Android (literacy links)

Attention Grammar freaks! The link below will take you to a great site where you can read or listen to some useful information. It details some easy-to-understand explanations about grammatical concepts together with examples. It also has a range of useful mnemonics for commonly confused words (eg how to remember when to use effect or affect). All information is accessible via podcast.

Go to: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

A new hybrid Text Type?

2008-04-18T07:01:00.000+10:00

To read a story that uses Google Maps (!) clik on this link:

http://www.wetellstories.co.uk/stories/week1/

Make your own movie...free!!

2007-04-09T09:35:00.000+10:00

Try making your own simple movie.

Click on this site below

http://www.zimmertwins.com.au/movie/create

HUGE range of literacy games

2007-03-22T17:57:00.000+11:00

Click on the link below to go to a great
website full of excellent games...
spelling, sentence structure, text types,
etc etc etc
(and also some Maths games)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/games/

And if you're looking for a neat Punctuation game, click on this link

http://www.eatsshootsandleaves.com/ESLquiz.html

Young Writers' Published Stories and Poems

2007-03-17T08:30:00.000+11:00

Hi, check out the sites below to get some ideas for writing stories. Most of these stories have been written by students...enjoy!!

http://mgfx.com/kidlit/

http://intranet.dalton.org/ms/4th/Alice2004/alice04_content.html

http://www.coder.com/creations/tale/stacks.html

http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/7725

http://www.kidpub.org/kidpub

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/raumatis/hypertextfiction.html

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/

http://www.finncragg.com/intro.html

http://www.kahootz.com.au/kz/

Online stories with interactive games, music, animation...

2007-03-12T20:45:00.000+11:00

Here are some great stories and games to check out...

Bedtime-Story - Whimsical bedtime stories for children of all ages.

Bikesters - This unique site has motorcycle stories with so many illustrations that they read like a comic book. For older children/young adult.

Billy Gnome's Bedtime Stories - Enchanting stories for young children with beautiful illustrations. Also has slide puzzle and bug chorus.

Book-Pop.com - Highly recommended website with stories written by Stephen Cosgrove. The stories here are exquisite -- include lovely music and are professionally written and drawn. The interactive games are delightful. Flash or basic programming options.

Candlelight Stories - Lots of illustrated children's stories. Has options to hear stories read aloud.

Chateau Meddybemps - Humorous stories and entertaining content.

Children's Books Online: the Rosetta Project - The largest collection of illustrated antique children's books online.

Christian Kids Links - by Net Ministries

Dunkle Unkins for Kids - Wonderful stories and fantastic songs. This site is highly recommended.

Emily and Tess's Story Page - Children are welcome to participate in this ongoing story.

Farmhouse Fables - Charming, well-written animal fables.

Kids Portal for Parents - Here are interesting illustrated stories that teach morals. Included are well-written mythological stories from India, folktales and poetry. This site also has games, coloring pages and other links for children and teachers.

Light Up Your Brain - Nice selection of audio stories. This site also has fun games and music.

The Miners Seven - A book by Brett Barney. Wonderful story for young adults. Includes historical photographs.

Sheldon Oberman - Writing and storytelling. Commercial book site but also has free plays, audio, and more. Unusual and interesting.

Tiger Aki - These simple stories about a tiger cub are colorfully illustrated and have sound, animation and interactivity. While targeted for young children, they are so delightful and cleverly done that even older children and adults will be amused. Requires Macromedia Flash Plug-In (version 4 or later).

Walks with Red Dog - Stories by Jim Conrad. A site for young adults. Well-written experiences of a man's relationship with his dog. For older children and adults who like simplicity and wisdom.

Wired for Books - Well done dramatic audio production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll free online.

Xlibris - The Littlest Knight - Commercial. If your child has enjoyed the story online, consider buying it in paperback. This is a lovely quality book produced by Xlibris. The illustrations are three times the detail possible on the web and must be seen to be appreciated.

Oobistories.com/ - Great stories that make the ordinary magical. Has lots of creative and entertaining touches including sound effects.

Narrative Writing Workshop

2007-03-12T17:33:00.000+11:00

Writing a Story?? Think about...

