Volume 1, No. 6
21 June, 2002
[To view this newsletter on line:
http://www.emck.net/eline/02_06_21.htm]
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Need something to do this summer? Send The
Help Desk your favorite on-line resource!
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 Questions
about The Help Desk? Confused about who we are, what we do, how
resources make it into our newsletter? Take a look at the new
Help Desk information
page!
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| On-line Lesson Planning |
 Education
Place
http://www.eduplace.com/
A service of the textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin,
this site is loaded with lots of resources. There's a listing of
themes for each month, a searchable database of websites (most
"hits" are not commercial sites), some on-line educational
activities (including Wacky Web Tales, a "Mad-Lib"-style
parts-of-speech exercise), as well as an extensive collection of
searchable text-format classroom activities listed by subject. There are
also on line resources for use with their textbooks.
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| Content Area Resources |
| The Arts |
 The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Teachers
http://www.rockhall.com/programs/plans.asp
Believe it or not, this symbol of American popular
music has provided a wide range of web-delivered lesson plans
integrating examples of popular music into cultural and social
history. There are even lesson plans for the use of music in
developing problem-solving skills, and examining philosophy! The
plans include links to the site's biographical sketches of artists.
Unfortunately, copyright prevents the plans from including sound
samples of the songs themselves. |
| Mathematics |
Math Goodies
http://www.mathgoodies.com/
They want to sell you the CDs, but a lot of the contents
are freely available on line. Mrs. Glosser is a real person, and the
designer of the website. The lesson plans are interactive and
self-directed, and aimed primarily at middle school students. |
| Reading |
 Web
English Teacherhttp://www.webenglishteacher.com/
The product of English teacher Carla Beard, Web
English Teacher is an amazing collection of resources aimed at
secondary English instruction. There aren't many materials actually
hosted on this site (the "Just for fun" department is an
exception), but the sheer quantity of links to resources off-site
make this a rich place to visit! |
| Science |
 The
Weather Classroomhttp://www.weather.com/education/
Weather.com and The Weather Channel sponsor this
resource. The site has a good collection of lesson ideas and website
links associated with weather. But, more importantly, there is a
schedule of broadcasts for the Weather Channel's educational shows,
"The Weather Classroom." These shows can be taped directly
from The Weather Channel's cable presence at 4:00 am ET, and are
commercial free and copyright-clear for use in the classroom. The
website has teacher's guides for the broadcasts.
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| Social Studies |
 Colonial
Williamsburg
http://www.history.org/
The website for the Colonial Williamsburg
historical theme park has a listing
of lesson plans embedded within the site, several of which are
appropriate for middle school social studies classes. The park also
offers summer historical institutes and retreats for teachers, as
well as pay "electronic field trips" which have complete
teaching materials and on-line support to supplement scheduled live
broadcasts through cable feeds. |
| Writing |
 John
F. Barber, PhD.
http://www.brautigan.net/john/
Dr. Barber is a professor of rhetoric and linguistics at
the University of Texas at Dallas, and although most of his site is
dedicated to his college classes, his Eazy
Peazy Guide to Creative Writing Ideas (click on E.Z. Guides) is a nice place to go if you've
run out of writing prompts! The "engines" select the various
prompts, quotes, profundities, etc., at random - fun! [updated
7/1/04] |
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| Software Sources |
 Winzip
http://www.winzip.com/
Don't be fooled by the $29.95 price tag on the home page
- the free shareware version is fully functional.  Winzip
is an indispensable compression utility
for Windows users wanting to attach documents to emails or post them on
websites, but are concerned about file size. Word, PowerPoint, and other
Microsoft Office productivity documents are often reduced to 10% of their
original size by Winzip. Does your school email system automatically
delete attached executables? Winzip 'em up, and they won't be touched! You can also bundle
several documents into one
Winzip file, simplifying file transferring. For Mac users, the standard is Stuffit,
which will uncompress Winzip files, and is also available in a Windows version. |
| Idea Exchange |
We need your help!
Send hints, helps and resources to eline@emck.net
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| Professional Resources |
 Tapped
In
http://www.tappedin.org/
TAPPED IN™ is " . . . the online workplace of an
international community of education professionals. K-12 teachers and
librarians, professional development staff, teacher education faculty and
students, and researchers engage in professional development programs and
informal collaborative activities with colleagues." There are on-line
discussion forums with leading educators, discussion lists, class hosting,
even a help desk with answers in real time. Operated by SRI, and sponsored
by the National Science Foundation and Sun Microsystems.
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