Most people might know ReadWriteThink.org as a collection of resources for teachers and students--and we are, so that is a good thing! But we are also a resource for parents/guardians/after school providers and kids (my distinction here being the not-so-scientific classification that a student is a kid who is in school--like actually in the school building doing school-based stuff).
We have these resources stored in an aptly named Parent & Afterschool section(which we typically call P&AS; I mention this because I will be using that initialism throughout the post). If you are a teacher, you should share these with parents. Especially the summer initiatives. We had one last year, Bright Ideas for Summer, for which Becky coordinated having some P&AS activities written/altered to fit a summer theme. And that is still up, still available, and still completely awesome for helping kids beat the Summer Slide (the "slide" backwards in progress that happens over summer when kids are no longer engaged in learning activities).
This year, little more of the same and little bit of something different. We have some new activities and some re-vamped activities come at you. BUT we spruced up the whole package this year.
Have you heard of We Give Books? They provide free books online for kids to read. Awesome, right? Of course! Free books over summer! That amazing!
And we've partnered up with them. We have ten P&AS activities in the works being that are being specifically written to accompany a book that will be provided for free from We Give Books. Each activity uses of one ReadWriteThink.org's interactives to engage kids after reading the book, to keep them thinking and learning and having fun.
The books are free. The interactives are free. The learning that can be achieved? Priceless.
I'll be adding a link to the resources when they go live. You can also keep an eye on our Summer Learning board on Pinterest. I've pinned the Bright Ideas info; I'll be pinning the We Give Books stuff as it becomes available. The whole thing launches mid June, so we are closing in.
And that is what we have coming for Summer Learning!
Wes
This blog is written and maintained by the editors of ReadWriteThink.org. It is a way for us to interact with our users and share our up-coming plans and events with you. We plan on keeping this light and friendly, not just business-like reporting, but engaging and (I hope) amusing discussions.
Showing posts with label bright ideas for summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bright ideas for summer. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
After Trading Cards: What's Next for Wes?
Summer, you move too fast! Already 18 days into June? When did that happen?
Probably in the last two weeks....
During which we finally wrapped up Trading Card Creator! This new interactive was pushed live last week, and we even included a sample card collection to show teachers how this might be used in class. (Click Save As and save the .rwt file down to your computer, then start the Trading Card interactive, click the Open tab at the top right, and open that .rwt file: instant Wes-created Shakespeare collection!)
This post will be the last time I'm going to mention Trading Card. For a few weeks, anyway.
Why for a few weeks? Because we're only mostly done with it. Not only is the online interactive version getting a Create Your Own Card feature (just like the Create Your Own Cube in the Cube Creator), which is not yet implemented, but we are still working on the tablet app version of the Trading Cards, and that's going in to beta testing in the next few weeks.
Exciting--and mystifying. App development is not easy work, and I am very thankful to have a great team to work with throughout the process.
So now what? What's next after Trading Cards (beyond more Trading Cards, that is)?
I've been looking at some of our interactive traffic to see which interactives are used, but I also looked at which interactives are just...old and "dingy" and in need of repair. After all, just because there is little traffic to an interactive does not mean that interactive is bad or not useful--it just might not be useful in that form. It might not be appealing or intuitive or catchy.
So right now, I have my eye on Venn Diagram. I have always felt this was a great interactive--a useful one!--that suffers in delivery (there are separate interactives for the 2- and 3-circle diagrams, for instance) and design. We can make this better. It's a great tool for literature. For math. For science. For every subject.
And I think we can update it quickly, easily, and as both an interactive and an app. So that's one thing on Wes's plate currently (and there are many more, but most of those projects aren't as interesting so I don't talk about them here).
But that's already in the works; that's Wes's after Trading Cards. What is Wes's after Venn Diagrams?
Maybe you should tell me.
We have 59 student interactives on ReadWriteThink.org. Fourteen of them are updated or completely new in the past couple years. Printing Press, Comic Creator, Word Mover, and the Venn Diagram are already in some way in the works (if you want to give feedback as we start planning the new Comic Creator, we are open to it).
So what I want to know is, what interactive do you use? Is it fine as is, or should we be looking to update it? Does the work saver functionality make sense for that interactive?s What do you or your students/kids really like about that interactive? What can be improved?
The better feedback we get, the more we can do to improve ReadWriteThink.org's offerings and to get you the tools and resources you want!
Wes
Probably in the last two weeks....
