Hot Websites May 2007
By Linda Lindroth

Use the resources from these websites to fill students' summer book bags with outdoor activities that explore the environment and book activities to promote summer reading. Perfect for the last weeks of school, too!

Just for Kids
www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/kids

This collection of rich environmental units is part of the University of Illinois Extension. Each website topic includes a teacher's guide with lessons, online activities with printable worksheets and informative videos with interchangeable audio in English and Spanish.

Website titles include Let's Talk About Insects, The Adventures of Herman (an earthworm), Dr. Arbor Talks Trees, The Great Plant Escape, My First Garden, Out on a Limb (a guide to getting along), The All-Star River Explorers and A Walk in the Woods. All of the topics can be easily matched to the curriculum, grades K-5.

Automated slides, supported by audio, provide background for all topics. Fun facts - like "there are 10 quintillion insects alive in the world at any time, or 40 million insects in an area the size of a football field" - are perfect for creating an Environmental Facts bulletin board for May. Students will love searching the different website topics for environmental facts they can add to the class display. You also will want to explore the "State Trees Gallery" in Dr. Arbor Talks Trees.

Use of the website is free and the environmental resources are quite extensive. The entire Schools Online set of topics can be purchased on a CD for $16.99.

TeachingBooks.net
www.teachingbooks.net

TeachingBooks.net is a web-based subscription service that provides access to the very best in children's literature with writers, illustrators and exciting book resources. The comprehensive database covers thousands of titles, and catalogs a plethora of good children's book web resources for K-12 teachers. An Author Name Pronunciation Guide lets students hear authors saying their names.

The key areas of the website are Author Programs, Book Guides, Book Readings, Author Websites and Educator Area. Another special area, just in time for summer reading, is the Thematic Booklists with both Elementary and Middle/High School booklists.

The Author Programs cover more than 2,200 authors with in-depth written interviews, bibliographies, related web links and original, interactive slideshows. Graeme Base, one of my favorites, has eight slideshow topics, each lasting about one minute.

Book guides are written by the author, publisher or teachers. Each of the guides (there are more than 12,000) feature discussion questions and activities that make class book studies easy.

With almost 1,800 Book Readings by authors and professional actors, students have the opportunity to experience the book "come to life." Use the audio excerpts as a book talk to build interest in titles on a summer reading list.

The Thematic Booklists and Valuable Links make this an awesome resource for creating summer reading lists.

Register online for a 14-day free trial. Annual subscription: $115/individual; $375/school ($315 if more than 50% of the students are eligible for free lunch).

Kid-Lit
www.kid-lit.com

What a perfect resource for teachers and parents! Search the book index for books to read by subject area, gender and age. Collect titles for a printable Personal List or use the Quick Lists to find book recommendations without browsing. Teachers can also create their own recommended lists by using the Quick List as a starting point and creating a Personal List for their students' needs.

The Search by Award feature is a unique feature of the Kid-Lit database. There are dozens of choices, from the Newbery Award (Gold or Newbery Award Honor) to the Coretta Scott King Award and ALA Notable Books.

Promote summer reading and use the synopsis for each book for a daily book talk in May. Just a few minutes will make it easy to interest students in new books for their personal summer book list.

Cinco de Mayo Activities
www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/cinco-de-mayo

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) with some of the resources from this compiled list of online games, word searches and activities. Younger children will love the coloring pages and literacy reading ideas for learning about Mexico.

The Mexico e-book will be a favorite for students grades K-5. Text is highlighted in time with the audio read-aloud, which is narrated by a student. Kids can use maps to discover Mexico and read about the climate, land forms, natural resources, language, symbols, government and other interesting facts.

Students can learn Spanish using the interactive word searches for beginning and challenging levels. The audio support helps ESL/ELL students with English, too. All the coloring pages and word searches can be printed out, and Literacy Tips provide teachers with ideas for use in the classroom. Spanish Games include dozens of categories with three to five different games in each: jig word, speed word, word web, and listen and spell. This is a resource that goes beyond the holiday to fit the multicultural curriculum.

Vision® Teach-Pad -- Tech Spotlight

The Vision® Teach-Pad is an exciting supplement to GenevaLogic's Vision® Classroom Management software that connects via USB to the teacher station. The one-touch key pad gives teachers immediate access to the most popular features of the Vision6 management tools. Push the Demo button to project the teacher station screen to every computer in the lab or classroom - perfect for demonstrating new software or walking students through a technology project. Click the Blank button to black out student screens and lock their keyboards to better insure student attention to instructions. A Surf-Lock button quickly and easily turns off Internet access. Vision6 must be installed to use the pad.

Visit www.genevalogic.com for more information and to see Vision6 products, or call 866-725-7833. $79.

Linda K. Lindroth is Teaching K-8's technology editor and website coordinator, and a technology resource teacher at Russell Cave Elementary School in Lexington, KY.

May 2007 Vol.37, No. 8