In my visits to elementary schools, especially the Title I schools with deeply disadvantaged students, I often wonder what more we can do for the students who are not getting the broad exposure and stimulation that will prepare them for success. One
Help Us Help You: You, Your Students, Your School
Help Me … Help You! Remember that funny scene and line from the film Jerry Maguire? It came to mind this morning when I came into the office early and participated in a major software release for VocabularySpellingCity. Today we
Vocabulary Building for Elementary School Students
I’m just back from the International Literacy Conference and I was struck my some apparent elementary ELA industry trends: Principals, literacy coaches, and teachers all seemed to be moving away from basal readers as core curriculum. More often, they are
Mother’s Day Wishes from the Mayor of VocabularySpellingCity
To celebrate Mother’s Day, the mayor of VocabularySpellingCity reviews her emphasis on grammar and his interest in language arts style guides. “Frankly, Mom would have loved Mary Norris, a copywriter at The New Yorker. She’s known as the Comma Queen”
Teacher Talk: What they are saying to us
The Question: We asked of our users is to just tell us something about how they use VocabularySpellingCity. Here’s a collection of comments. I use spellingcity on a daily basis. I assign assignments or let students choose activities to practice words.
ELL: English Language Learners and VocabularySpellingCity
The VocabularySpellingCity site and app is a unique literacy tool used by many millions in schools, often to help ELL students. Why? Because VocabularySpellingCity is a rare combination of powerful, flexible, inexpensive, and convenient. Teachers can start using it on their own, or
Hacks for Learning with VocabularySpellingCity
Here are some of the best learning hacks we’ve added to VocabularySpellingCity over the last few years. Enjoy, and may your students benefit. 1. Vocabulary and Writing. Students need both to build their vocabulary and to practice writing. A teacher in Davie,
Vocabulary: Shades of Meaning
Since building student vocabulary skills is one of the big development areas for our company, I’m thinking a lot about how to build elementary vocabulary skills in a more rigorous and nuanced fashion. Today, I’m writing about nuances of meaning but more
Educational Technology of Yesteryear
At VocabularySpellingCity headquarters, we collect vintage educational technology. We like to remember that we are not the first generation that is “revolutionizing” education. The leveraging and integration of technology into our lives has been a thrilling challenge and adventure for
Career Days, December 2015 at VocabularySpellingCity and Science4Us
To celebrate the Hour of Code this December, VocabularySpellingCity and Science4Us will host over 300 elementary school students from the Broward County Public Schools with the goal of building interest in careers in coding and more generally to careers in high tech. To achieve