Top Ten Tool Kit- Texts (8-10)

8. BrainPOP (When Teaching Science and English)
Kadar, Dr. Avraham. "BrainPOP." BrainPOP.com. N.p. 1999. Web. 16 January 2011. (http://www.brainpop.com/)
Summary: Created over a decade ago, BrainPOP is an interactive website that follows state issued curriculums and provides games, activities, movies, and quizzes for students. Additionally, the teaching community "is consisted of more than 125,000 members strong and features free lesson plans, video tutorials, professional development tools, graphic organizers, best practices, and much more." Along with the traditional version, BrainPOP comes in various forms, such as BrainPOP Jr. (K-3), BrainPOP ESL, and BrainPOP Español.

In Classroom Technique: Overall, I would love to use this website for just about any topic in the classroom for both English and Science. Whether I would go online to use the videos that are provided, or just get lesson plan ideas, this website is a great resource for both the teacher and student.

BrainPOP is a great site to use for my students who have multiple learning styles. From my visual learners to the hands on students, this website can meet the needs of most of my students, while teaching them state mandated information. Additionally, ESL students would benefit from the activities and videos that BrainPOP provides in other languages. This way, my students who may still struggle with English will not fall behind on an "English only" site.

9. Reeko's Mad Science Lab (When Teaching Science)
"Reeko's Mad Science Lab." Spartechsoftware.com. N.p. 1997. Web. 16 January 2011. (http://www.spartechsoftware.com/reeko/default.htm)
Summary: Designed for students, parents, and teachers, this website can easily meet the needs (including various reading levels), of almost anyone who signs in. Reeko's site is a great resource that provides science fair topics, experiments, and fun daily facts that are updated on a regular basis. This helpful guide even provides additional sites that may relate to a topic being searched. This way, there are many options to choose from. Lastly, for those who seem to struggle with science terms and definitions, Reeko's provides a science glossary with simplified meanings and/or pictures beside the words. This way, the visual learners can benefit, as well as those who simply learn from reading examples.

In Classroom Techniques: In my science class, I hope to encourage my students to participate in a science fair, whether it be through the school or the district. While having my students brainstorm for ideas/topics, I would refer them to this website for idea postings or additional help, if needed. Also, if my students need help with terms, they can move to the glossary and pick up the unknown meanings.

10. Science News (When Teaching Science)
"Science News: Magazine of the Society for Science and the Public." ScienceNews.org. N.p. 2000. Web. 16 January 2011. (http://www.sciencenews.org/)
Summary: Science News is an online resource with the latest science news out there. On the front page, readers are welcomed by daily articles that have been written about recent findings or topics. Also, interested viewers can look up columns or blogs that are posted on the front page. For a more specific topic in mind, readers can search along the top of the page, or use the search bar found on the right side of the screen. Whatever the topic may be, Science News provides many sources and reading materials for answers or simply, discussions.

In Classroom Techniques: To help with my students' critical reading skills, I will assign them to choose a topic at the end of every week and have them research any information about their chosen idea on this website. Any reading material that they find can be analyzed, broken down, and reflected on. Students will be required to write a reflection on what they learned, what the outcomes of an experiment was (if any), who was affected, or anything else that may be relevant to the topic. Also, the students must include how they relate to the topic they chose and explain why this topic came to mind. At the end of every week, students will submit their reflection and will have the option to present it to class, also.