Hooked on Phonics

Hooked on Phonics - Remember them?

Hooked on Phonics was hugely popular in the eighties and nineties. It provided parents a way to help their kids learn to read. HOP's television marketing campaign made Hooked On Phonics a household name. It was reportedly one of the most successful direct marketing campaigns in history. It ran on and on and on.

While it seemed a whole generation used Hooked on Phonics to learn to read, it's popularity has declined as new technologies, approaches, and services have emerged. Today, children increasingly respond to more interactive, online resources. I would recommend Time4Learning is the modern equivalent to Hooked on Phonics.

Their learning games are digital online interactive and fun. Their phonics games are fantastic.




del.icio.us

Learning to Blog

Bloggers aren’t usually writing for the benefit of their health (although who knows what new research may turn up in next week’s health headlines). They are writing to share their knowledge, their insights, and their feelings with others. The hope is that other people will read what they have written, and interact with it, in the form of blog comments, quotes, and forwarding that content to others who might be interested. One of a bloggers best friends is his or her blogroll, which highlights other blogs they are following, and often that are following them. And thus, a community is born.

My blogging community started with a small group of folks who were taking the online blog writing course with me.




del.icio.us

Online Spelling Program

SpellingCity (which I am affiliated with) is the coolest online spelling program. They (we) keep adding cool new features. What do you think of free printable handwriting worksheets generated using your spelling lists?

With tools this good, there is just excuse for not doing your spelling practice and getting perfect scores on every spelling test.

Also, it should be easy to integrate spelling and vocabulary with your studies since there are so many lists available. Just go to FindaList and type in 2nd grade or SATs.

Here are some vocabulary lists extracted from Classic Literature.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Call of the Wild, Canterbury Tales, David Copperfield, Diary of Anne Frank, Frankenstein, Gulliver’s Travels, Kidnapped, Old Yeller, Pride and Prejudice, Red Badge of Courage, The Prince and the Pauper, The Scarlet Letter, To Kill A Mockingbird, Treasure Island, and Wuthering Heights.

del.icio.us