Professional Development

Using the Web in the Elementary Classroom

Search Tools

For Students

For the Teacher

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General Resources

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Language Arts

Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature - http://www.dawcl.com/
Create a list of award-winning books to meet your specifications. 

The Doucette Index to K-12 Teaching Ideas for Literature
http://www.educ.ucalgary.ca/litindex/ 
Searchable index to books and websites with teaching suggestions and ideas. Activity: Do a search for resources for  a book you are currently using in your curriculum.

Book a Minute
www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute
For when even the condensed version is too long!

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Social Studies

American Memory Collection from the National Digital Library
rs6.loc.gov:80
Wide collection of online exhibits on American history including images, sound recordings, movies, maps, and documents from the Library of Congress.

Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government
http://bensguide.gpo.gov
Learn about the three branches of government at this site. There are sections for primary, elementary, middle, and high school teachers.

NH Community Profiles
www.nhes.state.nh.us/elmi/communpro.htm
This site has information on all 234 of New Hampshire's communities.

CIA World Fact Book
www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Up-to-date information about countries around the world.

Library of Congress Country Studies
lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
This online series presently contains studies of 100 countries. Each study is written by a multidisciplinary team of social scientists.

Smithsonian Institution
www.si.edu/
Links to all of the museums of the Smithsonian, including the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture.

US Census Bureau
www.census.gov/
Maps, census data and lots more.

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The Arts

Fun With Music
www.sfskids.org/
Get an inside look at the orchestra at this fun site from the San Francisco Symphony. You can learn about the instruments in an orchestra. In the Music Lab you can learn about tempo, rhythm, pitch, and harmony. Once you've mastered the basics, try your hand at the Composerizer and compose your own music or try the Performalator and play your own music! For your listening pleasure, tune in to the radio and listen to some great classical music.

The Artist's Toolkit
Learn about visual elements and principles like line, color and shape that artists use as tools to build works of art. You can watch an animated demonstration, see if you can spot the elements in works of art, and then try your hand at creating your own online compositions.

ArtsEdNet
www.getty.edu/artsednet/home.html
Lesson plans, teaching ideas and tips from the Getty Institute for the Arts

ArtsEdge
artsedge.kennedy-center.org/artsedge.html
Cross-curriculum resources and activities from the Kennedy Center for the Arts.

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Health/PE

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Math

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Online Learning Activities

FunBrain
www.funbrain.com
Online educational games and activities for students. There is a teacher section where you can create online activities for your students.

BrainPop
www.brainpop.com
This site has educational movies on a variety of topics.

BrainPop Jr.
www.brainpopjr.com
Interactive learning site for younger students.

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Science

Publishers

Scholastic Teacher Center
http://teacher.scholastic.com/

Houghton Mifflin Education Place
http://www.eduplace.com/

Harcourt Brace
http://www.hbschool.com/index.html

McGraw Hill School
http://www.mhschool.com

Scott Forseman
http://www.scottforesman.com/

Silver Burdett Ginn
http://www.sbgmath.com/

Keypals: Communicating Via Email with Other Classes!

Using email to communicate with another class is a great way for your students practice reading and writing skills in an authentic situation. There are many ways to set up an email exchange. There are also some basic safety guidelines that you should follow.

Safety and Privacy Guidelines

•  Never use a student's home email address for correspondence. All classroom email exchanges should either use the teacher's email address or a special email address should be set up for the exchange. You should monitor all messages coming to the class and leaving the class.

•  Use a service that specializes in classroom email exchanges or work with a teacher that you know.

•  Students should never give out personal information like their own email address, phone number, or address in any classroom email exchange. Students should never use their last name.

Tips for a Successful Keypal Exchange

•  Develop a focus and a timeline for the exchange. A joint project or activity will give the students in both classrooms a reason for composing an email and you will get a better quality of work than if the exchange was simply left open.

•  Establish a reasonable schedule for email exchanges and stick to it! Remember to plan for breaks like vacations and testing.

•  Have your students practice their email skills! This is a great opportunity to talk about netiquette and Internet safety.

•  Set aside classroom time for students to read and respond to email.

