Animal Ocean Games
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/animals/ocean/animaloceangame.htm
The website I found was called Animal Ocean Games. They are created for Pre-school and kindergarten students. I liked this website because when you first go to the site the child was able to click on any of the animals and hear their name. This is helpful because they are able to but a name with the word and also a name with the picture that is shown. It helps with the spelling of each of the animals and how to pronounce each of the names of the animals. After you are done learning which animal is which you click the big arrow and takes you to a new page where it asks you a question about an animal and you guess which on it is based on the description of the animal. It goes though all the animals it shows in the beginning and when you reach the end you can play again or choose a different activity to do. The reason I liked this website is because it is very kid friendly and it is easy for the children and parents to navigate through. It is engaging and the children will have a lot of fun learning the basics of all the different sea animals.
(Evaluated by Amanda Lisberger)
Ocean Life Resources
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=323
This informative website full of ocean life resources for early childhood through middle school aged students comes from the Scholastic website, which is a very reliable and qualified site. The site includes 18 articles, and incorporated with each article are activities that are closely related to the instructive article over an ocean life topic. Also included in each article are “related articles” that the website provides which can also be useful to the student or teacher to gain a better understanding of the concept. Because this website has so much to offer, it allows the teacher to decide how he/she wants to implement these resources into the classroom. For an example, for a 4th-6th-grade classroom, the articles could serve as a handout for the students before completing the activities. The handout would briefly inform the students of the ocean life topic, as the activity would serve as a hands-on approach for a better understanding to the students. On the other hand, for an early childhood classroom (K-3nd grade), the articles would not be handed to the students but rather briefly discussed before completing the activity that would actually serve as the “teaching method” for the ocean life concept. Included in this website are simple ideas complete with straightforward activities for young students as well as more complex concepts complete with more intricate activities that would be valuable for middle school aged students. Because I am interested in teaching in a Kindergarten or first grade classroom, I will give a detailed explanation for an activity aimed at this age.
An activity aimed for Kindergarten students is named, “Something’s Fishy”. To conduct the activity, the teacher will purchase a goldfish and container to stay in the classroom for observation. The teacher will split the class into groups and record questions they have about goldfish. After observing the goldfish, the teacher will draw an outline of the fish on the chalkboard and have student volunteers add different parts such as the eyes, fins, gills and mouth on his outline. Included in the activity is a worksheet, “Something Fishy Journal Page”, where they will draw a picture, label the parts and answer questions aloud. A few questions to be answered out loud are: “What happens when the fish opens its mouth under water?” and “Can the fish make noise?”
One of the many strengths of this activity is that it is a hands-on approach to teaching young students with short attention spans. I feel that because the students will be given the opportunity to observe a goldfish in person, they will stay actively engaged and involved. This is a great activity for multiliteracy classrooms because the English learners are able to observe on their own what they see rather than possibly struggle with language understanding and comprehension through lecturing or reading. Because the students are not being told about the goldfish, but they are rather observing what they see, possible misunderstandings and confusion that an English leaner might experience will be eliminated. A methodological practice included in this activity is comprehensible input. Key components that are illustrated are questioning and interaction. By allowing the students to ask questions, a variety of open-ended questions are asked that allows communication and interaction between students. This activity would be extremely useful in a multiliteracy classroom, and I hope to someday have the opportunity to implement this activity in my classroom.
(Evaluated by Claire Cumbie)
Ocean Life For Kids
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/eviau/edit557/oceans/linda/loceans.htm
This website can be used for students in first or second grade. The topic is ocean life and the website provides options for many activities that the students can do while on the website and also off the website. The website contains information and activities relating to ocean life for kids.
Before the students start the activities, a good idea would be for the teacher to create and “I wonder” chart with the students about the topic of ocean life. Students can brainstorm and share what they already know about ocean life and then go on to do their activities and research with the website.
