grade4Links

=Helpful Resources by Unit - Grade 4=

Who's the Boss?

 * Suggested projects:**
 * Use Inspiration to draw a concept map of how the different branches of government work together. Alternatively, students could create their own song about the legislative process and record it in Audacity.
 * Students can design new currency for the U.S. in Publisher, using pictures and facts of important historical figures

[|270 to Win: 2008 Presidential Election Interactive Map and History of the Electoral College] - If it's a college, why doesn't it have a football team? Unfortunately, that's about the level of understanding about the Electoral College among many students. Once student learn that we don't really elect presidents by popular vote, many are also quick to condemn the Electoral College as "stupid" or "unfair." This site might help teachers put the Electoral College and the process we use to determine our president into sharper focus.
 * Resources:**

[|American Heritage Education Foundation] - The highlight of this site is ready-to-go lesson plans (with standards) divided by age level (elementary, middle, and high school). These FREE lesson plans are available online via a PDF file or you may order a FREE CD (they say it is a $150 value). The elementary topics range from Colonial America to U.S. Presidents (with a focus on George Washington) to the History of Thanksgiving to The Pledge of Allegiance and MANY others.

[|BeelineTV] - This online TV resource offers instant streaming of TV news, sports, music, and cultural programs from **up to 400 different countries in many languages**. With a Windows Media Player or other player (downloading directions given at the site), teachers can have television on classroom computers instantly. Foreign language teachers can show programs featuring their language group. English language TV comes from the U.S. and the U.K. Some examples of “TV” places include Dubai, France, Jordan, Kuwait, Japan, Korea, China, Poland, Denmark, Russia, and countless others.

[|Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids]

[|The Democracy Project] - students get the chance to be the President of America for a day (which has interesting presidential factoids), make a "Future Voting Card", and learn what democracy means to them

[|I Do Solemnly Swear: Presidential Inaugurations] - The Library of Congress has created this excellent resource that features over 400 images and 2,000 digital files related to the inaugurations of George Washington through George W. Bush (in 2001). There are video clips, references, diary entries, letters, and more.

[|Meet Amazing Americans] - This site offers some basic research on MANY "Amazing" Americans. Click to learn more about "Amazing" Leaders & Statesmen, U.S. Presidents, Activists & Reformers, Adventurers & Explorers, Musicians & Composers, Writers & Artists, Industrialists & Entrepreneurs, Scientist & Inventors, or Athletes and Entertainers. Be prepared: when you click on one of the topics you may have a few people pop up OR more names than you can count! This is an excellent site for research, teaching students about American heroes, or using to enhance your social studies, science, or music curriculum. There are pictures, information, and even some interactives. There are also links to a Presidential Scavenger Hunt, a "Dynamite Presidents" interactive, and other "extras."

Newsy - This site presents current news stories from multiple perspectives, featuring videos and commentary from the world's top newspapers. All the video news clips offer a complete transcript (click on "transcript" just below the video window). General topics covered include the U.S., the world, the environment, culture, technology, economy, and politics. TIP: Have students compare the different versions of the same news stories to try and ferret out the facts and the way points of view affect reporting. Project the scripts on an interactive whiteboard to have students highlight language choices that provide a certain slant.

[|The Road to the Capitol] - This site challenges students to take on the role of U.S. Congress candidate. The opponent, Roberta Glass, is trying to significantly limit children's use of CDs, video games, DVDs, and other electronics. The students' job is to run against her based on the U.S. constitution and laws. Students visit a debate, rally, campaign headquarters, and many other localities trying to gain votes. Can your students beat Roberta Glass before she takes away their civil rights?

[|United States District Court] - This social studies/government site is simply amazing! Numerous topics abound: current events, monthly highlights, lessons, interactives, and more. Learn the story of America, the branches of the US government, about the FBI, The Great US Seal, and much more. Try some of the interactives like the Native American Quiz, Constitution Jeopardy, Million Dollar Citizen, Presidential Word Search, and several others.

Which Founder Are You? - This website offers an eleven question quiz about which founding father you are most like. Much like personality quizzes in pre-teen and teen magazines, this site will appeal to students. It is a different take on history and the men who formed our country's foundation. This is a great site to demonstrate qualities found in true leaders.

Picture This!

