I thought I'd share about an app I’ve found that I will be using with the class this year. It's called News-o-matic Daily.
It’s a daily newspaper with 5 featured current events each day for kids. The articles and activities support the Common Core Standards. Children can interact with the features by responding to questions, creating drawings, watching videos, playing games, and more.
Each feature includes the article with a “Read to Me”
option, a video clip, slide show, a highlighted fact, and “Act,” which is a
related activity. The students can look at interactive maps that not only relate
to the articles, but also integrate geography and math.
The children can even enter a newsroom and respond to the articles
by writing to Russ, the Editor-in-Chief. They can write about their reactions
to and feelings about the stories. Students can also create a drawing that
illustrates the article.
Wacky Week is another feature. These are short, fun, “wacky”
stories children read about that happened during the week.
News-o-Matic has school editions that allow you to tailor the readings to each student’s reading level. Home versions can be useful for homeschoolers or children who want to learn more about world events.
News-o-Matic has school editions that allow you to tailor the readings to each student’s reading level. Home versions can be useful for homeschoolers or children who want to learn more about world events.
I plan on using it whole class during the year. I think it
will make a meaningful beginning of the day activity. My hope is that students will find that non-fiction reading
is exciting and that reading the articles will extend their awareness of the
world around them.
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Good luck and happy back to school planning!