InteractiveWebsites

**Frontloading Your Lessons with Interactive Websites**

 * How might the following interactive resources be useful to (a) __activate__, (b) __assess__, and/or (c) __build__ students' prerequisite knowledge for your lesson/unit BEFORE you teach?**

1. Explore **at least TWO websites** in your content area. Try to explore websites that are different than others in your content area group. 2. Use the wikispace to take notes on how you might use these resources to ACTIVATE, ASSESS, or BUILD students prerequisite knowledge about a specific topic. To add your comments, click "here" next to your content area; click "Edit" to begin and add your comments on the wikispace. 3. Be prepared to share your ideas with your classmates during our next class.

EXAMPLE: [|BBC Bitesize] - Background information on a number of topics, with quick videos, activities, and short quizzes


 * PICTURE BOOK STARTER LISTS FOR YOUR CONTENT AREA**
 * [|Outstanding Science Tradebooks] (compiled by NSTA)
 * [|Nonfiction History Books for Teens]
 * [|International Children's Digital Library] (for picture books in different languages)
 * [|Using Picture Books as Framing Texts for Research Projects in English]
 * [|Teaching with Picture Books] blog including [|Ways to Share Picture Books] and [|13 Reasons Why to Read Picturebooks With Older Students]
 * California Reading List Website: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/readinglist.asp
 * PBS: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/ (Choose the grade level from the list at the top, then use the pull-down menus to refine the list of links).
 * American Library Association —Young Adult Library Services Association http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.htm
 * International Reading Association http://www.reading.org/Resources/Booklists.aspx
 * You might find some books for math at the National Council of Mathematics Teachers: http://nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=16385
 * Notable Trade Books for Young People from the National Council for the Social Studies : http://www.socialstudies.org/resources/notable/
 * National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Books: http://www.nsta.org/ostbc
 * Information about the California Young Reader Medal is here: http://www.cla-net.org/awards/cyrm.php
 * The Nonfiction Eureka! Award (Click the link at the top to last year’s winners): http://www.californiareads.org/awards/eureka.htm
 * Amazon’s ListMania is sometimes helpful. A tutorial to finding resources via ListMania is here: http://www.ehow.com/how_2341922_find-amazon-listmania-lists.html


 * MATH** - Click [|here] to add your comments
 * [|Four Tools to Connect Students to Real Math]: including [|Yummy Math], [|Get the Math], [|Ted Ed Math in Real Life], and [|Real World Math]
 * [|Khan Academy] (video mini-lesson demonstrations)
 * [|National Library of Virtual Manipulatives]
 * [|Annenberg's Math Interactives]
 * [|The Maths Dictionary for Kids]
 * [|InterMath Dictionary]
 * [|Cool Math]
 * [|Interactive Mathematics]
 * [|The Scale of the Universe]: Zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum foam of spacetime and learn the scale of things along the way!
 * [|Math is Fun: Pythagoras Theorem animation] and [|Math is Fun homepage]
 * [|Multilingual Math e-glossary]
 * [|Math Videos.com]: Instructional Videos and calculators about geometry, algebra, and probability
 * [|Virtual Geometry and Geography Game] (you need to use BingMaps and a series of pdf handouts)
 * [|We Use Math](When Will I Use Math)?
 * [|Economics Education (EconEd)]
 * Lots more [|Web 2.0 Tools for Math Educators]


 * HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES/GEOGRAPHY** - Click [|here] to add your comments
 * [|BBC History Interactives]
 * [|Pathways to Freedom]
 * [|Crash Course: World History and Biology] (video series)
 * [|Historically Significant Images in American History]
 * [|American Memory Photo Collections]
 * [|U.S. News & World Report Political Cartoons]
 * [|History.com Historical Speeches]
 * [|Annenberg's History Interactives]
 * [|Eternal Egypt]
 * [|Gapminder World] - with an amazing [|demonstration] of its potential to help students visualize historical trends, in this case about the [|wealth and health of nations] between 1800 and 2009
 * [|LinkTV: News from around the world] (to get a more global perspective)
 * [|Colonial Williamsburg Official History Site] (multimedia museum)


