Sarah Debnam

SLM 521/FALL 2004

COLLABORATION

1. The US Trek – Students can join a team of educators as they trek across America to explore its history, culture and current events. This would be great to incorporate into a Language Arts class when teaching American Literature. You can also use this site when doing World Literature as well since there is a trip across the globe called the Odyssey. There is a trek designed for Grades K-6 and one designed for grades 7-9. Date visited: November 30, 2004.

http://www.ustrek.org/index.html

2. Postcards from America – This site allows students to tour the 50 states while receiving daily postcards delivered to their e-mailboxes. I would like to incorporate this website into a lesson where students have to create postcards that describe a scene in The Great Gatsby. Through this site, students can actually travel to the place where the novel takes place. This site is very useful for grades 9-12. Date visited: November 30, 2004.

http://www.postcardsfrom.com/

3. Virtual Author Visits – This site provides many links to resources on how to set up online chats with authors and lists of authors who are available for these chats. This would be such a great resources for students to have as it is always exciting to talk with a guest, whether it is a live guest or a virtual one. It also has a link to a site that has lots of archived chats with both authors and illustrators. I will definitely save this site for the future. Date visited: November 30, 2004.

http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic111.htm

4. Magnet Poetry – This site contains kits that you can click on to create magnet poetry according to different topics. Although the idea of creating poetry by using magnets was originally created for the elementary grades, secondary students love to create them as well. There is even a link for students to be able to publish their poem online. Date visited: November 30, 2004.

http://www.magneticpoetry.com/magnet/index.html

5. Student Book Reviews – This site contains links to book reviews that have been written by teenagers. This would be a great activity for secondary students as the books in the reviews had been read for pleasure. The activity could be that the students would have to read a book of their choice and write a review to post online. Date visited: November 30, 2004.

http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/index.asp

6. Contests and Publishing - This site contains many links to writing contests and publishing sites for secondary students as well as elementary students. Students always love a contest and generally produce better work if they know it is going to be entered in a contest or published. I would use this site for both my students and my children to have fun with. Date visited: November 30, 2004.

http://www.eduscapes.com/tap/topic113.htm#2

7. Mystery Writing Club– This site is for secondary students and is a project that begins after Christmas break. Students will research the elements of a good mystery story and be able to write one of their own. They will submit their book to the club and the club will discuss all of the books. This is a great way to get students motivated to write! Date visited: November 30, 2004

http://www.qesn.meq.gouv.qc.ca/ccdb/2mmclub/index.php

8. Writing Links – This site allows students to join a story creation group where each participating class has the opportunity to work on a different stage in the development of 3 stories. It has both a teacher and student area where guidance for the project is provided. I would use this for secondary students, but it can also be appropriate for elementary students as well. Date visited: November 30, 2004.

http://www.qesn.meq.gouv.qc.ca/cc/writing/index.php

9. Culture project – This project is created by a teacher in Canada for the purpose of teaching grammar and syntax in a collaborative manner. Students are assigned a French-speaking pen pal and will discuss the similarities and differences between their cultures’ vocabulary and grammar. They will also attempt some peer editing. This project is aimed at the secondary level and is a great cross-curriculum idea. Date visited: December 1, 2004.

http://www.qesn.meq.gouv.qc.ca/cc/projects/04-05/culture.htm

10. The Flat Stanley Project – Students send a Flat Stanley and a blank journal to someone on the List of Participants. After a few weeks the participant sends Stanley home with a completed journal describing what Stanley experienced during his visit. Students can do a Stanley exchange as a way to promote writing and learning about other places. I would use this project with middle school students, or with lower level secondary students.

Date visited: December 1, 2004.

http://flatstanley.enoreo.on.ca/