Assignment # 2 Age/Subject Resources

1) Student Resources: Writing
Writing is often said to be a painful process and often it is for kids. Writing skills should not be ignored because children will be writing their entire lives. This is why kids need to have a firm foundation in the fundamental skills for writing at an early age. It's my hope to make writing enjoyable for children and I think this can be done easily by playing games such as Proofreading Makes Perfect which has kids practice proofreading for mistakes such as punctuation, grammar, spelling, and usage. Another fun game that kids can play to practice their writing skills is Wacky Stories which has children practice their parts of speech in a fun and creative way. Games like these can be used in a classroom during computer lab. Or when a student has finished all their assignments and needs something to do while he/she waits for the rest of the class. When looking for online resources in writing there seemed for be an abundant amount of sites that encouraged kids to practice writing skills. It is very easy for kids to access these types of games on the internet.

2)Student Resources: Art
Art is an important subject in school. It teaches about colors, textures, shapes, distances, and countless other topics. Teachers should not over look the significance art has in a classroom. When looking for online resources for art I was very impressed at all the sites that had resources for teachers to use in their classroom. While searching for the resources I came across some games that really impressed me. One such game is called Art Detective. This game impressed me the most because it was interactive and very educational about art. As teachers we should teach students how not only to draw, but then we should also teach about art history as well. This game does that very thing. It show pictures of famous painting and talks about painters while playing a fun game. Another activity that I found is called Art.com which simply allows students to paint while on the computer. Both of these games would be perfect for the class to participate in on a SMART board, especially the Art Detective game.

3)Student Resources: Reading
Reading is one of the first subjects students learn when entering into the academic world. Students also struggle with reading very easily, especially in their fluency in reading. The best way to improve fluency is to practice. Online activities are perfect for that and they can be done independently. Unfortunately, most games online are aimed more towards writing, but in games such as Monkey Business and Alien Scavenger Hunt make kids create words and sentences then has them read the words and sentences out loud. These resources would be great for kids to use during computer labs or even on the SMART board. They are very fun and engaging games.

4) Students Resources: Math
Math just might be one of the most dreaded subjects in school. By having kids play fun games the involves math the "fear factor" is taken away and kids can genuinely enjoy math. Many children love sports and so by playing a game like Math Baseball kids are "tricked" into thinking that math is fun, which it is. This game covers all math subjects that third graders should know in a fun and interactive way. This game could easily be played on a SMART board for review of math subjects. The Factor Game is another math activity i about factors that is done done in partners. This is a great way for peers to help each other with hard subjects such as factors in groups of two instead of always working alone.

5) Teacher Resources
I've learned that teachers are only limited by their imagination. If that is true then having recourses to help figure out lesson ideas and plans is a great way to expand a teachers imagination. Art Lesson is by Crayola, and they give many ideas for art lessons that are easy enough that those teacher who are not very artistic can do and their kids will love the project. Another resource is The Teachers Corner, which is a complete resources that helps with things like classroom management, bulletin board ideas, lesson plans, and thematic Units. It is very useful for those teacher who are stuck due to a lack of imagination.