Wonderopolis vs Artsonia

Wonderopolis could be a useful tool for any inquiry-based elementary classroom. With a new question posed and answered every day, you'll have an engaging and relevant resource to spark students' curiosity. Just plan on scaffolding for your not-yet-proficient readers or for your kindergarten and first- and second-grade students, as the content is not differentiated. The Common Core search option mostly helps narrow the search of the 1000+ questions; the site might help teachers better by offering clearer connections to the standards and explanations. Each question and its response is accompanied by a variety of resources: video teasers, an audio option, comprehension checks (literal-level), vocabulary terms with linked definitions, and a word-match exercise. Also of note, there are some open-ended extension activities that are more experiential in nature, and bound to engage students.

- Amy Lauren B.

I love using this site because of the accessibility features. It allows all types of learners to understand the text. The images are rich and the content is engaging. Since it identifies the vocabulary it helps the students better understand the content. If you want a great science article this is it. Along with the article there is a section called try it out. This section explains to the students how they could work with family or friends to dive into the topic more.

- Melissa Z.

This is a great tool for research on many topics. It incorporates visuals, interactive quizzes, vocabulary, and much more. It could be used to study science or social studies type topics with literacy intertwined for presentations, writing, and reading. The video could have the option to be read aloud, but other than that, it is a great addition to the classroom.

- Meredith Portis

Artsonia is a digital art museum for kids that's available on the web as well as via iOS and Android apps. Teachers create a school page on Artsonia and use it to share what their students have created via galleries. Galleries can include a description of the project, materials used, and national standards addressed. Projects include drawings, paintings, ceramics, handicrafts, writings, yarn art, 3D papercrafts, and more. Teachers can ask students to complete artist statements, including specific prompts they set up. Students use the companion app to photograph, edit, and upload their work, and add the title and artist statement. Parents can easily upload their kids' artwork as well, through the app or on the website. There are options to crop, adjust, or edit the photo, as well as to blur areas of the image, such as personal information. Students can earn awards, be added to the hall of fame, and become the artist of the week. Parents see their children's work before it comes home, and are able to share it with loved ones all over the world. Students, teachers, and families can view the creations and leave comments for the artists. Artsonia is funded by sales from a gift shop that parents can use to buy items personalized with their children's art. A portion of the money goes back to the school; this can be used to buy much-needed supplies.

- Jenny Bristol

I do really like this app. Makes it very easy to keep student artwork organized. However, whenever I take photographs of work portrait style, the app automatically rotates it landscape. Same thing happens when I take them landscape; it rotates them portrait. Very annoying when I'm trying to upload 25 artworks in a short amount of time.

- Renée Douglas

I was instructed to sign up for Artsonia through my child's public elementary school. Unfortunately, Artsonia used this opportunity to start heavily spamming me to buy tchotchkes (low quality mugs, t-shirts, etc) custom-printed with my child's "artwork". These "reminders" go out multiple times a month and sometimes multiple times a week. There is no way to unsubscribe (I can unsubscribe from all email but of course that means I won't get notifications when my child's teacher uploads their artwork which is the sole purpose of Artsonia.) In addition, Artsonia collects sensitive personal information under the pretense of determining "age-appropriate website content". It is obvious that they intend to sell your information - if it were to determine appropriate content, they could just confirm that you are over 18 and not require the exact birth year and other personally identifying information.

- Michelle Mosher