Book Club.
Hewlett-Packard sponsors the HP Digital Book Club, a site designed to promote reading and literacy for children. This site provides lists of best-selling books for ages 8-11, 12-15, and 16-18; tips for starting a book club; book-related crafts and activities; excerpts from classic literature for children and young adults; advice from published authors, including Stan and Jan Berenstain, authors of Berenstain Bears, and Bruce Coville, author of My Teacher Is an Alien; and a list of links relating to children’s literature, books, and authors. www.hp-at-home.com/bookclub.
Interactive Science.
The Brainium, an interactive science site for students in grades 4-8, features games, activities, and animation about topics such as ecosystems, electricity, earthquakes, and energy. It includes a career section that introduces students to scientists from various fields and describes their jobs. A newspaper called The Daily Sponge details recent events and discoveries in science and technology. Multiactive Education Inc., a division of Multiactive Technologies Inc., an on-line education content provider, produces the site.
www.brainium.com/home48.htm.
Da Vinci.
Why Is the Mona Lisa Smiling? It’s a good question, but it’s also the name of a site focusing on Leonardo da Vinci and his famous painting. Created by a collaborative team of high school students from America and Sweden as part of the annual ThinkQuest Internet competition, the site features audio clips from Da Vinci’s musical compositions, information and a quiz on Mona Lisa, and an introduction about Lillian Schwartz, a specialist in computer graphics and art who has studied Da Vinci’s painting. The site also includes links to other resources about the Italian painter, inventor, and scientist. library.
http://www.advanced.org/thinkquest.html.
Time.
Like Time magazine, Time for Kids is a weekly publication focusing on front-page issues. Its site features cartoons, a place for kids to respond to articles, and a multimedia section that includes interactive games, trivia, and timelines. The site also archives previous issues. www.pathfinder.com/TFK.
Judy Blume.
Judy Blume’s Home Base contains writing tips and answers to questions frequently asked of the children’s author known for such books as Superfudge and Freckle Juice The site also offers a list of Blume’s books as well as the seed ideas for her stories.
www.judyblume.com/home.html.
Explorers.
USA Weekend magazine includes a section titled “Historic Steps of Lewis and Clark.” Middle school history and social studies students become “virtual explorers,” tackling six major decisions that influenced the outcome of the expedition. www.usaweekend.com/97_issues/971102/lewis_and_clark/971102trail_intro.html.
College Search.
GoCollege is a site for high school juniors and seniors applying to college. Students can get scholarship information, details about financial aid, and virtual tours of many schools. They can also take on-line practice tests for the SAT and ACT, fill out college applications, and link to fraternity and sorority sites. Students, parents, and guidance counselors discuss college life in the site’s chat room. www.gocollege.com.
Diary Project.
The Diary Project, launched in September 1995, was inspired by Zlata Filipovic’s Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo. Young adults write and post diaries on the site either anonymously or using their first name and discuss topics such as families, friends, loss, racism, relationships, violence, and drugs. A resource center is available for students to get professional help about issues discussed in the diary entries. www.diaryproject.com.
Jewish Heritage.
Jewish Heritage Online Magazine is sponsored by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, an international organization dedicated to advancing Jewish cultural activities. This site includes information about Jewish heritage and culture, the Torah, Hebrew language, and the Jewish calendar. Each month, the site focuses on a different forum topic, such as celebrations, dreams, and family. There are also sections featuring tales and legends, comics, Judaica clip art and books, a glossary of terms, and ideas for using the site in the classroom. www.jewishheritage.com.
