K to 12 Education Web Sites of the DAY
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Locate useful web sites for K-12 math, science, language arts etc. Preparation for Student Assessment and Testing CanTeach Marilee's Word Puzzles Sue's Internet Collection of ED Resources
Monday, September 30, 2002
KidsClicks Search Engine There is a simple search window at top of page, and advanced options on a similar page that is easily linked to. And, very importantly, the site database is -selected- by librarians. Not filtered. A neat feature is the 'What does this page look like through a Librarian's Eyes?' that switches the opening directory page to Dewey.
AN EXPLANATI0N OF LEARNING STYLES AND MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE(MI)
Sunday, September 29, 2002
Go to Surfaquarium for the html version of this week's newsletter:
Can it actually be seven years since Bernie Dodge first presented his
idea for a Web-based problem solving model that promoted
collaboration and higher-level thinking? Amazingly it has. Along the
way many practitioners have dabbled in WebQuests, some more
successfully than others. The best Quests have always stuck closely
to Dodge's original formula for WebQuest design, and these are the
kinds of Quests I sought to identify for you here. Quests are not
scavenger hunts or scrap books or virtual versions of worksheets.
They are so much more than these. The collections I offer you today
will add to your cache of teaching resources by volumes.
I opted not to include the old faithful "how to" sites and definitive
collections of the past in the hopes of offering you some new
resources you may not have been aware of. As teachers you are busy
enough and these sites don't ask you to reinvent the wheel. Just find
what approximates your needs and adapt it to your classroom. To find
other noteworthy WebQuest resources check out my WebQuest page
You can save a Quest page to your hard drive and then open it up in
Word, Composer or your favorite html editor to modify it for your
students. Just be sure to email the creator of the Quest and get
permission to use their work. Not to worry - these Quests are housed
online to share the wealth - these educators will be gratified that
you like their work enough to make use of it in your own room! Thanks
to Jerry B for his recommendations on the topic. Enjoy!
Berks County, PennsylvaniaCollection One of the more long-standing collections online and one of the more spruced-up sites, Berks County now boasts some one-hundred Quests divided into fifteen subject area categories such as Business, Careers, Foreign Language, Math, Music, Science and Social Studies. While some categories have few titles to suggest, it still makes for efficient browsing of a sizable collection. These educators also
stick closely to Dodge's format, making for quality Quests.
Catawba County, North Carolina -
http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/webquest/
Here's fifty teacher-created WebQuests (with more promised to be
coming soon) made through the TechTraC program. Quests are listed
with grade level indicators and there are some imaginative approaches
here: Surfing with Dr. Seuss, Catch March Madness, This Bod's for You
and Something's "Phishy" in NC Waters speak well for the collection.
These pages are very nicely formatted; if the presentation of your
content is important to you, then this may be the place to begin
looking.
Conn Global Communications Elementary School -
http://connes.wcpss.net/WebQuest/
Imagine one K-5 school that showcases forty - count 'em - forty-one
WebQuests! Conn breaks them down by individual grade levels, and
while K-3 has fewer to claim as their own, fourth and fifth grades
more than make up for it. K Rozar has her own page of a variety of
Quests and there's even two WebQuests for parents covering emergent
reading and inappropriate behaviors in the classroom. The nice thing
about the design of this page is that it's easy to find appropriate
Quests for each audience.
Florida State English Education WebQuests -
http://www.fsu.edu/~CandI/ENGLISH/web.htm
David Medicus and colleagues present this collection of sixty-nine
WebQuests all built by students at the college of education at
Florida State. They are broken down into secondary and elementary
titles, and they are annotated to let you know what the focus of each
Quest is. Titles include The Chocolate War, Stellaluna, Lord of the
Flies, The Scarlet Letter, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and
twelfth Night.
Guilford County, North Carolina -
http://its.guilford.k12.nc.us/webquests/
Here's a collection of teacher-generated WebQuests that are broken
down with more granularity than most: Grades K-2, 3, 4, 5, 6-8 and 9-
12. The descriptive annotations of each title help to save you time
and give you an idea of what is of value to you. Any support
materials and activity sheets needed to complete these Quests are
embedded right in the web pages. You'll find the topics here are
straightforward and easily adaptable to any state curriculum.