 * Suggested projects:**
 * Teacher could create a book blog where students can post reviews of books they are reading and recommend books to each other. Could also do a book blog where students have to answer questions posing as a character from one of their books
 * Create character trading cards or a profile for a character in one of their books using Publisher.
 * Create a comic of a story they are reading, or one they created themselves (Reminder: comics need to be printed when done, they can’t be saved easily).
 * Create a book for younger students using Word and Art Rage. Could record them reading the story using Audacity.
 * Could have students create "book bags" for younger students, where they take a book and create activities young students can do using that book

[|1000 Images on the Tip of My Tongue] - This website presents idioms organized in categories in **English, French and Spanish**. After choosing a category, students see a list of matching expressions. They can hear the idioms pronounced and used in sentences. This site offers a new and different feature than most idiom sites: a link to an equivalent idiom in French or Spanish! The only idioms here are idioms with similar expressions in the three languages, though they are not directly translated. By clicking on Activities, students can see selected idioms in animated cartoons with sound.
 * Resources:**

[|Bill's Treasure Chest: Writing Prompts] - This writing site offers interesting prompts for upper elementary and secondary students. The site is set-up as a blog, and you are able to make comments on the writing prompts. New prompts are added at least once per week, sometimes twice or more. There are archived writing prompts dating back to 2005 - so there are PLENTY of choices to use in your classroom.

[|Character Trading Cards] - students can create trading cards that include specific details about characters in the stories they are reading

[|Comic Creator] - students can create comics about the books they are reading

[|Dog-Eared Book Blog] - This well-moderated site features regular "kid" writers reviewing timely and exciting books. This blog differs from many in that the book reviews are extensive and very well done, good models for classroom book reports. The books are on timely topics such as current political, ecological, or social issues as well as holidays. Another advantage to this site is that it is indexed; each review has keywords listed after the review. You can search for books using keywords or authors.

[|ePals] - K-12 connected learning community - join as a teacher and set up correspondence with a class around the world. Suggestion: ask the students in the other class to describe themselves, and have your students try and draw them. Then, have the students in the other class send your class pictures, and see how class they got!

[|Illustory] - students can create and illustrate their own books, which can be sent off to be bound professionally

[|Profile Publisher] - This tool creates professional looking profiles of students or for a character in a book, historical figure, animal, or scientific object/concept. Amazingly, you may choose to set up a profile for nonliving creatures or even abstract concepts. You simply type in the requested information into the boxes, and immediately, you have a perfect profile layout, ready for photocopy publishing. (Saving your profiles is not an option, so all must be printed immediately.)

[|Story Starters] - Type your name and choose your grade level (K-1, 2, 3, or 4-6). Then get ready for the wheel to spin! You can spin four wheels to get a very specific writing prompt. For example, Describe a vacation with a skinny cactus who loves country music. Each wheel produces a different part of the prompt. Each time the wheel spins, a new prompt is created. The prompts are created for the specified grade level and are highly creative. Be sure to check out the //Teacher's Guide// that offers learning objectives, specific lesson ideas, and printables.

[|Tikatok] - For very slightly adventurous technology users and their students. NOTE that this is the TEACHER registration page for this tool. Students and teachers can write your own original books, add your own images and artwork as illustrations, and read your published books in interactive, online form. This is the ultimate in "digital storytelling." Once you set up free membership in this site, students (or teachers) can select the general type of book you wish to write and then see "Story Sparks," templates to help you write the story. These teach common story map patterns as students write.

[|Wordpress] - offers free blogs, so that students can keep an online journal of the books they are reading

Earth

 * Suggested projects:**
 * Create a Group Google Map showing changes that have happened in the world (earthquakes, tornadoes, etc). Use Google News, etc to research changes.
 * Explore various online websites showing how humans have affected the Earth.
 * Students can create crossword puzzles, encouraging students to define Earth vocabulary

[|Before and After] - a website that uses Flash animation to show how houses looked before and after they were hit by natural disasters
 * Resources:**

[|ClueMaps] - answer clues about physical features of the Earth to answer a geography question

[|Discover Primary Science] - Come to this site to view animation videos, practice online science activities, and learn about science at this interesting site. The videos bring many important science topics alive, including the physics of motion, structures, and more. Examples of movies include "Cleaning Dirty Water," "Exploring Lungs," or "Bouncy Custard Balls." Topics vary from pollution to the human body to levers to making homemade bouncy balls!

[|EarthNet] - a self-proclaimed "Virtual Resource Centre for Earth Science Educators," this website has experiments, activities, links, and a virtual field trip about Earth. **Available in French and English.**

[|Ecopibes] - En estas páginas encontrarás aquellas cosas que todos los EcoPibes deben saber: ¿qué es el efecto invernadero? ¿qué le ocurre a la capa de ozono? ¿por qué hay especies en extinción? ¿qué es un ecosistema? ¿porqué debemos reducir, reusar y reciclar? ¿qué significa desarrollo sustentable? ¿qué dice la Agenda 21? ¿qué ocurrió en Chernobyl? y miles de cosas más. **Only in Spanish**.

