Before coming to South Korea to teach English, I taught a general
education
fifth grade class at a small elementary school in a suburb just south
of Atlanta for three years.
I earned my BA in philosophy from Agnes
Scott College and earned my certification and M. Ed. in Early
Childhood Education from Georgia State University.
I have found the following sites useful and hope that they
are of some use to you, too.
Math
One of my favorite subjects to teach was an accelerated math class (6th
grade math to a group of 5th graders), and I found the following
websites useful:
The
Prime Pages
Fun for number theory exploration, The Prime Pages are great fun to
explore. Do you know what "
twin
primes" are? You can find out here...
Mathworld
I was introduced to Mathword by an engineering friend, and I am so
thankful! Mathworld is an AMAZING resource for all things
math.
For a while, I was mainly interested in hexagonal numbers and
the
like. You've heard of square, cube, and triangular numbers?
They go beyond that even...
Cynthia
Lanius' Lessons: A Fractals Lesson
I admit, I have yet to teach this series of lessons, intended for
elementary and middle school students. However, I expect to
teach it one day.
Speaking of fractals...
Paul Bourke
Paul Bourke has some great examples of fractals at his site.
He
also has puzzles and games that will entertain adults (but may be quite
hard for students; these puzzles may be good for an after-school math
club).
How to Make Paper Snowflakes with
Two, Four, Six, Eight, Twelve and Sixteen Points
For some reason, my students in the South have rarely made paper
snowflakes. I often had them make paper snowflakes to study
geometry and points of reflection.
Science
Earth and Moon Viewer
This website has various maps, photos, and charts available that show
the earth and moon from different viewpoints. You can even
specify certain days. I've found this site helpful for
teaching
weather, planets, and time zones.
Social Studies
The
National Archives
This is absolutely the
best
website I have found for teaching American history (I taught
Reconstruction to the present). You can find primary resources on
nearly any topic about American history and use those to teach.
I often used the posters and political cartoons to explore
differing viewpoints. Don't miss their
Document Analysis Worksheets—they're
very well written and encourage students to think deeply.
PhotoVoice
This is an interesting website that I've shared with students in small
groups. Teenager photographers take photos that reflect life around
them—projects have been done in parts of Africa and India, to
name a few countries. War zones, family, school, and immigration are
themes skillfully touched upon by the photographers.
Language
Arts
Sentence
Diagramming
As far as I know, I'm the only teacher in my school who taught sentence diagraming. Old fashioned it may be, but my students knew the
parts of speech, and I
knew that it would help them in
the future—especially when studying foreign languages. Gene
Moutoux's website has some examples of sentence diagramming.
Online Etymology Dictionary
I firmly believe that people who have an understanding of roots,
prefixes, and suffixes have an easier time building their vocabulary
skills and understanding unfamiliar written text. Several
times a
week I introduced new roots to my children, and when they were interested
in the history of a word, we turned to this source.
Downloadable Phonetic Alphabet
When I simultaneously became interested in NATO's phonetic
alphabet and bored with my classroom alphabet, I decided to create a
new alphabet chart to by used in my classroom. Do note that I took some
liberties—using a "mic" for "Mike," a lima bean for "Lima"
and a race car driver for "Charlie" (he's Charlie the Car Driver,
see...). I changed "whiskey" to "whisker" because I taught in an
elementary school. I
did not include numbers.
Some letters don't have clipart because I simply
drew the image or idea on the page. The printable phonetic alphabet
is in .pdf format. Feel free to use it in your classroom, and don't
hesitate to contact me using the Contact Form if you find better
clipart (for Charlie, for one...).