INNOVATIVE
TEACHING
presented by
Walter McKenzie - Creative Classroom Consulting
http://www.interserf.net/mcken/consult.htm
Innovative staff development:
Technology Applications, Multiple Intelligences,
Curriculum Integration and Creative Education.
Let's see what we can do for your staff!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 18, 1998

This will be my last edition for 1998. I will spend the holidays
catching up on the I.T. web page and creating new caches of resources
for future newsletters. Please email me with suggestions of topics you
would like to see covered in the new year. I extend my best wishes to
all of you for safe and happy holidays and a healthy, prosperous 1999!

While there are many Language Arts sites on the Web, those of a truly
high caliber that can enrich and even transform your curriculum are in a
separate class all by themselves. In this issue I have hoped to gather
some of the very best resources for both traditional Language Arts and
modern communications applications. Have fun!

ACRONYM FINDER - http://www.mtnds.com/af/
Searchable database containing common acronyms and abbreviations about
all subjects, with a focus on computers, technology, telecommunications,
and the military; 61,000 acronyms & their meanings

AMERICAN SLANGUAGES - http://www.slanguage.com/
Asks you to "choose a city and talk like the locals" - foreign cities
too; ok ok so you need to be careful with this one, but the rich uses of
language here outweigh the inherent dangers!

ANTHOLOGY OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE -
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/
Essays, articles and sources on Chaucer, Gawain, Langland, Julian,
Kempe, Malory, Everyman, as well as Lyrics and Plays - wonderful layout
and indispensable resource

BOOK REVIEWS - http://home.revealed.net/albee/pages/Books.html
Book site navigator designed to make finding titles on the Web easier,
part of the fabulous "Needle in a Cyberstack" teacher site

CAROL HURST'S LITERATURE SITE - http://www.carolhurst.com/index.html
Book reviews, practical literature extension ideas, themes and
professional resources

CELEBRITY ADDRESSES - http://users.iafrica.com/c/ca/cassidy/address.html

Alphabetically listed of addresses for celebrities from all walks of
life, said to be current and working; excellent for letter-writing
applications

CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHORS WHO VISIT SCHOOLS -
http://www.snowcrest.net/kidpower/authors2.html
While this site doesn't give enough info to make your job carefree, it
does provide links to the web sites of children's book authors who visit
schools

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WEB GUIDE -
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html
Books, awards, authors, resources, lessons and ideas for the classroom -
more comprehensive than most and layed out for getting in and getting
out fast

CLASSICS ARCHIVE - http://classics.mit.edu/index.html
Select from a list of 441 works of classical literature by 59 different
authors, including user-driven commentary and "reader's choice" Web
sites. Mainly Greco-Roman works (some Chinese and Persian), all in
English translation

CONCORDANCES OF GREAT BOOKS - http://www.concordance.com/
Over 200 classics from the Aeneid to Wuthering Heights listing the words
used and then the context for each occurrence; done alphabetically or
through your own search prompts - great for word study

DIGITAL LIBRARIAN - http://www.servtech.com/~mvail/home.html
Online catalogue of titles by subject area; online book reviews,
periodicals, articles and data bases at your fingertips - completely
searchable

EDITORIAL CARTOONS BY KIDS - http://www.ku.com/carcon2.html
resource site and contest encouraging students to express their social
and political views through the editorial cartoon genre; includes lots
of tips and support to help participants maximize their experience win
or lose

ENCYCLOPEDIA MYTHICA - http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/
Online reference tool for all things to do with mythology: 4300
definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary
creatures and monsters from all over the world

ESL CAFE - http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/eslcafe.html
Dave Sperling's site dedicated to learning English as a second language;
designed to be fun for teachers with lots of opportunity for interaction
and loads of shared ideas

ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES - http://www.pacificcoast.net/~muck/etym.html
An introduction to etymology and first names, as well as languages,
elements in first names, and the most popular names - interesting
possibilities for word study

FAIRIE LORE AND LITERATURE -
http://faeryland.tamu-commerce.edu/earendil/faerie/faerie.html
Searchable database of folklore and literature, tales and poems; an
indispensable guide to the genre with a seemingly endless supply of
resources

HANDBOOK FOR STORYTELLERS -
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm
Links to all kinds of tips for becoming a storyteller; loosely
structured to account for individual styles

JUST FOR KIDS WHO LOVE BOOKS -
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/1333/kids.htm
Completely dedicated to making kids avid readers with sections on the
Publishers Weekly Children's Bestseller List, How a Book is Made,
Reading Corner Reviews, Newbery Medal Books and Caldecott Medal Books;
a comprehensive alphabetized listing of author links is the coup de gras
for this wonderful site

