| |
Item (linked) |
Rationale |
Listservs or
Forums
|
http://www.netsurf.com/nse/ |
Broad, many links to lesson plan sites, useful information
for educators of all levels and subjects. Part of Netsurfer Digest,
which bills itself as the oldest e-zine on the web, this list serv is delivered
monthly. Excellent back issue archive available. |
| NNT@silver.lyris.net |
Sent out 24 times a year, this list serv contains very
helpful hints for managing information technology, an important foundation
for all educators. Good for a novice like me... |
| http://www.thenakedpc.com/ |
Links to software and available programs for download /
purchase. Very comprehensive articles which review resources and available
products. Delivered bi-monthly. |
Telecollaborative
Projects
|
http://www.iearn.org/projects/lawsoflife.html |
Could be used as a data base tool as well. Students search
through archives of other student writings organized around values. This
is an important thing for my students to learn, to me. It is a wonderful
springboard for class discussions, journals, or longer papers. |
| http://www.iearn.org.au/kindred/ |
Useful for teaching biography and autobiography, which
are subsets of a larger nonfiction unit. Students could find examples of
other student work. This will, in turn, help them to organize and produce
their own writing, which they can then submit. |
| http://www.flameghana.org/ictprojects/folktalevalue/folktales.html |
Good for writing topics and for promoting multiculturalism
awareness and projects. |
|
Search Tools
|
http://www.excite.com/education/ |
Very lengthy list of categories including poetry, classics,
drama, library reference etc. Useful for high school ELA research or teacher
directed scavenger hunts. |
| http://thinkers.net/ |
Huge search engine where high school students can research
assigned keywords or topics. Very broad and deep. Students can click on
subject headings and even sign up to receive e-mail on search topics and
/ or results. |
| http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/lists.html |
Great for comparative lit studies and author information
for research projects / presentations. Secondary level students can access
and preview works of literature online, conserving resources. Students
can browse by subject, author, title, serial archives, or new listings.
Very comprehensive. |
Lesson Plan
Sources
|
Outta
Ray's Head |
Wonderful site for ELA teachers of all grade levels but
particularly useful for high school. Very broad and comprehensive. Many
activities and task classifications with "tried and true" lessons that
include commentary from the submitting educator. Very creative and engaging
for referring students to bookmarked page OR downloadable resources can
be used here. |
| Vocabulary.com |
"Fun" format with links to puzzles, games, and AOL interactive
sites. Provides vocabulary related lesson plans for literature from Shakespeare
to The Joy Luck Club. Useful for all ability levels and with all
ELA genres. |
Data Sets or
Online Tools
|
http://www.Edmunds.com/ |
This is one of the best sites around for researching new
and used cars. My students LOVE cars!! Besides using this data base to
teach Internet skills, students could select a high interest topic (i.e.
the car of their dreams, a comparison / contrast between two or more cars,
etc.) and use it to practice writing via different assignments. I would
recommend this site to the technology teachers in my school, cautioning
them to not merely "turn students loose" on either the Internet in general
or a specific data base. Tasks must be teacher defined and supervised.
But, as a springboard for promoting practice with Internet data bases and
keeping students interested in assignments, this is a great site! |
| http://www.classic-tv.com/themesongs/ |
"Fun" = learning in my book. Kids love music. I think an
excellent project / task that would be very useful in teaching the hardest
part of writing -- the introduction -- would be for kids to search for
tv theme songs. Then, they can decide how the music makes them feel and
how it does or does not set the tone for the show. Then, we can apply what
we learn to the craft of writing. Other English teachers as well as music
teachers could benefit from this site, enhancing cross-curricular connections.
One warning: monitor time spent browsing by students. They might get lost
in the music and not focus on their task. A checklist / rubric would help. |
