top10-sites-2012-2013

= Top 10 Sites for 2012-2013 =

toc

Early Childhood

 * **Center on the Social & Emotional Foundations for Early Learning** //(teacher resource)//
 * The CSEFEL (Center on the Social & Emotional Foundations for Early Learning) this positive Behavior Support website offers parent & educator resources for students requiring specific behavioral interventions, or small/large group integration of social/emotional skills.
 * **Duckie Deck** //(educational games)//
 * Preschool-aged games & activities galore.
 * **Internet4Classrooms** //(teacher resource)//
 * Helping students, teachers & parents use the Internet effectively. Activities are separated by grade level, & cover PreK through 12th grades.
 * **PBS Kids** //(educational games)//
 * This website has activities & videos based on many of the PBS children's television shows.
 * **PreKinders** //(teacher resource)//
 * A blog with resources for PreK teachers. PreKinders has different theme-based ideas & activities, along with printables.
 * **Priory Woods Resources** //(educational games)//
 * Another website with tons of activities & games aimed at preschoolers & primary grades.
 * **Smart Apps for Kids** //(app resource)//
 * This website provides apps that have gone free for a limited period of time, as well as apps listed by subject & age. Also provides reviews to specific apps.
 * **Starfall** //(educational games)//
 * An educational, pre-literacy & phonics website with many different age appropriate activities. A popular choice for PreK & kindergarten teachers.
 * **Steve Spangler Science** //(science)//
 * Awesome ideas, resources & information about many scientific experiments, facts, etc. Popular with primary educators as well.
 * **We Give Books** //(language arts)//
 * Access free online books. The more books your students read, the more books are donated to children in need. This website provides stories read out loud along with literacy resources for educators.

Elementary

 * **Arcademic Skill Builders** //(student resource)//
 * This site is full of fun & free online multi-player educational games in the areas of math, language arts, vocabulary, & thinking skills.
 * **Google Docs** //(online office suite)//
 * Create, share, & collaborate on the web with documents, spreadsheets, presentations, & more. It is a great tool for encouraging students to write. Have students peer edit or add comments.
 * **Kerpoof Studio** //(creativity tool)//
 * Kerpoof’s multimedia software is used to create artwork, animated movies, stories, greeting cards, & more. The site offers many lesson ideas to enhance classroom activities using Kerpoof studio.
 * **Smart Apps for Kids** //(teacher resource)//
 * Posts apps that have gone free for education. Geared toward PreK & elementary.
 * **Starfall** //(student resource)//
 * This website teaches kids to read with phonics & basic math concepts.
 * **StudyJams** //(student resource)//
 * It is a collection of lesson plans that address math & science content through rich media.
 * **Sumdog** //(math)//
 * Students love Sumdog! They can play math games, earn coins, & visit Sumdog’s shop. Students can play their classmates or worldwide. Try entering your school in a math competition. The kids go crazy with math!
 * **Teach Your Monster to Read**//(language arts)//
 * This free site provides an addicting game design that works on letters, sound, & phonics. Kindergarten students love it!
 * **We Give Books** //(language arts)//
 * A free website that offers access online books. The more books your students read on this site, the more books are donated to children in need.
 * **Wordle** //(language arts)//
 * Wordle is a free website that generates “word clouds” from text that you provide. You can change the fonts, layouts, & color schemes of your clouds.

Primary

 * **A Maths Dictionary for Kids** //(math)//
 * An animated & interactive online math dictionary with over 600 mathematical terms in simple language that students can understand.
 * **Blabberize** //(creativity tool)//
 * Create a talking picture. Kids will love it.
 * **ClassTools - BrainyBox** //(presentation tools)//
 * Add content like text, video, images, & links to each side of a cube.
 * **Incredibox** //(music)//
 * Create human beat-box like music with style.
 * **KidRex** //(research tool)//
 * Kid safe search engine that screens sites for inappropriate material powered by Google custom safe search & their own broad database.
 * **ReadWriteThink - Student Interactives** //(language arts)//
 * A collection of online interactive literacy tools. Various topics in five categories – Organizing & Summarizing, Inquiry & Analysis, Writing Poetry, Writing & Publishing Prose, & Learning About Language. Two of the interactives – //Trading Cards// & //Word Mover// are free iPad apps.
 * **Silk** //(art)//
 * An interactive site where students can drag their mouse around on the page to create beautiful weaving & whirling designs.
 * **WatchKnowLearn** //(video resource)//
 * FREE quality educational videos that cover all major topics from elementary to secondary, & are kid safe.
 * **Wonderville** //(science)//
 * Games, videos, comics, & activities for learning about science & technology. Topics include computing, energy, engineering, environment, investigation, & nano technology. Divided into three sections – Fun Science, Neat Jobs, & Awesome Tech.
 * **Youngzine** //(social studies)//
 * An online source of news, sports, & entertainment. There are stories to read, videos to watch, & a U Write section for students to become a reporter & write. Plus a Google Map with latest news from around the world.

