Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Effective Literacy Website Review #3


          Upon your first visit to Seussville (http://www.seussville.com/), you are greeted with a whimsical, interactive homepage.   The homepage sponsored by Penguin Random House Company requires Adobe Flash capabilities because there are animations and sound.  If you explore the website during the Christmas season, you will be able to choose from the Grinchmas webpage (https://www.grinchgooddeeds.com/), which is a movement with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Random House Children’s Books, and Universal Studios committed to ending hunger in America.  These organizations help fund year-round meals given to families in need through their generous donations to Feeding America(FeedingAmerica.org.). 

            Should you choose to enter Seussville, you will be able to play and learn through interactive games, activities, videos, and view books from Dr. Seuss’s many collections.  If you decide to view a book, you would be able to filter the titles by you learner’s age, characters in the books, choose from Dr. Seuss’s bestsellers, as well as listen to audio recordings of the books, read various biographies of Dr. Seuss, view the collections of Dr. Seuss books, and view the books when Dr. Seuss wrote under his pen name “Theo LeSieg”.   The downfall about this portion is that you are required to buy most of the selections, so it would be best if you read books you own and then connect it to the website’s games and suggested activities. 

            The second to the last button is a tab for Educators.  You may sign up to receive the latest news and resources from the website if you are an educator.   Under the educator tab, you may select from a Planning Calendar, Classroom Resources, Author Study, Books, Events and Programs, and Newsletters.  The Planning Calendar tab takes you to the Educator’s Timeline, which lists all the months of the year.  You may select a month and three different stories that you may incorporate in your classroom appear along with a brief description of how to use the book.  For example, in February on Random Act of Kindness Day, you may read Horton Hears a Who where you may teach kindness and perseverance. 

            One of the best tabs in the Educators section is the Classroom resources tab.  The website provides vivid, colorful, and free downloadable resources.  You may choose from the many pdf printables and activities, lesson plans, and the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library.  The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library contains non-fiction resources that encourage literacy and learning about science.  The companion books are listed, but are not available on the website, so you would have to purchase the books separately. 

            Seussville is a fun website that offers colorful, whimsical, and nostalgic resources for parents and educators.  Although Dr. Seuss’s beloved books are not available online for free, you are given free resources and ideas to incorporate in your classroom.  Your learners may also play two games related to the books Fox in Socks, and What Pet Should I Get?  Learners may also earn points when they play the games.  They may create a personalized Who and redeem the points for prizes.  

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