Basic Information

This page is organized into four major sections:

• A Tip About What To Do Next
  Think about access, availability, appropriateness for student use, and how these online resources will support your lesson.

• Texas Information
  This is a fairly comprehensive list of Texas online resources, some old, some new.

• Student-Centered Resources
  If you're looking for "kid-safe" resources, here are some good ones.

• Cross-Curricular Sites
  These are especially useful for elementary and multiple subject teachers.

A Tip about what to do next:

Be sure to check these out yourself before having your students use them. Remember...

• Not all information on the Internet is filtered for accuracy or appropriateness for a K-12 audience.
• Some sites get busy as the day goes on, so you may wish to check their availability at different times of the day.
• Also some on-line projects require pre-registration for your class to participate.

Here's an example of the use of a Scavenger Hunt to support teaching and learning, suggested by a teacher named George Davis:

In my classes, I use Internet Scavenger Hunts as a way of allowing my students to problem-solve; improve their reading and comprehension skills; and learn how to search for various items on the Internet, using more than just Yahoo! As a result, the students' reading comprehension has increased, and overall, their problem-solving skills have improved. To find some scavenger hunts that are suitable for your class, use Alta Vista to search for them. One of the most famous hunts is "CyberSurfari"--a yearly Internet event with individual and group prizes. I recommend hunts as a fun way to actively engage students in information gathering.

Next, ask yourself these questions:

• How do these resources accommodate different strategies for different learners?
• Are they accessible for students with physical or learning disabilities?
• Do they work?
• Do they fit into your time frame, both for development and within your class schedule?
• How do they add value to your lesson?
• How does the method of instruction in the lesson support both the content to be covered and your own teaching style?
• How is the learning environment enriched with information, guidance, and support?
• How did the lesson support your students in pursuing goals that they feel are relevant?

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Texas Information

• Armadillo's WWW Server
  Texas Studies Information and Instructional Resources. A great resource for finding out about general Texas information, Texas history and social studies, Texas maps and travel, weather and environment, and much, much more. Note: this was last updated in October 1998.
• TENET
  The Texas Education Network's purpose is to provide the most useful, up-to-date resources for the education community, including teachers, administrators, parents and students. Tenet contains resources for educators, K-12 schools on the Web, and technical support for Texas teachers. Two content-specific sites that are housed at TENET are listed below:
  • Mathematics TEKS Toolkit: Mathematics Center for Educator Development The Mathematics TEKS Toolkit is intended to provide resources for implementing the mathematics Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and for improving mathematics programs in Texas.
  • Science TEKS Toolkit The purpose of the Science TEKS Toolkit is to provide the science education community with resources for implementing the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for science.
• Social Studies Center Funded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and maintained by Educational Service Center Region VI in Huntsville and its partner universities, the Social Studies Center provides professional development in curriculum and assessment, as well as resources aligned with the TEKS, for social studies educators.
• Technology Applications: Center for Educator Development
  Sponsored by the Texas Center for Educational Technology (TCET), this site contains resources for instruction, assessment, professional development, and program development, along with links to the TEKS, all twenty ESCs, and the Texas Education agency (TEA). If you go to the Instruction index page, you will find samples and examples of teaching and learning projects and lesson plans using technology.
• Texas Reading Initiative
  This site, funded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) contains information, research, best practices, and products that address reading and literacy. However, there are no lesson plans on this site.
• Utopia for Educators
  A resource from the University of Texas at Austin. Contains a searchable database of lessons.

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Student-Centered Resources

• Annenberg/CPB Exhibits
  Annenberg/CPB Exhibits are interactive extensions of a concept or theme explored in one of our video resources. Teachers! you can learn more about the video resources that inspired our exhibits and visit a related teacher professional development workshop or course available for free from Annenberg/CPB.
• Ask Jeeves for Kids
  This is a search engine for kids. Students type a question on any subject and click "ask". Then the Web site gives them a list of sites that may have the answer to their question.
• Classroom 101
  Classroom 101 is Youth and Children Net/Streetcats Foundation's Web site with exciting, educational projects to do for your class this term. You'll find great homework, study and class resources and ideas for special projects and assignments. There is also an associated Student Study Center. Be sure to also see the Kid Surf and High School Central sites too.
• Gander Academy's Theme-Related Resources
  Created at Gander Academy in Newfoundland, this site contains links to carefully filtered, child-safe sites suitable for primary school activities. Rather than using a search engine, children can search this directory for information related to ecosystems, rainforests, space, endangered species, world nations, language arts sites, and many, many more.
• KidsKonnect.com
  This is a safe Internet portal for children, parents, and teachers, created and maintained by a teacher at a model technology school in Illinois. There are a myriad of subject areas addressed, including museums, sports, history, animals, countries, health, science, holidays, and the like. It is incredibly easy for children to use and is safe, as all sites are checked on a regular basis to make sure they are still "live" and have no inappropriate links. There are hundreds of pages for children to choose from.
• Kidspace
  Sponsored by the University of Michigan, the Internet Public Library's Kidspace area has many activities for young students, including ask a question, culture quest, science fair, story hour, and many others.
• Taylor Road Middle School's Virtual Library
  This Web site was built by a middle school in the Atlanta, Georgia suburbs. Students can find resources in a variety of academic subject areas.
• Yahooligans
  This is a child-safe search engine. Topics are organized into foreign countries and their holidays; arts and entertainment; computers and games; academic subjects; science and nature; and sports and recreation.

