Top 9 technology solutions for your classroom – bett2020 finalists

Bett Finanlists- Top 9 classroom technologies

by Kabir M- KS3 student, Dubai

Kabir is an avid reader, a diligent student and the son of the founder of Browzly. He was motivated to review these best apps in education- the finalists of Bett2020 awards in the ‘Classroom aids for learning, teaching and assessment category’. These views are not necessarily those of Browzly Ltd, neither are they endorsed or influenced by Browzly. This blog was published as it was created with basic text editing to bring a student’s perspective on technologies recommended for classrooms.

The Education sector is rapidly changing and becoming increasingly reliant on modern technology. It’s no wonder that teachers and educators are constantly trying to find innovative yet effective ways to use mobile apps and other technologies to teach and manage their learners. As a student myself, from personal experience, I feel that this is an extremely difficult task because when it comes to technology, students may often be less engaged in learning itself and focus more on recreation. Luckily there are experts who are at hand to help shortlist the best & latest apps for classrooms and education. In this article, we meet 9 Edtech enterprises that have been hand-picked to be Bett 2020 finalists in the ‘Classroom aids for learning, teaching, and assessment’ category. Check out the shortlist, maybe they can provide you with some assistance in finding what works for your classroom? 

But first of all what is Bett? Bett is a leading industry show held annually in London that showcases the latest technological advancements in Education, bringing together 800+ leading companies, 100+ new Edtech startups and over 34,000 attendees from the global education community. Now that we know more about Bett let’s see these top 9 technology companies that have been selected as finalists (arranged in alphabetical order) in the classroom aids for learning, teaching and assessment category

1. Britannica Digital Learning – LumieLabs

Lumie Labs by Britannica Digital Learning provides a digital platform with a video editor and content library for students to capture, create, share and collaborate on their subject learning via videos, whilst teachers can still provide feedback when necessary. 

What do I like about it?

-Focuses on student learning with the engaging video format 

– Provides activity suggestions & encourages storytelling

Even better if

-There was a way to try it out through the website so I could see it myself.

2. Browzly by Browzly Ltd is a personalised reading for pleasure ed-tech platform that is proven to improve reading engagement amongst students aged 6-13. Students are connected in a social community with their school members to share, review (text or video), like, appreciate and talk about the books they read. Teachers can easily observe and assess reading, writing & presentation skills, engage parents and create interesting home and class activities to share with their class. Based on the reader-age and reported difficulty level of the books marked read, the software provides a personalised list of recommended books for every child to discover titles that may be interesting and challenging for them, taking out the need to constantly test the child to establish their reading levels.    

What do I like about it?

-I like that Browzly connects friends in a social community to support independent reading, this is very innovative. I like finding out what my friends are reading and also the video review feature that helps creative reflection on the books students read. I especially like making video reviews and seeing those by the other readers. 

Even better if 

-There was easy sign up directly from the app, right now you need to be added by Browzly or by your school.

3. Edukey Education – Class Charts

An AI-based solution that helps teachers create & optimize seating plans based on student behaviours. It tracks and assesses both negative and positive behaviours of students, using a points-based system, to reduce disruption. As parents can also be invited and are able to also view their child’s behaviour, students are encouraged to be the best they can be. 

What do I like about it?

Class charts is used in my school and I like it’s easy to use interface. It is innovative & insightful for parents and teachers

Even better if?

-Negative behaviours were not shared publicly, we know that positive reinforcement can do wonders for anyone but publicly losing points can be depressing for the children who feel singled out. 

– I also worry about any negative incidence happening by chance, will it give me a big negative point that will get me into trouble.

4. Fiction Express- Boolino

 Fiction Express provides weekly stories written by their authors, for children to read, vote, take quizzes, do activities and chat with the authors. Once children read the week’s story, they vote on how the plot should shape next- giving authors cues to take the story forward, to keep the stories engaging. 

What do I like about it?

-It has very nice and easy to use interface

-The interactivity and influence of the students in shaping the story plots

Even better if

-The number of books was increased to give a wider reading selection to students, who are keen to indulge in a wide variety of genres. Also maybe there could be more popular authors coming sometimes. 

 5. Hope Education – E.a.R.L Coding Robot

E.a.R.L is a floor robot equipped with lights, sounds and a transparent body for KS1 students to start coding and programming. Students can create and debug simple programmes compatible with Scratch. 

What do I like about it?

-The transparent design allows students to see the  hardware inside the Robot

-It looks like a board game- possibly very engaging for young learners. 

Even better if?

-It looks great for KS1 students, however, older children, like me, may want to have a more advanced version to use.

6. Learning by Questions – Learning by Question  

LbQ is a web-based app that provides curriculum-aligned Question Sets for English, Maths & Science for students from Yr 1 through Yr 11. Arranged by topic, learning objectives and year group, the questions are in multiple-choice format and provide immediate feedback to the students to support & complement the teachers. LbQ was a finalist in Bett 2018, winner of the innovator award in 2019

What do I like about it?

-On first glance, LbQ looks very comprehensive 

-The website allows you to go through sample questions to understand the format

-It offers affordable sign-up options

Even better if?

–If the screens were less crowded, they had lesser text to help capture user focus more easily.

-The UI was made more enjoyable and perceptive for students to be engaged

7. Satchel – Satchel One

Reported to be used by over 1600 schools in the UK, Satchel one is an established ed-tech brand offering an all in one platform with 6 different apps to choose from on the menu, one each, to manage homework, attendance, seating, timetables, behaviour and content. Demos for each of the tools can be arranged through the website and someone from the Satchel team promises to get back to you within 1 day.

What do I like about it? 

