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For Teachers
3D Atlas Online - What on earth are you looking for? It doesn't matter--you'll find it here. Check out research links for every country, current news, and a geographic glossary. For example, in Zimbabwe, you can see a photo of a mud hut home with a thatched roof, learn about the country's plateau and savanna, view its colorful flag, and link to other Zimbabwe sites. Also find an index to maps for each country and resources for students and teachers.
ABC Toon Center - Join Hoot & Kat on their zany adventures. Hoot & Kat are the "Abbott and Costello" team of our little world. If there is a WRONG way to do it, Kat will surely find it. You'll discover a children's playground of original games, puzzles, stories, music and cartoons!
Access Excellence - This site is renowned for its design, content, and collaborative activities. Focusing on the biological sciences, the activities collection is truly excellent. Online "seminars" put you in touch with scientists and science teachers. Offerings include "Local Habitats," "Science of Amber," and "Emerging Diseases." Collaborative classroom projects like "Acid Rain/Acid Snow" build enthusiasm as distant classrooms share data and results with each other.
Advantage Education - Advantage Education is a company that specializes in individualized tutoring for SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE, and LSAT. Advantage Education also offers SAT/ACT College Prep Camps and Pre-Law Boot Camps. You can find out about seminars in your area, or sign up for an Online Tutoring session. If you aren't interested in tutoring or seminars, there are also helpful resources recommended for preparing for taking your test.
Ask an Expert - Got a question no one seems to know how to answer? Maybe you need to call in an expert. Experts are people who know a lot about a certain topic--so much, in fact, that they often write the textbooks themselves! Many scientists and others have offered to answer questions about science, math, medicine, history, and other topics. You won't usually get an answer overnight, though, so think ahead.
AskERIC - Custom-build your own curriculum! The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a vast collection of data, ideas, research, lesson plans, literature, and more. This site will be of interest to parents who want to supplement their child's education at home or learn about parenting techniques. Teachers will find classroom ideas that go above and beyond textbook-type learning as well as professional information. They can also use the renowned AskERIC service. If you're an education professional (librarian, teacher, administrator, homeschooler, and so on) you can e-mail questions to AskERIC's Net-savvy information specialists; within 48 hours, you'll have suggestions and solutions drawn from customized ERIC database searches, ERIC digests, and Internet resources. If you've always wanted to talk to the reference librarian of the Internet, you can start with these folks. If you want to browse on your own, check AskERIC's Virtual Library, which contains over 1,200 lesson plans plus InfoGuides on hot topics like school violence, gender equity, at-risk students, year-round education, and more.
AT&T Learning Network Virtual Academy - The Virtual Academy is a centralized resource of online courses designed to help educators effectively integrate technology into their curriculum,
AT&T Virtual Classroom - In its first year, the AT&T Virtual Classroom Program gave students from 30 countries the chance to build Websites while learning about each other and the Internet. Over the years, VC teams have created some truly excellent Websites -- each one a perfect example of how the Internet can bring people together -- of which they and their communities can always be proud. See the winning Websites from VC Contest 99, 98, 97 and 96.
Athena - A collection of earth and space science lesson plans for k-12 science teachers for classroom use.
Awesome Clipart for Kids - Discover all the Awesome Clipart! They have Teacher, Student & Family-Friendly FREE clipart, coloring pages, backgrounds, banners, fonts, icons, lines, skins, worksheets and wallpaper with aliens, animals, cats, creatures, dogs, education, holidays, robots, sports, toys, weather & more - updated weekly by 13-year-old Tom Brown and his family!
BBC - KS2 Revisewise - English - Can you solve the mystery of the missing jewelry? You'll have to read very carefully, then question the witnesses. Who is telling the truth and who is lying? Can you shed some light on the real thief? Other parts of this rollicking good fun site teach you how to write a great story, spell well, and more.
Between the Lions - This Web site is for parents or teachers and their kids to surf together. Read one of the stories with your kids, then play related games. You don't have to have seen this particular episode of Between the Lions. You can also print the story to read away from the computer. The Web 'adventures' are combinations of original stories and games based on each episode of the TV series. Cliff's Notes help you get the most out of the interactive games. Come back every week to discover all 55 stories and their adventures!
