General info for parents/students
What is Wordshark Online?
Wordshark is a games-based product for learning spellings and for reading skills. Wordshark was the first of it's kind when it first came out, 25 years ago! The latest edition is 'Wordshark Online', re-written and in the cloud!
Why is using Wordshark important?
As we all know, literacy skills are important all through life and parental engagement has an huge impact on student learning. So, it's really important and worthwhile to support your child using Wordshark; talk about the words they are learning (listed in 'my play words'), and talk to them about their favourite games too. Remind and encourage them to sign in and play for about 15-20 minutes for as many days as possible each week to make real progress. Click here for tips on making homework more enjoyable! Your child has access to Wordshark so take advantage of this resource!
What to expect...
- The first time a student signs in they will take the 'Shark challenge' - this assessment decides where they should start in the program. Taking the Shark challenge is important because starting at the right point in Supershark will make learning more effective and maintain your motivation! You can take a break from the Shark Challenge if you like and come back to finish it later.
- If your child has already played the Shark Challenge or their teacher has already chosen the starting level for them then they don't need to take the assessment again.
- Then Wordshark will suggest some words to learn in 'Supershark' (automatic progression mode). You can choose which games to play.
- Your teacher/s might also set you work. For example, in the image below, the student has clicked on 'My set work'. You can also see the blue 'Supershark' button that you can click back to.
How long to spend on Wordshark
Here
are some examples of ways to use Wordshark, for how long/often, and how to manage the time. These are guidelines but if you use Wordshark even more, that's even better!
- Example
1: you could use Wordshark for 15 minutes for each
session (3 times a week or more.)
- Example
2: you could aim for at least 3 games
per session (3 times a week or more.)
- Example
3: Alternatively, the minutes can reflect the age, so a 7 year
old would do around 7 minutes, either every day or maybe Monday to Friday.
- Example
4: If you have been given Set Work, (there will be a date you need to finish the work by), you could ask your teacher/tutor how many lists you have been given to learn. This can help you manage your time better.
It may be more fun to have a chart , including days that you are going to use Wordshark etc, to tick after each session.
So, how does a student log in?
A student is given access to Wordshark when they are added to a current subscription account. The account may be registered to their school, tutor or parent who will give them the following details in order to sign in:
- Login page: each account has a unique URL address where all users can sign in. The account name will be shown at the end e.g. https://onwordshark.com/theaccountname
- Username: (for example, vjulie381)
- Passcode: (for example 56928)
For an easy way to reach your login page each time you use Wordshark, you could set up a shortcut