What will my reader want to know?

Where will the story be situated?

When will the story take place?

Who will be the characters in the story?

Try planning your story using a story planner.

How will I describe the characters?

Stuck for ideas?

Try one of these or use the Story Builder.

How will the story start? (Orientation)

What will be the problem or conflict? (Complication)

How will it end? (Resolution)

Stories, Games, Puzzles etc etc etc.

2007-01-27T17:37:00.000+11:00

Have a go at choosing your own plot!!

http://friend.ly.net/users/jorban/adventure/page01.html

Check out this amazing site...heaps to do, lots to read...make sure you click on 'stories' and check out their narratives.

http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/108.html

Do you need to revise what nouns & verbs are? Why not play a game at the same time??
Click on the link below

http://users.netrover.com/~kingskids/noun/noun.html

Anyone into Bikes??

2007-01-27T17:27:00.000+11:00

This is a great site for bikers!!!

www.bikesters.com

Books Published Online

2006-12-24T14:47:00.000+11:00

The Selfish Giant (Oscar Wilde)
http://users.chariot.net.au/~ghost/selgi.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7134/Christmas/chrselfgiant1.htm
http://www.planetmonk.com/wilde/happyprince/selfishgiant.html
http://www.cornerstonemag.com/imaginarium/features/selfish.html

The Three Little Pigs
http://www.cupola.com/html/wordplay/3pigs.htm
http://www.shol.com/agita/pigs.htm

The Ballad of Mulan
http://stutzfamily.com/mrstutz/china/mulan.html
http://www.panap.com/mulan_index.html
http://is6.pacific.net.hk/~shung/favorites/mulan.html
http://www.chinapage.com/mulan.html

Alice in Wonderland
http://www.megabrands.com/alice/indexx.html
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/People/rgs/alice-table.html
http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/classics-alice-1.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~lfdean/carroll/nursery/index.html
http://www.dalton.org/ms/alice/alice.html
http://wiredforbooks.org/alice/

Examples of Online Only Stories
http://www.banph.com/
http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/bunyips/
http://www.europeoftales.net/site/en/index.html
http://www.headbone.com/
http://www.sundogstories.net/audio_frame.htm
http://www.magickeys.com/books/index.html

Kids’ Poetry
http://www.magneticpoetry.com/kidspoetry/playonline.cfm

Paul Jennings Website

2006-12-23T16:20:00.000+11:00

Here is the Paul Jennings website...check it out @ http://www.pauljennings.com.au/

Drawing Tool

2006-12-07T08:00:00.000+11:00

Click on the link below to go to the Imagination Cubed site where you can find a tool for illustrating your stories. This brilliant example was done by...ME

http://www.imagination3.com/LaunchPage

Myra's Secret

2006-12-06T19:10:00.000+11:00

Myra woke up to the sound of her mother rattling the pots and pans in the kitchen sink. At first she thought it was her little brother’s music that he always played loudly, but he was away on holidays with a friend. Then Myra’s mother started singing which really woke her up. She rubbed her eyes, checked the clock (which showed 7am) and stretched before rolling back the sheets and hopping out of bed. Myra was on her way to the toilet when she remembered…her secret. This bought a smile to her face but it also made her feel a bit uneasy. After all, a secret like hers would be enough to worry anyone.

Myra greeted her mum with a kiss as she came into the kitchen, fully dressed and ready for school. They chatted while they ate their breakfast and then Myra suddenly felt she had to tell her mum her secret. “Mum…I have something to tell you…”

What happens next??? Click on the link below to add to this story.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcgg5kjj_10ccb7tf

Online Books

2006-12-03T16:30:00.000+11:00

Check out these books...

Mr. Coyote Meets Mr. Snail - by Storie-Jean Agapith, a native American indian author - Illustrated by Michael S. Weber.

Absulum the Reindeer Elf - by Duncan Wells - Illustrated by Carol Moore.

Grow Your Own Gargoyle - by Valerie Hardin - Illustrated by Carol Moore.

The Wumpalump - by Cheryl Pearson - An illustrated religious parable.

The Loomploy - by Cheryl Pearson - Illustrated by Lea McAndrews - A religious parable.

