Simple Animation Movie Making Tool

Type in text, choose characters, and easily set up your own animated movie with automated character dialogue. I can see many fun and educational uses for this tool!

Click Here:
http://www.xtranormal.com/

Bear-y Good Information

http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/bears/index.htm
Click here for some great information on Bears.

Wolf Quest - Wolf Simulation Game

Click this link to get there:
http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/justkids/wolfquest.asp

Wolf Quest was based on research, and created through the Minnesota Zoo, and EduWeb.

Wolf Quest is a free, down-loadable game for Windows or Mac OS. It lets you run around as a wolf in the wild as you hunt, look for a mate, keep yourself fed, explore the territories, track by scent, and other such things that wolves do in the wild.

You must fill out some basic demographic information in order to download it, but this only includes non-personal things like your age, gender, country, state, and ethnicity. There's an option to leave your e-mail address to receive a newsletter, but it's not required.

Content Warning: This game includes chowing down on a beast that you've hunted, to stay fed. Wolves are messy eaters, so the beast's mid-section turns red, once you've eaten from it. Also, some younger children might get scared when their wolf gets attacked by other wildlife, and you have to either fight back or run away, before the wolf's life bar goes empty. Despite these things, it's a very educational way to see how a wolf would wander around and survive in the wild!


The full site, http://www.wolf.org, is run by the International Wolf Center, and has a lot more information about wolves. It also has a few activities for kids, teachers, or adults. Check it out!

Fun Literacy and Math Games

Go to:
http://ictgames.com/literacy.html

This site has internet games for:
Reading, Guided Writing, Spelling, Phonics, Sight Word, Word Creation and more.

All web activities have educational Objectives to go with them as well!

You can also access Number skill games through this site.
Go to:
http://ictgames.com/resources.html

Beverly Cleary Interview

Beverly Cleary is the author of MANY well-known story characters! In this interview, she talks mostly about story characters she's written about, and where her inspiration for characters comes from.

Beverly Cleary explains how she made up the term D.E.A.R. time in one of her books, (Drop Everything And Read), which is now a common practice in many elementary classrooms, including mine. It's a time of the day when everyone reads something they like for the sheer practice and enjoyment of reading without any assignments to follow!

Here is a link to the video Interview:
Beverly Cleary Interview

Here are her most famous Book Sets:

Ramona Quimby (9 books)




Dear Mr. Henshaw
The sequel (the book after this) is "Strider"




Henry Huggins (6 books)




The Mouse and the Motorcycle
(plus 2 more about Ralph S. Mouse)


Click Here for Beverly Cleary's Website

Here are some of her other books:
Ellen Tebbits,
Emily's Runaway Imagination,
Mitch and Amy,
Muggie Maggie,
Otis Spofford,
Socks,
Lucky Chuck,
A Girl From Yamhill,
and My Own Two Feet.

Cinderella and Story Elements

This site has the story of Cinderella that you can read along with. Then, you can explore story elements like: Setting, Characters, Conflict, Resolution and more. There's a little activity you can do for each story element, to see what it's like!

http://learner.org/interactives/story/cinderella.html

Myths and Fables

This site has some well-known Myths and Fables that are great for young readers!

http://www.afro.com/children/myths/myths.html



The main kids site here is centered on Africa. If you're wanting to do some research, take quizzes, or just play some games, it's a nice, little informational site:

http://www.afro.com/children/children.html