Education World Site Reviews Vol. 12 Issue 30

Dear Education Professionals, Welcome! This free Site Reviews newsletter is published weekly by Education World®, the largest free, independent resource on the Web for educators. If you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to others. If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you may sign up at http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml. To unsubscribe, see instructions below. Education World remains a free resource thanks to the support of our advertisers -- so please click on ads of interest and visit our advertisers' sites. Thank you. ============================================================================ This week's newsletter is sponsored by Online Degree Directory. What do curriculum developers, education consultants and course developers have in common? Their skills are attainable 100% online. Explore their latest theories and practices – with an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction, Higher Education Affairs, Special Education or Leadership. Be all you can be – and help your students and faculty become all they can be. And discover more available programs with FREE Information from Online Universities - Online Degree Directory. http://www.educationworld.com/OnlineDegree2.shtml   =========================================================================== Volume 12 Issue 29 July 22, 2008 During June and July, Education World is reposting some of the best of our A+ reviews from the past school year. Our "summer break" offers a perfect opportunity to take a second look. We will return with all new reviews of essential sites for educators in early August. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation A Smithsonian site celebrating human ingenuity. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-16.shtml Planning Kid2Kid Videoconference Projects Simple but effective: A booklet, from a Michigan district, on videoconferencing ideas. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-12.shtml America at a Crossroads Great PBS site for some current current-events discussions. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-09.shtml   The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation A Smithsonian site celebrating human ingenuity. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-16.shtml REVIEW: A+ The Lemelson Center site is a great way for students to start learning about the history of invention and innovation. Visitors may want to start by clicking on the featured invention and reading the article, then move on to more stories about inventions. If you are looking for a particular resource, then the drop down menu at the top of the page leads to special sections for students, teachers, inventors, historians or museum visitors. These annotated lists feature articles and exhibits of specific interests. The Centerpieces area features virtual interactive exhibits on such topics as the quartz watch, the invention of the electric guitar, wearable and implantable inventions for the human body and others. The video and audio area offers podcasts about the artificial heart, solar powered transportation, video games and more. Included is a podcast activity guide for teachers to download. The resource section is not to be missed especially by teach ers. It includes free multimedia and print materials for classroom use as well as research opportunities, invention stories index, online articles, archives, a database of invention archives in the U.S., oral and video histories, books, and Web sites.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Planning Kid2Kid Videoconference Projects Simple but effective: A booklet, from a Michigan district, on videoconferencing ideas. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-12.shtml REVIEW: A+ Videoconferences allow teachers and students to connect to people and places that may not otherwise be accessible to them such as zoos, museums, guest experts and other classrooms. This booklet that has been created by educators in the field includes an introduction that describes what videoconferences are and the different types. The booklet also provides project templates that can be used to start your classroom project by just plugging in your own curriculum information. Project ideas include exchange projects, academic challenges, data collections, debates, product/solution development and many more. Additionally, users will find tips for finding a partner, presentation, preparing questions, evaluation strategies, and a bibliography of resources.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- America at a Crossroads Great PBS site for some current current-events discussions. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-09.shtml REVIEW: A+ This site is the complement to the PBS Television series by the same name. Although it is geared to a general audience, there is lots of content appropriate for high school students. The series consist of fourteen documentaries that explore such topics as firsthand accounts of American servicemen and women through their own words, the complicated mixture of emotions that characterizes European views about Americans, and the U.S. strategy in Iraq. Visitors to the site can view video clips of the documentaries, watch the video diaries, explore an interactive timeline of events that shaped the modern Middle East, and download a discussion guide. Educators will want to check out the educators' page for middle and high school lesson plans and a classroom integration guide as well as additional resources. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators." The Teacher's Calendar Chase's famous Calendar of Events -- that huge book journalists use to help them develop filler material for their newspapers by doing funny little stories on National Hog Calling Day -- has many spin-offs, and one is this extraordinarily useful annual calendar for teachers. If you simply used this calendar to assign a brief research report every day of the school year, which would give each student in a class of 30 six assignments during a 180 day school year, would make this book well worth its price. Enjoy! Click to learn more or to purchase this book. Rookie Teaching for Dummies Of course, we don't read the Dummies books because we really are dummies -- real dummies don't read at all! We read them for their irreverent and yet practical advice, and this example is no different. From the introduction, where the author stresses that he's not going to give you tear-jerking stories, education theory, or salsa recipes, through to the top-ten lists that conclude Dummies titles, this book is fun and also functional. Click to learn more or to purchase this book. Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace. ========================================================================== The Best of LEARNING GAMES If you enjoy Education World's weekly LEARNING GAMES feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet of more than 30 of our most popular learning games. PLUS an extra bonus -- ten more games for classroom fun! These classroom games span the grades and the major subject areas -- and inject a healthy dose of fun into the serious business of teaching and learning. Looking to fill the end of a hectic day with something fun and educational? Looking for a great reward for students that will make valuable use of free time? Looking to reinforce basic skills with a fun activity? These games will fill the bill! Included in this 80-page booklet you'll find these games and more: Math Facts Race (Math, grades K-8) You Can Count on Spelling (Math and Language Arts, grades K-12) Find It... Fast! (All Subjects, grades K-12) Concentration Review Game (All Subjects, grades K-12) The Dictionary Game (Language Arts, grades 3-8) Play Ball: A Major League Review Game (All Subjects, grades K-12) Friendly Feud (All Subjects, grades K-12) Plus 35 more games! The Best of LEARNING GAMES is part of the Teacher Treasure Series, an NEA Professional Library Publication. http://store.nea.org/NEABookstore/control/productdetails?item_id=0696800 ========================================================================== Education World now incorporates www.SchoolNotes.com ~ "everybody on the same page!" The leading school-to-home communications platform, with FREE pages for teachers and automatic notification of parents and students when new homework is posted! For a modest $24.95 PER YEAR, upgrade to Personal Edition, "Super SchoolNotes," with thousands of resources linked to your state's standards. Click here for more information. ========================================================================== MORE FEATURES OF INTEREST! Reader's Theater More than two dozen scripts, perfect for the classroom. Best Books for Teaching About… Booklists for 30 popular teaching themes. Sign Up for Our Newsletters Ten free newsletters full of practical ideas. Special Education Center Tools for the special education community. TGIF Kick back and start your weekend off on a light note. Education World Techtorials Our tutorials take the terror out of technology. The Template Library A wide variety of templates to meet educators' needs. Wire Side Chats Each week, Education World chats with an expert in the field. Printables Library You're sure to find great resources here. Hundreds of printables! Meet Our Columnists Meet our team of columnists from many corners of the "education world." Teaching Themes for Early Childhood Sue LaBella offers teaching ideas for popular EC themes. Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here for great reading. Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms. News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included. ========================================================================== We hope you enjoy receiving this Education World e-newsletter. Did you know that Education World offers eight other FREE weekly newsletters? Have you signed up to receive the... Education World LESSON PLANNING NEWSLETTER? The weekly Lesson Planning Newsletter offers links to all new lesson plan content posted to the Education World Web site in the previous week. You will find all our regular features there, as well as links to new tutorials, timely holiday lesson planning ideas, and great lesson plans from our archives. Would you like to see a sample of the Lesson Planning Newsletter? If so, simply click the link below: http://www.educationworld.com/newsletters_images/lp_sample.shtml If you would like to subscribe to the Lesson Planning Newsletter, please click this link: http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml#lessons If the Lesson Planning Newsletter is not of interest to you, do you know somebody else who might benefit from it? Perhaps you could pass this information along to that person. ============================================================================ If you enjoy this Site Reviews Newsletter, please feel free to forward it to other teachers! 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