Resource of the Week Archive
Resource
of the Week
16 February -
22 February 2014
Oxford Owl
Award-winning site devoted to improving reading skills at home and at school. Contains 250 free ebooks that are searchable by age, type and series. Free registration required to access ebooks.
How it maps to the curriculum
Strand: Oral Language
Content objective: This resource should enable a child to:
- create and tell stories
- create real and imaginary sound worlds
- experiment with different voices in role-playing
- listen to, learn and ask riddles
- listen to, learn and recite rhymes, including nonsense rhymes
- listen to, learn and retell a rich variety of stories, rhymes and songs
Suggestions for use: may be used both by teachers in whole-class or shared reading settings or by children independently seeking to improve their reading skills. Once a suitable book has been chosen it is possible to view it on the IWB or a tablet without or without sound.
Strand: Oral Language
Content objective: This resource should enable a child to:
- ask questions that will satisfy his/her curiosity and wonder
- engage in real and imaginary situations involving language use
- give a description, recount a narrative or describe a process, and answer questions about it
- listen to a story or narrative and ask questions about it
Suggestions for use: may be used both by teachers in whole-class or shared reading settings or by children independently seeking to improve their reading skills. Once a suitable book has been chosen it is possible to view it on the IWB or a tablet without or without sound.
Strand: Oral Language
Content objective: This resource should enable a child to:
- discuss a story being read and predict future events and likely outcomes in it
- explore reactions to ideas through improvisational drama
- learn how to use the basic key questions
- listen to a presentation and discuss and decide which are the most important questions to ask
- make presentations to the class about his/her own particular interests
Suggestions for use: may be used both by teachers in whole-class or shared reading settings or by children independently seeking to improve their reading skills. Once a suitable book has been chosen it is possible to view it on the IWB or a tablet without or without sound.
Why is it Resource of the Week?
- The ebooks are easily searched
- There is a good selection of audio based books in addtiion to books based on phonics and those for struggling readers
- The layout of the site is intuitive with fast access to many sections regarding tips and finding a book
- There is also an Oxford Owl at home area dedicated to the subjects Maths and English
- There is a useful FAQ to help answer questions
- Videos and tips dealing with reading approaches for struggling readers are presented
