The 23rd letter of the English alphabet is a bit of a wonder. The humble W is the only letter of the alphabet with a three-syllable name. It is also one of three letters (H, W, and Y) with a name that does not indicate its phonetic use. The complications of W are twofold because of its name, double-u, and its shape, double V. What sound …
Schools are ground zero for alphabet soup—educators seemingly love to name things using acronyms. STEM, GPA, KWL. While all of this jargon can seem kind of daunting, it’s not too bad once you learn the ropes. And we are here to help. So, get out your pencil and notebook, raise your hand for roll call, and prepare for School Acronyms 101. STEM You may think …
It’s time for another virtual field trip! During the Covid-19 pandemic, educational spaces like museums, national parks, and NASA are opening their doors for virtual tours. We’ve already “visited” Georgia Aquarium to watch their aquatic animal webcams, and we’ve gotten to know the animals at the Houston Zoo in Texas. This time, we’re headed to NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Langley Research Center …
by Kimberly Murphy When you were in school, you were likely taught that synonyms are words with the same meaning. That definition, though, isn’t entirely accurate. Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings, but there are important, nuanced differences in how they are used. Educators refer to these differences as shades of meaning. Let’s break down this concept some more—with some printable, hands-on …
Who’s ready for a virtual field trip? During the Covid-19 pandemic, educational spaces like museums, national parks, and even NASA are opening their doors for virtual tours. We’ve already “visited” the Georgia Aquarium to watch their aquatic animal webcams. Next, we’re heading to the Houston Zoo in Texas to get up close and personal with elephants, flamingos, gorillas, ants, and more! The Houston Zoo is offering fun …
New pages added! We’re sure you’ve all been doing a lot of coloring these days … what’s a better activity to pass the time, right? How about printable coloring pages and learning how to define words? OK, that sounds better to us! How to make your own printable dictionary We’ve started to put together a Dictionary.com coloring book. It’s A–Z fun, with a word and …
What’s better than a comic book when you’re a kid? How about a free printable comic book that doubles as a writing prompt for kids? Bam! Sure, reading comic books (and graphic novels for that matter) is a classic kid activity and one that’s expert-approved for helping kids commit to a lifelong love of reading. Look no further than the likes of Captain Underpants, Diary …
By Lindsay Barrett Parents, caregivers, and educators celebrate children’s mastery of the ABCs as an important milestone on the road to reading and writing. But, there’s much more to learning the alphabet than a cute rendition of the ABC song. Here’s the lowdown on the different aspects of learning about letters—and plenty of fun activities to help your children or students become alphabet experts. How …
Expand your child’s vocabulary with these fun word activities Have your child complete one of the vocab activities below to build their language or complete one of the family activities to get a little learning boost for all those involved. Learning words for feelings Put these videos on for your child, one at a time. After each video, ask them what the kids in the …
Practice remembering letters, parts of speech, sight words, and more with these learning games Get your preschooler or kindergartner learning while having fun with these ELA word games you can play as a family. Letter dice This game requires a little bit of preparation, but the added tactile element makes it worth it. Put letters on dice (or make some using a template). You can …