Search Results for: 16 great research websites

I published this article in early October, but am republishing it as our American elections are upon us. I got a lot of good feedback from readers, as well as a few new sites, so the collection has increased from 8 to 11:

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In about half the world’s nations–such as those ruled by socialism, communism, dictators, and autocracies–law and order are decided by government agencies, often people placed in power by those already in power. When America wrote its Democracy-based Constitution and Bill of Rights in the late 1700’s, we chose a different route. Called ‘the Grand Experiment’, the founders empowered ordinary citizens–farmers, shopkeepers, laborers, and seamstresses–to elect the individuals who would protect America’s shores, our freedoms, and our way of life. Fifty years after our inception, it was still unclear whether it would work. In fact, Abraham Lincoln warned:

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

A hundred years later, Gore Vidal bemoaned:

“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.”

Still, every four years, Americans make a critical choice that will shape our nation’s path. Because decisions are made by the people rather than government agencies, citizens are expected to research their options and then vote for the Presidential candidate most qualified to fulfill the country’s goals.

With this most influential position up for grabs in just a few months, I’ve curated a list of eight websites to share with students as they prepare for the day they’ll be asked to cast their vote and decide the future. The first five explain elections in general and the next three teach the process through gamification.

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Here are quick, safe spots to send students for research:

1. BrainPop–with the BrainPop characters, a launchpad to curiosity
2. CoolKidFacts–kid-friendly videos, pictures, info, and quizzes–all 100% suitable for children
3. Dimensions–academic research geared for college-level
4. Fact Monster–help with homework and facts
5. Google Earth Timelapse–what changes to the planet over time
6. Google Trends–what’s trending in searches
7. History Channel–great speeches
8. How Stuff Works–the gold standard in explaining stuff to kids
9. Info Please–events cataloged year-by-year
10. National Geographic for Kids
11. Ngram Viewer–analyzes all words in all books on Google Books
12. TagGalaxy–search using a cloud
13. Wild Wordsmyth–picture dictionary for kids
14. World Book–requires membership

Citing Resources

1. BibMe
2. Citation Machine
3. EasyBib

Kids Search Engines

1. Kiddle–visual search engine for kids
2. Kid Rex
3. Kidtopia

How to Research

1. A Google A Day
2. How to Search on Google
3. Power Searching (with Google)
4. Teaching students to search/research
5. Internet Search and Research–a lesson plan for K-8

Lesson Plans

1. Image Copyright Do’s and Don’ts
2. Internet Search and Research

Resources/Research

1. Kids Picture Dictionary
2. Primary Source Documents
3. Talk to Books–research your topic based on books

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Space units are always exciting. Part of it’s the history, but a lot is that space is our final frontier, a wild  untamed land that man knows so little about. I have a list of over 20 websites I use to support this theme for K-8. Here are 10 of my favorites:

100,000 Stars

100,000 Stars is an interactive visualization of the stellar neighborhood showing the real location of over 100,000 nearby stars. You can zoom in on 87 major named stars including our Sun. There’s a brief introduction and a longer tour students can take to get acquainted with the program. From there, it’s intuitive to use with many of the same browsing tools students are used to from other programs.

100,000 Stars is programmed by space enthusiasts at Google. The introductory music is mesmerizing. Put your headphones on and fly.

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243 Great resources for teachers–I’ve collected them for you under 43 categories. Click here to find the links:

Analyze, Compare/Contrast
Assessments
Backchannel Devices
Bookmarking
Classroom Management
Communication
Critical Thinking
Device Management
Digital Portfolios
Discussion Boards
Domain-specific Language
Geography
Google Earth
Graphic Organizers
How-tos
Infographics
Lesson Plans
Listening
Literacy
Math
Note-taking

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I’ve added a new page where I’m collecting data on technology in education. It’s new right now, but drop by for a visit. I have links to source material on:

• Class size
• Cursive
• Handwriting
• Keyboarding
• Overall Educational Achievement
• Teacher Pay

Do you have some favorite research? Add it as a comment to the bottom of the page.

