Foreign Language
This site offers the chance for schools who want to offer foreign language who have no access to actually teaching it. This site offers introductory online based material to get students engaged in the inquiry based process. You can learn French, German, or Spanish. Each 10-15 minute lesson presents many words, with emphasis on the spoken word rather than the written word. Great for independent study.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/getsource.cfm?id=8238
Monday, June 4, 2007
evidence based posting #4
Loving the laptops
While some states are scrapping their programs, Maine's initiative enjoys broad support.The Portland Press Herald
I found an interesting article about the proper use of laptop for every student, the one:one initiative. Does the program work? Many schools have reported in (according to Loving the laptops,The Portland Press Herald) that many teacher grieving over this due to misuse and broken equipment. Is this has this just become some quick fix scheme dreamed up by technophiles who want to some revitalize education without any practical or realistic plans? Is this just another fad, here one day, gone the next? Well according the Portland Press Herald, more cases of positive results outweigh those of the negative. Teachers who initially voiced doubt now say how it has revitlaized the curriculum. Teachers or districts who have voiced disapproval are significantly not as trained in appropriate use as the teachers who are. Maine for example has renewed its funding for the program and say that scores in reading and writing have improved significantly since its inception. Also, the idea that students to be connected globally is a concept that is equally tantalizing. Those that are trained are willing to say that the program is here to stay.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=107195&ac=PHnws&pg=1
While some states are scrapping their programs, Maine's initiative enjoys broad support.The Portland Press Herald
I found an interesting article about the proper use of laptop for every student, the one:one initiative. Does the program work? Many schools have reported in (according to Loving the laptops,The Portland Press Herald) that many teacher grieving over this due to misuse and broken equipment. Is this has this just become some quick fix scheme dreamed up by technophiles who want to some revitalize education without any practical or realistic plans? Is this just another fad, here one day, gone the next? Well according the Portland Press Herald, more cases of positive results outweigh those of the negative. Teachers who initially voiced doubt now say how it has revitlaized the curriculum. Teachers or districts who have voiced disapproval are significantly not as trained in appropriate use as the teachers who are. Maine for example has renewed its funding for the program and say that scores in reading and writing have improved significantly since its inception. Also, the idea that students to be connected globally is a concept that is equally tantalizing. Those that are trained are willing to say that the program is here to stay.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=107195&ac=PHnws&pg=1
Sunday, May 13, 2007
site of the week #3
Site of the week #3
http://newzcrew.org/
newzcrew.org is a great site for inviting distance communication between students. They can debate questions, start their own threads about current events and global issues and reflect and react with fellow teens from all over the world. While you could certainly pass along information about this site to your students to use individually, it would also serve as a great class project. Each discussion "crew" is slated to last only about a month, so there is no long term commitment. Teachers who register their own class groups can monitor the discussions their students are having as a way to ensure participation. While students may prefer their own social networking sites, this site can incorporate that technology into an educationally relevant activity. This site may be particularly helpful for getting more introverted students "talking."
illinois standards
3.B.5 Using contemporary technology, produce documents of publication quality for specific purposes and audiences; exhibit clarity of focus, logic of organization, appropriate elaboration and support and overall coherence
3.C.5a Communicate information and ideas in narrative, informative and persuasive writing with clarity and effectiveness in a variety of written forms using appropriate traditional and/or electronic formats; adapt content, vocabulary, voice and tone to the audience, purpose and situation
http://newzcrew.org/
newzcrew.org is a great site for inviting distance communication between students. They can debate questions, start their own threads about current events and global issues and reflect and react with fellow teens from all over the world. While you could certainly pass along information about this site to your students to use individually, it would also serve as a great class project. Each discussion "crew" is slated to last only about a month, so there is no long term commitment. Teachers who register their own class groups can monitor the discussions their students are having as a way to ensure participation. While students may prefer their own social networking sites, this site can incorporate that technology into an educationally relevant activity. This site may be particularly helpful for getting more introverted students "talking."
