Starfall

The website  www.starfall.com.

I am a teacher at a school out in the countryside in the south of Sweden. I teach English in grade three, four and five and I have used this website “Starfall” with my pupils. I found the website two years ago when I had been at an English day for teachers at Linnéuniversitetet in Växjö. They showed us the website “Språklänkportalen” and there I found “Starfall”.

It is easy for the pupils to use this website. They understand fast how to use it. I have used the website with the whole class at the same time and the pupils work at different levels of course. Starfall has four levels: ABCDs, Learn to read, It´s fun to read, I´m reading. In grade three they start with the level ABCDs to learn the letters and the sounds. There are pictures and a story to each letter.

In the level “I´m reading” you can read or listen to different books. There are for example comics, Folk tales and Greek Myths. There are also some books, “Talking library”, with much more text in them, which is good for pupils who can read English texts quite well. These books are good for pupils in grade four and five. The pupils can read the book themselves or they can listen to the whole book or some parts. They can also listen to some words they don´t know how to pronounce.

There are also a lot of games for every different level. The pupils in grade three and four like the games but in grade five some pupils think they are too childish. There are also songs and rhymes, which are fun to do together. There are also some math’s exercises. One thing I don´t like with the website is that” the voices” are always very young children. It is good to know that they talk in American English.

I have also used this website for pupils who have big problems learning English. They like it very much and they manage to work with the website on their own.

Today a lot of pupils learn a lot of English in their spare time. They listen to music, play computer games, and talk to other children in English when they play WoW and so on. But on the other hand there are some children who only practice English in school and it is not enough I think. I have given those children some examples of websites that are easy and fun for them so they can practice some English in their spare time too. Starfall is one of them.

Starfall was made by Stephen Schutz. He had big problems learning to read and so he wanted to help children with a fun way to learn English. The website is recommended by “National Institute of Child Health and Human Development” and there are pages for teachers and parents. The website was created for young children in the US but it works well for pupils who learn English as foreign language.

Now when I am just going to publish my paper I see that someone else already have write about “starfall”!!!!!

Anette Grahn

 

www.starfall.com

Learn to read with www.starfall.com

I came across this wonderful website when my kids started school here in the US. Especially my youngest struggled with the relations between spelling and how words was pronounced. I noticed that he could spend hours in front of the computer imitating, reading and singing. He had really fun with it and having fun and making progress with both reading and writing skills is a very good combination.

The site is designed for children who are learning to read. It is arranged in four different sections to play based on in what stage the child is in their reading from reading readiness to independent readers. It works both for native speakers but also for ESL learners since you have both pictures and sound. So it’s easy to understand what to do even if you don’t speak English yet. Kids progress in activities in four sections. They start with pre-reading activities in ”starfall ABCs” where they simply sound out different combinations of letters. Next, kids play games, hear and read stories, and watch animated videos to apply letter sounds to words in the “ Learn to read” section. In the “It’s fun to read” section, kids choose short reading selections to learn vocabulary. In the final section, “I’m reading”, kids choose to read from a collection of short online books to develop fluency and comprehension.

The only thing you need to use this resource is a computer connected to the Internet. It is, however optional to have a projector to engage the whole class at the same time.

Starfall is phonic-based and it is free. According to the site it is based on numerous studies and educational research. They mention National institute of Child Health as a provider of research used to create this site. Together with your class you can have fun while practicing letter sounds, reading comprehension and word recognition through online songs, rhymes and other games. You can also have kids working on their own or in pairs if you have a computer in your classroom. Since there is a lot of sounds involved you probably need a pair of headsets!

What I really like about this website is that it is entertaining and very user-friendly, both for you as a teacher, but also for the kids. You don’t need a lot of time to prepare. However, it is an American site, which means that American English is being used. You may have to take some time to explore it and see if there are some words that are not frequently used in British English, which is to be taught in Sweden. Another great thing is that when you read a storybook online or practice letter sounds, the site reads it back to you with a kid’s voice!

It’s free and has no advertising although you are offered to buy supplemental material from the online store.

The site also offers a numerous of resources for parents and teachers to use at home or in school. You can also get a glance of the “Reading and language arts curriculum” which you can buy if you are interested. 