LEGENDS - http://www.legends.dm.net/
History, literature, and lore presented with the promise of guided
access to primary source material and up-to-date scholarship, personal
essays and extended reviews, and historical surveys and thoughtful
commentary

LINGUISTIC FUN PAGE - http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/
Looking for a new twist to many of the English topics we tirelessly
attempt to impart to our students? This sight is a hoot - lots of
off-beat approaches and fun links

LITERARY CALENDAR - http://litcal.yasuda-u.ac.jp/LitCalendar.shtml
Kind of a "This day in history" for the Language Arts - set up monthly
so that you can click on any day and be linked to a list of prominent
literary events throughout the centuries; nice tie-in with the Social
Studies

MALASPINA GREAT BOOKS INTERDISCIPLINARY MATRIX -
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/matrix.htm
Hundreds of titles by subject area and literary period - indispensable
for curriculum integration

MEDIA FOR KIDS - http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/kids/kindex.htm
Child centered look at television, film and video games from the Media
Awareness Network - great takes on familiar topics that help children to
increase their sophistication with varied media

MEDIADOME - http://www.mediadome.com/
Intel's site where you can participate (rather than just read about or
watch) your favorite movies and musicians using web technologies like
Shockwave, Java, and VRML

MIKE ROFONE: ROVING REPORTER -
http://www.indigo.ie/local/mikero/index.html
Award winning site in which an investigative reporter snoops the net,
gets involved with interesting characters, and offers hot text links to
embellish his adventures; fifteen series on this site and a Christmas
edition in the works - great for upper elementary

NEWSEUM - http://www.newseum.org/
A virtual museum covering the past, present and future of journalism in
all its forms; interactive and engaging, this site offers perspective
and encourages a look into the future - includes a timeline, an ethics
section and a freedom of the press component

NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION (DETROIT FREE PRESS) - http://detnews.com/nie/
Topical units, weekly lesson plans, daily news discussion questions to
help you integrate print media into your instructional repertoire

NEW YORK TIMES LEARNING NETWORK - http://www.nytimes.com/learning/
News summaries, news quizzes, lesson plans, Newspaper in Education
resources, and much more from the people who promise 'all the news
that's fit to print'

OUTTA RAY'S HEAD - http://www3.sympatico.ca/ray.saitz/index.htm
Teacher-tested English lessons complete with a rationale for why to use
them, and the handouts and evaluations that go with them - gotta love
Ray's unconventional outlook =)

POETRY PALS - http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/5165/
An on-line project and resource to encourage the development of literacy
and technology skills through writing, publishing, and responding to
student poetry from around the world

PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKBOOK -
http://www.la.psu.edu/speech/100a/workbook/wrkbk.htm
Penn State University's online guide to preparing a speech, debate
position or other oral presentation; takes you step-by-step with lots of
support - Middle School and High School Level

THE READ-IN - http://www.readin.org/
A one-day-a-year Internet event that helps hundreds of thousands of
children around the world talk to famous authors and with each other;
the next Read-In is scheduled for May 13, 1999

SCI FI & FANTASY - http://libnt1.lib.uoguelph.ca/SFBib/index.htm
Annotated bibliography with online database for teachers - handy for
searching and searching planning

S.C.O.R.E. CYBERGUIDES -
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
Supplementary, web-based units of instruction centered on core works of
literature. They are designed for the classroom with one online
computer; each CyberGuide contains a student and teacher edition,
objectives, a task and a process by which it may be completed,
teacher-selected web sites and a rubric

SIMONSAYS KIDS - http://www.simonsays.com/kids/
Touted as the site with /the coolest books on the planet', the design is
definitely for kids and is sure to lure them into reading

SONNET CENTRAL - http://members.aol.com/ericblomqu/sonnet.htm
An archive of English sonnets with commentary, pictures, and relevant
links on the WWW

STORYARTS - http://www.storyarts.org/
Any resources for writing: Storytelling in the Classroom, Lesson Plans &
Activities, Story Library, Storytelling Books & Tapes, Articles, Links
and a Curriculum Ideas Exchange

STORY TELLING - http://www.bonus.com/bonus/list/n_storytel.html
Traditional and modern stories done in an interactive format; dozens of
activities to choose from, from Bonus.com (which opens its page in a
separate window so that your students are contained in a safe online
environment)

STORYTELLING, DRAMA, CREATIVE DRAMATICS, PUPPETRY AND READER'S THEATER -
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/drama.htm
Exactly what the name suggests - thorough treatment of links to great
sites on creative ways to teach the Language Arts