– The images on the website provide an easy to use interface for all 6 apps with built-in analytics

– It takes care of the essential administrative workload a form tutor/ class teacher has to contend with

Even better if

-There were more insights into why Satchel one is better than other software offering the same solutions i.e. behaviour management, timetables, content, seating etc.  

8. Net support – Really School

Reallyschool automates the tedious and manual capturing and tracking of classwork of students in early years and primary school. Using an ipad, teachers can take pictures and add text or voice notes to record their observation whilst in the classroom. Parents can also be added to see and feedback to their students. It can be accessed through the app as well as the website that looks quite clean and easy to understand. Some of the features include: Recording assessment scores and percentages, Recording evidence of work (pictures, video, digital media), identifying child-initiated and adult assisted activities, adding notes and comments to submitted work. 

What do I like about it?

– All in all Really School looks effective in making everyday tedious jobs for a teacher quick and less paper consuming.

Even Better If 

–Students could also be connected to see positive comments from their teachers and parents.

9. Texthelp – WriQ

WriQ is an extension for Google Docs that automatically grades papers digitally so that teachers can save time by not having to manually read and assess them. WriQ is available across many platforms – ioS, android, chrome and window for individual, class and district licenses. 

What do I like about it?

It provides a simple single-minded solution that assesses digitally written papers

Effective and useful for teachers who may teach more than one class at a time, it allows the teacher to devote more time and effort into the actual content of the lesson rather than a homework Essay.

Even better if

– The technology would help in the assessment of handwritten texts. The ability to write by hand is an important skill that students need to build from primary through secondary years so assessment of only digital texts is unlikely to reduce teacher workload, However, it may not be necessary to practice handwriting in later education.

– There was some motivation to improve your work. I believe as a student myself that it is crucial that your teachers read and appreciate your work, it is an important part of students’ motivation to produce better quality writing. Removing teacher assessment totally from subjective texts, I think, is not very advisable, whilst there is a need to reduce teacher workload, this goes a bit too far in my opinion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I must say, I enjoyed learning so much about the future of classrooms and I am looking forward to seeing how these top technologies will make my lessons more interesting. It doesn’t matter who will be the final winner – all of these shortlisted best 9 educational mobile apps and technologies address different aspects of learning, teaching, and assessment in the classroom and therefore they all have the ability to make an impact when implemented, as every classroom is unique the same can be said for every student

How Browzly improved reading for these students?

Browzly Ltd released results of the impact on students’ reading and engagement based on the 13 months of usage of Browzly Reading for pleasure program in Dubai British School together with the results of 2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge. This year’s challenge had 175 students from 8 schools participate. The schools included Gems Modern Academy, Kings Nad al Sheba, Gems Cambridge International, The Millennium School in Dubai, Dubai Scholars Pvt Ltd, The English College, DBS and DBS JP. You may also read this article published in the Gulf News, the biggest English daily in the UAE.

Haneya Multani 3 times winner of reader of highest number of Books with another participant principal DBS & Founder of Browzly

Haneya Multani, Year 5 student at DBS, read 147 books this summer to win the 2019 title of Reader of the highest number of books for third year in a row.

“At the start of this summer break, I asked Haneya if she would like to take part in the Browzly reading challenge and she told me that she would love to win three times in a row. I am so happy that she has achieved the goal which she had set for herself.  The Browzly app itself has come a long way since then, this summer break, the app helped her in figuring out which genre of books most students were reading. So, whenever she would run out of ideas for the next book to read, she would look at which books others are reading. She also enjoyed reading book reviews by her friends on Browzly”.

– Haneya’s mother Rabbia Qaswar

Rabbia feels that reading more has helped her daughter develop vocabulary, made her writing mature and improved comprehension Belle Hererra from DBS won Creator of the best video review title- for her fantastic review of ‘Call me Alastair  by Cory Leonardo’ and also the  Writer of the best text review award for her review of ‘The Shapeshifter’s Guide to Running Away by Lori Don’ in the 9-13 age group.

“Belle is what you might describe as an “avid reader”. She and her identical twin sister, Venice, use every spare minute to read – on the school bus, at the breakfast table, in the car, on school break and lunchtimes. Keen readers will always be hungry for more, and apps like Browzly provide the ideal platform for children to share and promote their favourite books”

– Stephanie Hererra, the library teacher at DBSJP & Belle’s mother
Edward Menadue- Winner 2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge in 6-8 age category

Edward Menadue, a student of Year 1 also from DBS won the writer of the best text review title in the 6-8 age category for his review of ‘Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Dav Pikey’.

“I am very, very happy to win my award! I love reading so much and love choosing new books. My favourite kind of books to read are adventure and funny ones. I liked using the Browzly App with my Mum in the holidays, it’s fun to scan the books and see what other kids are reading too”

– Edward Menadue, Student of Dubai British School

“We are delighted that Edward has been recognised for his love of reading books. He has honestly been a bookworm since he was a toddler. Now he is choosing his own titles, reading chapter books independently. He is performing at a high standard particularly in reading, comprehension and writing. Edward’s reading has also developed his ability to concentrate for long periods which impacts on his class work”

– Harriet, Edward’s mother upon her son winning the writer of the best text review title in 6-8 age category

Dubai British School (DBS), an outstanding rated British curriculum school by Taaleem, have been using Browzly as a student-led reading for pleasure program since July 2018.

