Good morning, welcome to our series sharing Homeschool Resources: English. I would like to ask you to take a look at the websites below and let me know if you’ve used these resources with your students or not. I haven’t had the opportunity to check them out but plan on it this week.
Words and Their Stories is an award-winning, game-based online interactive vocabulary curriculum from FableVision Learning that teaches the fascinating stories behind words.
John Green: Crash Course – Literature– Grades 9-12 approximately, with parental supervision).
Best-selling author of young adult fiction, John Green, offers this free video mini-series, “Crash Course in English Literature” that revs up interest and understanding of classic literature for the high school age crowd.
With manic enthusiasm, he hurtles through plots, characters, writing styles, trivia, and jokes (that will make you groan) – all punctuated with colorful pictures, illustrations, doodles and more.
When you get to the YouTube site, you’ll see a menu of the current videos in the series including:
- How and Why We Read
- Of Pentameter & Bear Baiting – Romeo & Juliet
- Was Gatsby Great? – The Great Gatsby
- Language, Voice, and Holden Caulfield – The Catcher in the Rye
- Before I Got My Eye Put Out – The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Each video course provides knowledge about the literature in a way that really speaks to those who are resistant to it. Green uses funny analogies, quips, gimmicks, and references to pop culture to provide an analysis of the literature that makes it more understandable for today’s teen.
Note to Parents: John Green does address mature adult topics in these literary works. As always, parents should preview the videos to determine the suitability of content.
Reading Horizons provides an online, self-directed solution with software and instruction materials to help Homeschool parents and tutors teach beginning and struggling readers how to discover reading success.
MyVocabulary.com – Thanksgiving Day– Grades 4-10, with parental supervision
MyVocabulary.com offers over 2,500 pages of a variety of free, interactive vocabulary development and enrichment activities including lesson plans, word searches, crossword puzzles, and quizzes.
Today we are focusing on Thanksgiving Day. When you get to the site, you’ll see a list of the 24 Thanksgiving vocabulary words. Then there are:
- 3 complete word puzzles
- A fill in the blank puzzle
- A definition match
- A crossword puzzle
- A word search puzzle
- And a word find puzzle
And there’s a list of vocabulary words related to Thanksgiving for every letter of the alphabet except ‘x’. After that, check out the 12 Thanksgiving Lesson Plans, Activities, Discussion Questions and Ideas. Have fun with some of these around the Thanksgiving dinner table. Happy Thanksgiving!
MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach
MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach is an effective online reading program that improves reading abilities. It permits students with diverse skills and unique needs to learn with control and precision.
TeacherVision: Cranberry Facts– Grades 3-5, with parental supervision
Cranberries — Read All About It! At this site, you can read lots of information about Cranberries including the origins of the name, how Native Americans used them, and best of all — fun facts about Cranberries.
For example, did you know that Native Americans made a survival cake out of Deer Meat and Cranberries called “pemmican”? Did you know that Americans consume some 400 million pounds of Cranberries each year? About 80 million pounds — or 20 percent — are gobbled up during Thanksgiving week!
For more fun facts visit the site! Have fun solving this Thanksgiving word search puzzle that you can print or do online. The information and words you learn from reading fun facts about cranberries will help you to recognize words like: “cranberry”, ”Pilgrims,” and “Plymouth” and more. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
