What is the tool?

"East of the Web"

This is a great site that provides online stories and books for students to read and interact with. It also provides resources for teachers to use this site in lessons.

How Can it Be Used?

This site can be used to teach reading lessons. Because this tool provides actual known stories, as well as new ones, teachers can use this tool to create classroom stations. The students can read the stories and use interactive tools that the teachers can put together on the site. Teachers are able to create study rooms for their students. The site provides tools for this.

What are the advantages and Disadvantages of this tool?

An advantage of using this tool is that it serves as another resources for reading education. It can be used as part of a lesson. It fits easily into planning a lesson because it provides a vast list of stories for students. It has sections for older students as well as younger students. Teachers are able to create activities and study rooms based on different stories that can be used throughout the curriculum.

Some of the disadvantages include the set-up of the actual stories. The stories have neat pictures to get the student to read it. However, when you click on the link to the story, it comes up in an uninviting text format. The students may not want to read it based on this. The site does not include a lot of activities that are already set up for the story. The teacher has to create the sources themselves.

The Audience

Depending on what part of the site that you are on, this tool appeals to a wide audience of readers. Students who love to read will automatically like this site. Students who like to get on the Internet may also like this. These students are more comfortable reading information on the Internet, so they may find this site appealing. However, there is an age limit to the elementary school ages. The younger students, Pre-K-1st) may have issues with this. I would suggest the use of this for 2nd grade and up. Even 2nd-3rd grade may need some help.

Where can we learn more about this tool?

Wordia.com: This is the site that actually created "East of the Web".

Casual Gameplay: This is a good review of the types of word games that "East of the Web" provides.

What's my opinion.

I like this site. I would use this in a 4th-5th grade classroom as a constant station. I would use it to tie in reading with other topics that are in other subjects. I like the selection of texts. Many sites just have selections that are new and of little reading value. However this site provides old stories such as selections by Oscar Wilde and the Brothers Grimm.

I do not like that the site does not have a lot of pre-made comprehension activities. I know that it provides tools for teachers to make their own, but sometimes, it is good to already have some provided.