“As Principal of Dubai British School I am very proud of the collaboration that has taken place over the past 18 months with Browzly. Bhavna Mishra, founder of this hugely innovative reading app, has worked tirelessly to develop and then refine a product which is unique. Reading for pleasure is central to the curriculum at DBS, our ethos is one where enjoyment is key to all learning. Browzly creates opportunities for connecting students through written and video book reviews, participation in summer reading challenges and the sharing of the love of a thoroughly good book”

– Simon Jodrell, Principal Dubai British School

Starting July 2018, students at DBS connected to record the books they read, add their reviews, swap books and also participate in 2 rounds of Browzly Summer Reading Challenge in 2018 and 2019. This 13-month (424 days) of usage, generated collective data from 147 DBS students, this was split into two halves of 212 days each to compare and contrast the impact of Browzly Reading for pleasure program on DBS students reading

The data shows that during the course of the year, average student engagement with reading improved significantly to triple the number of reading-related interactions, per student 2.5 times more books were read and the number of reviews added more than doubled from first to the second half of use of Browzly.

Reading Engagement is defined as students doing any of the following activities on Browzly to demonstrate their involvement with reading- adding a book they read, reviewing a book, adding a book or requesting a book to swap, liking a friends reading activity or talking about it, adding a book they wish to read or requesting a book from their school library.

“We are thrilled with the results from DBS use of Browzly. It’s great that the students love it. We are also very proud of the Browzly annual reading challenge, running since 2017, it has been a popular event with parents and children. At DBS we have seen participation numbers rise every year with more students reading more books with more engagement. In the 2019 challenge, the number of participating students from DBS doubled, number of reviews added grew by 55% and we saw a 35% increase in number of books marked read. The challenge has also been found to be very successful in discovering & rewarding gifted and talented children like Isha R Nair, Yr. 1 student of Kings School Nada Al Sheba and winner of two titles- The reader of the highest number of books and Creator of the best video review in 6-8 age category”.

– Bhavna Mishra, Founder of Browzly- A reading for pleasure program for classrooms and families

Isha read 67 books and added 13 video reviews this summer. While all the reviews by Isha were of high quality, the jury adjudged the content, presentation style as well as creativity the best of her review of Matilda by Roald Dahl.

“What began as curiosity at home developed into a passion under the wonderful guidance of her school librarian, Mrs. Khan, who motivated her to read voraciously. Isha also developed the habit of enacting monologues from some of her favorite books, thereby improving her vocabulary and presentation skills. Browzly was an icing on the cake since she was excited more by the idea of being able to record book reviews which would motivate other children to read. Browzly has helped her challenge herself to raise the bar by reading more and more” Abi also feels that reading has broadened Isha’s horizons, her general knowledge and awareness levels are ahead of her peer group, “we always felt she could join in a discussion on any topic because reading has given her the knowledge and the vocabulary”.

– Abi mother of Isha R Nair wrote

“I love reading… Every time I start reading a book, the characters come alive and it feels as if I am part of the story.. I just cannot take a break from the book till I have read it end to end and sometimes I even read the book over and over again. Reading non – fiction is also something that I love, I get to learn so many facts related to things around me.
I am lucky that my teachers at school allow me to read all kinds of book – even though sometimes they are meant for older children. I love introducing the characters and explaining about the book that I am reading to my friends and I was excited when my mother told me that we could record my reviews for Browzly. I now record the review of almost every book I read. Books are so important to me, its like having a best friend with you all the time”

– Isha R Nair, student of Kings School Nad El Sheba

“The study at DBS, as well as conversations with parents, reinforce to us the importance of reading for enjoyment and the role of parents and teachers in developing student attitudes towards reading. Lack of enjoyment is the biggest hurdle in children reading, that’s why reading for pleasure is important at home and in school” said Bhavna Mishra

Why reading engagement matters?

An analysis of more than 174,000 students’ Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores revealed that the connection between reading engagement and reading performance was “moderately strong and meaningful” in all 32 countries examined, including the United States*. On average, students who spent more time reading, read more diverse texts and saw reading as a valuable activity scored higher on the PISA’s combined reading literacy scale. Overall, students with high reading engagement scored significantly above the international average on the combined reading literacy scale, regardless of their family background. The opposite was also true, with students with low reading engagement scoring significantly below the international average, no matter their socioeconomic status.

Looking at only American students’ PISA scores, we see that reading engagement had a higher correlation with reading literacy achievement than time spent on homework, relationships with teachers, a sense of belonging, classroom environment, or even pressure to achieve (which had a negative correlation). In addition, a regression analysis showed achievement went up across all measures of reading literacy performance when reading engagement increased. Although the PISA only assesses 15-year-olds, similar patterns can be seen in both younger and older American students. In 2013, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) compared students’ National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scores with their reading habits.4 For all age groups, they found a clear correlation between the frequency with which students read for fun and their average NAEP scores: The more frequently students read, the higher their scores were.

Browzly is a reading for pleasure online school program offering innovative and affordable reading engagement and reading for pleasure strategies for classrooms and families for their students to read more. Reviews posted by students in the 2019 Browzly reading challenge can be viewed on the Browzly blog

References

* Kirsch, I., de Jong, J., Lafontaine, D., McQueen, J., Mendelovits, J., & Monseur, C. (2002). Reading for change: Performance and engagement across countries: Results from PISA 2000. Paris, France: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

How to make the most of a winning book review?

