Address: http://www.mos.org/educator
Category: Teachers Resource, Student Resource, Teacher Lesson Plans
Audience: Mainly Teachers
Grade Level:Any
Subject Area: Science
Description:
This website offers lesson plan options, which can be used in correspondence to a trip to the Museum itself or separately. In addition, there are options for professional development or book clubs to keep educators plugged into changes in Science and Technology.
The student resources come into play, through the virtual museum tours. These tours provide links, movies, and unique descriptions about popular exhibits within the museum ie: planetary science, visualizing electricity, technology, construction, oceans, or Leonardo Da Vinci. In addition, there is an option for joining live discussions and presentations, streaming them into your classroom.
The Science Spot
Category: Teacher Resources, Student Interactive Learning, Teacher Lesson Plans
Audience: Mainly Directed Toward Teachers
Grade Level: Middle School Grades
Subject Area: Science & Technology
Description:
This is a resource and a stepping stone to other, more kid friendly websites relating to Science. This website has a collection of “science starters” relating to a variety of subjects. The starters are presented through power point, with ready made question and answer slides. In addition, there are power points and pdf files for entire lesson plans and lesson presentations, as well as efficiently explained units. This site not only lists lessons/units, but describes how they can be best used within a classroom. There is a collection of advice and tips from experienced teachers who have found useful management techniques. I love the way this site is organized, manageable and provides a stepping stone to other beneficial websites.
If you look in the Science Spot Kidzone, there are some resources for students to explore, although I found several of the links to be outdated.
IXL.com
Category: Teacher Resource
Audience: Teachers/Parents
Grade Level: All Grades and States (it doesn’t matter where, you teach in the United States, this site will meet your state standards)
Subject Area: Mathematics
Description:
Mainly for practice and assessment purposes, this site has limited access for nonmembers. Nonmembers may use this site, to quickly evaluate an individual student’s knowledge of a particular skill or to allow students to practice learned skills. Skills are organized according to state standards and grade levels, so that what you need will be easy to find. This site has multiple choice quizzes, that are timed and track a student’s success. It is worthy to note that the quizzes will automatically differentiate the questions according to a student’s previous response.
Members of this site may be parents or teachers. Membership allows the creation of reports, graphing individual student progress. In addition, it allows you to create a personalized interactive space for each child. Within this space, students are motivated by earning virtual prizes as they map their own progress and success.
Hartcourt E-Products
Category: Teacher Resources, Student Interactive Learning
Audience: Teachers & Students
Grade Level: Elementary/Middle School
Subject Area: All
Description:
This site allows teachers to locate interactive activities, allowing students to practice the skills they have learned in class. It is necessary for a teacher to navigate this site and find the resources that would be best for their student to use. Some examples include, measuring objects using a virtual ruler or simple, concise online readings about ecosystems. Be aware that while most of the resources are free, some are available only by purchase. In addition, several of the resources are meant to be a compliment to books published by Hartcourt. Once you find the activity you need this site provides uncomplicated way to add technology use into your lesson.
Kids.Gov
Category: Student Interactive Learning, Teacher Resource/Lesson Plans
Audience: Students and Teachers
Grade Level: Kindergarten through eighth grade
Subject Area: All
Description:
This site is advertised as “a safe place for kids to learn and play”. I would completely agree! While on this site, I experienced almost no interference from pop-up windows or advertisements. It is easy for children to search through, as everything is organized, not only with a label, but also a picture. Students can search using the provided search box, can browse through a specific subject, or seek out the type of activity they are looking for (homework help, videos, information, or games). I was impressed by some of the games, as they make sure to model the instructions and provide background knowledge to the student.
Teachers and parents have their own link on the site, where they will find additional resources, like lesson plans and worksheets.
Ed Heads
Category: Student Interactive Learning
Audience: Student
Grade Level: Middle School and Upper elementary
Subject Area: Science (Investigation, Human Body, Weather)
Description:
This site does not appear to be student centered right away. You will see a welcoming picture, but reading the tabs you will mostly see links to science news updates and teacher resources (another reason to visit the site yourself). However, at the top right of the page, there is a drop-down box for choosing an activity. All the activities are jam packed with information and very interactive. The surgeries are particularly interesting. The boys will love cutting open a knee and seeing the blood spurt out and everyone sits in awe when the skin is pulled back to show the patella. After completing the virtual surgeries, don’t forget to check out the real life photographs and x-rays!
Read Kiddo, Read!
Category: Parent and Teacher Resource
Audience: Parents and Teachers
Grade Level: All
Subject Area: Reading/Literature
Description:
This is a site endorsed by the author James Patterson. It is designed to point parents and teachers toward books that their children and students may enjoy. The books are organized by grade-level and genre. There are reviews for each book by both a parent and an educator. Many of these books are meant to reach the interests of your students. Choosing some of these books for your classroom library, may encourage students to read more for fun.
Gary Paulsen (Author Page)
Category: Student Resource/Teacher Resource
Audience: Students and their teachers
Grade Level: 5-6
Subject Area: Reading/Adventure Genre
Description:
Randomhouse.com features articles for many different authors, but I especially like the page for Gary Paulsen. On this page, Gary answer questions students have written to him. He also has posted several journal entries from his personal adventures, including a long term sea voyage and the iditarod. He offers survival tips, gives background about his books, and has links to pages that allow you to get a preview into his newest writings.
PBS: Design Squad Nation
Category: Student Interactive Learning
Audience: Students
Grade Level: Middle School and Upper Elementary
Subject Area: The Science of Investigation and Invention
Description:
Design squad is a PBS reality TV show, where kids are given design challenges and have to work as a team to create a final product. This site, allows students to watch episodes of the actual program, but also provides projects they can do at home, games, challenges, and the ability to comment about the results of their projects, as well as reading about what other kids their age have done. If students choose, they can register for free and play games with a goal of earning stickers for their page. Each sticker is worth a certain amount of points.
Smithsonian Natural History Museum (Virtual Tour)
Category: Student Resource
Audience:Student
Grade Level: Upper Elementary/Middle School
Subject Area: Science and History
Description:
There is so much useful information and interactive learning compacted into the website for the smithsonian museum for natural history. The link that is provided above, sends students into a virtual tour of the museum. In the tour, students can navigate using a map or simply walk from room to room with a click of their mouse. They can zoom in on models, read signs, and search every nook and cranny of the museum, almost as if they were actually there.
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