Smartboard

I work as a teacher in the 1^st grade at Grebyskolan in Kimstad, Norrkopings kommun, and I´m so lucky that I have got a Smartboard in my classroom.

 A Smartboard is an interactive whiteboard. To make the Smartbord work you have to connect it to a computer and, of course put, the power on. When a school purchases th “Smartboard” consept they also get the very usable software “Notbook” which is loaded with features to help you to make the most out of the Smartboard.

On the “Smartboard” you can clone your computer screen, so the pupils can see what you see on the computer screen. The board itself is a touch screen, so you can use your finger on the screen just like you are using an Ipad. It is also possible to use the Smartboard as a whiteboard and write with the special pens on it. Everything you do on the Smartbord is possible to save on the computer connected to it. It is also possible to connect a document camera to the Smarboard and show pictures, texts or other things you put under the camera. A great feature is that you can take pictures of the things you put under the document camera and save direct in your computer.

The Smartboard is very useful for me as a teacher. I can use it to stream films, I can type or write during the lesson and the pupils can see the text while I ´m writing, I can move objects around, I can create exciting and fun lessons in an easy way.
Another good thing with the Smartboard; you aren’t limited to the area of an ordinary whiteboard, which you have to wipe and then your notes are lost. On the Smartboard you can save, go back and rehearse everything.
I can use pictures, music and sounds to help the pupils increase their learning. There is also a lot of “ready to use” lessons for the Smatboard on the internet.

The pupils enjoy working with the Smarboard, they can write on it, they can move objects around and they can play games on it. They can work together in an easier way, because everyone can easily see it and get access to it. The pupils can present their work on the Smarboard, for example films made in PhotoStory or by connecting a document camera to the Smartboard and show paintings or hand written texts.

You have to consider that it takes a lot of time to learn how to use the Smartboard in an efficient way and you have to practice “learning by doing” and I think it´s a good investment of the time because it´s a great tool to use.

You have to keep in mind that it might take some time to get the equipment ready to use, so make sure you got time enough to prepare your lesson. 

Documenting and analyzing using a videocamera.

Documenting and analyzing using a videocamera.

We have been working with video camera in our English teaching in third grade.
The students have been practicing the play Three little pigs in a simple english translation.
They have documented the entire process with a video camera and after each exercise, we have analyzed language and pronunciation and the students have come up with suggestions for changes and improvements for the next exercise.

I think this is a great way to use technology in English teaching. Students find it exciting and fun. To film themselves and listen to the recording makes them both get to hear how they sound when they speak english and also compare each other's pronunciation and discuss how it should sound if an englishman would say the same sentence.

When we together have come up with pronunciation and accents, they practice a few more times and then we shoot the whole play for the last time.

The next step is to show it for classmates who are in the first and second grade.
Now we can use the video in our continuing education even for the younger students.
Listening to spoken English and especially listen to themselves and compare their pronunciation is an important learning situation.
Making it in the form of a play makes it much more fun.

iPad - a great tool!

I have just finished an education about digital tools - Lin Education. Maybe any of you have done it to?
 Lidköping invests a lot in digital tools and education about it. In one year we have moved from 5 iPads per class to one iPad per two pupils, and the sixth grade have one iPad per pupil.
The education has been great and twisted our thoughts many times. The digital journey went from using it for documentation with the camera, pic collage (an app) and playing apps for math and Swedish to use it for formative assessment, finding information, writing, and much more. I use the iPads every day and in almost every lesson in some way. The kids love it and I see how motivated the pupils are. Last week we were talking during the lunch about what they should do under the lunchbreak, they wanted to look for spring-signs, and asked me: - Can we use the iPads and document what we find?

During the Lin education examination we had 20 minutes to show our journey, where we are today and what our goal is. I was nervous about how we should fill the 20 minutes, but after it felt like I could have talked for an hour about things we do and what we have learned. One important thing we have found out is that there is no goal, if we have a goal then what comes after?

So what do I do with iPads in the classroom (during the english class)?
- They practice english with apps (games).
- They write things on paper - practice and then record when they are speaking english with sock puppets (an app with different socks, backgrounds, voices) and they send it to me.
- They also write and record at the same time with Explain everything.
- They are filming each other (or just the paper) when they are telling things.
- Right now they are making dolls and they are going to have a fashion show with the dolls telling the clothes and filming with they're iPads.
- I have also read a homework and recorded it with the iPad. I put it on our digital platform where they could find it at home and practice their homework.
- With my iPad I also take pictures of books we use and show it on the projector so they all can follow and see were I'm pointing and so on.

