Parent & Child

• internet research resources for students

Internet Research Resources for Students

Cybersites
Children want to use the Internet! And truly they should for at least some of their data gathering. It will take them to wonderful places where they can gather fascinating, essential information on their topic. We know that school computer hardware, software, and lab time are limited; however, many children do have access to the Internet at home. Make good use of that resource! Parents will welcome direction from you on ways their children can make appropriate and efficient use of the Internet. Here are some sites that give parents an opportunity to educate themselves about what they should know, and some sites that will send their children on great exciting research adventures. You can send home URLs for the specific content area your class is studying. Parents will thank you for safe sites that are really helpful.

For parents...

http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/
American Library Association information is designed for parents to help their children in this high-tech era.

http://www.awesomelibrary.org
This site organizes the web with 15,000 carefully reviewed resources for teachers, kids, parents and librarians.

http://www.netmom.com
Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages guides families to explore the web together.

http://www.ala.org/ICONN/AskKC.html
This kids' on-line question and answer service is sponsored by ALA.

http://yahooligans.com
This popular search engine is great for kids.

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/
This kids' search engine is designed by librarians.

http://www.awesomelibrary.org
Kids and parents can hook up with several databases to excellent academic areas or specialty topics.

Freebies
When Sanborn Regional School District teacher Eileen K. of Kingston, NH finishes her spring IIM unit of animals each year, she assigns her second graders an at-home project that involves the parents in the development of a diorama about their child's animal and the preparation of an oral presentation to classmates. She sends home an informational letter to parents accompanied by the scoring rubric for both the product and the presentation. In this way, both children and parents know the expectations for all parts of the assignment. When content and creative expectations are clear, a child with a shoebox diorama and, perhaps, a little parent help, can score just as well as the one whose dad produces a handmade painted wooden box. The dioramas are excellent; the class presentations hold classmates' attention; and no parent complains, "If I had only known..." Download and modify these forms (.pdf) to meet your own grade levels and needs. Middle and high school parents are eager to be informed, too. Everyone will be satisfied.

Teacher Tips
Here are some tips that will keep your parents informed and give them techniques they can use without taking over their child's assignment. You will get more productive support and have happier parents when they know about ways they can help with, not do, their child's work.

• Promote time management by sending home due dates for posting in a prominent place.
• A classroom collection of resources is a must. Invite parents to contribute books, postcards, travel brochures, and other "artifacts" to that collection. Promise to keep these treasures safe. Don't loan them out to students.
• When doing the Group Process in kindergarten or 1st grade, send a topic shape (i.e. leaf for tree unit) home for parents to write a fact or question with their child for the class web.
• Inform parents of some great websites you have found. Their children can access them at home when computer time at school is limited.
• Send home the rubric or checklist that sets the criteria for the final project, even if the project is to be made in school

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