The Web Catcher » Reference Tools

Scholastic Homework Hub

K. Haugen — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:52:11 +0000

The Homework Hub from Scholastic.com includes advice and references to jump-start reports, activities and quizzes to boost skills, writing help, organizational tips, preparing for tests, and more.

The Poetry Foundation

K. Haugen — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:27:31 +0000

The online home of the Poetry Foundation – Use the Poetry Finder to find poems by poet, category, occasion, title, first line and glossary term. Also many other poems and poetry resources, including audio

(tags: literature literacy search teens ages09-12 cooltools audio authors poetry)

An Astronomical Alphabet

K. Haugen — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:09:34 +0000

An Astronomical Alphabet is a fun introduction to astronomy. The photos displayed show the alphabet shapes as found in a variety of astronomical phenomena. A picture’s worth a thousand words, so this one’s worth 26,000 at my count, but really what happens here is the photographed ‘letters’ are the hook — if you click on one, you learn what the photos represent. It’s wonderfully simple and sophisticated at the very same time.

Wordsmyth GlossaryMaker

K. Haugen — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:24:33 +0000

The Wordsmyth GlossaryMaker allows you to generate a “miniature dictionary”. You can type or paste a list of vocabulary words in Step 1, and customize your dictionary’s level of detail in Step 2.

CountOn

K. Haugen — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:11:52 +0000

CountOn offers numerous interactive math activities from England (hence ‘maths’ instead of ‘math’). Use the links on the left to fully explore what’s here, including numerous links and helpful resources. The activities themselves are straightforward and engaging, making it a useful classroom tool. Explore Pictures Interactive, a creative building-like interface which leads to explorations that link math to music, art and more.

Math for Morons Like Us

K. Haugen — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:49:43 +0000

Math for Morons Like Us gives good humored advice and tutorials for anyone struggling with math concepts such as pre-algebra, algebra I & II, geometry, pre-calculus and calculus.

BrainsRule! Neuroscience explorations

K. Haugen — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:41:03 +0000

BrainsRule! provides information, reference materials and interactive games, animations and slideshows to explore how the brain works and what happens, for example, if someone has a stroke. Also included are options to set up your own BrainsRule web page and interact with the BrainsRule community via voting for favorite games, sending notes to BrainsRule and ‘meeting a BrainWhiz.’

FossWeb Science for K-2, 3-6 or Middle School

K. Haugen — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:49:32 +0000

FossWeb offers three sites with interactive inquiry-based science activities. The site does not have full auditory support, but downloadable audio versions of the Foss texts are available. Each level offers a different range of features and topics, but all three offer extensive parent and teacher support.

The K-2 site includes background information, an interactive activity, related photos, web links, questions answered by professional scientists for units on insects, animals, wood and paper, fabric, trees, balance and motion, pebbles, sand and silt, new plants, air and weather, and solids and liquids
The 3rd-6th grade site includes interactive activities, posters, pictures and movies, links, vocabulary, book lists and ‘ask a scientist for topics such as magnets and electricity, models and design, the human body, levers and pulleys, food and nutrition, earth materials, water, mixtures and solutions, measurement, physics of sound, solar energy, land forms, structures of life, variables, ideas and inventions, and environments
The Middle School Site includes multimedia modules, books, links and a glossary covering activities such as human brain and senses, populations and ecosystems, force and motion, planetary science, electronics, earth history, diversity of life, weather and water, and chemical interactions

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

K. Haugen — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:28:42 +0000

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives – Explore operations, algebra, geometry, logic and measurement through online pattern blocks, graphing, a mastermind game and more (requires JAVA). With numerous activities, well organized by grade level and content area, the open-ended environment for explorations is a welcome toolkit in the classroom, and provides solid opportunities for fun, explanations and explorations at home.