Instructional+Resources

= **Instructional Resources - Lessons/Activities & Curriculum Ideas** =

Below you will find a list of resources utilized by students of Walden University. This page is designed to specifically focus on online resources identified by teachers to improve classroom lessons/activities. Each site has been reviewed by a member of the Walden Community using a rating scale 1 - 5.

1 - (Website falls far below average) to 5 - (Website is excellent resource)

Each resource will be reviewed using the following criteria: 1. ORIGIN -What is the website's origin? 2. DESIGN -Is the website well designed? 3. CONTENT -Is the website's content meaningful in terms of its educational value? 4. ACCESSIBILITY -Is the website accessible 5. CURRENCY - Is the website current?

__Elementary Resources__
===Storybird.com=== This is a great site that can be used for all grades, but really appreciated by elementary students! Artists from all over summit their artwork to be used as inspiration for the storytellers (which are the students!). Teachers can create a profile for each of their students, assign writing prompts and monitor their progress. This site is great for students who love to create stories, students who have trouble getting started writing and anyone who loves to write! Here is an example of a second grader's story! It is a very simple site to use. Sign up is easy to find on the homepage and the steps to setting up a profile for each student are easy to follow.

~ Allison Holland

=== [|DE Science] === This is a fantastic resource for elementary students. The site has an interactive glossary with hundreds of vocabulary words. Each word has a definition, animation, video and pictures associated with it. The resources also include interactive lessons called Fundamentals, and Virtual Labs. These lessons can be used with the whole class on the SMART Board or assigned individually in the computer lab. DE Science also offers thousands of video clips from United Streaming, whole episodes from MythBusters and Jeff Corwin Adventures, and an interactive Atlas.

~ Chris Stewart

=== **ReadWriteThink.org ** === This website has classroom resources such as lesson plans, calendar activities and printouts. They also have a professional development section that offers strategy guides, a professional library and online professional development. Parent and after school resources are broken down by grade level and offer a plethora of resources and activities for kids of all ages. This website also offers interactive activities for students to use in a computer lab. Each activity requires the students to input information, and then the website turns the information into a final product. Examples include acrostic poetry, comic strip builders and playing card creators. My teachers have used this resource for years and they love it. And best of all, it's free!

~ Chris Stewart

===**Stratalogica **=== The era of pull down maps in the classroom is over! Stratalogica uses the Google Earth engine to provide maps. You can use dual-map viewer to compare and contrast various maps, you can view Google Earth 3D buildings, you can see current events listed on maps, plus there are tons of E-book atlases and PDF lessons that are pre-made and ready for immediate use. The website even comes with interactive marking tools for teachers that do not have SMART Boards, but wish to leave annotations on the map. There are multi-media placemarks that provide instant information with the click of a mouse and it allows for collaborative group map customizations. You can even create a presentation using the website, and zoom around the globe as you teach. This website is awesome and a must have for social studies teachers.

~ Chris Stewart

__Middle School Resources__
===[|SMART exchange]    ===

This website has different lesson plans for your SMART board. It has different categories to choose from, for example, grade level and subject. Some of the lesson plans are interactive. I have used several lessons from this website as well as my colleagues. It is great to use!!

~ Demetria McAllister

===**[|Puzzle Maker]   **=== Have you ever wanted to create a fun way for students to learn their vocabulary. Well at Discovery Education's website you can create different puzzles from wordsearches, cross word puzzles, and many more and it's all free. The only thing you have to do is follow the directions they give you and it's easy as 1-2-3!!

- Demetria McAllister

===[|USA Test Prep]    === This website includes online learning tools and and test reviews for state-specific tests for middle school and high school. If your state administers high stakes standardized tests, or if your district gives common assessments/benchmark tests, USA Test Prep is an excellent source of review for students. Students may seek online tutorials, play review games, and take practice tests and quizzes. Students are able to receive immediate feedback instantly. Teachers are able to monitor students progress, give assignments, and analyze data. There is a subscription cost, but it is well worth it! Check it out!