 * ENGLISH/LITERATURE** - Click [|here] to add your comments
 * [|Interactive Shakespeare Project]
 * [|Knowing Poe (Edgar Allan Poe)]
 * [|MythWeb: Greek Mythology]
 * [|Annenberg's Literature Interactives]
 * [|American Writers Journey Through History] and [|American Writers II: The 20th Century]
 * [|The Academy of American Poets]
 * [|World Creation Myths]
 * [|Google Lit Trips](need to download Google Earth to run the files)
 * [|Indigenous People’s Literature]
 * [|ENotes Video Study Guide for Shakespeare's MacBeth]
 * [|Paragraph Punch: Interactive Online Writing Tutorial]
 * [|Make Beliefs Comics] (online comic strip generator)
 * [|Magnetic Poetry]
 * [|SAT Preparation Practice]
 * [|VisuWords] Online Graphical Dictionary
 * Read Write Think Interactives for Secondary Level
 * [|BioCube]
 * [|Drama Map]
 * [|Hero's Journey]
 * [|Literary Elements Map]
 * [|Word Matrix]


 * SCIENCE** - Click [|here] to add your comments
 * The Environment
 * [|The Story of Stuff]
 * [|EPA Climate Change Kids Site]
 * [|Series of Five Videos on Climate Change from NPR]
 * [|Seasons Interactive from McGraw Hill]
 * Biology and Life Sciences
 * [|BioDigital Human]: 3D Platform for understanding anatomy, disease, and treatments
 * [|Cells Alive]
 * [|BBC Science and Nature Interactives]
 * [|Kids Health]
 * [|Six Virtual Tours of the Human Body]: [|Google Body], [|MEDtropolis], [|eSkeletons], [|Direct Anatomy], and [|Artificial Anatomy]
 * [|HHMI's BioInteractive Virtual Labs] - six amazing labs
 * Chemistry
 * [|The Periodic Table of Videos] from the University of Nottingham
 * [|Periodic Table of Comic Books]
 * [|Chembuddy.com]
 * [|Crash Course: World History and Biology] (video series - Chemistry and Energy)
 * Motion and Physics
 * [|Science Simulations]
 * [|Physics Education Technology]
 * Multiple Sciences
 * [|Brain Pop Videos] (click on science and explore free videos)
 * [|Khan Academy] (video mini-lesson demonstrations)
 * [|Annenberg's Science Interactives]
 * [|Nova Science Videos](short 3-4 minutes or hour long videos) - select a topic, then a video
 * [|Cogitio.org: Connecting Young Thinkers Around the World] - how to [|use the site]
 * [|Live Science]: Science, Technology, Health, and Environmental News
 * Many more [|Web 2.0 Science Tools for Educators]
 * [|Science Updates]: 60 Second video summaries on many science topics

> [|high school Spanish students]are using this collection
 * WORLD LANGUAGE**S - Click [|here] to add your comments
 * [|Ed Gate World Language Center] - 6 different languages and related cultural information
 * [|Instructional Podcasts for Learning Spanish as a Second Language]
 * [|Digital Dialects]: language games in many different languages
 * [|ESL Partyland]: Use the site from the perspective of a student or a teacher
 * Learning English as a Second Language - [|Learn American English Online]
 * [|Learn Spanish:] A free online tutorial - generate customized quizzes too - use the tabs along the top
 * Spanish Newspapers: [|El Neuvo Herald] and [|La Prensa]
 * More Spanish Newspapers: [|BBC Mundo] and [|Espanoles en el mundo]
 * [|Tools for World Languages:] (Ask Dr. Coiro how to navigate this "Live Binder" collection of resources)
 * [|BBC Language Sites]for High School Students
 * [|Voki Lesson Plans] for Foreign Languages
 * [|International Children's Digital Library]: click on "read books" and search by language or learn how
 * Examples of [|Spanish] picture books
 * Examples of Italian picture books (visit [|simple search] and select "Italian" from pull down menu for "Show Italian books"
 * Virtual Picture Books in [|Spanish] and [|French] from [|Miscositas.com] for language teachers
 * [|Jim Becker's Super Language Websites]
 * [|** FOR TEACHERS: Teaching Foreign Languages K-12:] A Library of Classroom Practices from Learner.org
 * [|How to Use Social Media in a Foreign Language Class] (class blog)


