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Michelle Jacobsen 9/14/11 Overview- The purpose of this site is more for teachers rather than students. The teacher can get onto this website and type in the spelling words that the children are going to be tested over and can decide if they want to make it into a game, writing practice, or just for spelling practice. The teacher can either have the students get online and type in all of the spelling words or they can print out copies of the game or worksheet with the spelling words on it. There is also an option to become a "premium" member that allows you to have more options; you just need to make an account. Content- The content of this website is very helpful for an educator; my mom is a 5th grade teacher and uses this website quite often to help her students be able to have fun while learning how to become better spellers. The teacher can make a free online account and put in their spelling lists and the students can also log on and have access to the words. Design-The website design is definitely lacking in creativity, however it is extremely easy to navigate and figure out. It even has a video tutorial to help you figure out the site if you get confused. There are tabs for parents, students, and teachers. Overall I find this a really helpful website for elementary educators at any level!

Hannah Streeter 2/1/2010 Overview- This website had great potential. Unfortunately, it falls short in my opinion. It's a spelling game, but its content is weak, and It doesn't do a lot to help improve or correct. Content- You open the website and come to an explanation page for the game, which honestly would be hard for anyone but a teacher to read if they were there to use the website. Once you start the game, there are five categories to choose from. when you open the topic, there are a bunch of pictures and a wheel of letters. you pick a word and try to spell it. If you get it right, they congratulate you, and you move on. If you get it wrong, the website only tells you you got it wrong. It doesn't do anything to correct you, or help you learn. I see this as a MASSIVE flaw. Design- There isn't much going on on the website. It is very simple. The pictures are clip art animation. I like the fact that the word is spoken, as well as the letters as you pick them. The letter wheel does this spin thing that seems cool but takes forever to load the letter you pick or find letters, due to the fact that it stops at the arrow, then doesn't reset so A is at the top, which is frustrating to me as an adult. There are no links to anything else, except the "contact us" button. So its kind of a cool idea, but it could definitely be instituted better.

-Overview: This website is visually appealing for parents, teachers, and students to practice spelling and vocabulary. It is organized and easy to use for all ages. There are directions when they are necessary and headings on the different topics so users can easily navigate the page. There are resources for all three audiences on the website that are all clearly labeled. -Content: The content of this website is overall very useful. There are places where students are able to enter their own spelling words or can login to connect to a place where their teacher has entered their words and they have specific exercises that they can perform. They have spelling lists that teachers can use and they have tons of resources listed and explained for teachers and parents to use and help their students use. -Design: The design of this website is very visually appealing and user friendly. There is specific links that are labeled clearly for the audience it is intended for. There are specific things that are most used that come up first on the homepage that make it easily accessible for younger students who get on the computer. It is a simple design that is not overwhelming for users and it makes the entire website very user friendly.

A website full of interactive games for math, english, science, etc.

Overview: This site is all about interactive and fun games to help enhance learning for elementary school-aged children. You can sing songs, play games in math, language arts and vocab. It is child friendly so you can easily find what it is you want to play. Content: The author is not very clear but at the bottom lest side of the page shows the sponsor which is Time4Learning, a online home educational program for homeschooling, afterschool and summer learning. There are links to all the different activities the site has to offer from fun interactive learning games to free worksheets to online learning. The content is mainly the focus for elementary aged kids. It provides the needs to teach and help children learn new concepts and refresh old ones. The information is consistent and updated frequently. Design: The design is fun and appealing for kids. There are pictures to go along with the links which make it easy to navigate and know exactly were to go. Everything loaded fine and had extra places to visit for extra help.

Overview: This website provides games for young learners to explore even before they reach classroom age and throughout the early elementary years. The website covers several subject areas including but not limited to Health, Spelling, Animals, Science, Math, Art, Geography, and Literature. The games are fun and challenging. Content: There are games for young learners that are both challenging and entertaining in a wide variety of topics. Each topic has sub topics and then a multitude of game options for that sub topic. There are illustrations of cartoons throughout the site. The author is not clearly identified but the sponsor is. The website links to other young children's websites and cartoon television shows. Design: The amount of subjects and then sub-subjects is outstanding. The entire website is geared towards young children which is not only seen through the illustrations but also through the advertisements. The games are easy to get into the first time but after you have gone into one of them it is difficult to get back out to the website's main menu. While it has links for the subjects it doesn't have links such as home, about, contacts that may be helpful additions. A copyright is not readily available. The directions for the games are clear and concise.

