Site of the Week #1


My site of the week is http://www.infoplease.com/homework/writingskills1.html.
This website is owned by Pearson Education which is a leading publisher of textbooks published by companies such as Prentice Hall and Scott Foreman. This website offers students help with their homework in all subjects from reading to science. This site also provides reference sources such as almanacs, atlases, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. My students have used infoplease.com to assist them with their research and writing projects, in particular writing essays. This website has great information related to the types of essay and gives step by step instructions on how to write essays, speeches, biographies, and research reports. It also goes through the writing process from brainstorming to revisions and assists the students with grammar skills as well.

The standards addressed by this website are:

State Goal 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
Illinois Learning Standard 3.B.3a: Produce documents that convey a clear understanding and interpretation of ideas and information and display focus, organization, elaboration, and coherence.
Illinois Learning Standard 3.C.3a: Compose narrative, informative, and persuasive writings (e.g., in addition to previous writings, literature reviews, instructions, news articles, correspondence) for a specified audience.
State Goal 4: Listen and speak effectively in a variety of situations.
Illinois Learning Standard 4.b.3a: Deliver planned oral presentations, using language and vocabulary appropriate to the purpose, message and audience; provide details and supporting information that clarify main ideas; and use visual aids and contemporary technology as support.