Web Resources
The web resources are organized by subject with a brief description of each site. Most of web sites listed below have been professionally reviewed.
ESL
Language Arts
Literature
Math History
Health
Science
General/Professional
WebQuests
Copyright & Fair Use
ESL/EFL
Grade Level: Professional
This directory provides an online reference for the most useful ESL resources primarily for teachers and students, and other groups, such as administrators, business people, researchers, and parents, may find them helpful. This database contains links to over 300 websites, online publications, publishers, instructional materials, listservs, databases and other resources related to the field of English as a Second Language. Resources are divided into four categories: Most Popular, Curriculum and Instruction, Resource Types, and Topics. Reviewed by Education World (2001).
GRADE LEVEL: 7-12+
Dave’s ESL Café, developed by Dave Sperling, is a great Internet place for teachers and Students of ESL around the world. This site includes three main categories: Stuff for Teachers, Stuff for Students, and Stuff for Everyone. It also provides 3025 links on various topics such as literature, lesson plans, writing, educational software, and much more for people to choose from. Reviewed by Education World (1998).
Health
- Open Wide and Trek Inside
http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih2/oral-health/default.htm
Grade Level: 1-2
Open Wide and Trek Inside is a product of the National Institutes of Health curriculum supplement series. This interactive multimedia module is aimed at teaching students K-2 important concepts about oral health. The Teachers' Guide includes six lesson plans, masters, references, and resources and implementation support. The Student section offers the interactive multimedia module that includes video clips, animations, and interactive games. This site has been produced in English and Spanish with a version that is accessible to individuals with disabilities in both languages. Education World (2004) reviewed that “students will love learning about oral health with this engaging site.”
- Chemicals, the Environment, and You
http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih2/chemicals/default.htm
Grade Level: 6-8
This site, developed by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, offers ready-to-use module for middle school science or health teachers. Topics such as the chemical composition of all matter, chemicals in the environment, human health and medicine, individual variation/susceptibility, risk assessment and management as well as scientific methods are included. Reviewed by Education World (2004).
Grade Level: 6-8
BBC Science Human Body provides wealthy information on a variety of topics. Each section includes the interactive body and psychological tests. Reviewed by Blue Web'n (2003).
History
Grade Level: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
This site includes wealth background information of Benjamin Franklin. Education World (2004) reviewed the site and indicated that “Visitors can learn about his scientific discoveries, listen to a composition on the Glass Armonica, or read about some of his lesser-known inventions such as swim fins and the extension arm. Students will enjoy the interactive electrical experience, How Shocking where they can make a spark, fly a kite, and build a lightning rod.”
Grade Level: 5-12
Teaching with Historic Places is a program of the National Park Service’ National Register of Historic Places. It provides lesson plans and guidance on using places to teaching. Each lesson includes maps, readings, and photographs as well as correlations to National History standards for grades 5-12. All of the lessons are available free of charge on the Web. This is a must-see site for any history teacher, or teachers of social studies, geography, or civics (Education World, 2000)
Grade Level: Pre-K-12
American President offers very comprehensive resources of American presidency. All forty-three presidential administrations are included. Teachers and students of History will find rich materials for teaching, research or homework. Reviewed by Education World (2004).
- Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith
http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/silkroad/main.html
Grade Level: 9-12
The Silk Road explores the journey of the Hungarian-born explorer sir Marc Aurel Stein. Five illustrated themes about the journey are included: the development of the book and the invention of printing, languages and scripts of the eastern Silk Road, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, play on the Silk Road, and the Silk Road sky. Reviewed by Education World (2004).
Math
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8.
The site offers students and teachers opportunities to explore mathematical concept through hands on experiments. The materials are grouped by grade level into three main categories: activities, discussions, and lessons. All are tied to national standards. In addition, there are additional support materials including a dictionary, standards for middle school mathematics, and hyperlinked tables of contents for several middle school math texts and a description of middle school mathematics standards from the National Council of teachers of Mathematics and the National Center on Education and the Economy. Reviewed by Education World.