Brianna Gillespie 9/14/11 OVERVIEW: This website is very kid friendly; it is colorful and easy to navigate. It has a wide variety of activities for children of all ages. It is a good website for teachers to use in their classrooms because of the many different lessons that can be learned. CONTENT: This website has activities focused on Kindergarten through second grade and third through sixth grade. Some of the main headings include games and activities, videos, eBooks, printables, and teacher resources. This website has quizzes too. Also, there is a library that children can look through to find books on many different topics. These would all very useful for teaching lessons. DESIGN: The design is very colorful and decorated like it is underwater; it is very appealing. I did come across a few links that did not work; however, I do not know if they are temporarily down or need to be fixed. All of the topics to choose from spell school with a q (sqool); I do not like this because it may confuse children about the correct way to spell school.

Whitney Mills; Website Reviewed: January 24th 2010 Overview: Kidgen.net is a helpful website for teachers who are looking to help their students learn to read, write, count, etc. It is suitable for all ages and can also be used in different languages. The only downfall is that there are different levels of membership, when it would be much more helpful if it were free. Content: It is very easy to understand what the purpose of this website is as soon as a person clicks on the link. The intended audience is anyone at any different ages, which is stated right away. The author is listed at the bottom of the page. The links to the other sites do work properly and the site is current. The purpose of the site is clear; it is intended to teach students words, spelling, counting, etc. Overall the site is well made, organized, and looks professional. Design: I feel that this website is ok in the design. It could be a bit more worked on to be a little more exciting or appealing to children. However, the site design is common throughout all the links, and isn't confusing to look at. The site has very current information and looks as if it is visited often and revised often. I would recommend this to anyone who'd be willing to pay for the memberships but not to anyone who is looking for a free website to help teach their students.

Overview: Purpose- provides games and activities to help improve elementary students spelling, reading and math skills. Attended Audience- elementary educators and their students. Available Resources- none shown. Overall Impression: Not very eye-appealing; games are educational and content is clearly identified Content Overview: able to easily identify basic content of site; author and date last updated not given; no links to other sites Design Overview: Homepage not very attractive; site sponsor and copyright identified; not very clear directions on how to use site

This website is highly credited and useful for the teacher and student who need help with grammar, spelling, and composition. This site also provides worksheets and exercises a teacher can use in the class to teach students good writing skills they will need.

This web site is a place to find a bunch of different tools for learning. The audience is for both teachers and students I would say, but since it is just tools I feel like teachers would find it more useful. Upon first look it is bright and appealing and it is very easy to navigate and links to the different tools are easily accessible. It is easy to tell what the web site's purpose is and it has received an award in 2011. The author's information is available and so is the information on how often it is updated and by whom. All of the links work properly, it is easily navigable, well organized, and easy to understand. It is very informational and there aren't any spelling or grammar errors that I have noticed. All parts of the homepage downloaded and it is a very bright design. The color scheme isn't ideal, but it is clear to see where you are and what the site is. The content of the site is easy to locate and navigate and all of the links are functioning. The provider of the site is noted along with their information as well as copyright date. The graphics are helpful and used appropriately and the information is organized and explained efficiently making it a good site to use for teaching tools. There is a way to contact the site listed.

This web site is a place to find a bunch of different tools for learning. The audience is for both teachers and students I would say, but since it is just tools I feel like teachers would find it more useful. Upon first look it is bright and appealing and it is very easy to navigate and links to the different tools are easily accessible. It is easy to tell what the web site's purpose is and it has received an award in 2011. The author's information is available and so is the information on how often it is updated and by whom. All of the links work properly, it is easily navigable, well organized, and easy to understand. It is very informational and there aren't any spelling or grammar errors that I have noticed. All parts of the homepage downloaded and it is a very bright design. The color scheme isn't ideal, but it is clear to see where you are and what the site is. The content of the site is easy to locate and navigate and all of the links are functioning. The provider of the site is noted along with their information as well as copyright date. The graphics are helpful and used appropriately and the information is organized and explained efficiently making it a good site to use for teaching tools. There is a way to contact the site listed.

Dillon Karajanis 10/21/13 Review of ChooseMyPlate.gov Overview: The educational site I chose was ChooseMyPlate.gov and from what I observed I was able to determine right away that the website had to do with health and nutrition. The purpose of this site is to inform the users about the United States Department of Agriculture's regulations regarding a balanced diet, healthy recopies and nutritional activities. After just a couple clicks I learned that this site can be for educators, parents and children as well. ChooseMyPlate.gov provides interactive games, songs, videos and activity sheets that the users can engage in. My overall impression of the site is positive; there are just a few concerns of mine but in general I like the site and would use it in my classroom. Content: I decided to rate this site worth bookmarking because it does have very useful information that can be used in my class in the future. The sponsor and author are clearly displayed in the site and in this case they are the same source, the USDA. Contact information is also displayed inside the website for users to ask questions or verify topics. The content looked very well organized and complete with no spelling or grammar errors. The content of the site was complete and finished. Design: First of all the design of this website was very well put together. The homepage pulled up very quickly and was extremely visually appealing; with a slide show, bright colors and bold, easy to read text right on the first page it really draws the user in. One thing I did notice was that the copyright date and the latest revision date were not displayed and were not that easy to find. This raised a concern for me. Other than this I thought the information was well organized with a directory if needed as well. The additional links in the site were active, did not lead to dead ends and were all relevant to the subject. I thought over all it was a well designed website.

