Category: Teaching

Teaching Websites

Teaching Websites

Below is an ongoing list of websites for teachers from my days as an elementary education major. I have been starting to try to categorize the websites (as you can currently see near the bottom of this list) and that has the issue that some sites fit under multiple categories and are only listed under one category. The websites are subject to change.

Categories

Agriculture – Reading – Museums and Periodicals and Foundations – Teacher Education – Current Events – Middle Grades – Strategies – Testing – Lesson Plans – Music and Theater – Classroom Management – Math – Science – Foreign Language/Spanish – Exceptional Learners (covers a spectrum  ranging from physical disabilities to autism to gifted children) – Supplies and Workbooks and Technology – Physical Education – General and Miscellaneous

  1. Teacher Information Network http://www.teacher.com
  2. Access ERIC http://www.eric.edu.gov
  3. Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning http://www.mcrel.org
  4. Educator’s Reference Desk http://www.eduref.org
  5. Skewl Sites Online – http://www.skewlsites.com
  6. Ed Helper http://www.edhelper.com
  7. Education Place http://www.eduplace.com
  8. Sites for Teachers http://www.sitesforteachers.com
  9. Chaminade College Preparatory School: http://www.chaminade.org/inspire/learnstl.htm
  10. Rockwood (Missouri) School District: http://www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/curriculum/staffdev/diff/
  11. Teacher Talk Forum: http://www.education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/ttarticles.html
  12. Pathways for School Improvement web site: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/te0cont.htm
  13. SchoolGrants for instructional purposes: schoolgrants.org
  14. ResearchChannel: researchchannel.org
  15. Little Planet Literacy Project: http://www.sunburst.com/littleplanet/
  16. The Jason Project: http://www.jasonproject.com
  17. READ180: teacher.scholastic.com/read180/
  18. SimCalc: http://www.simcalc.umassd.edu
  19. ThinkerTools: thinkertools.berkeley.edu:7019
  20. Thinkquest: http://www.thinkquest.org
  21. 700 Great Sites: http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/amazing.html – for preschool to age 14
  22. Bigchalk: http://www.bigchalk.com
  23. Houghton Mifflin’s Eduplace: http://www.eduplace.com
  24. The Jigsaw Classroom: http://www.jigsaw.org
  25. Ted Panitz’s Homepage: http://home.capecode.net/~panitz/
  26. George Jacobs Website: http://www.georgejacobs.net
  27. Richard Felder’s Homepage: http://ncsu.edu/felder-public/
  28. http://www.mhhe.com/springae12e – American Education (12th edition, Joel Spring, Queens College) textbook student resources McGraw-Hill Higher Education

Agriculture

  • Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (SM) – agintheclassroom.org – for teachers can actually send a guest speaker/schedule a classroom visit, provide teaching materials to teach children about the state’s largest industry, agriculture, many of the lesson plans they offer teacher agriculture and another subject such as agriculture and math. Offer for $4.00 (as of 2007) a “Agriculture is Everday” overview of agriculture that highlights urban topics such as hydroponics, greenhouses, transportation and Farmers’ Markets. Shows students how agriculture is around them every day from food to clothing to research and development to manufacturing.
  • Illinois Farm Bureau (R) – ilfb.org – have a “Chosen Fields” (as of 2007) media package that features careers in agriculture such as engineering, animal behavior and nutrition and landscape design, ages 10 to 16, includes lesson plans
  • Illinois Farm Bureau & Affiliated Companies Youth Education Program – youthed.org
  • IAA Foundation – iaafoundation.org – funds Agriculture in the Classroom, scholarships, research and charitable activities to benefit Illinois agriculture
  • The Farming Game – The Weekend Farmer 800-222-GAME farmgame.com $31.95
  • Great American Soybean Promotion Kit
  • Wool Fiber in the Making Chart – pendleton-usa.com under ‘Order Educational Materials’ may be free for teachers as of 2007
  • Wet & Set Magic Noodles & CornStruction Paper – Kid Tech Tools, Inc 877-938-6738 magicnuudle.com For bulk cornstarch noodles try uline.com
  • Zipper-seal Plastic Bags – consider veripack.com
  • Crystal Soil to make Beanie Babies – gardening center: look for “soil moist” or “watering crystals” Flinn Scientific 800-452-1261 catalog numbers FB0381-FB0384
  • Wool Spinning Kit – wool for 200-250 bracelets, 30 hooks and instructions order from Utah AITC http://extension.usu.edu/aitc $10 each
  • National Agricultural Library: http://www.nalusda.gov/fnic/

Reading

  • Starfall.com – have some great free downloads for teaching reading in the lower elementary grades
  • post-it.com/kids – word builder note cards, education products for kids

