Scavenger Hunts
Scavenger Hunts
make excellent "sponge" activities. They can be developed as pre-tests
for any part of the curriculum. I find them helpful for setting prior
knowledge and cooperative learning activities.
Web Site
Description
| Webhound's Scavenger Hunt | This consists of various activities covering a wide range of subject matter. Not all of these activities are for school age children. |
| Especially For Kids | Especially For Kids is great for school age students and is a wonderful teacher resource. |
| Louisiana Children's Museum | This is an enjoyable activity that is especially good for younger students (age 5-8). Older elementary students will enjoy the computer experience. |
WebQuests
WebQuests are
a wonderful way to incorporate a unit with technology.
WebQuests focus on various tasks used to evaluate the
unit activity. This would allow teachers to put critical thinking
skills into the lesson.
Web Site
Description
| African Animals | This is designed for students in grades 1-3 or early
readers.
It is very visually appealing. |
| Autumn, A Season of Color | A very good site with wonderful extension activities. |
| Searching For Solutions | This site is a valuable math teaching tool. It can be used to re-teach, or as reinforcement. |
Virtual Field Trip
Virtual Field
Trips allow students to get a detailed view of an area that they may not
see in person. These sites provide a full perspective of an area
and the relevance is more evident. They may also help prepare for
a field trip.
Web Site Description
| The Rain Forest | Delaware's science standard focuses on the ecosystems. This would be good for introducing those standards. |
Collaborative Projects
Collaborative projects are projects that allow interaction between classes. Children can communicate and share with students in other states, or other countries.
Web Site Description
| Global Story Writing | With the focus on writing competencies, this site could be useful. It allow students and teachers to build on a story by adding a paragraph to others written by participating schools. |
| Animal Diaries | Younger children will enjoy this simple alpha-quest safari. |
| Shadow A Swan | This site will be good as an extension for ecosystems . |
Simulations
Simulations are activities that are
students can observe in virtual 3-D. For instance, the unpleasant
task of dissecting a frog is made more acceptable and politically correct.
Students just click on various aspects of the dissected frog to see organs,
skeleton etc. Here are some other simulations that are available.
Web Site Description
| Chickscope | Students have a chance to watch a chicken embryo develop. |
| Lemonade Stand | Supply and demand are reinforced in this simulation. The student uses certain amounts to see if this would be profitable. |
| 5 Tigers | There are more than one simulations on this site. The students decide what aspect of the site they want to participate in. |
Lesson Plans
Teachers are always looking for great
ideas, or help in presenting a lesson. Here are some sites for lesson
plans that will help freshen up a lesson, or give a new perspective.
| Lesson Plans | This site contains thousands of lesson plans and opportunity to submit your own lesson plans. |
| K-12 Lesson Plans | Lesson plans are not the only thing offered on this site. |
| Social Studies Lesson Plans and Resources | Social Studies lessons, ideas and project management help is here. |
| Marco Polo | Here is a wonderful site for teachers. It offers simulations, lesson plans, curriculum guides and standards. The search engine is perfect for student research. I rate it A+. Be sure to explore the math simulations. |
| RubiStar | If you need a rubric for any project or assignment you will find it here. It also provides links for other things. |
| BBC | These are the people that gave us Teletubbies, but don't hold that against them. There are some great activities at this site. |
| A to Z Teacher Stuff | This is a great site for teachers. If you need worksheets, ideas, or any link to resources, here it is. |