Cyberchase Tangrams

At the PBS Kids Cyberchase site, Tangrams is our favorite game. By moving shape tiles around you can copy designs and make buildings and creatures. All it takes is a keen eye and steady hand. http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/math-games/

Crossword Puzzle Maker

At this handy site, you can quickly and easily make your own crossword puzzles to print out. Just enter your words and clues and the site makes the blank crossword and even an answer sheet, too. You can make puzzles to study with, or just for fun; see if you can stump your mom or dad! http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.asp

Put some thrill in the drill!

Subjects like math, reading and geography have more facts than MacDonalds has french fries.

It is good to practice these facts, and if you can have fun while you do, well, that’s all the better. Here’s a collection of free websites to put some thrill in the drill.

Hate math? Visit MATH DOODLES www.mathdoodles.com

Artist and computer programmer Daren Carstens loves math. He says “I am a lover of math…and interactive games and puzzles can make even the most advanced ideas understandable.” Daren designed Math Doodles to help you discover how fun and playful math can be. Hint: Try to race against the timer for your best time. Best for 2nd grade-up.

Are you a good profreader? Find out at THE EDUCATION PLACE

www.eduplace.com/edugames.html

Six games let you pick your own grade level, and then practice spelling, reading and geography skills and facts. This site comes from a textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin. Don’t miss the brain teasers! Best for grades 1-5.

Practice parts of speech, with MAD LIBS

www.penguinputnam.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/madlibs/madlibsgame2.html

Give me a noun______. Now give me an adjective _____. Once you plug in about a dozen of these prompts, you’ll see your words, woven into a story. We can’t think of a better way to learn the parts of speech. For grades 2-up.

Give Your Brain some Fun, at FUNBRAIN www.funbrain.com

One of the oldest and best collections of free games has been helping millions of kids sharpen their skills over the years. This site has had many owners; the latest is Pearson Education, another textbook publisher. For grades 1-up.

Are you a geo-champ? Find out at GEOBEE!

www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee

Every year, thousands of kids compete to see who knows the most geography facts. To see how you rate, try one of the fast paced multiple choice tests at National Geographic Kids. For grades 4-9.

Here are some fun sites that can help you read and write better.

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning www.literacycenter.net

If your little brother or sister is just learning the alphabet, help them go to the LiteracyCenter. There are a lot of nice letter games and activities, plus you can practice making upper and lower case letters, or play games that teach you where letters are on the computer keyboard.

Your First eBook! www.starfall.com

Did you know that there are lots of beginning reader books online? In the Learn to Read section of this website, you can find 15 short stories designed around letter sounds. Words are sounded out for you, and there are fun and silly activities to play, like tongue-twisters and riddles.

Hear a Story Read Aloud www.kennedy-center.org/multimedia/storytimeonline

Do you love to hear stories read out loud? At the Kennedy Center web site, you can see and hear three classic children’s books read aloud. Our favorite is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. You can also listen to Harlem: A Poem, and Brothers of the Knight. You’ll need RealPlayer, which you can download for free.

Who Won the Newbery and Caldecott Medals?

To see the Caldecott winners www.ala.org/alsc/caldecott.html

To see the Newbery winners www.ala.org/alsc/newbery.html

Want to see which books that librarians think are the best? The best storybooks get the Newbery Medal, named for an eighteenth-century British bookseller. The 2004 Newbery Medal winner is The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, the story of a mouse who loves music The Caldecott Medal is given to the best picture book, and was named after nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Both awards are given by the Association for Library Service to Children.

The 2004 Caldecott Medal winner is The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, illustrated and written by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press). “This true story recounts the daring feat of a spirited young Frenchman who walked a tightrope between the World Trade Center twin towers in 1974. His joy in dancing on a thin wire high above Manhattan and the awe of the spectators in the streets far below is captured in exquisite ink and oil paintings that perfectly complement the spare, lyrical text.” (source: www.ala.org/alsc)

More Books, Please www.kidsreads.com

This site is chock-full of kid-friendly book reviews, interviews with authors, trivia games, word scrambles and contests. We liked how you can read excerpts and see the covers of the books.