Teacher Tool of the Week

KnowPlay?
3/29/02- This web site could really simplify your life as well as the lives of your students. It includes a dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, rhyming dictionary and much more in one easy page! Definitely one to bookmark!

Previous Teacher Tools of the Week:

Dr. Seuss Biography
2/24/02- Did you know that Dr. Seuss would celebrate his 98th birthday on March 2nd? Take a closer look at the magical author of so many classics in children's literature.

The Literacy Volunteer Connection
2/10/02- Literacy tutors, reading volunteers, and educators are coming together to deliver the most relevant information about topics ranging from reading aloud and tutoring techniques to ESL literacy and adult literacy.

NOVA Online for Teachers
1/07/02- From the producers of the award-winning PBS series "NOVA," this evergreen resource is newly updated and full of practical resources for teachers. Includes both printable and online activities, as well as teacher ideas.

The United States Flag Page
12/11/01- The American Flag has taken on a much deeper significance in the months following September 11th. Explore its rich heritage and symbolism at this award-winning site.

Fun with Languages
11/23/01- You and your kids will get a real kick out of the various ways you can explore and celebrate languages with this site. Spell your name in heiroglyphs, say "thank you" in dozens of languages, and so much more! Part of the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education's worthwhile network.

KidsNews.com
11/09/01- Billed as "Kids' Writing from Practically Everywhere." A kid-focused community where children can share their thoughts as well as their own writing. Check out the About Us section for a detailed explanation.

TappedIn.org
11/01/01- Membership is free for this international community of education professionals. If you are interested in finding in-depth collaboration among a diverse team of colleagues, give this site a try.

Scholastic.com for Teachers
10/25/01- Peruse the multitude of resources available from the publishing giants at Scholastic. Their site for teachers includes author activities, news, book clubs, and other professional resources.

Brain Challengers
10/18/01- Brain teasers for kids from BrainConnection.com on topics such as the alphabet, phonics, memory, and attention.

100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
10/11/01- Picture books are fabulous teaching tools for kids of all ages. Even adults, actually! Find out which titles you can't afford to miss. From the New York Public Library.

IMA Hero
10/4/01- There's been a lot of talk abour heroes lately. But, the folks at IMA Hero have been highlighting them for quite a long time. This site has a focus on heroes and lots of goodies for teachers.

Study Guides and Strategies
9/24/01- Start your youngsters off on the right foot by teaching them how to develop great study habits. From critical thinking to memorization, it's all here!

Free Printable Math Worksheets
9/3/01- Ever need a quick math worksheet for your students? This site is a great one to bookmark and save for those times in your teaching career when you need something fast!

Publish Your Poetry Online
8/5/01- One of the most magical and inspiring aspects of the web is that kids can see their writing published almost instantly in a totally gratifying format! Use this page to find places to publish student poetry online.

Reading Assessment Calculator
7/9/01- Score your Reading Assessments (also known as Running Records) quickly and accurately with this online calculator!

A Game A Day
6/25/01- Kids and educators can learn about a new online educational game each day. Game topics include vocabulary, logic, history, and much more!

Summer Reading Lists Abound on the Web
6/10/01- Don't just let your students languish over the summer! Give them something worthwhile to do by suggesting appropriate books that will keep their minds active while they're away from school.

Report Card Comments
5/27/01- Ever been at a loss for words when it comes time to describe a child's performance on a report card? Well...um...uh... use this page to put the perfectly proper words on the page!

Wordsmyth.net
5/14/01- Use this combination dictionary/thesaurus to discovery the real, contextual meaning of words. Great for teachers, students, and writers!

Bloom's Taxonomy
5/7/01- Bloom's Taxonomy is an important teaching tool that helps you ask just the right questions to guide your students through the critical steps of learning. See what it's all about with this simple, yet informative, web site.

Reading Level Estimator
04/30/01- An incredibly useful tool for parents and teachers alike who need to help children choose appropriate texts. Simply have a child read a sample passage and this web site teaches you how to estimate the student's reading level!

Worlds of Web Searching
04/23/01- A very kid-friendly guide to finding what you need on the web. This tool walks you through the basics.

Time for Kids
04/16/01- The folks at Time Magazine offer this dynamic web site that helps kids and teachers explore the wide world of nonfiction, something that many students just don't get enough of. Contains games, homework tools, news, discussion areas, and much more!

Idiom of the Day
04/02/01- Do you ever use a common saying and receive blank looks of confusion from your students? Expose the kids to one idiom per day and soon they'll be making the grade!

Design Your Own Tracing Paper
03/26/01- Create custom tracing paper using whatever words you want! Great for spelling words, thematic units, and more!

