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  • Improve Listening Comprehension

    Will 12-06-2009 09:53:47 Comment on this! Improve listening comprehension, large selection of audio clips with questions, students can re-play audio as needed. Simple but effective site. Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - For ESL/EFL Students www.esl-lab.com Thi s ESL listening Web site created by Randall Davis helps ESL/EFL students improve their listening comprehension skills through practice with self-grading quiz pages.

  • Moby Math - Special Education and Response To Intervention

    Will 11-29-2009 22:22:46 1 Comment I have not yet checked out Moby Math too much but it looks like many of the other math interventions for grades 3 and up. First to sign up from your school gets 10 free accounts, a $500 value. It says it is researched based and curriculum aligned. If you sign up, come back and post your experience. www.mobymath.com

  • The Pikes Peak Literacy Strategies Project

    Will 11-20-2009 19:09:12 Comment on this! Great resource covering the 5 components of reading. www.pplsp.org

  • Reading Mash-Up

    Will 11-19-2009 20:22:16 Comment on this! Energize your groups when working on reading fluency, do a reading mash-up. Choose two different books and have the students taking turns reading with the teacher saying "switch" at random intervals. The kids will love it and it gets them excited about reading. My students were on the floor crying they were laughing so hard.

  • Guest Hollow printable resources

    Will 11-15-2009 15:52:03 Comment on this! Guest Hollow is a great spot to pick up some free handwriting worksheets and much, MUCH more. Check them out! http://www.guesthollow.com

  • Math Interventions Online

    Will 11-14-2009 13:05:07 1 Comment Practice makes perfect, and IXL makes math practice fun. With unlimited math questions in more than 1,000 topics, students improve their skills and confidence and always have new challenges to meet. www.ixl.com

  • create your own D'Nealian name handwriting worksheets

    mchouri 11-13-2009 07:34:30 Comment on this! http://www.handwritingworkshee ts.com/denelian-1/make-d.htm

  • Maclaren Recalls One Million Strollers

    Will 11-10-2009 18:07:02 Comment on this! Maclaren Recalls One Million Strollers After Kids Lose Fingertips in Hinges, A major stroller recall is set to take place Tuesday amid concerns that kids can get their fingertips cut off in the carriage hinge, New York’s Daily News reported. www.foxnews.com

  • Software for fixing the most difficult to understand writing.

    Will 10-03-2009 10:06:00 Comment on this! www.gingersoftware.com Great, but spendy, software for correcting student’s writing. If you have a big budget, well worth putting in your rooms. Classrooms can get a 3 computer package for $149 subscription. Tracks progress, most commonly misspelled words by individual students, and analyzes their writing. Parents, you can get an individual user version for $99.

  • RU Kidding? Research Finds That Chatspeak Has No Impact On Children's Spelling Ability

    Will 09-24-2009 07:46:23 Comment on this! Web address:
    http://www.scienceda ily.com/releases/2009/09/
    090 922095814.htm



    RU Kidding? Research Finds That Chatspeak Has No Impact On Children's Spelling Ability


    ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2009) — Parents, get ready to say OMG and watch your teens roflol.



    This will prolly comes as a bit of a shock to UR system, but findings from a group of University of Alberta researchers show that language commonly used in instant messaging has no effect on your child's spelling abilities. If anything, says study author Connie Varnhagen, using language variations commonly used in instant messaging and texting is actually a good sign.



    Varnhagen's findings come from a class-based study that was recently published in Reading and Writing. A group of third-year psychology students proposed and designed a study to test whether new Simple Messaging Service, or SMS, language—also known as chatspeak—which refers to the abbreviations and slang commonly used when texting, emailing or chatting online, had an influence on students' spelling habits. The group surveyed roughly 40 students from ages 12 to 17. The participants were asked to save their instant messages for a week. At the end of the study, the participants completed a standardized spelling test.



    Students' use of chatspeak is only one shared concern between parents and educators about children's spelling abilities. But, with a growing usage of connected resources such as Skype, Facebook and Twitter, understanding the relationship between this virtual dialect and use of the Queen's English is of significant importance.



    While the researchers expected there to be some correlation between poor spelling and chatspeak, Varnhagen said they were pleasantly surprised by the results.


    "Kids who are good spellers [academically] are good spellers in instant messaging," she said. "And kids who are poor spellers in English class are poor spellers in instant messaging."



    What was surprising, though, was how chatspeak use and spelling played in the battle of the sexes. Girls used more chatspeak than boys, who preferred to express themselves through repeated use of punctuation. However, the study found that boys who used chatspeak and abbreviations more frequently were poorer spellers. Conversely, girls who used more abbreviations were better spellers than girls who did not use many abbreviations in their messages.



    Nicole Pugh, a student researcher and one of the study's co-authors, was amazed at the complexity and volume of chatspeak that the students were using.



    "Going through the participant conversations, it was interesting to note how many new words that children are using online," said Pugh. "We would have to decipher the meaning of the language with online dictionaries or by asking younger siblings."



    Varnhagen and Pugh both agree that the results of their study should ease some concerns and even open up discussion on how this language can be perhaps be embraced within an educational or academic context.



    "If you want students to think very precisely and concisely and be able to express themselves, it might be interesting to have them create instant messages with ideas, maybe allow them opportunities to use more of this new dialect in brief reports or fun activities," said Varnhagen. "Using a new type of language does require concentration and translating it to standard English does require concentration and attention. It's a little brain workout."
    Adapted from materials provided by University of Alberta.
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Latest Messages

  • Improve Listening Comprehension

    Will 12-06-2009 09:53:47

    Improve listening comprehension, large selection of audio clips with questions, students can re-play audio as needed. Simple but effective site. Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - For ESL/EFL Students www.esl-lab.com Thi s ESL listening Web…

  • Moby Math - Special Education and Response To Intervention

    Will 11-29-2009 22:22:46

    I have not yet checked out Moby Math too much but it looks like many of the other math interventions for grades 3 and up. First to sign up from your school gets 10 free accounts, a $500 value. It says it is researched based and curriculum aligned.…

  • The Pikes Peak Literacy Strategies Project

    Will 11-20-2009 19:09:12

    Great resource covering the 5 components of reading. www.pplsp.org

  • Reading Mash-Up

    Will 11-19-2009 20:22:16

    Energize your groups when working on reading fluency, do a reading mash-up. Choose two different books and have the students taking turns reading with the teacher saying "switch" at random intervals. The kids will love it and it gets them excited…

  • Guest Hollow printable resources

    Will 11-15-2009 15:52:03

    Guest Hollow is a great spot to pick up some free handwriting worksheets and much, MUCH more. Check them out! http://www.guesthollow.com

  • Math Interventions Online

    Will 11-14-2009 13:05:07

    Practice makes perfect, and IXL makes math practice fun. With unlimited math questions in more than 1,000 topics, students improve their skills and confidence and always have new challenges to meet. www.ixl.com