Study Island

Study Island is a wonderful website. I like the fact that it is based on each state’s standards to help prepare children for testing. It allows students to learn at their own pace and own style (tests vs. games). Study Island has benefits for teachers such as instant reporting on results, the ability to monitor progress, and providing students with extra practice that can be accessed either at school or home. Worksheets can be printed too.

I reviewed the kindergarten math program for subtraction. I chose to evaluate the math game, Swat. You can have the questions “spoken” to you, read the words, or just look at the pictures. When you answer questions correctly, you get to “swat” at bugs. Each hit earns points, however, each miss subtracts points. The movement was a little fast for kindergarteners but overall enjoyable. Feedback is active and uses reinforcement. Correct response receives a gold star and the ringing of a bell.

Overall, I believe that this program could be used in the home to reinforce the classroom curriculum. I am not certain that it needs to be used in the classroom as the material can be taught in other ways. It could be used as extra practice.