2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge Results
2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge winners and winning reviews

Well! we’d say, print them on a bookmark, and stick it in your library copy! You can do exactly this for the winning book reviews from the 2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge! Read on to see which books did the winners of our Summer reading challenge read and review and download their book reviews as bookmarks for your library copies! Video reviews can be viewed by scanning the QR code printed on the bookmarks! If you wish to read what our winners said read this article that appeared in Gulf News, the biggest English daily in the UAE

The Shapeshifter’s Guide to Running Away by Lari Don- Winning Book Review (Text) by Belle Herrera, Student of Dubai British School

Buy the book here or download the bookmark for your library copy

“I re-read this trilogy of books by Lari Don during the summer holidays. The books follow the fortunes of Molly and her friends Innes (a Kelpie), Atacana (a sphynx), Beth (a dryad) and Theo (an elemental desert magician). The friends make a vow to help each other lift their curses, Molly’s curse is to turn into a hare every time a dog growls. Imagine how inconvenient that would be! The book is exciting with some great humour especially from Ines who really made me laugh. Recommended if you enjoy books like Harry Potter or First Aid for Fairies.” -Review by Belle

Call Me Alastair by Cory Leonardo- Winning Book Review (Video) by Belle Herrera, Student of Dubai British School

Buy the book and download the bookmark for your library copy. The bookmark has the QR code encoded so children can scan them with their devices to watch the review

Video Review of Call Me Alastair By Cory Leonardo

Belle Herrera Winner- 2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge

Belle Herrera: Student of Dubai British School won two titles this year in 9-13 age category- ‘Writer of the best text review’ for her review of ‘The Shapeshifter’s Guide to Running Away’ by Lari Don& ‘Creator of the best video review for ‘Call Me Alastair’ by Cory Leonardo.

Keep scrolling for more reviews and bookmarks…

Esio Trot by Roald Dahl– Winning Book Review (Text) by Karthika Manoj, Student of The Millenium School Dubai

Esio Trot By Roald Dahl

Buy the book here and download the bookmark

“Esio Trot” is the story of a man who tries to please the woman he loves. Mrs. Silver is a tortoise crazy, and is unhappy that her lovely little tortoise, Alfie, is not growing up to be big! Mr. Hoppy seizes this opportunity to make her happy. He writes a few lines claims they’re magical and asks Mrs. Silver to repeat them until Alfie becomes bigger. Mrs. Silver follows his advice religiously. Mr. Poppy is able to get all different sizes of tortoises with the same shell colour as Alfie, and keeps replacing them one by one instead of Alfie, to create an illusion that Alfie is slowly growing in size! Finally, he makes Mrs. Silver so happy and asks her to marry him. Mrs. Silver, finally, becomes Mrs. Hoppy! “Esio Trot” is a wonderful book! It is so ridiculously simple and funny, and yet so lovable!- Review by Karthika

Co-winner Writer of the Best text review- 2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge

Karthika Manoj, student of The Millennium School Dubai was the co-winner of the title ‘Writer of the Best Text Review’ for her review of ‘Esio Trot’ by Roald Dahl in 9-13 age category

Matilda by Roald Dahl– Winning Book Review (Video) by Isha R Nair, Student of Kings School Nad al Sheba

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Buy the book here or download the bookmark for your library copy. The bookmark has the QR code encoded so children can scan them with their devices to watch the video review Scan the code to watch video review of Matilda by Isha R Nair

Isha R Nair

Isha R Nair, student of King School Nad al Sheba was the winner of two of our very coveted titles- ‘Creator of the Best Video Review’ for her review of ‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl & ‘Reader of the highest number of books’ in 6-8 age category

Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Dav Pikey– Winning Book Review (Text) by Edward Menadue, Student of Dubai British School

Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Dav Pikey

Buy the book here or download the bookmark

George and Harold cause trouble at school again. The evil new science teacher Professor P wants to get rid of children’s laughter and Captain Underpants too. He shrinks the school with George and Harold in it. They get Mr. Krupp or “Mr. Pottybiscuits” help by turning him into Captain Underpants who saved the day (and the school)- Review by Edward

Edward Menadue- Winner 2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge in 6-8 age category

Edward Menadue, student of Dubai British School was the winner of the title- ‘Writer of the Best Text Review’ for his review of ‘Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants’ by Dav Pikey’ by in 6-8 age category

Haneya Multani, a student of Dubai British School, took the title of ‘Reader of the Highest Number of Books in the 9-13 age category, winning this title for the third time in a row! Haneya participated in the very first reading challenge by Browzly in 2017 and has been a regular and avid reader on Browzly since then. Haneya is not only a big reader but is also an accomplished writer having written a short children’s story called ‘The Cursed Fang and the Magic Paws’. The book is available on Amazon! You can order it here!

Sophie Anderson Jury 2019 Browzly Summer Reading Challenge and author of Children's Books The House with Chicken Legs and The Girl who Speaks Bear
Sophie Anderson
Simon Jodrell

“We are very thankful to our jury – author Ms. Sophie Anderson & Mr Simon Jodrell Principal Dubai British School for taking the time to assess the winning reviews and motivating the participants to give their best”

Browzly- A Proven Reading For Pleasure Program

Browzly is a proven Reading for Pleasure program created with the purpose of making reading enjoyable for every child. We have options to support and sign up families, classrooms, and schools of all different abilities and resources. All we are looking for is your belief in the power of reading for enjoyment! Learn more on http://browzly.com

‘How to make Slime’ books and supplies- Fun Summer Activity

Summer is here and the days are long, what’s an afternoon without a bit of messy fun. Here are our picks of best books about ‘How to make Slime’ and also some cool resources to get you going.

Our Top Spot Goes to

Ultimate Slime: DIY Tutorials for Crunchy Slime, Fluffy Slime, Fishbowl Slime, and More Than 100 Other Oddly Satisfying Recipes and Projects–Totally Borax Free!
If you think playing with Slime is fun, creating it is even better! That’s why we are doting over Ultimate Slime, which has over 100 borax-free recipes from the CraftySlimeCreator Alyssa Jagan

Popular Instagrammer  @CraftySlimeCreator alias Alyssa Jagan came up with the Ultimate Slime that makes creating gorgeous, satisfying slime look easy! 

Starting with the basics, the recipes, include kid-safe slime, fluffy slime, clear slime, slushy slime, slime with vibrant colors and all kinds of mix-ins to create confetti slime, iceberg slime, floam—and many more. Here is a look at the contents page of this book to see what you can make, if you wish to buy Ultimate Slime, you may click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make the recipes, we also found you a supplies kit that will give you possibly everything you need to try them out.