 * ELEMENTARY / INTERDISCIPLINARY** - Click [|here] to add your comments
 * [|The Yuckiest Site on the Internet]
 * [|Cool Math]
 * [|Giggle Poetry]
 * [|National Geographic Kids]
 * [|Interactive Tools from the National Gallery of Art]
 * [|Dialogue for Kids] (Idaho Public Television)


 * ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO EXPLORE AFTER CLASS**
 * After class, you may also enjoy exploring additional online resources available from the website that accompanies the book [|Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times (Leu, Leu, & Coiro, 2004)]. Chapters 5-11 focus on particular disciplines including English/Language Arts (Ch. 5), Social Studies (Ch. 6), Science (Ch. 7), Math (Ch. 8), Younger Children (Ch. 9), Multicultural Understanding (Ch. 10), Students with Special Needs (Ch. 11). Caution: Since the book was published in 2004, many of the links have changed, but you can get a sense of the types of resources available.
 * Or you may enjoy exploring the resources Julie Coiro shared at the 2008 International Reading Association Conference: //[|Content Area Learning Comes to Life! Using Interactive Online Texts to Inspire Adolescent's Active Engagement with Content Area Reading and Writing]//
 * [|WatchKnow]: Free Educational Videos
 * [|A Collection of the Twelve Best Online and Interactive Museum Exhibits] - at least from one teacher's perspective


 * EXTRA RESOURCES IN DEVELOPMENT**

> [|The Orange Grove] Florida’s digital-learning repository was the first such state-run resource of its kind, and offers content from the preschool to graduate levels. > [|North Carolina Learning Object Repository] The LOR, as frequent users call it, is the Tar Heel State’s digital-content repository. It is a collaboration by the state education department, state virtual school, community colleges, and state and private universities. > [|USG Share] Georgia’s repository is run through the University System of Georgia, and shares its content in a consortium with repositories from Florida, Kentucky, and North Carolina. > [|Kentucky Learning Depot] While The Kentucky Learning Depot is a bit younger than some of its other consortium-mates, it is following its state’s early adoption of the common-core standards to become the first repository to align itself to them. > [|Thinkfinity] Thinkfinity, which is operated by the Verizon Foundation, the nonprofit community-outreach arm of Verizon Communications, offers free digital lesson plans and other content to teachers, as well as students and parents. > [|Discovery Education] Discovery offers free resources as well as a more complete for-pay service that links educators and students to digital content created by Discovery, the largest nonfiction media group in the world, as well as its partners. > [|Sophia] Sophia launched this spring and is an attempt to create a national repository based solely upon contributions of its users. Content is contributed in “packets,” and users are given ratings based on their interactions on the platform.[|PBS Teachers]: >
 * Online repositories for multimedia websites to supplement lessons**
 * [|Organizing Digital Content [SOURCE: //Education Week//]] - Here’s a sample of some of the repositories of digital educational content available on the Web.
 * [|100 Best Video Sites for Educators]: tutorials, multimedia resources, and much more!
 * More for teacher design**
 * [|School History UK] - online history lessons, revision, games, worksheets, quizzes, and links
 * [|Online Biology Book]
 * [|Radar's Kapili.com] with Chem4Kids, Biology4Kids, Geograpy4Kids, Cosmos4Kids, Physics4Kids, and Numbernut.com for Math
 * [|Free Online Content Courses]: Math, Social Science, History, English, Science and Business


