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BBC - KS2 Revisewise - English - Can you solve the mystery of the missing jewelry? You'll have to read very carefully, then question the witnesses. Who is telling the truth and who is lying? Can you shed some light on the real thief? Other parts of this rollicking good fun site teach you how to write a great story, spell well, and more.
Chateau Meddybumps - Read a "story starter" to your child and ask him or her to finish the story; write it all down. Make a whole library of your child's own stories! But that's still not the best part. In the Learning area, click on Online Activities, then have some fun playing games with frogs, fire engines, clowns, and rutabagas.
Elements of Style - This little book of grammar was written a long time ago, but writers use it to this day, often referring to it as their "bible." You might be interested in checking the list of words and phrases commonly misused and misspelled.
Kids' Space - This internationally recognized and award-winning site will become one of your favorite Internet destinations because it has something for everyone. Older kids might want to see KSC (Kids' Space Connection) to visit lots of home pages created by other kids--and they can list theirs here, too. Toddlers will love the detour to HPT (Hop Pop Town) to try out the many interactive musical experiences. But Kids' Space itself is everybody's home page. You can submit audio files of your music or digital drawings and hear and see what other children around the world have done, too. The Story Book is where kids write their own stories, using the pictures and themes provided. There is even a beanstalk that keeps growing each month in the Craft Room. Pick an artwork and create a story for it, or choose a story already written and draw a picture for it. All commands at this site include pictures with them, so even the youngest child (who may be still developing reading skills) can enjoy this creative and fun learning experience.
Notetaking Strategies - Have you noticed you can't just listen to the teacher or read a book and remember EVERYTHING? Eventually you see other kids making notes about what's being said, or what happens in the book. Notes are good because you can refer to them later when you are studying, both to refresh your memory about what you learned and to help you prepare for a test. This site will help you learn how to take notes. Be sure to take the link back to General Purpose Learning Strategies for many other tips on learning to learn.
Poetry Pals Internet Poetry Publishing Project for K-12 Students - Do you like to write poetry? If the answer is "Yes!" then by all means visit this site and share your poems with other kids from all over the world. If you've never written a poem in your life and you'd like to give it a try, click on Magnetic and take a peek at an online version of "magnetic poetry." Click on the words you like and drag them around to make a poem on your computer screen. There are several of these types of games on the Net, but this one is created especially for kids.
Secret Language - Psssst! Want to send a secret message to a friend, one that nobody else can possibly decipher? Head on over to this page at San Francisco's Exploratorium, where you can print out a copy of some substitution cipher wheels. Put one inside the other, twirl them around a little bit, and you're in the spy biz!
SignWritingSite - Did you know that there is a sign language alphabet? You may be familiar with finger spelling alphabets, but this one is different. It's an alphabet for the motion of the hands and body as well as the facial expressions used in making the sign for a particular word. The result looks somewhat like hieroglyphics to someone seeing it for the first time! This type of notation has been around since the 1960s; the idea came from DanceWriting--a pictorial shorthand for writing down dance movements. Why not do the same type of thing for sign language movements? The results are here. Be sure to see if you can read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and the other children's stories (look in the Library): all the words are in SignWriting.
Story Creations - This is a great place for you and your child to spend some time. Story Creations and personalized letters are customized with your child's name. Just choose a story or letter and answer a few short questions. When you click on the "submit" button, your Story Creation or personalized letter will appear on your screen, complete with illustrations. Don't forget to print out your Story Creation when you're done. You may want to keep all your personalized stories in a binder.
Wacky Web Tales - Do you like those zany stories where you fill in the blanks and then see what story has been made up using the words you provide? Well, here are some of the zaniest, but that's not all... you can also submit your own web tale for others to be able to fill in the blanks.
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