Online+Resources

Here are some of our favorite resources that can be used with the ELA class.
ReadWriteThink http://readwritethink.org/index.asp ReadWriteThink offers a wide array of standards-based lesson plans, web resources, and student materials that meaningfully integrate Internet content into the teaching and/or learning experience.

Trailfire http://trailfire.com/ Trailfire is a Web tool that allows users to save a series of Web pages about some topic. The pages can be annotated with notes or questions, and the trail link can be shared with other users or students for their perusal. This is an easy way for teachers and students to cull a cohesive set of resources about some topic much like you would do for a Webquest activity.

Thinkfinity http://www.thinkfinity.org/ Thinkfinity helps K-12 teachers and students link to amazing lesson plans and activities, tons of facts and entertaining games to enhance literacy, problem solving and critical thinking skills.

TEXT2MINDMAP http://www.text2mindmap.com This online program automatically converts a student's structured list of ideas, items or sentences into a mind map on the web. The student can then freeze the map and move the pieces around on the screen. The final product is printable, or it can be saved and shared with others.

iCUE http://www.icue.com/portal/site/iCue/welcomepage Students and learners of all levels can interact with content via games, challenges, interactive activities, and quizzes all while being connected to a community of friends and learners engaged in discussions around academics, current events and important issues.

Voice Thread http://voicethread.com VoiceThread is an online media album that can hold essentially any type of media (images, documents and videos) and allows people to make comments in 5 different ways - using voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video (with a webcam) - and share them with anyone they wish.

Photo Story http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx Bring digital photos to life with Photo Story 3 for Windows. Teachers can download Photo Story 3 for free. Teachers and students can make show-and-tell fun again as they create slideshows using your digital photos. With a single click, you can touch-up, crop, or rotate pictures.

Discovery United Streaming http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/ Discovery Education provides engaging digital resources to schools and homes with the goal of making educators more effective, increasing student achievement, and connecting classrooms and families to a world of learning.

Intel® Education Initiative http://www.intel.com/education/tools/index.htm Free tools and resources for educators that support collaborative student-centered learning. Online thinking tools are active learning places where students engage in robust discussions, pursue investigations, analyze complex information, and solve problems.

del.icio.us http://delicious.com/ Social bookmarking sites allow students to research issues/topics, and share information. Students can access the bookmarks from any computer, share sites with groups, organize sites by topic. Also includes RSS feeds so students can sign up to receive information on any topic of interest.

Plantation Letters http://plantationletters.com/ This website displays letters from people living the antebellum plantation life. This site shows social studies teachers how they can use web 2.0 tools to help students analyze primary source documents.

Google Maps http://maps.google.com/ Google Maps allow students to create and personalize maps. Basic functions include adding multiple placemarks, and descriptive text to a map. Images/photographs can be added to any map, but the photos must be online (Flickr). Students may place hyperlinks in the descriptive text boxes to link the map to additional information/web sites if so desired.

Audacity www.audacity.com An open source, free, cross-platform sound editing system that records music, voices, or any other necessary sound for presentation. Students can use Audacity to incorporate sound into podcasting, powerpoint, or moviemaker. Audacity is great for beginning podcasters.

Slideshare www.slideshare.net This site allows students to upload a PowerPoint presentation, with an audio file included if the student has included an MP3/podcast. Students can upload and share their presentations with small groups or with the class.

FreeRice.com www.freerice.com FreeRice is a vocabulary-focused site with a philanthropic side. Students and visitors go through multiple-choice vocabulary questions which get increasingly harder as they answer correctly. As the students answer correctly, rice is provided for Third World Nations through the United Nations World Food program.

Great Book Stories http://greatbookstories.pbwiki.com/ This is a collaborative wiki space for K-20 students and educators wanting to listen and see a great digital story about a book, and to create and safely share stories about great books with a global audience and receive feedback.

Blogs in Plain English www.commoncraft.com Commoncraft videos show how and why people use social media. These videos are good introductions for students and teachers learning to use wikis, blogs, bookmarking, etc.

Language Arts Webquests http://www.middleschool.net/less_tut/webquests/lawq.htm These problem-based/inquiry learning experiences are good resources for integrating technology into curriculum.

CyberGuides: Grades 9-12 http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cy912.html CyberGuides are supplementary, standards-based, web-delivered units of instruction centered on core works of literature. Each CyberGuide contains a student and teacher edition, standards, a task and a process by which it may be completed, teacher-selected web sites and a rubric, based on California Language Arts Content Standards

GlobalSchoolNet.org http://www.globalschoolnet.org/ Global SchoolNet's mission is to support 21st century learning. Use Classroom Conferencing, Online Expeditions, and other global connections to create authentic opportunities for students to interact worldwide. Use this database of projects to find and connect with other classroom teachers around the world; find interesting and productive global collaborative learning projects for your own classroom; and/or build, advertise, and conduct your own original collaborative project. Sponsored by the Global SchoolNet Foundation.

ThinkQuest Website Competition http://www.thinkquest.org/ ThinkQuest inspires students to think, connect, create, and share. Students work in teams to build innovative and educational websites to share with the world. Along the way, they learn research, writing, teamwork, and technology skills and compete for exciting prizes. Sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation, the competition offers a unique project-based learning experience to students and teachers across the globe. Everybody wins by having their completed websites published in the ThinkQuest Library, a rich online resource visited by millions monthly.

iEARN Collaboration Center http://media.iearn.org/projects The iEARN Collaboration Centre enables young people to learn with rather than simply about the world. iEARN projects are designed and facilitated by educators and students worldwide, and result in a range of collaborative final "products," including websites, magazines, and reports to government officials.