Instructional Technology Services of Central Ohio -
http://www.itsco.org/webquest/gallery.html
This page was so slick in its presentation I really did some digging
to make sure it had some substance to offer.....and it did! Here are
thirty plus Quests made by educators taking the WebQuest class
offered by ITSCO. The instructional quality is consistently high and
the occasional formatting issue is a gentle reminder that these are
created by real educators learning right along with us. There's a
nice emphasis on the assessment component and range of topics makes
it a pleasure to peruse.
Jackie Carrigan's Graduate Class WebQuests -
http://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/hschool/webquest.htm
Jackie's grad students complete these Quests as part of their course
work and she showcases them here online to share with the rest of us.
You can view the collection by subject area or grade level, with more
than one-hundred different Quests catalogued here. Some of the
catchier titles include Should Students Wear School Uniforms?, What
event has had the biggest impact on technology and Let's Move the
United States Capitol.
Memphis City, Tennessee - http://www.memphis-
schools.k12.tn.us/admin/tlapages/web_que.htm
You'll find eighty WebQuests here developed by Memphis City Schools'
talented teachers, sorted by grade levels and listed alphabetically.
Faithfully following the Dodge format, these Quests run the gamut
from standard topics found in all curricula to original treatment of
unique content. Consider these titles: My Life as a Shark, Rumble On
The River, Booker T vs W.E.B. and Will that Volcano Spoil Our Party?
New Mexico State University -
http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/examples.html
Carmen Gonzales and students in the Learning Technologies Program at
New Mexico State University put together this collection of sixty
plus WebQuests presented in a matrix of subject area and grade level
to help you pinpoint those Quests which are best suited for your
students. Several of the Quests are presented in both English and
Spanish (In Search of Our Roots, El Camino Real: Back to the Future,
Yerbas y Remedios: A New Look) and there's an occasional dead link.
Overall this site is worth your consideration.
Spartanburg, South Carolina -
http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests.html
These district 3 educators have put together a collection of home
grown WebQuests that include a lot of support materials, theoretical
and practical considerations, assessments and links to other WebQuest
collections around the Web. Some intriguing titles include In the Eye
of the Storm, Impressionism, The Love Canal Debate and For Love of
the Game?
Stonewall Traditional Elementary -
http://www.stonewall.fayette.k12.ky.us/wq/wq.htm
This Quest collection from Lexington, Kentucky is an alchemy of
original WebQuests and links to other high quality Quests developed
by educators from around the world. The common denominator is
quality, as this collection faithfully subscribes to Dodge's formula
and offers a nice array of choices from K -5. And while the K
activities may not be true Quests, they still give you ideas for
using technology in the classroom. If you're a primary teacher
looking for age-approrpiate tasks online this is a good place to
start.
University of Richmond -
http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/as/education/projects/webquests
.html
Richmond students showcase eighty-four WebQuests here, presented in
categories of Art and English, Foreign Language and Social Studies
and Math and Science. Each Quest is labeled with an intended grade
level, an indication of when it was last revised, and markers for new
Quests recently added. Titles include are Restoring the Nike,
Rewriting Wuthering Heights, Put Words in My Mouth, Murder in the
Tropics and Dolphin-Safe Tuna?
Yorkville, Illinois Community School District -
http://www.yorkville.k12.il.us/webquests/webquests.htm
Yorkville offers sixty WebQuests for your consideration, listed by
grade level and annotated to give you an idea of what each has to
offer. Titles include A Quest for Respect with The Grouchy Ladybug,
Be a Good Citizen with Miss Rumphius, The Colonial Antique Road Show,
Plastics By the Number, Using the Number "e" for Population Growth
Analysis and Travels with Forrest Gump - Creating a commemorative
magazine.
Saturday, September 28, 2002
Kindergarten: Language Arts & Fine Arts
Web Activity Menu
Simple Machines
Encyclopedia.com - Because knowledge is cool.
Writing Prompts (WP)
Johnny Appleseed Thematic Unit
Friday, September 27, 2002
SITES THAT WORK WITH STUDENTS
Jeffco Schools: Keyboarding ResourcesÂ
Why Leaves Change Color
Environmental Education for Kids: Why Do Leaves Change Color? Student illustrations highlight this explanation. Scroll to "Can you tell a tree from its colors?" and find out how to identify oaks, hickories, birches, poplars, and maple trees from their fall leaves.
