This year I was introduced to a great website that has quickly become my students’ favorite. Front Row is website that allows students to practice ELA, Math and Social Studies skills. My students love it because they earn “piggy coins” for completing assignments and practicing skills. (Side note- the “piggy store” where the kids spend their coins has a 30 second time limit which makes my teacher heart so happy. I hate when my students spend all their time on the incentive!)
I love technology and I love finding new websites that my students can use during independent time. This one impressed me because the format of the ELA articles is aligned with the format of most computer-based testing programs. In New York State we are not far from having all of our state tests in computer-based format. Whether you agree with computer-based testing or not, I feel that it’s my job to familiarize my students with multiple forms of reading and writing assignments.
Today I’ve highlighted some of my favorite features of Front Row but I’ve only scratched the surface. The best part is, you don’t need a school license to enjoy the benefits of Front Row. There is a paid school edition, but the free version is certainly enough to get your kids some extra practice! If you want to skip ahead, I’ve posted a video at the bottom of this post which walks you through my favorite features!
I mainly use Front Row for is the high-interest ELA articles and written responses. You can filter the ELA articles by reading anchor skills, and assign a different level of the same article to specific students. YES- you read that correctly, people! So my kiddos reading on a 1st grade level can read the same article as their accelerated classmates (are those angels singing?!) You can also assign the article at one level and the written responses at another- allowing your kids who struggle with writing to still read on level.
I LOVE a website that will give my valuable data and help guide my instruction. As a special education teacher, I am always looking for more data to formulate goals. Front Row shares the progress of each student in meeting proficiency for the Common Core anchor skills.
The groups report is one of my absolute favorite features! It automatically groups my students based on their most recent performance in ELA and math assignments. Although this isn’t the only information that I use to group my students, it does provide good supplemental data and is a good starting point when I am planning my leveled groups for guided instruction.
The word study reports show the progress my students have made toward mastering word study skills, spelling patterns and phonics lessons.
Front Row also has great standards-based printables and slideshows to use in your classroom.
Never heard of that one, but it sounds useful! I use RAZ-Kids which I think is a similar idea but maybe more limited. There was another online program I used to use… I can't remember what it was called, but the kids didn't like it, so I stopped using it! THis one sounds more promising.