Grade Level: K-2, 3-5, 6-8
This site provides hundreds of pages of basic Math skills and activities by grade level and topic. Each lesson includes online interactive practice, an explanation of the topic, and challenge games. The site, as reviewed by Education World (2002), can be used by students for remediation, by teachers to supplement the curriculum, or by home-schooling parents.
Grade Level: K-12
Balanced Assessment, a project funded by National Science foundation, offers over 300 mathematics assessment tasks for grades K-12 and these tasks are freely available for teachers to use in their classrooms. Reviewed by Education World (2004).
GRADE LEVEL: K-12
A Maths Dictionary for Kids is an animated, interactive dictionary of math for K-12 students. It explains 500 common mathematical terms in simple language with examples and activities. Reviewed by Education World (2002).
Grade Level: 9-12
Geometry Step-by-Step From the Land of the Incas provides an eclectic mix of sound, science, and Incan history to interest students in Euclidean geometry. Geometry problems, quizzes, puzzles, quotes are included. It is an innovative and a great high-school site for both teachers and students of Geometry (Education World, 2004).
Science
- · Wonderful World of Weather http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/weatherproj/index_NEW.html
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
The Wonderful World of Weather is a standards-based Real Time Data Module developed by the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE). It allows elementary students to investigate weather phenomena locally as well as in other places around the world. This project is broken up into 3 sets of lessons: Introductory Activities, Real Time Data Activities, and Language Arts Activities. There are also a number of specific lessons in each section designed to allow teachers to select the ones which fit best into their curriculum. Each lesson gives a recommended time for completion. Please review each of the lessons carefully and use your judgment for allocating class time for the project. The project is appropriate for grades 3-6 but may be modified for lower or higher grades. Reviewed by Education World.
- Investigating the Climate System
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products/Investigating.the.Climate.System/
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
This site is part of NASA’s Spacelink materials, provides problem-based lessons for learning about the climate system. It consists of five classroom modules: Clouds, Energy, Precipitation, Weather and Winds. Each module was designed to be used independently and has downloadable 20-30 page booklets, which contains five to six learning activities that include objectives, key terms and concepts, ideas for extensions, assessment rubrics and prerequisite knowledge.
Grade Level: 6-8
Study of Place offers middle school students and teachers two online science modules: Antarctic exploration and Ocean Currents. Each module includes readings, experiments, analyzing images, interactive map activities, and graphing. Reviewed by Education World (2004).
Language Arts
- Book Adventure
http://www.bookadventure.com
Grade Level: K-8
Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 6,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read offline, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. The site also provides links to related resources for students, parents and teachers, and is sponsored by Sylvan Learning, Inc. Reviewed by Education World (2002)
Grade Level: PreK-2
Reading Rockets offers resources including strategies, lessons, articles, news items, lists of books, and activities to help young children learn to read. There are three main sections in this web site: Teaching Kids to Read, Helping Kids Who Struggle, and News & View. Within these sections, teachers and parents can find information to help their students and children at school/home. Reviewed by Education World (2003)
- Read, Write, Think
http://www.readwritethink.org/
Grade Level: Pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Advanced, Professional
ReadWeriteThink, a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the MarcoPolo Education Foundation, offers lessons and resources in reading and language arts instruction. There are four main categories: Lessons, Standards, Web Resources, and Student Materials. Lessons are sorted by title, grade, or date. Each lesson has detailed instructional plan, classroom activities, and assessment as well as correlations to IRA/NCTE standards. Web resources have been reviewed and selected by experts. Reviewed by Education World (2002)
Grade Level: Professional
This site provides educational materials, services, and coursework to everyone who is interested in language arts.
Grade Level: 9-12, Professional
This site, developed by Northern Illinois University, offers a rich writing resource for students, teachers, and tutors. Reviewed by Education World (2001).
