Helpful Education Links (Mailing List Archive)

* Bartleby.com
          Bartleby.com is your source for classic literature: fiction, non-fiction, verse, etc. Bartleby provides full-length text free of charge and is great way to save your classroom money. Search encyclopedias, anthologies, poetry, and an array of other texts. Edgar Allan Poe to Mary Wollstonecraft - it's all here.

* Teaching Tolerance
            Teaching Tolerance is a fabulous resource. This is the type of social curricula that encompasses every aspect of our teaching. A deserving description isn't possible in such few words. CHECK IT OUT.

* Scholastic: Instructor
          If you're a member of NEA (National Education Association) / SCTA (Student California Teachers Association), you receive a hardcopy of Instructor magazine. Their website, an archive of this magazine, lists just about every "best practice" you could search for as well as oodles and oodles of inspiration for teachers. Be sure to check out the New Teacher section as well.

* ¡Colorín Colorado!
         Colorín Colorado is a bilingual reading site designed in both English and Spanish. It provides information, activities, and advice to Spanish-speaking parents looking for ways to help their children succeed in school. The Educator's Index supports teachers by providing skill-building activities that draw upon Spanish-language songs and rhymes. The site explains the impact that singing, talking, and reading with a young child can have on early literacy. It also has advice for parents of school-age children on how to communicate with teachers at school and encourage learning at home.

* Amnesty International
            Can you believe that we've found more free resources? Amnesty International makes available four different curriculum guides designed to address issues of human rights. "Speak Truth to Power: An Educational and Advocacy Package," "September 11th Crisis Response Guide," "Our World, Our Rights," and the "UDHR Poster Series and Teachers Guide" are free per written request via the link above. The guides apply to a broad range of coursework and are designed for all elementary, junior high, and high school classrooms. A handful of lesson plans are also available here.

* California Coastal Commission
            Free materials! The California Coastal Commission currently makes available Waves, Wetlands, and Watersheds, a science activity guide designed for grades 3-8. Spanish supplements are available in PDF format, applicable California state standards are addressed, orientation workshops are provided, ... check it out! The Save Our Seas curriculum is also available per written request.

* Peace Corps: Educators
            More great lesson plans! They do exist! This site makes available "Building Bridges: A Peace Corps Classroom Guide to Cross-Cultural Understanding" (a two-unit workbook on cross-cultural awareness with a total of seventeen plans), links to information on different countries and cultures (including videos and direct correspondence with volunteers), recommended reading lists, as well as separate lesson plans for grades 3-12. Truly wonderful! Check it out!

* My Ecological Footprint
            Part of the Earth Day Network, the 2004 Ecological Footprint Quiz is an eye-opening experience for both teachers and their students. How many earths would we need to accomodate your lifestyle? Once completed, you can find out ways to reduce your ecological footprint.