Technology in Your Classroom : Hot Websites :
Hot Websites August/Septmber 2005
By Linda Lindroth
Get a good start on your year with these cool curriculum ideas for back-to-school
As the school buses begin to hit the roads in your city, these back-to-school sites will help pave the way for exciting learning in your classroom.
Back-to-School Resources for Busy Teachers
caslt.org
This is an extensive and well-organized education portal with dozens of back-to-school web resources. Categories include Bulletin Boards, Ice Breakers, First Day Activities, Clipart and Classroom Management. Every link is annotated and many are divided by grade level and topic/subject area.
The Other Useful Resources includes printables and useful websites that feature school calendar templates and safety tips. There is even a link to learn about back-to-school customs in different countries.
Web-Based Projects
http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/
This marvelous collection of webquests, put together by pre-service teachers at the University of Richmond, has something that's sure to fit your curriculum. My particular favorites are Betsy's Quilt for patterns and geometry and Quest for the Golden Ticket, based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (Puffin, 1998, reissue).
Webquest topics are divided into Elementary, Middle and Secondary and contain detailed directions for Student Pages and Teacher Pages. Each quest gives students a project task and detailed procedure with web resources for learning more about the topic. Once students complete the research, they create a product and then present their findings to an audience. Most of the quests have activity guides and/or handy record sheets for compiling information. Every project asks students to evaluate their findings as they prepare their product and presentations. Teacher Pages cover the standards, provide a detailed lesson plan and link to additional background resources.
All the projects follow the guidelines established by Bernie Dodge and Tom Marsh. For more quests, just click on one of their names from the home page to visit The WebQuest Page.
NCRTEC Lesson Planner
www.ncrtec.org/tl/lp/
Organization is easy with this concise lesson plan template. Just scroll through the form boxes and enter in your lesson information: Heading and Title, Goals, Curriculum Standards, Assessment, Learning Connections, Learning Activities, Teaching Strategies, Management, Materials and Resources and Evaluation. Key questions are given at each step as a guide to the lesson plan process.
Once the lesson is complete, a printer-friendly button formats your lesson for editing and allows you to save the completed plan right on your hard drive.
Brain Quest
www.brainquest.com/
The Brain Quest trivia game is now an online resource with a two-minute drill for your students.
The 2-Minute Brain Quest Challenge offers four games: Ages 6-9, Ages 9-13, Hispanic America and Presidents. Kids of all ages will enjoy playing this online challenge again and again in an attempt to post a high score on the Brain Quest scoreboard. Try this competition with parents at Open House this fall.
Don't miss the Brain Quest College Scholarship Sweepstakes (for ages two-years-old through seventh grade) for a chance to win a $150,000 college tuition scholarship. Entries need to be printed and mailed by September 30.
READINGPEN -- Tech Spotlight
The Readingpen Basic Edition from WizCom Technologies is a portable reading aid and translator designed specifically for young readers. Using the American Heritage Children's Dictionary and Children's Thesaurus (240,000 words), the pen scans a word or line, providing word support for the student who immediately hears the word, sees the word with syllable breaks and pronunciation marks and sees and hears the definition and word used in a sentence. The pen comes with earphones and a hard plastic carrying case for safe transport to and from school in a backpack.
The compact pen can be adjusted for left or right hand use. There's even a training guide that snaps onto the pen to assist students in learning the technique to scan. A history of the last 80 words scanned and test mode setting to turn off speech and definitions makes it perfect for review and assessment. For more information, visit www.wizcomtech.com or call 888-777-0552. Readingpen, $279; Readingpen Curriculum Book, $19.95.
Linda K. Lindroth is Technology Editor and Web Coordinator for Teaching K-8. She is also a Technology Resource Teacher in a K-5 computer lab in Lexington, KY.
