ReadWorks

ReadWorks has come a long way in a few years.  This year, with my new position in middle school, and with the focus being on increasing student vocabulary acquisition, I decided to take another look at what they had to offer.  I am so impressed with the streamlined approach to selecting articles, assigning them, and reviewing the data.

Above you will see a picture from my teacher dashboard.  I assigned the article, A Drop's Journey.  I can easily see the Lexile number, genre, and how many students have submitted the assignment.  I can also see that I have allowed this article to be read aloud to the students.  I can also quickly click on "Class Results" and view the data from my class.

Did I mention that this resource is entirely FREE?????  Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Freckle

Taken from the Freckle.com

Looking for a FREE tool to use with your students that will meet them where they are at in all four core areas?  I was on the same hunt, and fell in love with Freckle (formerly known as Frontrow).  Freckle gives a placement test and adapts practice to help students grow from where they are.  Giving students their user name and password is so easy because you can download adorable login cards that can be taped inside their binder or agenda.  I absolutely LOVE that there are science and social studies units that can be assigned with differentiated reading passages.  Want to learn more?  Click the Pig at the top to be directed to the website.

Science Snacks

We all know that students learn best when they combine "hands-on" with "minds-on" activities.  Sometimes, however, planning those hands-on experiences can be daunting.  Exploratorium takes the work out of planning simple science experiments.  These science "snacks" are organized by standards, topics, and alphabetically.

Science Spot Kid Zone

http://sciencespot.net/Pages/kidzone.html

This website has links to high-interest science websites by topic.

National Science Digital Library

https://nsdl.org/

The National Science Digital Library is a user-friendly website that houses science resources.  They can be searched by topic, grade level, resource type, and subject.