106 pack Slime Making Kits Supplies, Gold Leaf, Foam Balls, Glitter Shake Jars, Fishbowl Beads, Fruit Slices, Fake Sprinkles, Glitter Sequins Accessories, Slime Tools，Sugar Papers (Slime Kits), will give you all that is needed to try out the  recipes in the Ultimate Slime, so if you are going to get your hands all slimy then do it in style, with this kit.

On number 2 is Karina Garcia’s Next-Level DIY Slime
Gives you 15 borax-free recipes from YouTube sensation Karina Garcia.

In this book, the follow-up to the bestselling Karina Garcia’s DIY Slime, Karina provides recipes with new and mesmerizing scents, textures, and shine- with names like Mermaid Dream Fishbowl Slime to Teddy Bear Slime, these recipes look surely amazing, if not next level. Check out Holographic, Super Gloss, Ultra Crunch, Color Changing, Instant Clear, Slushie, Butter, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Cloud, Candle, Jelly Cube, Highlighter, Cereal, Fishbowl, and Taffy slime-all with crazy, cool modifications!

There are also some personal tips on removing slime from clothing, keeping slime fresh, and becoming a professional with slime. This book is recommended for crafters ages 10 and up. We also found you a smaller kit of supplies called the 70PCS Slime Add-Ins Slime Kit for Girls and Boys Floam Beads Fish Bowl Beads Mreaind Unicorn Slime Charms Glitter Jars Slime Supplies Kit.

On Number 3 is Slime: 23 Kid-Friendly Slime Recipes with Everyday Ingredients By Mia Kennedy
This book shows you how to make kid-friendly slime without spending on extra supplies as the recipes use everyday ingredients available in most homes and kitchen cupboards. Plus, You may not have to worry about getting a shouting, as these slimes are water soluble and hence easy to clean too!!! Win-win for both parents and kids!

This guide gives:

  • 23 borax and gum-free recipes that are simple and need everyday ingredients like liquid starch, condensed milk, toothpaste
  • How to make simple slime recipes, some containing only two ingredients like the Edible candy Slime!
  • How to make glowing slime, with the most unlikely ingredient, this one would mesmerize everyone.
  • Step by Step fail-proof and clear directions
  • How to avoid common slime making mistakes, and troubleshooting for faulty slimes.
  • How to safely make and preserve slime

We hope you like our recommendations of ‘All about Slime’ books and supplies, use the links to buy or leave us a comment. Keep reading, keep having fun!

Browzly helps make reading in school fun and also helps schools communicate with each other, check out our website. To enroll in our upcoming 2019 Summer Reading Challenge or try Browzly in your school or class, write to us on support@browzly.com.

Happy Sliming!

 

Please note: Slime is not edible, so don't ever eat it. Also, be careful not to stain any walls, sheets or sofas in your house, best to head to the garage or spread a newspaper on the floor before you start, so everyone is happy. Non water soluble Slime stains can be hard to get rid of.As an Amazon Associate, Browzly earns from qualifying purchases

How to make teacher-student communication cool & reliable?

As a school parent governor and a parent myself, I often hear complaints from parents about missing important school updates. Parent partnership in schools is very often an area of opportunity, which, if maximized can benefit schools in many different ways. The school post feature of Browzly aims at solving exactly this problem- communication and connectedness. Communication for all different users – teacher-parent, teacher-student, and school – parent and even from parent governing body to other parents, can all be substantially improved using the Browzly school portal and app

Here are 10 reasons why Browzly Communicator is a superior option to those most often used?

  1. Extremely easy to use interface (view the video to see it in action): Posts are created through a web-based online dedicated school portal made accessible to school admins and teachers and can be viewed by school users on their devices, laptops or desktops through the Browzly app or the website.
  2. Attractive & friendly UI with the ability to show videos, images, and pdf files: Most social media does not allow upload or viewing of pdf files and many school communicators would need you to download any files before viewing. On  Browzly, school users- parents, students, and teachers can optionally view, search and save posts appearing in the school post feed on Browzly.
  3. No irrelevant posts- target your audience as required– Instead of school members having to set their post preferences, Browzly gives this control to post creators- the teachers and school admins. So each post can be targeted to customized and relevant school members who need to be communicated to. eg- teachers could create posts targeting just their class students or only their class parents, they could also select both. Heads of school may create posts targeting only the teachers.
  4. Notifications to select audience: When a post is created, a push and on app notification is sent to all the targeted members only- increasing the likelihood of your communication being successful as well as relevant.
  5. It’s interactive: Viewers can like and comment on posts- making it a 2-way communication! Get to know the feedback, take a poll or know who would be participating in your upcoming event/competition/meeting whatever it is that you post about.
  6. Keep it academic or use it as a full-fledged school communicator: Browzly is your school readers community but how you use the school post feature is up to you, eg- declare reading challenge winners and recommend books to read to keep it focused on literacy or share any school update, competition or homework, you can use it how you wish as school post feed remains separate from reading community updates!
  7. @mention specific school members: To bring attention to specific school members you can tag them in the comments section, and trigger a notification that gets their attention
  8. Step up your school parent partnership: Whilst Browzly already connects school parents to participate and help their school communities read more and swap books, giving school post creation access on the Browzly school portal, to your selected parent reps can help them send updates and communication to the parents in your school; helping them improve wider parent involvement and participation in your school events, fundraisers and communication.
  9. Come closer to your school members: Not just broadcast but get a chance to listen as Browzly allows you to view, moderate and participate in important discussions between your school members that happen on posts- both in readers’ community, on school posts as well as in chats that users are connected in when they swap books with each other. Keep a finger on the pulse of your school and stay close to their hearts.
  10. Cost-effective, private, secure & very fast to set up– Browzly delivers multiple solutions that foster a happy, secure, connected, learning community within schools, that encourage and inspire each other to connect, inform, talk, read, and swap books to make reading more fun and cool; Set up takes less than an hour and involves signing up school admins, teachers & families as well as uploading books from the school library, this process is made so simple that it can even be self-guided through easy to follow video tutorials and can all be completed in less than an hour! Each school community and its updates are only visible to members within its school and therefore all information remains private and secure.

