Fraction Fun

According to Brian E. Enright and Joyce S. Choate, certain computation are more difficult than others to master...especially the concept and computation of fractions. These two authors remind us that, "careful, step-by-step instruction in these skills is essential." The following links provided students with multiple opportunities to get some practice with fractions.

Zeebo, King of the Fractions
You and Zeebo will explore the fun of fractions with interactive activities beginning with an introduction to what fractions are all the way through dividing fractions with whole and mixed numbers.

Cookies for Grampy
See how fast you can put the parts of the cooking together for Grampy.

Melvin's Make a Match
This is an interactive game to help students practice matching equivalent fractions.

Figurative Language

Many with verval communication challenges dispaly challenges with figurative language. They may misunderstand the meaning of what is spoken or read. As children approach third grade this can interfer with reading comprehension. All students can benefit from instruction in interpreting the meaning of words in multiple ways. Students with different cultural backgrounds are likely to exhibit difficulty in interpreting the dual meaninf of words. The following links will give children the opportunity to strengthen their figurative language skills.

Figures of Speech Hangman
This fun game of hangman provides exposure to many different figures of speech.

Fling the Teacher
The user of this game is presented with sentences and has to determine whether the items are homophones,shomograph, metaphors or idioms. If you get all 15 questions correct, you get to fling, or get rid of, the teacher.

Paint by Idioms
In the game, every time you pick the right meaning of an idiom more color is added to your picture.

Oral Reading Comprehension Practice

Quite often, students are asked to read aloud to the class or to a reading partner. Some students may display difficulty comprehending while reading aloud. They may understand what they read better when they read to themselves, or if they are being read to. Oral reading comprehension takes practice. Some students are so distracted by oral reading that it gets in the way of their comprehension. Following are some games designed to help students practice this skill.

Does my student or child have difficulty with oral reading comprehension? Look for these signs:

• cannot answer comprehension questions after reading orally
• substitutes illogical words and/or mispronounce many words
• omits, inserts, or repeats words or phrases
• exhibits weak word analysis skills (i.e....)
• does not pause at periods and/or commas
• reads word by word (sounds choppy)
• seldom self corrects errors
  

Guessing Vocabulary in Context 1
This is a multiple choice game. The user is given 10 sentences. Each sentence has one word that is underlined. The lesson is to select the best choice for the definition of the word--there are four possible answers for each vocabulary word.

Duck Hunt

The sentences in this game are short and simple. The words in red need to be defined. To select the correct definition, (there are two possible choices) the player has to shoot the duck displaying the number one or the number two.

Word Master

Fill in the blank. Get stuck? Click on the clue button for help! Don't know how to say a word? Click on "listen".

Sight Word Games

Below are a few links to online games that kids can play to help them aquire sight word recognition skills. Sight word mastery is considered to be a prerequisite for learning to read. High frequency words make up 50% of texts. It is beneficial to the student if he/she can recognize sight words quickly. It helps with fluency which, in turn, aid comprehension.

starfall.com
This is similar to the game Memory. A 4x3 row of star cards are displayed. The object is to quickly find the matching sight word. When you have a corret pair, the sight word remains at the bottom of the screen.

sadlier-oxford.com
This game is called Word Drag. There are six incomplete simple sentences. The object is to fill in the blank by clicking and dragging the appropriate high frequency word to the correct sentence. The game provides instant feedback. There is an option to have the directions for the activity read aloud by clicking on the speaker button.

bgfl.org
This game is similar to the one mentioned above. However, the high frequency words contained our body parts. It has the same click and drag style, but features more graphics.

The Challenges Ahead

Welcome to my first post as a student of successful inclusive classroom teaching. One of the biggest challenges I face as an aspiring teacher, is meeting the needs of all of my students. The reflections that are soon to come should help me get a handle on the best practices for teaching diverse populations.