Internet4Classrooms Newsletter: March 2012

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!

Keep in Touch!

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!

Follow us on Twitter (internet4classr). Stay up to date with offerings and new sources/links for great educational and technology information for you, your students, and children.

App Of The Month

**NEW!**

Every month we are going to feature a different, and hopefully FREE, iPad/iPod/iPhone educational application. In addition to our ever-changing apps page. Stay tuned!

This month's featured app is Money & Change by YJ Soft. Keeping in theme with our March happening of when paper money was first issued, practice counting coins and dollar bills on your iPhone or iPad. There are 3 levels. Correctly drop the requested amount into the piggy bank.

Things To Celebrate This Month

March brings Women's History, St. Patrick's Day, Music in our Schools, Spring, and Poetry. Take advantage of these themed lesson plans and activities. We encourage you to take some time to click through our site. You never know what wonderful resources you can find to enrich your classroom experience. Let's get started!

Women's History Month

Pay tribute to some of the most influential women in our history and celebrate Women's History Month. Find Women's History lesson plans, exhibitions, and primary source sets at the Library of Congress.

Music in Our Schools Month

Create your own music, find blank staff paper, count music, learn terms, and fraction bars. Our music resource page is stuffed with online music tools for students. We also have music and dance resources for Pre-K, including songs and poems by subject.

Dr. Seuss' Birthday 3/2/1904

Did you know Dr. Seuss' real name was Theodore Seuss Geisel? Learn about other interesting facts in this Dr. Seuss Cloze activity. Explore Seussville to find Dr. Seuss classroom tools. Find Dr. Seuss lesson plans and activities based on individual book themes.

Oreo's Were Sold for the First Time 3/6

How many oreos can you stack before the cookie crumbles? Did you know this most popular cookie of the 20th century was invented back in 1912? It's official name was the Oreo Biscuit and the design on the front and back actually include four-leaf clovers.

First U.S. Paper Money Was Issued 3/10/1862

Visit our All About Money section for money activities by grade level. Browse topics like counting coins, money transactions, working with money and decimals, and consumer math. We also have an Economics section. Teach students about taxes, saving, budgeting, and allowances.

Daylight Savings 3/11

Don't forget to turn your clocks forward!

St. Patrick's Day 3/17

Did you know there are an estimated 10,000 three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover! Learn other St. Patrick's Day facts and check out all the St. Patrick's day activities you can do with students.

First Day of Spring 3/20

Are you familiar with the expression: In like a lion, out like a lamb? Here's a Spring activity for younger kids. Get Spring craft ideas, poems, and worksheets. For middle school Science, learn about what causes the Earth's seasons. Find diagrams and animations explaining the relationship between the Earth and the Sun.

Children's Poetry Day 3/21

I4C offers Kindergarten Language Arts online rhyming games. Explore an overview of poetry and poetic devices in our Literary Genres. Take a virtual poetry field trip, browse poetry collections, and find 30 different poetry lessons.

Pencil With Erasers Were Patented 3/30

Did you know people used white bread as an eraser before the current eraser was invented!? In 1858 Hymen Lipman patented the eraser on top of a pencil, but it was later invalidated because both of those devices already existed. Today there are all different kinds of eraser materials. Find fun facts about the pencil eraser and why a pencil is yellow.

** We Want Your Input! **

I4C already has Free Vocabulary Quizzes and Free Math Quizzes in our ACT/SAT Test Preparation Guide.

We're looking for new ideas for quizzes and informational resources that you'd feel are useful to you and your students. Please email us and let us know what you could use to make your teaching experience better.

Write to: susan.brooks@internet4classrooms.com

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.

Celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd with these Elementary-level lesson plans and Dr. Seuss themed activities. Here's a 2nd grade shared reading unit on Dr. Seuss.

Did you know St. Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat? Find St. Patrick Day (3/17) word scramble printables and activity ideas for the classroom.

Sharpen money skills with these online coin counting lessons. We have a ton of interactive money lessons and math games for every grade in our Skillbuilders section. Practice making change and comparing decimal amounts.

The dreaded fractions! Get online fraction lessons, assessment prep, and fraction worksheets here. We also have interactive fraction games online separated by grade.

Do you know why we have Daylight Savings(3/11)? What are time zones? Visit our time resources page for time zones, world clocks, and satellite images.

Name that tune! Celebrate Music In Our Schools Month with I4C's music lessons and resources ranging from music sheets and instruments to percussions and opera.

------------------------------------------------

I4C OVERVIEW

Whether you are a newcomer or an old pro, it's easy to get "lost" in everything I4C has to offer. We have subject help by grade level on almost all school topics. Don't forget to click and explore when you are looking for teacher resources. Here are a few main topics to get you started.

Early Childhood

Elementary Math

Elementary Language Arts

Elementary Science

Elementary Social Studies

Middle/High School Language Arts

Middle/High School Math

Middle/High School Science

Middle/High School Social Studies/History

Middle/High School Foreign Languages

SkillBuilders provide online interactives per subject and grade.

Tech Tutorials provide online support as well as printables.

Assessment Assistance offers online and printable tests.

------------------------------------------------

Don't Forget: Free Online Practice for ACT Test and SAT Test Resources . I4C now offers free SAT and ACT vocabulary and math quizzes . Become a free member and log in as much as you'd like. Students can take practice tests on 5000 vocabulary words.Take daily practice math quizzes on over 1000 questions. Log in to monitor your students' scores - including seeing which vocabulary words or math questions they missed. Interactive quizzes allow the test taker to retake and study as much as they want.

------------------------------------------------

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.

On March 10, 1862, the first U.S. paper money was issued. How much do your children know about money, savings, and budgeting? Do they get an allowance yet? I4C's money page has tools for teaching kids how to spend wisely.

March is also National Craft Month. Explore our Pre-K crafts and Kindergarten crafts pages to find projects you can do on rainy days. We also have a Just for Fun section with more online activities and printables.

Do you need Elementary Math help? We have everything from general math resources to online math practice games.

Make sure you visit the Parent Zone to find school subject help by grade, and parenting topics online.

Are you having trouble getting your child to practice their piano or music assignments at home? Check out our music education and resources page. There is a printable keyboard, a few different links to music sheets, instrument information and so much more.

----------------------------------------------------

Find ACT Test and SAT Test Resources to get your children ready for the ACT and SATs ! I4C now offers free SAT and ACT vocabulary and math quizzes. Become a free member and log in as much as you'd like. Students can take practice tests on 5000 vocabulary words and practice tests in math with over 1000 questions. As a parent, you can log in to monitor your children's scores - including seeing which words or math problems they missed. Interactive quizzes allow the test taker to retake and study as much as they want.

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

Tech Tip #1: SUM in Excel: There is a quick way to SUM rows in a column. Hit ALT and = in the cell just below your last number. It automatically adds the column. You can click and scroll to select individual rows too. Other tutorials.

Tech Tip #2: Opening Hyperlinks: There's a quicker way to open a website link within a Word document or email than just copying and pasting the URL in a different browser window. Hover your mouse over the web address and hit CTRL then Click. Here are more Word tutorials and shortcuts.

Tech Tip #3: Opening Programs Straight From Your Desktop: Can't find the Word or Excel icon? If you right click on your desktop, and select "NEW," you will get a domain box of options like opening a new Word or Excel document. More tech help.

We Need Your Help

Please click here to fill out a short survey that will help us ensure that the advertising on our site is appropriate for our audience.

Many thanks!

This Month's Blog

This month's blog: Is It More Than Just Not Following Directions? Have you ever asked yourself why a student did an assignment wrong when you know he/she has mastered the information?

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