This post will be the last time I'm going to mention Trading Card. For a few weeks, anyway.
Why for a few weeks? Because we're only mostly done with it. Not only is the online interactive version getting a Create Your Own Card feature (just like the Create Your Own Cube in the Cube Creator), which is not yet implemented, but we are still working on the tablet app version of the Trading Cards, and that's going in to beta testing in the next few weeks.
Exciting--and mystifying. App development is not easy work, and I am very thankful to have a great team to work with throughout the process.
So now what? What's next after Trading Cards (beyond more Trading Cards, that is)?
I've been looking at some of our interactive traffic to see which interactives are used, but I also looked at which interactives are just...old and "dingy" and in need of repair. After all, just because there is little traffic to an interactive does not mean that interactive is bad or not useful--it just might not be useful in that form. It might not be appealing or intuitive or catchy.
So right now, I have my eye on Venn Diagram. I have always felt this was a great interactive--a useful one!--that suffers in delivery (there are separate interactives for the 2- and 3-circle diagrams, for instance) and design. We can make this better. It's a great tool for literature. For math. For science. For every subject.
And I think we can update it quickly, easily, and as both an interactive and an app. So that's one thing on Wes's plate currently (and there are many more, but most of those projects aren't as interesting so I don't talk about them here).
But that's already in the works; that's Wes's after Trading Cards. What is Wes's after Venn Diagrams?
Maybe you should tell me.
We have 59 student interactives on ReadWriteThink.org. Fourteen of them are updated or completely new in the past couple years. Printing Press, Comic Creator, Word Mover, and the Venn Diagram are already in some way in the works (if you want to give feedback as we start planning the new Comic Creator, we are open to it).
So what I want to know is, what interactive do you use? Is it fine as is, or should we be looking to update it? Does the work saver functionality make sense for that interactive?s What do you or your students/kids really like about that interactive? What can be improved?
The better feedback we get, the more we can do to improve ReadWriteThink.org's offerings and to get you the tools and resources you want!
Wes
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Are we there yet?
No. We certainly are not there yet. But we will be there Friday!
By we, I mean the IRA team of ReadWriteThink.org, and by there I mean Chicago. Lisa and Christy, on the NCTE side, arrive Sunday morning. They are driving in from elsewhere in Illinois; I don't envy them the day they will have that Sunday--the five of us are in meetings all day after their few-hour drive! I do, however, envy them the time savings.
ReadWriteThink.org is presenting two sessions this year at the IRA Convention.
Engaging Learners With “Games” in the Elementary Classroom
Presented by Katrina Allen, Karen Pelekis, and Emily Manning
Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm, W180, Convention Center
Incorporating Tools Across the Curriculum
Presented by (our very own!) Lisa Storm Fink
Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm, W176B, Convention Center
The team will be at both of these, so if you have a pressing desire to meet us, you can do so then and there, and we'd love to chat with you! Also, one of the clues to the scavenger hunt is going to be at the sessions; another good reason to swing by.
Becky and I are both doing back-up duty at the IRA Bookstore in the exhibit hall, and Christy and Lisa work at the NCTE Booth in the exhibit hall. I'm not sure about the locations, though. Maybe I'll tweet those out on the RWT tweet feed when I know them.
In other news, an article about our Bright Ideas for Summer recently published in IRA's Reading Today Online. Lot of good information about the program in there. We're really excited about it, and we hope to get a bunch of parents working with their kids over summer on these projects.
I still have a lot to get done before I can leave for Chicago, and not a lot of time left to do it since I leave Friday. I better get back to work!
Hope to see you in Chicago!
Wes
By we, I mean the IRA team of ReadWriteThink.org, and by there I mean Chicago. Lisa and Christy, on the NCTE side, arrive Sunday morning. They are driving in from elsewhere in Illinois; I don't envy them the day they will have that Sunday--the five of us are in meetings all day after their few-hour drive! I do, however, envy them the time savings.
ReadWriteThink.org is presenting two sessions this year at the IRA Convention.
Engaging Learners With “Games” in the Elementary Classroom
Presented by Katrina Allen, Karen Pelekis, and Emily Manning
Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm, W180, Convention Center
Incorporating Tools Across the Curriculum
Presented by (our very own!) Lisa Storm Fink
Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm, W176B, Convention Center
The team will be at both of these, so if you have a pressing desire to meet us, you can do so then and there, and we'd love to chat with you! Also, one of the clues to the scavenger hunt is going to be at the sessions; another good reason to swing by.