Black History Treasure Hunt - This is a fun and educational Black History Month activity--a treasure hunt that will take you all over the Web to find the answers. Don't worry, there are suggested Web sites for you to try first. Be sure to choose the right hunt for your grade level. There are four different treasure hunts: one for fourth grade and below, one for fifth and sixth graders, one for seventh and eighth graders, and one for ninth graders and above. Sample question for fourth graders: "This person refused to give up a seat on the bus. That led to a 382-day bus boycott by black people in Montgomery, Alabama." Do you know the answer? Find out here.
Blackboard - At Blackboard.com, you can teach online for free, take distance-learning courses, utilize 239 discipline-specific resource centers and customize them to match your own classes, share tips and information with other online teachers and students, and much more.
Blue Web'n Learning Sites Library - This site collects the cream of the crop of learning-oriented Web sites. All sites are rated and categorized by area, audience, and type. Each subject category has links to related tutorials, activities, projects, lesson plans, and more. You can also use their keyword search to explore their collection. Want more? Join the free mailing list for weekly updates. We found the sites listed here to be excellent resources for eager learners as well as educators looking for teaching materials.
BookHive: Your Guide to Children's Literature & Books - BookHive was created by librarians at the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County in North Carolina. You'll discover age-level-recommended books for ages birth through age 12. Or, choose a category like Mystery, Folklore, or Biography and you'll get brief reviews and pictures of the book covers.
Canada's SchoolNet - Explore this site and its many resources for K-12 students and educators. Everything has a Canadian focus, and everyone will be interested in the wonderful digital collections. Here are some of the subjects: Celtic music, Cree hand signals, Canadian literature for young adults, sports heroes from Saskatchewan. And there's more!
Close to Home Online - When school lets out, five teens face some really big decisions about life, love, and alcohol and substance abuse. This innovative site lets you peek into their rooms to discover clues about their decisions so far in this 13-week soap opera. The comic-book style is gritty and true to life and may not be for all families. For others, though, it is a real discussion starter, and Net-mom believes we all need to talk to our kids more.
Connected Teacher - Classroom Connect is one of our favorite magazines. Their Connected Teacher Web site doesn't disappoint, either. Check it out for info on upcoming conferences, a jumpstation to great Web links, feature articles about getting started with online projects, loads of lesson plans, and more. You can also become a member (free!) and participate in discussion boards.
Copernicus - The Nation's K-12 Home Page - Visit this nice clearinghouse of projects, lesson plans, daily education news, and links. There's a section on scholarships and contest opportunities, too.
Copernicus Election Watch:
The 2000 U.S. Presidential Election for Educators and Students - Move on to this site for more details on the election process. Click on The Path to the White House and select any section that interests you. Try "Running a Campaign." (I had a lot of fun writing my own "mad-libs" campaign speech as President Mommy, running on a platform of cleaning up our rooms, doing our homework, and stamping out mean people). Worth a look is the Campaign Ad Critique lesson plan, also in this section. Can you spot a negative ad from one that's warm and fuzzy? Other parts of this superb site include kid-oriented looks at the major candidates and their stands on the issues.
CyberSurfari - Do you like treasure hunts? If so, you need to come check out this one brought to you by DiscoverySchool.com. They take you across the web on a treasure hunt, complete with prizes. Individuals, families, and schools can sign up to share the adventure. And there are two age groups, kids under 15, and 15 or older. Players visit sponsors' Web pages and outposts to locate treasure codes. For example, one outpost may be the White House's Web site and the clue on the sponsor's page might be: "What are the five different kinds of American crafts in the White House collection?" The cyber-hunter would then visit the White House Web page and look for a reference to White House collection of American crafts. Once the text describing the collection is clicked, a congratulations page complete with a specific treasure code is revealed.
Dave's ESL Cafe - If your first language isn't English, you'll find a lot of company at Dave's ESL Cafe. ESL is shorthand for English as a Second Language. Check out the hints for both learning and teaching, and have some fun with Hangman and other games. Ever heard of an idiom? That's a word or phrase used in a somewhat unusual way, and there is a dictionary of English idioms at this site. For example, sometimes moms say, "There, there" to comfort their crying kids. That may make a new learner of English say, "Huh? There--where, where?" Or how about this one: you ask for a cookie and you get a really small one. You say, "That's a pretty small cookie." A new learner of English would wonder if you meant the cookie was beautiful. Even if you're not a new learner, you'll enjoy Dave's site, since he puts so much energy and fun into everything he does.
