Internet4Classrooms Newsletter: January 2011

Hello! Thanks so much for using Internet4Classrooms with your students and children. Our mission is to help you find the best educational online resources available to meet your individual needs. Our monthly newsletter focuses on sharing information, tips, and ideas on everything related to schooling inside the classroom and at home. Each month we'll be featuring resources and information on a variety of topics. We are constantly upating information on our site, and urge you to visit often!

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If you need help, please email us. We answer questions about almost any subject matter/grade level. We feel that this is a very important part of Internet4Classrooms. Internet4Classrooms is maintained and built for educators, parents, and students and this site is yours. Comments and suggestions are appreciated and welcomed. Don't be afraid to email and ask!

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What's Happening This Month?

Happy New Year! January is filled with highlights on topics like electricity, measurements, handwriting, and more. We are honoring people like Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King Junior. Take advantage of these online resources so that you can easily add these lesson plans, instructionals, and tools into your classroom.

NATIONAL STATIC ELECTRICITY DAY (1-9-11)

Celebrate electricity with this large list of elementary science lesson plans on electricity. Utilize these online electricity quizzes and lesson plans on magnetism, conductors, circuits, energy and more. Find grades K - 7th science standards. I4C also has a comprehensive list of science fair project ideas. There are also resources on science projects like electricity, magnets, plants, sound, and weather.

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY (1-17-11)

Explore all things Martin Luther King Jr. Find MLK Day lesson plans, timelines of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, essays, projects, quizzes, and more. You can also find the "I Have a Dream" speech in text and audio.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S BIRTHDAY (1-17-1706)

Explore Benjamin Franklin's life with this site that links you to a timeline of Ben Franklin's life, resource material, his family tree, and online activities related to his works. Learn how Ben Franklin used his newspaper to promote science in the link titled, "Promoting Science through America's Colonial Press." Here's a 6th grade book recommendation about Benjamin Franklin. Utilize Mr. Nussbaum's reading comprehension practice while learning about Ben Franklin.

NATIONAL THESAURUS DAY (1-18-11)

Take advantage of Thesaurus Day to integrate more language arts into your classroom. I4C has 3rd grade research standards to show students how to use references. Here's a free trial online visual thesaurus where students can look up words and see all the synonyms that relate. Enjoy these 3rd grade online thesaurus web games to sharpen vocabulary skills. Learn how to use the thesaurus in Microsoft Word.

MEASURE YOUR FEET DAY (1-23-11)

Get out the rulers, measure your feet, and celebrate math. Here are Grades 3-5 online measurement quizzes, as well as online measurement activities for Grades 6-8.

I4C has resources for every math subject and every grade. Here's an area specifically for math worksheets. We've found some great links to math lesson plans and math quizzes, all organized by grade level. Make sure you explore every tier in the left-hand navigation bar once you click on these links:

For Geometry and Measurement Skill Builder Activities find your grade level, look below the "Skill Builders" text, and click on "Mathematics."

NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY (1-23-11)

I4C has Kindergarten resources on Handwriting. Find handwriting worksheets. There are links to printable tracing paper, letter formation, and D'Nealian practice guides.

You can also take advantage of our 1st grade handwriting. Get help teaching children how to form legible upper and lower case letters.

Focus On: Teacher Resources

Internet4Classrooms offers a wide variety of informative online resources, tips, tools, and tutorials regarding your classroom needs. There is always something you can utilize with your students. Each month we'll feature a few links to useful topics.

Free Online Practice for ACT Tests and SAT Tests! I4C now offers free SAT and ACT vocabulary quizzes. Become a free member and log in as much as you'd like. Students can take practice tests on 5000 vocabulary words. Log in to monitor your students' scores - including seeing which vocabulary words they missed. Interactive quizzes allow the test taker to retake and study as much as they want.

January honors Martin Luther King Junior. I4C offers a list of Martin Luther King Day lesson plans, activities, MLK quizzes and worksheets, and so much more. Find the text to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech." Here's an interactive timeline about Martin Luther King's life.

