Resources


 * Educational Resources**

As a teacher you have a myriad of possibilities when it comes to finding good resources for the classroom. From the World Wide Web to library databases, just about everything you need is right at your fingertips. This portion of the class is basically designed to introduce you to what's out there. What you do with these resources is up to you.

**Library Resources**
Power Library - available on many school library Web sites as well as most if not all PA county library systems. The links are password protected, so right now you can only view what is available.

Look here at the Penn State Library's "Try These First" page. Many schools have the Gale Virtual Reference Library, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, and ProQuest. Imagine having your students use these resources in your classroom. Take some time to peruse what might be available. Overall content will vary from school to school.

Some schools may subscribe to a ProQuest service called eLibrary: Curriculum Edition. This can be an invaluable tool for student research, collaborative learning, and ideas for teaching. This link is password protected.

In addition, many schools are subscribers to netTrekker, an educational service that acts as a search engine. It helps students find relevant Web sites already screened for appropriateness and accuracy and helps rid a search of meaningless garbage that students often have to sift through with Google or Yahoo.

**Web Tools**
Citation Machine is a nice tool for students who need to quickly and accurately cite material for their work.

Does anyone have a Delicious account? This is an online bookmarking tool that stores your favorite Web site. You can also make them available to anyone so they can import yours into their account, and vice-versa. It makes for a great online collaboration and sharing tool. You can have your students use Delicious for class projects or resource sharing.

You are currently using another excellent classroom resource, an online collaboration site called Wikispaces. A wiki is simply a Web site that allows users to collaborate and make changes to the content (hence, Wikipedia). Wikispaces is not the only wiki resource for classrooms out there (PBWorks is another) but I have found it to be the best, though not always reliable (wiki-editing technology is not yet perfect). I've used Wikispaces as a replacement for standard poster projects. Students can work collaboratively to create something much better than a poster, with the capability of adding pictures, embedding YouTube videos, etc. Go ahead and create an account if you'd like. I'll guide you through it if you have any questions. You can certainly use Wikispaces (or any of these resources) in your unit plan.

The following are some excellent Web-based resources that you and your students can take advantage of. Take about 20 minutes to browse through them.

21st Century School Teacher (clearinghouse of great Web tools)

Edmodo

EduBlogs

EduCanon (create interactive videos)
Filamentality

FunnelBrain

Glogster

Google Classroom Tools

Moodle (set up a classroom community with discussion threads, projects, etc.)

Omeka (create online exhibits)
PollEverywhere (polling through text messaging)

PowToon

Prezi (unique online presentation builder - good alternative to PowerPoint, and students love it!)

ReadWriteThink (check out Student Materials)

Socrative

Schoology (similar to Moodle and Edmodo)

ScootPad

TeacherTube (safe alternative to YouTube)

ThingLink (create interactive presentations)
TimeGlider (good timeline maker)

TimelineJS (another timeline maker)

Timetoast (another timeline maker)

UDL Book Builder

Voki (create talking characters/avitars)

Webquest.org

Web Poster Wizard

WeVideo

**Sites for Teachers**

The Educator's Reference Desk

Google for Educators

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators

Lesson Planet

Lesson Plans Page

SitesForTeachers.com

**Just a Few Social Studies Links**
The Choices Program

Discovery Education

Digital History

EdSitement

Historical Thinking Matters

Historical Thinking Project

Instructional Resources - Social Studies (Colorado Dept. of Education)

izzit.org (current events)

PBS Social Studies

Social Studies for Kids

Stanford History Education Group

Teaching American History

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