Department of State Digital Diplomacy for Students - The Department of State is responsible for carrying out our diplomatic policies and relationships with other nations of the world. They oversee U.S. embassies abroad--there is an official list of links and addresses at this site--and our ambassadors to those countries. They also need to know the addresses of foreign embassies in the U.S., and there is a list of them here as well. The Department of State is also the custodian of the Great Seal of the United States, which is used on treaties and very important official documents. At this site you can also learn what the secretary of state does, as you "tag along" on a recent trip. This site provides information on several different grade levels, but if you decide you have picked one that is too young or too old, you can easily change to another level at any point.
Education First: Black History Activities - This comprehensive and thoughtful collection of links will take you all over the Web on a treasure hunt to find the answers to some very big questions. What was the Tuskegee Tragedy? Who were the Little Rock 9? This site has study questions and activities for classes as well.
Education Place - Elementary resources for teachers, students, and parents. Includes Reading/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies Centers, Intervention, Professional Development, searchable activity database, educational games, and textbook support.
Educational Web Adventures: Our Adventures and Web Sites - Discover the world of art, science, nature and social studies with Educational Web adventures and online activities. Explore each category in more detail, or use the list to go right to the adventures!!
ePals Classroom Exchange - Connecting "over 2.5 million students and teachers through 33,133 profiles," ePals includes more than 65,000 member classrooms in 182 countries. Surely, you can findw someone to write to who will write back! First, you need to register, and kids can do that directly or through a teacher or a parent. Either way, be sure to read and understand the privacy policies first. Parents registering their children have a number of interesting options. Since participants get their own mail account at epals.com, parents can choose to monitor the child's mail before passing it on to the child's mailbox. Classrooms (or home schools) create a "profile" which can include a general map of its rough location, ages and gender of the class, hobbies, languages, and other special interests. The profiles are searchable, even if you have not become a member yet. Epals offers both monitored and unmonitored chat rooms, and children should be warned not to divulge personal information like their addresses and phone numbers. Even though everyone on the service has gone through the registration process, there is no guarantee that anyone is actually who he says he is.
Evergreen Project Adventures - This site from the Missouri Botanical Gardens is awesome. A biome is the collection of creatures and plants living in a particular region. In What's It Like Where You Live? you can explore six different biomes: grassland, rain forest, taiga, deciduous forest, desert, and tundra. You'll learn about the features of each area and its plants and animals. You don't have a clue what living in the taiga is like? Ask a kid at a school in Finland or Russia--links to schools in each biome area are included here. Other sections of the site offer plant projects and stories.
Explore Invention at the Lemelson Center - Visit the Centerpieces area to find in-depth looks at inventions like the quartz watch and the electric guitar. In the same section, read about Edison and find out how you can make your own lightbulb (the first "ingredient" is a helpful parent!). The Innovative Lives part of the site spotlights both famous inventors and those not quite so famous--yet. You may be familiar with their products, though! There's also a nice section called Women Inventors, where you can find out about lots of smart women, including actress Hedy Lamarr and her patented encryption device--which might have made torpedoes undetectable during World War II.
ExploreMath - At ExploreMath they believe the real power of the Internet lies in its ability to bring educators and students together in ways that both meet instructional needs and harness collective creativity. Developed by members of the ExploreMath community, their lesson plans provide strategies for educators to introduce ExploreMath's unique multimedia activities into the mathematics classroom, lab, or distance learning curricula.
FamilyEducation Network - FamilyEducation Network is an interactive learning community that links parents, teachers, students and schools to timely resources, to educational activities and to each other.
From Now On - The Educational Technology Journal - Internet use policies. Assessment. Libraries of the future. Grants. Parenting. This site tackles all those topics and more. It is a vast collection of feature articles, Web sites, and other resources for the home, classroom, and community. Learn how to cut out the "mind kandy" and the "new plagiarism" of indiscriminate cut and paste. Jamie McKenzie tells it like it is. Don't waste any more time without visiting his site.
Fun Mathematics Lessons by Cynthia Lanius - Mathematics lessons for elementary, middle, and high school including geometry, fractions, and algebra.
Fun with Spot - Join Spot, and his friends and family, as he celebrates his 20th anniversary! You'll find Shockwave games, activity sheets that you can print out, postcards you can send to a friend, game demos you can download, plus a whole lot more. There's even a teacher's section where you can find out how Spot can help in the classroom.
GameGoo - Learning that Sticks! - Welcome to the home for fun, stick-with-you educational games that help develop early reading skills identified as important language arts building blocks in state curriculum standards. The games are based on skills they are learning in class and on education and literacy reserach. Full of rich stories and characters to engage students in learning adventures!