•  Consider letting students work in groups. That way if a student is absent or drops out there will still be a response to the other class.

•  Have students respond to emails using a word processor and then paste their responses into an email. You might consider pasting all the students' responses in a single email so the other teacher only has to open and print one document for his or her class!

•  Focus on one aspect of writing with each response. For example, you might have the students work on descriptive language in one post or punctuation in another.

Keypal Project Ideas

Read and respond to a book together. This will call for extensive collaboration between you and the other teacher, but it is a great way to motivate students to read and write.

Exchange creative writing. You might have students exchange poetry or stories, or you could have one group start a poem or story and have the other group add to it and exchange the work back and forth until it's finished.

Write a collaborative report. Students can work together on a research paper. They can work out a division of responsibilities and then work together to write a final paper. They can edit each other's work and collaborate on the final paper.

Conduct an experiment together. Students at each site can gather data, test theories and report findings. For example: Have a plant-growing contest! Plant seeds on the same day and record plant growth.

Write in Character. Have each group write as a famous character from literature or history and see if the other students can identify them.

Create a travel brochure. Have each group create a travel brochure for their city.

Some other ideas:
Exchange book, music, Website, or movie reviews.

Write a description of an imaginary creature and have the other group draw a picture of it.

Exchange local or regional myths, stories, slang, or fads.

Compare prices for common items.

Web-based Email Resources

Gaggle Net
If you decide to have your students communicate directly with other students, you might consider Gaggle. This is a free and fee email service for students. A special teacher account lets you view the contents of your students' e-mail. You can review any message sent or received by students. You can suspend a student's account and change passwords and screen name.  Note: There are advertisements with the free system, but they are kid friendly.

Epals
This site lets you connect with students and teachers from around the world in a safe, controlled online environment. You can create a free classroom account with up to 35 student accounts. All email is restricted to other schools and students using the service. You can search for teachers looking to do an email exchange and you can post a profile of your class and the type of exchange you would like to participate in. You will also find more involved classroom projects at the site, a teacher discussion board, and guide to using the service in the classroom with teaching tips and ideas.

Scholastic Classport
Scholastic's Global Classport lets you communicate with classrooms in 182 countries, and collaborate with teachers around the world. It is powered by ePALS and provides the same types of teacher controls and filters.

Ask an Expert

The Internet gives your students access to writers, scientists, historians, and other experts in all manner of fields. It also gives you access to people with experiences different from those of your students. For example you might have your students communicate with someone you know who lives in another country or someone in the community who can share their experiences with the class. You can also conduct interviews via email. You might interview an author, politician, artist, or other individual using email. You can also find experts on the Internet. There are many sites that have an Ask the Expert feature. There are also sites the catalogue other sites with Ask an Expert features.

Tips for Using Ask an Expert Resources

•  As with Keypal exchanges, never use a student's home email address for correspondence and students should not give out any personal information.

•  If you use an Ask the Expert feature of a Website, be sure to read the instructions for asking a question! Many sites have strict policies and guidelines. Also check to see if the site has an archive of previously asked questions.

•  Evaluate you curriculum to determine where an expert source would be an added benefit. Look for areas of the curriculum that leave more questions than answers. For example, if you are studying ecosystems.

•  Make sure your expert is an expert! If you can, find experts from expert sources! For example, if you are looking for an expert in space, someone from NASA would be perfect! If you are not sure about the qualifications of the expert, do a Google search on them and see if they have the credentials to answer your students' questions! And finally, don't forget about local sources for experts.

•  Don't waste an expert source's time with questions that could be answered from other sources! The purpose of asking a question of an expert is that they have a unique perspective or experience that can't be found elsewhere. Work you're your students to identify questions for the expert and have your students carefully evaluate their questions before sending them off!

•  Contact the expert before your students do. This is a great way for you to tell the expert a little more about your students, find out what types of questions they feel comfortable answering, and finding out how long it will take for the expert to respond to your students.

•  Make sure that your students take the time to thank the expert for their time and input. If what they learned from the expert results in any kind of written work, you might want to send a copy to the expert. Don't' limit your thank you notes to email, A written thank you from the students is always appreciated!

