|
Home Subscriptions Netsurfer Digest E-Zine Netsurfer Science E-Zine Netsurfer Books E-Zine |
| Learning with All the News That's Fit to Print |
| Aboard the Underground Railroad |
| The Nanking Atrocities |
| Along the Chisholm Trail |
| The Roman Empire |
| The Classic Text: Traditions and Interpretations |
| Story Arts |
| Publishing Photos |
| How to Draw Cartoons |
| Lesson Plans - The Three Gorges Dam |
| Access Excellence |
| Babysitting Business |
| Netsurfer Recommendations |
| Grade 5/6 Web Projects |
| Big Blue |
| Parent Handbook |
| Electric Teacher |
| Integrating the Internet |
| BOOK REVIEWS |
| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
| Contact and Subscription Information |
| Credits |
| Netsurfer Digest |
TEACHER'S PET
Editor's favorite
Learning with All the News That's Fit to Print
Combine the daily news of the New York Times with lesson plans and an excellent inventory of pedagogical resources and you get The New York Times Learning Network for grades 3-12. This is an outstanding site for teachers in every field. In addition to the Times' resources, lesson plans are available on an array of topics. The week we visited, the lesson plan centered on the oil spill threatening the Galapagos Islands. In addition to the importance of the islands in the history of science - central to Darwin's understanding of natural selection - the lesson plan addresses issues related to the role of humans in environmental disasters. Lesson plans are available on an array of topics ranging from history to health and science. In addition, there are links to the paper's vast archive. Finally there are crossword puzzles for the overachiever's out there. Read the site guide for an excellent introduction to all that this site has to offer teachers, students and parents.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/
SOCIAL SCIENCES
History, geography, political science, sociology, law, anthropology, philosophy, and archeology
Aboard the Underground Railroad
For a nation that prides itself on being the home of the free and the brave, the US has had some decidedly craven periods. One of the most sorrowful and damaging of those periods in US history was the era of legalized slavery. Home of the brave does seem appropriate, however, when one considers the heroism of those who guided the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad, of course, is a metaphor for the efforts of the loose network of souls helping slaves escape to freedom in the north or Canada. This site, produced by the National Park Service, documents the early antislavery movement and its proponents. Don't miss the list of sites (real, geographic sites). This is a linked set of pictures and history concerning relevant places in 19 states. There are also links for more information and a small bibliography.http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/
On December 10, 1937, Japanese army columns, racing from newly conquered Shanghai, converged on the ancient city of Nanking (or Nanjing). The resulting massacres of civilians and captured soldiers became notorious as one of the century's worst atrocities: the Rape of Nanking. Based on work for partial fulfillment of the requirements for an MA in journalism at the University of Missouri, this large and well organized website relies heavily upon primary sources to create an online documentary that thoroughly describes and analyses the appalling and chaotic events. Further, the narrative (divided into chapters and copiously illustrated with photographs) covers the period leading up to the atrocities, postwar confessions by Japanese soldiers, psychological warfare and propaganda efforts by both the Chinese and Japanese governments, the postwar War Crimes Tribunal, and the work of modern researchers, especially in the effort to establish the number of victims. Sources include wartime newsreel footage (RealPlayer). This site is of great value to history students not only as a chronicle of the events, but as a lesson in the use of primary sources and how historical events become issues of scholarly controversy when eyewitness accounts, propaganda, and often flawed military justice are added to the mix. (See the section on the debate between Japanese and Chinese historians that continues to this day.) Students electing to do additional research will want to consult the extensive bibliography.