Science Made Simple: Why Do Leaves Change Color? Learn why photosynthesis stops and how plants prepare for winter. Younger students can click on "I Can Read" for a simple story of how leaves change color. Projects include separating colors in a fall leaf using chromatography and observing how light affects color development.
Fall Color Learn how to identify trees, read an interview with botanists, and study the science behind leaf color changes. Find photography hints and read about autumn folklore.
Fall Fun at Kids' Domain Find a large collection of games, crafts, clip art, online stories, and holiday activities for celebrating fall and teaching seasonal changes.
The Chemistry of Autumn Colors Older students can study the molecules that are present in chlorophyll and carotene and learn how the action of light on these pigments affects the color of leaves.
Thursday, September 26, 2002
More Ideas Than You'll Ever Use for Book Reports
Fear of Physics The site authors
created this site to be a friendly, non-technical place for you to come and "play" with the laws of physics for a while. Hopefully you'll find that Physics explains a lot about the world around us, and that it's really not
that bad!
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Plants In Motion
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Welcome to SFSKIDS San Francisco Symphony Kids' Site
Music > Instruments > Symphony
Music teachers, take note! This kid-friendly site will have
your kids tapping their toes and humming along to the San
Francisco Symphony. Visitors can learn about notes, check
out the tempo, play with harmonies and more. Be sure to
check out the Performalator to play an existing piece, then
make your very own tune with the Composerizer.
Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free.
Dozens of Web sites offer full-text versions of everything
from Shakespeare's plays to "War of the Worlds." However,
these versions are often long, cumbersome text files. Page
By Page Books now offers many of these titles in easy-to-read,
single-page formats. Just click "Next Page" to move through
the chapters. The new format makes it easy to add links to
specific passages of your literature lessons and activities.
Monday, September 23, 2002
RAFT - Teacher Resources
RAFT Idea Sheets will provide you with creative lessons to make learning fun and exciting! Each Idea uses materials typically found at RAFT and will enhance your students’ learning experience in the areas of science, math, art and beyond.
In most cases, idea sheets can be used across the curriculum and adapted to suit any grade-level.
Hands_on Science Curriculum Units Triangle Coalition member TERC has unveiled the pre-publication version of its new web-based, content rich Leveraging Learning science curriculum units. Designed for students in grades 2-8, the units can be accessed at no cost at http://ll.terc.edu. The units integrate hands-on and online classroom activities and assessments. They also support mastery of standards-based science content and process.
Curriculum Unit Planner
Online help in preparing long range, unit and daily plans
Sunday, September 22, 2002
Literacy Matters -Resources Why spend hours preparing for your daily literacy hour?
Download and use these resources!
Activities
Fern's Poetry Club
http://pbskids.org/arthur/games/images/teasers/morewithfern.gif
Friday, September 20, 2002
MATH Technology Projects in EDU 506 MATH WebQuest Projects
Teacher Centre - One Computer Classroom The sites below contain specific information that can be used in simple databases or spreadsheets by student individuals or pairs. This data might also be used simply as information items to be shared by student individuals or pairs with a class.
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
New Middle School Teacher Guide
Sunday, September 15, 2002
Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies Ideas on Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning involves a great deal more than just group work. Gisele Glosser's article entitled: "Cooperative Learning Techniques" is full of great techniques that can be used at virtually any grade level,
including motivators and time-saving tips for managing your groups.
Saturday, September 14, 2002
DiaryLand DiaryLand is a place where you can get your own online diary, that you can update super-easily just using your web browser!A wonderful resource for Reflective Journals
Web Pages and Portfolios
Classroom Decor Index | bulletin boards, white boards, cheap decorating in your classroom Create a wildlife scene right outside your window, bring in atmosphere and learning experiences with plants, or learn how to make eye-catching bulletin boards. Plenty of other tips make this site a worthwhile resource for finding suggestions on creating a great classroom environment.
