Category: Student Resource
Audience: students
Grade Level: 4-12
Subject: Reading
This story-based online learning site provides primary sources as it leads students through the topic or event. Subjects include Famous Trials, Disasters, Philosophies, History, and Current Events. Click on The Black Death to sample this amazing online journey, complete with linked Table of Contents chapters, maps, famous paintings--or try the Visual Vocabulary from the popular book The Help.
Writing Fix
Category: Teacher Resources
Audience: Teachers (primarily), with interactive available for students
Grade Level: K-12
Subject Area: Writing
This is truly a site for “all things writing,” from prompts to poetry to mentor texts to inservice lessons. Teacher lesson samples are everywhere on this site, with extensive emphasis on popular children’s books; there are even pages on Photo prompts to inspire writing. Sponsored by the Northern Nevada Writing Project, here is something for teachers of every grade, K-12.
Category: Teacher Lesson Plans
Audience: Teachers
Grade Level: K-Adult
Subject Area: Lesson planning
Teachers can watch videos of entire lessons, then delve deeper into Lesson Components. Pages include resources for teachers that align with lessons viewed. Six major content disciplines are available to peruse.
Category: Student Interactive Learning
Audience: Students
Grade Level: Middle and High School
Subject: Reading
Students can read about current events, take the Daily News Quiz, comment directly to the NYTimes, enter student contests, discuss daily poetry selection, investigate any one of 16 different news categories. Not limited to students; this is a wonderful teacher-student cooperative website.
Category: Student Interactive Learning
Audience: Students; seems to especially intrigue ELLs and SPED students
Grade Level: Grade 3-9
Subject: Reading
Make class teams and amass grains of rice by answering questions in several categories. Correct answers raise level of difficulty; students love the challenge of keeping their “level” high. Switching categories can be done at any time; rice totals are determined by session activity. (If you create an account, scores are saved.) Great for Friday afternoons, as a free time “reward” site, or for the day before vacation begins.
Category: Student Resources
Audience: Students
Grade Level: 4-12
Subject: Reading
Concise biographies of primarily contemporary figures; includes children’s authors alongside pop culture and music personalities. Interface is clean, not overwhelmed with ads. Additional print and media resources are listed for each; readers may comment.
Category: Student Resources
Audience: Students
Grade Level: 4-12
Subject: Reading
Truly, an encyclopedia-on-a-page. From vocabulary to quotes to current events to search engines to the yellow pages to links to international news sources...what isn’t available on this page? Colin Powell once deemed this his number one favorite site. For years, my browser has been set to open refdesk automatically when I turn on my computer. I could not begin the day without reading my customized Auto News Feed list and sharing with students.
Category: Student Interactive Learning
Audience: students
Grade Level: (primarily) Grade 4-college
Subject: Reading and Writing
Powered by Drexel University and a consortium of colleges and universities, this site invites students to search by discipline, but includes interactive pages (see “Procrastinator” for Teens) for student-submitted writing. Search results are reliable websites. Staff “favorite” collections are available on several topics. For example, one collection provides links to the websites of museums around the world. Direct links are also suggested to popular news sources, magazines, and instructions for writing . The “Stately Knowledge” is a wonderful link for upper elementary/middle school students doing research projects on the United States. Link options “For Kids” and “For Teens” are clearly delineated. Parent and Teacher resources as well.
Category: Teacher Lesson Plans
Audience: teachers
Grade Level: K-12
Subject: Reading and Writing
Lesson plans for “real life” units, offered by age range (5-10, 11-13, and 14-18); by number of lessons you want the unit to span; by emphasis (collaboration, critical thinking, organization, or creativity). Each lesson includes worksheets to print as well as ways to help students use online tools (ex. using online thesaurus).
Category: Teacher Resource
Audience: ESL Teachers
Grade Level: 6-12
Subject: all
Larry Ferlazzo offers a long list of “Best Resources for [almost every possible subject]” websites, compiled by topic. He blogs about his choices and reviews, and teachers can sign up for his daily emails. He has published several well-known books about motivating students. Although he claims to focus on ELLs, most of his recommendations could be used with all students.
Because teachers today are often expected to teach coping skills in addition to everything else, the following *bonus* website may be a welcome addition to a cyber library. Maybe we can find a way to slow things down a bit when we use the Internet!
Category: Student Interactive Learning
Audience: Everyone
Grade Level: All ages
Subject: Listening
See what happens if you “disobey” the directive to do nothing by touching your mouse. Great activity for recentering on a difficult class day, or for students who are struggling with a personal challenge. Perhaps once daily after lunch would be the perfect application.
No comments:
Post a Comment