Well, I certainly enjoyed checking out these interactive web sites! I tested several objects--cork, metal key, rubber ducky--to see which ones would conduct electricity and, thus, turn on a light bulb. I watched an animation of how the continents were formed, saw the muscles involved in blinking the eye, and viewed the changes in a forest as time passed. I played with chords and a pop-up piano. And I played a variety of games which were fun and which focused on academic content. And that was just with three of the eleven sites in this week’s post. I’ve listed several sites with notes on their content. Enjoy!
Learning by Seeing: Fun Visualization Tools That Educate by Jim Moulton
http://www.edutopia.org/online-visualization-tools
Formerly a classroom teacher and currently a consultant and blogger, Jim Moulton recently shared some web sites which provide a variety of tools for learning.
http://www.learningscience.org
- categories of “learning tools” are short and long web interactive lessons, short and long web visual lessons, web sites, science data, science imaging, short and long science as inquiry, science hardware, and science software
- “tools to do science” allow you to create a graph, use a time, print a ruler, print graph paper, …
- the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) are used as the framework
- free, organized by ages
- excellent virtual projects
http://www.musictheory.net
- lessons, trainers, and utilities
- lessons… 37 lessons in 7 groupings, including scales, intervals, and chords
- trainers… 10 trainers in 3 groupings, including key, guitar, and chord
- utilities… chord calculator, staff paper generator, and matrix generator
- has a pop-up piano
- some sections are tutorial, others are exploratory
http://www.playingwithtime.org
- shows how the world changes over a given period, sometimes faster, sometimes more slowly than normal
- activities and projects that illustrate time, including instructions for creating time-lapse sequences
- movie clips illustrate how a variety of things change over time… some actual footage, some animation… some instructive, some fun, all interesting
- links to organizations, essays on time, time-lapse photography, and museums
ClassroomNews, October 2007, lists new resources on the Internet…
Google Earth looks at the stars
http://earth.google.com
- vs. 4.2 allows users to view the sky
- provides information about stars, planets
- includes imagery from Hubble Space Telescope
- virtual tours through galaxies
Computer science lessons and materials
http://csta.villanova.edu
- materials for teaching computer science in K-12
- lesson plans, learning modules, code segments, presentations
- must be a Computer Science Teachers Association member to download its resources
- materials have been reviewed by educators
Reading web site for young children
http://www.rif.org/leadingtoreading/en
- designed to help develop reading skills of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers
- interactive stories, games, music
- babies and toddlers, preschoolers, and grown-ups
- children’s stories, nursery rhymes, coloring and doodling pages
- Grown-Ups… articles, advice, videos
Blog from Sally Ride Science for teachers
http://www.sallyridescience.com/blog
- introduces new topics for discussion, using experts
- one thread was “Should Pluto Be a Planet?” and entries debated the merits of reclassifying Pluto as a “dwarf planet”
- another thread followed educator-astronaut Barbara Morgan
- current thread is careers in science
Other good sites for children include…
http://www.PBSkids.org
- kid-friendly, many resources that can appeal to kids, music, games, coloring
- interactive games that reinforce academic concepts
- ideas for parents, resources for teachers
- math games are great and focus on concepts like finding patterns and measurements
- games incorporate characters from shows
http://www.TimeforKids.com
- online component of Time For Kids magazine
- organized by grades
- news that’s interesting to children
- great resource for non-fiction material
- helps them stay abreast of current events
- has good content-area vocabulary
- games, homework helper
- worksheets, lesson plans, and graphic organizers
http://www.4Kids.org
- games that reinforce academic skills in different content areas
- interactive games in formats that are familiar to kids
- links to educational and fun web sites
Earlier this month (10.8.2007) I listed some interactive web sites I had found in recent research. Here’s the remainder of that list, covering grades kindergarten through 12 and many of the subjects taught in those grades.
http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/content/interactivesites.html
Resource Materials and Technology Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Interactive web sites for language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and general
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/month2month.htm
Kindergarten Literacy and Math
Online interactive web sites for mathematics and literacy, includes additional links for activities for grades 1 through 8
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=interactive&Submit=Search&sp-a=000a20eb-sp00000000
internet4classrooms search results for “interactive”
includes interactive sites for grades 1 through 8
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/smart_board.htm
SmartBoard Resources
Interactive web sites and lessons for using SmartBoards
http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/creekvalley/staffdev/Internet%20Sites/studentsites.htm
Internet Math Web Sites for Students and Teachers
Links to many good sites for mathematics
http://www.theteachersguide.com/interactivesites.html
The Teacher’s Guide
Wide variety of sites, rated
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx
Primary Interactive Whiteboard Resources
Mathematics, literacy, science, other subjects for primary grades
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/science.html
Free Elementary Science Activities
Interactive science web sites for elementary grades
http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/curtech/interactive/interactive.htm
The Interactive Classroom
Pre-K through 12, ready, spelling, mathematics, language arts, art, foreign languages, music, science, social studies, multimedia
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/humanbo.html
Human Body
http://www.lhs.logan.k12.ut.us/~jsmart/statinter.html
Interactive Web Sites for AP Statistics
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/
Interactivate: interactive Java-based courseware for science and mathematics
http://archives.math.utk.edu/cgi-bin/interactive.html
Topics in Mathematics
Interactive web sites, mathematics
http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/professional_development/Interactive/Interact.html
Transforming Teaching Through Technology
Fine arts, health, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, financial literacy for elementary
http://www.globalclassroom.org/2005/inservice/reading.html
Interactive Websites - Reading and Language Arts
http://explore.ecb.org/education/surf_report?subject=0
Economics and Financial Literacy
As I've looked for good, interactive web sites that can be used on Smart Boards and other interactive white boards, I've found that these web sites are more likely to be accessible in groups rather than singly. So, most--although not all--of the web sites listed in today's blog entry are locations where you can browse and choose the web sites most useful to you. I think you'll find some very helpful sites in this list!
