My "Digital Tool of the Week" goes to:
Wordsmyth Kids Picture Dictionary (http://kids.wordsmyth.net/wild/) A dictionary tool with so much 'umph' in detail and precise information...as well as it has a ton of 'whistles & bells'....I'm a big fan already! Wordsmyth Kids is still in Beta mode, but it looks like a real keeper to me. I like this for all of our Elementary Students, but particularly rate this gem for ESL, EC, Kinder to 2nd/3rd Grade Friends.
The site is separated into three main categories: World, Book and Collections.
- The World explores places around the globe...communities, people, cultures and more. Hover over any place and it scaffolds for further meaning and learning. For example, click on School and then hover over the various areas of the school. Click on the Computer Lab and see all the relevant areas within the Lab. Then hover over a computer to see the parts of the computer, as well as get a definition of each part.
- The Book is a dictionary of words. Hover over any of the words to hear the pronunciation, see all the definitions and proper use examples.
- And the Collections area breaks into groupings of specific topics. For example, transportation. Click on the automobile and discover parts of a car. Click on another menu to see where you can drive your car and have those areas fully defined.
The detail of this program is truly amazing! I'm also quite pleased with the audio and visuals.
Here's an added bonus: With a click, the page can show both English and Spanish labels along with pronunciations or the full page can be converted to translate in Spanish only or English only. Now that's a nice feature.
Dictionary Fun!
Elana Moore