SURFING WITH THE BARD - http://www.ulen.com/shakespeare/
Over 200 pages on this site alone plus links, discussion boards and more
- all dedicated to Shakespeare's genius

TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH INTERACTIVE FICTION -
http://k12s.phast.umass.edu/~desilets/
One section for students and another for teachers, all designed to fuel
your enthusiasm to create computer-based interactive fiction

A TRIP TO MISTY'S HOME - CHINCOTEAGUE, VIRGINIA - A webquest that asks
you to imagine you are planning a family trip to Chincoteague, Virginia
to see the wild ponies for yourself - nice companion to the novel with
excellent links

VISUAL THESAURUS - http://www.plumbdesign.com/thesaurus/
An amazing application of technology in which the learner actually
watches terms being spun into webs of meaning; move your cursor towards
different places on the JAVA applet and watch new terms dynamically
emerge, interact and evolve into related meanings - DYNAMITE STUFF!

VOCABULARY.COM - http://www.vocabulary.com/index.html
Home of "Vocabulary University", a great place for games and puzzles
that promote word power including thematic word puzzles on a range of
topics; separate word puzzle booklets can be purchased if you want to
delve further into the activities, but for my money (literally)
everything you need is right online

WEEKLY IDIOM - http://www.comenius.com/idiom/index.html
Every two weeks, The Comenius Group provides a new idiom to assist
students of English; searchable index of past idioms, as well

WHYPOETRYWHAT -
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/samwhypoetrmi.html
Developed using Filamentality, this site offers online experiences for
children to understand different components of poetry

WORLD LITERATURE AND CULTURE -
http://www.ih.k12.oh.us/ms/woodring/Yawchome.htm
A 7th grade class has undertaken a World cultures humanities course,
along the way learning about Africa, Asia, India, Latin America, and the
Middle East; art, literature, and music of each of these world cultures,
are compiled here

Find these and many other Language Arts links at the Innovative Teaching
web site:
http://www.interserf.net/mcken/teachLA.htm
January 8, 1999's topic: "NASA Curriculum Links"

Please send in URL's of high quality sites which may be
of interest to our readers to mrmck@...!
Also, I'm always looking for new topic ideas and input!


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

Visit The Innovative Teaching Website:
http://www.interserf.net/mcken/teacher.htm

This newsletter may be forwarded or copied as long as the
header and signature information remain intact. Show a
colleague about what you have found in Innovative Teaching! =D
-1998 Walter McKenzie
------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-group home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/innovative-teaching
Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com

INNOVATIVE TEACHING presented by Walter McKenzie - Creative Classroom Consulting http://www.interserf.net/mcken/consult.htm Innovative staff development: Technology Applications, Multiple Intelligences, Curriculum Integration and Creative Education. Let's see what we can do for your staff!    

---

December 18, 1998

This will be my last edition for 1998. I will spend the holidays catching up on the I.T. web page and creating new caches of resources for future newsletters. Please email me with suggestions of topics you would like to see covered in the new year. I extend my best wishes to all of you for safe and happy holidays and a healthy, prosperous 1999!

While there are many Language Arts sites on the Web, those of a truly high caliber that can enrich and even transform your curriculum are in a separate class all by themselves. In this issue I have hoped to gather some of the very best resources for both traditional Language Arts and modern communications applications. Have fun!

ACRONYM FINDER - http://www.mtnds.com/af/
Searchable database containing common acronyms and abbreviations about all subjects, with a focus on computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military; 61,000 acronyms & their meanings

AMERICAN SLANGUAGES - http://www.slanguage.com/
Asks you to "choose a city and talk like the locals" - foreign cities too; ok ok so you need to be careful with this one, but the rich uses of language here outweigh the inherent dangers!

ANTHOLOGY OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE - http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/
Essays, articles and sources on Chaucer, Gawain, Langland, Julian, Kempe, Malory, Everyman, as well as Lyrics and Plays - wonderful layout and indispensable resource

BOOK REVIEWS - http://home.revealed.net/albee/pages/Books.html
Book site navigator designed to make finding titles on the Web easier, part of the fabulous "Needle in a Cyberstack" teacher site

CAROL HURST'S LITERATURE SITE - http://www.carolhurst.com/index.html
Book reviews, practical literature extension ideas, themes and professional resources

CELEBRITY ADDRESSES - http://users.iafrica.com/c/ca/cassidy/address.html
Alphabetically listed of addresses for celebrities from all walks of life, said to be current and working; excellent for letter-writing applications

CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHORS WHO VISIT SCHOOLS - http://www.snowcrest.net/kidpower/authors2.html
While this site doesn't give enough info to make your job carefree, it does provide links to the web sites of children's book authors who visit schools