There is so much to do, but this is pretty much what I have done so far. I feel like I can see much easier where each pupil is, what they need to practice more and it's easier to assess them. Without the iPad I would have a hard time to hear each pupil and assess it.

/Anna Törnberg

"LEARN ENGLISH KIDS"

 

Right now I am not teaching English at school and when I have done it, I have been teaching in the third grade and the pupils have been beginners. That is why I wanted to choose something that beginners at English could use and also have a lot of fun with.

At the school where I am working, we have few computers and do not have smartboards. We have some projectors in the ceiling we can use and in that way we can show the whole class sites from the internet.

I have chosen the website www.learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org. This site has a lot of opportunities. I can choose to work with the site with the whole class with help from a projector in the ceiling or the pupils can study the site themselves.

WHAT THE RESOURCE IS AND HOW IT WORKS

The resource is specially elaborated for children who are learning English as a foreign language. It is the British Council that stands behind the site. The site is developed and created by teachers and the site is easy to understand. I think that the children can have a lot of fun when they are using the resource to learn English.

If you want to, you can be a member and then you get access to further tools on the website. The account is free, and I really can recommend it.

The website has different subtitles as “Kids games”, “Listen and watch”, “Read and write”, “Make”, “Speak and spell”, “Grammar” and “Little kids”. Beyond each subtitle there are different activities.

HOW THE RESOURCE CAN BE USED BY THE TEACHER AND BY THE PUPILS

You can also choose to join as a teacher or as a parent and then you get other information and hints about what to do. For example, you can find worksheets which you can download. Beyond  “Listen and watch” there are also worksheets that can be downloaded. The animated stories and songs in “Listen and watch” are very useful. Either the pupils listen and watch the stories themselves or the whole class can listen and watch them with help from a projector in the ceiling.

 One of the animated stories.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS WHEN USING THE RESOURCE

It seems like the website has an enormous potential. When you click on one subtitle, you get other games, activities and so on. For example, if you click on “Topics”, you find a lot of new topics with a lot of subtitles beyond.

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE WEBSITE

I have never been using the website www.learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org with children, but I really want to try it out because I think it could be really useful! According to LGR11, we should start with the skills concerning with communication. For example, the pupils themselves can listen to a story on the website and then work with the worksheets. It is great when the pupils get the opportunity to listen to native English as it is in the stories. In that way they also practice the right pronunciation.

Smart board

The Smart board is an interactive whiteboard that gives you a great deal of resources to use in the classroom. It works just like a whiteboard which you can write on with a pen. It also works like an giant Ipad that you can write on through the computer or by hand. The Smart board have all the benefits of a whiteboard and on top of that access to Internet and a lot of lesson plans made especially for the Smart board and all of it´s functions.

When you are getting a Smart board you need to buy the concept from a retailer. It´s rather expensive to invest in Smart boards depending on size but it is well spent money. When you buy a smart board you get the specially adapt whiteboard, a interactive projector and a computer program, Notebook, that you can download on every computer. When you buy the Smart board you can also buy especially made programs suited for the classroom. One more thing, if you buy the Smart board from the retailer it is often included further training and free updates on the software.

                                                    
The smart board can be used by the teacher to make lesson plans, to save material and to share whit other teachers on different sites on the Internet. There is also lots of pre-made lessons that is offered in every school subject. A lot of educational publishers makes adapted material to use on the Smart board. It is a great way for the teacher to save material and to re-use and to repeat for the pupils whats been said on earlier lessons.

For the pupils its it´s an easy and very useful resource to use. It completes a lot of the aims in Lgr11. The pupils can learn how to handle the digital tool in many ways for example to type, make photo- and picture adjustments, make presentations and make movies. A big benefit with the Smart board is that if one pupil is absent for the day the teacher can save the lesson notes from the board and send them home directly from the smart board so that the pupil can catch up with what they have missed during the day.

 I think that the Smart board is a ICT tool that both teachers and pupil will benefit of and the pupils will get a lot of ”free knowledge” in using this ICT resource that they can use in their further studies and working life.