Posted March 6, 2007
Journaling Across the Content Areas
If you haven't already introduced your class to journal writing, now is a great time to start organizing a set-up for next year! Journal writing is an excellent way for your students to think,write, and demonstrate their knowledge of topics discussed in class.
GENERAL
Need some starter tips? From the teachers at Teacher Vision, checkout this excerpt from their Writing Workshop Survival Kit on journal writing.
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/writing/letters-and-journals/6367.html?wtlAC=GS_2007-01-04,email-gs_19
Need some ideas to effectively introduce your students to journaling? Visit this site for plenty of tips and techniques on different types of journal writing; including daily journals, personal experience journaling, and topics to begin a journal.
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/writing/letters-and-journals/6382.html?wtlAC=GS_2007-01-04,email-gs_19 ;
SCIENCE JOURNALING
Learn more about writing and inquiry development using journaling in the science classroom.
http://ed.fnal.gov/trc/sciencelines_online/fall97/activity_inserts.html
Here’s a wonderful article by a teacher on the value and effective implementation methods of journaling in the science classroom.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0STR/is_n3_v108/ai_21239144 ;
MATH JOURNALING
Need a format, some math writing prompts for your math journals?
http://www.geocities.com/kaferico/writemat.htm
From the folks at Glencoe, a collection of supportive materials for math journaling
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/int_writing_math.phtml
SOCIAL STUDIES JOURNALING
From the folks at Glencoe, a collection of support materials for journaling in the social studies classroom; particularly focused on writing first-person fiction.
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/int_writing_social.phtml
Very informative and helpful article written by a teacher for the Educational Outreach Program (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation) discussing writing in the Social Studies classroom
http://www.ahs.albany.k12.ny.us/ahs/depts/library/lmc_web_page/Writing_Manual(pdf)/HS%20Writing%20Manual(pdf)/SECT%2010/SECT%2012%20writing%20in%20content.pdf
LANGUAGE ARTS JOURNALING
Dr. Annette Lamb provides a scaffolded approach to introducing and maintaining journaling in the Language Arts classroom
http://42explore.com/journl.htm
Mr. Donn has done it again! He continues to offer out his years of successful teaching techniques via the Internet. A definite for bookmarking!
http://writing.mrdonn.org/journals.html
Posted February 20, 2007
SCIENCE
Science Daily
With breaking news updated every 15 minutes, this is a rich source of current science findings, presented in an easy-to-use newspaper format.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
High School Science Projects
Looking for topics for high school projects? This site gives lots of ideas in all areas of science.
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/sciencefairs/senior.html
MATH
Math in the Movies
Just in time for the Oscars, hook your students with this guide to major motion pictures with scenes of real mathematics.
http://world.std.com/~reinhold/mathmovies.html
Paperfolding
This innovative site includes a section on "Origami and Mathematics".
http://www.paperfolding.com
SOCIAL STUDIES
On The Docket
This Northwestern University site has objective summaries of the major points of all cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
http://docket.medill.northwestern.edu/archives/002315.php
Congress Link
Find interesting and pertinent information and resources related to the U.S.Congress.
http://www.congresslink.org/
LANGUAGE ARTS
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature
This is an excellent source for information on specific authors, organized by periods of American history from the Colonial Period to the Present. Additional information includes obituaries for some authors, introductory essays for each period (e.g., Early 19th Century Transcendentalism, The Harlem Renaissance) and bibliographies.
http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/TABLE.HTML
San Antonio College LitWeb
Produced by the Department of English at San Antonio College, this website provides information and links to other sites concerning major literary figures. There are outlines based on particular areas, such as Mexican-American literature,Women's literature, British literature, and a Survey of World Literature.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/litindex.htm
Posted February 6, 2007
SCIENCE
SAT Test Help
It’s getting to be that time of year! Offer your students some on-line SAT problems, quizzes and practice tests. All free.
http://www.syvum.com/sat/
Earth Science Links
From the folks at Internet 4 Classrooms (written by teachers for teachers), this site has everything from lesson plans, interactive projects, and general information on Earth Science. Definitely worth a few clicks.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/earthspace.htm
MATH
SAT Test Help
It’s getting to be that time of year! Offer your students some on-line SAT problems, quizzes and practice tests. All free.
http://www.syvum.com/sat/
Brain Need Teasing?
