The first website I chose is the English section of the website BrainPop. This website is a great interactive resource to be used in the English classroom. With it's user friendly interface, attractive layout, and comprehensive material this website has a lot to offer. The English section is comprised of five segments. With everything from books and grammar to fun movies this site is an extremely attractive supplement to any English lesson.
A possible way to utilize this site is in conjunction with a lesson on Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. After clicking on the authors and books tab a large selection of authors and novels appears. Clicking on Mark Twain tab will bring up his section. This content is a fun and educational introduction to Twain. A five minute video educates students on Twain's life and some of his works. While the video is not a complete look at Twain's works it would be a great introductory video to familiarize students with the content. Another tab consists of various activities to do regarding Twain and the novels and stories he composed.
The next website I chose was Language Arts-Go Grammar. This website is comprised completely of grammar games for elementary and middle school students. Everything grammar point seems to be accounted for here from punctuation to conjunctions all presented in a fun and simplified manner. Some of the quizzes are basic and uninspired but a majority of the content is appealing and informative. While the layout of the games leaves some to be desired the games themselves are a great resource.
In the classroom I would obviously use this to supplement a grammar lesson. One game I found appealing was the Grammar Gorilla. This game has the student identify various parts of speech using a quiz and matching like format. The game is colorful and fun. This would obviously be used i an elementary classroom as a way to familiarize students with the basics of grammar. The site would have to be reviewed by a teacher first to find the best fitting game for a lesson but there is an abundance of material so that should not be an issue.
BrainPop is so fun! When I was a substitute teacher, instructors would use this website all the time in elementary and middle schools across content areas. The students were always very engaged, because the videos are tailored for short attention spans and animation is inherently more visually appealing. A great deal of the site is free, but if you pay you gain access to more features on BrainPop, as well as BrainPop ESL, BrainPop Espanol.
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