Dixie's Classroom: September 2009

Spelling!

One of the best websites to practice for a spelling test is SpellingCity.com. This site has over ten fun games to practice with, overall it is a winner in my book.

Below is also a great list of websites that will aid your child with spelling.

http://www.spellingcity.com/

http://www.manythings.org/cts/

http://www.funbrain.com/spell/

http://readwritethink.org/materials/wordwizard/

http://www.tvokids.com/framesets/play.html?game=125

http://www.factmonster.com/cgi-bin/spelling

http://www.kidsspell.com/

http://www.kidsknowit.com/

Preparation for Fifth Grade N.Y.S. Social Studies Exam

Preparation for Fifth Grade N.Y.S. Social Studies Exam

Western Hemisphere, United States, Canada, and

Latin America

Geography ~ Landforms, maps, time zones, identify and use key geographical features on maps

(i.e., mountains, rivers, plains, valleys, and forests)

Maps for All Reasons ~ Students identify the function of various parts of a map.

http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=3&que=1

Are We There Yet? ~ Students answer ten questions by reading information from maps.

http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=4&que=1

Interactive map of the various types of features on the Earth‘s surface.

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2103/es2103page01.cfm?chapter_no=21

Label maps at iknowThat.com ~ Note: This link takes you to an index of activities. To work on this SPI, select any of the five entries in the Physical Features Section, click on the green Maybe Later button to go to the activity, and then select either Puzzle or Labels to begin.

http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=LabelMaps

What’s on a map? ~ Eight questions about using various parts of a map.

http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=2&que=1

Geographical Features ~ Quia game

http://www.quia.com/pop/114591.html

Mezo ~ American, Native Americans and east meet west

(Native Americans meet Europeans)

American Indians and Natural World ~ Four different visions of living in and with natural world (those of the Tlingit of the Northeast Coast, the Hopi of the Southwest, the Iroquois of the Northeast, and the Lakota of the Plains).

http://www.carnegiemnh.org/exhibits/north-south-east-west/index.html

Ancient Architects of the Mississippi ~ Wonders of Geometric Precision, the earthworks of the lower Mississippi were centers of life long before the Europeans arrived in America.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/feature.htm

The Ancient Aztecs ~ A ThinkQuest entry.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/feature/feature.htm

The Creek Portraits Index ~ Before the camera was invented; artists were relied on to preserve images.

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/%7Ecmamcrk4/crkpxndx.html#anchar141751

Different Tribes ~ Compare daily life of Native American tribes from different regions and times. (Author – Laurie Ayers)

http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/Weblessons/Differenttribes/default.htm

Empires Past: Aztecs

http://www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/250/27/

Lords of the Earth ~ Maya, Aztecs, and Incas

http://www.mayalords.org

Map of the Eastern Indian Nations (1820) – Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole are illustrated.

http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Echerokee/cn-east.html

Maya/Aztec/Inca of the Lords of the Earth – The Archaeology and Anthropology of the Americas.

http://www.mayalords.org

The Maya Calendar ~ Among their other accomplishments, the ancient Mayas invented a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity.

http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-mayan.html

Mississippian Mound builders and their artifacts ~ View pictures of flints, decorative objects, pottery, and other artifacts found in this Mississippi archaeological site.

http://bama.ua.edu/~alaarch/prehistoricalabama/mississippian.htm

Pre-Columbian Culture

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/precolum.htm

European Settlements, Struggle for North America, Thirteen Colonies, and Breaking with Britain

375 years ago at 360 degrees ~ View panoramic displays of life in the early colonies.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/history/panoramas.html

America as a religious refuge: the 17^th Century – Includes information about the Puritans and Part 2 includes information about the Quakers.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel01.html

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel01-2.html

The Goody Parsons Witchcraft Case ~ Her story is a fascinating one that sheds light on the workings of the Puritan mind and complicated social and cultural situation of the period.

http://ccbit.cs.umass.edu/parsons/hnmockup/

Plimoth Plantation ~ Take a virtual tour or get historical information on the Pilgrims.

http://www.plimoth.org

The 1692 Salem Witch Trials: Documents and Participants ~ research the historical documents of this puritan witch hunt.

http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/

Through the looking Glass ~ Historical documents regarding the Mayflower families.

http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com

Would You Have Survived on the Colony? ~ An eight question quiz, which opens in a pop-up window, allows a student to compare life today to the Colonial culture. (Click to open the quiz)

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/history/index.html

13 originals founding the American Colonies ~ The history of the original 13 colonies.

http://www.timepage.org/spl/13colony.html

EnchantedLearning.com ~ 13 colonies map and quiz print out.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/statesbw/13colonies/13colonies.shtml