Gamequarium - Need some help with your multiplication tables? At this site you can find games and activities that will help you learn and have fun too. There are links to games that will help you polish your skills in science, math, language arts, social studies, Spanish, and even games just to have fun.
George Washington's Rules of Civility - About 1744, 16-year-old George Washington copied down rules of proper behavior, such as "If others talk at Table be attentive but talk not with Meat in your Mouth." Then he wrote, "Cleanse not your teeth with the Table Cloth Napkin Fork or Knife but if Others do it let it be done wt. a Pick Tooth." Also he advised, "Being Set at meat Scratch not neither Spit Cough or blow your Nose except there's a Necessity for it," and, well, you get the idea. Compare table and other manners from the eighteenth century with current standards.
History/Social Studies Web Site for K-12 Teachers - Wow! Finally, an easy way to learn and teach social studies. Subjects available in the menu include archaeology, diversity sources, electronic texts, genealogy, geography, government, and kids and students. Also included are general history, non-Western history, European history, American history, and news and current events. Announcements and relevant TV specials are also listed. Impress your social studies teacher by introducing him or her to this excellent site.
Hot Internet Sites in Espanol - This is an annotated list of Web sites in Spanish, appropriate for kids as well as their teachers. For those a little rusty on their language skills, the page offers a reminder to use the AltaVista Web page translator, Babelfish.
Idea Box- Early Childhood Education and Activity Resources - Need an idea for a craft, recipe, game, finger play, or online story. Look no further, you'll find all that and more here.
International Schools CyberFair - The International Competition encourages schools around the world to share. There are also Monthly Activities for teaches to use in the classroom. Come join the fair or just come see the past entries and winners.
K-12 Resources for Music Educators - You can show this page to your music teacher, and it will really make his or her day. Resources are collected in categories for band, orchestra, and choral music teachers, and there are links for classroom music teachers. The selection is interesting for the rest of us, too. You'll find composers' biographies, newsgroups, MIDI resources, and hints on how to really listen to music. There are also links to free piano lessons by Web, online sheet music, and lots more.
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - The links in this guide are organized according to subject area. In History, for instance, you'll get a breakdown of Web pages, from "American History" to "World History." Each month, a list of new resources will point you to the latest and greatest.
Keep Schools Safe - National Association of Attorneys General/National School Boards Association offers many suggestions to help parents, teachers, and administrators to stop violence in schools. There are articles on crisis management, student participation, crime reporting and tracing, training for school personel, discipline codes, and lots more.
Kids Can Learn - Helping parents, teachers, and homeschoolers help kids become motivated students--from kindergarten to primary to secondary schools!
Kids Crafts - Search for great craft projects in any number of ways. Select over 450 projects listed, try a keyword, post an inquiry to the Craft Bulletin Board, or ask a Craft Wizard for help. You'll find crafts for holidays and many based on your favorite books. Completed craft pictures, craft templates, easy to follow project directions, and a craft materials list are included to help you. This is a great resource for teachers, parents and kids who like crafts.
KidsPsych - Games - Sort shapes, paint an online circus picture, or decide which way to go around a maze if you're a very young visitor to this site. Older kids can try to repair a space station with a secret code, or sort out mixed-up faces, or play I Spy. There's also a tricky puzzle involving a fox, a chicken, and a bag of grain. You have to get them all across the river, but your boat will only hold one at a time. Don't leave the chicken alone with the grain, or the fox alone with the chicken. Can you figure it out? If you can there's a surprise!
KinderArt - Art Education - Free Art Lessons for K-12 - Tired of coloring books and crayon drawing? Get ready for a whole new artist's palette of ideas, techniques, and tools at this site. Lots of hands-on projects, holiday activities, and even how to make your own chalk, clay, and painted sand! There's a glossary of art terms and even a virtual fridge to display your work and the work of others from around the globe.
Literacy Resources Online - What can parents do to help their kids become readers? This Web site offers pointers to several pamphlets and articles on how to prevent reading difficulties in young children as well as how to encourage reading in older kids. For example, there is a link to the Department of Education's Web page, "Simple Things You Can Do to Help All Children Read Well And Independently By The End of Third Grade." It's divided into things parents, schools, grandparents, caregivers, and community groups can do to promote literacy. One of these tips is the following: "Ask your children to describe events in their lives. Talking about their experiences makes children think about them. Giving detailed descriptions and telling complete stories also helps children learn about how stories are written and what the stories they read mean."