TeachersFirst (http://www.teachersfirst.com) shares an interactive web site that can be used to help study Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, The Raven. Literary devices highlighted are alliteration, assonance, internal rhyme, and vocabulary words. I think this is a very interesting approach for studying this poem, but I do have to admit that Poe is my second-most favorite poet!
http://www.teachersfirst.com/share/raven/index.html
While still at TeachersFirst, check out the featured sites for the week of September 30, 2007. You’ll find several interactive web sites that look very useful…
- BBC-GCSE Bitesize English, recommended for teaching writing in grades 8 through 12
- and other web sites: reading, upcoming elections, oceans, music
http://www.teachersfirst.com/feature.cfm
Teacher Magazine (http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/) features the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives which has more than 100 free digital games, tutorials, and virtual manipulatives. PreK through grade 12 students can practice a variety of mathematics concepts aligned with the standards. Activities range from playing with virtual blocks to programming a “turtle” to navigate a maze.
http://www.nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
Readers of Edutopia in a survey taken in 2006 (http://www.edutopia.org/best-site-download-free-lessons-and-materials) considered Marco Polo as the best site for downloading free lessons and materials. Marco Polo is now known as Thinkfinity: Literacy, Education and Technology
(http://www.marcopolo-education.org/). I think the easiest way to search for interactive sites at Thinkfinity is to use the Search Thinkfinity search engine (http://www.thinkfinitysearch.org/MPSearch/Basic_Search.asp) with interactive as the keyword. This search engine finds the interactive web sites and indicates which professional organization (e.g., NCTE or NCTM) is responsible for them. You’ll find some very good sites here.
To learn about the Constitution, try http://edsitement.neh.gov/ConstitutionDay/ where you can interact with information gathered from documents, background essays, and a bibliography. You'll be able to read George Washington’s annotated draft of the Constitution, visualize the Founders by using an interactive painting, and participate in other interesting activities.
The NetSmartz interactive web site teaches students about Internet safety. Many resources, including videos are available… and the site is up-to-date.
http://www.netsmartz.org/
Interactive Websites for Grades PreK-12 in reading, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and assessment are available.
http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/interactive.htm
teacher tap has interactive web sites, games, and activities for a variety of areas.
http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic86.htm
Interactive Websites for the Primary Grades as compiled by Sue LeBeau for mathematics, literacy, science, and miscellaneous topics are available.
http://www.suelebeau.com/priminteractive.htm
Elementary Mathematics Sites can be found at http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/ekowalcz/math/elementary_web_sites.htm.
Ten Cool Sites provides some interesting sites at the Exploratorium when you do a search for interactive.
http://apps.exploratorium.edu/10cool/index.php?searchtext=interactive&cmd=search&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
Three sources on the web are highlighting some very good web sites for the classroom. Check out these resources for all grades--both elementary and secondary--and for teachers as well.
TEACHERSFIRST web site (http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm)…
http://www.zerofootprintkids.com/kids_home.aspx
Zero Footprint: Kids Calculator - Grades 3 - 8
What impact does your lifestyle—and that of your students--have on our environment? This interactive online calculator can help your students look at their use of natural resources, land, water, and trees after they answer questions about transportation, what they eat, what they throw away, what they use, and home and school. They can then compare their “carbon footprint” to the averages in other nations.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1986/4/86.04.07.x.html
Painless Writing - Grades 3 - 9
This site has both old and new ways for teachers to get students writing painlessly. The procedures, lessons, prompts, and interesting combinations of approaches may be just what you’ve been trying to find.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/2005/hurricane_katrina/default.stm
Hurricanes - Grades 1 - 8
Use an interactive whiteboard with this site’s animated guide to hurricanes to understand this type of weather. There are also quizzes, pictures of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction, reference information, and other helps.
http://www.history.org/media/interactive.cfm
Colonial Williamsburg Interactive - Grades 3 - 12
Your students will enjoy playing games and learning about Williamsburg at this interactive site. You can show coinage and Gilbert’s paintings. Looking at Queen Elizabeth’s visits to Williamsburg in 1957 and again in 2007 opens the door for examining the differences in our world over 50 years. You can even explore the Constitution interactively.
KDP ROUNDUP (http://www.kdp.org/)…
http://www.lessonplanz.com
Lesson Plans for Preservice and Beginning Teachers
Here’s a site which has thousands of free online lesson plans. You can search by grade or subject or both.
http://www.keepschoolssafe.org
Keeping Students Safe
Information about school safety from the playground to gangs is available at this site.
ANNENBERG MEDIA (http://www.learner.org/index.html)…
http://learner.org/redirect/march/view14.html
Annenberg Viewing Options
See an overview of Annenberg’s viewing options, including their free Video on Demand.
http://learner.org/redirect/march/aecl6.html
The Arts in Every Classroom: A Video Library, K-5
Integrate art, mathematics, and science.
http://learner.org/redirect/march/sim7.html
Surprises in Mind
This documentary looks at mathematical creativity and the brain. Art, architecture, music, and a 12-year research study all play a role in looking at instruction designed to help children use their natural mathematical inclinations.
http://learner.org/redirect/march/geom8.html
Learning Math: Geometry
View polygons, dissections, symmetry, and more.
http://learner.org/redirect/march/math12.html
Mathematics: What's the Big Idea?
Examine the use of geometry in art and architecture. Visit classrooms where students are engaging in hands-on activities.
If you and your students use the chemistry periodic table, I think you may find this interactive periodic table (http://www.touchspin.com/chem/asppages/index.asp) quite useful. Don't, however, just mouse over the table. Be sure to read the FAQ to learn about all the information available.
