Starfall

Here is another great resource for young children. Starfall was designed for use with first graders but can be used with preschoolers to second grade. Starfall is a high quality website that works on developing a love of reading and writing. Starfall is played on the internet.

Address is: http://www.starfall.com/

Childsplay

Childsplay is a suite of educational games for young children. Also the use of the SDL libraries makes smooth animation and the playing of sound very easy. Childsplay uses a plugin system for the games, so you might want to check the Childsplay plugins page. (There are two built-in games: memory and a typing game.)

Available for Linux/Unix, Mac, Win

Address is: http://childsplay.sourceforge.net/

Large Pointers for Windows

Over 80 additional pointers and cursors for those with visual or perceptual difficulties. Icon styles include animated, colored, large, I-beams and circles.

The pointers have been designed here at the ACE Centre, so if you have a need or a suggestion for a particular pointer style, please let us know.

This is freeware available through the Ace-Center.

Address is: http://ace-centre.hostinguk.com/index.cfm?pageid=F5F26649-3048-7290-FEA80B8B637BF760

Click-N-Type

Click-N-Type is an on-screen virtual keyboard designed for anyone with a disability that prevents him or her from typing on a physical computer keyboard. As long as the physically challenged person can control a mouse, trackball, touch screen or other pointing device, this software keyboard allows you to send keystrokes to virtually any Windows application or DOS application that can run within a window. The

Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard is a 32 bit application that requires Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP or later.

Oh yes, it's FREE.

Address is: http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/

Scratch

Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design.

Scratch is available free of charge.
Currently available for Mac OSX and Windows

Address is: http://scratch.mit.edu

Comic Creator from ReadWriteThink

Create your own comics online. There is a need to help support our students who may be poor writers. One way to do this is to give them a new and different venue to do their writing in. Why not have them write a cartoon. Comic Creator is from the ReadWriteThink group. Students can create a comic right online and then print it out.

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.html

Online Study Guides

Here is a website that has plenty of support for struggling students. Sparknotes is an online study guide site. On the site you can get help in the following areas: Literature, Shakespeare, Poetry, History, Psychology, Economics, Math, Film, Drama, Philosophy, Biology, Physics, No Fear Shakespeare, and Test Prep. Check this out.

http://www.sparknotes.com/

Community Signs

Here is a site for teachers to use to teach community signs. If you are on a windows machine you can download these signs for use in your classroom. These are real signs not line drawings.

http://webpages.charter.net/hope4all/signs/signs4windows.htm

What words do Kids need to know

Happy Holidays Everyone,
Have you ever wondered what words are truly the most important for all our kids to know? There is a website that lists not only the 100 most important but the 300 most important in sets of 100. What a great way to begin working on things with kids who have special needs. Never assume that kids will not learn these words. How about making flash cards using Powerpoint for the kids to work on independently.

http://www.myenglishlessons.net/most_common.htm