Loteria Cards - Latinos like to play a fun game called Loteria . It's like bingo, but it has colorful pictures with Spanish names instead of numbers and letters. Would you like to play the game? This class of kids made their own game cards! There is also lots of information on the riddles on the cards, as well as a lesson plan for teachers.
Lycos Zone - The Lycos FunZone selections for kids are arranged in three big areas: Fun and Games, Homework, and everyone¹s favorite, New and Cool, where you can check out the Game of the Week as well as the Cool Site of the Week. There is also a section called Parents and Teachers, which includes discussion boards. Still want more? The main Lycos kid's directory is here, where you'll be able to explore thousands of fabulous sites in 26 different subject areas.
Magic Schoolbus Homepage - Share the learning adventures of Ms. Frizzle, Liz, and the rest of the gang on the Magic Schoolbus. Explore space, find out what's happening on Friz TV, build your own bug, or play the Great Habitat Match up! Venture inside and discover what Ms. Frizzle and the gang are off to next!
Math.com - This comprehensive math site says it "has the solution"-and in all probability it does. Students can take "one minute" math lessons, be intrigued by fascinating fractals, games, and puzzles, and try out my favorite: the Roman numeral calculator! You'll also find free worksheets, tips on how to beat math anxiety, and loads of links for homeschooling parents. We'd add more, but we don't want to take away the math surprises to be discovered here.
Mighty M&M Math - It is important to purchase proper supplies for this math experiment page. Go to the store at once and buy two big bags of M&M candies. One bag is for the homework. The other is to eat. This lesson was developed by a teacher in California who obviously knows a good way to teach fractions and percentages. Now this is our prediction: 100 percent of the students will enjoy 100 percent of the supplies when 100 percent of the work has been completed.
Minnetonka Science Center - Ooey, Gooey Recipes for the Classroom - If you want to make your own slime, gak, play dough, sparkly paint--or any other messy stuff that's too much fun, you should check the recipes here. If you try the Singing Cake, let us know how it tunes out.
NASA Spacelink - An Aeronautics & Space Resource for Educators - For kids and teachers, we like this jumping-off place. Did you read a space-related story in yesterday's newspaper? Chances are there is something about it here, in the Hot Topics area. For more general topics, you can browse some of the most popular sites on the Web in the Cool Links area. International Space Station stuff? Current location of launched spacecraft? If it's about space and it's the latest and greatest, then this site is a convenient shortcut to it all.
NASA's K-12 Quest Project - Teachers and parents alike will be interested in the Bring the Internet to Your Classroom area. NASA offers an up-to-date listing of grants and grantsmakers, a wide selection of videos on how schools use the Net, and loads of links to educational resources. Check the links to NASA's own online interactive projects--new ones every year! Past projects have included "Live from Antarctica," "Online Jupiter," and "Earth to Mars Activities." Ask the scientists questions, enter contests, and see how you and your kids can get involved with NASA.
National Christmas Tree Association - Too bad they don't have "smell attribute" plug-ins (yet). If they did, this site would smell terrific! The National Christmas Tree Growers page provides a dictionary of 16 evergreen types, from the Arizona cypress to the white spruce. You'll also find a directory of tree farms close to you (if you want to cut your own), selection tips, and interesting facts and figures.
National Network For Childcare - NNCC unites the expertise of many of the nation's leading universities through the outreach system of Cooperative Extension. NNCC's goal is to share knowledge about children and child care from the vast resources of the landgrant universities with parents, professionals, practioners, and the general public. They network with committed individuals around the country to bring you practical information and resources that will be useful to you in your everyday work with children.
New Deal Network - As America struggled to get back on its economic feet after the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced the New Deal during the presidential race of 1932. It pledged many new government projects to increase financial stability and help along social reform. Remember, one out of four people was unemployed at this time, and many schools had to close because they didn't have the funds to stay Poor children wrote to the president's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, and begged her for cast-off clothing for themselves and their parents. Read some of the children's letters, and Mrs. Roosevelt's responses, at this site. You'll also learn about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camps and the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) water projects, which brought affordable electricity to many Americans for the first time.
New York Times Learning Network - This site is aimed at teachers, parents, and students in grades 6-12. You'll find age-appropriate current news stories, feature stories, quizzes, lesson plans, and lots more. As you're reading a story, you can turn on some helper applications. Need help with the vocabulary? Highlighted words are linked to a dictionary. Countries are linked to a world atlas. There's even a crossword puzzle!
