Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a Front Row Webinar to learn about the Front Row School Edition. I want to share with you some of the things that I learned about the School Edition and mention some free features as well, since some of you are new to Front Row.
For ELA:
1. The Articles are now leveled down to early readers. What this means is... the early reader articles have audio to go with the text. All articles will be assigned to each student based on their reading level, but they will all get similar content so that they can participate in a classroom discussion. Every level has a different set of comprehension questions and writing prompts.
2. With our paid school edition, you can assign unlimited articles.
3. Benchmark assessments are only available with school edition. The benchmark assessments will be graded for you and you can print them for conferences or other purposes.
4. Word Study is available for free, however the Word Study reports is part of our School Edition.
For Math:
1. We have Inquiry Based lessons that are aligned with all math standards available to us. Please invite me in to model a lesson. They are very easy to teach and with little set up. You only have to print out the Inquiry Base Sheet and hook your laptop or iPad up to the projector. Students will be engaged and talking about real world math problems!
2. You can assign Benchmark Assessments with the paid version. You can customize the assessment to test a particular standard, domain, or grade level. (As with all of the on-line practice and assessments, they are graded for You! WootWoot!)
3. Something that is part of the free version, but worth mentioning... You can assign practice for common core standards and as many times as you want because each assignment will generate new questions.
4. With the paid version we can now create customizable worksheets. You pick the domain and Front Row does the rest by generating a personalized worksheet for each of your students based on what they are currently working on in Front Row. At the end of all of the worksheets an answer key will be displayed and will also print. (I am wowed by this feature!)
5. Also worth a mention, even though a free feature... Front Row has a very nice math fact practice built into the program with a chart available in reports for you to know what facts your students are working on and have mastered. No need for Xtra Math any more. Now you can have your data all in one place.
Management:
1. With the paid version we can share students with other teachers that have your students. This comes in handy if you switch classes for different subjects.
2. If you click on the Standards option on your dashboard, you will find sample questions for every math standard and links to short YouTube videos that you can show your students either whole group, or create a QR code for students to watch individually in centers. Plus it is listed by Domain so you can see the progression that every student will encounter as they make their math journey through our school district.
A couple weeks ago Front Row had some hiccups in their system. This company has grown tremendously lately, for good reason, and are working out some kinks. Do know that they have worked on the problems and it should be running better now. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