Museums and Periodicals and Foundations

Teacher Education

Current Events

Middle Grades

Strategies

Testing

  • Central New York Regional Information Center: http://www.nysed.gov has articles on authentic assessment
  • Buros Institute of Mental Measurements: http://www.unl.edu/buros info commercially published tests and approaches used for developing standards and assessments
  • Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), project of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSO), http://www.ccsso.org – standards for beginning teacher licensing and development
  • Online Evaluation Resource Library: oerl.sri.com/instruments
  • Illinois Certification Testing System, Basic Skills Test Study Guide (C) 2004 Illinois State Board of Education, National Evaluation Systems, Inc.
  • ITPS
  • cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/ – age appropriate standards California
  • firn.edu/doe/curric/prek12.frame2.htm – Florida age appropriate standards
  • No Child Left Behind (P L 107-110) signed into law January 2002, http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/107-110.pdf

Lesson Plans

Music and Theater

  • Illinois State University Extending University Youth Guide Camps, Activities and Services (music, sports, reading etc.): IllinoisState.edu/home/outreach/
  • Bands of America Music Camps: bands.org
  • Chicago Waldorf School: chicagowaldorf.org

Classroom Management

Math

Science

Foreign Language/Spanish

Exceptional Learners (covers a spectrum ranging from physical disabilities to autism to gifted children)

Supplies and Workbooks and Technology

  • Learning Horizons http://www.learninghorizons.com
  • Leap Frog Learning Game System Leap Pad Leapster
  • School Zone http://www.schoolzone.com – also have games and vidoes and more
  • Math Manipulatives for Teachers on a projector
  • Barron’s Educational Series, Inc study aids, The Easy Way Series, http://www.barronseduc.com
  • Encarta: encarta.msn.com
  • Grolier’s: auth.grolier.com/cgi-bin/authV2
  • barebooks.com – for mainly teaching reading, has blank boardgames that can be used for any subject
  • Sunburst Software: http://www.sunburst.com/
  • The George Lucas Educational Foundation – glef.org – focus on use of technology
  • Project Integration and Visualization Tool (PIViT) umich.edu~pbsgroup/psnet/
  • Inspiration Software: inspiration.com
  • Levels of Technology Implementation Scale (LoTI): http://www.lotilounge.com/lotidemo/
  • The Alliance for Technology Access: http://www.ataccess.org/default.html
  • Teacher Prep STaR Chart: http://www.ceoforum.org – assessment tool in use of technology
  • Filamentality (online activity templates): filamentality.com
  • Online activity formats examples: http://ozline.com/learning/theory.html
  • District level technology planning sites: iste.org (International Society for Technology) Milken Family Foundation (www.mff.org/edtech)  CEO Forum (ceoforum.org)
  • Center for Applied Special Technology http://cast.org/ncac/index.cfm?i=2876
  • Multipurpose Transparency Film: 3M.com allows you to print from a computer for overhead projector transparency films
  • Carson-Dellosa supplies and materials: carsondellosa.com
  • openoffice.org – great for students that cannot afford Microsoft Office
  • fppt.com – free power point templates
  • DollarTree.com – do have teaching supplies, free downloadable craft and project sheets, and may offer more than what is in the store online, also have email subscription with exclusive offers and a Facebook and Twitter account, site also has reviews
  • PartyCity.com – birthday items, small party favor toys such as colorful pencils that can be given as rewards to children
  • CriticalThinking.com – workbooks, flashcards, software in reading, writing, math, science, history and test prep
  • YoungExplorers.com – really a site for buying children’s toys and not a teaching website, like their school play set as it has stickers, report cards, hall pass, hand bell, dry erase board, pointer, and more (looks like a map with US capitals, a calendar, crayons etc.)
  • Plato: http://www.plato.com
  • Riverdeep: http://www.riverdeep.net
  • Tom Snyder Productions: http://www.tomsnyder.com

Physical Education

General and Miscellaneous

Quick Draw Teaching Strategy

Description

Quick Draw is a game taken off of charades and drawing and functions as a mini-lesson. It can be played in small groups or as an entire class. If played as an entire class you can divide the class into two groups. A box or hat with the vocabulary words or class concepts would be placed near the front and center of the chalkboard. The teacher would act as the referee and keep score for the entire class version. A member of one group would pull a word out of the box and the teacher would then check and discard it. The group member would attempt to draw and or act out the word or concept without saying teamwork, students, quick draw teaching strategythe word. The group would be timed and given a point if guessed correctly.   It would then be the next group’s turn. The students could move around and discuss what they think the correct answer is. You may want to put their desks in a long rectangle or groups of four prior to starting the game. You can place the words on the board and even place the word or phrase back in the box if the group gets it wrong. Ideally, like charades it could be guessed without the group member talking. You may want to write some ground rules on the board such as no hangman, and no writing more than three sentences as a hint (e.g. they could write begins with a ‘H’ and no run on sentences).  It might also work to write a list of the concepts/words in the box/hat on the chalkboard to help the students guess. You don’t want this to be too easy or too difficult. If playing with several small groups you would probably use the same vocabulary words in each box and place them with each small group. For the small groups you would pick a team leader and the teacher would check in on the groups.