Oceans and Coastal Protection: Kids' Page - This page from the Environmental Protection Agency houses a whole tidal pool of interesting links for you to pick up and ponder. Get out your crayons for the Louisiana Coastal Coloring Book, splash into the Center for Marine Conservation Wading Pool for some really fun games, and dive into the Non-point Source Kids' Page to help out Darby Duck and the Aquatic Crusaders. All of the above is just skimming the surface!
Parents and Children Together Online - Parents and Children Together Online. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication is dedicated to providing educational materials, services, and coursework to everyone interested in reading, English, writing, and the language arts. Let us guide you to the resources you need to help your children and students become effective learners.
PBS Online Presents... Life on the Internet - Want to get up to speed on the information superhighway? Check the map here at the PBS Online Beginner's Guide. Learn about Internet search tools, netiquette, and applications such as e-mail and Web browsers. Take a detour to the Backgrounders area to find out how people around the world actually use the Internet. You may be surprised to learn that the list ranges from rock stars to the Vatican's religious leaders! Don't forget to visit the Timeline of Internet history and the section Young, Smart, and Online. Maybe you'll get some ideas that will let you create your own spot in the Net's future history.
PBS TeacherSource - There are so many TV programs! How do you select the best ones for your kids? Here are descriptions of the shows on public television, grouped by subject area. Teacher guides, info on taping rights, and links to related sites--they're all here in one place.
Peace Corps World Wide Schools - This wonderful addition to the Peace Corps site offers many resources for educators and students. Connect with a volunteer, find lesson plans relating to different countries, view video clips (requiring RealPlayer) of Peace Corps educational videos, and read folk tales recorded by Peace Corps volunteers.
Penpal Box - Part of Net-mom's favorite site, Kids' Space, the Penpal Box offers kids aged 6 to 16 the opportunity to have an e-mail friend. Actually, there is more than one box: look through the box for six and under, the box for ages seven and eight, the one for nine and ten, and so on. There's also a box for classes that want to exchange e-mail. Remember to read the FAQ for safety tips, and remember not to give your home address to anyone.
PlanetZoom.Com - A kid's web page that's really for kids! An award-winning resource for parents, teachers, and especially kids! Explore the six lands of Planet Zoom or find adventure on Outpost Z2!
Rainforest Alliance - Keep up with current news about the rain forest and those who are trying to save it at the "Rainforest Alliance" level of this site. Below is the URL for the kids' section, where you can learn about all kinds of frogs, make rain forest crafts, print out coloring pages, and find out where to get more information on everything from leaf cutter ants to medicinal plants.
Reader's Theater Editions - Looking for a play you can perform with the rest of your class? This site has 23 complete plays for grades two through eight. A wide range of subjects is covered, from folktales to science fiction. Most are adapted from short stories by Aaron Shepard.
Reggio Emilia - This is a very hot topic in preschool education these days. Reggio Emilia is a city in northern Italy. The educational philosophy there is that children have many "languages" besides words to express themselves. These may take the form of art, music, or other creative works. Reggio schools are more homelike than schoollike, and in fact a beautiful environment is thought of as "the third teacher." The first two teachers are the parents and the classroom teacher, who work in collaboration. The idea is that kids are empowered to do their own learning, with the teacher and parent as guides. At the same time, it is important to document this learning, although the documentation may take many forms. Reggio Emilia's methods offer a challenge to revisit entrenched educational views. Check some of the links here and see what you think.
Scholastic Inc. - The Magic School Bus series, the Harry Potter series, Goosebumps, even 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' -- all of these books are published by Scholastic. At this site you can play games inspired by these books and find out which series will be releasing new titles soon. Teachers will like the lesson plan and activity ideas, and families will enjoy the feature articles.
Signing for All - Here you will learn how to use signing to enhance all your teaching activities. Signing is a unique, effective and exciting technique that doesn't require any purchase of materials. You don't have to make anything. All you need are your own two hands!
Study WEB - Whatever your homework assignment is, this site is sure to have something you can use, with "over 100,000" research-quality links, listed by subject category. The Reference Shelf is a good place to start, but the brief reviews of each site will also help you select just the right place to look. Tell your parents and teachers about this site too, because there is some neat stuff for them here as well.
SuperKids Educational Software Review - This site is aimed at parents and teachers, but you can use it too! Find out if that new software title you've seen advertised on TV is really any good. Each month, a team of reviewers (parents, teachers, kids) checks out a selection of the newest programs in a specific subject area, such as math, reading, or science. What do they really like? What really made them yawn? Find out here.
