Summer – a time for relaxation, picnics, and outings. It is also a time when educators take stock of what they have accomplished and how they can develop future lessons. Here are a few web sites that offer useful classroom tools.
- Verizon Thinkfinity is a personal favorite because of the quality of the items you’ll find here. Lessons are complete with connected links and handouts. The interactives are user friendly and students enjoy learning through the activities. Consider joining the Florida Thinkfinity community and share with other educators.
- Dabbleboard is an online white board that allows you to communicate ideas in a visual manner.
- Dropbox is a must for the educator who likes to have access to files when at home or on the run.
- Hot Potatoes, as indicated on the web site, “includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web.”
Public education must be certain all students understand their rights and responsibilities of being an American citizen. Civics lessons are included in classrooms K-12 and include teaching students to respect the rights of others, to obey rules and laws and to exercise the right to vote in elections. The EL Civics web site provides lessons for use in K-12 classrooms and especially for ESL students. Lessons include handouts, reading selections, photos, and PowerPoint presentations. Topics include, but are not limited to 13 Original Colonies, Political Parties, Civil War, and famous Americans.