illinois standards
3.B.5 Using contemporary technology, produce documents of publication quality for specific purposes and audiences; exhibit clarity of focus, logic of organization, appropriate elaboration and support and overall coherence
3.C.5a Communicate information and ideas in narrative, informative and persuasive writing with clarity and effectiveness in a variety of written forms using appropriate traditional and/or electronic formats; adapt content, vocabulary, voice and tone to the audience, purpose and situation
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Evidence Posting 3
Integrating the study of technology into the curriculum, a journal article form the Journal of Technology Education ( vol. 18. no. 1, fall 2006) offers an interesting hypothesis about the nature of technology integration in the classroom. The authors Erekson and Shumway say that nowadays, technology integrationists want a separate respected discipline of their own, like English and Math. Yet is isolation a good purpose for technology education? The authors say no it is not. It is not in step with the original purpose of its inception. The purpose of technology integration should be to integrate all of the disciplines together, to create a myriad of viewpoints from which to engage students on a a more holistic level. The authors say that if we are to keep in step with the purpose of this apparent discipline's inception, all disciplines must consider it not as something to mastered separately but something to be learned in conjunction with their own. Though classroom teachers may generally consider tech integration a hindrance, due to all the other things that they are burdened with; these barriers can be gotten around of if proper steps are taken to ensure that they see it as an advantageous implement.
Integrating the Study of Technology into the Curriculum: A Consulting Teacher Model
by Thomas Erekson and Steven Shumway Journal of Technology Education Vol. 18 No. 1, Fall 2006 . p. 27-30
Integrating the Study of Technology into the Curriculum: A Consulting Teacher Model
by Thomas Erekson and Steven Shumway Journal of Technology Education Vol. 18 No. 1, Fall 2006 . p. 27-30
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
hotlist
1 http://visuwords.com/
his graphical online dictionary will make looking up words and figures of speech addictive, and visual learners will start to understand meanings as never before. The dictionary pulls it information from Princeton's WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers. The colorful "entries" display like a mind-map or graphic organizer, showing parts of speech in different colors and showing related words and phrases, as well. Be sure to look at the color key at the bottom to understand all the information presented.
2 http://www.theroadtojamestown.co.uk/index.html
Explore Jamestown from across the Atlantic Ocean. This British site claims to have the 'real' story of the Jamestown settlement through the real life story of Thomas Smythe and his contemporaries. Journey through the web links to discover the important places and people who made the journey in 1607 possible. View the photo gallery of maps and important castles where crucial decisions were made, completing the story of colonization.
3 http://www.virtualjamestown.org/interactive.html
Take a virtual tour of the Jamestown fort, view John Smith's voyage maps, listen to Chesapeake Indians, browse through real records of the Virginia Company at Jamestown, read the actual letters of major colonization participants from the latter 1500s and early 1600s--this site intends to be the one-stop shop for authentic Jamestown research.
4 http://www.historyisfun.org
This site promotes learning about America's early history in the Jamestown area through a variety of venues. Watch quick videos, plan your Jamestown field trip or vacation, or take advantage of the abundant curriculum materials available to educators, including .pdf documents: timelines, comprehensive lesson plans, and resource materials.
5 http://jc-schools.net/ppts-library.html
his website provides free PowerPoint presentations on various topics relating to library use and research skills. Some of the specific topics include Marc Brown, Dr. Seuss, dictionary definitions, Dewey decimal system, tall tales, and others. You may need PowerPoint software on your computer to view these files, depending upon how the site creators saved them.
6 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-math.html
The site provides free PowerPoint presentations on numerous math topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12. There are over 100 math topics available. Use these free resources to help simplify the complexities of mathematics in your classroom
7 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-science.html
his website truly has something for every scienc teacher. If you are teaching a new science topic or want to review an already introduced science concept - you must visit this website. This website provides free PowerPoint presentations on over 100+ science topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12.
8 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-socst.html
his website provides free PowerPoint presentations on over 100+ social studies topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12. Some of the exciting presentations include Ellis Island, Colonial America, Statue of Liberty, American Inventors, The Great Depression, the Civil War, and much, much more. Many of the presentations include lesson plans, interactive activities, games and other information.
9 http://www.vocabulary.com/mythology.html
One of my personal favorites. Nemesis, Odyssey, and Zephyr - oh my! If your students are learning about Greek mythology, visit this unique vocabulary website. Vocabulary University features 12 puzzles on the topics of Greek mythology plus mythology stories that incorporate the mythological vocabulary terms.
10 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-art.html
This website provides ready-to-go PowerPoint presentations. There are well over twenty presentations on topics related to the visual arts and performing arts. Some of the specific topics include music careers, music and culture, rock-n-roll USA, art, impressionism, ceramics, art history and many others. Most of the PowerPoints are extremely well done, featuring graphics, sound, and a wide selection of information.
11 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-la.html
Wow - this website provides ready-to-use PowerPoint presentations on over 100 topics. The presentations were created by teachers - for teachers to use in their classrooms. This website organizes topics by general grade levels (K-5 and 6-12). Just to give you a taste of the uniqueness of these presentations, topics include such diverse topics as Shakespeare, "grammar goofs," active reading strategies, haunted house graphic organizer, phonics millionaire game, pronouns, and numerous others. Any language arts teacher is guaranteed to find something useful at this website. Do yourself a favor and check it out!