Shaya Wolf - 2/26/2013 Overview This site is intended for teachers who are looking for new ideas for lesson plans. It is meant to be used as a resource for teachers who simply need a good idea to get them going. The lesson plans can be used as is or tweaked to fit the teacher's specific needs or goals. This site, if I were to venture a guess, is probably for new teachers as it gives very specific ideas and makes everything accessible by grade and subject, tools that are nice for everyone, but are specifically for newbies in the field. My overall impression of this site is that it is definitely very useful, designed well, and worth your time to look at and use. Content This site is extremely user friendly. IT it obvious what the basic content is and that the intended audience is teachers. The author and sponsor information is provided in an organized manner, including contact information made accessible through a link at the bottom of the page. This site was last updated in 2008 and considering that these lesson plans won't be outdated for a while, especially considering a teacher's ability to tweak existing plans to fit their needs, I would say that this revision date is appropriate to the materials provided. The purpose of the site as a database of lesson plans is clear from the very beginning. The provided links achieve this purpose in the most effective manner possible. The content is complete, however may be added to, and easy to understand. All of the information is organized utilizing a navigation bar and allows teachers to find information related to a specific need. The information is obviously accurate and there are no spelling or grammar errors. The only downfall on this site is that there are no additional links for further needs or purposes. Design The homepage loads efficiently and quickly. The homepage serves as a main source of organization and contains all of the necessary contacts, as in the author and sponsor of the page. The website

Katrina Swanson - February 25, 2013  Overview: The purpose of this website is to engage young children in elementary school but specifically focusing on a kindergarten aged level. It allows students to explore different games and activities regarding letters and numbers as well as incorporating the use of technology. There are numerous resources for children available to use from this website such as learning their numbers and letters while using a computer.  Content: The content of this website is pretty decent. From the first look of the site, the user is able to determine what audience the site is intended for and also to tell the basics of the site. There is no clear author or creator provided due to the fact that it is a student oriented site and not a site with "specific information." The site works properly and all the links provided are available and easy to access for students. The purpose of this site is very clearly indicated that it is for entertainment and learning at the same time. It is very well organized and easy for young children to maneuver around and interact with. Grammar and spelling are correct and this site has great content for students to learn about letters and numbers.  Design: This website is very intriguing by first look. A student would be enthused to use this site and eager to do the activities. The pages are attractive, and easy to access the different links to games as well as other things on the site. The site is very user friendly for young children due to the fact that they can easily go around the site. Lots of pictures, colors, and sounds are used all throughout the site to engage the children as well. It is also a great site because although it looks fun and intriguing it is also very informational to young kids.  Great website!! 

Overview: The overall purpose for this website is to have lessons and activity examples that teachers can use for different grades in science. As a teacher this is a great website to seek activities to use in your classroom for different science terms and lessons. This website has activities for science grades varying from kindergarten to 12th grade. This website also has workbooks that teachers can order to give their students to work out of. Overall, this website is very helpful.  Content:  The content of this website is for teachers and there are many activities to do with students that explain science terms and lessons such as science biology of animals, weather, and volcanoes. There are many more lessons available to teachers on this website as well. There is also a way to find certain standards for science that teachers need to meet, which is nice to have so that they can teach the appropriate material. The content on this website is a helpful and fun way for teachers to teach.  Design:The design of this website is pretty simple to navigate through. There are tabs on the top to click on to lead to the other pages. There are quite a few advertisements on this page for different businesses. The color scheme is pretty simple just white and some greens and blues. There are no obnoxious links all over the page or spelling errors either. The design of this website is professional and accurate. 

