Readwritethink.org

READY SET VOTE!  

How about a site that will let you use persuasive writing to create a political ad?  Read Write Think has an interactive for that and many more which blend proven instruction with Internet Technology.

Students can create;  persuasion maps, travel brochures, trading cards, story maps, bio cubes, plot diagrams, printing press, comics, even literary graffiti and much much more!

The site comes with complete lesson plans for grades K-12 focused on the three areas of literacy practice: learning language, learning about language, learning through language. 

Younger students will enjoy their Interactives demonstrating letters, sounds and word patterns.  The lessons for older students focus on critical thinking and comprehension. 

Ready to infuse one of their lessons into your plans?  Just E-mail Janice and she will be glad to come to  your classroom and work with you and your students.

http://tinyurl.com/y9tlvkz
Persuasion Map Interactive

How to Use Technology To Teach Vocabulary

Wordle:  http://www.wordle.net/create  is a word cloud. The cloud you see above this  entry is from   Wordle. It is easy to use.  Type words multiple times to increase their font size.

Tagxedo: http://www.tagxedo.com turns words,  famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, into a word cloud. You can choose from a variety shapes, colors, and fonts for your word cloud.

Lexipedia: http://www.lexipedia.com  a multi-lingual visual dictionary that creates a word web and defines words based on their part of speech. 

SnappyWords: http://www.snappywords.com   This site will interactively help you find meanings for words and connections to associated words within its interactivity and thesaurus. It will look like a “word web” that can easily be manipulated.  Click on the beta link to see an example.  Then you will want to register for your free account.
Visuwords:  http://visuwords.com/  is another word web dictionary. Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a circle to expand the tree. Click and drag to move the background around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over circles to see the definition and click and drag individual circles to move them around  and to help clarify connections.

TheVisual Dictionary: http://thevisualdictionary.net  uses photographs of words in the real world to visually explore them.

Shahi:  http://blachan.com/shahi/ This is a visual dictionary that combines Wiktionary content with Flickr images and more.

 WordStash:  http://flashcardstash.com  Create your own account at this link.  It is built on top of a dictionary, so you can look up words and save them.  With one click, students can access dictionary information and create flash cards or play the interactive games with YOUR words for review.

 TagGalaxy: http://taggalaxy.de/  The resource will create a 3D galaxy of words and their associations.  You can even click on a word and move it to the center of the galaxy and watch the globe populate it with new Flickr images and facts.  You have to check this one out! Your students will love it. 

Vocabulary.co  http://www.vocabulary.co.il/  has vocabulary games to expand your students verbiage.