09)+Free+Online+Resources

=FREE Online Resources=

Scheduled Inservice Date:

 * Thurs, 04/21/2011

Background
These links are intended to expand your capabilities in and outside the classroom. Incorporate the **Interactive Online Applications** in your lessons to increase student engagement and add nice visuals. Use the **Free Software** to add to your toolbox without affecting your pocketbook. Explore the **Curriculum-related Websites** to review other teachers' lesson activities, utilize references, and more.

//NOTE: This list is a collaborative effort to share what's actually working for teachers and has been proven in and outside the classroom. It is a work in progress - we'd love your input on what works for you. If you have websites or free software to add, please click the "Edit" button in the upper, right-hand corner, add your information, and click "Save". Likewise, if you find that links are broken (as pages often change names, providers, etc.), please let us know.//

=Professional Development Resources=

Midwest Educational Technology Conference (METC) - www.metcconference.org
//NOTE: Handouts & materials from the 2010 conference are now available online for FREE. Click the links below for rich ideas.//
 * Virtual METC - A grid of Key Note & Featured Speaker presentations that are archived for on-demand viewing.
 * Sessions By Day & Strand - Access all sessions. Pick a strand/category and drill down to access session descriptions and handouts.

Interesting Blogs
Ed Tech & Apps - __ www.freetech4teachers.com __, www.hyperhomeschool.com

=Interactive Online Applications= Brainstorming - http://www.Bubbl.us, www.popplet.com Wordle Word Clouds - www.wordle.net Interactive poster site - http://edu.glogster.com Visual Thesaurus - www.visualthesaurus.com Many Eyes Visualizations - @http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes Graphic organizers - TeacherVision, www.graphic.org, NCREL

=Collaboration & Communication= Free Online Storage/File Sharing - Dropbox.com (See Discussion Bits from Inservices) Social Bookmarking - http://delicious.com Email for Students - www.epals.com

=Web Development= Websites - www.sites.google.com, www.squarespace.com, www.webs.com, www.wix.com Wikis - www.wikispaces.com, www.pbworks.com, Blogs - www.posterous.com, www.wordpress.org, www.blogger.com

=FREE Media (Images, Illustrations, Fonts & Sound Effects)= Free Stock Images for Personal & Commercial Use (Creative Commons) - public-photo.net/, sunipix.com, Stock.XCHNG, www.publicdomainpictures.net, www.dotgovwatch.com, search.creativecommons.org, webdesignlessons.com, businesstoolchest.com Free Photos & Illustrations (Royalty Free) - http://www.freedigitalphotos.net, www.freefoto.com Fonts - http://www.urbanfonts.com, www.abstractfonts.com, www.acidfonts.com, www.freewarefonts.com, http://cooltext.com, www.veer.com Sound Effects - www.findsounds.com

=FREE Software= Central sources - http://sourceforge.net, cnet top freeware downloads Image Editing - www.gimp.org Photo Editing/Album Tools - http://picasa.google.com, www.picnik.com, www.lunapic.com Video Editing - Quick Media Converter, [|www.animoto.com] Audio Editing - http://audacity.sourceforge.net Presentation/Video Creation- www.prezi.com, www.onetruemedia.com Screen Capture With Audio/Streaming Video Software - http://camstudio.org, www.jingproject.com 3-D Programming Software - www.alice.org, http://sketchup.google.com Easy Animation Sites - www.kerpoof.com www.toondoo.com Website Design - www.webs.com, www.google.com/sites Web Templates - www.freewebtemplates.com Web Banner Design - www.bannersketch.com URL Shorteners - http://goo.gl, http://bit.ly, http://tinyurl.com App Creator - Google Labs Open-source office software - www.openoffice.org Open-source operating system - www.ubuntu.com

=Reliable Sites for Support & Good Deals= Memory - www.4allmemory.com Cables - www.sfcable.com Electronics - www.pricewatch.com

