www.ixl.com

• www.ixl.com

Although it may not seem like an ideal educational site due to there being a cost for membership on the site, I believe that if the funds were available they would be well spent. It is a useful and effective tool for teaching math to students from kindergarten all the way up to algebra. It uses different forms of examples, practice and evaluation. With its support of a number of different skills and topics, it is a tool that will be helpful and work for students and teachers alike.

www.mathcats.com

• www.mathcats.com

This is a fun and playful website with interactive games, crafts and an art gallery as well. This could help to engage even the most hesitant young math student and it is free to use. This site provides practice in a variety of math skills. It is recommended for student use by Sylvan Learning Center.(www.tutoring.sylvanlearning.com)

www.aaamath.com

• www.aaamath.com

This site also offers many tools for use by students of various ages in practicing their math skills. With fun and challenging games, the whole family or the whole class could participate in the mastery of math skills. The site is easy to navigate as it is step by step. It take you to the skill set that you wish to work on and then takes you to the specific type of problem that you wish to be given an example of and then practice. It is a free site and also recommended by Sylvan Learning Center for the practice of math in and outside of the classroom on the web.(www.tutoring.sylvanlearning.com)

www.aaaspell.com

• www.aaaspell.com

This website is an extension of aaamath.com and as that is a useful tool for math, this website is a useful tool for learning both spelling and vocabulary. Membership is free and even allows users to upload their own spelling and vocabulary lists in order to use within the activities on the site. Also, for the younger learners there is the option to practice the alphabet so that they may grasp that which is an essential element of spelling, vocabulary, speech, reading, writing and learning in general.

www.spellingcity.com

• www.spellingcity.com

This site allows students to upload their spelling lists and save them in order to do activities pertaining to their spelling lists in order to practice and learn them. They can play a game, use virtual flash cards, have a lesson taught to them over the spelling, take a spelling test or even take a vocabulary test. These are the free services on the site which are a fantastic resource for students with spelling words to master. For a fee, there are further services offered but I believe the free services to be enough of a useful tool for utilizing.

www.bookadventure.com

• www.bookadventure.com

On this site, students are quizzed in trivia form over stories and books that they have read. They receive points for their good work and learning and can work toward prizes. Prizes while improving their reading comprehension! Parents and teachers can easily remain involved in the students’ progress with this site as well. Students and teachers can even go a step further and create their own reading challenge for their class or even their school with this site’s help. This is a wonderful tool for sparking an interest in reading and furthering reading comprehension.

www.pbskids.org

• www.pbskids.org

This website is great for the young learner. It allows them to play various reading games and other games as well as presenting characters that they know and love from PBS, such as Curious George and Clifford the Big Red Dog. There are also links for parents and teachers. This allows parents and teachers to track the progress of the children using the activities on the site. It goes in levels and due to that and the use of the characters, it even caught the attention of my toddler so this is a site that could captivate a young audience. The colors and sounds only add to its appeal. And with the ease of use, utilization and interaction for students, parents and teachers alike it is a great tool.

http://funschool.kaboose.com

• http://funschool.kaboose.com

This site is a great tool that is more geared toward younger students. It would be very useful in a science classroom and it is so fun that younger students are sure to be interested. There are interactive games along with videos showing neat crafts being worked on. Also, there is an option for teacher and parents to go into a link for ways that they can enhance learning. There is also a search tool to help find further projects.

www.kidsites.com

• www.kidsites.com

This website is great because it is a door to other websites on topics that will interest a variety of students in different areas of study. I looked into where it takes you pertaining to scientific study. One of the sites that it leads to has physics information and how it relates to the construction of amusement parks. There are also links to sites dealing with basic scientific properties as well as anatomy and popular science. It is a way to lead all students to information that can teach them in ways that touch on their interests and lives. This is fun and can be used in various classes and activities as it is so versatile. Also, there are parent and teacher links for further use and versatility.

www.kidsites.com(cont)

• www.kidsites.com(continued)

As I mentioned before, this is a great source for many subjects though I began focusing on science. It is also of great use for the history teacher. It links you to information on various periods and subjects. The subjects that you can research here range from colonization to Egypt and even down on the line of history to the Underground Railroad. It is easy to navigate and gives a clear description of what each link has to offer.

http://undsci.berkeley.edu

• http://undsci.berkeley.edu

This is a great educational website developed by educators at Berkeley which I believe to be a reliable source. This not only explains the basics of understanding science and scientific thought but it also offers a resource library chalk full of information and activities for teachers to use with students and that students can also use on their own. There are also interactive videos of scientific processes and good, clear and concise explanations here. There are even case studies of scientific experiments that scientists have actually done. So many basic scientific foundations and more all at your fingertips…for free.

http://phet.colorado.edu

• http://phet.colorado.edu

This site has a lot of useful interactive science simulations that are research based. They revolve around the subjects of physics, chemistry, earth science and general science. The site even includes teacher’s projects and input for use in the classroom. And it is a site that was developed by the University of Colorado at Boulder and they received an award for the site in 2011. Great tool to intertwine in your science lessons.

www.discovery.kids.com

• www.discovery.kids.com

This site is geared toward the younger, curious minds of children who want to know about their world. It answers some fun questions in the Curiosity Corner…such as “Do we really need trees?” Once the link is clicked on it goes to a page with credible information that children can understand as to why we do need trees. There are also games and quizzes as well as puzzles. There are also ideas for activities. SO this would be an interactive playground for children to learn about science in but also a great resource for teachers for the formulation of ideas and projects. I believe this to be a sight that could instill a love for learning and caring for our world as children discover more about it.

