Hot websites

Teaching Pre K-8, Nov/Dec 2001 by Lindroth, Linda

TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR CLASSROOM

With Autumn come shorter days and thoughts of the holidays. This month's websites are designed to engage students in active learning.

Beyond Books

www.beyondbooks.com

This online subscription service provides curriculum for grades 6-12. The academic disciplines for middle school are Social Studies, Science, Language and Literature. Each discipline covers several subjects (ie, Earth Science), and each program has its own outline which works like a table of contents. The topics would be great resources for Science and Social Studies Fair projects this fall.

Each program has an INTRODUCTION, with links to all the focus topics. Content is rich with pictures, maps, graphs and diagrams which link to outside websites about the topic. The left-hand menu offers "teasers" that engage students in active learning. DEEP THINK poses a research question. STUDY QUESTIONS help guide reading, discussions or homework. The right-hand menu lists the focus topics, with an associated links page putting an abundance of resources just a mouse click away. I love the NEED TO CITE THIS PAGE FOR YOUR WORK? link on the bottom of each page giving the citation for Beyond Books information. GUEST EXPERTS are available for online chats in real time throughout the year.

A TEACHER DOOR has comprehensive lesson plans for each program and focus topic, with printable handouts, tips and strategies and related links. Programs are correlated to national standards and many of the state standards.

School subscriptions are $12.75 per student, individual/family subscriptions are $249.95. Call 877-946-4622 to learn more about this exciting resource.

HowStuffWorks Express

http://express.howstuffworks.com/

HowStuffWorks Express for ages 8-14 combines science, technology and the Internet. Features include science topics, web links and activities for exciting quests, puzzles and games, experiments and EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE - a biographical study of a person in science.

The TEACHER'S CORNER is free online support for the print publication with links to the National Science Education Standards. EXPRESS QUEST INTERNET PROJECT, HOW STUFF WILL WORK, NEATSTUFF FEATURED TECHNOLOGY and EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE are stand-alone topics with free online lesson plans, curriculum links and worksheets with answer keys. Don't miss GAMEWORKS with fun games to exercise those brain cells, NO WAY! for trivia facts and scITECH ON TV. The archives let you implement a topic you missed or weren't ready to use in your curriculum when it was an active unit. HOMEWORK WIZARD is a collection of resources for searches, reference, science questions and a Science Fair listing for individual and class projects.

Tips for Kids

www.tipsforkids.com/

Tips for Kids is an investment education program for grades 6-8 from American Century. The free online curriculum is a 10-week unit taught 2-3 hours per week.

The program is divided into four modules: MONEY AND ME, ECONOMIC ENCOUNTERS, MASTERING FINANCES and BUSINESS BUILDING. From the history of money to the building of a stock portfo lio, students will involved in hands-on learning with a variety of projects, activities and discussions. A LEARNING LOG and PORTFOLIO MANAGER lets you monitor student progress.

For more information about this free economics program, call 800-345-2021, ask for extension 55151.

Linda Lindroth is a K-5 Technology Teacher, a Teaching Editor and Website Coordinator for Teaching K-8. E-- mail: Linda@TeachingK-8.com