Primary Games

Fun Brain Playground is a fabulous site created for the PreK and Kindergarten crowd. My five-year old sat by herself at the computer for hours and played these games! (Trust me, once you see them, you won't think I'm such a horrible parent!).

Every character you see in the screenshot is actually a different game. Each game is easy enough to understand without any directions, and playable immediately with just a mouse! No reading involved!

I've used these games as a fun sponge activity when an extra minute or two was left in class, and students also played these games on the SMARTBoard when stuck indoors during inclement weather days.

Research has proven that phonics is an exceptionally effective way to teach reading to most students. Houghton Mifflin's Game Goo is a fun, graphically rich environment where early readers can play a number of games with phonetic concepts. The home site is leveled from beginner to advanced, and some skills include letter recognition, letter-sound correspondence, synonyms, alphabetical order, fact vs. fantasy, and following directions. Kids seem to enjoy the cartoonish characters and silliness of this site.

Little Giraffes is admittedly more a site for parents and teachers than children. There you'll find extension ideas for many favorite children's picture books, story props for popular stories and books, calendars, coloring and writing pages to print out, and so much more. My wife is a kindergarten teacher and she's a big fan of this site!

Amother super feature of this site is the themes section, which contains photographs of theme related projects you could easily adapt and use with your own child or class.

Between the Lions is PBS's terrific interactive website for the show of that same name. As you can see on the landing page, the site features games, video clips (that are actually educational), and stories. The games, such as Synonym Sam's Lab, are self-explanatory and well-animated, as are the stories. This is a high-class site all the way! (Note that students may need some help at first when learning to navigate the different areas).

Little Fingers games allow your child to practice skills such as geography, alphabetical order, colors, matching, syllables, patterns, and more. Each activity includes both an instructional and a quiz segment, so students can get a refresher on a skill before attempting a challenge. While not as slick as some of the other sites offered here, Little Fingers does provide solid learning.

Fun Fonix is another site which is perfect for parents and teachers. Here you can download and print out a variety of phonics activities to reinforce decoding skills. You'll find individual sheets as well as full books, and categories also include reading, spelling, and handwriting.

At Story Bird, your child can create a very cool looking book online. What's really neat is that the illustrations are provided! Professional illustrators have uploaded a number of gorgeous images in widely varying styles which will help young writers become inspired. It seems that the site makes money when users choose to order hard cover prints of their creations, which in turn earns the illustrators some dough. It also serves as a nice showcase for illustrators who would want their work to be seen by larger audiences. I personally have no problem with either concept!

It's worth a look, especially if you have a young child who wants to write, but needs just a nudge of inspiration. The illustration styles and individual pictures are so different that every child will find some inspiration here. And after getting a feel for how the site works (it's pretty intuitive), students will be able to navigate it pretty well on their own. And who knows? You might just discover that your child's masterpiece will make a perfect gift for loved ones!

Bembo's Zoo is the online version of the popular picture book Bembo's Zoo: An Animal ABC Book. As children click each letter of the alphabet, the letters of an animal reassemble themselves to create a picture of that animal. Okay, so it's hard to explain but really awesome to see. Check it out for yourself!

This terrific Teaching Reading K-2 video series from Annenberg Media allows parents and teachers to learn from the pros. Twelve different videos show teachers how to develop young readers through such topics as Becoming Readers and Writers, Building Oral Language, and Connecting Skills to Texts. Student Case Studies also demonstrate how progress can be trraced over time. The additional resources provide checklists for teachers to observe their own students and classroom environments. Lots to see at this site!

Okay, I will be the first to admit that Primary Games is not for the faint hearted. It's an incredibly busy, disorganized site with lots of ads and other "visual pollution" which likely makes it impossible for a young child to use independently. That being said, this site contains links to many games that are worth exploring, and perhaps bookmarking directly for children to use.

You may also discover that some of the games or activities actually "live" on other sites which are less busy and less confusing for younger students to navigate on their own.

This popular site features members of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation reading picture books aloud. In my opinion, there's nothing better than a live reading with a real book, but this is the next best thing!

Really talented folks like James Earl Jones, Elijah Wood, CCH Pounder, Robert Guillame, Amanda Bynes, and Melissa Gilbert share some of the greatest picture books of recent years, such as Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, The Night I Followed the Dog, My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, A Bad Case of the Stripes, and Enemy Pie. Check out StoryLine Online for yourself!

Arcademic Skill Builders features arcade-like games that help students practice their math and language arts skills. Students can choose to play against computer opponents, or race their friends in public, multi-player games.

If your child is a video game fan, then this is the first site on the list to visit. In addition to the math skills, you'll also find some language arts and even social studies skills games.

Once your child figures out that each game requires a few clicks to get started (winding through a small set of choices about Play options), she'll be ready to play on her own for hours.

So your son is stuck at your office with no toys in sight. If only he had some Legos! Mini-Mizer allows children to create cool Lego-style people, with the options to change hair, eyes, skin color, body parts, objects, and backgrounds. Tons of possibilities, tons of play, all on one screen.

