Students create their own tour on Google Earth using locations selected by the classroom teacher. They add the locations to Google Earth, add a fact about it and turn it into a tour.

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This is the time of year when teachers worry about math facts and the automaticity of math skills. The following websites focus solely on that facet of math. I’ve broken them down by grade level, but you can decide if your second graders are precocious enough to try the websites for grades 3-5 (click here for an UTD list):

K

• K Math Skills
• Math Videos (not practice, but fun to watch)
• Money flashcards
• Numbers

1^st

• First Grade math skills
• Money flashcards
• Numbers

2^nd

• Math Flashcards
• Math Practice Test
• Mental Math
• Mental Math Drills
• Minute Math
• More Quick Math
• Multiplication Tables (more…)

This list covers all sorts of science from nature to geology. Like with the math websites, for my students, occasionally I put a list on the internet start page and let students go there during sponge time (click the link and see what’s up this month, so close to the end of the school year): BTW: Links go bad. Click here for an updated list.

1. Breathing earth–the environment
2. Dynamic Earth–interactive
3. Earth Science Digital Library
4. Electric Circuits Game
5. Forest Life
6. Forests
7. Geologic history
8. Geologic movies–great and fun
9. Human Body Games
10. Moon around
11. Moon—We Choose the Moon (more…)

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!Q: How often should I back up my current project? How about my whole hard drive?

A: I teach my students to save early, save often when they’re working on a project. You decide what you can tolerate losing. Ten minutes or Ten hours. After all, if the computer loses your work, you’re the one who has to start over.

As for the entire computer, once a week is good. Me, I save each project I’m working on and then save-as to a back-up location. I hate losing my work.

BTW, most people skip this. Don’t! It’s easy.

Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I’ll answer it within the next thirty days.

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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…)

Every Friday, I’ll send you a wonderful website (or more) that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.

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As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!Q: My homepage got hijacked! I mean, it no longer opens up to what it used to. How do I fix that?

A: Go to the page you want as your homepage. Here’s what you do next:

• If you’re in Firefox, go to Tools–Options
• Click on General
• Click the button that says, Use Current
• Say OK

If you use IE: (more…)

This list has a little bit of everything, and will kick-start your effort to put technology into your lesson plans:

1. 10 Tech Alternatives to Book Reports
2. Analyze, read, write literature
3. Animations, assessments, charts, more
4. Biomes/Habitats—for teachers
5. Create a magazine cover
6. Create free activities and diagrams in a Flash! (more…)

Second graders (sometimes first graders) learn about money. The only way to really ‘get it’ is by repetition, so I came up with a list of websites to provide redundancy for each type of learner. Thought I’d share them with you (check here for link updates):

1. Coin Counting
2. Counting Money
3. Money—counting
4. Piggy Bank
5. Pick A Coin
6. H.I.P. Pocket Change
7. Cash Out

Do you have any to add to this list? These are mostly for youngers–I’d love some for older age groups. (more…)