The next site that I found interesting and highly useful is www.zoodles.com. Zoodles is a site that keeps children's safety in mind. Zoodles has created a site that kids can learn and play without the pop-up ads that you would normally see on other sites. There are parental control options where they can block shows, sites and games. It allows parents to see everything their kids are doing online. It gives parents progress reports, it shows the games the kid most frequently play and how long they are playing them. Zoodles makes it easy for parents and educator to sign up for this site. Parents have to register their children. Once they have done that they can create a profile for them. Zoodles will allow you to take a picture of your child so that your child can click on their picture to get into the site. This is a good idea for kids that do not know how to read yet. The one feature I love the most is how zoodle allows you to customize games to fit your child's age and ability level. How great is that! A win-win situation for you and your child/student.
I registered a student in my class, so that I can explore the site. I registered a student who just came to the United States from Puerto Rico about 4 months ago. She is very far behind because of the language barrier. She also has some type of learning disability on top of that. So, when I found this site, she immediately came to mind. This student is having a hard time in reading and in math. In reading she does not have any reading strategies. Her phonics are null and void. After I registered this student, and put in her birthdate and ability level, Zoodles came up with 108 games she can play. The games range from reading to science. I am curious to find out, how her skill levels will increase over time. Thank goodness for the progress report that I will have access to.
Here are 5 popular reading games and their educational value. I plan on using these games with my working towards level (WTL) students to help strengthen their basic skills.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. Just like parents have control over what their children will learn on zoodles, educators have the same control. I was able to go in and control what subject areas I wanted to focus on. In the case of this student and my other WTL students, I chose language arts, reading and math because this is where they are weak.
Save a Baby Dinosaur!
Your child develops the basics in reading sight words while helping the Wonder Pets save a baby triceratops.
Educational value: Book and Print Basics, Early Reading / Phonics, Sight Words, Reading Comprehension, Elements of a Story
2) What’s In the Bag?
Your child develops logic, matching, and vocabulary skills by listening to a series of words and then choosing the object that those words describe.
Educational Value: Vocabulary and Concept Development, Word Meanings
3) ABC Match
Your child develops early reading and memory skills by matching pictures with the first letter of their name.
Educational Value: Early Reading / Phonics, Matching Letters to Sounds, Decoding and Word Recognition, Syllables / Word Parts
4) Lumpy and Roo, and a Mystery Too!
Your child develops reading skills as well as investigation and matching skills by reading along and solving the mystery.
Educational Value: Reading Comprehension, Elements of a Story
5) Word World
Your child develops spelling skills while using letters to build words.
Educational Value: Early Reading / Phonics, Matching letters to sounds, Spelling, Vowels and Consonants
Zoodle, (August 24, 2009). 5 Great Kid-Approved Reading Games on Zoodle. Retrieved October 10, 2009 from www.zoodles.com
Emily, I would love it if you would let me know how things turn out with your student from Puerto Rico. It would be great to pass that information on to others if this is beneficial to her. Great job!
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