The following links are for Parents and Students to use in to help students develop their skills in reading, writing, and math. The sites contain videos, activities, local events, and interactive resources for your use.
Literacy (reading + writing): National Center for Family Literacy - you can download a parent and family magazine that helps teach reading. A Family Literacy Calendar is another download from this national agency. Reading Guide from the National Institute for Literacy - Help to teach a child to read using this guide from the National Institute for LIteracy. This guide is given out free of charge from the Federal Government to all Title I parents each year. Reading Rockets.org-Reading activities for Parents and Students; DVD's for parents to watch. Reading Rockets Webcasts - Webcasts on how to write with a child, research on writing technique. National Institute for Literacy-Variety of reading activities and free materials for adults and students. Read Write Think-An excellent resource for teachers, parents, and students! The site is a partnership between the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the International Reading Association (IRA), and the Verizon Foundation. Thus, all information included on the site correlates with the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts. Upon visiting this site, you will find interactive activies for students to assist with reading and writing skills. Examples of student interactives are The Comic Creator, Diamonte Poems, Drama Map, Mystery Cube, and The Postcard Creator. Local Literacy Coalition-Activities locally on the WKAR site include library puppet shows, events and performances. Other reading related activities. The Free Dictionary - You can find definitions, hear correct pronunciations and get dozens of translations. You can play also hangman and enter a cyber spelling bee. Word up! BibMe - A fully automatic bibliography maker that auto-fills. It's the easiest way to build a works cited page. And it's free. Livemocha.com - Sign up and learn one of 26 languages in a series of visual, fun, multimedia classes. When you complete a lesson, another member-perhaps even a native speaker-corrects your grammar and offers accent tips. Networking section for live web chat with native speakers of the language you're taking. Tumblebooks - An online collection of books with animations and talking to engage children. Tumblebooks take existing picture books and add animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book that children can read or have read to them. Students will need to use a username and password to access Tumblebooks; information can be found in the table below.
The Reading People - a local program run by Dr. Lois Bader, 35 year professor at MSU. Dr. Bader is the author of a reading inventory and she now runs the Read to Succeed program. The Reading People are volunteers of the Capital Area Literacy Coalition, and they children and adults learn to read, write and speak English with an ultimate goal of helping individuals achieve self-sufficiency. ----------------------------------------- Tools for helping a child select a book from from Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, Strategies that Work. Encourage your child to:
Math: CoolMath - An amusement park of math and more... designed for fun ! Bored with math? Confused by math? Hate math? Yeah, Coolmath can fix that. Totally dig math? Want to learn more math? Want to get ahead in math? Yep, Coolmath is here for that too! Cramster.com - Cyber-study with other students. Social network built around math and math-based subjects. Pick up pointers from teachers, parents and others . Post Q &A boards and access study guides and step by steps for solving problems. Wolfram Alpha - Built on a scientific calculation software platform called Mathematica, this site can answer any math problem, but will tackle non math queries as well. Study + Research Resources Video on Learning and Child Development - Leo Vygotsky and his theory, "Zone of proximal development" is important to the study of child development. The zone between where a student is an independent learner and an assisted learner is where the teacher must focus their teaching strategies to improve learning and boost a student to the "how and why" thinking. Appropriate learning activities help students regulate their internal and external behaviors that will help them become independent life long learners. Google Scholar - search only scholarly works on the Web rather than pulling unreliable sources. Evernote - save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free. Scan, photograph or cut and paste everything you need to remember from your homework. Search any word in your document. Save papers to study for upcoming tests. Take a photo of it with your cell phone or laptop's web camera and send it to Evernote. Works well for typed notes and web clippings too. BibMe - A fully automatic bibliography maker that auto-fills. It's the easiest way to build a works cited page. And it's free. The Free Dictionary - You can find definitions, hear correct pronunciations and get dozens of translations. You can play also hangman and enter a cyber spelling bee. Word up! Bing - Search engine from Microsoft designed for students. Set it as your homepage and everyday a new picture graces the browser, pop-ups offering history and other who-knew facts about the picture. Helps kids want to know more. My College Calendar - Starting in their freshman year of high school, teens can learn what they need to do and how to do it: when and how to file applications, how to write application essays and where to get financial aid and scholarships. It sets up a custom calendar for you to follow. Family Activities: Sesame Street's Website: Watch videos from show episodes, learn numbers and letters, print coloring pages, play games all involving the beloved characters of the long running Sesame Street. It's fun as well as educational, which is a hard combination to find. Recipes for Success - Practical activities to help your child further develop his/her skills in writing, reading, math, science, social studies, thinking, fitness, and character. To access the PDF's of the activities, please scroll to the bottom of this page and click on:
Animoto - Create your own digital photo story. Animoto automatically produces orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music. Fast, free and easy to use. Shelfari - Review and rate a book.Shelfari is the a social network for people who love books. Create a virtual shelf to show off your books, see what your friends are reading and discover new books - all for free! The following sites can be used to control family TV time so television and movie viewing fits your schedule and commercials won't waste your time. Hulu - Streams 1,250 current TV shows from Fox, NBC, and more plus full-length movies. Top-rated video and audio quality and options like full-screen and hi-res make watching a joy. It is Free. Teaching kids about money, have them help you save money by shopping with coupons. Kids can learn a lot by cutting, collecting, printing coupons for your grocery trips each month, connect to garage sales, share your ideas, find restaurant deals. Use these links to help you find the latest offers. Sites for Kids: Sesame Street's Website: Watch videos from show episodes, learn numbers and letters, print coloring pages, play games all involving the beloved characters of the long running Sesame Street. It's fun as well as educational, which is a hard combination to find. Kids.gov - This site provides links to government websites, as well as other sites designed for kids. The links are grouped by age and subject, and topics include the arts, careers, computers, math, money, science, and health. 4Kids.org - A weekly on-line newspaper created by educators, technology specialists, artists, writers, and students. The goal of this site is to create a valuable learning environment for students through the use of technology. This site provides on-line educational games, links to other kid-friendly educational web sites, and a chance for kids to "speak out" on a weekly topic. MysteryNet's Kids' Mysteries - A new mystery is revealed every week! In addition, mysteries written by kids are included. This site is also recommended by KidSites.com. Internet 4 Classrooms (i4c) - This site is an excellent resource for teachers, parents, and students! Skill-builder sites are available for student use. In addition, several resources and links are included for parents and teachers. Links for subject areas include Language Arts, Math, Music, Art, Social Studies, Science, Foreign Language, Gamequarium - Upon visiting this site, you will find a wealth of learning games for Pre K-6th grade students! Games cover all subject areas, and technology tutorials are also available. Resources and links for parents and teachers are also included. Guys Read - This website by author Jon Scieszka aims at helping boys find books they will enjoy reading. Just for Parents: Say Yes to No - A conversation for parents, including a book and resources National Institute for Media and the Family - The mission of this organization is to maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of media on the health and development of children and families. Internet 4 Classrooms (i4c) - This site is an excellent resource for teachers, parents, and students! Skill-builder sites are available for student use. In addition, several resources and links are included for parents and teachers. Links for subject areas include Language Arts, Math, Music, Art, Social Studies, Science, Foreign Language, Fishful Thinking - This website has interactive tips and tools to inspire positive thinking in children. There are videos, articles, activities, and facts on optimism, resiliency, goal setting, empowerment, and emotional awareness. The videos feature reseach from a doctor in the field of positive psychology who appeared on Oprah in 2007. Activities for Learning - Links to a pdf with activies to help kids brush up on their language, memory, and math skills. Is Your Teen Ready for High School? - A 20 question parenting quiz designed to help you prepare your teen for his/her high school years. How to Get Your Teen into College - Steps you can take as a parent to help your high school student get into college. Explains about making the decision to go to college through ways to pay for a college degree. Articles on Bullying, Especially with Girls - Tips to deal with mean girls, statistics about girls who bully, figuring out if your child is a "mean girl". Family Education Network - This is a site to help parents with school questions. Helping Children Succeed in School - This iste provides strategies on how to help children succeed in school, create good study habits and homework tips. Michigan Alliance for Gifted Education - this site gives information and links for parents about gifted education. Net Parents - This site gives practical tools and tips for all areas of family life. Family Resource Center - This site provides useful information for everyone in the family. Parent's Guide to the Information Superhighway - this site gives rules and tools for families online. National Parent Information Network - This site provides research-based information about parenting. American Library Association Parent Resources - This site gives resources on web safety, links to parent sites and educational sites. Kid's Health - This site provides information on common infections, medical problems, nutrition, safety, and growth & development. Michigan eLibrary - This is a great site for Internet Searching, magazines, newspaper and more. It is free to Michigan residents. You will need to give a Michigan driver's license number to use the site. All web links and information has been selected and reviewed by librarians. Especially for Young People and Their Parents - This site from ALA provides tips for online Internet Safety. Be Web Aware - This site is a public education program on Internet safety for young people. National Book Foundation - This site provides t ips and strategies for getting kids to read. Partnership for Learning - This award winning site helps schools and communities educate their children. Kid Info - This website was created by an educator and it provides subject links for students and resources for parents. Homeland Security - The Department of Homeland Security has released a "kid friendly" site. It is a fun and interactive way to teach your children how to be prepared. Parents as Teachers - Oriented toward early childhood and school readiness, this group offers Parents as Teachers University and other training designed to provide parents with child development knowledge and parenting support. National Network of Partnership