To set up a trial for your school, write to support@browzly.com or sign up on the website http://browzly.com

If you would like to read about the 3 picture books to learn more about Ramadan, as featured in this video you can click here

If you teach in a school already using Browzly, just get yourself added as an Admin, to the Browzly school portal, by your Browzly school lead or admin and ask for access to the Community feature.

 

 

Blog post by Bhavna Mishra

3 easy books for children to learn about Ramadan

Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims around the world but in the Middle East, its celebration and observance impact fasting, as well as non-fasting folks alike. The school and work timings are changed, eating in public places and many restaurants may not be acceptable during daylight hours and children and families find it quite incredible that some children as young 8 years old, start to fast! Non-muslim expats especially children become quite curious at this time, whilst wondering what may or may not be the acceptable behavior to follow. Whilst a general etiquette of tolerance and respect is a perfect guideline, here are 3 easy to read books, that Browzly recommends for all little ones to get to know about Ramadan and Eid.

  1. It’s Ramadan, Curious George by Hena Khan & H.A Rey, is a widely recommended children’s book about Ramadan. A picture board book with colorful illustrations, it will make an interesting and easy read to read aloud in class or at home, as it presents both the life of Kareem and perspective of Geroge the monkey as he sees his friend Kareem fast for the very first time. Find & buy It’s Ramadan, Curious George here

2. Owl & Cat Ramadan is… by Emma Apple is our pick because of its fun illustrations, bright colors and easy short texts that give an essence of the spirit of Ramadan. Loosely based on the characters from the timeless children’s poem The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear, this book helps children learn about friendship, family and tolerance with humor that transcends differences of cultures and religion. Again a good read for multicultural classrooms. Buy Owl & Cat: Ramadan Is… here 

3. Nabeel’s New Pants by Fawzia Gilani Williams is a light-hearted picture book telling the tale of Nabeel who is shopping for gifts for his family for Eid. Nabeel buys a pair of pants for himself and asks his mother, wife, and daughter to hem them for him, but no one has the time as they are all busy preparing for the upcoming festivities. The tale comes to a humorous end when Nabeel finds out that everyone including himself hemmed the pants and he ended up with a pair of shorts instead.  Find and buy Nabeel’s New Pants here 

Share these books with your students in class or recommend to parents for a read at home. Browzly makes is easy to communicate with parents, students and teachers using the Browzly app and dedicated school portal- write to us on support@browzly.com to know more about how to make communication within your school and class members easier or watch this video here and read more about Browzly communicator here

 

 

 

 

 

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How to get more in a teacher’s day in class?

Here are 3 brilliant teacher lifehacks that help teachers achieve more with lesser effort and time!
1. If you’ve been wondering how to best communicate with your parents, students, and teachers, here’s your solution! Teachers can create and push customized social posts to their desired class students, parents and teachers with a simple web login. Send pdf files, images or videos of activities, homework, competitions practically anything you wish, you may also use Browzly as your school communicator! Read more about the Create Post feature here! alert notifications ensure reliability and this is how it appears on your target group’s app-

School Posts as seen by your users on Browzly

2. Reduce your workload, with Browzly, parents get committed to their child’s daily reading and tracking with the app is easy peasy. If you’ve been wondering how to get your students to read 20 minutes every day, here is your solution! Ask your students to post on Browzly every day after they read, optional book reviews – video and text may get them extra house points, then sit back and relax scrolling as your app notifies you when your students post absolutely adorable reviews or log in to your school portal in your own time and see the activity of your entire class drilled down by student.
3. Be the favorite: Run super simple fun activities on selected days to build not just reading fluency and comprehension but build enterprise, teamwork, presentation, negotiation and much more! Find more activities here to have a bit of fun in class before everyone hits the weekend

Browzly set up takes less than 2 hours of your time! Write to us on support@browzly.com and we will set up for you a free 35-minute webinar that you can attend from the convenience of your desks and get to know all about the latest innovation in reading that’s revolutionizing the way children read!

How to make more reading more fun in class?

The month of March is celebrated as the National Month of Reading in the honour of Dr. Seuss’ birthday! If you are looking for some easy activities to make reading more fun in your classroom, look no further, just read on and select the activities that work for you!

Please write to support@browzly.com if you would like a free and easy setup for your class or if you have any questions about how to use it? Reading will be so much more fun when you do it with Browzly!

  1. The Book Market

This fun activity will help children develop: Comprehension, Enterprise skills, Presentation, Negotiation, Teamwork, Confidence, Critical Analysis, and Creativity

The Activity
Every child brings a book from home to trade in class and has to present for a minute, talking about why everyone should read their book? Teachers can record the presentations and then post to their classes on Browzly through ‘Add a Post’ button on their Browzly app Add tab. Straight after the presentation, the child should add their books to swap shop on Browzly – by simply scanning the ISBN code at the back of their book using the Browzly app- children find scanning ISBNs very enjoyable. They can then request to swap the books they liked from each other through Swap or Buy button on their Browzly app, negotiate terms via comments ( the teachers find this easy as the class doesn’t become chaotic) and exchange the books right there in class as trades/swaps are agreed!

