Tuesday, January 31, 2006

K-12: Online Teaching Using the Web

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/overview.htm WebQuest

This site is designed to serve as a resource to those who are using the WebQuest model to teach with the web. By pointing to excellent examples and collecting materials developed to communicate the idea, all of us experimenting with WebQuests will be able to learn from each other.
A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The model was developed in early 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge with Tom March, and was outlined then in Some Thoughts About WebQuests.

Ages 5 -High School: Writer's Window

http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/home.html Writer's Window

An interactive site for students to share and comment on writing and also write collaborative stories. Students can share their writing and poetry, add to continuous stories or join a discussion on writing. There is an excellent 'how to' area: http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/workshop.html where students can get tips and techniques on writing. There is also a fun 'Reader's Cafe': http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/readerscafe/cafeflash.php
with a book quiz, reading shelf and sharing page, with sections for parents and teachers as well.

K-12: Multi-subject: BrainPOP

http://www.brainpop.com/ BrainPOP, Glencoe/McGraw Hill

Contains more than 400 animated videos for K-12 kids on subjects ranging from the avian flu to the Harlem Renaissance to graphing linear equations. Areas include Science, English, Math, Social Studies, Health and Technology. This is a subscription site (with subscriptions for schools, labs and families), but there are several of the areas that are free to try. Done very well, and could be useful for ESL students since the videos are spoken clearly and slowly enough to understand. Worth a peek.

K-12: Reading/Writing

http://www.readwritethink.org/ : International Reading Association (IRA), National Council Teachers of English (NCTE), MarcoPolo Education Foundation

This site provides various lesson plans for integrating Internet content into literacy lessons.It includes grade appropriate lesson plans (reading levels K-12) and applies NCTE/IRA standards. You can search for lessons by reading level, literacy strand or literacy engagement.

There is also an extensive list of web resources:(http://www.readwritethink.org/resources/index.asp)

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Art Projects: KinderArt

http://kinderart.com/across/index.html KinderArt: Art across the Board Cross-curricular Lessons

Interesting site that provides lesson plans for art projects correlated with other subjects such as math, geography, reading, social studies, PE/health, music and history, at all levels. For example, geography includes:
BEACH BALL GAME all ages...A great learning game that brings summer into the classroom. From Brenda Essig
CREATE A WORLD Gr. 7-8...Deborah Dunstedter has a lesson that combines imaginative powers with known map-making techniques to create a whole new world.
SCULPT-A-PLANET Gr. 3+...Make a paper mache planet with your kinderartists.

Children need engaging projects to embrace the subject matter. This site is both fun and educational.

Shakespeare for Kids

http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=588 Folger Shakespeare

As the site says, "Fairies, lost princesses and a magic island – Shakespeare’s wonderful stories seem made for children." I majored in English Lit, and admit to a fondness for Shakespeare. The Folger Shakespeare Library has a wonderful site to introduce children to the Bard. Included on the site are:
Shakespeare for Kids
• Words, Words, Words
• Fun Facts
• Meet a...
• Coloring & Puzzles
• Shakespeare Challenges
• Who Am I?
• Queen Elizabeth
• Folger Treasures
• Puck's Place
Children like the lyric nature of Shakespeare, and are curious and open to many new things. Why not Shakespeare? Peek into the site and think about how you might use it to introduce the little ones to wonderful words and images. Perhaps not McBeth...but certainly A Midsummer Night's Dream... And it may help the Shakespeare repressed adults as well.