Rainforest

http://www.kidsknowit.com/interactive-educational-movies/free-online-movies.php?movie=biomes
I was really looking for a website that would touch on the differences between biomes. I thought that this video was very good for both ELL’s and native English speakers. There are vocabulary words thrown into the video and also defined, which is great because all students would benefit from the vocabulary definitions for newly introduced science words. Because there are so many vocabulary words and the video is dense with content, it would help ELL’s who have developed pretty good English skills. There are subtitles and pictures for students, which could aid ELL’s, but does not have a pause button for students who read more slowly.
The video touched on many differences between biomes, with a good introduction to biomes and then segues into the rainforest, telling students what to look for in the rainforest biome specifically.
There is a fill in the blank test at the end testing both spelling and content retention, making sure they were paying attention, saw words on screen, now spell them. The questions were VERY specific, I’m not sure that I caught all the answers, but you can go back and watch the video again until you collect all the correct answers. I think this is good because then students can watch the video the second time knowing what to look out for. Overall, a great website for students and teachers because it will surely stimulate some classroom discussion!
By: Elyse Prevot


www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids
This website is helpful and entertaining for children learning about the rainforest. It is a website for all ages of people dedicated to saving and learning about the rainforest. The part that will be focused on is the “Kid’s Corner” of the website. Once you get to the “Kid’s Corner,” children are directed to a set of 6 pictures describing what each link goes to. Once they click the “Plant and Animal” link with a monkey on it, they are directed to a long list of many animals that live in the rainforest and break them up into their species profile. I think this is helpful because it also helps children learn what animals belong in what species. It shows the Red Eye Tree Frog under Amphibians, a Bird species list, an Insect species list, and a mammal species list. Once they click on the animal they want to learn about, for instance, the Capuchin Monkey, they are directed to the Species Profile page. Here they are given a picture of the animal and a long list of interesting facts such as their anatomy, habitat, diet and threats. After the children study up on their animals of choice, there is a link easily identifiable on the left labeled “online games”. There is a game called, “Jewels of the Earth,” which takes the child on a tour of the rainforest and it’s canopies where the child can run into a large variety of animals to learn more about. Through the “Kids Corner” page, children can also be directed to an activities page where they can print out coloring pages of animals to color and also some links to some hands on activities to teach about the rainforest through experiments, crafts and quizzes.
I like how the language is used through out the “Kid’s Corner” of the website. It is not too heavy of language so that an English Language Learner is not completely lost. The photo galleries are very engaging as well which give the children a better idea of what they are studying. I also like how the online games section is not just games; they apply information for children to learn from. I really like the activities page because it gives the children hands on experiments to grow plants in similar environments as those in the rainforest, such as the bromeliad experiment. I think this website is a fun and interactive way for children of all ages to learn about animals of the rainforest.
By: Cecily Augustine


http://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/002.html
This website will explain everything about rainforests. For example, it will explain what rainforest is, where a rainforest is found, what makes a rainforest, and the different types of rainforest animals, plants, and even people. This website has videos and pictures so that it can help ELL students. The topic that I picked was rainforest locations. In this website, there is a picture of the world and the locations that have rainforests are marked green. This visual representation is going to help ELL students understand where rainforests are located in the world. In this website, it even has pictures of different country flags explaining which countries have largest amount of rainforests. This will help students understand that not only one country has rainforests. This will help them understand that rainforests are located in different countries. In the picture, students will notice that almost all the rainforests are located between the tropic of Capricorn and tropic of Cancer. (Capricorn and Cancer are marked on the map). If students do not know what these are, teachers can show it to them by pointing. In this website it explains why most rainforest are located between the tropic of Capricorn and tropic of Cancer. This is because this region is the warmest. This way, student can learn that rainforest are located only in warm places, not everywhere.
By: Soo Yoon



http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/Kids
This website is very useful for kids to gain some knowledge about rainforests. Some topics that this site covers are rainforest people, plants and animals, threats to rainforests, as well as activity sheets and information on how to save the rainforest. The topic that I am focusing on is rainforest people. This website is easy to follow and when you get to the main page it says "What do you want to do," click on the first section that says "meet some of the people who live in the rainforest and find out how they live." It takes you to trail 1. There is a total of 7 trails. In trail 1 you meet Mirim who is part of a tribe who lives in the amazon rainforest. He acts as a guide that will assist you through each trail. The topics that Mirim covers about rainforest people are hunting, farming, medicine from plants, clothes and jewelry, homes, and daily life in the rainforest. This website is excellent for kids as well as ESL learners. The information given is short and simple. Each section also provides bold words through out the passage. This would be very beneficial for ESL learners so they can focus and the bold words and get the main idea out of the passage. There are also pictures provided for each trail that coordinates to the topic. This would be another resource for ESL learners to make the connection of the picture to the word. What I really liked about this site is that Mirim who is the guide, asks questions to engage the students and to check for clarification.
By: Aprial Guerra

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rnfrst_plant_page.htm
The website that I found was a place called blueplanetbiomes. I found the website to be very beneficial to those children who are trying to learn about the the rainforest. I really liked it because I find it was something that will help out all ages. It is a website that helps children of every age to be able to learn and navigate around the website. When you first get to the website you will find pictures and information on the rainforest biome.I think this is good for ELL students because they are able to look at a map and know where the rainforest is located. There are many tabs along the left side that help you learn a little about what is involved in the areas. The tabs include ?Plants? ?Animals? ?Climate? These tabs are really big and when you click on them they allow you to go to other sites to learn about what they choose. I am focusing on the different plants that are included in the the rainforest. When you click on the tab it takes you to another page where there is a list of different plants that are in the area. There are again tabs along the left side of the page when you click on one of the plants such as the Jambu you get a picture and information on what it is. This is something I think that ELL students would also benefit from they can know where the location is and even know the different plats that are located here. The teacher could even do different games with the different plants like identifying which plant is what and they can even take turns spelling it. These are different things that could allow the ELL students to get a better grasp on the material. I think that overall this site is a good one for both students and teachers.
By: Gabriel Gonzalez