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 CLASSROOM RESOURCES (updated 03/05)
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest
appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -- John F.
Kennedy, Thirty Fifth US President
Title: National Sea Grant Library: Digital
Libraries This site provides a wealth of information and resources on marine topics. The subject categories include coastal hazards, diving safety, global warming, harmful algae, marine careers, seafood safety/foodborne illnesses, and, perhaps most interesting to teachers, the education section. The materials cover a broad range of topics and grade levels. Some of the gems here include a resource guide for environmental and marine science teachers, wetland activities, a resource guide for oceanography, and coastal processes: developed for elementary, middle, and high school teachers, The "marinated" classroom: a sourcebook of aquatic activities for the elementary classroom and another for the secondary classroom, water on the web: integrating real-time data into educational curricula over the internet and coastal capers: a marine education primer. Additionally, an Ask the Librarian section is available with answers to some of the more interesting questions they have received and an email link to the librarian in case you have further questions. Title: BioED Online BioEd Online is a site designed to “enhance the skills and knowledge of science educators” and it provides the materials and information to do just that. The Presentations area offers streaming video presentations on topics such as research lab techniques, inquiry science, and assessment as well as presentations for teachers in training. Teachers will especially appreciate the Slide Library where they will find hundreds of searchable slides that can be downloaded and used to customize their own lesson plans and activities. Each slide includes talking points and references. The Teacher Resources area includes ready-to-go lessons and instructional materials such as the grade 4-8 activity guides: Sleep and Daily Rhythms, Muscles and Bones, and Food and Fitness. There is also a separate section for K-5 educators that includes presentations, slide sets, teacher resources and professional development appropriate for elementary teachers. Additionally, the site offers the latest news, free online courses, discussions and information on hot topics. Title: "Universality of Italian Heritage"
Curriculum Project This exciting and enriching program was developed by the Curriculum Development Committee of the New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Committee. It consists of a Curriculum Infusion Model whereby Italian and Italian American content material is integrated into existing curricula K-12. These consecutive lesson plans were developed in consultation with the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) and meet all DOE Core Curriculum Content Standards. Registration is required to access all lesson plans and the teaching guide. Once at the web site, to the left under "Resources" click on "Curriculum." Click on "All Lesson Plans" and at the top of the page "Register." Title: MIT Open Courseware MIT is committed to advancing education and discovery through knowledge open to everyone. OCW shares free lecture notes, exams and other resources from more than 1800 courses spanning MIT's entire curriculum. Title: Schools, The Internet and Copyright Law Except for the occasional plagiarized passage or unattributed reference in student research papers, most veteran K-12 educators have had little experience dealing with copyright issues in their classrooms. With the advent of the Internet, however, their need to know about copyright law and to understand its implications for such activities as Internet research, downloading programs and documents, creating class Web sites, and installing software on school networks has increased dramatically. Most reference materials on the subject, however, are so buried in legal gobbledygook and cloaked in ambiguity that it takes a copyright expert to interpret it all. Educator and copyright attorney Nancy Willard discusses the kinds of educational activities that risk copyright infringement and provides strategies for minimizing that risk. Title: Helping Students Make Sense of the Internet
Title: Annenberg Foundation and the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting From the Annenberg Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting comes a new web-based professional development tool designed to give educators free, 24-hour access to more than 15 workshops and hours of video on demand (and yes, it uses Media Player!). The materials are aimed at improving teaching skills in such subject areas as math, science, social studies, English, foreign languages and the arts. Launched September 1, the resource incorporates a variety of training materials for teachers, including streaming video clips, print guides and web links. All the courses and videotaped sessions are digitally stored and cataloged online, allowing educators to access them at any time and from anywhere, at their own convenience. Title: Kid's Vid Teachers interested in producing video as part of their project-based learning will find lots of tools and information at Kids’ Vid. Students will enjoy displaying their work in this new and engaging way that is appropriate for a wide range of grade levels. Information is available on how to script a video, including a storyboard tool; how to produce a movie, including setting up a shot, lighting, and audio; how to edit using music and effects; and how to compress a movie into various formats. There is a teachers’ section with lessons on how to integrate video production into the curriculum as well as tips for improving video techniques, advice from other kids, and ways to use video in class. The theater showcases some of the work that classes have submitted to