The Syvum site contains an ever-growing list of brain teasers and math puzzles. All the teasers and puzzles are interactive with immediate scoring. The brain teasers and math puzzles, as well as their explanations, use dynamic content to provide continuous learning and entertainment. They are leveled into “easy”, “medium” and “hard”.
http://www.syvum.com/teasers/
SOCIAL STUDIES
SAT Test Help
It’s getting to be that time of year! Offer your students some on-line SAT problems, quizzes and practice tests. All free.
http://www.syvum.com/sat/
Internet for Historians
This is an excellent site with tutorial and links on how to search the Internet, specifically for historical information. It’s very user-friendly and students will benefit from learning how to cite internet sources, critique history sites, etc.
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/history/
LANGUAGE ARTS
SAT Test Help
It’s getting to be that time of year! Offer your students some on-line SAT problems, quizzes and practice tests. All free.
http://www.syvum.com/sat/
College Admission Essay Time
A very helpful site offering college admission essay writing tips.
http://www.syvum.com/sat/essay.html
Posted January 16, 2007
Science
The Mars Millennium Project
The folks at NASA bring us the Mars Millennium Project. Webcasts, video offerings, forums, chats, and collaborations that allow students to ask the NASA experts questions. If you’ve seen this before, it’s worth a revisit, as NASA updates this site frequently.
http://www.mars2030.net/
Biology Movies and Interactive Animations
Looking for some WONDERFUL interactive animations? Thanks to the folks at North Harris College, you can access this terrific Biology site offering simple, quality animations for most every topic in Biology.
http://science.nhmccd.edu/biol/bio1int.htm#cell
Math
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives--SPANISH
The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives offers wonderful math support in Algebra, Geometry, Measurement and Probability (a wonderful math site). And NOW it comes to you in SPANISH!
http://nlvm.usu.edu/es/nav/index.html
edHelper
Tired of creating your own worksheets? Well, take a break on edHelper.com and let them do the work for you!
http://www.edhelper.com/math.htm
Social Studies
A Biography of America
A comprehensive and rich site from the Annenberg Foundation. This website will take you on an adventure back into time with its primary resources, on-line videos, and information for every era in U.S. History.
http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/
Famous Trials (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)
Ready for some in-depth, easy to understand information on the most famous trials in history? This is an easy-to-follow site offering trial information, maps, pictures, briefs, and other trial information from Socrates to Bill Clinton.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
Language Arts
High School Literature Units
edHelper strikes again! Looking for some great activities to support the novel you are teaching? Don’t miss this comprehensive list with worksheets, ideas, and chapter quizzes for a wide range of commonly-taught high school novels.
http://www.edhelper.com/books/literature_units_grade9.htm
The Internet Public Library
The Internet Public Library (IPL) is a public service organization and learning/teaching environment founded at the University Of Michigan’s School of Information and hosted by Drexel University's College of Information Science & Technology. It’s a rich trove of information, with books, magazines, newspapers (both national and international), dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc., and it’s all easy to navigate!
http://www.ipl.org/div/reading/
Posted January 9, 2007
Science
Access Excellence
A national educational program that provides high school biology teachers access to their colleagues, scientists, and critical sources of new scientific information via the Information highway.
