Education World Site Reviews Vol. 12 Issue 31

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 30 July 29, 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. WW2 People's War Vast collection of personal histories about World War II. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-28.shtml Welcome to Israel Visit Israel virtually at this site for kids. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-26.shtml Landmark Supreme Court Cases Order (and learning) in the court! http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-19.shtml     WW2 People's War Vast collection of personal histories about World War II. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-28.shtml REVIEW: A+ Between June, 2003 and January, 2006 the BBC asked its public to contribute stories of their experiences and memories during the second world war to a Web site, and WW2 People's War is the result of that effort. The stories are not intended to give a precise overview or an accurate list of dates and events, but rather to illustrate how a generation remembers the war sixty or more years after its occurrence. Visitors can browse through the entire archive list that is divided into sixty-four categories such as bombings, domestic life, volunteers, working life, location, prisoners of war, and others. A timeline is available that contains fact files which relate to some of the key events of the war from 1939 to 1945. Users can scroll the timeline or jump to a particular year or period using the tabs. The learning zone contains lesson plans based on extracts from stories in the archive for use by teachers, families, and community groups.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Israel Visit Israel virtually at this site for kids. http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-26.shtml REVIEW: A+ Israel is often in the news, but is probably out of reach for most American students. Now teachers can take their students on a virtual field trip to learn about this country, its languages, currency, geography, and food. Young learners will enjoy following "Srulik," a well-known Israeli cartoon character as he leads them on the virtual field trip to Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee and Eilat, and teaches them about the history, symbols, democracy, and the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. Included is a postcard game that quizzes students on what they have learned. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Landmark Supreme Court Cases Order (and learning) in the court! http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2007/r1107-19.shtml REVIEW: A+ This site is a one-stop resource for activities related to key Supreme Court cases and concepts that are mandated by state social studies standards. Teachers and students will find background summaries and excerpts of opinions on such cases as "Marbury vs. Madison," "Dred Scott vs. Sandford," and "Brown vs. Board of Education," as well as online activities and lessons and links to the full text of the Supreme Court decisions. These materials are available in three reading levels, one of which is geared to the vocabulary of ESOL students. Teachers will appreciate the section of instructions for general teaching strategies such as case study, moot court, role play, continuum, community resources, evaluating Web sites, political cartoon analysis, and scored discussion. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Bully Free Classroom Subtitled "Over 100 Tips and Strategies for Teachers K-8," this useful volume provides well over 100 bite-sized ideas that are quick to read and common-sensical. Bullying, of course, is a terrible phenomenon in schools and famously hard to deal with effectively. So, a relatively brief (166 pages) resource that offers a wide variety of ideas and approaches is probably one of the most valuable items you can have on hand as a teacher in the modern classroom. Click to learn more or to purchase this book. Rainbows, Head Lice, and Pea-Green Tile: Poems in the Voice of the Classroom Teacher These poems deal with the humorous experiences of being an elementary school teacher, and also touch on some of the more human, poignant moments the teaching life brings. One poem, "The Threshold," dramatizes the moment a new teacher is about to step into the classroom to meet a new class of kindergarten students. "...I hesitate/For beyond this door/The future awaits me/ ...I feel a little silly/I can't stand here all day long/After all, they're just children/What could possibly go wrong?" 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 the WRITING BUG If you enjoy Education World's weekly WRITING BUG feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet with 44 of the most popular Writing Bug story starters. Use these Writing Bug activities to engage your students in effective writing. Each writing prompt will spark students' imaginations, tickle their funny bones, and motivate their pencils. Included: In this booklet you'll find these Writing Bug titles and many more: If I Could Interview Any U.S. President... The Best Lesson I Ever Learned I Got a Postcard from Another Planet A Week Without TV The Best Invention Ever/The Worst Invention Ever Plus 39 more Writing Bug writing prompts! The Best of WRITING BUG is part of the Teacher Treasure Series, an NEA Professional Library Publication. http://store.nea.org/NEABookstore/control/productdetails?&item_id=0695X00 ========================================================================== 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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