STUDYJams - Website

STUDY Jams - website

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/index.htm

Quantitative Reading Level:

 These videos would probably be best for grades 4 -7.  Although some of the topics are higher level the concern would be that the videos and karaoke would be too “cheesy” for older students.

Qualitative Reading Analysis: 

I would rate these videos, quizzes, and songs as Middle High on the “Text Complexity: Qualitative Measures Rubric for Informational Text”.  Although this site is not a text it does have some expectations for the viewers.  Students would need to have a moderate level of subject knowledge in order to understand the information presented on the website.

Summary:

 

This Scholastic site is intended to help students learn about a variety of math and science topics.  It has videos explaining different concepts like volcanoes, place value, and plants with seeds.  Some topics provide step by step examples like ordering whole numbers or finding equivalent fractions.  There are also slideshows, karaoke sing alongs, and places for students to test themselves. 

Content Area: Science and Math topics

Curriculum Suggestions: 

These videos, quizzes, and even songs could be used for introductions, extra help, and follow-up during the study of a lot of science and math topics.  

Personal Thoughts:

There were actually some higher level content videos and quizzes on the site but the karaoke and the graphics were a lower level.  Although the content might be appropriate in some places for grades 7 and up I think they would be turned off by the graphics and karaoke.  The whole site had a mixed message.  I think 4^th and 5^th graders would enjoy it and be able to understand it.  6^th graders would depend really on how it was presented to them and their maturity levels.

Organizationally I think the site could use some work.  It would be helpful to be able to see all the topics that have a slideshow or all the topics that have a karaoke component.  Some sort of index of the features would be ideal in helping a teacher plan out how she wanted students to use the site.

Subjects/Themes: Science and Math

High Interest Annotation: Videos, songs, and quizzes about math and science topics.