http://www.accessexcellence.com/
The Wild Ones
Students and teachers will find this site, with a section devoted to each, to be a great resource. Students can participate in telecollaborative projects; find information on the different animals, their habitats, and their behaviors; meet the people who work to protect endangered animals and their habitats; and have their work published in the Wild Times, an online newspaper. There are some terrific curriculum activities for teachers to incorporate into their classes;f or instance, Meal worm Locomotion and Monkey Movement for the classroom, Bird Feeder Observations and Wild Neighbors for the schoolyard, and tips and suggestions to give substance to field trips. In addition, the site provides a good list of resources and a teacher message board for networking with other teachers.
http://www.thewildones.org/
Math
Shoder Educational Foundation: Interactive Science
The Shodor Foundation is a non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the advancement of science and math education, specifically through the use of modeling and simulation technologies. And this site has a huge collection of simulators for those visual learners and interactive practice activities for students.
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/
Cut the Knot
A great site created by Alexander Bogomolny, Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles offers amazing applet-driven visuals in every possible math subtopic. Worth a frequent visit!
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/index.shtml
Social Studies
Eyewitness To History
Your ringside seat to history - from the Ancient World to the present - this site provides history through the eyes of those who lived it, presented by Ibis Communications, Inc. a digital publisher of educational programming. Read and watch the words of people who lived history, from the Ancient World, Middle Ages, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Civil War, the Old West, 20th Century, World War I and World War II.
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/index.html
Primary Sources
From the good folks at EduPlace, a very comprehensive list of web-based primary source documents, maps, images, and more that you can use in your classroom. The sites are sorted into two categories: sites relating to United States history and sites relating to world history.
http://www.eduplace.com/ss/hmss/primary.html
Language Arts
PBS Teacher Source: Arts & Literature
From the folks at PBS Teacher Source, this website provides Language Arts lessons and activities, arranged by topic and grade level. PBS lessons and activities are carefully constructed and integrate their many fine web sites and videos. Most lessons are designed as video companions, but many do not require that you watch the video to complete the lessons.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/arts_lit.htm
Yale-New Haven Teacher's Institute: Curriculum Units
The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute is an educational partnership between Yale University and the New Haven Public Schools designed to strengthen teaching and learning in local schools and, by example, in schools across the country. Each participating teacher prepares a curriculum unit and provides examples of ways in which teachers have drawn material from Institute seminars for use in their own school courses. Units of interest include: “Stories around the World in Film and Literature; The Challenge of Intersecting Identities in American Society: Race/Ethnicity, Gender and Nation; Representations of American Culture,1760-1960: Art and Literature; Teaching Poetry in the Primary and Secondary Schools; The Craft of Writing; Reading and Writing Poetry; Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary Art and Literature; Women's Voices in Fiction; Detective Fiction: Its Use as Literature and as History; Reading Across the Cultures; Twentieth Century Latin American Writing; and American Children's Literature.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/
Posted December 19, 2006
Science
Bridge: Ocean Sciences Education Teacher Resource Center
The Bridge is a unique clearinghouse of the best K-12 ocean science education sites available on-line. Educators can find information on any ocean science topic, plus links to aquariums and research institutions, ocean science research data and data-based classroom activities, lesson plans, career information, professional development opportunities and more.
http://www.vims.edu/bridge/
Earthguide
An interactive and easy-to-use educational resource about Earth, oceans and the environment. This fascinating site is brought to us by the folks at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the California Space Institute.
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/
Mathematics
Homeschool Math
HomeschoolMath.net is a comprehensive math resource site for parents who are home schooling, but it can be put to good use in classrooms. Find free worksheets, math e-books for elementary grades, extensive link list of games, interactive tutorials & quizzes, curriculum guide, and teaching tips articles. The resources emphasize understanding of concepts instead of mechanical memorization of rules. This site links you to addresses for these math topics: algebra, graphing, and calculus.
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/math_resources_4.php
Homeschool Math, Part II
From the same folks, HomeschoolMath.net, the following math topics are presented: geometry, trigonometry, statistics and probability, and logic.
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/math_high_school.php
Language Arts
Web English Teacher
This site presents the best of K-12 English / Language Arts teaching resources: lesson plans, WebQuests, videos, biography, e-texts, criticism, jokes, puzzles, and classroom activities.
