From: "Education World Reviews Newsletter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 13:20:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Education World Site Reviews Vol. 7 Issue 18
Education World Reviews ---------------------------------- Volume 7, Issue 18 April 30, 2002 ********************************************** Dear Education Professionals, Welcome to the Site Reviews Newsletter, published weekly as a free service by Education World(R)! You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to Education World's Site Reviews Distribution list. If you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to other teachers! If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you may sign up at http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml ********************************************** Education World's newsletter is brought to you by Riverdeep Voted the Best Online Information Portal of the Year! (by SIIA for 2002) Sign up today for your FREE 30-day trial membership by going to http://www.educationworld.com/go/base?id=RVD. Get the best educational content available on the Internet, hundreds of lesson plans, and the ability to organize and manage your classes from both school and home! All on one award-winning website! ********************************************** THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS ********************************************** National Archives Learning Curve http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2002/r0402-22.shtml Study British history using original sources. Casa de Joanna http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2002/r0402-23.shtml Language-learning resources. Internet Field Trips http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2002/r0402-24.shtml Take a field trip without leaving the classroom! The U.S. Mint's Site for Kids http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2002/r0402-25.shtml Interactive site about coins. NASA Connect http://www.educationworld.com/awards/2002/r0402-26.shtml Enrich mathematics, science, and technology education. ****************************** REVIEWS ****************************** OVERALL GRADE: A National Archives Learning Curve http://learningcurve.pro.gov.uk/ GRADE LEVEL: 6-12 CONTENT: A The National Archives Learning Curve is an online teaching resource from the United Kingdom. Although it is designed to tie in with the British national curriculum for history, there is an index specifically for U.S. classrooms. AESTHETICS: A The site is well designed and attractive. QuickTime and Shockwave (includes Macromedia Flash player) plug-ins are required for video and animation. Acrobat Reader is required to print PDF-format work sheets. Real Player is required for streaming video. ORGANIZATION: A A left-side menu and a top navigation bar make movement through the site easy. There are also U.S. and U.K. indexes for quick reference. Each section has a table of contents, and all pages provide a link back to the home page. REVIEW: A Whether you're studying British history or the interconnectedness of British and U.S. history, this site will provide lots of useful information and activities. A variety of original sources are used to encourage students to explore the history that surrounds them. The three major areas of this site are Exhibitions, Focus On ..., and Snapshots. Exhibit topics include the Cold War, the British home front during World War II, 20th-century personalities, and more. The Snapshots provide activities based on the visual sources from the National Archive, and the Focus On ... section includes interactive activities and quizzes for student use. RELATED REVIEWS: History: World History http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/history.shtml#World History: General History http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/history.shtml History: Wars http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/history.shtml#Wars ------------------------------- OVERALL GRADE: A Casa de Joanna http://members.aol.com/jporvin/casa.htm GRADE LEVEL: 6-12 CONTENT: A This teacher-created site provides a rich collection of links to language Web sites for teachers of Spanish and French. AESTHETICS: A The layout of this site is direct and easy to follow. Resources are thematically grouped under five categories. ORGANIZATION: A A top navigation menu is available for moving between the major areas of the site. Each area has an index of resources arranged by theme. REVIEW: A Casa de Joanna is an excellent starting point for French and Spanish teachers and students, "who are exploring the Web as part of their language-learning." Each of the five areas of the site -- Art Resources, French Resources, General Language Resources, Spanish Resources, and Teacher's Lounge -- contains a collection of Web links that are arranged by theme. Included are authentic Web sites, Internet-based activities, art links, access to professional journals and guidance for technology implementation. The links are annotated and marked with icons that distinguish between resources, student activities, tools, and teacher resources. RELATED REVIEWS: Language Arts: Foreign Languages http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/lang_arts.shtml#Foreign%20L anguages Fine Arts: General http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/fine_arts.shtml Social Sciences: Culture http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/soc_sci.shtml#Culture ------------------------------ OVERALL GRADE: A+ Internet Field Trips http://teacher.scholastic.com/fieldtrp/index.htm GRADE LEVEL: K-12 CONTENT: A+ Internet Field Trips, provided as part of the larger Scholastic site, is an exceptional lesson planning resource for teachers. AESTHETICS: A+ This professionally created site is attractive and user-friendly. ORGANIZATION: A+ The field trips are organized by subject area with topical