Digital+Resource+Library+-+LIT

__ Digital Resource Library – Tyler Cleveland __

1. [] · I have to start off with this website, because this is one that Dr. Williams gave as a resource for our Key Assessment projects in SPED. This site gives valuable information on various learning disabilities and the characteristics associated with the unique learning styles. It gives ideas for activities and modeling strategies as well. I feel like my heart is currently aimed toward children with ASD, so a website like this will lend me ideas on how I can successfully integrate different models in the children’s reading programs 2. [] · This website is one that I have become very familiar with, as we have used these “weekly readers” in the resource classroom that I am currently placed in. These are magazines that you can subscribe to online or have them sent to you through the mail. These magazines go along with an interactive verbal read aloud. The rate of speaking can even be adjusted. This is just a great way for all levels of readers to experience a change up in instruction, where they are asked to follow along as the passage is read to them. We currently use them with the fourth and fifth grade students, who struggle with fluency and comprehension. 3. RAZ kids · “ Reading A-z” or RAZ kids is one I chose to put in my library not because it is pushed in class, but because I have observed the usefulness for all ages. Once again, this is a program that we use in my current placement. We use it on Fridays for the K-1 students, as an alternate form of instruction, contrasted by small group work the rest of the week. This program is great because the students are on very different levels, however this program has them advancing at their own pace, and the best part about it is that the children take ownership of their own reading. It does read-alouds, guided reading, and has fun quizzes for the kids to take. I would use this similarly in my classroom, as a time for the kids to read separately and work on comprehension, through modeling and imitation. 4. abcya.com · This website is actually the home screen for all the computers in the lab at Riverview. This site is not dedicated solely to reading, but geared for all subjects by grade level. The kids love games, no matter what. This would definitely be a program used at free time, but it practices sounds, letter recognition, and parts of speech. It advances by grade levels, and is honestly very challenging at the fifth grade level. So for me, I would use it as a type of free time, but also as a challenge to the kids. 5. Harry Wong – “Effective Teaching” · I have to include the Wong family in this list of resources just for the classroom management techniques that can definitely be tied to literature and all other content areas. I read their book “The First Days of School” over the past summer, and their model of routine and expectations opened my eyes up so much to the things I could possibly encounter in my first year of placement. I just wanted to include this because in literature, you want the kids to have high expectations and goals laid out for them. Take AR tests for example. The goals set by each student are so different, but through practice and routine, the route to the goal appears to them. I wish I could go more in-depth on the Wong philosophy, but it is all about routine and high expectations. The most crucial area for the routine would have to be the steady application of peer reading strategies in the classroom. 6. “Arthur” – PBS Kids · I am going to through in a TV show into this mix! This show was introduced in 1996 and the episodes still run. This show was originally a kid’s book, which turned into the TV sensation. It is aimed at children between the ages of four and eight to foster an interest in reading and writing. You can download episodes off of GPB, which can tie into lesson plans. It is a kid friendly show that can portray ideas through the character’s social interactions. I would use an episode here and there to introduce concepts or broaden ideas on a concept that we have already learned about. 7. [] · This site is packed with all kind of games, webinars, checklists, and ways to integrate the whole family into the child’s reading development. It has the “toolkits” that are differentiated for different learning styles, which I love. It has up to date news articles pertaining to the most recent transitions in children’s literature. I think I would use this for a tool with the classroom parents. They could use this at home, working on games and digging into the toolkits with their children, while keeping up with the relevant changes in their child’s education. 8. [] · Now, this one may seem a little off the wall, but blind/low vision was what my big project for SPED was over. I had a little boy in my first placement class that was legally blind, so I think it is very important to have access to resources for those students that need visual accommodations. Not necessarily just visual, but other disabilities as well, but this was one that I had found in my low vision research. It provides technological assistance ideas and gives tips on differentiation through other senses in the classroom. It instills the thought of making reading and writing more than just visually driven concepts. 9. [] · This is of course a Disney website that promotes eBooks for classroom and personal downloads. They have a wide range of selections that include directed movies, as well as other books. These books will hit the interests of the kids, so it is a waste to let opportunities like this slide by. I would use these as a reading station, which could be uploaded to the IPad for the children to independently work. You could even use this as idea generation for a writer’s workshop! 10. [] · When I found this resource I was almost mad because I feel like I was left out as a kid not knowing this was there for use. This website contains kid friendly versions of the award winning magazine. It has great visuals on this website that would really get the kids excited. ALL kids love animals at their age. I would use this as a website that they could go to for science or specific writing days. I would also consider ordering class sets that could be placed in the classroom library to bulk up my non-fiction selection.