TeacherTube
This Web site, established by a pair of educators, provides a YouTube-like interface for teachers to share videos of class projects, lesson plans, and other educational videos. With dozens of new videos being added each day, the site is growing quickly, and just like YouTube, it requires visitors to dig through a lot of material to find the gems. Each video can be ranked and commented on by participants, and to make searching easier, the videos can be sorted by the number of views they have, the number of comments they have received, how recently the videos were added, and their quality ratings. Videos can also be browsed by channels, which group videos into categories such as “high school” or “reading.” To take advantage of most of the site’s features, participants must first sign up, for free.
ReadWriteThink
Created by the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Verizon Foundation, this site is a great online resource for reading and language arts teachers. Its extensive collection of lesson plans, educational Web sites, and online tools make it an easy place for English teachers to start exploring Internet resources for the classroom. The site is divided into four main tabs: lessons, standards, Web resources, and student materials. The lessons section gathers hundreds of lesson plans, which can be sorted by grade level. Each lesson plan includes student objectives, corresponding standards, and a detailed instructional plan. The standards tab brings up a detailed list of the 12 key objectives for a successful English/language arts program outlined by the IRA and the NCTE. The Web-resources page provides an extensive list of educational sites for teachers to explore, which can also be sorted by grade level or resource type. The student-materials section compiles links to various Web-based tools and programs for students, along with a list of lesson plans that correspond with the activities.
