Thanks to Stacey, Dana, Tara, Betsy, Anna, and Beth, the amazing writers and thinkers who host the Slice of Life community every Tuesday. Everyone is welcome to join with posts or comments at twowritingteachers.wordpress.com!One of the challenges of my year is rethinking and redeveloping our grammar curriculum. I have read many great books on the subject--The Power of Grammar and Grammar Matters remain at the top of my list for anyone looking for elementary-geared recommendations-and yesterday, with the snow storm, I started writing some of the lessons we will fold into units.
As I watched the UConn women play South Carolina (Go UConn! --they won, if anyone is interested), I perused websites for grammar games. My twelve year-old snuggled into me and coached me through a battleship game at http://www.quia.com/ba/144044.html?AP_rand=604647634. It definitely kept our attention and we had to practice our subject-verb agreement. We also went on a treasure hunt at http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en30stru-game-verb-subject-treasure-hunt. This website has many interactive games to capture the gaming spirits, and Cecily paid more attention to finding treasure than the layups and three-pointers happening on the television set. Cecily was less interested in the extensive array of lessons offered at learnzillion.com. I knew that learnzillion offered great math lessons, but I was not as aware of the resources available for writing and language. Wow! If you haven't registered, I highly recommend doing so and allotting time for exploration.
Play is such an important part of learning, and we have so many resources available during this age of access! The #caedchat was all about play last week--if you have time, read some of the tweets about the definition of play and the importance of it for learning. Also, don't miss Julieanne's post about the importance of play in lives and learning.
Happy Slicing!
I saw Julieanne's post this morning. Now that I'm reading yours I think I have to join an upcoming #caedchat Twitter chat!
ReplyDeleteOff to check out these sites, Melanie! Like Stacey, I want to participate in one of the chats, too - sounds enriching.
ReplyDeleteGrammar Matters has so many wonderful ideas, and these websites sound like they will be a great follow up to many of the lessons. Thanks for sharing these resources, Melanie!
ReplyDeleteThis year I started using No Red Ink with my students. They actually enjoy doing it. They can choose what they are interested in to the subjects of their sentences. It's not quite play, though. It's more like motivating drill. I'll have to check out the sites you are suggesting. Stay warm.
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