OVERVIEW Khan Academy is a site to help students supplement their learning. It allows students to go over materials at their own pace so that they are able to better understand the material. Overall, this is a good site to help students, and I would recommend it especially for math help. CONTENT The information is current enough for math. The content well organized and helpful to students to understand subject matter. It appears bias free (for math, not sure about other subjects) and the information is accurate and consistent with other sources. Grammar and spelling are correct. DESIGN The design is attractive and you can easily tell where you are within the site. There are not directions on how to move around the site, but it is fairly intuitive. All links that I have tried have worked, and are helpful. Janissa Martinez

The purpose of this resource is to help intermediate Spanish learners to learn the irregular verbs ser and ir and how to conjugate them in the present tense. There is a slight introduction and it is a very short video with lots of information. This is a great video to learn or review how to conjugate these irregular verbs. The content is short but well used. The instructor isn't shown in the video but her voice is very clear and she speaks slow enough to understand. There is no English in the video which could be difficult for some but its good listening practice. There are different examples and it is a good video to make the students think. It is a great video for a high school classroom and it is very accurate with the forms of conjugating of the verbs she uses. The spelling is correct and all the examples are correct and well used. This video contains examples that are both written and explained orally giving the students opportunities to answer the questions on their own before the instructor gives the answers. The name of the instructor doesn't appear but it is clear to know that she is a native Spanish speaker.

The purpose of this website is to inform the reader about primary colors.  The intended audience of this website is probably middle school students and up.  It provides a summary of what the standard primary colors are and why.  It talks about the different standards and when they apply.  It seems like a good website because it is informative and easy to navigate with no advertisements. The user is able to quickly determine the basic content and intended audience of the site.  The names of the authors of this site are not provided.  It is open to editing to basically anyone.  The usernames of the authors can be found, along with the date that they updated the site.  The site does not provide a good way to contact the authors, either.  The last date that this site was edited was 4/10/15.  This is appropriate to the material, and the site is updated frequently.  There are links to many other sites related to the topic, and they work properly.  The quality of the information is very good.  There is no detectable bias, and the information makes sense.  It provides information that is different than what I learned in elementary school, but I believe it is still accurate.  There are many other sources that provide consistent information.  The grammar and spelling are correct.  

The purpose of this website is to inform the reader about how the human eye works.  The intended audience of this website is probably middle school students and up.  It is more for the general public than for scientists.  It provides information on the different parts of the eye and what they do.  It also discusses some of the problems that can occur in the eye.  The information presented in the website seems good, but there are some ads that can be distracting. The user is able to quickly determine the basic content and intended audience of the site.  The author's name is provided, but it does not give the reader any way to contact them or any of their credentials.  The sponsors of the site are clearly identified, as well.  The site was published on 2/10/10, which is appropriate to the topic because the human eye has not changed much since then.  The site is not frequently updated, but there are several links to other resources that work properly.  Comments are open on this site, and they provide other resources, as well as extra information and opinions about the topic.  The site is well organized and easy to understand.  There is not any bias on the site, and it provides most of the information necessary.  It is not at all interactive.  The information seems to be accurate, based on my previous knowledge, as well as other resources on the topic.  Its grammar and spelling are correct.

Emily Nielsen: April 15, 2015 This website is intended to educate children about farm animals. The intended audience is young children, probably preschool through early elementary years. The vocabulary used on the website is basic and the information is at a general enough level that it should be easy for children to understand. I like that there are many pictures of the animals on the site so that children can understand the material through the pictures instead of the words if they cannot yet read. Overall, I think that it is a fun website that could be navigated and understood easily by children. The content of website is clear and appropriately written for young children. In the site, correct grammar and spelling are used. The site is well organized and makes it easy to navigate from one animal to another. The content appears to be correct and could easily be verified. Although there is not a date for when it was last updated, there is contact information provided if he viewer has further questions. The design of website is easy for users to navigate. On the home page, there is a display of all the different animals on the site. To find out more about an animal, all the viewer has to do is click on the animal. There is a table of contents and KIDS FARM is the sponsor of the site. There are many pictures included that add to the written information. The homepage downloads quickly and all of the content shows up.

Lacey Boyles April 15, 2015 This website ran very smoothly. I was able to find what I was looking for and also browse other articles easily. The intended audience is anyone who is interested in early childhood development. The purpose of this site is to give advice to parents/teachers, and also ideas on games/activities/art. Over all this is a very well set up website. This site is set up very well. Things are easy to locate as they have blogs set up in different categories. From what I read through the authors grammar and spelling is all correct. They try and set up two blogs a week, I would say they stay pretty current. I did not have any problem clicking on different blogs/articles, I was able to access all that I clicked on. The only thing I think they could add is links to other websites that relate to what they are talking about in a specific blog/article. When first clicking on this website it is very clear as to where you are. The site is nothing fancy so it does not take away from the content. On the homepage there is not too much going on and is easy to read. There is a variety of different information that would help with many different questions. From what I read through articles seem to be up to date and there is not a lot of very old material. This is a website that I will be returning to in the future.