the site. Title: Cyber Safety Being safe on the Internet is a concern of parents and teachers or anyone involved in working with children. The CTAP Region IV project takes some of the worry out of using the Internet and other information and communication technologies with students. The six main areas: Personal Information, Cyber Predators, Inappropriate Content, Social Networks, Piracy and Cyber Bullying address some of these major concerns. Each area provides links to resources for educators, parents, and students that include articles, videos, games, and more. Included at the site are a classroom poster on Cyber Safety funded by AT&T Education and a PowerPoint presentation to accompany it, several handouts from the workshop as well as Cyberbullying information, online games, and a presentation by Larry Magid and Anne Collier. Back to Top Title: Mango Languages Mango is the place to go to learn foreign language at your own pace and in a fun and engaging way. Teachers and students can use this site to easily add practice to the curriculum or the general public can use it to sharpen their mind by learning a new language. Users can listen to the phrases and words spoken by a native speaker and the words are color coded for translation. Each sentence is preceded by an icon for replaying and each word can be scrolled to see the phonetic pronunciation. The lessons include grammatical and cultural notes that provide insight into the language and customs as well as quizzes and conversations that focus on practical experiences. The slides can be replayed as many times as necessary to learn and reinforce the content. Additionally, a forum is available for users to learn more about Mango and to discuss the languages they are learning. Title: National Geographic: Kids Kids can spend hours engaged in learning at the National Geographic: Kids site. The five major sections include animals, videos, activities, games, and stories. The animal section includes high resolution images of “amazing animals” and “creature features,” where users can browse from an alphabetical index or by category (Amphibians, Birds, Bugs, Fish, Invertebrates, Mammals, and Reptiles). Animals are also grouped by habitats (Antarctic, Arctic, Forest, Freshwater, Grassland, Mountain, and Ocean). Click on one of the animals and find facts and photos, video and sound, and maps. Other sections include word games, brainteasers, geography games, action games, interactive games, puzzles and quizzes, a video gallery, some very interesting science stories, and activities that can be done online and at home. Overall this is a great learning site that teachers and parents will want to bookmark for their children. Title: The History of the Supreme Court Educators will find a wealth of resources for supplementing the social studies curriculum at The History of the Supreme Court Website. This resource is written by teachers from across the country and presents the history of the Court thematically corresponding to the strands in the social studies curriculum. The five themes include; The Court Defines Itself, The Court and Basic Rights, The Court and Gender, The Court and Young People and the Court Today. An introductory essay on the History of the Supreme Court gives a broad view of the evolution of the Supreme Court. Teacher resources include introductory essays for each theme with information for further study and discussion as well as a host of well-planned lesson plans that cover such topics as “Exploring Enumerated and Implied Powers,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “Gender Issues in the United States”, and others. Included is an interactive timeline of landmark cases handed down since 1792 that are arranged by theme and a searchable encyclopedia of terms and court cases.
SUBJECT AREA: SCIENCE URL: http://www.ucsd.tv/greymatters/
Gray Matters raises awareness of current brain research. The
video series features presentations by leading neuroscientists and can be viewed
in their entirety or as shorter clips for specific learning objectives in the
classroom. The site will be of interest to anyone interested in how the brain
develops, in how it works, or in diseases of the brain. High school teachers and
students will especially appreciate the Explore & Discover section where they
will find short videos to demonstrate key concepts, study guides, background
information, featured scientists information, teacher resources, and links to
supplemental resources.
This site is great for students wanting to brush up on their algebra skills or
get help with homework assignments. There are twelve pre-algebra topics
including negative numbers, square root, and reducing to the lowest term. More
than twenty algebra topics, including factorials, logarithm, and the Pythagorean
Theorem, are discussed. Each topic page features examples, rules, a link to a
complete mini-lesson including graphics and examples, and a link to a printable
worksheet for practice offline. This informative and thought provoking Presidential Timeline will appeal to students, teachers, and history buffs alike. It tells the story of the twelve Presidents from Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton through the documents, photographs, audio recordings, and video relating to the events of the presidents’ lives. The Interactive Timeline includes facts about each President’s early life and career, the presidency and post-presidency. This section also includes exhibits that feature a synopsis of events that defined each president’s time in office such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor during President Roosevelt’s term or the fall of the Berlin Wall during President George H. W. Bush’s term. There is also a searchable gallery of multimedia files that relate to the lives and careers of these presidents. Educators will find classroom ready educational activities for students to explore the resources in each of the exhibits.
