Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Weekly Core Subjects Resources

I have created several Google Docs that will be updated monthly with Core Subject Resources, but I still wanted to continue with my weekly updates as well.  Many of these resources will be added to the Google Docs later.

English
1.) Random Logline Generator will create a random sentence or topic that you can utilize in the classroom for students to write freely and creatively.  It will provide students with a good starting thought point.

2.) QuietWrite is a site that you could use in correlation with the resource above.  QuietWrite removes the editors so that you can focus on writing.  Create an account and it saves your writing, and it saves it automatically as you type.  This would be a great way to create a blog as well.  You can export to a WordPress blog and even edit the writings on an iPad.

3.) From Read Write Think comes an Acrostic Poem generator and and interactive.  The interactive goes through the steps of creating an acrostic poem.  They also have the same interactive available for a Diamante Poem.  If students are not working on a Poem, they have also created a Letter Generator interactive as well.

Mathematics
1.) Whiteboard Resources offers flash based games and interactives for math teachers.  You can find interactives separated by content and curriculum area.  Each interactive comes with a short description of who can use it and what it is.

2.) A Complete Source of Online Math Tools offers 100s of resources for math teachers separated by subject matter.  This would be a great starting point for math teachers looking to integrate web based resources into their math curriculum. 

3.) Virtual Math Museum is a website that takes several aspects of mathematical formula and used them to "create art." 

4.) The University of Mississippi has an online Math Contest where students and classes can answer a problem of the week and when they solve it correctly have their name and location added to a list.  Also available are Algebra, Middle School, and Elementary based math problems.  To learn more about the program, watch the video below.

Science
1.) Google Sky is like Google Maps for the Solar System.  You can examine the Constellations, Hubble Images, and several other aspects of our solar system.

2.) :60 Second Science is a video competition for students to submit science videos.  There are several other resources available on this website and you can also find the rules for the contest.

3.) Sumanas Multimedia Development Services offers animated tutorials in a variety of formats for the various scientific disciplines.  The Science in Focus section offers animations for science that is currently in the news.

4.) The Biology Project is an interactive online resource for learning biology developed at The University of Arizona. The Biology Project is fun, richly illustrated, and tested on 1000s of students. It has been designed for biology students at the college and high school level.

5.) DnaTube is a scientific site providing video based studies, lecturers and seminars. One of the best features of the DnaTube, is that it supports other types of scientific works through flash animations, powerpoints, in addition to videos.

Social Studies
1.) The United States National Archives has a valuable and useful YouTube Channel worth checking out and bookmarking to share videos with your students.  

2.) A growing area of study in the Social Studies classroom is the Middle East, and thankfully there is a site for Teaching the Middle East which provides links, resources, and activities for teaching this part of the world across the social studies curriculum. 

3.) A great video that explains the Civil War in 4 Minutes.  Great for an introduction or a review.

4.) Picturing America, from the National Endowment for the Humanities brings masterpieces of American ar into the classroom.  Students can gain a deeper appreciation of our country's history and character through the study and understanding of its art.

5.) DataMasher provides the data available from the United States and allows users to create mashups to visualize them in different ways and see how states compare on important issues. Users can combine different data sets in interesting ways and create their own custom rankings of the states.

6.) ARTSEDGE: Multimedia Library is a website that provides images, audio stories, music, video, and interactives from the Kennedy Center.  There are valuable resources for teaching about the arts as well as lessons for educators. 

7.) The Old Photo Album provides a walk down memory lane by providing vintage photography of war and everyday life.  You can search through the photos by category or by tag.  It is a blog that has been around since April of 2009.  Visitors can submit photos as well.  A great primary source website.

Foreign Language
Bab.la offers translations in many different languages, ranging from colloquial and regional expressions to more technical or field-specific vocabulary. Special features include search filters, synonyms, pronunciation, sample sentences and much more.

Art
The Google Art Project has received quite a few blog posts in the blogosphere but I thought I would share it here as well.  Through the Google Art Project you can explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels, and even create and share your own collection of masterpieces