http://web.missouri.edu/~jschool/nanking/
Time to saddle up, pardners. 'Round about right after the Civil War, when wild Texas longhorn cattle were thicker than fleas on a mangy coyote's back, enterprising cattlemen rounded them up (the cattle, not the fleas) and drove them across what was then the Indian Nations (now Oklahoma) to newly thriving cow towns in Kansas. For 20 years, this was the primary route for beef on the hoof to get to eastern markets. It became immortalized as the Chisholm Trail, named, ironically, for a man who never drove cattle along it. Perhaps even more important was the resulting culture of the cowboy. This site tells the story of the Trail, the cowboys, the cow towns, and more with a fine narrative, maps, pictures, and photographs. We also enjoyed the author's own explorations of the Trail, observations of the Trail's present-day condition, and his efforts to preserve it. A great source for a school report on a brief but oh-so-influential chapter in the history of the American West, this is an outstanding site by an inspired and dedicated amateur. There is a reading list for further study.
http://www.texhoma.net/~glencbr/p001.html
The Illustrated History of the Roman Empire is nothing less than a terrific online reference center suitable for high school students. The website is built around long, detailed, and well-written articles that include handy features such as glossaries of Latin terms, timelines, and a paragraph title drop-down to help you find whatever specific topic you seek. Sections include history, religion, buildings, everyday life, the army, and gladiators, among others. Other cool features are clickable maps of the city, Roman Italy, and the Empire, and a convenient picture index for finding illustrations. Younger surfers will enjoy the children's section, which boasts an Asterix page, picture tours of famous buildings, and Roman e-cards. In short, this site has almost everything one could ask for - at least when it comes to ancient Rome. What is does lack are links to similar sites, so we've thoughtfully added this massive directory from the University of Kansas with over 2100 Roman websites, in various languages. Microsoftus delenda est.
Illustrated History: http://www.roman-empire.net/
Roman sites: http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/home.html
LANGUAGE ARTS
English studies, grammar, poetry, prose, and second language studies
The Classic Text: Traditions and Interpretations
In a recent interview, George W. Bush stated that his favorite books were The Bible and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. If your tastes are more, um, literary, this informative site is a must. This is a virtual exhibit, an online version of an exhibition that was on display at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in 1996. The focus of this exhibit is not the value of these classic texts as literature, but rather why some books become classics while others disappear from the literary landscape. For example, would James Joyce's Ulysses still be read and remembered today if not for the censorship issues that helped make it famous? This makes for interesting material even if you've never read Ovid, Chaucer, Hawthorne, or any of the other authors discussed here. The exhibit also features photographs of classic manuscripts, illuminated pages and artwork from these texts. For Mr. Bush, there's good news and bad news. The Bible made the cut. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, not.http://www.csd.uwm.edu/Dept/Library/special/exhibits/clastext/clshome.htm
The National Council of Teachers of English tells us, "Story is the best vehicle for passing on factual information. Historical figures and events linger in children's minds when communicated by way of a narrative". Teachers in all disciplines are beginning to employ storytelling in the classroom. Stories to tell and techniques for teaching communications skills, language arts, science, and math are among the resources Story Arts offers. Heather Forest, professional storyteller and teacher, shares many creative, specific, and easily implemented lesson plans and activities. This is a complete kit for turning you and your students into effective storytellers.
http://www.storyarts.org/
No, no, no: photos about publishing! Publishing is still largely an old economy business that turns trees into physical objects that go on shelves, get tucked into briefcases and end up in recycling depots. As this photo survey shows, it's also a business of buildings - buildings housing publishers, and buildings, usually apartments, housing literary agencies. The quest to snap shots of these places is what animates this website, and it's a fascinating next, next, next, survey, with no index, no thumbnails. The photos are married to brief information about the company, personal comments, and a few amusing stories. Set in New York, HQ for so much book and magazine publishing activity, this is a literally fascinating survey of the front end of the publishing business - nothing so grubby here as printing presses and binderies, not to mention the logistics network of warehouses, truck, and forklifts. The site is hosted by Geocities so you should expect little windows popping with each new page you view, but this place is well worth that mild nuisance.