The Littlest Knight - by Carol Moore - An illustrated fairy tale.

McFeeglebee's Pond - by Carol Moore - An illustrated story.

Who Did Patrick's Homework? - by Carol Moore - An illustrated story.

It Could Happen... - by Carol Moore - NEW ILLUSTRATIONS by Aura Moser.

Banph

2006-12-03T11:32:00.000+11:00

The Adventures of Banph are the tales of an unlucky ant knight's endeavors to defend his kingdom against enemies of the carpenter empire. Dogged by Cedrich, the cricket minstrel who insists upon recording the ant's deeds in song, Banph encounters such foes as red slavers, barbaric beetles, and marauding locust. To read about his adventures click on the link below.

http://www.banph.com/

Stories, Poems and other texts online

2006-11-29T13:31:00.000+11:00

Here are some great books to read and/or listen to online.

Our Utter Zoo Monster Poem
Registration, a poem by
What if, Edleston Primary School
Ryan in Trouble
Kate at the Zoo
Three Little Critters (based Three Little Pigs)
Scratch and Sniff Theatre
Absulum the Reindeer Elf - by Duncan Wells
Grow Your Own Gargoyle - by Valerie Hardin
The Littlest Knight - by Carol Moore - An illustrated fairy tale
McFeeglebee's Pond - by Carol Moore - An illustrated story
Who Did Patrick's Homework? - by Carol Moore - An illustrated story
It Could Happen... - by Carol Moore - An illustrated story
Frogwart and the Tooth Fairies, written and illustrated by Jerry Jindrich
Art is for Everyone, written and illustrated by Jerry Jindrich
Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (Roald Dahl)
Lydia Very's Red Riding Hood
Little Red Cap, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Princess Sleepyhead, Betsy Cameron

Some ideas for writing

2006-11-29T09:41:00.000+11:00

Here are some ideas for all sorts of writing

What if I were the teacher?
What is important to me?
I'll never eat another . . .
A terrible storm
My biggest surprise
Me and the outdoors
This school really needs . . .
My first school memories
Here's what a new student needs to know about my school.
I'm principal for the day. Here's my schedule of events.
Why weekends should be longer
A typical lunch hour
A narrow escape from trouble
If only I would have listened!
What I've broken or lost that belongs to someone else
How could TV be better?
My first friend
My favorite neighbor
A visit to a relative's house
My bedroom from top to bottom
My chores
A memorable bus ride
A dedicated teacher or coach
My best class ever
When I was lost
My first concert
My idea of a fun weekend
Finally, a good assembly
A school field trip
If I could be someone else, I would be . . .
I've done something no one else has done.
The most fun I've had recently

Writing a story

2006-11-24T16:32:00.000+11:00

If you click on the link below, it will take you to a website that has heaps of great ideas for a story. http://www.thewritesource.com/topics.htm#grade%201

We can choose ideas from any grade or come up with our own. Often story books are written to send a message or a moral to the reader. For example, Little Red riding Hood is really sending a message about "stranger danger". Perhaps we can come up with a message for infants students that our story will be based on...(eg. bullying at school, accepting people who are different, always telling the truth etc). Then we just need to start with one or two characters (they might be young ladies at a boarding school, they might be a pair of dogs out looking for adventure, they might be pirates etc etc) and devise a setting where the action occurs. Once we get started we can take it in turns of adding the next bit. We could even make a story that has lots of possible things happening and the people who read it can choose which way to go. A good example of this is in http://www.kidpub.org/kidpub. I hope this helps to get you started. Once you make a start (maybe just write it in an email) I'll add to it if you like. If you want, just list;

One or two characters

Where the story will occur

The moral or message

A basic plot or outline of what will happen in the story.

Good luck!

Getting Started

2006-10-18T12:17:00.000+10:00

Hi again.

Check out the image above. See if you can write an interesting orinetation (or beginning) for a story based on the image. Don't forget to include the when, who, where of what's happening in your story and make sure you use lots of descriptive words to make it interesting. Once you have created an orientation, I'll have a go at writing some of the body of your story by adding a complication. Make sure you check out some of the sites above to veiw stories written by other students.