Quick Write sometimes refers to a teaching method in which students write about several research topics of interest for five minutes and then decide on what topic to choose. Quick Draw is also used to refer to a method in which students draw in response to a prompt and then discuss their answers. This version incorporates the kinesthetic (physical movement) learning style for students that remember better with this style and or is good for a school with limited to no recess and or for students that could use a break in which they walk and move around a little. Also, it just helps reinforce material in a different learning style thus benefiting all students by making the material more memorable and understandable. This is appropriate for middle school. As with anything this can be modified and changed and improvised to fit the needs of the particular class and or concepts being taught.

Purposes

  • Incorporate movement with a variety of subjects
  • Provide opportunity to reinforce and understand vocabulary and or concepts betterquick draw teaching strategy post
  • Incorporate visual and kinesthetic (physical movement/exercise) and auditory learning
  • Work within a team in a semi-competitive environment
  • Focus despite a somewhat distracting environment (e.g. several small groups playing the game at the same time)

Directions

  1. Make sure directions are on the board if desired, and vocab words or concepts are in boxes. As an anticipatory hook or attention getter tell the class that we are going to play a game called Quick Draw. Ask, “Have you ever played charades? Do you like to draw?”
  2. Divide class into groups. Explain the rules of the game to the class.
  3. Play for up to twenty minutes or until one group has won.
  4. As an assessment students will participate in a whole class discussion on what they learned. This will help the teacher see the effectiveness of the mini-lesson and modify future lessons based on their responses.

Word Document of Post: Quick Draw Teaching Strategy 8-16-13

Magic Squares Reading Teacher Strategy

Below is a pasted word document I typed on the magic squares strategy that can be used by reading teachers. The Word document can be downloaded at the end of the post. This is from a course I took on teaching reading and part of a strategy collection notebook that education collage reading math writingthe class compiled together. I hope to post more strategies and update this with a ‘magic squares reading teacher strategy continued’ post. Obviously, this can be applied to other subjects like foreign language and even solely mathematics. As I was an elementary education major this might have to be made a little more difficult for high school students. Although it is appropriate for a warm up activity as students are arriving for class and can be found in the textbook Reading and Learning Strategies: Middle Grades Through High School (Second Edition) by Susan Davis Lenski, Mary Ann Wham, and Jerry L. Johns. Also, on the topic of vocabulary it may be worth your while to search ‘word games’ and or ‘word power games’ online just for fun and or practice. I found some interesting sites such as youplay.com that has the game Word Power. Looking at youplay.com it might be possible to take a Sodoku or some other puzzle and retype it to add hints that incorporate vocabulary terms and and or concepts the class is learning. The Word document is ready for use in a classroom as a worksheet, just may have to change some of the terms and definitions.

Magic Squares

Description

Magic squares are math puzzles that are solved by matching a term with the proper definition. The solution of the puzzles is that in the end each row, horizontally and vertically and diagonally, adds up to the ‘magic number’. The squares aid in teaching students the proper definitions for terms. These puzzles can be used for practicing and or reviewing terms from a reading chapter. Magic squares combine English and mathematics lessons, and make learning fun.

Purposes

  • Help students learn definitions of words
  • Provide students an independent way of reviewing materialteaching education students reading geography
  • Helps students practice math skills
  • Helps students cognitively understand the literary material
  • Provides an opportunity for whole class to become involved

Directions

  1. Hand out worksheet to students. Explain that the solution to the puzzle is the magic number. The horizontal and vertical sides will add up to the magic number.
  2. Allow each student to work on the puzzle for five to ten minutes.
  3. Students will now compare answers with small groups of peers and reach a consensus.
  4. Instructor will post the answers of the puzzle.

 

Name: __________________________________ Date: _______________

 

Magic Square 1

Directions: Solve the magic square puzzle below by matching correct term with the correct definition and writing the number in the corresponding square. Each diagonal, vertical, and horizontal row adds up to the magic number for the magic square puzzle solution. Also, note it is possible to solve for the magic number, but still have terms and definitions matched incorrectly.

Definitions

  1. Clever or practical
  2. One who buys and sells things for profit
  3. Foolish or silly
  4. Someone who lends money
  5. Excited or joyful
  6. Light two-wheeled covered carriage
  7. Gold coin of Great Britain
  8. Partner or associate
  9. Association of persons or groups united by common interests

 
A B C
D E F
G H I

 

chalkboard, education, writing, reading
Content Terms

  1. Classified
  2. Tradesman
  3. League
  4. Pawnbroker
  5. Sovereign
  6. Elated
  7. Dolt
  8. Hansom
  9. Shrewd
  10. Accomplice

 

Magic Square 1 Solution

A. 9  B. 2  C. 7
D. 4  E. 6  F. 8
G. 5  H. 10  I. 3

Magic Number: 18

 

 

 

 

Word Document of Post: Magic Square Reading Teacher Strategy