Website Evaluations

www.starfall.com,
Target Group: Elementary Students, Skill: Vocabulary


Starfall.com is a website professionally developed by educators, artists, designers, musicians, and overseen by engineers and quality assurance. The goal of the site is to “develop skills that will transition from learning to read to reading to learn.” This site offers activities that deal with letter-sound relationships and is a great way to use phonics to help teach students words and reading. With its easy to navigate screens, Starfall lets children explore various topics which are colorful, engaging, interactive and fun. The stories are exciting and children get to create their own character as part of some stories. Each word is clickable which gives students the option of hearing the story or reading it.

Reading is a great way to build vocabulary and see it in context. This site develops children’s reading skills and teaches vocabulary through an array of activities that include stories, songs, poems and games. I would have students use this site when they visit the English Lab for independent study or for homework to have them learn new vocabulary.



www.vocabulary.co.il by Jacob Richman
Target Group: Elementary Students, Skill: Vocabulary


Vocabulary.co.il is a website whose purpose is to create fun and engaging activities that will help develop English vocabulary and can be used for grades K-12. These activities can be used either individually at home or in the classroom. This site is owned and operated by a small family who believes vocabulary is essential for language development and learning should be fun.

The games are categorized by grades and offer a wide array of activities from memory match, unscramble to story blanks. Students must interact with the site to respond to the questions or demands of the games.

I would use this website in class to offer a change of pace and a break from the textbook. Students enjoy games because they are fun, but these games are also educational. To add even more excitement, pair the class off into teams and provided a reward for the team that wins. This not only stimulates interest but competition.



www.esl-kids.com by Nick Ramsay
Target Group: Teacher
Resources/ Vocabulary


ESL-Kids.com is a teacher’s resource website that offers worksheets, flashcards, and song lyrics for use in class. The best part about it is that most of the resources are FREE!
Although the site is small, it is expanding. The worksheets are colorful and you can use the ones provided or customize the worksheets by using the worksheet generator.
There is a nice variety of worksheets and you can even make board games and customize it to fit a particular topic. This website not only provides these products, it also provides links to other sites and has an ESL bookstore. Teachers are always looking for new ideas and I think this site offers plenty. I would definitely use the worksheet generator to create worksheets specific to my students’ needs especially in creating interesting vocabulary lists and spelling tests. The flashcard section is another area I would use to help my students with building their vocabulary. The cards are already made and are in PDF format listed by category.


http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org
Target Group: Elementary Students
Skill: Vocabulary


LearnEnglishkids.britishcouncil.org is an excellent website that focuses on all four language skills and developed by the British Council for the purpose of promoting English language learning in a fun and exciting manner. Games, stories, songs, pod casts and video clips are offered in this multimedia site. The design is colorful, well organized and eye-catching. No matter what activity students choose to do, they will surely encounter vocabulary and learn how to use those words in authentic situations. These activities will rouse the senses and motivate students to investigate the abundant resources they have at their disposal. Practical exercises are incorporated and they provide timely feedback, both positive and negative. Children will enjoy exploring this website whether they are playing games, practicing listening skills or learning new words.
This site would be useful in class as an extension of the lesson. Instead of just focusing on the textbook, have students work in small groups (3 or 4) and read and listen to a story while noting any words they do not know. This website could also be used for homework.


www.learningchocolate.com by Wilson
Target Group: Elementary Students
Skill: Vocabulary


LearningChocolate.com is an interactive website designed to develop vocabulary. Specifically, the website is aimed at helping students memorize their vocabulary using fun activities like games, pictures and sounds. Like the name implies, chocolate is enjoyable and so should learning. The vocabulary is grouped into categories that provide an introduction to the words followed by matching, gap filled, and dictation exercises. The words lists include pictures with audio that allows the listeners to pronounce the words correctly and use it to answer listening questions.

Although this site is well designed, there are several missing elements. First, the words are not used in a sentence or shown in context. While the feedback is external, it does not provide correct responses for the incorrect answers. This does not benefit the learner and they may walk away without knowing the correct answers.

I would use this in class to augment the lesson particularly using the introduction and the gap filled exercises. This site would also be useful to review words and practice spelling them as homework. Struggling students may find this site helpful because of the pictures and exercises to help memorize the words.