I looked at the sample online... does anyone use the books in their classroom? (The online, interactive books.) I think it's interesting and could be a good center activity next year. I want to do the Daily 5... could going online and reading the online books be a good addition to the Daily 5, at least some of the time?
I think RAZ kids would be a great part of "Listening to Reading" right?? I have never done Daily 5 but I've heard a lot about it on A-Z. How many computers do you have in your room?
I was just checking this out too! Not too expensive...$60 for a whole year! I think it would be great for a literacy center...easy for kinders to do independantly. I like to do different things on the computers...one day for Starfall, one day for another program. I think Raz would be great!
I use Raz in my after-school program aimed to kids who need more intensive reading instruction. The kids really enjoy it, and it has really worked well so far. You can program what levels you want your kids reading. They read the story, take a quiz, and then I usually have them listen to the story after the quiz. Most books also have an activity that goes along with the book, but I have never used these. The books change every few months, which is also great! You can monitor the kids by printing out reports to see what books they are reading and their comprehension scores on the quiz. I've enjoyed the program!
It really depends on the computer situation in the class next year. Right now I have 2 PC's, but next year, we are supposed to have a mac laptop cart. If I get the cart, any day that I want to use them, I will just check out 5 computers and set them up with ear phones.... at least that's what I'm thinking. They SAID we will have computers to share, plus I get to school early, so I will be able to grab the ones I need when I arrive.
I don't use RAZ, but my school has a subscription to another site with on-line books (picture books and novels) that we use a lot. It's a great hook for our reluctant readers.