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Cross-Curricular Sites

• Blue Web'n
  Blue Web'n is an online library of 1700+ outstanding Internet sites categorized by subject, grade level, and format (lessons, activities, projects, resources, references, & tools). You can search by grade level (Refined Search), broad subject area (Content Areas), or specific sub-categories (Subject Area).
• Challenge County
  This Web site is funded by the Technology Literacy Grant Consortium. Its purpose is to consolidate resources to help teachers integrate technology into Language Arts and Mathematics.
• Chico High School Library, Chico, California
  Helpful Bookmarks From The Chico High School Library: A Good Ideas School Library Selected By The California School Library Association. An excellent high school library site with links to just about any curriculum area imaginable!
• DiscoverySchool
  This Web site has hundreds of lesson plans written by teachers in all curriculum areas.
• The Educational CyberPlayground
  This large site contains a wealth of information for teachers and students. Under the Teachers section you'll find some good links such as different teaching styles and focus, resources and tools for digital equity, and a database of educational resources, organized by subject.
• Enchanted Learning
  This is a wonderful site for preK-3 students that features early childhood education themes, activities, crafts, rhymes, quizzes, holidays, flags, animal pictures, and a varied assortment of resources and activities for young children.
• Houghton Mifflin's Education Place
  Education Place provides free K-8 resources for teachers, students, and parents. Check out their Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies Centers, searchable activity database, educational games, collaborative projects, textbook support, online store, and more!
• LessonPlanz.com
  LessonPlanz.com is searchable directory of free online lesson plans and lesson plan resources for all grades and subjects. Its A to Z Teacher Stuff page contains a searchable database of 269 original lesson plans submitted by teachers.
• LETSNet: from Michigan State University College of Education and Ameritech
  LETSNet is a dynamic on-line environment where teachers can develop their understandings of the Web and find ways to effectively use - or make sense of - the World-Wide Web in their classrooms. Resources are organized around classroom teachers' stories, including lesson plans, curriculum standards and guides, pointers to e-mail discussion lists, and many other Internet and Web materials.
• MaMaMedia's Web page.
  This is a "kid-friendly", high-end Web site that may not be accessible for learners with disabilities. Membership is free. There's an area for "grownups" and teachers too, but beware of all the advertising.
• Marshall Elementary School, Lewisburg, Tennessee
  This is Hazel Jobe's excellent website. Check "Sites and Suggestions" in the Internet Integration section - this is a list compiled from many teachers who found these sites particularly useful - with lesson ideas, class projects, and suggestions for integrating them into the curriculum.
• National Geographic
  The National Geographic Society’s Education Program works with educators all over the country to produce lessons, units, and activities designed to bring geography into the classroom. There is a searchable database of online resources by subject, resource type, or grade.
• National Geographic's Xpeditions
  This is an extensive lesson plan bank. The lesson plans on this site were written by educators and have been tested in the classroom. Together, they address all of the U.S. National Geography Standards, the five geography skills, and the main geographic perspectives.
• Second Grade Treasure Trove
  The Second Grade Treasure Trove is a Canadian Web site with activities that students can engage in, both in the classroom and at home. The "Click-and-go" activities were created to introduce K-3 students, teachers and parents to grade-level appropriate Internet sites and enhance classroom curriculum.
• Sites for Teachers
  A very comprehensive site with hundreds of lesson plans on all subjects.
• Teachers Network
  Teachers Network.org maintains a searchable database of curriculum and lesson plans, plus other resources for teachers. For example, there are currently over 300 language arts lessons and resources. Registration is required, but it is free.
• Teaching With The Web
  This is a wonderful list of sites divided by grade levels and sorted by themes, put together by the staff at the Educational Technology Center at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. They originally started with sites for grades 3-5 (their largest section), then added K-2, 6-8, and 9-12. The site is well-maintained and is updated frequently.
• ThinkQuest Library
  The ThinkQuest Library is a free educational resource featuring 5,500+ websites created by students around the world as part of a competition. For more information, see the Library FAQ.
• The Viking Treasure Chest of Technology Resources
  The newly released North Canton City School District in Ohio has developed this collection of Internet resources that align to and support the Ohio Academic Content Standards. The idea is to have excellent Web sites linked to each objective in all of the standards. The Treasure Chest is arranged by subject area and then by grade level. For each objective in the standards, there are resource entries, wach with a title, a description, and a link to the Internet resource.

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