Free Online Books!

I totally have to thank my friend, Eve, for this find. We always compare apps that we've downloaded for our little girls on our iPads, so when she sent me the info for this one I had to immediately download!

The app is called MeeGenius, but its more than just for an iPad! It can be used on the iPad, iPhone, Android tablet, Google TV, or any computer with Internet access! As a regular member you get a handful of books for free that give you the "Read it to Me" or "Read it to myself" option but as an educator, young get something like 70 free titles! There are some really great classics like fairy tales and other fun stories on there all with narration and great illustrations. I'm not sure what your populations like at school, but I am always shocked when I talk with my class about text-to-text connection regarding classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Usually 50-80% of my class responds that they've never heard the stories before! That makes MeeGenius a great, at-hand resource for me to help them build that background knowledge. I quickly pull it up on my projector and we read the story!

Another way you could use MeeGenius is if you have a classroom computer of tablet for your kids to use. If I had one of these available during centers, I would have it as a listening/reading center. If choosing the "read to me" option, the words are highlighted as they are read. It's also great for ESL students and students who might need remediation. So many possibilities here!

Here's how to get your free account-
Go to www.meegenius.com
If you come to the welcome screen with the iPad on a desktop picture, look in the top right corner. It says "Check out our school accounts" right above then"Start Reading" button. Click the school account link and sign up using your school email and info. Once approved, you'll get an email confirming and you're set!

(If for some reason you don't get this welcome page, scroll all the way to the bottom of any of the other pages on the website and you should see the option on the bottom menu that says "Work with us"…"Schools and Libraries". Click that and it will take you to the signup page.

Hope you enjoy it, my kids and my daughter love it!

I Heart this Site!

A couple of years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband started bringing me home magazines from the pediatrics office where he works.  They were a great mix of pregnancy, parenting, and kids magazines.  I love looking through these magazines because articles and features are quick reads so they fit in well with our busy lifestyle.  One day my husband brought me home a new magazine I hadn't seen before and that was it . . . I wanted my own subscription because I didn't want to miss out on any of the good stuff!  If you have seen the Disney Family Fun magazine, you may know what I'm taking about!

Games, DIY, crafts, recipes, etc.  Each issue was jam packed full of wonderful stuff!  That's where I got the idea for my daughter's cupcake owl cake for her 1st birthday!  There are so many cute ideas in it that I can't do with her yet since she's only 16 months, but I'm keeping these magazines on file for later use when she can enjoy the activities.

Anyhow some years in my classroom I'm really blessed with a great PTA room mom to help with events such as the Winter and Summer (End of Year) parties.  I can just hand it over to them and they plan an prepare all the goodies, games, crafts, and snacks.  This year . . . no such luck.  That's why I need to find some really quick, easy, and inexpensive activities for my kids for our Winter Party.  A quick Google search brought me to the Disney Family fun website!  So many great ideas!

If you were in my positions . . . looking for something to do with the kids that wouldn't take to much prep (or money) but still packed lots of fun, you may want to check it out.  The website url is http://familyfun.go.com/.  Check it out for your students or for your own little ones!  I plan on doing the Winter Wonderland snow globe ornament, igloo cup game, and am contemplating a few others.  The more I look the more I want to do!

This is the Winter Wonderland ornament from Family Fun 

(picture taken from the Family Fun website)

Enjoy!

Coming soon . . . K5 Learning website review

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program. If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.


I already took a quick peek at some of their demos and it looks pretty interesting.  I'm going to take the next 6 weeks to check it out and get some feedback from a friend's child to get a student perspective as well!  I'll be back in about 3 weeks to let you know what we think!