~ Malissa Sauciunas

Mathematics
=== New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning -- Keane University === Sponsored by Keane University, the NJTCL initiated the Progressive Mathematics Initiative (PMI), which provides Smartboard files for free for K-12 subjects. If you register, which is free, it also is a repository of tests and quizzes that can be used. They are continually updating their site, and welcome input from any user or contributor. Hold your cursor over "COURSES" for the math or science options to appear. The initial navigation of the site is tricky, and you have to convince their webmasters that you are really a teacher (usually an school email address is sufficient), but once you get past the opening page, the Smartboard files are great.

~ Todd Deschaine

===[|Jefferson Math Project (JMAP)] === A brief description of the site and its purpose (include the author/owner or publisher) Offers New York teachers free resources that simplify the integration of Regents exam questions into their curriculum. Copyright © 2011 JMAP, Inc. - All rights reserved. Although this is a website designed for Teachers in New York State, there are a lot of great resources for all teachers. If using the topics section, teachers can get worksheets for Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra II/Trig by topic. The content includes recourses for both Amsco and Pearson Textbooks. All the worksheets are broken down by topic.

~ Jason Gunderman

Science
===﻿ New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning -- Keane University === Sponsored by Keane University, the NJTCL initiated the Progressive Science Initiative (PSI), which provides Smartboard files for free for K-12 subjects. If you register, which is free, it also is a repository of tests and quizzes that can be used. They are continually updating their site, and welcome input from any user or contributor. Hold your cursor over "COURSES" for the math or science options to appear. The initial navigation of the site is tricky, and you have to convince their webmasters that you are really a teacher (usually an school email address is sufficient), but once you get past the opening page, the Smartboard files are great.

~ Todd Deschaine

=== [|PE Central] ﻿=== This site covers all facets of Physical Education. It offers lesson ideas for every activity you can think of ranging from Pre-K through 12th grade. It also gives great tips for classroom management ideas and assessment strategies. There is a weekly live blog that gives teachers an opportunity to ask a guest professional a variety of questions related to the field of Physical Education. There are videos available to watch that demo dance lessons and even some that offer ideas on how to resolve issues in class. This site is a must for all physical education teachers. It is very user friendly and can answer any questions you may have about PE.

~ Mike McLaren

=== [|P.E.LINKS4U] === This is another site that is very informative and covers all topics related to Physical Education. It does a great job of covering PE topics on a national level. Health, fitness, and nutrition are discussed at great lengths and many lesson ideas covering these topics are available. National and state standards are listed and ideas on how to incorporate these standards into lessons are also available. School age athletics is discussed in great detail and there as an opportunity to provide feedback on the discussions. This site is also user friendly and can be helpful to many people not just Physical Education teachers.

~ Mike McLaren Other Electives (Career & Industrial Technology Education, Family & Consumer Science, Agriculture, etc.)

=== Smart Technologies Exchange === This is a sharing and collaboration site that is run by Smart Technologies, which makes the Smartboard. There are lessons and files in every subject for every grade level. An excellent resource, and the only reason I did not give it five apples is that I seemed to get a higher amount of unsolicited emails once I registered.

~ Todd Deschaine

===__** [|] [|ASCD – Association for Supervision and Curriculum]﻿**__=== This site has a wealth of information for educators focused on a variety of topics. This associated was founded in 1943 and is an “organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner.” This site contains information for parents, teachers as well as administrators and is updated frequently to include the latest information on best practices. Teachers can access this site to find information on curriculum, lesson ideas/activities, current educational policy and professional development opportunities. There is also an extensive list of blogs that are linked to the site to encourage educators to communicate in an online forum. Although it is easy to be overwhelmed with the vast set of resources found on this site, I found that it is very user friendly and easy to navigate. I currently subscribe to ASCD (it’s free) and receive daily e-mails that highlight current events in education.

This is a great site for educators for all grade level and content areas. I would rate this site a 5.