Declaration of Independence, American Revolution, United States Constitution, Slavery and Civil War

Bill of Rights ~ The purpose of Bill of Rights

http://www.congressforkids.net/Constitution_billofrights.htm

Constitution ~ The purpose of the United States Constitution

http://www.congressforkids.net/Constitution_index.htm

Declaration of Independence ~ The purpose of the Declaration of Independence (part I & II)

http://www.congressforkids.net/Independence_declaration_1.htm

http://www.congressforkids.net/Independence_declaration_2.htm

Six Important U.S. Documents ~ from Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for kids

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/documents/index.html

The South during the Civil War ~ an overview

http://memory.loc.gov/learn///features/timeline/civilwar/southwar/south.html

The North during the Civil War ~ an overview

http://memory.loc.gov/learn///features/timeline/civilwar/northwar/north.html

Key people during the Civil War ~ Union and Confederate leaders of the war

http://mrkash.com/activities/civilwar.html

Belle Boyd ~ One of the most famous of Confederate spies

http://www.civilwarhome.com/boydbio.htm

Civil War Biographies ~many names and information on people during the Civil War

http://www.civilwarhome.com/biograph.htm

Civil War for kids ~ short biographies of Civil War leaders, images of other leaders, other links on Civil War sites

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/civilwar/cwar.htm

Timeline of Early Slavery ~ 1400-1865

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline/early_01.html

Underground Railroad ~ Simulation game

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1.html

The Civil War for Fifth Graders ~ Lincoln wanted to end slavery and need the Union together. The site is intended to help 5^th graders better understand this part of history.

http://www.runet.edu/~sbisset/civilwar.htm

Understanding Slavery: DiscoverSchool.com ~ Discover the roots of slavery

http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/slavery/

Born in Slavery: Salve Narratives from the Federal writers

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

Slavery Images ~ approximately 1200 images

http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/index.php

Industrial Revolution, Immigration and Erie Canal

The Industrial Revolution and Immigration ~ a brief history of what happened during this time period.

http://www.kidinfo.com/American_History/Industrial_Revolution.html

The Erie Canal ~ the history of the canal.

http://www.eriecanal.org

Online Sites to help prepare for the N.Y. S. ~ E.L.A.

English language Art Exam

NYSED ~ New York State Education Department ~

http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/3-8/ela-sample/home.htm

http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/elaei/08exams/home.htm

Choose your child’s grade and download a hard copy of a sample test and last year’s test. Use these exams to practice for this year’s coming exam.

Internet4classrooms.com ~ www.internetclassrooms.com

Click on “Grade Level Help” Choose your grade and go “Current Standards – Language Arts, scroll down to “Review Help”, here you will find online practice exams. This is a great site for the multiple choose part of the E.L.A. (reading passages)

On-Lion for Kids ~ http://kids.nypl.org

Click on “TumbleBooks”, and go to “Story Books”. Here you will find over 100 stories that will be read to your child. This site is great for the listening and writing part of the exam. Have your child listen to the story once and on the second time take notes. Have your child create a graphic organizer with his/her notes. You can download a free graphic organizer at (http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/). I suggest, “Cluster/Word Web3 and Story Map 2. Use Cluster/Word Web3 for the graphic organizer. Use Story Map 2 for the writing part.

“Stories to Grow By” with Whootie Owl! ~ http://storiestogrowby.com

Click on “Castle” to enter and follow the directions to choose a story. This site is full wonderful stories to read and it has questions based on the long passages just like the test. This site is great for the long passages and writing short response of the exam.

Reading Whiz-ard ~ http://westlakees.wcpss.net/readingcomprehension.htm#35students

This site has activities and online resources to build essential skills for reading. Scroll down to “Test preparation”, and click on reading test for grade 1-8.

Need a Good Book?

Your local library is the best place in the world to get a free book to read. However there are times we just can't make it to the library. It can be because of the weather, time, your child didn’t tell you until its to late like at 8:00 pm. What ever the reason I have great sites where you and your child can read a book for free. Best part, no late fees!!

http://www.magickeys.com/books/ (Children’s Storybooks)

http://www.storylineonline.net/ (Storyline Online)

http://wiredforbooks.org/kids.htm (Kids’ Corner – Featuring the Stories of Beatrix Potter and more)

http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ (International Children’s Digital Library)

http://www.storyplace.org/ (Story Place)

http://www.sillybooks.net/default.htm (SillyBooks.net)

http://www.mightybook.com/ (MightyBook)

http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/108b.html (Room 108 Kids Stories)

http://www.coloringpage.org/ (UpToTen)

http://jstorypage.com/ (Johnnie’s Story Page)