Miscellaneous Organization Tips ho among us could not use a little help here and there with some great organizational tips? This site offers some miscellaneous suggestions, from lining up how-to's to fire drills and clipboard uses.
Newspaper in Education
and 100 Ways to Use the Newspaper
Excellent suggestions abound at this site for using newspapers in the classroom. Find great ways to introduce elementary students to newspapers by finding synonyms, looking for verbs, locating articles and pictures and data to match all five senses... Find much more in creative ideas here to apply to subjects across the curriculum.
Thursday, September 12, 2002
Teaching Community's LiveJournal Tonight is open house, and this afternoon I taught a lesson and the output from the studenst was better than I expected, and I have this AWESOME bulletin board that I created and the parents can see that I do some work in this room. (Rather than being that stranger the kids talk about).
***Begin Brag***
My lesson involved this Chinese fable. I introduced the story by showing the kids a fortune cookie and explaining how the story they were going to read is like the fortune inside "fortunes predict what will happen in our lives and/or tell us how to live as good people. Fables teach us lesson that tell us how to live as good people."
After we read the story, I had the children try to figure out what some morals meant (i.e., treat others as you want to be treated, etc") Then the students had to make up their own moral. I almost cried when this boy wrote "Love and trust others" He was a hard worker. I then got in a use of technology (I have to use 18 this semester) and had them type their sentences on the computer.
This afternoon I took brown paper circles and folded them into fortune cookies and slipped their "morals" inside. The parents will love the "Always brush your teeth". I had to let that one in...
I then stapled all of the "cookies" to the bb. Too awesome. I also made a header and a sheet that tells parents that the students have been studying folktales and morals.
*** END BRAG***
Word Problems For Kids Grade 5 and up!
Math in the Mall This site popularizes mathematics through building of displays such as puzzles, games and geometrical models.
Canadian Kids Page - join us for fun!
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Clifford Unit Check teacher guide and extension activities!
Preschool Printables Calendars, awards, centre signs and much more
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Free printable multi topic worksheets
Monday, September 09, 2002
TIME for KIDS
Great for Current Events
Mag-o-Matic
Start the Presses!
The Mag-O-Matic turns your headlines, ideas, and choices into a TIME for KIDS cover!
Sunday, September 08, 2002
Free printable calendars, calenders, monthly, yearly
30 FREE Leveledbooks for you to download, print and assemble for ages 4 to 11.
Includes lesson plans, worksheets and how to assemble instructions
Thursday, September 05, 2002
small blue printer : design your own house plan
With this Web site you can quickly and painlessly setup the walls of your house and add windows and doors where needed. You can also do a 3D walkthrough of your creation or even view it isometrically (meaning that you can view it in 3D from an overhead angle). However, most importantly is the capability to print out your blue print, which you can do either in landscape or portrait format.
Signs of Autumn, Signs of Spring Signs of Autumn, Signs of Spring starts its seventh annual cycle. This project serves as a positive introduction to collaborative learning for both educators and younger students.
Students in grades K-6 study the changing seasons for four consecutive weeks
through their own observations and the reports of other participants. Each
week, students observe, discuss and represent local seasonal progress. They
compare the season's progress around the globe using the published
observations on the project web site. Project repeats in March and October.
Current session starts Sept. 30.
Please share this announcement with your colleagues.
Thank you!
Nancy Schubert
Telecollaborate!
http://telecollaborate.net
nicknacks@telecollaborate.net
Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies Math Teachers Always Have Problems, by Gisele Glosser <--
Do you get tired of creating problems for your students all the time? Why not have students create and solve their own word problems in order to demonstrate their understanding of a topic?
For example, when teaching Perimeter, Cirumference and Area, I present students with real-life problems in class. For homework, I ask them to create and solve 5 problems. Students love to be creative and get very excited about this assignment! I then collect their problems for future use. Other math teaching tips,ideas and strategies can be found here.
Sunday, September 01, 2002
"Take Home" fliers to help parents help their students
Are you sending printed information and updates home to parents regularly? In an effort to help meet this challenge, TeachersFirst has introduced new, online tip sheets that you can personalize with your own name. Enter your name, and up pops a completely personalized page. First offerings include reading tips for elementary and middle school, and a personalized award that you can use to note a student's special accomplishments.