=Curriculum-related Websites=

Comm Arts & Reading
Story Boarding Handouts - www.printablepaper.net/category/storyboard Story Publisher - www.tikatok.com Variety of tools - http://www.readwritethink.org Web Site Notation/Highlights - www.diigo.com MAP Practice for all Grade Level Objectives - @http://www.leesummit.k12.mo.us/resources/commartsresources/camaphelp.htm

Math
Graphing/Chances - http://nces.ed.gov Money/Finances - www.themint.org

Science
Space Academy for Educators (resource center & lesson plans) - [] PBS volcano lesson activity - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/volcano Planet lesson pack - @http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/planets_moons_dk_sides/eng/Introduction/default.htm Weather activities - http://www.edheads.org/activities/weather/index.htm Stages of growth - @http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/Phase2delivery/Wales/Science/Keystage2/Lifeprocessesan/Lifecycles/Introduction Skoool Interactive science activities *use the UK version - http://www.skoool.com, @http://lgfl.skoool.co.uk/index.aspx Interactive Science Projects - @http://www.sciencebob.com/index.phphttp://www.tryscience.org Genetics/Cell - http://learn.genetics.utah.edu Body Systems - 4 Major Body Systems Game, Build a Digestive System, Digestive System Quiz, How the Body Works Virtual Frog Dissection - McGraw Hill Self-paced Online Tutorial, Frogguts.com Virtual Frog Dissection, Froggy.lbl.gov Virtual Frog Dissection, Froggy.lbl.gov Build A Frog Game, Net Frog Virtual Frog Dissection (requires QuickTime), Penn State Online Frog Dissection with Pics

Social Studies
National Geographic Xpeditions - @http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions History.com - www.history.com Global Climate Change - http://climate.nasa.gov World Fact Book - www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook World's largest museum organization - www.smithsonianeducation.org Week in Rap - www.weekinrap.com Digital Timeline - www.dipity.comwww.timetoast.com

FACS
Lesson plans and activities - PowerToLearn Food Guide Pyramid - @http://www.mypyramid.gov/index.html

Tech Ed
Physics games (bridges, construction, demolition & more) - http://www.physicsgames.net Science games (contraptions, magnetism, energy & more) - @http://schooltimegames.com/Science.html, Simple Machines Bridge building games - http://www.bridgebuilder-game.com, http://bridgecontest.usma.edu 3-D programming software - www.alice.org, http://sketchup.google.com

Business Ed/Computer Exploration
Occupational Outlook Handbook - www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm Keyboarding lesson activities - Lee Summit, Tonya Skinner Keyboarding games - TyperShark, TypingTest.com, FreeTypingGame.net, Star Wars, KeyMan

Art
Interactive art you can make online - @http://www.nga.gov/kids, collage maker Turn photos into artwork - http://www.photofiddle.com Google Art Project - www.googleartproject.com National Arts & Education Network - http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org Art museums and school websites - http://moma.org, http://www.slam.org, www.artic.edu, www.kcai.edu Create your own avatar/creature - Mii, Wild Self, Spore Comic strip creator - Make Beliefs,

Music
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Games - www.dsokids.com San Fransisco Symphony Activities - www.sfskids.org Music Tech Teacher (music games and activities) - [|www.musictechteacher.com] STOMP (teacher lesson plans/resources) - www.stomponline.com Virtual Museum of Sound Toys - www.squidoo.com/soundtoys National Geographic Music Mixer (multiplayer and online social gaming experience geared toward younger audience) - www.natgeomusicmixer.com Online music making applications/mixers (includes free sounds to loop) - www.soundation.com, www.looplabs.com, notessimo.net Metronome (free online metronome) - []

Resources for All Subject Matter
DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Web 2.0 for Kids @http://www.pbs.org/teachers/ http://www.teachersdomain.org @http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ Government's most dynamic website for learning resources: @http://www.free.ed.gov/ eThemes: www.emints.org / www.wmints.org/ethemes TrackStar (internet resource project organizer): http://trackstar.4teachers.org