WEB RESOURCE LIST

Part I:

I found three different evaluation tools for assessing the quality of websites. I felt that all of them were pretty similar (including the ones I did not choose as I was searching for the perfect one). However, the one I chose to use was already written in “kid friendly” language and it could be something I could use right away. It also was part of an entire lesson plan which I plan to incorporate into my classroom next year. It also has great simple questions that really evaluates how credible and reliable each source is, while also allowing students to think deeply. Below, you will find a copy of the survey.
The evaluation tool is titled, “Information Reliability Survey” and I found it on this website: http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/biog/credib.html. On this website you will also find the lesson plan that it is part of. The reliability survey consists of ten question and therefore worth ten points. Each question received one point if it was an answer that counted toward the best quality of the website. If the question did not pertain to the website I was using, I simply wrote “N/A” and gave it one point. All of my websites received a score of nine or better, but if it received a six I would not have passed it; this would have meant that it is just too questionable of a website.
After using this survey I would definitely make a spot for my students to right down how many points they gave each question and what the total score was. Other than that I think it is completely appropriate for eighth grade, especially after the lesson we would have had before receiving the survey to do independently.


Web Resource List

Professional Sites and Lesson Plans

American Library Association. 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2010 from American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/

This site is targeted toward librarians, but a Language Arts teacher can find it very valuable for it has sites regarding reading. For instance, it has the top award winning book titles through different organizations, as well as lists of books that have been challenged.
*Passed Evaluation = This is a quality source! Score = 10/10


National Council of Teachers of English. 2010. Lesson Plans. Retrieved July 1, 2010 from National Council of Teachers of English: http://www.ncte.org/lessons

This site allows English teachers to access all sorts of information regarding Language Arts, teaching, and the classroom. The specific place this link will take one to is a list of lesson plans. There are many great ideas and the lessons can be put to use as soon as the teacher needs them.
*Passed Evaluation = This is a quality source! Score = 10/10

Oregon Department of Education. 2010. Teacher of Language Arts – Curriculum and Instruction. Retrieved July 1, 2010 from Oregon Department of Education: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1617

This allows to teachers of Language Arts (but other teachers of different subjects may find it useful as well) to access lesson plans for the Language Arts classroom. Among the different Language Arts subjects, writing lessons were abundant. There are a lot of great ideas that can be put right to work in the teacher’s classroom that day or the very next day!
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score =10/10

US Department of Education. Retrieved July 1, 2010 from US Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/

I definitely think that every teacher can use this site for their professional life. This site gives information about state requirements, standard, what is happening in the news, etc. It is a very helpful site for teachers and something I can use throughout my professional career.
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 10/10

Audio/Video/Interactive

Audiobooks.org. 2010. Retrieved July1, 2010 from Audiobooks.org: http://audiobooks.org/

This site allows a teacher to access free complete samples of audio stories she and her class may be reading in the classroom. One that I will find very useful is the “Monkey’s Paw”. We read this story in grade 8 each year and it would be fun to have someone else read it aloud to them.
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 9.5/10

Language Arts: Go Grammar. Retrieved July 1, 2010 from:
http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/la-grammar.html

This site allows students to play interactive educational games. This would work great in a computer lab when a student has finished his or her work. A teacher could also use some of the examples to create her own game for in the classroom.
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 9.5/10

LearnOutLoud, Inc. 2010. Short Stories: Free Audio and Video. Retrieved July 2, 2010 from LearnOutLoud, Inc.: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video/Literature/Short-Stories#play35446

This site has many popular audio novels/books/short stories available for free. One of the stories that I use frequently in class is The Tell-Tale Hear by Edgar Allan Poe. It has The Works of Edgar Allan Poe available, so I could pull out a few more stories to have the kids listen to in my class. They really enjoy listening to stories read by someone else from time to time. This site is incredible and will be very helpful when I am teaching different stories!
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 10/10

Storynory. Fairytales. Retrieved July 2, 2010 from Storynory: http://storynory.com/archives/fairy-tales/

This site allows a teacher to use audio for different stories he or she may use in a class. In my classroom, I have used Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella as part of different units. They usually are the base for what I am going to be building on.
*Passed Evaluation – This is quality source! Score = 10/10

Zuitube:Videos For Kids. 2009. Grammar. Retrieved July 1, 2010 from http://video.kidzui.com/channels/Grammar

This cool site can be used by students or teachers. If a student might be struggling with a particular part of grammar, I can recommend this site to the student to help him or her out. I can also show some of these in my classroom through our video streaming cart as part of a lesson plan!
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 9/10


Curriculum Based

Lois Lowry. 2002. Biography. Retrieved from LoisLowry.com: http://www.loislowry.com/index.html

One important novel I teach in my 8th grade Language Arts class is The Giver by Lois Lowery. Usually in class we just talk about her, but I think it would be cool for the students to write her an email and read her biography on her own website. They are always filled with questions after they read The Giver. I think this would come in very useful.
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 9/10

Reading Rockets. (2008). Classroom Strategies. Retrieved July 3, 2010, from Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies

This site lists classroom strategies for enhancing literacy in the classroom. The site has it listed by a particular strategy and it also tells you when this particular strategy should be used (before reading, during reading, after reading). When you click on the strategy you would like to try, it will take you to an explanation of that strategy and how to use it. Many examples are included for multiple subject areas. I really would like to access more ideas for my struggling readers. This site would really help me do this!
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 10/10

Teaching Tolerance. Classroom Activities. Retrieved from The Southern Poverty Law Center: http://www.tolerance.org/activities

This is an incredible site that I can use with my Civil Rights unit in grade 8. There are so many different lesson plans that really go in depth and make students think why tolerance is so important. It is a great source that also includes links to other credited sources through the website and listed lesson plans.
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 9/10

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Education. Retrieved July 2, 2010 from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/education/

In the 8th grade we read The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank. We also look pretty closely at the Holocaust and we explore what happened during World War II. This site is a great site for teachers to understand how delicate the subject matter is and it gives many ideas, lessons, and sources to use. This will be very handy during my Holocaust unit.
*Passed Evaluation – This is a quality source! Score = 9/10


Search Engines

Bing. 2010. Retrieved from Microsoft: http://www.bing.com/?scope=web&mkt=en-US&FORM=BWFD

I had never used Bing before, but have seen commercials and it was promoted on other teachers’ websites. It was very helpful and it helped me search a little deeper than just Google. I would suggest this to my students just so that they could branch out there and use other search engines than just Google. It would also help them to remember the difference between a search engine and a website!
*Passed Evaluation! This is a quality source! Score = 10/10


Dogpile. 2010. Retrieved from Infospace, Inc.: http://www.dogpile.com/

I had never heard of this search engine before, nor had I ever used it! I actually searched through another search engine to find it. I found it very helpful and a lot like Google and Bing. It will also give another option for my students to try another search engine on the computer. I think they will also like the name. 