12 http://instacalc.com/
for technology users who like math and like to "play." This online tool lets you create(or "share" someone else's existing) online calculations/spreadsheets. You can also display instant graphs of the spreadsheet contents. The spreadsheets are displayed in terms that ordinary people can understand and allow you to "plug in" numbers to see instant results. Some of the shared calculators already online are surface area and volume of geometric solids, interest calculators, body mass index, and more sophisticated business functions.
13 http://www.usap.gov/scienceAndEducation.cfm
Grab your winter coats, and let's head to Antarctica. This website is phenomenal and truly has a wonderful variety of information for students. This website provides information about Antarctica, video clips, lesson plan ideas, maps, news and much, much more
14 http://www.tonmo.com/
This oddly humorous website is all about the Octopus (cephalopods). There are articles about the octopus and other ocean animals, forums, features, videos and games. There is even an "octopodcast"! Some of the activities are more "fun" than "educational." But if you navigate through the website, you will find some great information and activities.
15 http://www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org/home.asp
The U.S. National Slavery Museum is a "work in progress" still in the planning stages, but this site already has some valuable resources available to teachers. The link to "Center for Learning" takes you to some extremely complete downloadable lesson plans on slavery in the U.S. If you use the download, you can get the plans for free.
16 http://houseoffame.blogspot.com/
Those studying Chaucer and middle English will find this site hilarious, intriguing, and downright addicting! Besides the blogs all being in middle English, it includes "Howe to Reade My Writinges; Basic Glossary; Notes on translatynge Middel Englysshe; On my Englysshe; Elizabeth Renfeldes Notes on Pronounciacioun and Vocabularie as sidelight links on the left.
Under the heading "Linkes of Sentence and Solaas" there are links to a variety of related sites that are rich in information as well as interest. A favorite was the Virtual Tour of Dante's Hell.
17 http://www.bsu.edu/web/latracey/PortfolioPages/phototiered.htm
This website presents a lesson in which students explore how photographs can be interpreted as conveying rich stories to the beholder. The lesson presumes that the students are familiar with journalism and photocomposition and is set up according to Bloom's Taxonomy. While one lesson is presented, its advantage is the structure it gives to the teacher who has ideas on how to teach students to incorporate photos into their work. For ideal lesson purposes, it also presents the logical Bloom's progression which is particularly helpful to new teachers.
18 http://www.thanksusa.org/main/hunt-main.html
ThanksUSA is a site dedicated to raising money to support the families of those serving in the armed forces. The centerpiece of the site is a virtual treasure hunt focused on the history of the United States. Each chapter of the 2007 treasure hunt leads students, through puzzles, research, and other clues, to discover one of the "pillars" of democracy. Students (or teams of students) who finish all 12 chapters can submit their answers in a competition for prizes up through September 2007.
19 http://www.300spartanwarriors.com/300spartanswebsites/websites.html
This is a privately maintained website dedicated to the warfare of the Spartans, with a specific focus on the Battle of Thermopylae. Although the site is not quite up to professional standards, there are good photos of the battlefield today, pictures and descriptions of the combatants, and information about the battle. Teachers of literature, teaching about Greek mythology may also want to tie in this site as part of a look at Greek culture. The movie "300" may generate some interest in this famous battle and having the facts is useful in bridging students' interest in Hollywood's depiction of the event with the historical truth.
20 http://dsc.discovery.com/anthology/unsolvedhistory/kingtut/kingtut.html
his Discovery Channel site features a speculative exploration of King Tut's death. There is a nice narrated slide show that recreates the discovery of the tomb, a 360 degree view of an artist's conception of what King Tut may have looked like, and some nice photos of artifacts from the tomb.
21 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-science.html
This website truly has something for every scienc teacher. If you are teaching a new science topic or want to review an already introduced science concept - you must visit this website. This website provides free PowerPoint presentations on over 100+ science topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12.
22 http://www.kingtut.org/about_the_exhibition/exhibition_preview
What student doesn't love King Tut? This site is connected with the current tour of some of the King Tut artifacts across the United States. Each exhibition site has its own section, and each site is different. However, each location site contains the same educational resources, which are excellent. There is a beautiful animated gallery of some of the artifacts. Although King Tut was really just a minor king in the Egyptian history, the stunning beauty of the items discovered in his tomb is hard to resist. This site would add strong visual impact to any unit on Egyptian history.