The students can select an animal on the website and that page will bring up a picture of that animal and facts about it. There are many different types of animals on the website such as dolphins, fish, sharks, different types of crabs, etc. There is also an option where the student can print out a blank picture of the animal.
One activity that the students can do off the website, but also using information from the website, is the student can print out a picture of the animal and color it and then also write down facts that they learned from the website about that animal. The students can print out different pictures and then the teacher can hang them around the classroom or on a large background of blue paper (to represent the ocean) and place the animals on that background. The students will be able to look around their classroom and see and learn about all the different animals.
There is also an option on each animal page where student can answer several multiple choice questions about that particular animal. This is a good way for the students to learn and test their their knowledge while on the website.
There is also an option on the website called “Take a Quiz”, which is basically an option for students to take a multiple choice quiz on what they have learned about Ocean Life. The teacher can have students take the quiz for a grade.
Another activity on the website is an activity called “Make A Fish.” The students can go to this page and they can design their own fish. They can pick the shape, size, fins, colors, etc. This would be a good activity for students to do and then they could print them out and share their own fish with the class.
This website also has links to other websites that have to do with ocean life for students. One of the websites that I found interesting was the virtual whale watching website. Students can go to this page and whale watch from the computer!
All of these activities can be beneficial to ELL students because they will be able to become more familiar with common words and words relating to ocean life. Looking at the pictures on the website will also allow them to become familiar with English words and what they are learning. They will also practice their English speaking skills when sharing in groups and with the class. This would be a type of Interaction, because the ELL students benefit from opportunities to use English in multiple setting across content areas.
Having the students work together in groups is a good way for them to learn to work with others and practice their communication skills. The students can work together by sharing a computer or sharing their “Make a Fish” products with each other. The teacher can assign small groups of student a specific animal to research using the website and then each group can share with the class what they learned about their ocean life animal. This is a good example of an explorer activity.
(Evaluated by Rachel Roberts)
The Ocean Portal
This website is great for learning all about ocean life. Created by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the “Ocean Portal” provides videos, photo essays, interactive games, and easy to navigate charts and time lines. I would recommend this site for a little bit older students, maybe 3rd or 4th grade. But with its many interactive activities and extensive photos and diagrams, it is very suitable for ESL learners struggling with content relevant to ocean life.
The first tab is called “Ocean Life and Ecosystems.” It features several cover stories, such as the one titled “Great White Sharks.” What are neat about these stories are the short segments of writing accompanied by many pictures. A lot of the main ideas and headings are outlined in a different color, and some provide links to extra information and photos. For example, the words in the article ‘great white shark’ lead to an archive of photos and videos of the great white shark. This would be very helpful for ESL who might find the videos and photos useful fillers while reading. Also, to the side of each reading is a ‘science sticky’ with one highlight listed from the article. This can help scaffold students as they read and look for important information from the reading. This article also has a ‘cool stuff’ tab with an interactive shark game, podcast about the life of a great white shark, a slide show of a shark breaching, and a shark tracker. All of these are fun ways to review what was read with extra sensory items, such as listening to a podcast and watching a slide show.
Another tab on this site is the “Photo Essays.” Here, students can find photo galleries for a large range of topics with short, easy to read captions. This would be helpful for introducing students to a new topic without overloading them with too much information. These essays would provide students with general background knowledge on which to build future readings.
The tab “Oceans Over Time” provides interactive time lines. One, ‘Top Predators Time line,’ is an interactive graph with photos, diagrams, maps, and brief passages for each part of the time line. One fun graph for each compares the animal’s size to a human. This is fun to compare and think about you next to a top predator. These kinds of pictures and short, to the point passages can help students visualize and really understand the features of each animal.
This website has many more links, articles, videos, and games for students to explore. It is really a fun, interactive website that makes content comprehensible and interesting. There are also a lot of links and tabs for teachers with lesson plans, tips, and activities to use in the classroom. The website can be paired with these classroom activities as an effective learning tool. Overall, this is a really great site for students of all skill ranges.
(Evaluated by Cami Kinley)
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