Click here to download a printable pdf of this activity

The Reward

Announce the winning trader- the child whose book got the most number of requests and the one who made the best pitch!

Teacher Tips 

Teachers may help record book marketing videos to upload through post function as posts on Browzly and share these with their own or  other classes, teachers and parents of their school to showcase the Book week/day/month activities instantly. Audience selected will get a notification to watch,  like and comment to encourage the students. Children can also make posters and bookmarks marketing their books to display in the class.

Have fun while you learn!

Get to be a book trader, Market your book, Discover new titles, Ask questions
Develop: Entrepreneurship, Negotiation, Presentation, Comprehension, Teamwork, Confidence, Critical Analysis, Expression, Creativity

2. Reading Tag! Who Makes The Longest Chain?

This fun activity will help children develop: Reading Fluency, Comprehension, Teamwork, Confidence, Critical Analysis, Writing and expression.

The Activity
One member of the class kicks off the chain by writing a text or adding a video book review for a book of their choice on the Browzly app. Then they tag a friend from their class by @mentioning their name in the comments of their community post. The tagged friend get notified about their turn and then he or she has to add the next review of any book of their choice and tag another child to continue the class chain till the end of allotted time (a full week is recommended)

Click here to download a printable pdf of this activity

The Reward

At the end of the week, the class with the longest chain wins a Free Dress Day or a special treat!

Teacher Tips

Sign in yourself and your students on Browzly, you can do this easily by just scanning your class QR code or through for login credentials shared with you. Start by adding a review yourself, then tag any  one child from your class to start the chain

Have fun while you learn!

Help & motivate your class to win, Read with friends, Appreciate their views
Discover new books, To get tips on how to review a book click here ?
Develop: Reading Fluency, Comprehension, Teamwork, Confidence, Critical Analysis, Expression & Writing

3. It’s Chapter Book Time

This fun activity will help children develop: Reading Fluency, Comprehension, Confidence, Critical Analysis, Writing and expression.

The Activity
After a chapter of the class reader is read, children reflect on it by writing a text review on the Browzly app. Every time a new chapter is completed they just to go to their review for the same book on their Browzly app profile, press edit and add further comments about the next chapter they just finished in class, to have a comprehensive comment by the end of the book that can be read aloud in the class.

Click here to download a printable pdf of this activity

The Reward

Great pieces of children’s reflections are digitally recorded for the whole school community to enjoy and appreciate through the app or by reading aloud in class.

Teacher Tips

Seed questions for students to answer through school posts section in the school portal, then comment or chat encouraging improvisations, class group discussion including different points of view

Have fun while you learn!

Enjoy writing and reading detailed reviews and get amazing comments from teachers, friends, and parents
Develop: Comprehension, Deep Understanding, Confidence, Critical Analysis,  Expression, Writing, Group Discussion

4. Class Pinboard

This fun activity will help children develop: Planning, Creativity, Performance and target tracking

The Activity
Create a Readers Pin Board for your class.
Print and display your class reader profiles from Browzly on it
Mark star readers or stick star reviews of the week. Keep a tally of total books marked by the class as a whole
Stick favorite quotes from the books read this week

Click here to download a printable pdf of this activity

The Reward

Appreciation, bragging rights & house points

Teacher Tips

Ask students to update tally marks as they read. Create a whole school board in  the school reception and mark term and year reading champions

Have fun while you learn!

Get Inspired, Track Progress
Develop: Planning, Organisation, Creativity, Teamwork, Performance and Target tracking

5. Reading Pledge

This activity will help children develop: Planning, Organisation
Commitment, Love of reading

The Activity
Everyone calls a number of books they would target reading in the term, then research and select titles to read corresponding to their target.
Add the selected titles to the wishlist on Browzly app and track your class pinboard as well. Help each other find books on the wishlist through swap shop or and share the list with the library to procure.

Click here to download a printable pdf of this activity

The Reward

A class trip for the class that gets closest to their target as a team, prizes for 100% achievement

Teacher Tips 

Use recommendations from Browzly, teachers and your friends to discover books to put on your wishlist. Small or big set a target- even one from zero is progress

Have fun while you learn!

Get Inspired, get Reading, Track Progress
Develop: Planning, Organisation, Commitment, Love of reading

We hope you enjoy these activities in class. If you run one of these in your class please do share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram tagging @browzly

Happy Reading and Happy Browzly!

Blog by Bhavna Mishra

I Spy Seven: A fun way to compose a poem

This one afternoon, I was thoroughly bored and unknowingly started creating a poem in my head.  There is a term called ‘serendipity’- which means a chance discovery or a happy accident, for I had no idea what was going to come out, but it led to the invention of a  random method for anyone to compose a poem, anywhere! Try it out and share what stroke of random creativity hit your grey cells?

So, this activity is highly recommended when you are very bored and screens are out of bounds! If it is a holiday and you are sitting at home, then try this out on your own, if you are at school (and in this case, we hope it is not a case of boredom but you do this as a class activity), try this out in groups of 2 to 3 with your classmates . Try venturing somewhere outdoors  – to the garden, to the zoo, to the balcony, to the supermarket, with just a paper, a pencil and your head. If you cannot go to an outdoor place, open any chapter of a book you recently read.

I have created some class resources to download and print, they are available at the bottom of this post. If you like this activity, please be good to let us know and share via our twitter handle @browzly – this activity is about using observation, creativity, vocabulary, and grammar to compose a poem. Here is how our poem turned out! 🙂

Big Beckoning Bed
Cracked Creaking Cupboard
Dutiful Demanding Desk
Narcissistic Napping Newspaper  
Languid Leaning Lamp
Tiny Talking TV                                                                                                                

The Bedroom 

What is I spy Seven?