~ Katie Dorr

**[|edHelper.com]**[[image:MedApple.jpg width="32" height="32"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="32" height="32"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="32" height="32"]]
This site is a great resource for all grade levels created by a team of teachers that supplies everything from graphic organizers to worksheets for use in class. Rather than re-invent the wheel, edhelper.com enables teachers’ access to pre-existing templates and lesson plans. While additional resources are always good to have, edhelper.com worksheets are not always user friendly for purposes of modification. For this reason, edhelper.com earns only three apples.

~ Joe Pluskota

===﻿** [|edutopia] **=== This site was created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation and contains a variety of resources for all grades and content levels. EduTopia contains various lesson plans/activities, videos, and articles that can be easily integrated into the classroom. There is also a place to follow educational blogs and participate in an online community. This site is easy to navigate and contains a wealth of information. You can become a member of this online community (it’s free) to communicate with other educators around the world and receive daily e-mails with updates on current events regarding education.

I discovered this site as part of my first class at Walden and have found many lesson ideas, articles, and activities that have improved my classroom instruction. The daily e-mails are great because they are organized by category and give a brief description of each article, that way I can easily see what catches my interest. I would rate this site a 5 for it’s content, accessibly, organization, and relevancy current issues in education.

~ Katie Dorr

**Samgine.com**[[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]]
This is a website that I use to reward students that have completed their assignments, or if we have free time. Samgine is enigmas spelled backwards, and has a lot of challenging puzzles that are more than just banging on the keyboard. There are groupings by type of puzzle, and by age as well. This site was initially blocked by our district, but after our two curriculum directors spent about six hours on it one weekend, it was opened up. I see a tremendous amount of collaboration between the students to solve the various levels of the puzzles. Be careful or you might wind up wasting lots of time as well!

~ Todd Deschaine

**Discovery Education**[[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]]
Sponsored by the Discovery Channel, Discovery Education requires you to register in order to get access to a lot of their content, but it is free and worth the spam you will get from registering. There are numerous tools available for all grade levels for teachers as well as parents and students. It seems that this site almost has too much content, and may be overwhelming.

~ Todd Deschaine

===[|Teaching Science and Math] === This is a website that provides ideas for teachers integrating science into math or math into science cross-curricular. It also provides case studies, ideas for experiments, and ways to integrate technology into the science and math classroom. This site also provides 20 various Google Docs to use in planning lessons and engaging students.

~ Jennifer Schreiner

===[|PDE Standards Aligned System] === This is a website that provides test creation to match state standards and anchors. It provides example test questions for each specific anchor or standard. This website provides strategies for intervention, curricular connections, additional resources, and instructional strategies based on best practices. It also provides a forum for educators to discuss concerns, questions, strategies, and ideas.

~ Jennifer Schreiner

This website links educators to a variety of online teaching tools and resources. This site offers links to sites that have easy to make rubrics (RubiStar), quizzes (QuizStar), and a variety of other convenient and easy to use teacher resources. There are so many ideas and easy ways to use technology to make teaching easier on this site. I highly recommend taking the time to look through this fantastic resource and find ways that it can help make teaching 21st century skills easier.
 * __ [|4 Teachers] __**[[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]]

~ Jill Morris

This is a site that links to numerous Web 2.0 resources. J’aime Lemmer, who is my school district’s instructional technology resource educator, created this site. J’aime has taken the time to link to many different instructional resource websites. She has a wealth of knowledge and loves sharing new ways to integrate technology into classrooms. To make these resources more available to teachers, she has placed them all under this one URL. This is definitely a great resource to check out and explore all of the great instructional tools available online.
 * [|Only 2 Clicks] **[[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]][[image:MedApple.jpg width="33" height="33"]]

~ Jill Morris

===[|USA Test Prep]    === This website includes online learning tools and and test reviews for state-specific tests for middle school and high school. If your state administers high stakes standardized tests, or if your district gives common assessments/benchmark tests, USA Test Prep is an excellent source of review for students. Students may seek online tutorials, play review games, and take practice tests and quizzes. Students are able to receive immediate feedback instantly. Teachers are able to monitor students progress, give assignments, and analyze data. There is a subscription cost, but it is well worth it! Check it out!

~ Malissa Sauciunas