23 http://paircreation.com/projects/troyVIroot/html/
Using the writings of Homer as well as archaeological and geologic discoveries, this site virtually reconstructs the citadel to its authentic 13th century appearance. Meet the excavators, analyze the nine distinct layers of the site of Troy, and read critical analysis of the historic evidence. This is a fascinating, but high-level site, appropriate for high school AP students.
24 http://www.learner.org/exhibits/collapse/
This site analyzes the collapse of four ancient civilizations, presents a series of clues, and challenges students to develop a hypothesis explaining their demise. As they progress through the site, students can record their thoughts in an online journal before submitting their conclusions and reading the interpretations of others.
25 http://www.bsu.edu/web/latracey/PortfolioPages/phototiered.htm
This website presents a lesson in which students explore how photographs can be interpreted as conveying rich stories to the beholder. The lesson presumes that the students are familiar with journalism and photocomposition and is set up according to Bloom's Taxonomy. While one lesson is presented, its advantage is the structure it gives to the teacher who has ideas on how to teach students to incorporate photos into their work. For ideal lesson purposes, it also presents the logical Bloom's progression which is particularly helpful to new teachers.
26 http://writingfix.com/index.htm
WritingFix has interactive lessons for building stronger writing skills in writers of any age, with the "kids" portion dedicated to the elementary/middle school student. This is an excellent site that provides solid theory with interactive writing games and prompts. WritingFix created unique interactive word games that put the writer in control and keep him/her engaged. It is wisely divided into "word games" focusing on left-brained and right-brained writers, chapter books, etc. If your district has introduced or advocates W.A.C. or R.I.C.A. standards, the site includes those. It was designed by writers, teachers, and students to spark the imaginations of writers, teachers and students of all ages.
27 http://www.e-messenger-consulting.com/clicheaday.htm
Find a cliche and ideas for better ways to say the same thing using this simple blog site. The directions at the right (HOW TO SEARCH THIS PAGE USING INTERNET EXPLORER) tell you everything you need to know to locate a specific cliche and some terrific alternates to the overused expression. Many of the examples are also taught as idioms.
28 http://literalsystems.org/abooks/index.php/Main/HomePage
This limited selection of well-produced audio books in the public domain is unique in its selection of titles. New classic titles are constantly being added. Professionals read the books. Texts available as of spring, 2007 include: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; A Tale of Two Cities; Elephant's Child, The;Empty House, The;Excerpt from Don Quijote; Gift of the Magi, The; Goblin Market; Gunga Din; Happy Prince, The; Heart of Darkness; Highwayman, The; Monkey's Paw, The; On the Brighton Road; Red Room, The; Upper Berth, The.
29 http://docs.google.com/
With Google Docs, users can create, edit, reformat, upload, and share documents they've created in WORD or other office applications. They can also look at their editing history. Perhaps the best feature is the ability to collaborate on documents and spreadsheets with anyone or with a selected group. Groups share editing capabilities, making collaboration much easier. Users can publish newly created, uploaded, downloaded, or revised documents and spreadsheets as well as making links to them on personal blogs. Easy directions and familiar-looking pages make exporting and importing documents simple; Google also helps users keep them organized.
30 http://www.write-out-loud.com/
If you are looking for new ideas on helping students with fear of speaking or writing ideas, this is a good site. You will find everything you ever needed to help you write a speech, overcome performance anxiety, how to rehearse, etc. While this site is geared to almost anyone, it really is for older students or adults. Teachers can use this site very effectively for helping students with speech basics.
31 http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Language_Arts/Literature/LIT0211.html
A lesson for studying William Blake and William Wordsworth, this is good for making a distinction in the style of these British writers.
32 http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/harry_potter/default.stm
This site is all about HARRY POTTER! There are reading guides, interactive games, interviews, polls, news reports and more. Use this website to encourage independent reading or spark writing activities about Harry Potter. Make it a link from your teacher web page to share the games, video footage and other interactive capabilities of this unique website.
33 http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/nov/film.htm
This site contains lesson plans and use suggestions for 5 classic movie favorites. It also has ideas for using those annoying movie previews found on DVDs and links to other sites about specific movies. Lessons include pre-watching activities, vocabulary support, internet exercises, and listening activities, so this site is highly appropriate for use with limited English speakers. Whether you are teaching film study, English, or ESL, this site has ideas for you.
34 URL: http://www.kellscraft.com/textcontents.html
This privately done digitized library focuses on books published before 1923, primarily those with magnificent illustrations. Books digitized are in the public domain and are also available to the large digitization projects going on now with the Google Books project. The quality of the digitization is very good and appears to offer complete works. Some books have been reformatted, presumably to allow viewing consistency.