E-learning for Kids - Check out this site offering free learning courses to students in science, language arts, English language, math, health and life skills, and computer skills. Choose from a wide variety of different learning experiences in the subject areas for earning in a fun and engaging way. Each subject area has countless interactives ready to go! Detailed instructions are provided for each activity. **Available in English, Spanish and French.**

[|Geography at the Movies] - This website contains videos about geography, sorted by topic (such as [|Climate Change], [|Enivronment], [|Industry] and [|Weather]). There is also a large section of links to other interesting websites about Geography.

[|Globetracker's Mission] - Globetracker’s Mission is a unique, engaging way for students in grades 2-6 to learn geography, map skills, and landforms through an episodic story. Each week, a new episode, in the format of a blog post, appears on the Globetracker’s Mission site. Classes who follow the mission learn standards-based terms and concepts of geography as they respond to Geo and Meri’s think-aloud questions using maps, images, and links that Geo and Meri provide. Concepts include landforms, map skills, cultures, major landmarks, oceans, rivers, and more.

[|Google Earth Lessons] - a large variety of social studies lessons that use Google Earth. Topics range from virtual vacations to plotting endangered species to decision making activities. A great resource!

[|Latest Earthquakes in the World] - shows where the latest earthquakes happened in the world, over the past 7 days, and provides detailed information about the earthquake

[|National Geographic World Atlas for Young Explorers] - activities that go along with the print atlas of the same name

[|National Maritime Museum] - consists of 4 sections: Your Energy (water, wind, oil and gas), Your Waste (pollution), Your Stuff (what the ocean provides to us) and Your Climate (climate change, greenhouses gases, and global warming).

[|Panoramio]

[|Sand Photography]

[|Smog City 2] - an interactive air pollution simulator, where students can see how individual choices, environmental factors, and different types of land use affect air pollution. Can be downloaded, or played online.

[|Statetris] - In this activity, students check their knowledge of geography by playing a game similar to Tetris. Students are able to choose a “puzzle map” of a continent, country, state, or province. Some examples of the locations offered include Africa, USA, Italy, Europe, France, Germany, Brazil, Japan, South Carolina, and many others.

[|The Hubble Heritage Project] - View outstanding and remarkable pictures taken from the Hubble Space Telescope. Tip: Provide students Hubble pictures of various objects. Have students brainstorm similarities and difference among objects prior to telling them the names of the objects. Have students present their thoughts to the class, provide the names and allow time for students to do additional research.

[|Zero Footprint Calculator] - asks questions and calculates the footprint that students leave on the earth; it also says how many Earths we would need if everyone lived the same way.

Plant Life

 * Suggested projects:**
 * Illustrated journal of their plant’s growth, using Word/Art Rage or VoiceThread.
 * Create a PowerPoint describing their plant, which can be shown at the Celebration of Learning
 * Create Plant trading cards in Publisher, detailing fast facts about the plants. Students could trade their cards at the Celebration of Learning. Could be extended by also trading seeds.

[|BBC: Life Cycles] - contains an interactive flower dissection where students learn about each part of the flower. Also includes an activity where students label the parts of a flower.
 * Resources:**

[|The Great Plant Escape] - contains several cases where students explore plants. Includes a Teachers Guide. **Available in English and Spanish.**

[|LearnThings: Interactive Whiteboard Activities for the Plant Cycle] - contains three activities about the plant cycle (labeling the parts of a flower, placing pictures of the life cycle, and naming parts of the cycle) that are made to be used on an interactive whiteboard

Early Man
**Resources:** [|The Life & Times of Early Man]
 * Suggested projects:**
 * Create a narrative tale of a person’s life using primary sources (could be done in VoiceThread, PowerPoint, as a movie, etc)
 * Create their own primary sources for the life of someone they invent (ex., cave drawings, done in Paint.NET or Inkscape, that tell the story of a Neanderthal)
 * Teacher could create a blog and have students respond to different questions as different stages of mankind (example – a child posing as an example of //homo habilis// might respond to the question of “what is your daily life like?” by posting that he hunts for food and then uses the animal bones for tools)

[|The Cave of Lascoux] - This latest redesign of the Lascaux tour offered by the French government takes viewers on a video tour of the famous French caves. As you walk along, pop-ups label the drawings being viewed. An outline map on the right lower side of the screen shows the path the "walker" is taking, and also demonstrates where the viewer is at any given part of the tour. In addition to the video walk, information about the caves appears in "Chapters" which students can click on. The original version of this site is in French. The left sidebar offers the options of viewing the site in **French, English, German, or Spanish**.