Interactive technology is becoming prominent in our classrooms - especially Interactive Whiteboards and SMART boards. I4C offers SMART Board lesson plans, Promethean Board lesson plans, as well as Whiteboard lesson plans. We have a list of sites that include whiteboard math games and interactive whiteboard resources on social studies, math, and grades k-3 whiteboard activities.

See our Technology Tips section below to learn how to use SMART Board and Whiteboards with these SMART Board Training and Tutorials.

Take advantage of our Geography Resources section to find tools on landforms, countries and continents, printable maps, and more. Have fun and learn at the same time with Interactive Maps and online Geography games. Students can move their cursors over countries, continents, states, and capitals to get geography facts and statistics. Brush up on map skills with links to aerial maps, census information, latitude and longitude map making. Geography games test students' knowledge of state capitols, major cities, and rivers and lakes. Also find statistics, online resources, and facts about the 50 states.

Exceptional Children Resources: Find classroom resources on ADHD, Autism, special education, assistive technology, and gifted students.

Keep yourself and your students inspired with a quotation a day. You will find a huge list of quotes on almost any subject and topic

Remember: One of our most clicked resources is the teacher tools page. You can access everything teachers need for the school year, including forms, planning, bulletin boards, and worksheets.

Another popular section is our Grade Level Help. Click here for Pre-K - 8th grade level help and here for 7th - 12th grade resources. Find Skill Builders interactive sites for Language Arts and Math.

Focus On: Parent Resources

In addition to our teachers, parents can take advantage of our online resources as well.

Find ACT Tests and SAT Tests to get your children ready for the ACT and SATs! I4C now offers free SAT and ACT vocabulary quizzes. Become a free member and log in as much as you'd like. Students can take practice tests on 5000 vocabulary words. As a parent, you can log in to monitor your children's scores - including seeing which words they missed. Interactive quizzes allow the test taker to retake and study as much as they want.

I4C offers parent resources for Special Education on topics such as helping parents know their rights and responsiblities to children with disabilities, how to help struggling readers, and understanding sibling issues. Click on number 4 - Parent Pals - to find a community site offering links and support to parents with special needs children.

Search for parent resources by exceptional children topics such as autism, dyslexia, and ADHD.

Need Disciplining Help? Learn techniques to positive disciplining, and alternatives to punishment so your children feel encouraged all year long.

Planning for college: College may seem a long ways away for some, but these days it's important to start planning early - even as young as elementary school. Learn how to prepare for college and plan your children's futures. Discover tips on how to fund your education, how to get financial aid, and how to choose a college right for your child.

Do you ever find yourself in a chicken nugget rut? Do you think your children think about their food choices as much as they should? Test their healthy food habits with these fun nutrition and health resources, including interactive nutrition games and calorie calculators.

As always, if you don't see something of interest highlighted this month, we have the Parent Zone which is full of resources. You can find homework help, special needs resources, language tools, reading help, educational games and activities sorted by grade.

Technology Tips

Interactive Online Games using Excel Workbooks - Customize a Jeopardy Template in your classroom. Find Billy Bear interactive stories, games, ad libs, and more all using Excel.

Self-Paced Modules - I4C offers resources and tutorials on entry level computer skills for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint to name a few. Learn how to produce a Powerpoint presentation and use the Internet effectively.

SMART board and Whiteboard Training and Tutorials - Learn how to use SMART boards and Whiteboards in your classroom. Find SMART board training and user tools. We also have resources on how to use Promethean boards as well as interactive tutorials on whiteboards.

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Many thanks!

Internet4classrooms.com is a free educational portal for teachers, parents, homeschoolers and students. Visitors come from around the world to find Internet resources for their educational needs. One can find resources ranging from lesson plans to worksheets, individual grade level resources to templates, and even interactive learning games. We were very honored when one teacher called the site a "Walmart for Teachers". If you cannot find what you need for instruction on any topic, please feel free to email us and we will help you find resources to fit your needs.

Sincerely,

Susan Brooks

Bill Byles

Internet4classrooms.com