After doing some research on interactive websites in one of my elementary method classes, I realized that interactive websites are fun and engaging way to bring a subject to life. Because science is usually hands-on activities I wanted to find out what interactive science websites were out their for elementary children.
The first website I found, was www.fossweb.com. I really enjoyed this website and would recommend it to any science teacher. This website focuses on grades K-8, and the higher the grade the more difficult the content. After you choose your grade level you can choose the subject you are currently working on and learn vocabulary, play games, and read/ listen to information on that topic. For children this is a wonderful website.
The second website I found was www.tki.org.nz. This website focuses on Earth science, and it is practice quiz questions for students. There is reading involved, so you wouldn't be able to use this with younger grades unless you read it to them. This website was nice, but the teacher would defiantly need to review it before having the students go on it to make sure that it is meeting the same content that they are currently learning in class or some students may get frustrated.
I will post more websites as I continue my search. However, I think teaching students using interactive websites is brilliant. You incorporate technology, so the chances are you are spiking the children's interest, because it's not the same old thing. Also you are more likely to meet a variety of different learners because interactive websites are visual, some have auditory devices and of course they are interactive. Overall, I think interactive websites are a great learning tool, and a great way to have more fun in science while still learning.
After reading your post I checked out fossweb.com and found some really neat things too. It looks like a very teacher and student friendly site. I like how everything is so easy to find and navigate. It will be fun to see what else you find!
ReplyDeleteI agree that interactive websites are a great resource to use in the classroom. My partner and I actually used one during our science unit and it worked out really well. The students seemed to really enjoy it and learn a lot from it. The website we used is Brainpop.com, and it covers many different subject areas. There are videos to watch as well as games, jokes, and drawing and writing tools. The only negative is that you have to pay for this website. I was able to get a trial for 5 days in order to explore it and use it in the classroom. This is a site that I would suggest schools purchasing to have available to teachers and students in the computer lab and classrooms because I feel it is a very valuable resource with a ton of potential.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that websites are a great way to integrate content in your classroom. With younger grades it can be as a center or if students have free time in upper grades. I really enjoyed fossweb.com, and have saved it to my favorites to use as a future resource. Websites can be a great way to get children interested. Most students enjoy using technology, and can learn from it. Like you said, you have to make sure you preview the websites to make sure they are appropriate and also that the content is relevant and accurate to what you are teaching.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that interactive websites are great to incorporate into your classroom and are extremely beneficial for your students. I've had to research a few interactive websites for different classes as assignments and have seen many of them used in my placements. One great one I want to share is www.brainpop.com and is an awesome website that I've seen students use for a number of lessons and topics. This is a great topic to research and really like what you've found. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of either of these websites. Fossweb was really interesting, at first glance it looked kind of plain but there are a lot of things to do. It was pretty well designed and very easy to navigate. As for the tki site I felt that there was a lot of stuff that I didn't really understand. Some of the language used makes it very hard to understand, I'm not sure I would use it.
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