Scholastic Book Wizard

The other day I was working with a group of language arts teachers and they were talking about how difficult it is to select books for students that are at their reading level.  I immediately remembered a site I had found a while back where you can find books similar to other books based on their content or reading level.  The tool is on Scholastic's website and it's called Book Wizard.  On this site you can search for books in a number of dynamic ways.  You want to find a book based on reading level?  Done.  You want to find a book that is similar in content and readability?  Done.  You can even create a list of books at certain reading levels for students to make their choice even easier.  One of the best features of the Book Wizard is the ability to find a book above or below another book in terms of reading level.  So if a book was too difficult you can find another book that is similar but a lower level of text.  The Book Wizard is super simple to use and gives you lots of different ways to narrow down your results such as genre, series, theme and interest level.

Now What?

The Book Wizard is something that all classroom teachers can use to help their students find books that are appropriate for their reading and interest level.  If you are a library media teacher, this is definitely something that will help your students to find the exact book they want.

Math Reasoning Inventory by Scholastic

Scholastic recently underwent a massive overhaul introducing a number of great new free resources for teachers. One of the new features that I just noticed is the Math Reasoning Inventory which helps teachers to formatively discover what students know and are able to do mathematically.  From what I can see on the site, they currently offering questions geared toward whole numbers, decimals and fractions which seem to be difficult concepts for students in middle school to grasp.  The Math Reasoning Inventory is made up of written expression as well as interview questions.  Once completed the website will generate reports at your discretion which can be used to monitor progress or submit to your SRBI team for data collection.

Now What?

Many schools are already using some form of standardized testing to track student progress but if you are not this could be a great start for your teachers.  Even those who are using those tests might be interested in the anecdotal evidence that is derived from the interview questions.  I could see this being a teacher goal for middle school math teachers who are looking to enhance data collection in order to facilitate higher achievement.

Scholastic Book Reviews

Scholastic has a great website where kids can write their own book reviews or read what other same grade students are saying about books they have read.  The name of this website is called Share What You've Read and it is very simple to use without registration or an account.  If a student wants to write a review they can fill out the online form or visit the writer's workshop page which has information about writing a good review.  Students can also read book reviews written by their peers as well.  Overall, Share What You've Read seems like an excellent resource to help validate student writing and assist them in evaluation what they have read.

Now What?

Most schools have students write book reviews but they generally never leave the classroom or teacher's desk.   Share What You've Read  would be a great way to encourage your students to write for a global audience and give them the opportunity to publish their work.

The Lorax Lesson Plans

Recently I posted about how Scholastic has vastly upgraded it's website and teacher resources and right now they have a very interesting collection of lesson plans and resources available centered around The Lorax movie which is coming out in theaters March 2nd.  The resources are all science based lessons which explore the idea of sustainability and how we can make a difference.  There are two sets of lessons for grades 3-5 and 6-8 and they include everything you need to teach the lesson including additional resources and activities.

Now What?

Scholastic is really offering some great resources for teachers on this site and this is just one example.  In addition to the lesson plans there are also some great printables and games for your students.  While on Scholastic check out the daily starters or freebie corner.

Trueflix by Scholastic

Trueflix is a website developed by Scholastic to further develop their collection of non-fiction books in the area of social studies and science.  Included with each digital book/video are project ideas, web links, games, quizzes, lesson plans and more.  It is very simple to navigate and extremely easy to access and use.  Currently, Seymour Public Schools has a free trial that will expire on December 15, 2011.  Up to that point we will have full access to all of the books, videos and resources.  If you can find some time to check out what the site has to offer, you will not be disappointed.

Username: trueflix
Password: cup

Now What?

This site has some great non-fiction books that you can share with your classes in a variety of ways including to teach content or during content literacy to develop reading strategies.  The videos are excellent and the book can be set to read aloud so students can hear the inflection and pronunciation by the author.  There is also a great variety of books including categories such as U.S. Government, natural disasters, extreme nature, and more.