Lesson 1B.1  WB Online Info Finder Kids

I went to Games, hoping I might find something for SPED student in my middle school. The Spelling Maze was too graphically immature for my students. The words were challenging enough for some SPED classes, but the only movement comes from using the arrow keys, and that is too simple for any students in  my level. The line drawings were neither clever nor engaging.

The second game I tried was multicolored multipliers. As you solved a multiplication fast fact, numbered sections on a simple line drawing would get colored in. It would hold a child's interest for a while, and it does reinforce basic multiplication facts, but I am a real believer in using technology when it is the best way to teach, not just because it is available. In this case, I would far rather have the child select the colors they wanted and get the much-needed small muscle skill of coloring the sections themselves. The picture would look better, the child would be more engaged and proud of their own efforts. Having incorporated more kinetic activity, the exercise would be more deeply embedded in the child's memory.

The last game I tried was a kind of  Social Studies tic-tac-toe. The questions were challenging; I liked playing against an unknown opponent, and the game was entertaining enough to be fun. I would recommend this to 7th grade Social Studies teachers in need of a fill-activity while they reteach lessons for struggling students.

Lesson 1B.2   WB Online Info Finder grades 5-9

I may have the title of this WB site incorrect. To my mind, there are so many WB sites it is very confusing. I have the same problem when I teach WB Online, and so do my students and teachers. I wish their names for the Public Library sections and the basic reference sections were radically different from each other.

I went to the virtual tour titled, "WB Explores the Pilgrims and Colonial Life." It loaded quickly and looked promising. The Q&A format was clear, but the time- and location-jumping between the questioner and the costumed responder seemed contrived. I would have preferred to see a 21st Century child speak their question directly to the re-enactor. It got even more confusing when a 21st Century historian joined the re-enactor in the video frame to try to re-answer the child's question. Then the historian explained in a slightly patronizing way that the term "Pilgrim" is never applied to these people, and that they never called themselves that nor thought of themselves as pilgrims. The questioner was using exactly the same terminology used by WB. If that's the case, why doesn't WB use proper terminology in its title for this tour?

I reviewed a few other questions. The re-enactor responder uses the same opening in each video clip, which would seem pretty fakey to kids. The language the re-enactor uses to answer the child's question is far too complex and mature for the age of the questioner. When the 21st Century historian steps into the video frame to clear it all up, she uses equally lofty language.

The last question I tried was "Did Native Americans marry?" I think the question rightly should be, "Did Wampanoags in the 1600s marry?" as variations likely existed between tribes and across the centuries of Native American life in North America. The re-enactor presents what seems to me like a late-19th Century notion of love and "wanting to spend the rest of their lives together" as the reason Wampanoags married. Were there no economic or political incentives in selecting mates? Did the young people choose their own partners without advice or interference from their elders? I did appreciate the explanation of a give-away.

Lesson 1B.3     WB Online Reference Center

I researched Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Under Related Information, the Primary Sources left me totally confused. I could not figure out how they related to Huck Finn, and there were no narrative introductions that I could find to help make the connections. This would not be something I could send 8th graders to and have them get anything out of it. The Back in Time articles had the same problem. They may have made glancing reference to Mark Twain or Huck Finn, but for students at my level, it would have been wasted time and effort to read through all this morass.

Of the six websites, the first one could not be found. The second and third went to the same site, but the material there was high quality, varied, and original. Sites 4 and 6 gave information on Twain works too loosely related to Huck Finn to be of use to middle schoolers. But site 5 on Tom Sawyer was very interesting and pertinent to understanding both Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn.

On the whole, this side of the WB Online offerings leave me cold.