35 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/
This collection of selected poems by important poets offers written poems, authors reading poems, author biographies, and a wonderful Teacher's Guide in pdf format. The site accomapnied a PBS show in 1999, but the resources remain and are quite usable without the video of the television show. The guide includes suggestions for how to use poetry in the classroom, questions to ask about specific poems, and a listing of poems by subject matter. The site also includes a Forum for teachers to read and exchange ideas about teaching poetry
36 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/randj/artsedge.html
An attractive site from the Kennedy Center that includes information on Shakespeare's England, plot summaries, discussion of the themes in the story, connections to the arts more generally and lesson plans.
37 http://www.annefrank.com/
This site would make a nice accompaniment for students reading "The Diary of Ann Frank." This site includes exerpts from Anne's diary, lesson plans and downloadable readers' guides for teachers. Go directly to "Ann Frank: Life and Times" to access the excerpts from her diary and the scrapbook. This include pictures and artifacts along with a biography of Anne Frank suitable for middle school students.
38 http://www.sehinton.com/
Here is the official website of a popular young adult author. S. E. Hinton burst on the literary scene with the book "The Outsiders," written when she was only 17. Her youth has always appealed to young readers, as well as her young subject matter. This is a typical official website that includes biographical information with information on her books and movies adaptations. The book pages include comments from the author and short excerpts and summaries of the works.
39 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3737/
Tone is a difficult concept for students to grasp. Using Romeo and Juliet's Act IV, scene v, students can look at it as either tragedy or parody depending on how the director and actors present the scene. Using drama to demonstrate tone makes it a little easier for students to understand.
40 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3755/
Wondering how to get students to listen for those setting clues in Shakespeare? Here's a lesson that helps them pinpoint the dialogue clues that Shakespeare used in place of stage directions.
41 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3768/
Sometimes students miss what is being said as exposition in Shakespeare and are consequently confused for the rest of the play. This lesson gives them the opportunity to explore what is being said in a way they can apply to other scenes as well.
Getting students on their feet to perform Shakespeare is much easier with some preparation. These 3 45-minute lessons using Macbeth help them do just that. Guided practice in small groups helps the students feel a little less awkward and more confident as well as more aware of what they are actually saying while reading Shakespeare.
his graphical online dictionary will make looking up words and figures of speech addictive, and visual learners will start to understand meanings as never before. The dictionary pulls it information from Princeton's WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers. The colorful "entries" display like a mind-map or graphic organizer, showing parts of speech in different colors and showing related words and phrases, as well. Be sure to look at the color key at the bottom to understand all the information presented.
2 http://www.theroadtojamestown.co.uk/index.html
Explore Jamestown from across the Atlantic Ocean. This British site claims to have the 'real' story of the Jamestown settlement through the real life story of Thomas Smythe and his contemporaries. Journey through the web links to discover the important places and people who made the journey in 1607 possible. View the photo gallery of maps and important castles where crucial decisions were made, completing the story of colonization.
3 http://www.virtualjamestown.org/interactive.html
Take a virtual tour of the Jamestown fort, view John Smith's voyage maps, listen to Chesapeake Indians, browse through real records of the Virginia Company at Jamestown, read the actual letters of major colonization participants from the latter 1500s and early 1600s--this site intends to be the one-stop shop for authentic Jamestown research.
4 http://www.historyisfun.org
This site promotes learning about America's early history in the Jamestown area through a variety of venues. Watch quick videos, plan your Jamestown field trip or vacation, or take advantage of the abundant curriculum materials available to educators, including .pdf documents: timelines, comprehensive lesson plans, and resource materials.
5 http://jc-schools.net/ppts-library.html
his website provides free PowerPoint presentations on various topics relating to library use and research skills. Some of the specific topics include Marc Brown, Dr. Seuss, dictionary definitions, Dewey decimal system, tall tales, and others. You may need PowerPoint software on your computer to view these files, depending upon how the site creators saved them.
6 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-math.html
The site provides free PowerPoint presentations on numerous math topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12. There are over 100 math topics available. Use these free resources to help simplify the complexities of mathematics in your classroom
7 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-science.html
his website truly has something for every scienc teacher. If you are teaching a new science topic or want to review an already introduced science concept - you must visit this website. This website provides free PowerPoint presentations on over 100+ science topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12.
8 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-socst.html
his website provides free PowerPoint presentations on over 100+ social studies topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12. Some of the exciting presentations include Ellis Island, Colonial America, Statue of Liberty, American Inventors, The Great Depression, the Civil War, and much, much more. Many of the presentations include lesson plans, interactive activities, games and other information.