Middle School

 * **Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners** //(teacher resource)//
 * Susan Oxnevad's tips for effective technology integration.
 * **Educational Technology & Mobile Learning** //(teacher resource)//
 * Resource of educational web tools & tips about integrating technology into education.
 * **Edudemic** //(teacher resource)//
 * A resource of educational technology tips, tools, & visuals.
 * **Free Technology for Teachers** //(teacher resource)//
 * Richard Byrne is the creator of this award-winning site. He shares information about free resources for teachers.
 * **Kathy Schrock's Home Page** //(teacher resource)//
 * Kathy Schrock's site is a resource about embedding technology into teaching & learning.
 * **Kathy Schrock - Infographics as a Creative Assessment** //(presentation tool)//
 * Kathy Schrock's site has many resources about constructing infographics.
 * **Kleinspiration** //(teacher resource)//
 * Erin Klein is a classroom teacher & creator of this award-winning site.
 * **Pixlr** //(photo editing tool)//
 * A free online photo editor. Edit, adjust, & filter images. Pixlr Editor is for advanced editing. Pixlr Express allows simple editing options & a chance to be creative. Pixlr-o-matic is for a quick touch-up or resizing. Check out their apps – //Pixlr// //Express PLUS// & //Pixlr-o-matic//.
 * **TeachHUB - 100+ Google Tricks for Teachers** //(google tools)//
 * Tricks & tips about using Google Search, Gmail, Google Docs, & Google Calendar.
 * **ThingLink** //(presentation tool)//
 * Add music, voice, video, & text to images & make them interactive.

High School

 * **Google Art Project** //(art)//
 * 230 stunning museum collections from around the world; these high-quality images are excellent for setting the scene for new units for impromptu writing in all subject areas.
 * **Google Trends** //(google tool)//
 * Pair this tool with an infographic site to have students present on search trends in Google.
 * **Historypin** //(social studies)//
 * Blend history with Pinterest & Google Earth & you have a collaborative tool to explore the history of a specific location (contribute or explore).
 * **How to Smile** //(teacher resource)//
 * Explore & contribute to STEM activities beyond the classroom.
 * **Infographic Creators - easel.ly, Infogr.am, & Visual.ly** //(presentation tool)//
 * Students practice numerous skills when compiling an infographic, foremost statistical analysis & visual design. These tools make it a breeze to create compelling visuals.
 * **lettrs** //(language arts)//
 * Traditional letter writing with a 2.0-twist! Compose your letter online, choose a handwritten font & hit send. Great tool for creating meaningful writing in all subject areas.
 * **Library of Congress** //(social studies)//
 * Explore the history of the U.S. in minute detail as you zoom in on b/w photos or Alexander Hamilton’s signature, listen to recordings of veterans, & find lessons to inspire your students to make their own history.
 * **The Kid Should See This** //(video resource)//
 * Awesome blog of videos chosen for their appeal to kids. Inspiring & informative videos for all learners.
 * **The National Archives - Docs Teach** //(social studies)//
 * Access the vast primary document resources of The National Archives; discover lessons or share your own inspired teaching.
 * **WorldCat**//(student resource)//
 * Looking for a book your library doesn’t have? WorldCat lets you search publicly accessible library catalogs to find the nearest location with your book.

Secondary

 * **101questions** //(math)//
 * Show your students something to spark their curiosity & get them asking questions.
 * **Autodesk 123D** //(creativity tool)//
 * A downloadable suite of CAD (computer-aided design) tools available for the computer & iPad.
 * **ClassTools - Fakebook** //(presentation tool)//
 * Create a fake Facebook profile for a character or historical person. Don't forget to check out the Fakebook Gallery for more inspiration.
 * **Crash Course!** //(video resource)//
 * Entertaining educational overviews over topics in World History, American History, English Literature, Biology, Chemistry, & Ecology.
 * **Gooru** //(research tool)//
 * Science, math, social studies, & language arts resources for 5th-12th. Find multimedia resources, digital textbooks, videos, games, & quizzes.
 * **PicLits** //(language arts)//
 * A creative writing site that matches images with selected keywords in order to capture the essence, story, & meaning of the picture.
 * **Project Noah** //(science)//
 * A platform to collaborative, explore, & document wildlife in your community. Under the Missions tab, there are projects to make contributions to with images or observations. There is also a free iPod app.
 * **Soundation** //(music)//
 * Simpler & similar to GarageBand. A music creation tool, where students can mix & remix music loops together to create original music
 * **This Exquisite Forest** //(art)//
 * Students can work collaboratively to create a short animated story, with each animation building off the previous branches.
 * **Timelines.tv** //(social studies)//
 * Timelines over important eras in U.S. & European history. Each timeline includes videos, images, & descriptions.

SPED Learners

 * **Autism Inspiration** //(autism resource)//
 * A resource for parents & teachers of children with autism spectrum behaviors. The website has resources including lesson plans, games, group activities, sensory integration ideas, & more.
 * **Bookshare** //(language arts)//
 * An online accessible digital library for books & periodicals. It is a free service, & has over 127,000 digital books. A teacher account is required.
 * **Focused Learning Solutions** //(autism resource)//
 * Susan Norwell works with students on the severe end of the Autism Spectrum & girls with Rhett Syndrome. She brings amazing results & success to these students!
 * **Glogster EDU** //(presentation tool)//
 * A complete educational solution for digital & mobile teaching & learning for students of all ages. An online poster creation tool. Add text, images, videos, & audio. Requires a free account.
 * **Jill Kuzma's SLP Social & Emotional Skill Sharing Site** //(teacher resource)//
 * A great website with many ideas & activities for beefing up students’ social/emotional skills.
 * **OCALI** //(autism resource)//
 * Ohio Center for Autism & Low Incidence website’s offers copious resources for educators of students with special needs.
 * **Pinterest** //(teacher resource)//
 * A wonderful way to access many resources/blogs/apps designed for students with special needs & teachers.
 * **Playing With Words 365** //(teacher resource)//
 * A very informative blog by a Speech Language Pathologist. Lots of great ideas, resources & activities!
 * **Therapy Fun Zone** //(teacher resource)//
 * Another great blog by an Occupational Therapist. Must see!
 * **Wolfram Alpha** //(search engine)//
 * A “computational knowledge engine”. Think of it as Google/encyclopedic knowledge for our students with special needs.

//Last Updated - April 2014//