Session+4

=Session 4=

=**4.1 21st Century Vocabulary Terms**=
 * **Widget** || A widget is an unspecified device or control that is very useful for a particular job. It is a thing that can be embedded into a webpage, for example, a video or audio clip. ||
 * **Embed** || Embed is a verb which means to implant something into a web page. ||
 * **Embed code** || Embed code is the exact internet address that is needed in order to place the widget into a file. This term isn't found on vocabulary.com ||
 * **Link** || A link joins something to another thing. It's an instruction that connects one part of a program or an element on a list to another program or list. A link could be in the form of an image or text. ||
 * **URL** || A URL is the address of a web page on the world wide web. ||
 * **Upload** || To upload is to transfer a file or program to a central computer from a smaller computer or a computer at a remote location ||
 * **Download** || To download is to transfer a file or program from a central computer to a smaller computer or to a computer at a remote location. ||
 * **Search engine** || A search engine is a computer program that retrieves documents or files or data from a database or from a computer network (especially from the internet). ||
 * **Web 2.0**- || Vocabulary.com did not contain the term Web 2.0. In wikipedia, I found examples of Web 2.0 as,[|social networking sites], [|blogs], [|wikis], [|video sharing] sites, [|hosted services], [|web applications], [|mashups] and [|folksonomies]. ||

=4.2 Vocabulary.com=


 * Why might students and teachers find Vocabulary.com more useful than using a dictionary or glossary?
 * It might be useful for teachers and students because it readily provides numerous examples of the word, it gives a description of the word, and not only a dictionary definition.
 * It also provides a pronounciation of the word and gives websites that contain the word in context.


 * What type of student might benefit from the use Vocabulary.com?
 * I think any type of student could benefit from vocabulary.com. More specially an ESL student may benefit due to all the methods of usage, description, pronounciate and how it's used in context.
 * A struggling reader could also benefit greatly from vocabulary.com. The description and used in context could confirm meaning for the reader.



=4.3 Word Sift Screen Shots=

**How is Word Sift an effective pre-reading strategy?**

Word Sift is an effective pre-reading strategy because it not only gives the reader an idea of what words he will be seeing in the text, but also which words will be seen with frequency and he can be asked to make predictions about what he will be reading. Activating prior knowledge can happen before even reading the text and may be a way to motivate the reader.

**How would Word Sift help students who struggle reading?**

One way word sift can help with students who struggle reading because the word sift word clouds can be sorted based on "most commonly seen words" to "most rarely seen words" and this could help the student focus on the rarely seen words as a pre-reading activity. Word Sift also provides visuals for the fifty most frequently seen words in the text. This is an invaluable tool for a struggling reader. =4.4 Using Word Sift= Word Central Google Translator

=**4.5 Using E-Vocabulary Strategies**=

Word Central could be useful in my classroom if I were teaching a lesson in English, perhaps a cultural lesson. Google translator could also be useful in my classroom. Word Central could be useful to define unfamiliar words in a cultural lesson. I do like the feature of it having a thesaurus and a dictionary that can be alternated by one click of the mouse. The rhyming option is good to but would really provide little use to me as I teach Spanish. I did look up to see if there was a Spanish version of the same website. [|Merriam Webster Online Spanish Dictionary] does have the dictionary feature, but it doesn't have the rhyming and thesaurus feature.
 * Do you think the tools that you selected would be effective in your class?**
 * How would you use these tools in your class? Be specific so that you can share this with others in your department or school next year.**

Google Translator could be useful as an in-class tool if it was taught explicitly to the students. No online translator is perfect, due to nuances in the languages. If the students were visiting a foreign site and were reading a word they were unfamiliar with, the translator would serve valuable. If the students were asked to translate something on their own, the translator could be used as a self-check AFTER their initial attempt. I prefer to use online translators for single words and not sentences because it is easy to see how they could be used and abused in a negative way.