9 http://www.vocabulary.com/mythology.html
One of my personal favorites. Nemesis, Odyssey, and Zephyr - oh my! If your students are learning about Greek mythology, visit this unique vocabulary website. Vocabulary University features 12 puzzles on the topics of Greek mythology plus mythology stories that incorporate the mythological vocabulary terms.
10 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-art.html
This website provides ready-to-go PowerPoint presentations. There are well over twenty presentations on topics related to the visual arts and performing arts. Some of the specific topics include music careers, music and culture, rock-n-roll USA, art, impressionism, ceramics, art history and many others. Most of the PowerPoints are extremely well done, featuring graphics, sound, and a wide selection of information.
11 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-la.html
Wow - this website provides ready-to-use PowerPoint presentations on over 100 topics. The presentations were created by teachers - for teachers to use in their classrooms. This website organizes topics by general grade levels (K-5 and 6-12). Just to give you a taste of the uniqueness of these presentations, topics include such diverse topics as Shakespeare, "grammar goofs," active reading strategies, haunted house graphic organizer, phonics millionaire game, pronouns, and numerous others. Any language arts teacher is guaranteed to find something useful at this website. Do yourself a favor and check it out!
12 http://instacalc.com/
for technology users who like math and like to "play." This online tool lets you create(or "share" someone else's existing) online calculations/spreadsheets. You can also display instant graphs of the spreadsheet contents. The spreadsheets are displayed in terms that ordinary people can understand and allow you to "plug in" numbers to see instant results. Some of the shared calculators already online are surface area and volume of geometric solids, interest calculators, body mass index, and more sophisticated business functions.
13 http://www.usap.gov/scienceAndEducation.cfm
Grab your winter coats, and let's head to Antarctica. This website is phenomenal and truly has a wonderful variety of information for students. This website provides information about Antarctica, video clips, lesson plan ideas, maps, news and much, much more
14 http://www.tonmo.com/
This oddly humorous website is all about the Octopus (cephalopods). There are articles about the octopus and other ocean animals, forums, features, videos and games. There is even an "octopodcast"! Some of the activities are more "fun" than "educational." But if you navigate through the website, you will find some great information and activities.
15 http://www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org/home.asp
The U.S. National Slavery Museum is a "work in progress" still in the planning stages, but this site already has some valuable resources available to teachers. The link to "Center for Learning" takes you to some extremely complete downloadable lesson plans on slavery in the U.S. If you use the download, you can get the plans for free.
16 http://houseoffame.blogspot.com/
Those studying Chaucer and middle English will find this site hilarious, intriguing, and downright addicting! Besides the blogs all being in middle English, it includes "Howe to Reade My Writinges; Basic Glossary; Notes on translatynge Middel Englysshe; On my Englysshe; Elizabeth Renfeldes Notes on Pronounciacioun and Vocabularie as sidelight links on the left.
Under the heading "Linkes of Sentence and Solaas" there are links to a variety of related sites that are rich in information as well as interest. A favorite was the Virtual Tour of Dante's Hell.
17 http://www.bsu.edu/web/latracey/PortfolioPages/phototiered.htm
This website presents a lesson in which students explore how photographs can be interpreted as conveying rich stories to the beholder. The lesson presumes that the students are familiar with journalism and photocomposition and is set up according to Bloom's Taxonomy. While one lesson is presented, its advantage is the structure it gives to the teacher who has ideas on how to teach students to incorporate photos into their work. For ideal lesson purposes, it also presents the logical Bloom's progression which is particularly helpful to new teachers.
18 http://www.thanksusa.org/main/hunt-main.html
ThanksUSA is a site dedicated to raising money to support the families of those serving in the armed forces. The centerpiece of the site is a virtual treasure hunt focused on the history of the United States. Each chapter of the 2007 treasure hunt leads students, through puzzles, research, and other clues, to discover one of the "pillars" of democracy. Students (or teams of students) who finish all 12 chapters can submit their answers in a competition for prizes up through September 2007.
19 http://www.300spartanwarriors.com/300spartanswebsites/websites.html
This is a privately maintained website dedicated to the warfare of the Spartans, with a specific focus on the Battle of Thermopylae. Although the site is not quite up to professional standards, there are good photos of the battlefield today, pictures and descriptions of the combatants, and information about the battle. Teachers of literature, teaching about Greek mythology may also want to tie in this site as part of a look at Greek culture. The movie "300" may generate some interest in this famous battle and having the facts is useful in bridging students' interest in Hollywood's depiction of the event with the historical truth.