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Updated 11-28-22

Quick, safe spots to send your students for research:

1. BrainPop–with the BrainPop characters, a launchpad to curiosity
2. CoolKidFacts–kid-friendly videos, pictures, info, and quizzes–all 100% suitable for children
3. Dimensions–academic research geared for college-level
4. Fact Monster–help with homework and facts
5. Google Earth Timelapse–what changes to the planet over time
6. Google Trends–what’s trending in searches
7. History Channel–great speeches
8. How Stuff Works–the gold standard in explaining stuff to kids
9. Info Please–events cataloged year-by-year
10. National Geographic for Kids
11. Ngram Viewer–analyzes all words in all books on Google Books
12. TagGalaxy–search using a cloud
13. Wild Wordsmyth–picture dictionary for kids
14. World Book–requires membership

Citing Resources

1. BibMe
2. Citation Machine
3. EasyBib

Kids Search Engines

1. Kiddle–visual search engine for kids
2. Kid Rex
3. Kidtopia

How to Research

1. A Google A Day
2. How to Search on Google
3. Power Searching (with Google)
4. Teaching students to search/research
5. Internet Search and Research–a lesson plan for K-8

Lesson Plans

1. Image Copyright Do’s and Don’ts
2. Internet Search and Research

Resources/Research

1. BrainPOP–Bring learning to your fingertips™ with the BrainPOP® Featured Movie app
2. Kids Picture Dictionary
3. Primary Source Documents
4. SparkVue–collect and display live data from iPhone etc to the iPad
5. Talk to Books–research your topic based on books
6. TED app–TED’s official app presents talks from some of the world’s most fascinating people

Here’s a quick list of websites I use to teach 3rd graders how to write (check here for updates):

1. Adventure Island
2. Character Trading Cards
3. Context Clues Game
4. Context Clues Millionaire
5. Friendly Letter Maker
6. Identify the Main Idea
7. Main Idea Battleship
8. Using a table of contents
9. Words in Context

This isn’t robust enough. Please add a comment with websites you’ve found valuable in teaching the techniques of writing to third graders.

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If your third grader has to write a report about landforms, try these websites (check here for updates to list):

1. About Rivers www.42explore.com/rivers.htm
2. Biomes/Habitats http://www.allaboutnature.com/biomes/
3. Deserts http://www.42explore.com/deserts.htm
4. Explore the Colorado http://www.desertusa.com/colorado/explorriver/du_explorrv.html
5. Geography Activities—for teachers www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/
6. Geography Game—Geospy kids.nationalgeographic.com/Games/GeographyGames/Geospy
7. Geography Quiz Game www.quia.com/pop/114591.html
8. Geography Reading Problems www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=4&que=1
9. GeoNet Game www.eduplace.com/geonet/
10. Labeling Maps www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=LabelMaps
11. Landforms make a greeting www.geogreeting.com/main.html
12. Landforms www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/landforms.htm
13. Landforms—matching games, etc. www.quia.com/jg/29.html
14. Los Angeles River Tour http://www.lalc.k12.ca.us/target/units/river/tour/index.html
15. Map skills www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=3&que=1
16. Mapping Game www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html
17. Rivers Seen from Space http://www.athenapub.com/rivers1.htm
18. The Colorado River http://www.desertusa.com/gc/gcd/du_glencaydam.html
19. What’s on a Map www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/reading.cfm?str=reading&num=8&act=2&que=1
20. Zambezi River Tour http://www.on-the-matrix.com/africa/zambezi.asp

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Here are quick, safe spots to send your students for research (for updates to this list, click here):

1. All-around research site libraryspot.com
2. Dictionary www.dictionary.com
3. Edutainment site—requires subscription www.brainpop.com/
4. General info research www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html
5. Internet research sites for kids http://ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html
6. Kids search engine for the internet kids.yahoo.com (more…)

Since we at Ask a Tech Teacher started this blog thirteen years ago, we’ve had almost 5.6 million views from visitors, about 10,000 followers who have read some or all of our 2,731 articles on integrating technology into the classroom. This includes tech tips, website/app reviews, tech-in-ed pedagogy, how-tos, videos, and more. We have regular features like:

• Weekly Websites and Tech Tips (sign up for the newsletter)
• Edtech Reviews
• Lesson plans

If you’ve just arrived at Ask a Tech Teacher, start here.

It always surprises us what readers find to be the most and least provocative. The latter is as likely to be a post one of us on the crew put heart and soul into, sure we were sharing Very Important Information, as the former. Talk about humility.

Here they are–my top 10 hits of 2021 (though I’ve skipped any that have to do with website reviews and tech tips because they’re covered in separate posts):

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