The picture to the right is my lame attempt to create a quick person!

Sprout is a colorful, fun site featuring tons of favorite children's characters from literature and television, plus games and off-line activities for hours of fun. You can search for activities by character, type of game, or, by registering for free, you can save your child's favorites for instant access.

Definitely give this site a test drive! I think you'll find it easy to use, plus you'll find that some activities found on Sprout are hard to find on any of the other sites listed here.

Roy the Zebra is an exceptional site for phonics and reading development, but it does require the guidance of an adult. The site includes interactive and guided reading practices, lesson downloads, songs, and activities for interactive whiteboards (if you have an IWB, be sure to see my Top Ten SMART Board Sites lens).

The site is a commercial one, but you'll finds ton of things offered for free. The one downside is that most activities don't have speaking components, so when your child forms words, the site won't say those words for your child to hear. But like any other site listed here, it has its strengths, depending upon the resources you're seeking.

How can a teacher best approach the teaching of a novel? How to Teach a Novel here at Squidoo breaks it down step by step, from the abstract notion of "What's worth teaching in this novel?" to the concrete concerns of "How will students be held accountable for their understanding of this book? In what ways will I assess progress? How will students demonstrate their understandings of story theme, character development, plot, vocabulary, and other story elements?" This lens will provide sample materials, Internet resources, and ideas which have proven successful in many classrooms.

But what's up with title? Isn't "How to Teach a Novel" an incredibly presumptive claim? Absolutely! Is the method described here the only way to properly teach a novel? Absolutely not! But what I found is that "How to Teach a Novel" is what people were searching when they wanted to find the types of resources I was offering, so please excuse the smug tone of my title!

If you're truly seeking some diverse ideas and applications for teaching with novels, you may also want to check out my Teaching that Sticks blog, my Teach with Picture Books blog. Both offer ideas and insights which are applicable to the teaching of novels. And of course, if you're a middle grades teacher (3-8) interested in teaching novels, be sure to visit my How to Teach a Novel blog for insights, resources, and hot new links.

Kerpoof is a simple and free publishing site for children. There they can create drawings (freehand), pictures (using draggable images and scenes), paintings, movies, cards, and more. The platform for each type of artwork is very intuitive, so it won't take kids long to get the hang of it.

Kerpoof also offers free Teacher Accounts and other scholastic extras, specially designed to make the web site educationally sound. Check that link out to see lesson plans, classroom ideas, and standards, and to sign-up for their teacher newsletter.

While not a game site, Kididdles is well worth a look for caregivers! It features dozens of children's songs, all with lyrics, and many with musical accompaniment. You'll also love the attractive printable lyric sheets and music sheets. All free!

And most recently, Kididdles has introduced activity sheets, which allow teachers and parents to incorporate reading, writing, pattern recognition, and math into song.

Pinky Dinky Doo is a simple story creator which uses pictures to complete cloze story prompts. In other words, the story might begin, "Once upon a time ______" and the child is able to choose from six different settings (pictures) to tell where the story is taking place.

This would be a terrific site to use in the classroom on a large interactive whiteboard. Children would enjoy telling and retelling stories, changing just one or two variables each time. It's a very bright, well-designed site, but seems to need a good Internet connection to run well.

Poisson Rouge, which translates to Red Fish Soup (as far as I can tell), is a fun site to explore. Its homepage is a collection of curiousities, and by clicking on any of them, a child is led to a new page to explore a game, activity, or story. Children can create art in the style of several masters, play a game of Concentration, compose and play music (while seeing the notes on a scale), decorate and lead a choir, explore alphabets in four languages, explore shapes and numbers, and more! Just turn your child loose!

Surf Net Kids is an excellent resource site for parents and teachers who want to find the best sites for their children. Mrs. Pancake is another wonderful site that demands a really good look! Lots of fabulous things to explore here.

Keith Schoch is a 6th grade Reading and Language Arts teacher in Bedminster, New Jersey. During his 20+ years in teaching he earned a Masters in Instruction and Curriculum, served on the New Jersey Department of Education ESPA Mathematics Item Review Committee, piloted tests for Educational Testing Service, assessed candidates for The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and was named a Governor's Teacher of the Year.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Keith provides professional development for organizations such as the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the New Jersey Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (NJASCD), the New York State Reading Association (NYSRA), and the New England League of Middle Schools (NELMS). He also shares his experience with colleagues through three highly acclaimed blogs: Teaching that Sticks, Teach with Picture Books, and How to Teach a Novel.

During the summer, Keith serves on the leadership staff of LakeView Day Camp in East Brunswick, NJ.

Disclosure Statement:
In creating this site I did not receive products, services, or compensation of any kind from any publisher, PR agency, or web site. I have included only those resources which I feel will assist teachers, tutors, and parents in meeting instructional objectives. I absolutely welcome suggestions for additional books and sites from readers and publishers alike, but will not accept incentives to promote either.

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