Watauga Democrat

NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION

Great (previewed) web sites
for educators, students and parents

Quick Links

Watauga Democrat - Your “living textbook”

Reference and Research

www.ksc.nasa.gov -- Kennedy Space Center
www.nasa.gov -- NASA Home Page
www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/home/index.html -- NASA for Kids!
www.m-w.com -- Websters Dictionary
www.almanac.com -- Old Farmers Almanac
www.ebig.com -- Britannica Internet Guide
www.nationalgeographic.com -- National Geographic
www.bbb.org -- Better Business Bureau
www.bbbonline.org -- BBB Online
www.irs.gov -- Internal Revenue Service
www.ustreas.gov -- United States Treasury
www.loc.gov -- The Library of Congress
www.si.edu -- Smithsonian Institution
www.mapblast.com -- Trying to find your way around? Either of these sites will provide you with a map of the city you'll be visiting, right down to the exact address. (You can also get driving instructions door-to-door).
www.mapquest.com -- Trying to find your way around? Either of these sites will provide you with a map of the city you'll be visiting, right down to the exact address. (You can also get driving instructions door-to-door).
school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck -- The best homework helper on the web, BJ Pinchbeck was recently made a “Discovery” site. You can't find a question that BJ doesn't provide the answer to.
www.thinkquest.org -- Think Quest is an annual international contest for the best student-designed web resources. Results? Some pretty amazing stuff in a wide selection of subject areas!
etext.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html -- The King James Bible, in a searchable form.
www.searchgov.com -- Find the agency, then find the info. Government site searches can be clumsy, but this is at least a good starting point. It's in here somewhere.
www.bartleby.com -- Bartleby offers additional reference books like “Gray's Anatomy” and Strunk & White.
promo.net/pg/ -- Project Gutenberg has more works of literature.
www.anywho.com -- Here's a good web site for finding US and Canadian phone numbers or addresses.
www.teldir.com/eng -- Need an international number? Here are telephone directory sites from around the world.
www.snopes.com -- Before you pass on that virus alert, dire safety warning or hilarious “true” story, check here and make sure it isn't yet another urban legend. (Your friends will thank you.)
www.infoplease.com -- Information Please Almanac. Quick information on a variety of subjects, and a kids section that's both fun and useful!
www.britannica.com -- Not as good as you hoped, but neither is the print version. You can still get the basic information you need here.
www.biography.com -- Quick searchable answers to the very basic facts about people. Not much depth, though.
www.imdb.com -- The Internet Movie Database, with information about films: Who's in them, when they were made, etc.
www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook -- The CIA's World Fact Book. Basic information, maps, flags, national anthems, from the folks you're already paying to collect information around the world.

Teacher Resources

www.ciconline.com -- Cable in the Classroom is the television counterpart of NIE: Lesson plans, teaching tips and special productions geared to helping teachers use media to teach. There's even a free monthly magazine, though the web site seems much more dynamic!
school.discovery.com/schrockguide/index.html -- Kathy Schrock's guide is great for teachers. Like BJ Pinchbeck's, this is a site that was independent for years and is now part of “Discovery.”
www.theschooldaily.com -- This site features education news and opinions from around the world. Based in New Zealand, it's understandably strong in covering Kiwi and Aussie subjects, but its reach is global and growing every day. (Which is how often it's updated!)
www.teacher.co.za -- This is the national magazine for teachers in South Africa. Valuable as a multicultural view of education, it offers new ideas and insights into the common threads that unite us all, as well as the unique challenges of teaching in the Third World.
www.bangkokpost.com/education -- The Bangkok Post is particularly keen on helping its readers learn English, and this frequently-updated page offers a wealth of teaching resources using familiar features as well as articles local to Thailand. Terrific for ESL, but excellent for language arts generally!
www.rethinkingschools.org -- This thought-provoking web site manages to confront questionable school policies without coming across as strident or overly idealistic. Experienced teachers weigh in with their visions of what schools could, and should, be doing for kids.

Search Engines

www.google.com -- As other search engines sell out to those who pay to be “found,” Google retains the speed and thoroughness that brings good results.
www.ilor.com -- If you like bells and whistles, this new search engine offers a lot of very helpful options to help you sort through results. You'll need an up-to-date browser. (And guess what? It's based on Google!)

Career Resources

www.bls.gov/oco -- The Occupational Outlook Handbook. Information on what to do when you get out of school. Visit this site before May of senior year.
www.labor.state.ny.us -- These NYS Department of Labor sites really offer good information. The Youth site has all kinds of information on deciding what you want to do and finding out how to get there, while CareerZone is full of specific information about various careers. You can easily get to them both through the front door at the NYS Department of Labor.
http://www.dol.gov/asp/fibre/main.htm -- Here’s a student-oriented site from the US Department of Labor. It has several interesting sections, including one about matching the subjects you like in school with careers that you might also like.
www.jobstar.org -- This site from California has information on various careers. Some parts of this web site are strictly of interest to Californians, but there’s some good overall information for anyone who wants to know more about jobs.
www.students.gov -- This is another Federal Goverment site. It has some good career planning information, but it’s not just about jobs: It also has information about other government services for young people -- including information on registering to vote, signing up for selective service, finding scholarships and agencies where you can volunteer to serve others while you make up your mind about a career.

Fun

www.crayola.com -- Crayola Creativity Central : Arts and Crafts Projects, Inspiring Ideas, Rainy Day Fun, Coloring Pages and Books, Kids Games and so much more!

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