March 2004 Web Sites

The following Web sites looked interesting :

From the magazine, Teaching Pre K - 8, March 2004

Topic : Hot Websites

Middle School Art Page - ( 5 - 8 ) - this school Web site from Westmount Middle School is well-organized and offers the classroom teacher a wealth of lessons and art resources to expand the art curriculum.

The @rt Room - this collection of art resources from the University of Florida is rich with art projects, lessons, web links and creative ideas for expanding the art curriculum in your classroom.

Topic : Supernova Starburts

Spacelink - Our Sun - pictures, instructional materials and projects all related to our sun.

Our Sun Does the Wave - information about the "supergranules" that move across the visible surface of the sun.

Surfing for Sunbeans - take a virtual tour of our sun, with pictures, movies, diagrams and more.

Topic : Manufacturing

Manufacturing Flow Chart Symbols - learn about how basic flow chart symbols are used in manufacturing along with some historical information.

How Crayola Crayons are Made - a great overview of how the world leader in crayon manufacturing makes crayons.

The National Recycling Coalition - is a nonprofit organization committed to the common goal of maximizing recycling.

Topic : Illustrators and Illustrations

RIF - Reading is Fundamental ofers strategies for picture walks.

Picture Book Links - links to organized database of authors and illustrators of picture books, recommended book lists and online picture books.

Children's Authors and Illustrators - dozens of picture books listed by author, with links to lessons, activities and teacher guides.

Analysis of a Picture Book - this site presents a guide to analyzing a book.

From the newsletter, Classroom Connect, March 2004

Classroom Today - here you will find Internet activities to do every day.

Lesson Plan Goldmines

Biology Lesson at San Diego State University - ( K - 8 ) - this site contains 20 lesson plans developed by students at San Diego State University, divided into materials covering molecules, cells, and population biology.

Endangered Species in Endangered Spaces - ( K - 8 ) - the lessons at this site Web site were developed by Carol A. Thompson of Okanagan University College, in partnership with the Royal British Columbia Museum.

Marilyn A. Western: Computer Lab Teacher - ( K - 8 ) - fifth and sixth grade computer lab teacher marilyn Western has created a gem of a Web site with hundreds of hand-outs, tutorials, and articles.

RobertNiles.com - ( 6 - 12 ) - Robert Niles prepared these statistics lessons for journalists to help them understand and accurately present information they gather, but the lessons work for non-journalists, too.

A+ Web Gallery

Berit's Best - ( K - 12 ) - is one of the best destinations for kid friendly content on the Web.

Barahona Center - ( K - 12 ) - is dedicated to the promotion of literacy in English and Spanish.

Bibliomania - ( 9 - 12 ) - is a British based site that provides full texts for over 2,000 classic works, as well as study guides and references materials.

Calculus-Help.com - ( 9 - 12 ) - this excellent site about calculus, created by Michael Kelly.

Chateau Meddybemps - ( K - 8 ) - created by Susan and Jerry Jindrich, this magical place is where children, teachers, and parents can learn and play together.

Congressional Biography Directory - ( 6 - 12 ) - contains biographical information about members of the U.S. Congress from 1774 to the present.

Coolmath - ( 6 - 12 ) - is dedicated to making math fun.

EurekAlert! - ( 6 - 12 ) - is a service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has been publishing the latest science news online since 1996.

MysteryNet's Kids Mysteries - ( 4 - 8 ) - this site offers oodles of baffling fun with mysteries to solve, scary stories, and magic tricks.

National Museum of Women in the Arts - ( 4 - 12 ) - is a unique museum dedicated to the display of objects created by women artists from around the world.

Rulers - ( 6 - 12 ) - includes comprehensive lists of heads of state or government of all countries and territories, going back to the year 1700.

Kids' Corner

Anne Frank, the Writer: An Unfinished Story - ( 4 - 8 ) - the Smithsonian Institute attempts to demystify the brain which explains the brain's relationship to food and how to protect the brain from injury.

RobertMunsch.com - ( K - 4 ) - here Robert Munsch shares published and unpublished stories as well as a biography and plenty of poems.

5 A Day Fruits and Vegetables - ( K - 8 ) - this site contains information and research that illustrate the importance of fruits and vegetables to the body.

Earthquakes for Kids - ( K - 8 ) - in an effort to heighten awarness about earthquakes and improve safety, the United States Geological Survey's Earthquakes Hazard Program provides EarthQuakes for Kids.

From the magazine, Technology and Learning, February 2004

Article : Drafting a Customized Tech Plan: An Up-to-the-Minute Design

Drafting a Customized Tech Plan: An Up-to-the-Minute Design - by Gwen Solomon, throw out yesterday's creaky model. Today's successful ed tech plan is focused, structured, and organized, leaving nothing to chance. Here, are offered some key tools and tips for a successful planning process.

