Berrien RESA to the Rescue

I found a website run by Berrien RESA. Click here to visit.This page had an extensive list of website links for classroom resources for Language Arts. The links were broken up into five categories: Authors, Books, etc.; Early Readers, High School Lit; Words and Writing; and Just for Teachers. In the first category, the links dealt mostly with finding new authors and discovering new young adult literature. There were also some links to young adult lit magazines. The Early Readers category was geared toward children in kindergarten through third grade. It contains links to sites that help improve early reading fluency and comprehension. There were some links to educational games.

The High School Lit category was broken down into sub categories of British Lit, Women’s Lit, and Adult Literacy Information; each subcategory contained relevant links. The Words, Stories, and Writing category housed link to sites that helped with grammar rules, online publishing for students, writing exercises, MLA format, and much more. The Just for Teachers category was very helpful. It had links for lesson plans, classroom sets of books, activities and games, suggested books for kids, and so much more.

This site was so helpful. I loved the way they categorized everything. It was very organized. The links were listed alphabetically, with a brief description of the site next to it. I was very impressed with it. A lot of sites like this have so much information and no organizational system, so this was a really nice change. I would trust these links because the site is run by the Berrien County School system. So I know that the information was reliable. All in all, I would recommend this website to someone in a heartbeat. It is neat, organized, and loaded with helpful tools and information. What more could you ask for?

Excited for EDSITEment

I explored the EDSITEment website. It is a great humanities resource. There are lesson plans covering everything from the history of the alphabet to the growth of party politics. This site is divided into four sections: Arts and Culture, Literature and Language Arts, Foreign Language, and History and Social Studies. Each section contains lists of lesson plans and lists of websites with related material. Also, within each category you can explore subcategories; for example, in the History and Social Studies section you can look specifically at U.S. Civil Rights, along with a multitude of other subcategories.

One of the interesting things about this website was that a few of the lesson plans were listed under multiple sections. I think that is cool because you can see how one lesson can become a true cross-curricular experience for the students. Cross-curricular learning has been proven to be a very effective method of teaching and helps students retain the information longer. This information has all been compiled from universities, museums, and other reputable institutions. The fact that the information comes from such trustworthy sources makes me feel that much better about recommending this site to anyone who wishes to enrich their classroom with some great humanities resources.