Big Bird’s Words: eSchool News App of the Week

It comes from Sesame Street, works on Apple and Android devices, and features Big Bird, games, and fun. Big Bird’s Words, an eSchool News and Metro Bistro App of the Week, encourages children ages four and up to learn vocabulary and read written text.  The App ($.99) uses Big Bird’s wonderful Word-O-Scope to get children hunting for words in their real-life environment. Finding words is fun, especially when they get to use their devices’ camera to click on images of the words—like cereal on their breakfast table. Wired Magazine recommends it as a great app for children who are just starting school. Take a look at the demo reel from Qualcomm to better understand what this app does.

StraightAce: English, Writing & Mathematics

StraightAce Learning, by Benesse, provides a review of mathematics, writing, and English (grammar and vocabulary) topics for Middle School level students and encourages students toward positive study habits. The programs can be used on computers and with mobile devices as long as there is Internet access. When using StraightAce, students are given “targeted” practice that is fun to use and supplementary to the regular curriculum. Teachers can track student progress as their students move through programs that feature hundreds of topics (105 in writing, 450 in math, and 105 in English) and thousands of assessment questions (1,050 in English, 4,500 in math, and 1,050 in writing).

Reading Eggs & Eggspress—Edmentum

Edmentum’s Reading Eggs helps PreKindergarten through Grade 2 students become proficient readers by giving them lessons that feature phonics, sight words, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, in addition to spelling and writing. The self-paced program is interactive and treats students to “egg” awards. Eggspress, for students in Grades 2-6, focuses on reading comprehension and motivation for reading. The library includes more than 600 full-colored fiction and non-fiction ebooks and a wealth of exciting educational games.

Istation—For Individualized Instruction

Istation, which offers individualized instruction for students Pre-K to 12, provides continuous progress monitoring for language arts and reading. All the books used in the program are original and lessons are fun and game-like. Once students are assessed to determine levels, they are given instruction in areas of need such as comprehension, phonics, and fluency. Istation can be integrated into any reading or language arts program and works well with all students, whether they are on grade level, behind in their skills, or need enrichment. The program includes Greek and Latin root words to better help students learn vocabulary and an abundance of cross-curricular elements.

You’ll want to take a look at the lessons that show students how to blend letters. In this section, there are excellent graphics depicting a student’s mouth and tongue forming blending sounds.  Istation, priced at approximately $55 a student and available for site licensing, has many other excellent components, all combined into an engaging format.

Straight Ace English: Grammar & Vocabulary

Straight Ace English, designed to improve grades by making learning manageable, can be used on digital devices and computers. The program features 1500 questions, all coordinated with common core standards, which can be integrated into any school program. Because learning is divided into manageable chunks to help students progress easily, fifteen minutes a day is all that is needed with Straight Ace English. The program is part of Benesse America’s Straight Ace Learning for middle school students.

Mastering Language Arts Anywhere

Benesse America has launched StraightAce English: Grammar and Vocabulary, a language arts program for middle school students. According to Shigeki Matsuo, president of Benesse America, “Just 15 minutes a day studying with StraightAce is enough to show positive improvements in test scores, and encourages struggling students to succeed.” StraightAce, aligned with Common-Core standards, features 1500 questions complete with explanations that can be integrated into classroom courses.  This mobile tutor is also available for math.

Word Raider: Vocabulary Builder for Grades 2-5

Ballard & Tighe has announced its new educational Game, Word Raider: Escape. The game is designed to engage students in Grades 2-5 in rigorous vocabulary instruction. Students are introduced to words through animations that convey the meaning of the words and then practice using the words to solve puzzles. Throughout the word games, students listen, speak, read, and write in order to gain long-term memory of the words covered. Word Raider: Escape ($24 per student per year) helps students meet Common Core State Standards and is said to be excellent for students with learning difficulties, ESL, and ELL students. If you are interested in trying Word Raider: Escape, you can sign up for a trial game to pilot it with up to 20 students.

Apps for Kindergarten & More

Katrina Keene created an edshelf collection of tools for use with Kindergarten students. Some of the apps she recommends are First Letters and Phonics, Eddie’s Number Party, Spell + Friends, Tiny Chicken Learns Math, Toontastic, and twenty other apps. As with any edshelf collection, you can embed Keene’s resource right into your blog or Website using the edshelf’s Collection Widget. The free edshelf site features many other collections that may be of use to you. Perhaps, you’ll want to create a free account so that you can create your own edshelf collections.

Foreign Language Dictionaries & More

Foreign Language dictionaries and sites that offer free help with learning languages are abundant online. Most offer more than the meaning of words. One of the Chinese dictionaries, for example, gives you the words you want in Mandarin Chinese, symbols for these words, and sounds that show you how to pronounce the words. At the site Chinese-Tools, you and your students can learn Mandarin Chinese in ten minutes a day and practice your skill with Chinese characters, as well.

Using Digital Dialects—Spanish, your students can practice Spanish vocabulary by playing games. There are games (with audio if needed) and learning exercises for topics such as animals, time, numbers, to be and to have, phrases/greetings, and much more.  Digital Dialects is also available in French, German, Japanese, Italian, and Chinese.

How About a Historical Dictionary?

History Today’s  Historical Dictionary: A Glossary of Historical Terms includes mini-biographies, facts, figures, and information about people, places, and events in addition to definitions. In the “dictionary”, your students will see links to “On This Day in History, Random Dictionary Entries, and Most Popular Stories. Your students can look up what they need by searching by keyword or checking for the topic in an alphabetical listing. Whether they need information about Aristotle, the Jacobins, Ptolemy I, Steve Jobs, or the rise of the Muslim empire; you’ll find it at History Today.