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WEB GUIDE - http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html
Books, awards, authors, resources, lessons and ideas for the classroom - more comprehensive than most and layed out for getting in and getting out fast

CLASSICS ARCHIVE - http://classics.mit.edu/index.html
Select from a list of 441 works of classical literature by 59 different authors, including user-driven commentary and "reader's choice" Web sites. Mainly Greco-Roman works (some Chinese and Persian), all in English translation

CONCORDANCES OF GREAT BOOKS - http://www.concordance.com/
Over 200 classics from the Aeneid to Wuthering Heights listing the words used and then the context for each occurrence; done alphabetically or through your own search prompts - great for word study

DIGITAL LIBRARIAN - http://www.servtech.com/~mvail/home.html
Online catalogue of titles by subject area; online book reviews, periodicals, articles and data bases at your fingertips - completely searchable

EDITORIAL CARTOONS BY KIDS - http://www.ku.com/carcon2.html
resource site and contest encouraging students to express their social and political views through the editorial cartoon genre; includes lots of tips and support to help participants maximize their experience win or lose

ENCYCLOPEDIA MYTHICA - http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/
Online reference tool for all things to do with mythology: 4300 definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the world

ESL CAFE - http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/eslcafe.html
Dave Sperling's site dedicated to learning English as a second language; designed to be fun for teachers with lots of opportunity for interaction and loads of shared ideas

ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES - http://www.pacificcoast.net/~muck/etym.html
An introduction to etymology and first names, as well as languages, elements in first names, and the most popular names - interesting possibilities for word study

FAIRIE LORE AND LITERATURE - http://faeryland.tamu-commerce.edu/earendil/faerie/faerie.html
Searchable database of folklore and literature, tales and poems; an indispensable guide to the genre with a seemingly endless supply of resources

HANDBOOK FOR STORYTELLERS - http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm
Links to all kinds of tips for becoming a storyteller; loosely structured to account for individual styles

JUST FOR KIDS WHO LOVE BOOKS - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/1333/kids.htm
Completely dedicated to making kids avid readers with sections on the Publishers Weekly Children's Bestseller List, How a Book is Made, Reading Corner Reviews,  Newbery Medal Books and Caldecott Medal Books; a comprehensive alphabetized listing of author links is the coup de gras for this wonderful site

LEGENDS - http://www.legends.dm.net/
History, literature, and lore presented with the promise of guided access to primary source material and up-to-date scholarship, personal essays and extended reviews, and historical surveys and thoughtful commentary

LINGUISTIC FUN PAGE - http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/
Looking for a new twist to many of the English topics we tirelessly attempt to impart to our students? This sight is a hoot - lots of off-beat approaches and fun links

LITERARY CALENDAR - http://litcal.yasuda-u.ac.jp/LitCalendar.shtml
Kind of a "This day in history" for the Language Arts - set up monthly so that you can click on any day and be linked to a list of prominent literary events throughout the centuries; nice tie-in with the Social Studies

MALASPINA GREAT BOOKS INTERDISCIPLINARY MATRIX - http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/matrix.htm
Hundreds of titles by subject area and literary period - indispensable for curriculum integration

MEDIA FOR KIDS - http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/kids/kindex.htm
Child centered look at television, film and video games from the Media Awareness Network - great takes on familiar topics that help children to increase their sophistication with varied media

MEDIADOME - http://www.mediadome.com/
Intel's site where you can participate (rather than just read about or watch) your favorite movies and musicians using web technologies like Shockwave, Java, and VRML

MIKE ROFONE: ROVING REPORTER - http://www.indigo.ie/local/mikero/index.html
Award winning site in which an investigative reporter snoops the net, gets involved with interesting characters, and offers hot text links to embellish his adventures; fifteen series on this site and a Christmas edition in the works - great for upper elementary

NEWSEUM - http://www.newseum.org/
A virtual museum covering the past, present and future of journalism in all its forms; interactive and engaging, this site offers perspective and encourages a look into the future - includes a timeline, an ethics section and a freedom of the press component

NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION (DETROIT FREE PRESS) - http://detnews.com/nie/
Topical units, weekly lesson plans, daily news discussion questions to help you integrate print media into your instructional repertoire

NEW YORK TIMES LEARNING NETWORK - http://www.nytimes.com/learning/
News summaries, news quizzes, lesson plans, Newspaper in Education resources, and much more from the people who promise 'all the news that's fit to print'

OUTTA RAY'S HEAD - http://www3.sympatico.ca/ray.saitz/index.htm
Teacher-tested English lessons complete with a rationale for why to use them, and the handouts and evaluations that go with them - gotta love Ray's unconventional outlook  =)