Web-based Expert Sources

Ask an Exper
This site from Pitsco is designed for use for schools and students. It indexes Websites with kid-friendly Ask and Expert feature. You can search the site by keyword, or you can browse the site by topic.

AskA+ Locator
This site from the Virtual Reference Desk, indexes Websites with an Ask and Expert feature. You can locate sites by topic area.

Access Excellence: Let's Collaborate
This site for educators has communities of teachers and scientists talking about the latest development in the biological sciences and sharing ideas for working with students.

Internet Public Library
Have an unanswered question? Fill out an online form and submit your question and the folks at the Internet Public Library at the University of Michigan will try to help!

Ask Dr. Universe
This site from Washington State University is designed for elementary school students and answers a wide-variety of science questions.

Ask Shamu
Do you have a question about an animal? You can email or phone the folks at SeaWorld/Busch Gardens for an answer, or you can look through their question archives.

Ask Joan of Art
Do you have a question about American Art. Joan of Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum may have an answer for you!

Blogging in the Classroom

Reasons for Using Blogs in the Classroom

•  Most students are familiar with blogging and are comfortable with the concept.

•  Blogging is a non-threatening way for reluctant readers and writers to practice and refine their skills.

•  Students who post their writing on the Web are likely to be more careful with their facts and their writing.

•  Blogs are immediate. Students can see their work online in seconds.

•  Blogs can build community.

•  Blogs encourage reflective thought.

•  Blogs can be multidisciplinary.

Tips for Using Blogs in the Classroom

•  Find a blogging service that will give you the resources and flexibility you need.

•  Develop a focus for student blogs. Whether the blogs are daily reflections, reading reflections, classroom experiences, a blog about a student's hobby, or a blog from a character for literature or history, each student should have a definite focus for their blog.

•  Make sure students understand the importance of not sharing personal information like last names, home email addresses, or street addresses.

•  Get parental permission before starting a blogging project! Make sure they understand what the blogs will be used for and what protections are in place.

•  Make sure students understand netiquette! They need to understand how the written word can be misinterpreted. They need to know how to respond to the feedback they get in a constructive way and how to give constructive feedback to other bloggers.

•  Set goals and expectations for blogging. Your goals should reflect the focus you set for the blogs.

•  Establish rules of conduct for blogging.

•  If you are uncomfortable with individual student blogs, consider a class blog!

Things To Do With a Classroom Blog

• Create an online book club.
  
• Have students comment on news and current events.
  
• Have students respond to what they are currently learning in the classroom.
  
• Have students write using vocabulary and spelling words.
  
• Have students respond to quotes, poetry, art.
  
• Have students post data from classroom experiments.
  
• Have students write book, movie, music, Website or TV reviews.
  
• Communicate with another class.
  
• Have students write blog entries as a character from a book or as a person from history.

Blog Sources

Blogs About Blogging in the Classroom

Educational Blogs

K-6 Blog Examples

Revolutionary War Project

J.H. House Elementary

NewsQuest

Awesome Readers and Writers

Collecting Daily/Weekly Data and Facts

Tips for Daily/Weekly Data Collection Projects

•  Select topics that have enough data to allow every student the opportunity to collect information.

•  Be sure to carefully evaluate data sources to insure that the information provided is accurate and up to date.

•  Look for projects that enhance work you are already doing in the classroom. For example: collect weather data if you are doing a unit on weather, collect batting averages if you are working on percentages, collect.

•  Create a reporting system for collecting the data. For example charts, graphs, oral reports, written reports.

•  Have the students analyze the data that has been collected. Is there a trend in the data? Can they make predictions based on the data? Can they draw any conclusions from the data?

Data Collection Sources and Projects

Collect facts about animals and create animal reports.

Enature

NatureWorks

Animal Diversity Web

Collect weather data locally, across the country or from around the world!

Weather Channel

Weather Underground

BBC Weather

Collect facts about countries or states.

Stately Knowledge

CIA World Factbook

View activities on live cam sites and report on activity.

Discovery Cams

National Zoo Animal Cams

Africam

Cranecam

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