Reading Rainbow

Reading Rainbow App

Most of you probably remember LaVar Burton and the popular show The Reading Rainbow. The Reading Rainbow App is based on the show. It is available on iPads and Kindle Fire. The app provides an unlimited library of children’s books and video field trips. While it is free to download the app, you must purchase a subscription to view the content. You have the option of subscribing for a year ($49.99), 6 months ($29.99), or monthly ($9.99). However, each family can download 5 books as a free trial.

This app could be used in and out of the classroom. Here are some examples:

• Incentive for positive student behavior, grades, participation, etc. (The 3 students who earn the most golden stars by the end of the day will get to read one book on Reading Rainbow.)

• Story time / Read-alouds (Find a story related to the day’s lesson and read it to students. Pick students to help you turn the page or interact with the story.)

• Read 20 minutes a day (The option for having the app read the book to you is great for busy parents. Their child can still get in the 20 minutes of reading without them actually having to read to them.)

The website, readingrainbow.com, offers a few extras such as a blog and some video read-alouds.

Here’s how it works:

1. Create account/profile (It asks for a name and email address.)

2. Unless you want to subscribe, choose the free trial option.

3. Browse the islands (Animal Kingdom, Awesome People, Genius Academy, etc)

4. Choose a book.

5. Read it or have the app read it to you.

6. After you read the story, play a game based on the story.

 I love children’s books! I think they can be used at any level, even high school. I downloaded one book from the Reading Rainbow app, part of my free trial, called Crazy like a Fox: A Simile Story. I would use this in a high school class to introduce and teach the concept of similes.

Even though this app does have a cost associated with it, I think it is worth it for the amount of books, videos, and activities that come with the subscription. You probably can’t buy 5 books at a bookstore for $49.99.

Fakebook

Fakebook

A free, fun, and simple website that can be used by teachers and students. The possibilities are endless. Here are a couple of ways I would use Fakebook in my classroom:

1.) Delivery of Author Biography Information-Instead of lecturing about the life of an author, create a Fakebook page for that author to share with your students. It's a unique and fun way to teach about the life of an author, and student's will be sure to enjoy. Check out my example, William Shakespeare's Fakebook page.

2.) Student Created Character Pages-Instead of creating character maps, students can create a Fakebook page for their assigned characater. It's an assignment that students will be excited about turning in!

Here's how it works:

1.) Go to http://www.classtools.net/FB/home-page

2.)Add desired information to Fakebook page (name/birthdate/family/friends/likes/work/etc.)

3.)Upload profile and cover photo.

4.) Post status updates, links, videos, images.

5.) Save you Fakebook page (create a password for you page, so you can edit it later)

6.) Share with students or print handouts!!!

Don't have time to create your own? That's fine! Fakebook has a gallery of previously created Fakebook pages.

Remind

Remind is a FREE service that lets teachers send one-way messages via SMS, push notifications, or email to everyone involved with a class (students & parents). Remind keeps all phone numbers private, while making it a lot easier to stay in touch about the class. Remind is compatible with IOS and Android; it is also available online.

There is a plethora of ways to use Remind in and outside of the classroom. A few examples include: Send students trivia and warm-up questions before class (bell ringers); Schedule ahead assignment deadline reminders; Send daily homework assignments (great for sending make-up work to absent students); Send parents topics of what students are learning in class. Remind is a great way to increase homework turn-in rates and parent involvement.

Here’s how it works:

1.) Create an account with your email and password.

2.)Create your first class.

3.)Invite your students and parents to subscribe to your class.

4.)Send your first message.

It’s that easy!!!! Plus there are tons of resources at www.remind.com/teachers to walk you through the process step-by-step. There are even downloadable letters to send to parents or administrators explaining what Remind is and how to use it.

Wedgies

Wedgies is an online poll creator. While it does offer packages that cost a monthly fee, the free package is perfect for classroom use. Polls can be used in all parts of a lesson and help give students a voice. A few examples include: journal prompts, discussion/debate starters, exit tickets, and classroom decisions. Creating polls on wedgies.com is a fun, fast way to see what your students really think!

Here's how it works:

Simply create a free account by entering your name, email address, and a password for you wedgies account. Once you've created an account, choose the create a poll option, type in your question and choices, add an image if you wish (you can add images from Facebook, Instagram, and the web), and click the yellow "create poll" button. After you've created your poll, you can choose to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or use an embedded link on your website or send out a link to your students. Check out a couple of my examples by following the links below!

https://www.wedgies.com/question/54075c0358093d0200018955

https://www.wedgies.com/question/540760ef58093d0200019a84

Blubbr

Blubbr is a free and incredibly useful app that allows teachers to create video trivia games. These trivia games could be used for a myriad of applications in the classroom. Some examples include, work for early finishers, pre-assessments, acquiring foundational knowledge, assessment review, and friendly academic competition. In my classroom, I use this program to help my students understand key concepts that are needed for skill acquisition. I have also used this to incentivize some of my "harder to motivate" students by giving them an opportunity to "play" games after they have successfully completed their work. 

Here's how it works:

They refer to them as "trivs." The trivs are created by "clipping" YouTube videos on any topic and creating a multiple choice quiz about the clip. The process is simple, you title your triv, you search for your video, you crop the selection of the video that you want to use, you write your questions with four possible answers. Once you are finished you can embed the Blubbr player on your website or send out a link to your students.

https://www.blubbr.tv 

• math
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• free
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• preschool
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• polls
• inspiration
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• Quiz
• special education
• momorization
• share
• behavior

Storia

Storia is a free app available for iPads. The Scholastic e-reader app is designed for kids with books that are embedded with questions, activities, and dictionary definitions. The download comes with five free books, but additional books can be purchased and added to a ‘bookshelf’. This app can be used to engage students of all ages and reading levels. I would use this app for students that finish their work early, as a reward for good behavior, and to help students with reading fluency. This is a great app to also broaden students’ vocabulary. Storia is a wonderful tool to help achieve learning outcomes of Common Core and State Standards for ELA.

How it works:

Students simply download and set up an account. Books can be downloaded and added to a ‘bookshelf’ to be saved for later. Storia is also available in a school edition that allows teachers to download up to 2,000 titles for every student for a school year.

https://www.storiaschool.com/#/students/login