[|The Mysteries of Catalhoyouk]

What's New

 * Suggested projects:**
 * VoiceThread project – students create an online presentation of their personal history, including audio and images.
 * Create a timeline of their life history (could use timeline software if it is purchased or Word)
 * Trace the growth and development of the United States online

[|America's Story] - an interactive website that includes lots of games, puzzles, and easy to read articles about America's history
 * Resources:**

[|A Room in Time] - Come along with Elizabeth Barker to the New World. Help her set up her new Colonial home. Students are presented with an empty room and a list of possible items to include in the room (scroll using the arrows on the bottom of the page). Once students click //Done// Elizabeth will offer her opinion on the room and changes necessary. By scrolling over the items in the room, students are presented with simple reference information about each item.

[|ClassTools] - ClassTools provides teachers (and students!) with online templates that are interactive, from the name generator to **timelines** to venn diagrams and to many other interactive tools. There's even a game creator, where teachers can enter vocabulary words and definitions and a matching game is created. Teachers could set up activities ahead of time, or students can use the templates to create their own work.

[|Exploring Maryland's Roots] - This amazing historical site, created by Maryland Public Television, offers information about Maryland's roots (focusing on the 1600s and 1700s). Lesson plans focus on topics such as plantations and slavery, the colonists' arrival in the New World, the history of the Yaocomaco Indians, and several others. The lessons include interactive activities and/or video clips. There are also printables and a wealth of historical information (great for research).

[|Geni: Everyone's Related] - This tool allows you to create an interactive family tree. Once you are registered, you can easily create a family tree. You are able to include family member's birth-dates, death-dates, email addresses, pictures, video clips, and more. This site also has the capacity to create timelines for births, deaths, weddings, divorces, education, occupation, and other important events and information. Tip: If you plan to have student's register individually, you may want to [|create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students].

[|History Detectives] - this website includes games where students answer historical questions by looking at clues

[|Interactives: United States History Map] - Annenberg Media has created this fantastic interactive tool that allows you to trace the growth and settlement of the United States by using a map. Throughout this interactive challenge, students learn about map legends, the compass rose and cardinal directions, and different types of maps.

[|The Learning Page] - a website with many interactive activities and presentations related to American history, including a section solely on [|women's perceptions of history]

[|Loud Lit] - offers "literature for your ears and eyes". This collaborative project with public domain offers recorded literature. You are given the options of listening to the literature, listening and reading the literature, or downloading the literature to an MP3 player. Some examples of the available literature includes //A Tale of Two Cities, The Little Match Girl, The Gift of the Magi, The Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address,// and countless others.

[|Mission Planet Earth] - a challenging game where you have to lead expeditions across the globe and make important decisions about equipment and travel. When you complete an exhibition, there's a great video of the footage you "gathered".

[|The Secret in the Cellar: A Written in Bone Forensic Mystery from Colonial America] - This site, //The Secret in the Cellar//, offers a "webcomic" based on a TRUE story. This story mixes some history, science, forensics, and more to create an authentic mystery for students to read and solve. The mystery involves the discovery of a 17th Century body. Who is he or she? How did he or she die? Use photos, graphics, and online activities to unravel this history mystery! Analyze artifacts, examine the skeleton, and determine the cause of death.

[|Showing Evidence: Analyzing and Evaluating Information] - Give your students the skills to analyze and evaluate information with Intel’s free “Showing Evidence tool.” “Showing Evidence” provides a visual framework to help students learn how to construct well-reasoned arguments and prove their case with credible evidence. Students are prompted to consider the quality of the evidence and the strength of the evidence to support their claim. When an argument is complicated, the components of the tool help students think through justifying a claim.

[|Teaching with Documents] - lesson plans from the National Archives using primary source documents to explore the past

[|This Day in History] - this website lists events by date, which can be searched by year or date. Great for finding kid-safe world events to place on timelines.

[|Wanderlust: GOOD traces the most famous trips in history] - This site offers brief illustrated trips reflecting a combination of real-life and fictional journeys, including those by Amelia Earhart, Captain Ahab, Magellan, Marco Polo, Jack Kerouac, Pizarro, and Phileas Fogg. The site opens with a world map with each of the journeys traced and keyed to the name of the journey. Clicking on a journey brings up photographs, literary illustrations, or drawings from the time period showing highlights of the trip.

When Weather Changed History - Weather's impact on the course of history sometimes goes unnoticed. A heat wave brings about public policy change; a hurricane alerts the public to the need for better planning and an improved safety net; a father of our country dies due to extreme weather. This collection of full episodes and shorter (2 minute) clips from the Weather Channel's regular series is ideal for use in the classroom to help students make connections between climate, geography, and history.