WEB WATCH: TOP WEBSITES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

THE WEBSITES described here offer excellent Internet-based resources, ideas, information, and interactive activities to elementary school teachers. We designed this column to save teachers’ time and share some valuable resources that are sure to prove helpful in busy elementary classrooms. www.teachnology.com The TeAch-nology website provides a selection of educational resources that can be downloaded at no charge, including lesson plans, rubrics, worksheet makers, teaching tips, and Web tools for teachers. In addition to these free materials, the site includes three membership options for various extra benefits and links to dozens of other educational websites. www.edhelper.com This site presents a collection of online materials that can be integrated into an elementary classroom. Teachers visiting the site can build puzzles, download free worksheets, create spelling and phonics tests, and generate ideas for incorporating technology into their instruction. Edhelper presents suggestions for themes (e.g., Chinese history, Earth Day), art projects (e.g., animals that live in wetlands), and daily materials (e.g., sample writing prompts, skill reviews). www.busyteacherscafe.com The Busy Teachers Cafe offers comprehensive materials for grades K-3. The site includes a monthly resource page, various unit plans, ideas for learning centers, and classroom management tricks and tips. The site provides links not only to other education sites but to websites created by different classrooms at different grade levels. www.edupuppy.com Edupuppy allows visitors to access unit and lesson plans. The site also offers tips for integrating technology into the classroom, timely articles on education-related topics, and thousands of printable materials. Edupuppy presents links to other education sites, including the site for a U.S. Department of Education NCLB toolkit for teachers and a site that features multimedia stories for students. www.123child.com This website provides many fun and exciting activities for the elementary grades, including a “Themes by the Month” option that pairs monthly observances with related unit themes. For example, Better Sleep Month might be matched with the theme of hibernation. The site also features an interactive bulletin board that allows teachers to share ideas and advice. www.brainpop.com Brainpop is a site designed to allow subscribing teachers and students of all ages to download and watch interactive, standards-based education movies. The movies are organized by content areas and themes, including health, science, technology, math, English, and social studies