 * Other Foreign Language Resources**
 * [|Portals to the World from the Library of Congress]
 * [|Reading Strategies for Web Activities] in Spanish
 * [|Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab]
 * [|Dave's ESL Cafe]
 * [|Classzone En Espanol Level 2] Online Textbook Resources
 * [|Oxfam's Cool Planet On The Line]


 * Connecting Content Subjects with Real Life**
 * Cool News to Prompt Questions in Your Content Area:
 * Science (Chemistry):[| Quick restart of big bang machine stuns scientists] (Nov. 2009)
 * [|CNN Student News:] Stories and Video from CNN
 * [|GetSmarter.org] for Math and Science
 * [|Underground Railroad Simulation]
 * [|Enrich Math Connections to the Olympics at Every Grade Level] and [|Connections between Science, Math, and the Real World]
 * [|NSF Mathematics Overview]
 * [|Engineering is Elementary] (from NSF) - linking content units to children's storybooks
 * [|Doomsday Vault from 60 Minutes] - links to science, society, and the future
 * [|Does Chemistry Relate to Real Life] - Webquest
 * [|Chemistry You Need to Know] - preview 2 sample chapters and the entire table of contents plus the [|curriculum framed in relevant themes]
 * [|Chemistry of a Crime Scene] - The Real-Life Science Behind CSI
 * [|Numb3rs TV show] and math expert's description and [|We All Use Math Every Day] (a whole curriculum based on the program!) with [|season videos at Amazon]
 * Math Tradebooks/Novels/Biographies (from a larger list at [|LosBanos.com])
 * [|200% of Nothing: An Eye Opening Tour Through the Twists and Turns of Math Abuse and Innumeracy] by A. K. Dewdney (statistics, data analysis, probability) - //Also for grades 6-8.//
 * [|A Gebra Named Al: A Novel] by Wendy Isdell (math and science concepts for middle schoolers presented in a novel, algebra and order of operations)
 * [|A Tour of the Calculus] by David Berlinski (calculus)
 * [|Fermat's Last Theorem] by Simon Singh ( "This is the story of how the centuries old and most famous unsolved problem in mathematics, Fermat's Last Theorem, was solved by Andrew Wiles. It reveals a short history of mathematics and the extent to which it is a collaborative effort.")
 * [|G is for Google] by Schwartz David and Moss Marissa (a math alphabet book with all sorts of math concepts)
 * [|Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem Solving] (creative problem solving)
 * [|Mathematical Mystery Tour: Higher-Thinking Math Tasks] by Mark H. Wahl (fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio)
 * [|Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi] by Cindy Neuschwander (Pi)
 * [|Sir Cumference and the First Round Table] by Cindy Neuschwander (geometry)
 * [|Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland] by Cindy Neuschwander (angles -comes with a plastic protractor)
 * [|Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter] by Cindy Neuschwander (area and perimeter)
 * [|Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone] by Cindy Neuschwander (cubes, pyramids, cylinders and cones)
 * T[|he Mathematical Magpie] by Clifton Fadiman (law of averages, Moebuis Strip, topology, one to one correspondence, hyper-geometry, Pythagorean Theorem, number sense, geometric figures, probability, variables and more)
 * [|The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure] by Hans Magnus Enzensberger ("number 0, places, powers and roots, series, prime numbers, the Sieve of Erastosthenes, Fibonaci numbers, limits," and more)
 * [|What's Your Angle Pythagorus?] (An introduction to the Pythagorean Theorem- geometry)
 * Interactivate Math Annenberg Link


 * Dealing with Tables and Graphs**
 * [|Earth: A Graphic Look at the State of the World]


 * Online Textbooks**
 * [|CK-12 Foundation - Flex Books]
 * [|Calculus on the Web]
 * [|Free High School Science Textbooks (FHSST) for South Africa]