Do you have iPads and iPhones around the house? This holiday season, give the gift of literacy to your little technophiles with Gamester, Imagine Learning’s free app that helps younger kids prepare to learn to read.
Gamester now has three games on the game shelf, each offering a fun and different way for early readers to familiarize themselves with the alphabet:
YouTube recently announced the launch of YouTube Teachers, a portion of the website dedicated to helping teachers use videos to keep students engaged and learning. At YouTube.com/Teachers, educators can get practical tips for using videos in class, learn how to create their own YouTube channels and playlists, and even see real-life examples of teachers who are using YouTube videos to enhance student learning.
The site is just the first of two YouTube initiatives designed to help educators feel more comfortable with the site. And rumor has it that YouTube will also be making a big announcement about updates that will address the concerns educators often raise about using YouTube videos at school. But will that be enough to get teachers on board? And more importantly, will it be enough to convince administrators to unblock YouTube URLs on school computers?
Whether you’re looking for something new for your classroom or a fun way to keep your kids entertained and learning at home, we’ve got the app for you: Bookster, our free read-along storytelling app that reads to kids, records and plays their voices, and teaches vocabulary along the way. Download the latest version of Bookster to check out these exciting new features:
To celebrate these exciting updates to Bookster, we’re hosting a giveaway: enter to win one of three $10 iTunes gift cards just by downloading the app, posting a review on the iTunes store, and pasting your review into a comment below. Three lucky winners will be chosen on Friday, August 26.
Kids of all ages will love reading and learning with Bookster, so head over to the iTunes store and start downloading today!
I recently asked Imagine Learning‘s director of training to share some of the challenges educators encounter that prevent their students from getting as much from Imagine Learning English as they could. I thought it would be instructive to share some of her observations and offer some tips that can help you overcome these roadblocks if you’re experiencing them too.
The most common issue she hears is that scheduling frequently makes it difficult to give students enough time in the lab. Often it’s a tough decision of limiting the student’s exposure to another subject in favor of increasing their literacy or second language acquisition time. While it may be obvious to a student’s classroom teacher that more time spent using the program would be beneficial, if your school has specials teachers, more coordination between instructors may be needed to determine what will best serve the child.
So how have other teachers addressed this challenge? Let me share two suggestions that have worked for many schools using Imagine Learning English. Read more »
