This week, my class has been discussing the rainforest with our reading story, Fernando’s Gift. Being fortunate to have a SMARTboard in my room, I find myself using Internet resources very frequently. This week was no different as I was searching for websites of quality to share with my students concerning the rainforest. The two websites I chose to share with you in this comparison assignment are the Zoom Rainforests from Enchanted Learning and Rainforest Live for Kidz.

As we look at the Zoom Rainforests website, we can immediately see a colorful display of information. By looking at the pictures/animations on the page, students are able to relate prior knowledge with the rainforest. By reading the title, All About Rainforests, students can begin relate to the information. Maybe the student has read a story about the rainforest and can have a text-to-text connection. In our case, the children had studied the rainforest habitat in science earlier in the year and could immediately connect to the information. As we look at Rainforest Live for Kidz we are also met with pictures and a green background that makes you think rainforest/trees immediately. The title says, Explore the Rainforest which gives action to the subject.

Zoom Rainforests and Rainforest Live for Kidz have little adjunct questioning to help the reader focus on important information. In Zoom Rainforests there are two main questions that could be categorized as “prequestions” by Mayer. The first question asks, “What is a rainforest?” and the second asks, “Where is the rainforest?” Students are then focused to answer the questions and create meaning. Rainforest Live for Kidz has a “Did you know?” portion at the bottom of the page that gives interesting facts about the rainforest. These facts may or may not be main concepts that are intended to be communicated through the website.

My preferred website is Zoom Rainforests. The signaling on this website is very useful for comprehension. The reader is met with different fonts and colors that emphasize important headings and information. All main headings are in red font that is medium sized. The layers of the rainforest are presented in black font and all capital letters with an illustration to the left of the headings.  As you read through the website, you see words in blue and underlined. These are links to more information within the Enchanted Learning website. Also, some words within the website are presented in capital letters. For example, when discussing the importance of the rainforest to the ecosystem the word “VERY” is used to emphasize the fact.

Rainforest Live for Kidz is harder to navigate and uses less signaling. The information is presented in a way that is slightly difficult to access. First of all, the information for the rainforest is not contained in one page like Zoom Rainforests. There is a task bar to the right of the page to immediately send the student to exploring the rainforest, games, chat, coloring, and/or contests. It is difficult to navigate within these topics. You have to click several links to finally arrive at the information within the topics. The signaling on this page has much to be desired. The font is small. Links may be slightly emphasized with capital letters or small bullets. 

Mnemonic strategies also play a role in comprehension. Zoom Rainforests uses the imagery link discussed by Mayer to help the student remember the content of the passage. For example, in the section that discusses the animals of the rainforest, there is a snake to the right of the passage to help the reader remember the mentioning of animal life in the rainforest. In the same way, there is a picture of a cloud with rain to connect meaning with the total rainfall, a thermometer to connect meaning with the temperature, a globe to connect meaning with the location of the rainforests and a picture of soil to connect meaning with the depth and nutrients the soil provides for the rainforest. These pictures could also serve as signaling as they would assist a young reader in knowing the basic content of the words located next to the picture.

Analyzing these websites has been very useful and informative. I hope to employ these methods in the future to find the best websites for my students. The Internet is a wonderful source of information when using sites that are relevant, age appropriate and comprehendible. 

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