http://www.geocities.com/visualsofpublish/
FINE ARTS
Visual arts, music, theater, and dance
http://www.cartooncorner.com/artspage.html
MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY
Mathematics, chemistry, physics, astrosciences, computing, technology, biology, and botany
Lesson Plans - The Three Gorges Dam
What we have here is a series of lessons and activities for Internet-equipped middle-school classrooms. The lessons cover the construction of the Three Gorges Dam on China's upper Yangtze River and the ramifications thereof. While falling under the rubric of technology - and indeed the lessons deal with some of the technical questions involved in dam construction - the lessons also confront pupils with issues of environmental damage, the future of the 2 million or so people who'll be forcibly relocated (and hence the role of government in determining the fates of ordinary people for the common good), and the loss of many antiquities in the subsequent flooding, as well as the ecological issues of hydro-electricity and flood control. Activities include dam construction, map reading, and finding information about dams on the WWW. A thorough, wide-ranging approach to a complex and many-sided issue.http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/threegorges/
Part of the National Health Museum online (though originally developed and launched by Genetech, Inc.), Access Excellence allows "high school biology and life science teachers access to their colleagues, scientists, and critical sources of new scientific information via the World Wide Web". Critical sections include news (with a science update, interviews with researchers, and science news links), biotech (issues and ethics, applied biotech, a graphics gallery, careers, and a history of the biotech revolution), a resource center (math and science, reference, health information, and teaching and student resources), activities (interactive games, mysteries, classroom activities, and exchanges with other classrooms), seminars, SciTalk discussions, and online projects. Teachers with an interest in high-tech solutions will want to see the 21st Century Classrooms page, with articles and resources on science-based learning and the use of technology in class. All in all, a superior resource site without bells and whistles; some files are in .pdf format for downloading and the pages have linked terms and illustrations.
http://www.accessexcellence.org/
SKILLS FOR LIVING
Domestic sciences, study skills and other day-to-day skills for getting through life
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/babysitting/
|
Items our staff likes and you might too. Click on the cover or title to order the item at a hefty discount from Amazon.com and send a few pennies our way as well.
|
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival HandbookRESOURCES
Encyclopedia, libraries, reference resources, and other places to which teachers can turn
http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/index.html
Graphics, not IBM is the theme here, in this visually oriented destination. Click on the crystal ball to enter. This opens up another window and treats you to some Javascript animation and then a screen with drop down menus with a difference. The visual razzmatazz is a little disorienting at first for folks used to textual clues and directions. Best to settle back, relax and let the mostly children's illustrations, prints, and textures seduce you and break the methodical mold just for a while. Some illustrations look so inviting that the lack of larger image sizes positively hurts! While we can't say exactly what the purpose of the site is, in the end who cares! The main protagonist here is an artist who has illustrated a large number of children's books first by hand, now by computer, and she provides a fascinating visual feast.
http://www.bigblue.com.au/
ADMINISTRATION
Education theory, school and board administration, and teaching aids
http://www.oceanside.k12.ny.us/common/handbooks/
TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING
Computing as the medium
http://www.electricteacher.com/
As teachers learn to make use of the Internet in the classroom, it becomes evident rather quickly that there's a lot of nonsense out there in cyberspace. This becomes more apparent as the number of Web pages and sites increase into the billions. Even if a teacher were to spend several hours each day searching for good material, separating the wheat >from the chaff becomes an almost impossible endeavor. Enter Integrating the Internet, a resource of educational links created by teachers for teachers. This is a directory of sorts, with resources divided into grade levels, then by content area, and finally by specific topics. Looking for Civil War Battle statistics? Check out the grade 5 social studies resources under Civil War and Reconstruction. How about geometry activities for the third grade? Look no further than the third-grade math resources, under geometry. The site was developed for grades 1-5, but you're sure to find sites here to benefit any student. There may be more chaff than wheat on the Net, but Integrating the Internet is the cream of the crop.
http://www.elmbrook.k12.wi.us/el/internet/index.htm