SurfNetKids - The best of the Web for kids, reviewed by nationally syndicated newspaper columnist Barbara J. Feldman. Each weekly column features five fabulous Web sites on topics as diverse as Gargoyles, Monarch Butterflies and Stock Market Simulations.
Teacher's Guide to Student-Built Experiments and the Exploratorium Science Snackbook - In 1987, two dozen middle and high school science teachers met at the Exploratorium in San Francisco to begin the three-year process of writing the Exploratorium Science Snackbook. The Snackbook, written by teachers, for teachers, shows how to build exciting, hands-on science exhibits for the classroom. This magazine features articles by elementary, middle, and high school teachers that tell how they teach science using interactive materials from the Snackbook. Discover more here!
TeachersFirst - Classroom Resources & Lesson Plans for K-12 Teachers - If you need some Web site resources to go along with today's headlines, try here. This rich resource is on top of things when you need lesson plans on hot topics or classic curriculum. There are also some useful Internet tutorials that explain the basics of browsers and the infinite playground of plug-ins.
The American President - If you need a refresher course on presidential history, try this companion site to the PBS television series of the same name. Fascinating biographies, Web site recommendations, and lesson plans make this resource a must for both students and teachers. Think you could manage a successful campaign strategy all the way from the New Hampshire primary to the November election? Try your skills in the War Room simulation game. Choose your candidate (be sure to read their biographies first, and listen to the audio advice), then select your strategies. How much of your candidate's time will be spent campaigning, and how much time fund raising? Will your ads be positive, negative, or a mix of both? How will you handle a press crisis? Can you steer your candidate to victory? This game requires that you register your "team" (it's free) in order to play.
The Global Schoolhouse - "Student Ambassadors," "Woodsy Woodchuck TravelBuddy Project," "International CyberFair"--does any of that sound interesting? The folks in charge of GSN just keep collecting and coming up with more terrific ideas all the time. Always fresh and exciting, this is where K-12 innovation lives on the Net! Kids can find new contest announcements at this site, including ThinkQuest and other opportunities.
The Great American Egg Hunt - If it's around Easter when you're reading this, Net-mom's friend, Hazel Jobe, is no doubt running another virtual egg hunt. It's aimed at K-3 students, but anyone can play. Students have designed colorful eggs that have been hidden on school sites around the World Wide Web. Hazel says, "Participants will visit the school sites to hunt for the egg and then follow the link to answer the questions. It will give these young students practice navigating the Web for a purpose. Participants will receive a certificate when they have found all the eggs and answered all the questions." You can also win great prizes!
The Learning Curve - The Learning Curve is an educational web site developed by students for the 2000 ThinkQuest Internet Challenge (an annual, international competition which encourages students to develop high-quality, interactive web sites on educational topics). No matter what age, race, gender, or nationality, everyone learns. Learning is topic that affects us every second of every day from the moment we are born until the day we die. However, few people realize or understand the learning processes which are so fundamentally important to us all. The Learning Curve attempts to fill this void by providing information about the major aspects of learning. By providing you with information about learning and its associated topics, we hope that you will become more aware of your individual learning processes and find ways to maximize your learning potential both academically and in your daily life.
The Universe in the Classroom - Can you imagine weighing 10,000 tons? That's how much you would weigh if you were able to stand on one of our neighboring stars, Sirius B. Although this star is only about the size of our Earth, it weighs almost as much as our own Sun. That tremendous weight is what gives it such strong gravity. Our Sun is over 300 times brighter than Sirius B. However, Sirius A, its twin, is twice as big as our Sun. Sirius A would look over 20 times brighter if it were in the same spot as our Sun. If these facts sound interesting, there's lots more here about these and other stars that share our corner of the universe.
The World of Escher's Tessellation Contest - Tessellation is a combination of mathematics and artistic ability.