20 http://dsc.discovery.com/anthology/unsolvedhistory/kingtut/kingtut.html
his Discovery Channel site features a speculative exploration of King Tut's death. There is a nice narrated slide show that recreates the discovery of the tomb, a 360 degree view of an artist's conception of what King Tut may have looked like, and some nice photos of artifacts from the tomb.
21 http://jc-schools.net/PPTs-science.html
This website truly has something for every scienc teacher. If you are teaching a new science topic or want to review an already introduced science concept - you must visit this website. This website provides free PowerPoint presentations on over 100+ science topics. There are presentations for grades K-5 and 6-12.
22 http://www.kingtut.org/about_the_exhibition/exhibition_preview
What student doesn't love King Tut? This site is connected with the current tour of some of the King Tut artifacts across the United States. Each exhibition site has its own section, and each site is different. However, each location site contains the same educational resources, which are excellent. There is a beautiful animated gallery of some of the artifacts. Although King Tut was really just a minor king in the Egyptian history, the stunning beauty of the items discovered in his tomb is hard to resist. This site would add strong visual impact to any unit on Egyptian history.
23 http://paircreation.com/projects/troyVIroot/html/
Using the writings of Homer as well as archaeological and geologic discoveries, this site virtually reconstructs the citadel to its authentic 13th century appearance. Meet the excavators, analyze the nine distinct layers of the site of Troy, and read critical analysis of the historic evidence. This is a fascinating, but high-level site, appropriate for high school AP students.
24 http://www.learner.org/exhibits/collapse/
This site analyzes the collapse of four ancient civilizations, presents a series of clues, and challenges students to develop a hypothesis explaining their demise. As they progress through the site, students can record their thoughts in an online journal before submitting their conclusions and reading the interpretations of others.
25 http://www.bsu.edu/web/latracey/PortfolioPages/phototiered.htm
This website presents a lesson in which students explore how photographs can be interpreted as conveying rich stories to the beholder. The lesson presumes that the students are familiar with journalism and photocomposition and is set up according to Bloom's Taxonomy. While one lesson is presented, its advantage is the structure it gives to the teacher who has ideas on how to teach students to incorporate photos into their work. For ideal lesson purposes, it also presents the logical Bloom's progression which is particularly helpful to new teachers.
26 http://writingfix.com/index.htm
WritingFix has interactive lessons for building stronger writing skills in writers of any age, with the "kids" portion dedicated to the elementary/middle school student. This is an excellent site that provides solid theory with interactive writing games and prompts. WritingFix created unique interactive word games that put the writer in control and keep him/her engaged. It is wisely divided into "word games" focusing on left-brained and right-brained writers, chapter books, etc. If your district has introduced or advocates W.A.C. or R.I.C.A. standards, the site includes those. It was designed by writers, teachers, and students to spark the imaginations of writers, teachers and students of all ages.
27 http://www.e-messenger-consulting.com/clicheaday.htm
Find a cliche and ideas for better ways to say the same thing using this simple blog site. The directions at the right (HOW TO SEARCH THIS PAGE USING INTERNET EXPLORER) tell you everything you need to know to locate a specific cliche and some terrific alternates to the overused expression. Many of the examples are also taught as idioms.
28 http://literalsystems.org/abooks/index.php/Main/HomePage
This limited selection of well-produced audio books in the public domain is unique in its selection of titles. New classic titles are constantly being added. Professionals read the books. Texts available as of spring, 2007 include: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; A Tale of Two Cities; Elephant's Child, The;Empty House, The;Excerpt from Don Quijote; Gift of the Magi, The; Goblin Market; Gunga Din; Happy Prince, The; Heart of Darkness; Highwayman, The; Monkey's Paw, The; On the Brighton Road; Red Room, The; Upper Berth, The.
29 http://docs.google.com/
With Google Docs, users can create, edit, reformat, upload, and share documents they've created in WORD or other office applications. They can also look at their editing history. Perhaps the best feature is the ability to collaborate on documents and spreadsheets with anyone or with a selected group. Groups share editing capabilities, making collaboration much easier. Users can publish newly created, uploaded, downloaded, or revised documents and spreadsheets as well as making links to them on personal blogs. Easy directions and familiar-looking pages make exporting and importing documents simple; Google also helps users keep them organized.
30 http://www.write-out-loud.com/
If you are looking for new ideas on helping students with fear of speaking or writing ideas, this is a good site. You will find everything you ever needed to help you write a speech, overcome performance anxiety, how to rehearse, etc. While this site is geared to almost anyone, it really is for older students or adults. Teachers can use this site very effectively for helping students with speech basics.