www.smithsonianeducation.org

• www.smithsonianeducation.org

This site offers chances to interactively be involved in activities such as online conferences with the Smithsonian, right from the computer. It is a very rich resource as it has so much more. As educators, we should also let our students know that science can have real world applications for a career. This site not only gives teachers ideas for lesson plans and offers games but also allows students to watch videos on what the scientists at the Smithsonian are doing in their various fields. This gives a face to the lesson while teaching various fields and skill sets that require the application of scientific knowledge which goes hand in hand with the practical applications on the site. And there are games and lesson plans for many subjects. Plus, who knows…it may even give some students something to aspire to in their own future…

www.history.com

• www.history.com

The History Channel is, of course, a television station so some content may not be relevant but a good deal of it is. How fun to learn about THIS DAY IN HISTORY, as well as interactive game and plenty of videos dealing in all things history. It is also something that many students will recognize and can possibly feel comfortable with because they are familiar with it. And even though it deals with history, it is a current channel so the website does receive updates daily and new resources are added for use at times. It is also a good source of information and learning that many students may be able to access outside of school and help to inspire a love of learning about history.

www.historymatters.gmu.edu

• www.historymatters.gmu.edu

This site links you to various sites dealing with various periods of history. The index is listed by topic and time period for easy navigation or if you scroll down a bit further then you will find a listing that explains further in depth what each link has to offer. There are also resources for teachers on teaching history and they way that historians study history. It is a fantastic resource for all and would be great for use on projects as well as various units of study. The ease of use makes it even more appealing for all.

www.teacher.scholastic.com

• www.teacher.scholastic.com

This is a great source for music teacher as they look at the history of music with their students. It is a great source for being able to reach across disciplines and incorporate music with history and other classes dealing with the Civil War. It gives an overview/timeline of the history of jazz, which is closely intertwined with history.

www.ipl.org/div/mushist

• www.ipl.org/div/mushist

This website gives a chronologic history of music through the ages. It spans from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century and has more information in links about each era and various musicians. This is a rich resource for a music teacher to educate her students on the history of music. It is good to see that all music was once new music and its effect on the music of today.

www.pecentral.org

• www.pecentral.org

This is a site that is a wonderful resource for health and physical education teachers. It is up to date and give access to lesson plans and ideas for maintaining an environment that is both physically and mentally healthy for students. There are up to date links for other resources as well as a spot for students to give some feedback. It also even gives opportunity for participation in challenges for students and teachers all around. I think that it is a great tool that health and PE teachers could utilize in order to further inspiration for student participation in their class which is actually vital.

www.nickjr.com/kids

• www.nickjr.com/kids

This site is great for the youngest learners, who are the viewers of channels like Nick Jr. They can play games and watch videos of shows as well as projects. The games, videos and projects all include a lesson and/or are about learning about various things. The characters tell you what to do when you first enter the site so that the child will know what to do and the navigation of the site is easy from there. They pick one of their favorite Nick Jr characters and go from there and learn and enjoy themselves as well. This is a great site to suggest to parents of young children as well as there are many suggestions for family activities and a link for parents too. Using this site can help young learners in mastering the use of technology available to them for learning.

www.nga.gov/education

• www.nga.gov/education

This is the site for the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. It has links within the site dealing with various topics on the subject of art and even art history as well as working in art. This is a great resource with a palpable place that has experts in the field as well as great works of art within the walls of the actual art gallery. This is a great resource for teachers to show their students artwork as they are learning about art, since a field trip to the actual gallery may not be possible. And it is better than textbooks or slides as it is more interactive and a place they can aspire to someday visit.

www.louvre.fr

• www.louvre.fr

This is the website for the famous Louvre museum in Paris, France. They house a vast and coveted collection of art. With that come knowledge and a look at both art and history and having personally been there I can tell you that the place is awe inspiring, even in pictures. The site gives you the option of English so that the students can read it even if they are not bilingual. This gives a worldly perspective to art and I believe would capture the interest of many students interested in art, even if they are not aspiring artists.

www.gamequarium.com

• www.gamequarium.com

This is a site with games to help students in the mastery of the Spanish language. A Spanish teacher could use this to engage reluctant students taking the course as a requirement for graduation. The games are geared toward vocabulary and punctuation plus more. The lessons in the games go in levels for more effective mastery.

www.nationalgeographic.com

• www.nationalgeographic.com

This site offers information on many different topics in science, the environment and even technology. There are videos and articles and it is updated daily with a photo of the day and more. This is also a channel on television so it may be something that students recognize and can utilize in more than one way outside of school. This gives real world application and up to date information in an interactive format.

www.pinterest.com

• www.pinterest.com

This is a great interactive site that could be used for family and consumer science classes. There are recipes galore as well as ideas for making jewelry and other crafts to wear on your person or for use around the house. Once an account is created, you look things up and repin them on virtual boards that you name and manage. A teacher could do this with her classes in order to keep them involved in their learning as well as being able to access creative and fun, fresh ideas for use in the class. I am a member and it is such a great tool for me just as a mom and a person, it would be stupendous for use in a classroom. There are up to date items and the teacher could have access to the links through the pins. And I know a lot of people who have joined so some students may even be familiar with this site.