Becky and I are both doing back-up duty at the IRA Bookstore in the exhibit hall, and Christy and Lisa work at the NCTE Booth in the exhibit hall. I'm not sure about the locations, though. Maybe I'll tweet those out on the RWT tweet feed when I know them.
In other news, an article about our Bright Ideas for Summer recently published in IRA's Reading Today Online. Lot of good information about the program in there. We're really excited about it, and we hope to get a bunch of parents working with their kids over summer on these projects.
I still have a lot to get done before I can leave for Chicago, and not a lot of time left to do it since I leave Friday. I better get back to work!
Hope to see you in Chicago!
Wes
Thursday, March 29, 2012
And away we go!
I know what you're thinking:
ZOMG! There is a ReadWriteThink blog?!?! How could this be? I had no idea! I would have been following this from the beginning!!! How did I MISS this?
Whoah now! Hold up. No need to worry. Your internet skills have not disappeared on you.
This blog is new. Kind of.
I ported it over from where it lived before.There, it was my blog, and I used it to feature both IRA and ReadWriteThink.org stuff. Now, it is our blog--and by our, I mean mine and the other editors of ReadWriteThink.org should they decide to use it--and it will focus much more on ReadWriteThink and less about what's going on in IRA.
But IRA and NCTE will get their mentions. After all, we are a part of both organizations, and we end up hearing about or helping projects in both organizations. That's just the way it rolls.
I, Wes Ford, Associate Editor for ReadWriteThink.org at the International Reading Association, will likely remain your host for most of the time; however, I will try to get some of the other editors to jump on and blog a little bit.
I guess I should properly introduce my coworkers:
On NCTE's side:
Lisa Fink, Project Manager
Christy Simon, Publications Developer
On IRA's side:
Bridget Hilferty, Project Manager
Becky Fetterolf, Senior Editor
Wes Ford, Associate Editor
I'm not my own coworker, I suppose, but it felt odd not to include myself in the list of ReadWriteThink editors.
Anyway, that's all I really have time for today. I need to get back to the RWT Super Secret Project of the Summer!
I'll give you a hint: RWT is going mobile. We're designing a couple apps for tablets that not only can teachers use in the classroom, but that will be fun enough for students to want to use them outside of the classroom.
That's the goal, anyway. Fingers crossed!
Next time, I'll talk a little bit about the dreaded Summer Slide and what RWT is doing for parents to keep kids from academic slip students sometimes experience over summer break. Or maybe I'll have Becky tell you about that--I don't know!
Wes, RWT Editor
ZOMG! There is a ReadWriteThink blog?!?! How could this be? I had no idea! I would have been following this from the beginning!!! How did I MISS this?
Whoah now! Hold up. No need to worry. Your internet skills have not disappeared on you.
This blog is new. Kind of.
I ported it over from where it lived before.There, it was my blog, and I used it to feature both IRA and ReadWriteThink.org stuff. Now, it is our blog--and by our, I mean mine and the other editors of ReadWriteThink.org should they decide to use it--and it will focus much more on ReadWriteThink and less about what's going on in IRA.
But IRA and NCTE will get their mentions. After all, we are a part of both organizations, and we end up hearing about or helping projects in both organizations. That's just the way it rolls.
I, Wes Ford, Associate Editor for ReadWriteThink.org at the International Reading Association, will likely remain your host for most of the time; however, I will try to get some of the other editors to jump on and blog a little bit.
I guess I should properly introduce my coworkers:
On NCTE's side:
Lisa Fink, Project Manager
Christy Simon, Publications Developer
On IRA's side:
Bridget Hilferty, Project Manager
Becky Fetterolf, Senior Editor
Wes Ford, Associate Editor
I'm not my own coworker, I suppose, but it felt odd not to include myself in the list of ReadWriteThink editors.
Anyway, that's all I really have time for today. I need to get back to the RWT Super Secret Project of the Summer!
I'll give you a hint: RWT is going mobile. We're designing a couple apps for tablets that not only can teachers use in the classroom, but that will be fun enough for students to want to use them outside of the classroom.
That's the goal, anyway. Fingers crossed!
Next time, I'll talk a little bit about the dreaded Summer Slide and what RWT is doing for parents to keep kids from academic slip students sometimes experience over summer break. Or maybe I'll have Becky tell you about that--I don't know!
Wes, RWT Editor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)