Grade Level: Pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Advanced, Professional
Web English Teacher provides K-12 English/Language Arts teaching resources including lesson plans, WebQuests, videos, biography, e-texts, criticism, jokes, puzzles, and classroom activities. It covers book reports, literature, drama, critical thinking, grammar mechanics/usage, journalism, mythology, Shakespeare, poetry, speech & debate and much more. Education World (2003) reviewed that it is a super site for language arts.
Literature
- StoryPlace: The Children's Digital Library
http://www.storyplace.org/
Grade Level: Pre K-2
StoryPlace, presented in both English and Spanish, is an interactive site from the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. Two libraries are included in the site: Preschool and Elementary. In the Preschool Library, there are currently 15 themes available, for example, animals, babies, bath time, colors, crocodiles, and firefighters. Each theme contains online story, online activity, take-home activity, and reading list. In the Elementary Library, currently six themes are available such as the Golden Ball, Dinos Rock. Each theme includes topsy-turvy tale, print-out activity, and suggest reading. Reviewed by Education World (2000).
General/Professional
Grade Level: K-12
AOL@School is a free education portal for K-12 schools that offers a redesigned, easy-to-use interface to deliver age-appropriate curriculum content selected by experts, searchable lesson plans, class projects, online references and homework help. Six online portals are designed for four different student levels (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, & 9-12), teachers and administrators. Reviewed by ReadWriteThink.
GRADE LEVEL: PreK-12, Professional
The Gateway to Educational MaterialsSM provides educators with quick and easy access to thousands of educational resources found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites.
Grade Level: Professional
This site is an online library that features National Board Certified Teachers in exhibits of exemplary teaching with technology. There are more than 50 exhibits available in a variety of subject areas and grade levels. Each exhibit includes an introduction, lesson plan, video clips, student work samples, assessment tools, resources, research, teacher reflection, and correlation to the National Board Standards and ISTE's NETS (National Educational Technology Standards), as well as to state and content area standards. This site is one of the best of 2003 rated by Education World (2003).
Grade Level: Pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Advanced, Professional
This site offers valuable educational resources for teachers, students, and parents. Students will find tools for study. There are fun games and learning adventures for students to explore everything from Ancient Egypt to the Space Station. Teachers will find lesson plans and teaching tools to make planning easier. There are classroom activities and materials that can be used to support their teaching curriculum. There is rich information such as study tools, homeschooling resources, and expert tips, for parents to help their children. This is one of the best of 2003 sites reviewed by Education World (2003).
Grade Level: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
This site was developed and is maintained by the Federal Citizen Information Center. It provides links to Federal kids' sites along with some of the best kids' sites from other organizations all grouped by subject. Reviewed by Education World (2003).
Grade Level: K-12, Professional
Global Schoolhouse provides free or low cost online programs to support young people around the world to learn together. It has reached more than one million students from 25,000 schools across 100 countries. One of the features of the site is the Projects Registry, a database of collaborative projects where teachers can join or submit their own. There are 1858 archived projects have been completed. It is a super site for online projects Education World (2003).
Webquests
Grade Level: Professional, K-12
This site has an excellent list and collection of WebQuests sorted by subject and grade level. In the training material section, there is a lot of information about creating Webquests including the readings, templates, workshops, rubrics, and advice. Education World (1999) reviewed the site and indicated that it is a great and highly practical site for educators who are interested in the integration of Internet in the classroom.
Grade Level: Professional
Best Webquests.com was designed by Tom March, one of the originators of the WebQuest strategy. This site has a highly selective collection of WebQuests in a variety of subject areas and grade levels. Reviewed by Education World (2003).
Grade Level: Professional
This site provides resources to help teachers better understand copyright and fair use. Reviewed by ReadWriteThink.
If you have any sugestions and comments,
Please contact Dr. Lin at linshu@isu.edu