This document provides summaries of and links to various educational websites that could be useful tools for different subjects. Some of the sites summarized include ixl.com for math practice, mathcats.com for interactive math games, aaamath.com for math games and practice, aaaspell.com for spelling and vocabulary, and spellingcity.com for spelling practice activities. Other sites cover subjects like reading, science, history, music, health/PE, art, languages and more. Many are recommended for providing lessons, activities, games and practice opportunities to supplement classroom learning.
ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...
Educational Websites for Students and Teachers
1. • 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.
2. • 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)
3. • 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)
4. • 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.
5. • 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.
6. • 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.
7. • 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.
8. • 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.
9. • 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.
10. • www.kidsites.com(continued)
www.kidsites.com(cont)
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.
11. • 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.
12. • 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.
13. • 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.
14. • 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…
15. • 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.
16. • 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.
17. • 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.
18. • 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.
19. • 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.
20. • 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.
21. • 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.
22. • 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.
23. • 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.
24. • 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.
25. • 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.