POETRY PALS - http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/5165/
An on-line project and resource to encourage the development of literacy and technology skills through writing, publishing, and responding to student poetry from around the world

PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKBOOK - http://www.la.psu.edu/speech/100a/workbook/wrkbk.htm
Penn State University's online guide to preparing a speech, debate position or other oral presentation; takes you step-by-step with lots of support - Middle School and High School Level

THE READ-IN - http://www.readin.org/
A one-day-a-year Internet event that helps hundreds of thousands of children around the world talk to famous authors and with each other; the next Read-In is scheduled for May 13, 1999

SCI FI & FANTASY - http://libnt1.lib.uoguelph.ca/SFBib/index.htm
Annotated bibliography with online database for teachers - handy for searching and searching planning

S.C.O.R.E. CYBERGUIDES - http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
Supplementary, web-based units of instruction centered on core works of literature. They are designed for the classroom with one online computer; each CyberGuide contains a student and teacher edition, objectives, a task and a process by which it may be completed, teacher-selected web sites and a rubric

SIMONSAYS KIDS - http://www.simonsays.com/kids/
Touted as the site with /the coolest books on the planet', the design is definitely for kids and is sure to lure them into reading

SONNET CENTRAL - http://members.aol.com/ericblomqu/sonnet.htm
An archive of English sonnets with commentary, pictures, and relevant links on the WWW

STORYARTS - http://www.storyarts.org/
Any resources for writing: Storytelling in the Classroom, Lesson Plans & Activities, Story Library, Storytelling Books & Tapes, Articles, Links and a Curriculum Ideas Exchange

STORY TELLING - http://www.bonus.com/bonus/list/n_storytel.html
Traditional and modern stories done in an interactive format; dozens of activities to choose from, from Bonus.com (which opens its page in a separate window so that your students are contained in a safe online environment)

STORYTELLING, DRAMA, CREATIVE DRAMATICS, PUPPETRY AND READER'S THEATER - http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/drama.htm
Exactly what the name suggests - thorough treatment of links to great sites on creative ways to teach the Language Arts

SURFING WITH THE BARD - http://www.ulen.com/shakespeare/
Over 200 pages on this site alone plus links, discussion boards and more - all dedicated to Shakespeare's genius

TEACHING AND LEARNING WITH INTERACTIVE FICTION - http://k12s.phast.umass.edu/~desilets/
One section for students and another for teachers, all designed to fuel your enthusiasm to create computer-based interactive fiction

A TRIP TO MISTY'S HOME - CHINCOTEAGUE, VIRGINIA - A webquest that asks you to imagine you are planning a family trip to Chincoteague, Virginia to see the wild ponies for yourself - nice companion to the novel with excellent links

VISUAL THESAURUS - http://www.plumbdesign.com/thesaurus/
An amazing application of technology in which the learner actually watches terms being spun into webs of meaning; move your cursor towards different places on the JAVA applet and watch new terms dynamically emerge, interact and evolve into related meanings - DYNAMITE STUFF!

VOCABULARY.COM - http://www.vocabulary.com/index.html
Home of "Vocabulary University", a great place for games and puzzles that promote word power including thematic word puzzles on a range of topics; separate word puzzle booklets can be purchased if you want to delve further into the activities, but for my money (literally) everything you need is right online

WEEKLY IDIOM - http://www.comenius.com/idiom/index.html
Every two weeks, The Comenius Group provides a new idiom to assist students of English; searchable index of past idioms, as well

WHYPOETRYWHAT - http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/samwhypoetrmi.html
Developed using Filamentality, this site offers online experiences for children to understand different components of poetry

WORLD LITERATURE AND CULTURE - http://www.ih.k12.oh.us/ms/woodring/Yawchome.htm
A 7th grade class has undertaken a World cultures humanities course, along the way learning about Africa, Asia, India, Latin America, and the Middle East; art, literature, and music of each of these world cultures, are compiled here

Find these and many other Language Arts links at the Innovative Teaching web site:

January 8, 1999's topic: "NASA Curriculum Links"

Please send in URL's of high quality sites which may be
of interest to our readers to mrmck@...!
Also, I'm always looking for new topic ideas and input!
 

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

Visit  The Innovative Teaching Website:
http://www.interserf.net/mcken/teacher.htm

This newsletter may be forwarded or copied as long as the
header and signature information remain intact. Show a
colleague about what you have found in Innovative Teaching!  =D
                                                  -1998 Walter McKenzie
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

---

E-group home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/innovative-teaching
Free Web-based e-mail groups by www.eGroups.com