Classroom Webpages

       This week I explored classroom webpages as a genre.  Initially I wanted to explore the elementary school that I went to, however their website does not have links to classroom webpages. I went to a small private-catholic elementary school, which did not have many resources, such as technology to explore and continues to struggle with funding. .  Therefore, I googled “classroom webpages” and looked through several examples.  One that I found particularly useful for parents, students, and other teachers was “Mrs. Renz’s Fourth Grade Class” I noticed this webpage was very user friendly, with simple tabs for students, parents, and teachers, to find additional resources on their own page.  Mrs. Renz stated, “Our webpage is updated almost daily, so you can count on work to be up-to-date and accurate!”  This not only benefits students, by having assignments and resources accessible at all times but also provides parent support.  One of the many links on the student page is for a colleague’s page, which focuses on literacy.  There are many fun games students can play that help with vocabulary growth, such as “free rice” and “word within a word.”  

www.freerice.com

Promoting literacy:

www.beverlycleary.com

        “The Internet can be used to support literature-based approaches to literacy instruction in a variety of ways.  Several children’s book authors have their own Websites, and many publishers feature information about children’s book authors”(Baker 2007, p. 6).  This allows readers to connect with the author as well as find additional information about the book that may have not been discussed in class. Beverly Cleary's website allows children to learn more about her as well as the characters she writes about.   

www.storylineonline.net

Storyline: While searching for classroom webpages, I found that several teachers recommended storyline as a way to promote literacy beyond classroom walls.  This website has well-known actors read aloud popular children’s books to a wide audience, as well as providing additional activities.  This would be a good link for the parent pages as well as student pages, for reading at home.