I Spy Seven is a simple Seven line poem consisting of two adjectives and a noun, inspired by your surroundings or a book you recently read.

I Spy Seven Example                                      

What do you need?

Paper and pencil

If you are with some friends, you can split into groups of 2 or 3 otherwise try on your own.

How do you start? Choose the book you wish to get inspiration from or select your own special place- your classroom, the field, the nursery, it can be anywhere. Ask your teacher or a parent and head there, agree to meet back in 20 minutes.

What do you do?

  1. Make 3 columns on your paper-

One for nouns (all the things, the objects, the people, that you see around you or find in your book) eg- Grass, Cage, Book, Desk, Teacher, Drums, Water etc

Second for adjectives ( words that help you picture, explain, give more details about your nouns) eg- Big, Pretty, Grumpy, Funny, Angry, Wavy

Third for adjectives ending in ‘ing’ eg-  Boring, Glittering, Shining, Moving, Rippling, Weeping

2. Start writing the nouns first- list all and as many as you can see around you or in your book

3. List the adjectives in column 2, any adjectives ending with ‘ing’ go in column 3 – come up with as many adjectives as you can, that help to picture your nouns better.

4. Pick a Noun from your list, eg- Grass

5. Next, pick one ‘ing’ and one ‘non-ing’ adjective at random from your list, making sure that both these adjectives start with the same alphabet as your noun. Eg- Grumpy and Glittering start with G as does Grass. If you need more words starting with some alphabets, think harder and add to your list.

6. Now you are ready to write the first line of your poem- write the non-ing adjective as your first word, next, add the adjective ending with ‘ing’ and lastly add your Noun at the end of the line eg- Grumpy Glittering Grass

7. Once happy with your first line, you can pick the words for your second line, just make sure you do not repeat the same first alphabet, in our case, for example, your second set of words should not begin with G.

8. Repeat till you have written 6 lines, in the 7th line write the name of your place or surrounding or the book title at the bottom. eg- The Field

Make a neat copy of your poem on a fresh page and feel free to add in a drawing of what you wrote about.

Click on the link below to download and print, free to use the I Spy Seven resources for your class activity. It’s free! The download pack includes Instructions sheets, Randomizer and Poem sheets

I Spy Seven By Browzly

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram @Browzly and share with us what you create.

Written by Bhavna Mishra: Founder of Browzly

 

How to write a useful & fantastic book review?

5 tips to write a great book review

How to write a book review? 5 simple tips for students to write great book reviews

These 5 tips to write a great book review are created to inspire young readers to write useful book reviews that help their friends select the books they will enjoy the most. These steps can be used to review any book you read. On Browzly, you can add both text and video reviews and create a timeline record of all the books you’ve read as well as all the reviews you ever wrote

  1. A Great Start  : 

When to write a book review? A review of any book is best written when you have just finished reading that book- the plot is fresh in your mind and you remember most of it. A little nudge from the parents or teachers at this time will go a long way in getting the children started. A good start is half the battle, it will have your creative juices flowing in no time– To start off – pick a favorite quote or line from your book and write that verbatim, mentioning that it is a line or quote from your book (mention the book title and page number). Feel free to include a few words about why you chose that quote in particular…

Don’t worry, if you did not like the book  – after all, it is a review and you are supposed to give genuine feedback, mention what you did not like and set the tone of your review –  here is an example-

“I should begin at the beginning, I know that. But the trouble is that I don’t know the beginning. I wish I did. I do know my name” – Would you call that interesting?  Well, you might, but for me, it did not catch my attention as I started reading these first lines on Page 1 of Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo. I usually like his books, he is an award-winning author with many great books such as  Shadow, The War Horse, etc to his credit…”.

2. Answer these questions- you may answer all or some of them

Q1.  What was your book about?

For example- You could say- “This book is about a boy who lived and became the one to…”

Q2 What caught your attention, that you selected this book to read- was it the cover, the author, the blurb, a recommendation or a prize that this book has won- talk about what got you to select this book in the first place?

Q3. Was there a notable part or character  Did you connect with a character, did someone disgust you or make you laugh or cry?

Q3. How did this book make you feel? Describe the emotions you felt. Did they match with how the characters in the book feel?

Q4 Did you learn anything new? If you are reviewing a non-fiction book, you may have gathered interesting facts that others might enjoy too, you can talk about them. In case your book is fiction- you may have learned about a new place or time in history or noticed how different characters might behave in different situations, you may have also added new words to your vocabulary, that you would love to remember.

3. Say who might like reading this book– For example “I recommend this book for- mention age, gender, and type of readers” this would help readers select the book that’s right for them

Review your review: Read what you wrote to make your final edits- check for SPAG (spellings, punctuation, and grammar) and summarize with a title that goes with your review!

4. A star rating: Give your book a rating out of 5 stars, here is a simple star guide for you.

5 stars= I loved this book so much that I couldn’t put it down until the end and I can read it again!

4 stars= This was a great book, I enjoyed it and can recommend it as a one-time read.

3 stars= This is a good book, some people may like it, I finished reading it.

2 stars= I did not like this book much, I finished it with some effort.

1 star= I did not like this book, I could not finish it.

Reviews help everyone in making the right reading choices. You can post your reviews on the Browzly app, this will help you create a timeline record of all the books you read and what you thought about them at the time. As we grow older, we may not remember everything we learned or felt, this is a great way to preserve our thoughts and feelings. You can also help your friends select the right books when you share your reviews. Reviews are also a great encouragement for the writers who painstakingly create these books for us to enjoy!

If you have any ideas to add to these tips please, write them in comments and we may add them to this list. If you write any reviews using these tips, we would love to see them!

To use Browzly in your class or school- please write to us on support@browzly.com, you may also visit our website to connect with us through the sign-up form

Happy Browzly