Free Educational School Approved Gaming Websites
FunBrain.com and Poptropica offer math, science, reading and grammar games that students, teachers and parents will love!Fun,safe online gaming.
click here…

1) Think of a noun: __________

2) Think of an adjective: __________

3) Think of a person’s name: __________

4) Think of a verb: __________

5) Now, fill in the blanks with your answers above…

My favorite book is titled, (noun). I adore this book because the main character (person’s name) is extremely (adjective). For example, in chapter three while preparing Thanksgiving dinner, he/she decides to (verb) while the turkey is cooking….

Does this exercise bring back any memories?!

One of my favorite elementary school pass times during long car trips to visit family members was playing Mad Libs with my sister and parents while driving on 495. So, when I came across Mad Libs Junior on FunBrain Reading, I had to play a few rounds!

Given that the holiday season means that inevitably your students will be spending time at home playing online games in between family gatherings, why not recommend that they play a few rounds of Mad Libs with family and friends? The game is perfect for practicing parts of speech and reading comprehension!

Happy (insert holiday)!

Anna

PS Thanks to the Literacy Web at UConn for pointing out this resource and many others on the page, “Literacy Websites for Students in Grades 5-6.”

: : : :

This is a typical request we receive from kids almost everyday at the library. I used to direct them to pbs.com or disney.go.com until I learned this one from my son’s teacher a few years ago. This website is actually two sister sites linked to each other and the activities on both websites are very fun and most importantly, educational at the same time!

FunBrain (http://www.funbrain.com) and Fact Monster (http://www.factmonster.com) are the two websites I want to share here. If kids come to the library asking to play games on the computer, I usually tell them to go on FunBrain. If they need information for homework or projects, I say Fact Monster.

All the games and activities at FunBrain are categorized by different age/grade levels. They are very fun and the possible ”side effects” may include being glued on to the computer screen and nonstop talk about the games. Even though it may require the player to solve a problem for each move, they enjoy doing it so much that you shouldn’t expect them to quit soon.  There is also a Books and Comics section where kids can read the online version of ”Diary of a Wimpy Kid”.  Besides kids’ stuff, there are also sections for parents and teachers.

Fact Monster from Information Please provides information for kids who need help for homework and projects. There are reference tools including an almanac, an encyclopedia, a dictionary, a theasaurus, and an atlas and map collection. Besides information on single subjects, there is also a Homework Center where additional homework help is available. The Cool Stuff section has random and interesting facts to feed your curiosity, and the Games and Quizzes section is just as fun as FunBrain’s.

Check them out today and have fun!

This website mixes learning and fun together.

www.funbrain.com

I first learned about Diary of a Wimpy Kid  through the Funbrain website.  If you don’t know about Funbrain, it’s a website filled with free educational games for kids.  It’s by far the most popular website available on our children’s game computers.  Jeff Kinney, the author/illustrator of the Wimpy Kid books is also a computer game programmer who manages Funbrain, and he started putting Diary of a Wimpy Kid up on the site in daily installments back in 2004.  The first book came out in print last year, and the second, Diary of a WImpy Kid: Rodrick Rules  was released in February of this year.

The books are written as journal entries by average kid Greg Heffley with simple illustrations.  Greg’s at the age where his parents drive him crazy, especially his mom who came up with the idea of the diary to begin with.   He’s an average student – he’s a little clueless though, which lends itself to some funny situations.  He’s not exactly popular, but he’s not an outcast either.  His best friend is a goofy kid named Rowley who often annoys Greg but is extremely loyal.  The person who absolutely tortures Greg the most though is his older teen brother Rodrick.  He often makes Greg’s life miserable.

Both of the books in the series are hilarious.  I found myself often laughing out loud while reading them, and I can see why the stories are especially popular with fourth- and fifth-grade boys.  I’m sure they see a lot of themselves in Greg.  However I think some of the appeal is also that kids feel smarter than Greg when he gets himself into crazy predicaments – which he does with regularity.

The books have now drawn the attention of Hollywood.  Fox 2000 will be adapting the first book into a live-action film and has also bought the rights to the sequel and the three books yet-to-come in the series.  I hope they do a good job with the movies.  I highly recommend the books, especially if you want a good laugh!    

Lambing season has officially begun…and on a high note! Numbers one and two came yesterday, both girls. I really think that lambs are the cutest animal babies there are. These two seem to be mouthy and I suspect they are going to be troublemakers like their older sister….wait for it….Trouble. I love seeing all the lambs at lambing season, but I hate the cold, late nights of waiting…and waiting…and waiting. Most everything to do with sheep is hurry up and wait. But then, a lot of things to do with life is hurry up and wait

I’ve never really had a favorite comic, but I have really started getting into Wally and Osborne by Tyler Martin. You might also see/hear it referred to as On the Rocks. I love the drawing style and the content is clean and funny. While reading through the archives, the artist wrote that it is featured at FunBrain, which is a family-friendly site. I took a quick look and it seemed to be a really cool place.

For those of you that aren’t first time visitors (I know. I’m flattering myself here thinking there are any visitors), you might notice the major color change. I’m still searching for the look I want. I also made some tremendous behind the scene changes, but hopefully you won’t notice. As always, feel free to give feedback using the email link at the left

Happy Groundhog Day! I’m not sure what the “official” results were this year, but after doing some research, it looks like the groundhogs can be contradictory anyway. I hope it’s an early spring!