subcategories. The tabbed menu at the top of the pages allows easy navigation of the main areas, and each subject area has a topical index of links. REVIEW: A+ This excellent resource from Scholastic is just what the teacher ordered for lesson planning. Each of the trips provides appropriate Web sites for enhancing specific curriculum topics. All areas of the curriculum -- reading/language arts, science, math, social studies, and a special section for K-2 -- are included. The field trips meet a variety of content standards and could be used as a research guide for students using the Internet. There is a Teacher's Guide included that provides an activity overview, standards, technology tips, and classroom strategies. And of course, the other deep resources of the Scholastic site are linked from the pages. RELATED REVIEWS: Teachers: General http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/teachers.shtml Students: General http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/students.shtml ------------------------------- OVERALL GRADE: A+ The U.S. Mint's Site for Kids http://www.usmint.gov/kids/ GRADE LEVEL: All CONTENT: A+ This site, also called H.I.P. (History in your Pocket) pocket change, offers many entertaining and informative games and activities about coins. Kids can put together a puzzle of a state quarter, watch an animated movie about how coins are made, and read lots of fun facts about the U.S. Mint and what it does. A time machine takes visitors back to look at periods in this country's development and lots of other games and activities involving coins. AESTHETICS: A+ This professionally developed site is colorful and inviting, but not too busy -- very child-friendly! ORGANIZATION: A+ The U.S. Mint's Site for Kids is easy to navigate, and the activities load surprisingly fast, considering the quality of the animations and activities. Many activities opened in a new window, which made moving back to the original page quite simple. There is a search function, and easily accessible links appear on each page. REVIEW: A+ This is a quality site that kids and adults will enjoy. The site presents plenty of factual information about the Mint and its workings, along with activities such as Cents of Color, a paint program for kids; Coin Memory Machine, concentration with coin fronts and backs; Mark My Words, a word search with lots of history included, and many other great activities. The Teacher section provides lesson and unit plans involving the Mint and has project suggestions and links to other coin-related sites. The Camp Coin section includes an animated timeline of the development of the coins of our country. This site is not to be missed for anyone who is interested in the history of our money! RELATED REVIEWS: Teachers: General http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/teachers.shtml Internet: Interactive Web Sites http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/internet.shtml#Interactive% 20Websites Social Sciences: Economics http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/soc_sci.shtml#Economics Students: Games & Fun Sites http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/students.shtml#Games%20&%20 Fun%20Sites ------------------------------- OVERALL GRADE: A+ NASA Connect http://connect.larc.nasa.gov GRADE LEVEL: 6-8 CONTENT: A+ "NASA Connect is an annual series of free integrated mathematics, science, and technology instructional distance learning programs for students in grades 6-8" that can be viewed right from your desktop computer. AESTHETICS: A= The site features an easy-to-navigate format that has a nice mix of color and graphics. RealPlayer is required for viewing the broadcasts. ORGANIZATION: A+ A left-side menu on the main page and a top menu on subsequent pages make the site user-friendly. There is also a helpful site index. REVIEW: A Students and teachers will find that this site is a natural for teaching and learning critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. The NASA Connect programming is available free to any school, and provides lessons in math, science, and technology competencies for grades 5-8. By registering at the site (free) teachers can fully involve their students in the broadcasts. Registrants receive program schedules and lesson guides via e-mail. The programs are transmitted via satellite hookups and PBS stations but are also available on the Web through NASA's Learning Technologies Channel. Accompanying each broadcast is a teacher's guide with hands-on activities and an interactive Internet activity. Additionally, teachers can request a mentor to help students complete the work. All the shows for the past three years are archived in the library, and there is an extensive list of additional resources. RELATED REVIEWS: Science: General http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/science.shtml Educational Technology: Miscellaneous Technology http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/ed_tech.shtml#Misc.%20Techn ology Math & Finance: General Math http://www.educationworld.com/awards/past/topics/math.shtml ********************************************** Sincerely, Lisa Gryskiewicz =================================== Education World (R) http://www.educationworld.com/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] =================================== ******************************************* For digest instead of individual postings, send the message: set k12newsletters digest to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, click and send (no body or subject: required) mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] K12 Newsletters mailing list is a service of Classroom Connect - http://www.classroom.com Archives for K12 Newsletters can be found at: http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A0=K12NEWSLETTERS **********************************************************
