CYSD Reading

Terrific guide to help in creation of Prezi's.

"Now digital storytelling has gone mobile - so get ready for the many varied ways students find themselves expressing their world. Here are a number of iPad / iPhone apps that provide tools for these emerging mobile devices enabling students to participate in the long and rich history of storytelling."

"Grammarly is your personal proofreader and grammar coach. Automatically proofread your writing for grammar, punctuation, style and more."

The basic principle of The Flat Stanley Project is to connect your child, student or classroom with other children or classrooms participating in the Project by sending out "flat" visitors, created by the children, through the mail (or digitally, with The Flat Stanley app). Kids then talk about, track, and write about their flat character's journey and adventures. Although similar to a pen-pal activity, Flat Stanley is actually much more enriching-students don't have to wonder where to begin or what to write about. The sender and the recipient already have a mutual friend, Flat Stanley. Writing and learning becomes easier, flows naturally, and tends to be more creative. This is what teachers call an "authentic" literacy project, in that kids are inspired to write of their own passion and excitement about the project, and given the freedom to write about many things through the rubric of the Flat Stanley character.

Born-digital Written first for and specifically to be read and viewed from the screen Interactive Requires user action to drive the story forward. Multimedia Uses text, images, music, sound effects, puzzles and games to illustrate and enhance the narrative. A Novel A reading-from-the-screen experience for the "always on" generation. Episodic Each a self-contained story, the chapters become more complex as the narrative unfolds reflecting Alice's age and competency as she develops towards her calling as a game animator and designer. A digital literacy title... Designed originally as entertainment, 'Inanimate Alice' has been adopted by teachers eager to connect with students through media they inherently understand. Created around a high-quality robust text, the content is suitable for the deep-reading and re-reading necessary for academic investigation.

"I'm sure by now you've all heard, "There's an app for that!" There's an app for almost anything you might ever need! This wiki is an attempt to lasso in some of the language arts apps that match our new common core standards. If an app addresses a particular age/grade level we've noted that otherwise it is appropriate for all age groups."

It's an online interactive English dictionary and thesaurus that helps you find the meanings of words and show connections among associated words. You can easily see the meaning of each by simply placing the mouse cursor over it.

This app allows you to record yourself reading a story aloud that others can then listen to. Your recording shows up as a video in the upper corner of the page. The app offers 3 free books and subscription options for parents, schools, and librarians. They are offering free subscriptions for deployed military parents so be sure to share if you know someone who could benefit!

What sort of rubric do you use for blogging? How do you have students blog for homework if they do not have access to the internet or a computer (in a poor, rural area)? To moderate or not who has the time? What can we do to increase readership? How can a student blogger attract more readers?

Another source for finding and collaborating with Authors via Skype.

"Transform your doc, pdf, word, movie in an interactive flipbook. It's very easy: upload your file and you will receive an email with the url to your creation. You can share this with your friend, family... by email, on your blog, on facebook or twitter"

Writing resource for getting kids to write.

"A collection of brief recordings of authors & illustrators saying their names. Hello, my name is . . . Have authors and illustrators introduce themselves Learn correct pronunciations of hard-to-pronounce names Reveal stories behind the names"

Students share books that they are enjoying via voicethread with the options for others to listen & comment. Great book sharing idea!!

"iRead is a group of teachers in Escondido Union School District dedicated to the idea that digital audio can be a powerful learning tool for all students. iRead will give you a chance to create meaningful, curriculum-centered audio projects with your students. Teachers are using digital audio tools (iPods, mics, Garageband, iTunes, Keynote, etc. and various accessories) to improve reading processes. Teachers meet on a monthly basis to exchange ideas and strategies. We started in 2006-07 by collecting data about fluency rates - this has been very promising."

"Award winning children's story books, children's poems with music and song parodies that are illustrated, animated and read aloud. Books and stories are educator-approved, and ideal for summer reading programs."

"Knoword is a game of quick thinking, smart decisions and great words. When you begin, you will be given one randomly generated dictionary definition along with the first letter of its corresponding word. You must fill in the rest of the word to experience a gain in points and an added time bonus. You will start off with one minute before the game ends, and every word is an opportunity to extend your time. If you're ever stuck on a word, just hit the skip button and a new puzzle will present itself."

Words are more difficult vocabulary. Most appropriate for MS & HS students, although a great challenge for advanced intermediate readers!

"Educators and parents all agree that reading is one of the best ways for students to build their vocabulary. Reading has been addressed by many traditional schools with giving suggested book lists to their students at the end of each school year. Not all schools, though, participate in this practice."

"Tales 2 Go is a fantastic app that brings stories to life and sparks kids imaginations by introducing them to audio stories from leading narrators and storytellers. Tales2Go makes anytime story time! Students have on-demand and unlimited access to over 1,300 books and stories from leading authors and storytellers. The stories are geared for kids 3 years old to 12 years old with book and story selections ranging from fairytales to classics like Curious George Rides a Bike to popular series and characters such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and How to Train Your Dragon. Tales2Go is a free app to download but to access stories you must subscribe to a plan. There is a 30 day free trial. The on-demand stories can be purchased for $2.99/month, $6.99 for 3 months, or $24.99 for an entire year of listening."