ThinkQuest - Would you like to win thousands of dollars in scholarship money? Do you have a great idea for a new Web resource? You might be a fabulous C++ programmer, but you can't write interesting English prose very well. Or maybe you're terrific at graphics but can't code. Maybe you're not a computer nut at all, but you really know how to research a topic. There is a place for all of you at ThinkQuest. First, you have to create a team to work on your project. Advertise your skills and your ideas at the Team Maker part of the site. Typically, teams are formed with two or three kids from all over the world; they have usually never met, and they usually come from schools or homeschools with widely varying levels of technology. You also need a coach or three, usually teachers or parents, but it could be someone else. You decide how to tackle the project, and then spend many months building your Web resource on the server space provided by ThinkQuest. You and your team members use chat rooms to discuss the project as well as e-mail and other forms of communication. Eventually the contest deadline rolls around, and your project is frozen in time so that the judges can take a look. If your site is chosen as a finalist, you and your team (and your coaches) are flown (all expenses paid) to the site of the finals. Your site is inspected by the finals judges. You and your team are interviewed, and at long last, winners are chosen and placements are made. The winning team members each get $25,000 scholarships, and many of the finalist teams who place lower get substantial scholarships as well. ThinkQuest gives away over $1 million in scholarship money EVERY YEAR. There are several contests: one for elementary grades, called ThinkQuest Junior, and the original one for older kids. There's also a new contest for teachers. At this site you can explore past winners' sites and get information about the latest ThinkQuest competition schedule.
Troll.com - For more than 40 years Troll has worked to inspire young minds and encourage reading among America's children. In doing so, Troll has created a well-respected brand name that has become synonymous with high quality children's literature among educators, parents, and children. Our commitment is unquestionable— offering innovative products that challenge and develop young minds. Join us for a whole new adventure in learning!
Understanding Color - Color surrounds us everywhere! It affects the way we see, the way we live, the way we react. It is an important aspect in everything we do in this world. This site is designed to provide you with information on how color plays a role in our lives by examining the properties, theories, meanings and effects of color. This educational site is designed to provide students and teachers with information on how color as it relates to Art, Science, Psychology and Sociology.
United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change Web Site - Meanwhile, who is minding the U.S. Mint? You'll see it's in good hands as you explore this site. Learn how coins are made and then check out the new "golden" dollar coin and the 50 state quarters. If you click into the Kids' area, called H.I.P Pocket Change, you can color the state quarters and play other coin-related games.
Urban Education Web - UEweb is connected with the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) clearinghouses. They offer vast numbers of articles, manuals, and other publications about urban education. Just one example is their "Strong Families, Strong Schools" handbook (click on "Urban/Minority Families"). One of UEweb's best features is its searchable ERIC databases. These hold lesson plans, publications, and educational research.
USFA Kids - The U.S. Fire Administration wants everyone to be safe from fire, including you. Every year, kids start over 100,000 fires--don't be one of them! This site explains smoke alarms, home fire safety, and escape plans. There is also a Parent-Teacher Lounge with lesson plans and more resources to help clear the smoke on fire safety.
Wanniassa Hills Information Skills Project - This is another way to look at The Big 6. Follow along with the Hello, Kitty cat as you select a project, learn what information you need to find (and just as important, what to leave out!), and select a method of presenting your findings. Will you make a model? Prepare an audiovisual presentation? Or write a paper?
WaterWorks - Oh, the magic of water fountains. Some are tall, some are wide, others squirt in many directions at once. Discover what makes a fountain work and the forces it takes to make water do its tricks. Pictures of different types of fountains are shown, along with some that were made by students. There are even movies and sounds of the different fountains available. (Caution: The files are big!)
Who Dunnit? - Who took a bite out of the candy? Sticky fingers have been found on the broken aquarium glass. Wet footprints lead to thewindow. What is that powdery substance next to the broken piggy bank? Answering these questions is what forensic science is all about. Forensic science is the study of objects that relate to a crime. Learn how to be a crime solver by exploring the world of the forensic scientist. Before studying a crime scene we must practice the skills needed in analyzing evidence. After you have completed the skill building assignments, try solving the crime.
Winning the Vote - This interesting site describes the process of electing the president of the United States. The classroom activities suggested include looking at objects from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, available for online inspection.
Wondernet! Chemistry Activities for Kids, Parents, and Teachers - Here are some activities aimed at the very youngest chemists. For example, try some experiments with soda pop. Do you think you could put a can of diet soda and a can of regular soda into a bucket of water and be able to pick out which is the diet can--while blindfolded? That's chemistry! Read about this trick, plus several others; then go ask Dad to help. Be sure to check out the tour to how soda is made, too.
World History Lesson Plans - There's enough information at this site for every term paper you will ever have to write! Well, almost every one. Middle Ages, Age of Exploration, Renaissance and Reformation, World History, Pirates...we'll never finish reading it all. Mr. Donn definitely gets an A+ on this great resource.
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