Title: Charters of Freedom
Charters of Freedom explores the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution
of the United States, and the Bill of Rights from their conception to their
impact. Visitors to the site will find high resolution images of each of the
documents as well as other related images from the National Archives, articles,
printer friendly versions and more. There is an interactive version of the 1936
Faulkner Murals that have been recently restored in the Rotunda of the National
Archives Building in Washington D.C. and a Founding Fathers feature that is not
to be missed. It contains an index of all the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention in May, 1787, that links to brief biographies of each member.
Another interactive feature, the Signer’s Gallery, allows users to learn more
about the signers of the Declaration of Independence and choose a signature
style with which add their own name alongside those of our forefathers on an
online version of the document.
Visitors to this delightful site will find an abundance of poems as well as
information about the current poet laureate, past poet laureates, news and
events, poetry Webcasts, and more. Of particular interest to teachers and
students is the section designated especially for them. It includes transcripts
from live chat sessions, a primary source set that includes images, newspaper
articles, written drafts, oral history interviews, original play manuscripts to
help teach a "found poetry" activity, lesson plans, bibliography, and a long
list of online resources especially for teachers, plus another list especially
for students. Additionally there is a link to Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for
American High Schools. This fun and interactive site is a great way for students to learn about the orchestra and its instruments as well as the symphony and some history of Carnegie Hall. The Young Person's Guide teaches students about the four families of musical instruments and their place in the orchestra. Students go on a safari through the instrument filled jungle collecting all the instruments in a problem solving adventure. The Animated History introduces students to the history of Carnegie Hall, highlighting many of the artists and speakers who have appeared there. In Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" students listen to and view an animated version of the symphony while learning about the music, instruments of the orchestra, and the composer. Interactive activities are included along the way. SUBJECT AREA: PHYSICAL EDUCATION/HEALTHTitle: Aero-Pop URL: http://www.aero-pop.com/INTRO.html This high energy site may be the cure for getting youngsters to moving and improving their health. It can be incorporated into the school fitness programs or done at home and is appropriate for all children. Best of all, the entire program can be downloaded for free. Teachers will find thirty-five easy to follow lesson plans with a video clip to demonstrate each new move. A PDF file is also available explaining in detail the lesson plan for each session. Parents can easily use the program at home to get and keep your kids moving and having fun while they’re doing it. Just choose your own upbeat music and start Aero-popping!! It’s the fun way to change the way children think about exercise and physical education.
Title: The Cool Spot This site will be of interest to
students, parents, teachers or anyone who works with young teens on
such issues. The site offers factual information about alcohol such
as the dangers of underage drinking, mood swings, the risk factors
for developing an alcohol problem, problems associated with
drinking, alcohol addiction, and alcohol related accidents. Included
is information on how teens might deal with peer pressure,
confronting fears or expectations about what will happen if you
resist, and the right to resist. SUBJECT AREA: TEACHING RESOURCES
Title: On-Line Journal of School Mathematics (ON-MATH) Teachers of mathematics will welcome the informative articles found at ON-Math. Articles can be browsed by grade (elementary, middle, and secondary) or by issue. All of the articles are peer-reviewed and offer ideas for teaching such topics as area and perimeter relationships, transforming linear graphs, electronic explorations of tessellations, real-time traffic data, angles and circles, developing algebraic thinking, projectile motion, tangents, and much more. These interactive articles include applets, video clips, information about the author, related resources, and a link to the printer-friendly version. The current issue is available as are all the back issues since the journal’s first issue in 2002. Mathematics teachers are encouraged to submit articles for review and inclusion in the journal.
Title: Educator's Reference Desk The people who created AskERIC--a personalized internet service providing information and assistance to teachers, librarians, counselors, administrators, and parents--have announced a new service and name to replace the resources educators have come to depend on for more than a decade. Although the US Department of Education discontinued the AskERIC services as of December 19, school leaders and other education stakeholders will will have access to the rich array of information contained by the service's parent organization the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). Through the new Educator's Reference Desk, you can access AskERIC's 2,000-plus lesson plans, 3,000-plus links to online education information and 200-plus question archive responses. The question-and-answer services is no longer active, but the Educator's Reference Desk does include a search interface to the ERIC Database, providing access to more than one million bibliographic records on educational research, theory, and practice.
Title: Learning Now The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has launched a new blog covering the internet's influence on the classroom. According to PBS, the bloc--called learning.now--will address how new technologies and the internet culture are significantly affecting the ways educators teach and children learn. The blog will target K-12 educators and is meant to help guide them through the sometimes strange world of new communications devices, web sites, and cultural shifts brought about by advances in technology.
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