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/
CyberGuides
CyberGuides are supplementary, standards-based, web-delivered units of instruction centered on core works of literature. Each CyberGuide contains a student and teacher edition that includes standards, a task and a process by overview, teacher-selected websites and a rubric.
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
Social Studies
Social Studies Resources
From Jefferson County Schools in Tennessee, this very rich website offers resources in every area of Social Studies, including interactive games and a long list of good,
http://www.jc-schools.net/tutorials/tools/socst-hs.html
The History Channel
The History Channel brings their excellent TV content to the web. This site features Today in History, over 24,000 hours of archival film footage and 20 million photographs, engravings and drawings spanning over 3,000 years of world history.
http://www.history.com
Posted December 12, 2006
Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation
This is one of the best sites on the Web for information and ideas about powerful teaching and learning. There's an emphasis on technology, but the resources here go far beyond tech tools. You'll find stories about innovative middle schools, videos that show ideas in action, interviews with experts, and whole sets of information on topics like "Project-Based Learning" and Technology Integration.Explore this site --it's inspiring and worth the time.
http://www.edutopia.org/
Education World
Supported by advertising and corporate contributions, the Education World site just gets better and better -- it's both broad and deep, offering original material on important education topics, lesson plans, and teaching ideas, a massive index to internet sites, and -- most importantly – it’s run by an energetic and innovative staff that continues to search for ways to best serve educators. This link leads to a site guide that will ease exploration of this large site.
http://www.education-world.com/help/guide.shtml
PBS Teacher Source
Includes more than 1,000 free lesson plans (matched to standards), teacher guides and online activities--and you can explore these resources by subject or grade level or with key words. The site includes information about how teachers and media specialists can legally tape PBS shows for classroom use. The site allows you to set up a free account and receive newsletters about upcoming PBS offerings, tailored to your local viewing area. There's also info about ordering PBS videos.Want to learn more about teaching with technology? PBS also offers teacher professional development programs.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/
DiscoverySchool.com for Teachers
Lesson plans, teaching tools, chat listservs, classroom customizers, a clip art gallery, a puzzle generator, and access to Kathy Shrock's famous collection of education web links in every imaginable category. Then there's the brain buster feature (great for daily startups), the Science Fair Central, and much more.
http://school.discovery.com/teachers/
The Annenberg Teachers' Lab
Experiment with new teaching and learning ideas in math and science -- and identify activities you can use in the classroom. This site features four labs based on the professional development series and workshops broadcast on the Annenberg / CPB Math and Science Project Channel. Each lab combines online activities with background information and interactive polls or worksheets participants can use in their classrooms, plus links to related web sites. And be sure to visit the Annenberg /CPB home site to find resources in every content area.
http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/
Posted December 4, 2006
Math
Illuminations
National Council for Teachers of Mathematics From the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Illuminations is designed to (1) provide standards-based resources that improve the teaching and learning of mathematics for all students; (2) provide materials that illuminate the vision for school mathematics.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/
John Davidson High School Math Department
This is a high school website, but its math department offers some great features. They post “problems of the week” (with answers and archives to former problems), a solid collection of lesson plans, interactive puzzles and games, and a VERY clever Math Humor link.
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/Div/Winchester/jhhs/math/mathhome.html
Science
Science NetLinks
provides a wealth of standards-based resources for K-12 science educators, including lesson plans, interactives, and reviewed Internet resources. Science NetLinks is a dynamic site with new content added on a regular basis, so check back often.
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/
PBS - just keeps on giving!
Take a quick gander at this extensive list of hands-on authentic science projects and activities, each linked to national standards, many of the projects come from the NOVA program; direct to your classroom and complete with video.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/science_tech/high-humanbiology.html
Language Arts
CNN for kids!