Schools - Established at Johns Hopkins University in 1996, NNPS is a group of schools, districts, states, and organizations that use research-based approaches to "organize and sustain excellent programs of family and community involvement that will increase student success i school." Led by Dr. Joyce Epstein, the NNPS breaks down parental involvement into six types, and offers practices for supporting family involvement in each type. Project Appleseed - This group targets parents directly, offering them resources and a "report card" to rate their own involvement with their child's education. They also support National parent Involvement Day (Nov. 18) Harvard Family Research Project - This group offers wide-raging professional development to staff who work directly with children, youth and families. They have a Family Involvement Network of Educators. A national network for people "interested in promoting strong partnerships between schools, families, and communities." Membership is free and includes access to current information about family involvement and resources to strengthen family school and community partnerships. Center for Language Minority Education and Research - The Center for Language Minority Education and Research focuses on school and community collaboration, which facilitates meaningful, cross-cultural collaborations among diverse parents, community members and educators. This site features information on professional development, school improvement, leadership and policy and civil rights issues. Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Youth Entrepreneurship Awareness - This web site offers information and resources to support youth entrepreneurship. The Foxfire Fund - Foxfire (The Foxfire Fund, Inc.) is a not-for-profit, educational and literary organization. Foxfire’s learner-centered, community-based educational approach is advocated through a regional demonstration site (The Foxfire Museum) and a national program of teacher training and support (the Foxfire Approach to Teaching and Learning) that promotes a sense of place and appreciation of local people, community and culture as essential educational tools. The National Drop Out Prevention Center/Network - The Dropout Prevention Web site also includes links to: School Community Collaboration & Service Learning New Leaders for Tomorrow’s Schools - An article on school community collaboration is included on this site. The Smithsonian Folk Life and Oral History Interviewing Guide by Majorie Hunt - The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage promotes the understanding and continuity of diverse, cultures in the United States and around the world. The Center produces the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, exhibitions, documentary films and videos, publications and educational materials. The Toolkit for Cross Cultural Collaboration - The Toolkit for Cross-Cultural Collaboration was created as a result of a study of collaboration styles of African American, Asian American, Native American, Hispanic American and Anglo American communities. 12 Tips for Communicating with Parents - This site offers a list of 12 tips for communicating with parents, as well as many resources for both teachers and parents. Educational Trust - This comprehensive web site offers user-friendly information on the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as a wealth of other fact sheets and resources. It includes special sections on state and local policy, national policy, professional development and parents and community. Learning First Alliance - This site is stocked with practical guides for communicating with the community about schools, the No Child Left Behind Act and other issues. The “Resources for Parents” section allows families easy access to information about educational issues and practices. There are also downloadable tips and guides to help families become more involved in their children’s education. National Center for Family and Community Connection with Schools - This site includes an article from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) on reaching out to diverse populations which explains what schools can do to foster family-school connections. Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers - This site offers families of children with disabilities information and guidance on how to talk to teachers, staff and schools about their child’s special needs. What Kids Can Do - This site is an inspiration in reminding us what can happen when we listen to children. It offers resources for talking to kids about college, conducting teen-adult forums and engaging students as allies to improve schools. TIPS – Teachers Involving Parents in Schoolwork - Developed by Joyce Epstein and colleagues at the National Network of Partnership Schools at John’s Hopkins University. TIPS features homework assignments that require students to talk to someone at home about something interesting tat they are learning in lcass. TIPS homework creates a three-way partnership among students, familes, and teachers. The website lists several resources for TIPS, including training tools and a CD with hundreds of ideas for interactive omework assignments at te elementary, middle or high school levels. 100 Ways to Know More. Do More. - There are many ways to be involved. Here, you’ll find 100 suggestions. You’re probably doing some of these things already. The goal is to find a few new ones that you’d be comfortable trying now. Whatever you choose, you’ll soon see the effects your efforts have on your children, their schools and yourself. That’s because when parents get involved in their child’s education, everyone benefits. Increasing Parental Involvement - Tips for involving parents as active partners in education are included in this site. PTO Today - PTO Today supports PTA’s and parent organizations with free articles, tips, resources and management tools (available for purchase) to develop and sustain vibrant, equitable family involvement and volunteering in schools. Promising Partnership Practices - This site offers creative ideas for getting parents to school. Service Leader - This site offers web based resources and links for school administrators, teachers, parent teacher organizations and other parent volunteers, as well as anyone who coordinates volunteer and community partnership activities with other organizations, including businesses. Teachers: Action Without Borders - This site offers resources to teachers wishing to promote youth volunteerism, connect classroom with the community, present your students with a research tool, help students turn their ideas into action or use nonprofit resources in the classroom. It also includes information on volunteering as a family and service learning programs. National Council of La Raza - This organization is a national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization that works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. National Hispanic Cultural Center - The National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) is dedicated to the study, advancement and presentation of Hispanic culture, arts and humanities. National Native American Families Together Center - This site details an outreach program to increase partnerships between Native American Families and the professionals who serve Native American children. Native American Lore -This site includes an index of Native American Stories from across the nation. Navajo Nation Chapters - A listing of Chapters serving the Navajo Nation is included on this site. Advocacy for Academically Talented Students - This web site has an important resource for parents and teachers of academically gifted students. The Learning First Alliance - This web site is stocked with practical guides for communicating with the community about schools, the No Child Left Behind Act and other issues. The Resources for Parents section allows families easy access to information about a variety of education issues and practices. There are also downloadable tips and guides to help families become more involved in their children’s education. Parents Reaching Out - Parents Reaching Out is directed at helping families learn to make informed decisions about the care and education of their children. It includes information on special education issues that parents face and provides advocacy information and early intervention suggestions for parents. Parent-School Partnerships: A National MALDEF Program - This web site offers step-by-step (free) guidelines on how to write and resolve complaints. The National Parent School Partnership (PSP) Program is a national program designed to train parents, school personnel and community based organizations to lead in the educational attainment of children. Study Circles - The resources on this site can help communities and schools start discussions regarding race, educational achievement and diversity. A special section focusing on youth issues offers information on organizing study circles as well as information on training youth to become facilitators. Bullying - An article titled What Parents Can Do about Bullying offers practical advice on the topic. Child Welfare League of America - This site offers links to resources and advice for parents of children of all ages. The resources are divided into different categories to make access easy. A Family Guide to Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy and Drug Free - Aimed at families of middle and high school students, this site has practical advice and information to help parents with their adolescents. Kid’s Health - For Parents - This web site from Kid’s Health includes topics on Talking to Kids, Learning and Education and Family Life. National Mental Health Association Strengthening Families - This site includes a fact sheet for parents with some tips for positive parenting. Parent Smart - This web site offers everything from help with homework to tips for talking with children about disasters. Positive Parenting - Peace Begins at Home - This web site has many resources for parents on parenting and positive discipline including articles, books, and workshops. Teaching Tolerance - This site is for anyone interested in creating communities that value diversity. It contains pages for teachers, parents, teens and kids. Connect for Kids - The site includes a Parent Involvement in Education topic page for ideas on how to be an active participant in your child’s education, as well as tips and tools for becoming a more effective advocate. CRESST Parent Page - A click here takes families to a site with everything from subject-area printables, to both expert and peer advice on such topics as whether to retain your student. Family Education Network - Broken down by age and grade level, this site has a treasure trove of learning activities to do with children. It has special sections on issues such as retention and school safety. For Moms and Dads Only (and other loving caregivers) - This site includes an extensive list of links to many resources. Media Wise - For families concerned about media, this site offers many facts, tips, research, reviews of video games and movies, as well as a quick quiz to find out about media use. National Education Association - This web site offers information on parent-teacher conferences, understanding testing, getting involved in your child’s school and other resources to help make your child’s school experience successful. Communicating with Your Child - Helping your child develop good study skills is one of the most important ways parents can support children’s emotional and psychological growth during the school years. This site is from the United Federation of Teachers. Communicating with Your Child’s Teacher - Ohio State University offers tips for parents on how to communicate with your child’s teacher. Helping Children Succeed in School - An article for parents on parent/teacher communication is available in English and Spanish on this site. Helpful links to other articles and tips for parents are also included. Public Broadcasting System (PBS) – Establishing Strong Family/School Communication - This article addresses strong Family/School communication with links to other helpful resources. Family Support America - This site has various resources to identify and support family strengths, including information on work-family stress, reaching out to fathers, involving incarcerated parents and building on family assets. Service Leader - This site offers web based resources and links for school administrators, teachers, parent teacher organizations and other parent volunteers, as well as anyone who coordinates volunteer and community partnership activities with other organizations, including businesses. | |||||||||
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