31 http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Language_Arts/Literature/LIT0211.html
A lesson for studying William Blake and William Wordsworth, this is good for making a distinction in the style of these British writers.
32 http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/harry_potter/default.stm
This site is all about HARRY POTTER! There are reading guides, interactive games, interviews, polls, news reports and more. Use this website to encourage independent reading or spark writing activities about Harry Potter. Make it a link from your teacher web page to share the games, video footage and other interactive capabilities of this unique website.
33 http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/nov/film.htm
This site contains lesson plans and use suggestions for 5 classic movie favorites. It also has ideas for using those annoying movie previews found on DVDs and links to other sites about specific movies. Lessons include pre-watching activities, vocabulary support, internet exercises, and listening activities, so this site is highly appropriate for use with limited English speakers. Whether you are teaching film study, English, or ESL, this site has ideas for you.
34 URL: http://www.kellscraft.com/textcontents.html
This privately done digitized library focuses on books published before 1923, primarily those with magnificent illustrations. Books digitized are in the public domain and are also available to the large digitization projects going on now with the Google Books project. The quality of the digitization is very good and appears to offer complete works. Some books have been reformatted, presumably to allow viewing consistency.
35 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/
This collection of selected poems by important poets offers written poems, authors reading poems, author biographies, and a wonderful Teacher's Guide in pdf format. The site accomapnied a PBS show in 1999, but the resources remain and are quite usable without the video of the television show. The guide includes suggestions for how to use poetry in the classroom, questions to ask about specific poems, and a listing of poems by subject matter. The site also includes a Forum for teachers to read and exchange ideas about teaching poetry
36 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/randj/artsedge.html
An attractive site from the Kennedy Center that includes information on Shakespeare's England, plot summaries, discussion of the themes in the story, connections to the arts more generally and lesson plans.
37 http://www.annefrank.com/
This site would make a nice accompaniment for students reading "The Diary of Ann Frank." This site includes exerpts from Anne's diary, lesson plans and downloadable readers' guides for teachers. Go directly to "Ann Frank: Life and Times" to access the excerpts from her diary and the scrapbook. This include pictures and artifacts along with a biography of Anne Frank suitable for middle school students.
38 http://www.sehinton.com/
Here is the official website of a popular young adult author. S. E. Hinton burst on the literary scene with the book "The Outsiders," written when she was only 17. Her youth has always appealed to young readers, as well as her young subject matter. This is a typical official website that includes biographical information with information on her books and movies adaptations. The book pages include comments from the author and short excerpts and summaries of the works.
39 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3737/
Tone is a difficult concept for students to grasp. Using Romeo and Juliet's Act IV, scene v, students can look at it as either tragedy or parody depending on how the director and actors present the scene. Using drama to demonstrate tone makes it a little easier for students to understand.
40 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3755/
Wondering how to get students to listen for those setting clues in Shakespeare? Here's a lesson that helps them pinpoint the dialogue clues that Shakespeare used in place of stage directions.
41 http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3768/
Sometimes students miss what is being said as exposition in Shakespeare and are consequently confused for the rest of the play. This lesson gives them the opportunity to explore what is being said in a way they can apply to other scenes as well.
Getting students on their feet to perform Shakespeare is much easier with some preparation. These 3 45-minute lessons using Macbeth help them do just that. Guided practice in small groups helps the students feel a little less awkward and more confident as well as more aware of what they are actually saying while reading Shakespeare.
site of the week 2
Podomatic www.podomatic.com
Create simple audio podcasts using this online tool and the free space they provide. Simply put, this tool lets you create and place sound recordings online for people to listen to and/or download from a web site. The site itself is a "web 2.0," social networking style site, so some schools may have it blocked. Ask about unblocking just YOUR teacher account so you can have students access it from school.
What can it do? You can record sound directly with the microphone built or plugged into your computer and make it available for people to listen to online or download to their MP3 player. Some possible uses: You record your homework assignments or directions; students create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events; students create advertisements for concepts studied in class.
iste standard: english/language arts
4) Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, and vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5) Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes
Create simple audio podcasts using this online tool and the free space they provide. Simply put, this tool lets you create and place sound recordings online for people to listen to and/or download from a web site. The site itself is a "web 2.0," social networking style site, so some schools may have it blocked. Ask about unblocking just YOUR teacher account so you can have students access it from school.
What can it do? You can record sound directly with the microphone built or plugged into your computer and make it available for people to listen to online or download to their MP3 player. Some possible uses: You record your homework assignments or directions; students create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events; students create advertisements for concepts studied in class.
iste standard: english/language arts
4) Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, and vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5) Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