The Write Fonts
03/19/01- Free fonts that help you help kids learn how to write. Third grade teachers will really appreciate the cursive fonts that are ready for you to download and use in the classroom! Includes D'Nealian, Zaner-Boser, and Getty-Dubay Italic.

Classroom Clipart
03/12/01- Use this wonderful web site to find free clip art for your classroom projects. This searchable database is also categorized into topics, such as dinosaurs, weather, and maps.

What is the Capital of ... ?
03/05/01- Next time you need to know the capital of any place in the world, stop by this simple yet highly informative site. Visitors can even test their knowledge of a given place and its capitals.

EdByDesign
02/19/01- Discover great, practical information about helping kids to learn spelling, reading, math, writing, and more. Perfect for parents and educators alike!

WordCentral
02/05/01- Students can build their own dictionaries, challenge each other with new words each day, and catch the fever for words in this kid-friendly site that teachers love, too!

The Five Paragraph Essay
01/29/01- Discover in-depth ideas for teaching this important skill that students will use for their entire academic careers.

13 Exciting Reading Activities for Children
01/22/01- In a reading rut? Get inspired by this collection of easy-to-implement ways to help young readers respond to books.

MySchoolOnline.com
01/15/01- Thought about putting together a classroom web site? MySchoolOnline.com is the most popular way for teachers to get on the web. See how easy it can be - really! For examples of classroom web sites from around the world, visit our Class Acts section.

A-Book-A-Week Instruction
01/08/01- A guide to appropriate story books for each week of the school year with coordinating lesson plans and activities. Lessons are in PDF format.

StateStandards.com
12/24/00- Wow. A site that connects each state's academic standards to relevant lesson plans and resources. A must-see for the 21st century educator.

Calendar Recycling for Teachers
12/13/00- Sign up for this free program and get ready to acquire out-of-date calendars for arts and crafts projects. Especially for teachers!

Glossary Maker and Vocabulary Quiz Builder
12/6/00- Use this web page to make your own customized glossaries and vocabulary quizzes with a few simple clicks of the mouse. It couldn't be easier! From the folks at the Discovery Channel.

A Quotation-a-Day
11/29/00- Quotations are a wonderful springboard for classroom lessons and conversations. Here, you'll find 180 inspirational quotes, one for each day of the school year. How you use them is up to you!

Outline Maps
11/15/00- Look no further for blank outline maps for classroom use. Teaching geography just got a little bit easier with these handy maps just a click away.

MathStories.com
11/8/00- With over 4,000 math word problems for grade school students, this is a site that real teachers will really use! There are even problems that you can match up with literature, science, holidays, and other academic areas.

Free Things for Educators
10/23/00- Visit this highly reliable site every so often and you'll find useful goodies for the classroom. A real teacher updates the site regularly, announcing tons for freebies from all over the web.

Multiplication.com
10/16/00- This site offers tons of useful goodies to help reinforce the times tables. Don't miss the "Games" section, as well as the "Teachers" area. This is the kind of stuff you will print out and use right away!

EveryRule.com
10/9/00- Stop by this simple, yet thorough, site for straightforward rules to tons of popular kids' games. Steal the Bacon, Tag, Capture the Flag, it's all there!

Educational Web Design
10/2/00- The web can help you bring curriculum alive in the classroom! Use this teacher-friendly tool to discover a multitude of web lessons, virtual field trips, Internet scavenger hunts, and more!

A Bird's Eye View of Webcams
9/17/00- Why not show your students live pictures of the places they study? Webcams are a simple way to bring the world into your classroom, in real time! Don't miss the Olympic webcams!

Award-Maker
9/10/00- Create your own customized award certificates by choosing the border and adding your own titles, student names, etc. It only takes a few moments to create and print your own color awards that your students will love!

CyberGuides
8/21/00- Extensive, high-quality lessons and units for popular Children's Books. Use the links on the left to choose the grade level you need.

Book Sale Finder
8/14/00- A simple, always up-to-date way to find out about the book sales going on in your area. Just click on your state and discover the cheap books available by date and location.

Free Business Cards
8/7/00- THIS OFFER IS NOW EXPIRED. When has a teacher ever turned down something that's free? This offer is something you can really use to look more professional and down to business. From the folks at Staples.com.

First Day Checklist
7/31/00- A practical list that teachers, both old and new, can use to ponder and plan for the first days of the school year. The site discusses room set-up, discipline, and supplies, among other important topics.

Ideas for Bulletin Boards
7/24/00- Start the school year right with this batch of fresh new ideas for making the most of your classroom's bulletin boards. Backgrounds, borders, back to school, and more!

Create-A-Venn
7/10/00- Venn Diagrams are an effective way to help your students see contrasts and similarities. Use this easy, free teacher tool to design customized Venn Diagrams for your classroom. Wow!

More Teacher Tools...