocabulary games
two sites that offer a variety of activities to engage students in playing with words and word meanings: Vocabulary Games and Vocabulary. Games include crossword puzzles, picture-word matches, word scrambles, and 8 Letters in Search of a WordThese sites can be bookmarked for students' independent practice and can provide a basis for whole-group instruction.
eVoc strategy 4: Have students use media to express vocabulary knowledge
This strategy focuses on students' vocabulary representations in multiple modes-writing, audio, graphic, video, and animation Figure 2 illustrates how students communicate word knowledge as they create a caption for an image. These types of activities offer students different modes of representation and expression and can be created with a variety of composing tools and formats, such as digital stories, photo essays, podcasts, and so on.
Figure 2: Students create captions to illustrate their understanding of contribute
A multimedia composing and presentation tool that is often underused is PowerPoint.
In addition to benefiting from reading and viewing multimodal representations of vocabulary, recent research suggests that students may also benefit from creating multimedia representations of words in PowerPoint slides that are hyperlinked together (Pritchard & O'Hara, 2009). Working with fifth graders, Bridget (first author) created an example of a multimedia glossary item for camouflage, a word from the science curriculum (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Multimedia glossary example of camouflage using a PowerPoint template
To provide a structure to guide students in creating their own entries, Bridget created a template that students could fill in and adapt. The template includes a space for the word, a short definition, an explanation for why the word is important, a graphic, an audio recording or sound, and a source.
eVoc strategy 5: Take advantage of online word reference tools that are also teaching tools
Many online word reference tools are also excellent teaching resources. For example, the Visual Thesaurus website complements its fee-based content with free information such as the Behind the Dictionary and Teachers at Work columns and teacher-created themed word lists.Many use multiple distribution platforms to reach learners wherever they are. For example, the Back in School webpage of Dictionary.com (dictionary.reference.com/studenthandbook) links to Facebook, has an iPhone application, a free toolbar application, a word of the day that is communicated on Twitter or as a text message on your mobile phone, and a free weekly word explorer audio podcast on iTunes.
Develop strategic digital readers with "on-demand" vocabulary help
This section highlights two online tools that provide just-in-time support while reading.
eVoc strategy 6: Support reading and word learning with just-in-time vocabulary reference support
Rather than using print dictionaries or asking the teacher, students can learn to use online dictionaries and thesauri. When they have access to word help on demand, at the point of need, both monolingual (Reinking & Rickman, 1990) and bilingual (Yoshii, 2006) students tend to use them more often than print references and improve their understanding. Two popular free online dictionaries/thesauri are Reference.com and Merriam-Webster. Tools expressly designed for students include Word Central from Merriam-Webster , Back in School from Dictionary.com, and Yahoo Kids! American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Merriam-Webster offers an online visual dictionary (visual.merriam-webster .com/index.php), and Enchanted Learning provides a picture dictionary for young children.
eVoc strategy 7: Use language translators to provide just-in-time help for ELLs
The value of a translator is that it supports learning words as they occur naturally in authentic text and allows students to view bilingual versions of a text side by side so that they can use their first-language knowledge to develop their English vocabulary. You can paste text into the translator field, select the input and output languages, and view the translation (see Babelfish, Google translator, and Bing Translator).
Expand wide reading and incidental word learning with digital text
Reading widely and deeply is important for vocabulary development and reading comprehension.
eVoc strategy 8: Increase reading volume by reading digital text
Teachers can dramatically expand text options for students by including reading on the Internet and other digital texts. Increasing the reading of informational text is especially important for learning in the content areas, and informational content reigns supreme on the Internet. Many educational publishers and organizations provide free online content, including articles and media about current events,
• Time for Kids
• Weekly Reader
• National Geographic Kids
• National Geographic Kids' blogs
• Science News for Kids
Using a digital poster or PowerPoint screen to show a splash of book cover images and screen captures of websites, movie trailers, and blogs invites students to pursue their interests in particular authors, books, genres, popular culture, and media.
eVoc strategy 9: Increase reading volume by listening to digital text with a text-to-speech tool and audio books
(TTS) tool provides students with access to age-appropriate content and grade-level curriculum, there are free TTS tools that can be mounted on the browser toolbar for easy access while reading, such as Click, Speak for Firefox (click speak.clcworld.net), or downloaded to your desktop, such as the NaturalReader free TTS utility. Balabolka is a PC-based TTS application that can run off a thumb drive. There are also commercial TTS tools that range in price depending on the features, such as those from Kurzweil, Aeques, TextHELP, and Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D). Note that students who have a documented print disability may obtain digital versions of core curriculum texts from organizations such as Bookshare and RFB&D.
eVoc strategy 10: Combine vocabulary learning and social service
This final eVoc strategy is a free online vocabulary game, Free Rice that has attracted millions of users, young and old. Free Rice presents a word and four answer choices on the screen. For each correct answer, the United Nations World Food Programme donates 10 grains of rice to countries in need. The game adjusts its difficulty level based on the response, filling a bowl with rice as the player adds to his or her score.These 10 eVoc strategies use technology to support the wide reading, direct instruction, active learning, and interest in words that we know are essential to vocabulary development. In a digital world, knowing how to use the tools and resources available online is part of becoming a strategic learner.
Teaching Literacy Strategies: Speaking and Listening Activities
Speaking and listening benchmarks
Many states’ learning standards for speaking and listening require that students be able to:
• Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
• Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
In order to achieve these goals, students must have opportunities to hone speaking and listening skills during classroom discussions, in small groups or with partners. They must be able to follow conversations and take part in discussions through adding relevant information, making accurate and just comparisons, and develop their points using evidence.
Five ways elementary teachers can help students improve listening and speaking skills
1. Provide pre-learning activities that enable students to focus on what is important
This information makes it possible for students to know where and how to focus their listening and then develop stronger oral responses that are more focused.
2. Stop repeating instructions
giving instructions multiple times trains students that they do not have to listen the first time, and that the information will be readily available if they choose not to listen.
3. Model good listening and speaking behavior for students
Students learn by how teachers listen and speak, which means it is important for educators to model the behaviors they wish students to emulate.
4. Provide structured activities for students to do during or after the listening activity
If students are watching a documentary or educational film, the teacher might pause periodically to have students write down questions. Alternatively, if students are participating in a group discussion, tell them to take turns as the speaker and provide specific instructions for those who are listening.
5. Create ways for introverted students to participate and contribute to conversations
Quiet or introverted students often get left out of large group discussions. In order to make participation easier for them, allow students to show their agreement or disagreement with an idea by holding up two fingers for “yes” or three fingers for “no.” This allows all students to participate and indicate they have been listening as well as respond in a way that best suits their needs.
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