On Line Tools

RubiStar-  This site has two great features.  It has several free teacher created rubrics for various grade levels and content areas which can be printed right off of the site.  Also, you can edit and create your own rubrics on the site with customizable options.

Easybib-  Need to cite that resource for your research?  Of COURSE you do.  Try EasyBib.  It will walk you through the steps and help you create a Works Cited page.  You can save and print the page right on-line.  The MLA format (required in most English classes) is a free service.  Check it out.

PortaPortal-  A great free resource that allows you save your favorite websites on line.  You can organize your links by category and make them available to others or just for yourself with easy to use controls.

I Keep Bookmarks-  (site is currently having problems) Another free and easy to use bookmark manager on-line, similar to PortaPortal.

Web Worksheet Wizard-  Create a web page in a few easy steps!  This service is provided just for teachers and is totally FREE.  If you can fill out a form, you can have a web page ready to go for your class.

QuizStar-  Create an on-line quiz with multiple choice, true/false and even short answer questions.  In just a few simple steps, you can have your students take a quiz you have created and view all of the results on-line.  Easy to use and the quiz corrects itself!  Click here to see a sample quiz I made (you'll have to add yourself to the class list).

Project Based Checklist-  This is a great tool to create on-line or printable checklists for project based learning activities, from the same people who brought you RubiStar, QuizStar and Web Worksheet Wizard.  This has easy to use drop down menus that allow you to choose from a list of already created descriptors.  However, you can customize your checklist by simply deleting pre-fabricated descriptions and typing in your own.  Click here to see a sample one I did in 2 minutes!

Note Star-  This tool combines note taking, outlining, and citing research all in one.  After some teacher setup (this took the longest for me to figure out) students can login, do research on topics and subtopics of the teacher's assignment, save notes, create an outline, organize/reorganize notes, and even send messages back and forth to the teacher on the web.  The coolest and most handy part of the site is the automatic citation "Note Card" system. After arriving at a web source, students simply click a button and a pop up window has already started to complete the necessary citation for that source.  It also asks the student to state whether this note was copy and pasted or put in their own words.  Great tool but it takes a little more time than the other tools.

Casa Notes-  This tool gives you templates for common notes you might send home, such as thank-you notes, progress reports, field trip permission slips, etc.  It allows you to customize colors and graphics and fill in the blanks on the forms.  Not as cool as some of the other tools, but helpful nonetheless.

Assign-A-Day-  This is an on-line calendar creation tool for teachers that allows you to share information about your class assignments with students.

Internet Archive's Way Back Machine- This is an incredible tool for finding those sites that are no longer up or for finding older versions of sites/site content.  They boast 11 billion web pages have been archived there since 1996.  It is searchable and has some collections like "Election 2000" that are interesting to do comparisons on.

Findsounds-  This a search engine designed for looking for sounds.  Though it searches well, you should still check the information on the sound's original website to make sure that you are within copyright law.

 

 

 

Search Engine Top 5

Not all search engines are created equal.  Check out my picks for 5 best search engines.

  1. Google-  This Search engine is by and far the best.  Why you ask?  Because unlike other search engines like Yahoo or Excite, Google lists your search results by most-often-visited status rather than to top paying advertisers.  Therefore you are more likely to get what you are looking for rather than and ad.  If you are a PC user, try downloading the Google Search Toolbar.  This will attach Google to your web browser so you can search it anytime, without having to go directly to the site.  It has other great features as well.

  2. Google Image Search-  Looking for a particular picture?  Check this out. Image Search allows you to type in a word and get the results of your search in pictures rather than text.  You can then see the full size image or the site that it came from or both.  Don't forget to check for permissions and copyright information before taking a picture.

  3. HotBot-  In addition to regular searching, Hotbot has categories.  However, you can really specify your search if you look at the check boxes.  You can look for pages that have images, video, sound, etc.

  4. Dog Pile-  This may look like a typical search engine but it is a special kind called a "metasearch" engine.  This means that even though you type your search into Dog Pile, it will submit your search to several other search engines and give you the results for ALL of them.  Very helpful.

  5. Yahooligans-  Great, safe search site for kids with fun links like daily jokes.

 

Want to add something to our list? Check out our feedback page, just Click here.