Article - The ABCs of a Top Game Plan

The ABCs of a Top Game Plan - by Gwen Solomon, here, are presented 26 steps to developing a successful technology program.

Topic : Web Tour of Technology-Planning Sites

NetDayCompass - Sponsored by NetDay, the national nonprofit dedicated to expanding educational technology, this site is an excellent and easy-to-use place for committees to start.

Technology Briefs for No Child Left Behind Planners - The Northeast and Islands Regional Technology Consortium offers 14 briefs on topics ranging from Strategies for Improving Academic Achievement and Teacher Effectiveness to Technology Type and Costs that provide advice on integrating technology into NCLB plans.

Guiding Questions for Technology Planning - it explores issues such as "What is Your Vision of Learning?" and "How Will You Use Technology to Support Your Vision of Learning?", this North Central Regional Educational Laboratory site is an excellent starting point for all members of a planning team.

Profiler Online Collaboration Tool - The International Society for Technology in Education offers this free online tool that helps teachers assess their technology ability, share expertise, and learn from others.

Learning with Technology Profile Tool - The North Central Regional Educational Lab offers a profile tool to assess a school's use of engaged learning and integration of technology to support such learning.

Planning for Technology: Putting the Pieces Together - The graphic is a colorful nine-piece jigsaw puzzle with labels such as District Planning, Technology Enhanced Instructional Units, and Integrating Technology with Standards.

Resources for Guiding Questions for Technology Planning - This site provides answers to common technology planning concerns such as supporting and providing a challenging curriculum, technology and the school's accountability and assessment systems, and providing professional development, training, and ongoing technical support for teachers.

Technology Planning Guide - Apple Computer offers a comprehensive look at the planning process, from creating a vision for technology integration and evaluating your current status to writing a workable implementation plan.

Learning Through Technology: A Planning and Implementation Guide - This site focuses on the various stages of technology implementation efforts and offers links to help planners deal with such topics as building a knowledge base, implementing priorities and strategies, evaluating the process, and institutionalizing technology.

A Guide to Technology Planning - Although much simpler in form and content than other sites, this guide offers a handy overview of the steps in the technology-planning process.

Technology Planning Tools - The National School Board Association provides information for anyone who wishes to become familiar with issues relevant to today's education.

Technology Planning - the home page of the SouthEast Initiatives Regional Technology in Education Consortium site offers links to state, district, and school technology plans; a review of the literature related to technology integration by SEIR*TEC's director; experience-based tools for technology planning plus case studies; a sample technology skills needs assessment; and a link to NCREL's Learning Through Technology site listed above.

Technology Program Evaluation - Part of the excellent SEIR*TEC site, this page features links to a range of useful evaluation techniques and documents. The site is handy both for evaluating current levels of technology use or for adapting resources to a technology plan.

Successful K-12 Technology Planning: 10 Essential Elements - One of the many informative ERIC Digests, this page offers a 10-step process for technology planning. The steps begin with Create a Vision and end with Prepare for Tomorrow.

Technology Planning For Adult Literacy - This 45-page document was created by the National Center on Adult Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania. Users should be aware that it was created in 1995 and that its main focus is integrating technology with adult literacy.

Topic : Web Sites

Center for Media Literacy - has developed CML MediaLit Kit, an educational framework and curriculum guide "designed to help children and young people critique and challenge the thousands of media messages that bombard them daily."

Topic : Math

MathTools - this meta web site sponsored by MathForum focuses on a variety of math tools.

MiddleSchool. Net: Calculators - This meta web site contains an incredible assortment of all types of calculators, ranging from a 1885 Felt & Tarrant "Comptometer" adding machine (history) and Vector Calculator to an Astro-Psysical Calculator and a Linear Algebra Matrix Calculator.

The MathServ Calculus Toolkit - these tools from Vanderbilt University follow the fill-in-the-blank model using algorithms to factor polynomials, find derivatives and antiderivatives, fit polynomials to data sets, plot parametric equations, plot functions of polar coordinates and more.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives for Interactive Mathematics - this NSF-supported project created by Utah State University is a collection of interactive, web-based virtual manipulatives.

NCTM illuminations - NCTM illuminations provides models of mathematical teaching using engaging, interactive activities matched to the NCTM Standards.

Science U - Where's the math? Visit The Geometry Center and experience interactive graphics that explain how triangle tilings and symmetry combine to produce polyhedra. Delve deeper and the web site includes interactive exhibits, online simulations, downloadable software, reference materials, facts and figures, hands-on projects and more.

The Mint – It Makes Sense - A different type of tool than previously reviewed, this government web site intrigues students and provides a dose of reality focused around earning, saving, spending, tracking, investing and owing money.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) - This collection of 40+ Internet-based resources is supported by various Federal agencies. Many of these agencies have student areas, lesson plans, photos, video clips and very rich collections of data.

From the ISTE publication, Learning & Leading with Technology, March 2004

Web Resources - for the following articles :

 

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