This is a lively collection of weekly online interactive lessons using CNN news stories edited for students in Grades 6-12. The interactive lessons for each news story include curriculum exercises to test comprehension the reported current events.
http://literacynet.org/
Read Write Think
The National Council of Teachers of English collaborate with the International Reading Associationto bring teachers this rich collection of high quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction through free, Internet-based content. This site provides a wide array of standards-based lesson plans, instructional and reference web resources, literacy engagements, and interactive student resources.
http://www.readwritethink.org/about.html
Social Studies
Mr. Donn's Amazing Website
Meet Mr. Donn, and once you do, you will visit his website again and again. Still teaching a full schedule, this teacher offers a plethora of lesson plans and resources; all with the teacher and student in mind.
http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/SiteIndex.html
National Geographic
Xpeditions is home to the U.S. National Geography Standards—and to thousands of ideas, tools, and interactive adventures that bring them to life. And lots of great downloadable maps!
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/
Posted May 2006
Science
Science Netlinks
Science NetLinks is an amazing collection of well organized web resources. To help educators integrate Science NetLinks resources into a standards-based curriculum, all site content is organized around the National Science Literacy benchmarks (a set of science literacy goals developed by Project 2061), AAAS's long-term initiative to reform K-12 science education nationwide. At the heart of Science NetLinks are standards-based lesson plans that incorporate reviewed Internet resources, and can be selected according to specific benchmarks and grade ranges.Each lesson is tied to at least one learning goal and uses research-based instructional strategies that support student learning. And don’t overlook the Science Updates, 90-second radio programs presenting current science research.
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/
Serindip
These hands-on activities cover a broad range of biological topics, including genetics, natural selection, microorganisms, and human physiology. These activities are designed to: help students understand important biological principles and concepts, develop student understanding of the scientific process, and improve students' writing and math skills.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/
PBS just keeps on giving!
Take a quick gander at this extensive list of hands-on authentic science projects and activities, each with matching National Standards, many coming from NOVA direct to your classroom, complete with video.
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/science_tech/high-humanbiology.html
The Biology Project
The Biology Project is an offering from the University of Arizona. It has been through many renditions and has now reached its pinnacle. Each biology section offers three sections: Activities (most offer student instructions in Spanish), Problems Sets and Tutorials; and WWW Resources.
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/
Illuminations
The Illuminations website is designed by The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to bring NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics to life through engaging interactive student applets, comprehensive Internet-based lesson plans, and teacher resources such as "Reflections on Teaching." Explore and use any of the 68 online activities that help make math come alive in the classroom, peruse the collection of 492 K-12 lesson plans (sortable by standard,grade level, or math topic), or check out their extensive up-to-date links to other math sites.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/
Science - Great Inventors
20th-Century Inventions
This website is arranged by time period but also has links to black, Canadian and Chinese inventors. Very easy to navigate and has a search engine at the bottom of the page.
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa121599a.htm?PM=ss11_inventors
4,000 Years of Women in Science
Look for the woman inventor you are profiling here.
http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000ws/4000WS.html
Famous Inventors A-Z
Arranged alphabetically, you can choose your inventor of choice.
http://inventors.about.com/library/bl/bl1_1.htm?PM=ss14_inventors
Technology Timeline
PBS brings to use this awesome timeline featuring important discoveries from1752until1990. There are many of them!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/timeline_text.html
The Great Inventor Index
If you are looking for a scientist, they MUST be listed here. An extensive collection of Natural Scientists categorized by SUBJECT, NATION, and SECTOR. WOW!
http://www.juliantrubin.com/sciencebiography.html#mainZoom
Inventors and Inventions
From the folks at Enchanted Learning, this is a GREAT site that has a LONG list of inventors and their inventions with SHORT descriptions—great for perusing for a research idea!
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/science.shtml
Lesson Plans for Inventors
Looking for some innovative lessons to teach about inventions or inventors?
http://www.lessonplanet.com/search/Social_Studies/History/Famous_People_in_History/Inventors